Caste system among South Asian Muslims

{{Short description|Social system in South Asia}} {{pp-extended|small=yes}} {{Cleanup lang|article|date=February 2023}} Muslim communities in South Asia have a system of social stratification<ref>{{Cite news |author=Pratik Patnaik |title=Caste Among Indian Muslims Is a Real Issue. So Why Deny Them Reservation? |url=https://thewire.in/caste/caste-among-indian-muslims-real-why-deny-reservation |date=December 2, 2020 |newspaper=The Wire}}</ref> arising from concepts other than "pure" and "impure", which are integral to the caste system in India.{{sfn|Azra Khanam|2013|pp=120–121}}<ref name="Webner">{{Cite book |title=The Migration Process: Capital, Gifts and Offerings among British Pakistanis |last1=Webner |first1=Pnina |date=2007 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |access-date=30 October 2016 |isbn=9781472518477 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1O2kBgAAQBAJ&q=caste+purity+among+Muslims&pg=PT84}}</ref> It developed as a result of relations among foreign conquerors, local upper-caste Hindus convert to Islam (''ashraf'', also known as ''tabqa-i ashrafiyya''{{sfn|Julien Levesque|2020|p=4}}) and local lower-caste converts (''ajlaf''), as well as the continuation of the Indian caste system by converts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Gautier |first1=Laurence |last2=Levesque |first2=Julien |date=July 2020 |title=Introduction: Historicizing Sayyid-ness: Social Status and Muslim Identity in South Asia |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |language=en |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=383–393 |doi=10.1017/S1356186320000139 |issn=1356-1863 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Non-''ashrafs'' are backward-caste converts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ashraf: Islamic Caste Group |publisher=Britannica |year=2021 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/ashraf-Islamic-caste-group}}</ref> The concept of ''"pasmanda"'' includes ''ajlaf'' and ''arzal'' Muslims; ''ajlaf'' status is defined by descent from converts to Islam and by ''Birth'' (profession).{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} These terms are not part of the sociological vocabulary in regions such as Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, and say little about the functioning of Muslim society.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}}

The Baradari system is social stratification in Pakistan and, to an extent, India.<ref name="nihcr.edu.pk">{{citation |author=Mughees Ahmed |year=2009 |title=Local-bodies or local "biradari" system: An analysis of the role of burglaries in the local bodies system of Punjab |journal=Pakistan Journal of History and Culture |volume=30 |number=1 |pages=81–92 |url=http://www.nihcr.edu.pk/Latest_English_Journal/Local-Bodies.pdf }}</ref> The South Asian Muslim caste system includes hierarchical classifications of ''khandan'' (dynasty, family, or lineage).{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}}

== {{anchor|Historical development}}History == Although Islam does not recognize any castes (only socio-economic classes),{{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=27}} existing divisions in Persia and India were adopted by local Muslim societies. Evidence of social stratification exists in later Persian works such as Nizam al-Mulk's 11th-century {{Transliteration|fa|Siyasatnama}}, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's 13th-century {{Transliteration|fa|Akhlaq-i Nasiri}}, and the 17th-century {{Transliteration|fa|Jam-i-Mufidi}}.{{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=29}}

After Muhammad's death in the seventh century CE, tribes and families fought a war of succession.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} After this, a determinant for social stratification in Arab society included being part of Muhammad's close family ({{Transliteration|ar|ahl al-bayt|}}).{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} This factor was present in ancient South Asia among Muslims since the eighth century.

This led to a further hierarchical determinant: Arabs versus non-Arabs.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} Among non-Arabs, further divisions were made between Muslims who were converted in early Islamization campaigns ({{Transliteration|ar|khadim-al islam}}) and those who converted more recently ({{Transliteration|ar|jadid-al islam}}).{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} South Asian Muslims are divided by classifications that have resulted in Arab-origin higher castes ({{Transliteration|ur|unch zat}}) and descendants of lower-caste converts ({{Transliteration|ur|nich zat}}).{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} Mughal Empire sultans were high-caste.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}}

