Bhand Bhanr caste is last name of many people in Indian subcontinent. Bhand Bhanr caste definition is A small caste of story-tellers and buffoons. The name is derived from the Sanskrit Bhanda a jester and the caste are also known as Naqqal or actor. Only a trifling number of Bhands are shown by the census as belonging to the Central Provinces. Mr. Crooke remarks: The Bhand is sometimes employed in the courts of Rajas and native gentlemen of rank where he amuses the company at entertainments with buffoonery and a burlesque of European and native manners much of which is of a very coarse nature. The Bhand is quite separate from and of a lower professional rank than the Bahrupia. The bulk of the caste are Muhammadans but they have exogamous sections some of which as Kaithela (Kayasth) Bamhaniya (Brahman) Gujartha (Gujar) Nonela (Lunia) and so on are derived from those of Hindu castes and indicate that the caste is a heterogeneous community recruited from different sources. There are two recognised endogamous subcastes the Chenr which seems to mean little (Hindi Chenra) and the Kashmiri. The former trace their origin to the time of Tamarlane who on the death of his son gave himself over to mourning for twelve years. Then one Sayyid Hasan a courtier of the Emperor composed a humorous poem in Arabic which gained him the title of Bhanr. Sayyid Hasan is regarded as the founder of the caste. Though he was a Sayyid the present Bhanrs are either Shaikhs or Mughals; and the difference of faith Sunni and Shiah is a bar to intermarriage. The Kashmiri Bhanrs are said to be of quite recent origin having been invited from Kashmir by Nasir-ud-Din Haidar king of Oudh. The Bhands perform their marriages by the Nikah form in which a Kazi officiates. In virtue of being Muhammadans they abstain from pork and liquor. Dr. Buchanan17 quaintly described them as Impudent fellows who make long faces squeak like pigs bark like dogs and perform many other ludicrous feats. They also dance and sing mimicking and turning into ridicule the dancing boys and girls on whom they likewise pass many jokes and are employed on great occasions. The Bhand in fact seems to correspond very nearly to the court jester of the Middle Ages.. Bhand Bhanr 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. Bhand Bhanr caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Bhand Bhanr 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
Bhand Bhanr 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.
Bhand Bhanr caste is also known as Bhand Bhanr 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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