Kanjar

The Kanjar speak the Kanjari language, a little-studied Indo Aryan language, but almost all also speak Punjabi and Urdu.[1]

Kanjar
Regions with significant populations
India • Pakistan
Languages
Kanjari • Hindi • Rajasthani • Bhojpuri • Urdu • Punjabi
Religion
Hinduism • Sikhism • Islam
Related ethnic groups
Patharkat • Mirasi

History

In the Colonial period, Kanjars were listed under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, as a tribe "addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences."[2]

Present circumstances

India

Kanjar were denotified in 1952, when the Criminal Tribes Act was replaced with the Habitual Offenders Act, but the community carries considerable social stigma. Kanjar's are also known as Gihar which is not notified.

The Kanjar speak 4-5 languages along with their native language called Narsi-Parsi. It consists of different sounds of animals and birds, coded words and signs.[3]

The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Kanjar with a population of 115,968.[4]

Pakistan

In Pakistan, two distinct communities go by the name Kanjar. Over the centuries they became associated with the profession of prostitution and a peripatetic community of craftsmen and entertainers, best known for the terracotta toys they manufacture and peddle. Both groups of Kanjar live in Punjab. The term 'Kanjar' is more generally used to refer to a pimp or a person of low moral character than as a reference to the tribe.[5][6]

Urban areas

The Kanjar are most famously associated with the Lahore neighborhood of Shahi Mohalla. This has been home to a large community of Kanjar for centuries. Many musicians in Pakistan have their roots in the Kanjar community. A recent study found that: "A Kanjar hears the music of tabla and ghungroo from the day of her birth and must begin her formal education before her non-Kanjar friends start going to school."[7]

Nomads

Although nomadic, the Kanjar follow a set route, and often maintain a relationship with the villages they visit. Many of the men work as agricultural labourers. Their tents are made from split bamboo or munji grass, and their encampments can be found at the edges of villages, as well as in urban areas such as Faisalabad and Lahore.[1]

They are the subject of the Hindi story Indrajal (English: Magic), by Jaishankar Prasad.

In the Lollywood film Bol, prominent character Saqa Kanjar financially helps a fanatic hakim after the latter bribes the police to bury the case of honour killing of his own son Saifi. The hakim in return had to bear a girl child for Saqa Kanjar's daughter Meena.

See also

References
  1. Kanjar Social Organization by Joseph C Berland in The other nomads : peripatetic minorities in cross-cultural perspective / edited by Aparna Rao pages247 to 268 ISBN 3-412-08085-3 Köln : Böhlau, 1987.
  2. Nanta Village The Imperial Gazetteer of India, 1908, v. 18, p. 367.
  3. Madan Meena: Secret Language of the Kanjar Community, Fellowship from Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research, USA
  4. "A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix - Uttar Pradesh". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  5. Kanjar Social Organization by Joseph C Berland in The other nomads : peripatetic minorities in cross-cultural perspective / edited by Aparna Rao pages247 to 268 ISBN 3-412-08085-3 Köln : Böhlau, 1987.
  6. Taboo: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area by Fouzia Saeed, Oxford University Press ISBN 0195797965
  7. Taboo: The Hidden Culture of a Red Light Area by Fouzia Saeed, Oxford University Press, page 61
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