The Muslims who came to the subcontinent during the 12th century were already divided into vocation-based social "classes", including priests, nobles, and others, and racial segregation separated local Muslim converts from foreign-origin Muslims. The foreigners claimed superior status, since they were associated with the conquerors and considered themselves as ''sharif'' ("noble").{{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=30}} Indian Muslim society also split in accordance with the Hindu caste system.{{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=30}} According to M. N. Srinivas (1986) and R. K. Bhattacharya, Indian Hindu converts to Islam brought their caste system to the region's Muslim society.{{sfn|Azra Khanam|2013|pp=116}} Louis Dumont, however, believed that the Islamic conquerors adopted the Hindu caste system "as a compromise which they had to make in a predominantly Hindu environment."{{sfn|Azra Khanam|2013|pp=115–116}}

Ziauddin Barani, a 14th-century Indian political thinker in the Delhi Sultanate, suggested that the "sons of Mohamed" receive a higher social status than the low-born. His most significant contribution to the fatwa was his analysis of castes and Islam. Barani said that castes would be mandated through state laws (''zawabi''), which would take precedence over sharia in a conflict. According to Barani, every act "contaminated with meanness and based on ignominy, comes elegantly [from the Ajlaf]". He developed an elaborate system of promotion and demotion of imperial officers (''wazirs''), primarily based on caste.<ref>{{cite book |quote= Barani never called himself Turk for one intention that he wanted to be an Indian than anything else |title=Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatawa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barani|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rXmCAAAAMAAJ&q=Barani+never+called+himself+Turk+for+one+intention+that+he+wanted+to+be+an+Indian+than+anything+else |page=144 |author= Arbind Das · |date=1996 |publisher=Pratibha Prakashan |isbn=9788185268453 }}</ref><ref name="Das">Das, Arbind, Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatwa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barrani: an analysis, Pratibha Publications, Delhi 1996, {{ISBN|81-85268-45-2}} pp. 124-143</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Sikand |first=Yoginder |title=Sacred Spaces: Exploring Traditions of Shared Faith in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RBkwnoDPKgUC&pg=PA7 |year=2003 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-302931-1 |pages=7–}}</ref> Barani's opinions were not followed by his own sultanate. He accused the Tughlaq Sultans of appointing "low-born" people to high office; they included Sultan Muhammad Shah<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L5eFzeyjBTQC |title=Medieval India: From Sultanat to the Mughals-Delhi Sultanat (1206–1526) – Part One |author= Satish Chandra |date=2004 |page=99 |publisher=Har-Anand Publications |isbn=9788124110645 }}</ref> and Sultan Firuz Shah, Barani's patron in Delhi, who appointed a former slave captured from Telangana and converted as his grand vizier.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC&dq=firuz+shah+khan+jahan+convert&pg=RA1-PA4 |title=Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art & Architecture|id=Three-volume set |editor1=Jonathan Bloom|editor2=Sheila Blair|editor3=Sheila S. Blair |date=2009 |page=4 |publisher=Oup USA |isbn=978-0-19-530991-1 }}</ref>

Muslims from the ''julaha'' (weaver) caste began to identify as "Ansaris", butchers as "Quereshis", and the sanitation and ''bhishti'' castes as "Sheikh".<ref name="Sanober"/> The Muslim concept of hereditary ''kafa'ah'', which the ''ulama'' use to support endogamy, justifies South Asian Muslim caste practices.{{sfn|Julien Levesque|2020|p=14}}{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}}

=== {{anchor|Ashrafization and Syedization}}Ashrafization === [[File:Ralamb-40.jpg|thumb|alt=A drawing of a man in a black robe with a green turban|A Sayyid wearing a green turban]]

Ashrafization (or sharifization) is the process of lower-caste Muslims adopting upper-caste Muslim practices to climb the social ladder.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Collective and Elective Ethnicity: Caste among Urban Muslims in India |first=Syed |last= Ali |date=December 2002 |journal=Sociological Forum |volume=17 |number=4 |publisher=Springer |page=602 |jstor=3070361 |doi=10.1023/A:1021077323866|s2cid=146701489 }}</ref> Some would associate with different titles or claim different ancestry to achieve this.

