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 Nowhere is one likely to find a greater multiplicity of people than in Rajasthan where their roles have evolved according to their assigned social tasks, setting up a tier of castes according to functional lines. In a cultural zone, it is not unusual that the people’s trademark became their task at hand, carried forward by each generation to a degree of specialisation that is so fine that the communities have sub-groups who especially create pottery, or who are entertainers, or whose chosen role is as painters, carpenters, dancers, or priests. These are jobs assigned not on individual merits but on the basis of one’s caste. The system of learning has been within familial groups, so that a small child is born into a trade that he will learn from his childhood while observing his elders.
These groups can be divided horizontally or vertically and range from the practical to those dealing in leisure, from serving needs to recording family histories.
A genealogical study of Rajasthan would, therefore, include the warriors, the priests, the businessmen, the support communities, the tribals and the nomads.
Rajput - Born to the Sword
The Rajputs form the warrior aristocracy of the state and though their population, in relation to the original inhabitants of the desert state may have been far less, it was they who went on to become its elite through their acts of daring and elaborate rituals of kinship and inter-linked camaraderie. Yet, it wasn’t often that they came together, for inter-clan rivalries were often high, which made internecine warfare a common occurrence. Though valiant fighters to a fault, this often came in the way of offering joint opposition to the forces of invaders and led to their downfall.
For most part, the Rajputs served in the armies of their rulers and land was their compensation as a means of earning a livelihood. Their bond came not from the opportunity of employment but from a shared relationship with the kings they served.
Brahmins - Praying for their Souls
The Brahmins, who have commandeered the top social rung for themselves in the rest of the country though no less elevated in Rajasthan, found themselves at a status that was subservient to that of the Rajputs. It was perhaps natural: these kingdoms were often at war and the region was at the mercy of looters and invaders. Therefore, the total sovereignty of the Rajputs had to be accepted, if only for the protection that they were able to offer.
The Brahmins served in the royal courts and worked in departments of administration, though their main task was to adminster the souls of the people they served. They were priests in the temples and performed the complex rituals of prayers to mollify the gods, a role the Rajputs often usurped, because unlike the Brahmins, they claimed a kinship with the very gods they offered their prayers to. Also, while brahminism exercised great orthodoxy, the Rajputs had their own precepts: they believed in animal sacrifices for their gods, a ritual that in other parts of the country would have been abhorred.
Traders
Over a period of time, a greater influence in court came to be not the Brahmin priests, but members of the business community. Even though they formed a miniscule percent of the population, they controlled the economy to a large extent.
While the Rajputs built their kingdoms on the basis of offering protection to the caravans that passed through their lands, the business communities saw in them the opportunity of extending their own trades. They were able to benefit from the peregrinations along both routes and their investments paid off. Later, when the overland trade routes dried up with the opening of the coastal sea routes to Gujarat, the business families shifted their base to new centres of trade and benefited from the dependence the English traders had to repose in them. TOP^
IIn essence, there were two mercantile communities in Rajasthan, the Marwaris and the Jains. The Marwaris arose from the Shekhawati region and served in the courts of different princely states. They came to be referred to as Marwaris when they journeyed along with the armies of Marwar (Jodhpur) to the eastern extremities of the country. The opportunities in the east were enormous and the Marwaris were able to capitalise on them. Most of the major business and industrialist families, till very recently, have been Marwaris, and they still dominate business in the country.
The Jains enjoyed immense influence in Rajput courts. Since they also had links in Gujarat and in other pockets of India and are a closely-knit community, it was no wonder that they soon assumed a political role also in the courts.
They have built some magnificent marble temples in Ranakpur, Dilwara at Mount Abu and also at Chittaurgarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner. While the Jains themselves lead fairly austere lives, their temples are an exuberant celebration of life with delicate carvings adorning every available surface to create a theatrical tradition of architecture.TOP^
In Jaisalmer, the enormous influence they wielded is evident in the nature of their havelis, which they built for themselves. While merchants often tended to be richer than the kings they served, they did not believe in serving in any role more powerful than, say, a minister in the court. Several prime ministers in the kingdoms were Jain merchants.
