Arab caste is last name of many people in Indian subcontinent. Arab caste definition is This designation is sometimes returned by the descendants of the Arab mercenaries of the Bhonsla kings These were at one time largely employed by the different rulers of southern India and made the best of soldiers In the Maratha armies2 their rate of pay was Rs 12 a month while the ordinary infantry received only Rs 5 General Hislop stated their character as follows: There are perhaps no troops in the world that will make a stouter or more determined stand at their posts than the Arabs They are entirely unacquainted with military evolutions and undisciplined; but every Arab has a pride and heart of his own that never forsakes him as long as he has legs to stand on They are naturally brave and possess the greatest coolness and quickness of sight: hardy and fierce through habit and bred to the use of the matchlock from their boyhood: and they attain a precision and skill in the use of it that would almost exceed belief bringing down or wounding the smallest object at a considerable distance and not unfrequently birds with a single bullet They are generally armed with a matchlock a couple of swords with three or four small daggers stuck in front of their belts and a shield On common occasions of attack and defence they fire but one bullet but when hard pressed at the breach they drop in two three and four at a time from their mouths always carrying in them from eight to ten bullets which are of a small size We may calculate the whole number of Arabs in the service of the Peshwa and the Berar Raja at 6000 men a loose and undisciplined body but every man of them a tough and hardy soldier It was to the Arabs alone those Provinces looked and placed their dependence on Their own troops fled and abandoned them seldom or never daring to meet our smallest detachment Nothing can exceed the horror and atarm with which some of our native troops view the Arab At Nagpur in November 1817 the Arabs alone attacked us on the defence and reduced us to the last extremity when we were saved by Captain Fitzgeralds charge The Arabs attacked us at Koregaon and would have certainly destroyed us had not the Peshwa withdrawn his troops on General Smiths approach The Arabs kept General Doveton at bay with his whole army at Nagpur for several days repulsing our attack at the breach and they gained their fullest terms The Arabs worsted us for a month at Malegaon and saved their credit They terrified the Surat authorities by their fame alone They gained their terms of money from Sir John Malcolm at Asirgarh They maintained to the last for their prince their post at Alamner and nobly refused to be bought over there They attacked us bravely but unfortunately at Talner They attacked Captain Sparks detachment on the defence and destroyed it They attacked a battalion of the 14th Madras Infantry with 26-pounders and compelled them to seek shelter in a village; and they gave us a furious wind-up at Asirgarh Yet the whole of these Arabs were not 6000. There is no doubt that the Arabs are one of the finest fighting races of the world Their ancestors were the Saracens who gained a great empire in Europe and Asia Their hardihood and powers of endurance are brought to the highest pitch by the rigours of desert life while owing to their lack of nervous sensibility the shock and pain of wounds affect them less than civilised troops And in addition their religion teaches that all who die in battle against the infidel are transported straight to a paradise teeming with material and sensual delights Arab troops are still employed in Hyderabad State Mr Stevens notices them as follows in his book In India: A gang of half-a-dozen brilliantly dishevelled a faggot of daggers with an antique pistol or two in each belt and a six-foot matchlock on each shoulder They serve as irregular troops there and it must be owned that if irregularity is what you want no man on earth can supply it better The Arab irregulars are brought over to serve their time and then sent back to Arabia; there is one at this moment who is a subaltern in Hyderabad but as soon as he crosses the British border gets a salute of nine guns; he is a Sheikh in his own country near Aden The Arabs who have been long resident here have adopted the ways and manners of other Musalmans Their marriages are in the Nikah form and are marked by only one4 dinner following the example of the Prophet who gave a dinner at the marriage of his daughter the Lady Fatimah and Ali In obedience to the order of the Prophet a death is followed by no signs of mourning Arabs marry freely with other Sunni Muhammadans and have no special social or religious organisation The battle-cry of the Arabs at Sitabaldi and Nagpur was Din Din Muhammad”. Arab caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Arab caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Arab caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Arab caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many foreginers and followers of Abrahmic religions criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
Secondly I have seen Abrahmic religions especially Muslims and Christians claiming that they have no caste system – It is an utter lie. All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Arab caste is also known as Arab Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don’t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.
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