Some families would claim ''Sayyid'' status, with varying degrees of success. The Sayyid dynasty (founded by a Punjabi)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CHbiAAAAMAAJ&q=and+rested+chiefly+on+its+causal+recognition+by+the+famous+saint+Sayyid+Jal%C3%A1l|title=The Cambridge History of India|date=1958|publisher=S. Chand|location=The claim of Khizr Khān , who founded the dynasty known as the Sayyids , to descent from the prophet of Arabia was dubious, and rested chiefly on its causal recognition by the famous saint Sayyid Jalāl – ud – dīn of Bukhārā .|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765 |author= Richard M. Eaton |year= 2019 | isbn=978-0520325128 |page=117|publisher= University of California Press |language=en|quote=The career of Khizr Khan, a Punjabi chieftain belonging to the Khokar clan...}}</ref> and Barha Sayyids (founded by Punjabi peasants who moved to Muzaffarnagar)<ref>{{Cite book |author=Kolff, Dirk H. A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC&dq=barha+sayyids&pg=PA18 |title=Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850 |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52305-9 |page=18 |language=en |quote=As another example of such soldiers of marginal peasant origin, the Barha Sayyids, a celebrated troop of soldiers under the Mughals deserve attention. They were said to be the descendants of the families who had, at an uncertain date, moved from their homes in Panjab to a sandy and infertile tract of what is now the eastern part of the Muzaffarnagar district. During Akbar's reign, they were as yet men of rustic habits and their claim to be true Sayyids was not generally admitted. Jahangir wrote of them that 'some people make remarks about their lineage, but their bravery is a convincing proof of their being Saiyids'. Though by definition 'Sayyid' was an identity that could be had by birth only, in actual practice it could be acquired by effort or even by luck.}}</ref> are examples of families who succeeded in being recognized as Sayyids. However, other families had their claims dismissed. The Nawabs of the Rohilla dynasty (founded by a Jat convert) failed to provide any reliable proof for their claims and were thus ignored.<ref>Khoja, Neelam. 2018. [https://dash.harvard.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/726de724-b17a-4c33-ab36-19509894d45e/content Sovereignty, Space, and Identity: The Politics of Power in Eighteenth Century Punjab]. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=Ashirbadi Lal |author-link=Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava |title=The First Two Nawabs of Oudh |year=1954 |publisher=Shiva Lal Agarwala & Co. Ltd. |oclc=678892685 |page=103 |edition=2nd rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XUQeAAAAIAAJ |quote=Contemporary Persian authorities say that Ali Muhammad Khan was of Jat parents. See Gulistan. 7; Abdulkarim, 88b, Ashob, 424; Siyar. II 480, A partisan attempt has, however, been made in modern times to prove that he was a Sayyid. Najmul Ghanl of Rampur has invented a false pedigree of the Khan, tracing it to Muhammad. The Maulvi’s discussion is altogether unconvincing and ridiculous. His object seems to be to prove that the present ruler of Rampur is a Sayyid.}}</ref>

Other families would simply claim a general Arab ancestry. The Awans have historically claimed Arab descent, adopting the title of ''Malik'', thus granting them a "high status in the Indian Muslim environment".<ref>{{cite book|title=Death Before Dying: The Sufi Poems of Sultan Bahu|last=J. Elias|first=Jamal|author-link=Jamal J. Elias|publisher=University of California Press|date=1998|page=12|isbn=978-0-52021-242-8}}</ref> The Kalhoros and Daudpotras also attempted to associate with Arabs, adopting the title of ''Abbasi''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ali Shah |first1=Syed Shakir |last2=Mallah |first2=Qasid Hussain |title=Kalhora Period Architecture in Sindh |journal=Quarterly Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society |volume=LXVII |issue=3 |page=26 |url=https://phs.com.pk/index.php/phs/article/download/37/17 |quote=..But the author of Kalhora Dour-e-Hakoomat refutes it and argues that Kalhoras originally belong to Sindh and their centre was at Bakhar..}}</ref> The Shaikhs in North India also claim Arab descent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/sheikh | title=Sheikh | Meaning, Title, Significance, & History | Britannica | date=7 June 2023 }}</ref>

Some groups, such as the Sambhals of Uttar Pradesh, claim Turkic descent and relation to the Mughal people.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=umNgDwAAQBAJ&dq=biradari+tribe&pg=PT93 |title=Forging the Ideal Educated Girl:The Production of Desirable Subjects in Muslim South Asia |author= Shenila Khoja-Moolji |date=2018 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-97053-3 }}</ref>