The Marwari merchants, on the other hand, remained discreet. Their havelis in the Shekhawati region, though elaborately painted, do not even come close in opulence to the royal palaces they served, even when their loyalties had shifted to the British Raj. This was because the Marwaris continued to remain loyal to their princes who had honoured them with the extremely rare appellation of tazimi-sardar, given to the very select. A tazimi-sardar was allowed to continue sitting in the presence of the maharaja and allowed to wear gold on his feet, a privilege rarely extended to people outside the immediate circle of the royal family. It was the aristocracy which was usually so honoured and for the few Marwari seths who were awarded the title, it became a matter of family prestige.
Farmers and Conservationists
 While the association of Rajasthan is always with its warriors, it cannot be denied that the nature of society has also been largely pastoral. In fact, it is not unusual to hear of tales of rulers abdicating from their responsibilities to spend their time grazing cattle at Brindavan. While the Rajputs have always been associated with agriculture and cattle-rearing – a fact reiterated in the tales of the folk heroes whose myths revolved around sacrificing their lives for the protection of their village communities – it is the Jats who are best associated with pastoral activities. This hardy race is spread in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan where they also ruled over the kingdoms of Bharatpur and Dholpur. However, they have always been associated with farming practices because of their skill in turning even arid lands into fertile fields.
Some centuries ago, when a local saint, Jamboji bade his community protect their trees and their cattle even at the time of famine, he gave the Bishnois a strong case for conservation. A maharaja found to his horror that the Bishnois would not permit the felling of trees on their lands, wrapping themselves in a deathly embrace around their trees and facing the swords of the soldiers in the bargain. Ever since, the Bishnois, a pastoral community particularly well entrenched in western Rajasthan, has been respected for its beliefs. Even now, no tree may be cut on Bishnoi land, even for firewood; while roaming herds of deer seek shelter in their fields because they have come to know that even poachers will not venture into these lands in search of game. Their distinctive white turbans mark the Bishnoi men, while the women are colourfully garbed and wear an ornate nose ring.
Muslim Settlers
Principally, the Muslims came to Rajasthan as invaders and therefore found little to entice them to stay here, though some of the settlers, such as the Kayamkhanis and the Meos, have been associated with agricultural practices, especially in the Shekhawati belt where the Kayamkhani nawabs also wielded considerable influence. Over the centuries, there was only one Muslim kingdom that arose in Rajasthan, that of Tonk, now a busy market town, while feudatory principalities were not unknown. The Muslims also served in the Rajput court and there was no attempt to subvert each other’s religious sentiments. In fact, the Muslim settlers came to share many of the rituals and festivals of their Rajput neighbours.
However, there is reason to believe that the majority of the Muslims - there is a significant population in Rajasthan - were artisans who were simply kidnapped from the various trading caravans, since their skilled services were highly desired in the princely kingdoms. Then, as now, they have proved to be mastercraftsmen, especially in the fields of painting, dyeing, printing, bangle making, jewellery making and paper manufacture. The Bohras, a community of mercantile Muslims from Gujarat, also have a sizeable presence in southeast Rajasthan.
Service Community
If the Rajputs, the Brahmins and the Marwaris and Jains formed the social elite, the role of the service castes was no less significant. Especially at the village level, it was essential that they create a network of services that the society could depend on. While patronage for these caste sub-groups came again from the elite, their services were intended for all of society.
At one end of the spectrum they included those whose task it was to provide: therefore, there were kumhars who were potters, khatis who were carpenters, sonars who were gold and silversmiths, lohars who were ironsmiths, bhats who kept family records, chhipas who printed cloth while the rangrezs dyed them; there were groups that worked with leather, others that wove the cloth people needed to wear and others such as malis who were experts in growing vegetables. Then, as now, they provided services that provided the people of the region the goods and services required to survive in remote villages with a self-supporting network of cottage industry production units.
