Kandera
Encyclopedia
The Kandera are a community, partly Muslim
and partly Hindu
found in the state of Rajasthan
in India
.
, the word kani means cotton, and a kandera means someone who works with cotton. Like many groups in Rajasthan
, they claim Rajput
ancestry. According to their traditions, their ancestor, a Kanakpal Singh had fallout with Alauddin Khilji
, the Muslim
ruler of North India
. He was defeated by the Sultan, and many members of his clan accepted Islam
, and took up the occupation of cotton ginning.
, Alwar, Bharatpur
and Sawai Madhopur
districts. There native dialect is Braj Bhasa. The community are divided into thirty six clans, and they practice clan exogamy. They are split evenly between Muslim
and Hindu
groups, and there is no intermarriage between these two groups.
They are a landless community, and live by cotton ginning and making quilt and pillows.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and partly Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
found in the state of Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
History and origin
The community is historically associated with the occupation of cotton ginning. In the local language, RajasthaniRajasthani language
Rajasthani Rajasthani Rajasthani (Devanagari: , Perso-Arabic: is a language of the Indo-Aryan languages family. It is spoken by 50 million people in Rajasthan and other states of India and in some areas of Pakistan. The number of speakers may be up to 80 million worldwide...
, the word kani means cotton, and a kandera means someone who works with cotton. Like many groups in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, they claim Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
ancestry. According to their traditions, their ancestor, a Kanakpal Singh had fallout with Alauddin Khilji
Alauddin Khilji
Ali Gurshap Khan better known by his titular name as Sultan Ala-ud-din Khilji was the second ruler of the Turko-Afghan Khilji dynasty in India.He was a well and capable ruler. He belonged to the Afghanized Turkic tribe of the Khiljis...
, the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
ruler of North India
North India
North India, known natively as Uttar Bhārat or Shumālī Hindustān , is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage...
. He was defeated by the Sultan, and many members of his clan accepted Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and took up the occupation of cotton ginning.
Present circumstances
The Kandera are found mainly in JaipurJaipur
Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....
, Alwar, Bharatpur
Bharatpur district
Bharatpur District is a district of Rajasthan state in western India. The town of Bharatpur is the district headquarters.-History:When Bharatpur was a princely state, it was the only political entity ever to have a Chartreuse colored flag.-Demographics:...
and Sawai Madhopur
Sawai Madhopur
Sawai Madhopur is a city and a municipality in Sawai Madhopur District in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is the administrative headquarters of Sawai Madhopur District....
districts. There native dialect is Braj Bhasa. The community are divided into thirty six clans, and they practice clan exogamy. They are split evenly between Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
and Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
groups, and there is no intermarriage between these two groups.
They are a landless community, and live by cotton ginning and making quilt and pillows.