As the Pashtunization of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took place, local Indo-Aryan tribes would begin to associate with the foreign Pashtuns. Many of the former Dardic speakers of Swat and Indus Kohistan now claim Pashtun ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DARDESTĀN |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/dardestan-|website=Encyclopedia Irannica}}</ref>

==== {{anchor|Caste Associations}}Caste associations ==== Another type of ashrafization is the establishment of caste associations to promote a community's interests and provide social support.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} These {{transliteration|fa|anjuman}} ('forum', 'society') is commonly termed {{transliteration|fa|jama'at}} ({{lang|fa|جماعت}}{{hairspace}}; 'congregation', 'group', 'community'), replacing the use of {{transliteration|ur|zat}} ('birth or origin group').{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} The Khoja caste, Ismaili Shias primarily in Karachi and Sindh, are an example.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} Other significant Muslim caste associations are those of the Memons and Bohras in Sindh and Gujarat.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}}

=== {{anchor|History of research}}Research === {{see also|Varna (Hinduism)}} Definitions of ''caste'' vary, and opinions differ on whether the term can be used to denote social stratification in non-Hindu communities. Ghaus Ansari uses the term "caste" to describe Muslim social groups with the following characteristics: endogamy within the group; hierarchical gradation of groups; determination of group membership by birth; and, in some cases, association by occupation with a social group.{{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=22}} Western Indologists began to catalogue Muslim castes during the 19th century in: * Henry Miers Elliot's ''Supplement to the glossary of Indian terms'' (1844), later amplified into ''Memoirs on the history, folk-lore, and distribution of the Races of the North Western Provinces of India'' * John Charles Williams's ''Report on the Census of Oudh'' (1869) * Denzil Ibbetson's ''Census Report of Punjab'' (1883), later adapted into ''Panjab Castes'' * John Nesfield's ''Brief View of the Caste System of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh'' (1885) * Herbert Hope Risley's ''Tribes and castes of Bengal'' (1893) * William Crooke's ''Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh'' (1896){{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=22}}

In 20th-century British India, several works included Muslim social groups in their descriptions of Indian castes. These included Horace Arthur Rose's ''A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province'' (1911).{{sfn|Ghaus Ansari|1960|p=2}} Around 1915, Mirza Muhammad Hassan Qatil wrote about the four {{lang|und|firqa}} (classes) of the ''ashraf''.{{sfn|David Lelyveld|2005}} He described how people in the following occupations were considered {{lang|und|paji}} (contemptible): elephant caretaking, bread- and perfume-making, and dealing in bazaars.{{sfn|David Lelyveld|2005}} Ghaus Ansari began an academic discussion in 1960 about the concept of a Muslim caste system, and Imtiaz Ahmed elaborated on the subject in ''Caste and Social Stratification among the Muslims'' (1973).{{sfn|Azra Khanam|2013|p=115}}

== {{anchor|Syedism, Ashrafism, Biradarism, Zatism, Sharifism, Arab Supremacy, and Divisions}}Divisions == {{see also|List of Muslim Other Backward Classes communities in India}} Ghaus Ansari (1960) identified the following four categories of Muslim social divisions in India: *''Ashrafs'', who claim foreign-origin descent *Forward-caste converts *Converts from other Indian tribes *Converts from untouchable castes{{page needed|date=May 2024}}

''Ashraf'' hierarchy is determined by the degree of nearness to Muhammad and country of origin; Syeds (who trace descent from Fatima, Muhammad's daughter) have the highest status.{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=887}} Non-Ashrafs are categorized as ''ajlaf'', with untouchable Hindu converts also categorized as ''arzal'' ("degraded").<ref name="Ambedkar">{{cite book |last=Ambedkar |first=Bhimrao |author-link=B.R. Ambedkar |title=Pakistan or the Partition of India |publisher= Thackers Publishers }}</ref><ref name="Ambedkaronline">[http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/410.html Web resource for ''Pakistan or the Partition of India'']</ref> They are relegated to menial professions, such as scavenging and carrying night soil.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/dereserve-these-myths/12109/ |title=Dereserve these myths – Indian Express |website=archive.indianexpress.com |language=en-gb |access-date=2017-09-30}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Falahi |first1=Masood |title=Caste and caste-based discrimination s Among Indian Muslims' |url=http://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5664/1/AHRC_16,_Caste_and_Caste_Based_Discriminations_Among_Indian_Muslims.pdf |website=SAS |access-date=5 January 2015}}</ref>

