Julaha

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ਜਾਣਹੁ ਜੋਤਿ ਨ ਪੂਛਹੁ ਜਾਤੀ ਆਗੈ ਜਾਤਿ ਨ ਹੇ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥ (ਪੰਨਾ 349, ਸਤਰ 13, Nanak)

Sikhism does not endorse caste based distinctions in society that lead to unequal opportunities for some people. In fact, Sikhism completely rejects class or race based distinctions between humans, that leads us to make an inequitable society. Such distinctions have surfaced only due to ill interests of certain section of people, who, on the pretext of making a society more manageable through these classifications, eventually paved the way to an unequal grouping within the human race. This article is just for information purpose and to share how people from different castes came into the Sikh fold. So, please treat this article as a source of general information about this issue and kindly do not amend this article to highlight this important underlying Sikh principle. If you have any comments, please discuss them appropriately here

Julaha also called weavers. Members of this community were engaged in the profession of weaving also called ramdasia sikhs. They may at times be also referred to as julaha meaning a weaver in punjabi and hindi. The total population of this community is about 505,000, 80% of which reside in Punjab alone. The remaining 20% are found in the states of Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. The Sikh Light Infantry draws its man power from the Mazhabi and Ramdasia elements amongst the Sikhs. The terms ravidasia and ramdasia are not synonymous and hence should never be used interchangeably as they differ in thier Profession.


Geography

Country: India Continent: Asia Region: South Asia

Population in this Country: 801,000

Largest States on file:

Uttar Pradesh (271,000), Himachal Pradesh (163,000)

Jharkhand (134,000), Punjab (84,000)

Delhi (76,000), Haryana (41,000)

Rajasthan (12,000), Uttaranachal (5,200)

Bihar (3,200), Maharashtra (3,000)

Total States on file: 25

Entry No. In centre list

Acc. to backward list

Chandigarh Backward - Jullaha/Julaha (Weavers) 31

Punjab Backword - Weaver (Jhullaha or Julaha (including Kabirpanthi Julaha excluding those who are Scheduled Castes) 17

In Haryana the Julaha are the followers of Kabir though some Julaha have adopted Buddhism, and some The Julaha of Delhi and Chandigarh are divided into two groups, Kabirpanthi and Julaha. The Kabirpanthi Julahas derive their name from Kabir. The Hindu Julahas also follow Kabir teachings. There are both Hindu and Sikh Julahas among them. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Kabirpanthi are also known as Bhagats. Some follow Sikhism and some even Christianity.

Madhya Pardesh, Himanchal Pardesh, Haryana, Uttar Pardesh

Some Historic Points

Kabir

Kabir seek an escape from his caste identity, there is no attempt to deny that he is a julaha or kori. He is acutely aware of the vileness and idiocy attributed to his caste, he even uses this awareness with pungent irony at many places — a fact which makes his insistence on being a julaha even more significant. He categorically rejects the "normal" attribution of vileness and idiocy to julahas or for that matter to any social group.

Declares he: Julaha by caste and steadfast in intellect, Kabir is happily merged with the qualities (of God). — Granthavali–pada 270. Also, says he: Kabir that caste of mine is a joke to everyone; Blessed indeed be such a birth that let me invoke the creator — Saloka 2, Adigranth. (Translated and cited by Charlotte Vaudeville in ‘A Weaver named Kabir’, p.71; OUP, new Delhi, 1993).

It should be clear from the above that his caste is the inevitable marker of the social location which Kabir does not feel like escaping from, while descriptions like Hindu, Muslim or Jogi essentially refer to certain conceptual frameworks and the communitarian identities based on them. His refusal to describe himself as belonging to any of them indicates the intellectual independence of an individual who is conscious of his location and precisely because of this conciseness is insistent on rejecting the available frameworks. Here is an individual who is confidently challenging the given attributions of certain qualities to certain social groups on the basis of his own achievements and intellectual steadfastness. His description of himself as a julaha, steadfast in the intellect, his insistence on his worth as an individual is in conformity with his fundamental refusal to internalise the idea of arbitrary ascription to some social group without any regard for the individual’s achievement or the lack of it.