At another level, there were the bhopas and the dholis, the charans and the puppeteers, whose job it was to entertain, to act as drum-beaters and to keep alive the tradition of oral history with exaggeration of feats for its patrons. However, a great deal of license was also provided to them so that they could, if they found it appropriate, use cutting humour to communicate to their patrons something that was not conducted in the fair manner associated with the Rajput. Any slur on his character was enough to cause intense soul-searching in the Rajput. Communities such as the Langas and Manganiyars, now famous around the world for their performances, were only called upon to entertain. The bhopas, who recite legends associated with the folk hero Pabuji, were wandering minstrels who travelled to villages and whose visits in times of famines and other misfortunes were solicited, to recite and perform their tales of sacrifice for the protection of community life.
The Tribals
 The tribals are believed to be the original inhabitants of the hilly tracts of the desert. They have also earned themselves a great name for their skills at both warfare and the zest with which they celebrate their festivals and conduct their lives. Listed as criminal tribes by the British, it is only now that a truer representation of these people has begun to surface.
The Minas are among the best known of the so-called tribes, who once ruled in the tracts that the Kachchwahas won through betrayal, to create Amber. However, the Minas, now largely agriculturists, were allowed to conduct the anointing ceremony of the head of the Kachchwaha clan, and also served as guards to the considerable Kachchwaha treasury which was housed at Jaigarh fort. The Kachchwaha rulers were led blindfolded to the treasury so that they could not betray it to others, and from there allowed, once a year, to choose anything from its vast collection of jewellery as their own personal treasure.
The Bhils, who lived in the hilly tracts around Chittaurgarh, Banswara and Dungarpur, are even now primitive and ridden with poverty. Their way of life continues to be very colourful, but it is also an anachronism, since it dates back by several centuries. Once they assisted the Sisodia rulers to escape from the Mughals and taught them the way to conceal themselves in the hills, till such time as the Sisodias perfected the art. Both brave and trustworthy, the Bhils have unfortunately not been able to make a life for themselves in the present times.
Other tribals include the Sahariyas, people of the forest who once constituted the region’s elite but have since diminished to abysmal levels of poverty and the Gerasiyas, who are somewhat better off, possibly the result of their song and dance, which has provided them a means of livelihood.
Nomads
For some communities, nomadic existence has been a way of life. These people travel in large groups, often on a cyclical, seasonal basis, as they move around providing their particular services for people in settled communities. This can range from lending a helping hand with sowing and harvesting to doing odd jobs, making or repairing agricultural implements, carrying and trading in grains, spices and dry fruits, to the minstrels whose job it was to inform and perform.
The most visible of the nomads are the Gadoliya Lohars, literally the blacksmiths who travel in their carts. These nomads are distinctive for their decorated carts, around which they set camp, cooking over wood fires and sleeping on printed sheets on the ground, whether in the countryside, or on the roadsides of cities. The Gadoliya Lohars repair and work with iron and other metals, crafting everything from a shovel to a pair of scissors.
The Banjaras, on the other hand, were nomadic caravan runners who travelled with balaads or oxen-laden caravan and who continued travelling wherever their caravans were in demand. In the past, it was not unusual to have bullock-caravans of thousands, though there is also a mention of lakhi or one hundred thousand bullocks leading a caravan. Since they performed a very important role, armies rarely troubled these Banjara caravans. Modern means of transport have robbed them of their livelihood and they have now settled into a semi-nomadic existence, using whatever resources they command – doing jobs, entertaining, even farming – to eke out a living.
The Rabaris are still nomadic, an equally colourful sub-group that still travels over the desert in search of pastures for its flocks of sheep and camels. They travel across Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, colourfully dressed, with only the road to call their home.
Other nomadic sub-groups include the Nayaks who are entertainers, Kanjars, Sansis, Nats and the Kalbeliyas, the last a group of snake charmers whose mesmeric dances have made them popular among world audiences and put an end to their nomadic way of life when they would have to dance on the roadsides to earn a living. Yet, having exchanged the roadside for the stage, in a sense they have only changed the context of their nomadic past. Once they travelled on foot or in carts: now they travel around the world in jets, taking a bit of Rajasthan wherever they go.
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