In Pakistan, social groups known as {{transliteration|ur|quoms}} have a social stratification comparable to the Indian caste system. The {{transliteration|ur|quoms}} differ widely in power, privilege, and wealth. Ethnic affiliation (such as Pathan, Sindhi, Baloch, and Punjabi, etc.) and membership in a biraderi are components of social identity.<ref name="barth">{{cite book |last=Barth |first=Fredrik |editor=E. R. Leach |title=The System Of Social Stratification In Swat, North Pakistan (Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon, and North-West Pakistan) |url=https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2995517 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=113 |year=1962 |access-date=2017-08-25 |archive-date=2012-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406091830/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=2995517 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Within the bounds of endogamy, close consanguineous unions are preferred due to a unity of group- and individual factors. McKim Marriott said that a social stratification that is hierarchical, closed, endogamous, and hereditary is prevalent, particularly in western Pakistan.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ecologic Relationships of Ethnic Groups in Swat, North Pakistan |author=Fredrick Barth |journal=American Anthropologist |doi=10.1525/aa.1956.58.6.02a00080 |volume=58 |issue=6 |pages=1079–1089 |date=December 1956 |doi-access=free}}</ref>{{sfn|Zeyauddin Ahmad|2011}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Caste ranking and community structure in five regions of India and Pakistan |author=McKim Marriott |year=1960 |publisher=Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute |oclc=186146571}}</ref> Numerically- and socially-influential tribes in Pakistani Punjab include the agricultural tribes of Arain, Awan, Rajput, Jat Muslim, and Gujjar.<ref name="nihcr.edu.pk"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Punjab Province, Pakistan |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |id=483579 |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Punjab-province-Pakistan |access-date=22 March 2022}}h</ref>

In Nepal, the castes of Muslims rank differ according to the criteria applied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of the World Muslims: Tribes, Castes and Communities, Volume 1 |author=Nagendra Kr Singh, Abdul Mabud Khan |page=1124 |publisher=Global Vision Pub House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zzfs_G7QHoAC&pg=PA1124 |isbn=9788187746072 |year=2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Islamic Culture - Volume 52 |page=207 |author=Marmaduke William Pickthall, Muhammad Asad |year=1978}}</ref> In India, most ''ulemas'' (theologians or doctors of the law) are part of the Syed; many Ashrafs are businessmen, landowners, and traders.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} A regional "marriage circle" can be formed, where marriage alliances occur.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} A Syed's status is sometimes based more on male descendants and hypergamous marriage than ancestry.{{sfn|Remy Delage|2014}} Early Turks had subdivisions.{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}}

In the ''Rasum-i Hind'', a textbook compiled by Master Pyare Lal in 1862, four ''firqa'' (''ashraf'' subdivisions) are explained and ''nasl'' (lineage) is described.{{sfn|David Lelyveld|2005}} Ancestors of the Mughal caste are said to be descended from the Biblical Noah,{{sfn|David Lelyveld|2005}} and ancestors of the Pathans are said to be Israelites from the time of Solomon.{{sfn|David Lelyveld|2005}} In the Mughal Empire ruling class, Muslims were classified as native Hindustani (Indians), Afghan (Pashtuns), Turani (Turco-Mongols), and Irani (Persians).{{sfn|David Lelyveld|2005}}

=== Pakistani Punjab === ==== {{anchor|Zamindars, Kammis, and the Seyp System|Elections}}Zamindars, Kammis, and the Seyp system ==== Zamindars (a landowning class) and Kammis, service-providing castes, are hierarchical groups in Pakistani Punjabi villages{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=ii}} which are based on parental occupation.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=ii}} In the Seyp system (contract labour), the Kammis provide work and services and receive favours, food, money, crops, and grains.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=5}} Zamindars are considered a dominant caste and tend to be village and town leaders.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=5}} Urban social, political, and economic affairs are dominated by Zamindars, and land is controlled by them;{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=5}} Kammis are socially marginalized.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=8}} Kammis and Zamindars intermarry.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=4}} Ancestral land ownership and agriculture are ascribed to Zamindars.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=10}}{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=6}} Other castes are higher than the Kammis and below the Zamindars.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=74}}