The Kabirpanthis believe that Kabir was an incarnation having a miraculous birth. A weaver's wife, Nima, found him as an infant floating on a lotus in a tank near Benares. She and her husband, Niru, brought Kabir up as their child. Other legends tell of Kabir's wife, Loi, son, Kamal, and daughter, Kamaliya, all having miraculous births. Niru and Nima were of the Julaha, a low caste of Muslim weavers, and Kabir worked as a weaver near Benares all his life. The Julaha were probably recent converts to Islam and it is not certain that Kabir was circumcised

Choti jat da Kabir julaha, Naam jap ucha ho gaya (2x) Kabir was once a low caste weaver; He became the highest by meditating on Naam. Kabir était jadis un tisserand de caste pauvre; Il est devenu le plus haut en méditant sur le Naam.

Mus-mus rove, Kabir ji ki mai, (2x) Ehe balak kese, jive raghurai (2x) Naam jap ucha . . . Kabir's mother weeps bitterly, worrying, "How is this child going to live, O God?" He became the highest by meditating on Naam. La mère de Kabir pleura amèrement, s'inquiétant: "Comment cet enfant va-t-il vivre, O Dieu? Il est devenu le plus haut en méditant sur le Naam.

Tanana bunana, tajyo Kabira (2x) Har ka Naam likh, leyo sharira (2x) Naam jap ucha . . . Kabir has quit weaving, and has written the Naam of God on his body. He became the highest by meditating on Naam. Kabir a abandonné le tissage, et a gravé le Naam de Dieu sur Son corps. Il est devenu le plus haut en méditant sur le Naam.

Ochhi mat meri, jat julaha (2x) Har ka Naam, leyo mai laha (2x) Naam jap ucha . . . I am of low community, my caste is weaver; I have only one advantage, that is of Naam. He became the highest by meditating on Naam. Je suis d'une communauté pauvre, ma caste étant celle des tisserands; Je n'ai qu'un avantage, c'est celui du Naam. Il est devenu le plus haut en méditant sur le Naam.

Kahat Kabir, suno meri mai (2x) Hamara inka data, ik raghurai (2x) Naam jap ucha . . . Kabir says: "Listen, my mother, God is the only giver for all of us". He became the highest by meditating on Naam. Kabir dit: "Ecoutez, mère, Dieu est l'unique donateur pour nous tous". Il est devenu le plus haut en méditant sur le Naam.

People

People Name This Country: Julaha

People Name General: Julaha

Alternate People Names:

Bhagat Bunia Bunkar Devanga Djanate Julaha Jogi Julaha Kabir Kabirpanthi Kachi Kir Megh Kori Koli Panka Paoli Patua Togata

Population in this Country:801,000

Population in all Countries:801,000

Ethnic Tree

Affinity Bloc: South Asian Peoples

People Cluster: Hindi

People Name General: Julaha

Language

Primary Language:Hindi (501,000 Speakers)

Secondary Languages:

Panjabi, Eastern (144,000), Mandeali (39,000)

Bilaspuri (24,000), Haryanvi (6,500)

Magahi (1,300), Gujarati (400)

Chhattisgarhi (300), Bhojpuri (200)

Telugu (100), Mewari (100), Pahari,

Kullu (100), Sirmauri (80), Chambeali (30)

Kachchi (20), Bengali (20), Kanjari (Unknown), Kinnauri (Unknown) Ladakhi (Unknown), Pangwali (Unknown), Tinani (Unknown)

Total Languages Spoken: 21


Religion

Primary Religion:Hinduism

Major Religions:

Hinduism 95.53 % Sikhism 4.47 %

Social Groups

Rajput ♣♣ Khatri ♣♣ Lohar ♣♣ Kumhar ♣♣ Nai ♣♣ Chamar ♣♣ Arora ♣♣ Bhatra ♣♣ Agrawal ♣♣ Bania ♣♣ Sindhi ♣♣ Saini ♣♣ Julaha