close
Jump to content

Rabari

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rabari, a caste of Camel Herders- Tashrih al-aqvam (1825)
Rabari female attire kutch

The Rabari people (also known as Rebari, Raika, Desai and Dewasi people) are a caste group who majorly inhibits in States of Gujarat and Rajasthan , with sparse population inhibiting Sindh , Punjab , haryana malwa.[1][2][3] They were traditionally camel herders but have now taken to rearing sheep and cattle.[citation needed]

Origin

Different images of rabari tribe

Rabari claim Balochistan as the place of their origin where there still is a temple of the Charani Goddess Hinglaj who they worship. Enthoven traces their origin to Marwar and Sindh, as well as their regular pilgrimages to the temple of Hinglaj in Baluchistan.The initial migrations in the folkloric memory of the Rabari refer to flights to Sindh and Kutch undertaken to escape Muslim persecution.According to Sigrid Westphal-Helbusch, significant migrations of Rabaris took place between 12th to 14th century, when they moved from Marwar to Sindh and Kutch. The migrations of Rabaris in fact follow similar paths as those of Rajputs and Charans, two other migrant group in this region, indicating intertwined histories. Westphal-Helbusch ascribes the goddess worship traditions of Rabaris to the Charan influence.[4] as per Kevin McGrath their origins are probably Sindhi, and they came in Kutch, some centuries ago, from Balochisthan via a northward circuit through Rajasthan to, where many of the clan still live.[5]

Vintage Rabari Bag with heavy embroidery that is unique to Rabaris of Western India. Such bags are used for gifting at wedding ceremonies.

Tattoo Culture

Rabaris were known for their elaborate Trajva tattoos. They are usually done on the forearms, face, throat. The tattoo can have a range of meanings, including representations of fertility or skill milestones. Green sap from a nearby plant is mixed with soot to make the tattoos.[6]

Population Genetics

The population genetics of the Rabari (also known as Raika or Dewasi) represents a distinct case study in South Asian human genomics, shaped by ancient pastoralist movements, centuries of strict endogamy, and adaptive physiological selection.

While the broader South Asian population follows a continuous genetic gradient, genome-wide studies place the Rabari in a distinct genomic cluster relative to surrounding agricultural and urban populations.

1. Ancestral Genetic Composition

Genome-wide SNP and ancient DNA (aDNA) modeling indicate that the Rabari possess a unique ancestral architecture compared to neighboring caste and tribal groups in Western India:

  • Enriched Indus-Periphery / Zagros Ancestry: Modern Rabaris carry high proportions of Iranian Farmer / Zagros-related ancestry (60%-65%) relative to Ancestral Ancient South Indian (AASI) hunter-gatherer ancestry. This points to strong ancestral continuity with the early pastoralist and agricultural networks of the Indus Valley region.
  • Distinct Steppe MLBA Profile: Unlike neighboring groups in Gujarat and Rajasthan that lean toward either higher AASI or higher Bronze Age Steppe ancestry, Rabaris present a moderate Steppe MLBA component (20%-25%) anchored by an exceptionally strong Indus-like autosomal core.[7][8][9][10]

References

  1. ↑ "Rabaris: The Pastoral Community". Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts. Retrieved 31 July 2026.
  2. ↑ Köhler-Rollefson, Ilse (1992). "The Raika Dromedary Breeders of Rajasthan: A Pastoral System in Crisis". Nomadic Peoples. 30 (30): 74–83. JSTOR 43123358.
  3. ↑ Chaudhary, Shyam Nandan (2009). Tribal Development Since Independence. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 23 & 126. ISBN 978-81-8069-622-0.
  4. ↑ Kothiyal, Tanuja (2016-03-14). Nomadic Narratives: A History of Mobility and Identity in the Great Indian Desert. Cambridge University Press. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-107-08031-7.
  5. ↑ McGrath, Kevin (2015-01-06). In the Kacch: A Memoir of Love and Place. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-9653-2.
  6. ↑ IANS (2023-07-27). "The evolution of traditional tattoos in India". The Statesman. Retrieved 2024-07-15.
  7. ↑ Narasimhan, Vagheesh M.; Patterson, Nick; Moorjani, Priya; Rohland, Nadin; Bernardos, Rebecca; Mallick, Swapan; Lazaridis, Iosif; Nakatsuka, Nathan; Olalde, Iñigo; Lipson, Mark; Kim, Alexander M.; Olivieri, Luca M.; Coppa, Alfredo; Vidale, Massimo; Mallory, James (2019-09-06). "The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia". Science. 365 (6457) eaat7487. Bibcode:2019Sci...365t7487N. doi:10.1126/science.aat7487. PMC 6822619. PMID 31488661.
  8. ↑ Shinde, Vasant; Narasimhan, Vagheesh M.; Rohland, Nadin; Mallick, Swapan; Mah, Matthew; Lipson, Mark; Nakatsuka, Nathan; Adamski, Nicole; Broomandkhoshbacht, Nasreen; Ferry, Matthew; Lawson, Ann Marie; Michel, Megan; Oppenheimer, Jonas; Stewardson, Kristin; Jadhav, Nilesh (2019-10-17). "An Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers". Cell. 179 (3): 729–735.e10. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.08.048. ISSN 0092-8674. PMC 6800651. PMID 31495572.
  9. ↑ Reich et al. (2009) – "Reconstructing Indian Population History" (published in Nature, Vol. 461, pp. 489–494).
  10. ↑ Nakatsuka, Nathan; Moorjani, Priya; Rai, Niraj; Sarkar, Biswanath; Tandon, Arti; Patterson, Nick; Bhavani, Gandham SriLakshmi; Girisha, Katta Mohan; Mustak, Mohammed S.; Srinivasan, Sudha; Kaushik, Amit; Vahab, Saadi Abdul; Jagadeesh, Sujatha M.; Satyamoorthy, Kapaettu; Singh, Lalji (September 2017). "The promise of discovering population-specific disease-associated genes in South Asia". Nature Genetics. 49 (9): 1403–1407. doi:10.1038/ng.3917. ISSN 1546-1718. PMC 5675555. PMID 28714977.

Bibliography

Books

Further reading

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rabari&oldid=1369665394"