Caste endogamy exists in Pakistan, with members of a ''quom'' tending to marry within it.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=17}} In rural areas of Pakistani Punjab, endogamy is vital to the caste system.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=17}} Kammis include artisans, labourers, and service providers such as barbers, cobblers, and carpenters.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=18}} Most are labourers or perform low-ranking tasks.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=140}} According to a Kammi woman, {{blockquote|Even if a Kammi acquires 100 acres of land, he remains Kammi, and Zamindars will always consider him lower. A Zamindar who owns one acre of land would think, "If a Kammi has bought 2 acres, so what? After all, he remains a Kammi". They do not accept us as equals.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=136}}}}

''Quoms'' influence marriage practices.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=18}} Different Zamindar ''quoms'' sometimes intermarry, however, and may constitute a Biradari.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=139}} A study in a Pakistani Punjabi village found that in a ''seyp'' (contract) between Zamindar and Kammi families, Kammi families give goods to and perform services for the Zamindars, who provide the Kammis with grain. Kammi families also perform customary and ritual tasks, for example, a barber cooks in the Zamindar's house for special events and performs circumcisions.{{sfn|Julien Levesque|2020|p=10}}

''Quom'' loyalty is also evident in elections.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=18}} Biradaris are the sole criteria in local Pakistani Punjab elections;{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=160}} Zamindars outnumber Kammis there,{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=139}} and Kammis do not generally stand for election due to financial considerations.{{sfn|Ahmed Usman|2011|p=161}}

=== Bengal === Although class distinctions based on wealth and occupation exist, hereditary castes do not exist for most Bengali Muslims (unlike Bengali Hindus). The majority of Bengali Muslims converted from indigenous tribes of Bengal who had very weak ties to Hinduism and the caste system.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Eaton |first=Richard M. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.5233026 |title=The Rise of Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204-1760 |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-20507-9 |edition=1 |volume=17 |doi=10.2307/jj.5233026 }}</ref> Any remaining caste-like group consciousness was largely eliminated by the Faraizi movement and similar Islamic reform movements. Nearly all Bengali Muslims recorded their caste as ''Sheikh'' when asked in colonial censuses.<ref name=":0" /> About 35 Muslim castes reportedly exist in Bihari Muslims in West Bengal.{{sfn|Chowdhury|2009|p=8}}

=== Sindh === Sindh, like Punjab, has a tradition of various tribes who have caste-like status such as Samnas, Baloch and Jats. Although not as strong as in Punjab, the biradari system plays a role in who is a ''wadera'' (landlord) and ''hari'' (peasant).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hussain |first=Ghulam |date=2019-08-01 |title=Understanding Hegemony of Caste in Political Islam and Sufism in Sindh, Pakistan |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909619839430 |journal=Journal of Asian and African Studies |language=EN |volume=54 |issue=5 |pages=716–745 |doi=10.1177/0021909619839430 |issn=0021-9096|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

=== Sharifism === Sharifism is the status given to claimants of prophetic ''nasab'' (or ''qarabah'', "closeness"): descent from Muhammad, Muhammad's Quraysh tribe, or Muhammad's family.<ref>{{cite book |title=Islamic and Comparative Religious Studies: Selected Writings |publisher=Ashgate Publisher, Ltd. |year=2010 |page=30}}</ref>

== Discrimination ==

=== Representation === In 20th-century India, ''ashraf'' Muslims dominated government jobs and parliamentary representation. Campaigns exist to include lower Muslim social classes among groups eligible for affirmative action.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.milligazette.com/Archives/2004/01-15Sep04-Print-Edition/011509200449.htm |title=On reservation for Muslims |author=Asghar Ali Engineer |work=The Milli Gazette |publisher=Pharos |access-date=2004-09-01 }}</ref>

=== Burial === In India's Bihar state, forward-caste Muslims have opposed the burial of backward-caste Muslims with them.<ref name="rediff_burial">{{cite web |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/06bihar.htm |title=Backward Muslims protest denial of burial |author=Anand Mohan Sahay |work=Rediff.com |access-date=2003-03-06 }}</ref><ref>Ahmad, I., 2010. "Can There Be a Category Called Dalit Muslims?". ''Studies in Inequality and Social Justice'', p.79</ref>

=== Cooking === A study in a Pakistani village found that a caste-like hierarchy exists in its Muslim community. The sweeper group is ranked lowest, and other Muslim communities do not allow sweepers to touch their cooking vessels.<ref name="Donnan1988">{{cite book |author=Hastings Donnan |title=Marriage Among Muslims: Preference and Choice in Northern Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PL_ACoFwJ2gC&pg=PR9 |year=1988 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-08416-2 |pages=51–56}}</ref>

=== {{anchor|Racial and historical}}Historical racism === According to Ziauddin Barani, Turkish sultans discriminated against Muslims of local descent;{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}} Iltutmish discriminated against low-birth Muslims by firing 33 of them from the government,{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}} and appointed Jamal Marzuq as mutasarrif of Kannauj. Aziz Bahruz disagreed because of Marzuq's low birth status, and Marzuq was removed from his post.{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}} Low-born people could not be a ''mudabbiri'' or ''khwajgi'',{{clarify|date=May 2024|reason="Mudabbiri" and "khwajgi" need to be defined.}} and were not eligible for an iqta recommendation.{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}}

Ghiyas ud din Balban kept low-birth people from important offices, and criticized the appointment of Kamal Mohiyar as mutassarrif of Amroaha.{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}} A letter by Sayyid Ashraf Jahangiri explains that Balban researched the ancestry of his government servants and officers with genealogists in Delhi.{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}}

Tughlaq gave "preference to foreign-born Muslims in administration and government" and "systematically ignored the claims of Indian Muslims".{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}} According to Sayyid Ashraf Jahangiri, {{blockquote|The Sultan went to the extent of offering the most responsible and distinguished offices of the kingdom – for instance, those of a Wazir, a Dabir, a military commander, a judge, a professor of theology, or a Shaikhul-Islam – to almost any foreigner of some learning. Foreigners coming to India were collectively known as "the Honourables" (''A'izza'').{{sfn|Imtiaz Ahmed|1967|p=889}}}}

Historians and Urdu writers, including Masood Alam Falahi, have explained how discrimination by ''ashraf'' Muslims against lower-caste and Dalit Muslims was often disguised as claims of class and {{Transliteration|ur|khandaani}} (family line) values by Uttar Pradesh Muslims.<ref name="Sanober">{{cite journal |title= The Identity of Language and the Language of Erasure: Urdu and the Racialized-Decastification of the "Backward Musalmaan" in India |first=Sanober |last=Umar |publisher=Brandeis University |journal=Caste: A Global Journal on Social Exclusion |date=14 February 2020 |volume=1 |issue=1 |doi=10.26812/caste.v1i1.29 |page=187|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== References == === Citations === {{reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography === {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal |author=Imtiaz Ahmed |title=Ashraf and Ajlaf Categories in Indo-Muslim Society |date=May 13, 1967 |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=2 |issue=19 |pages=887–891 |jstor=4357934}} * {{cite book |last=Anis Ansari |first=Khalid |chapter=Pluralism and the Post-Minority Condition |editor1=Boaventura De Sousa Santos |editor2=Bruno Sena Martins |date=2021 |title=The Pluriverse of Human Rights: The Diversity of Struggles for Dignity: The Diversity of Struggles for Dignity |publisher=Routledge |pages=|isbn=978-1-00-039570-9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m8cqEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT86}} * {{cite book |author=Ghaus Ansari |title=Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh: A Study of Culture Contact |publisher=Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society |year=1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i0HRAAAAMAAJ |oclc=1104993 }} * {{cite book |author=Fredrik Barth |author-link=Fredrik Barth |editor=Edmund Leach |title=Aspects of Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan |publisher=CUP Archive |year=1960 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OlU7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA113 |isbn=9780521096645 }} * {{cite journal |last=Berreman |first=Gerald D. |date=June 1972 |title=Social Categories and Social Interaction in Urban India |journal=American Anthropologist |volume =74 |issue=3 |pages=567–586 |issn=0002-7294 |doi =10.1525/aa.1972.74.3.02a00220 |doi-access=free }} * {{cite journal |first=Iftekhar Uddin |last=Chowdhury |title=Caste-based Discrimination in South Asia: A Study of Bangladesh |publisher=Indian Institute of Dalit Studies |journal=Working Paper Series |url=https://idsn.org/wp-content/uploads/user_folder/pdf/New_files/Bangladesh/Caste-based_Discrimination_in_Bangladesh__IIDS_working_paper_.pdf |volume=III |number=7 |date=November 7, 2009}} * {{cite journal |author=Remy Delage |title=Muslim Castes in India |journal=Books & Ideas |date=29 September 2014 |publisher=College De France |url=https://booksandideas.net/Muslim-Castes-in-India.html}} * {{cite book |author=Azra Khanam |title=Muslim Backward Classes: A Sociological Perspective |publisher=SAGE |year=2013 |isbn=9788132116509 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sdz9AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA115 }} * {{cite web |author=Julien Levesque |title=Debates on Muslim Caste in North India and Pakistan |year=2020 |publisher=HAL |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02697381}} * {{cite web |author=David Lelyveld |title=Article on "Ashraf" in "Keywords in South Asian Studies" |editor=Rachel Dwyer |publisher=School of Oriental and African Studies |year=2005 |url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/keywords/file24799.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201227045820/https://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/keywords/file24799.pdf |archive-date=December 27, 2020}} * {{cite book |author=Robert W. Stern |title=Changing India: Bourgeois Revolution on the Subcontinent |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-521-00912-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kb_z1KghC1oC&pg=PA76}} * {{cite thesis |author=Ahmed Usman |title=Social Stratification in a Punjabi Village of Pakistan: The Dynamics between Caste, Gender, and Violence |type=PhD |url=https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/21130/1/582096.pdf |publisher=The University of Leeds |year=2011}} * {{cite book |title=Islamic and Comparative Religious Studies: Selected Writings |publisher=Ashgate Publisher, Ltd. |year=2010}}

==Notes== :A.{{Note|NoteA||This source gets the quotation from the following source: E A Gait, 'Census of India' 1901: Bengal Report 6 (1), Bengal Secretariat Press. 1902, p 439; the description in 'Imperial Gazetteer of India', v. 2, pp 329}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |author=Imtiaz Ahmad |title=Caste and social stratification among Muslims in India |year=1978 |publisher=Manohar |location=New Delhi |oclc=5147249 }} * {{cite book |author=Zeyauddin Ahmad |chapter=Caste Elements Among the Muslims of Bihar |editor=Kenneth David |date=2011 |title=The New Wind: Changing Identities in South Asia |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |pages=337–356 |isbn=978-3-11-080775-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp_la9QMGIQC&pg=PA337}} * {{cite book |last=Imam Ali |first=A.F. |title=Changing Social Stratification in Rural Bangladesh |date=September 1993 |publisher=South Asia Books |isbn=978-81-7169-267-5 }} * {{cite journal |author=Syed Ali |date=December 2002 |title=Collective and Elective Ethnicity: Caste Among Urban Muslims in India |journal=Sociological Forum |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=593–620 |issn=0884-8971 |doi=10.1023/A:1021077323866 |s2cid=146701489 }} * {{cite book |last=Sikand |first=Yoginder |title= Islam, Caste and Muslim Relations in India |year=2004 |publisher= Global Media Publications |isbn=978-81-88869-06-0 }} * {{cite journal |last=Ahmad |first=S. Shamim |author2=A. K. Chakravarti |date=January 1981 |title=Some regional characteristics of Muslim caste systems in India |journal=GeoJournal |volume =5 |issue=1 |pages=55–60 |issn=0343-2521 |doi=10.1007/BF00185243 |s2cid=153606947 }} * {{cite journal |last=Berreman |first=Gerald D. |date=June 1972 |title=Social Categories and Social Interaction in Urban India |journal=American Anthropologist |volume =74 |issue=3 |pages=567–586 |issn=0002-7294 |doi =10.1525/aa.1972.74.3.02a00220 |doi-access=free }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caste System Among South Asian Muslims}} Muslims Category:Islam in India Category:Islam in Pakistan Category:Islam in South Asia Category:Islam in Nepal Category:Social class in India Category:Discrimination in India Category:Discrimination in Pakistan Category:Discrimination in Bangladesh Category:Discrimination in Nepal Category:Discrimination in Sri Lanka Category:Caste-related violence in India Category:Caste system in Nepal Category:Caste