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Teli

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For other uses, see Teli (disambiguation).

Teli is a caste traditionally occupied in the oil pressing and trade in India, Nepal and Pakistan. Members may be either Hindu or Muslim; Muslim Teli are called Roshandaar or Teli Malik.[1]

Teli
Teli oil press (Russell, 1916)
Regions with significant populations
 India,    Nepal,  Pakistan
Uttar Pradesh • Bihar • Maharastra • Odisha • Rajasthan • Gujrat • Bengal • ChattisgarhStates
Languages
Hindi • Marathi • Gujarati • Bhojpuri • Odia • Kannada • Telugu[2]
Religion
Hinduism, Islam, Judaism

History

In the Early Medieval period in some parts of south India, Teli community used to work on their own oil presses to produce oil to be supplied to the temples. The emergence of "Temple towns" in various parts of south India was instrumental in the improvement of social status of some of the communities who were associated with the supply of essential items for cultural activities. The communities like Malakar (garland makers), and Telikars (oil pressers) thus became important for the functioning of such towns. Some of them even became prosperous enough to make donations to the temples.[3] It was just a professional organization of any family or caste who adopted oil pressing profession, especially during the time East India Company and The Great Freedom Massacre of 1857, when oil-pressing was said to have become a profitable profession and business. This explains their varying varna status across various states in India.[4]

Subdivisions

The Telis of Bengal share their social position with communities like Suvarna Banik, Gandhabanik, Saha.[5] Further, the Ghanchi community of Gujarat have been described as a "counterpart" of the Telis.[6]

Kshatriya/Rathore (Kacheliyan) Teli :

Orgin: Originating from districts in Rajasthan such as Ajmer, Bhilwara, Kota, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Pali, Swai Madhopur, and Jaipur, they migrated to various states including Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, and others. The focus will be on their distribution in Madhya Pradesh (Indore, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Dhar, Ujjain, Ratlam, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Gwalior, Dewas), Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra (Akola, Yavatmal, Amaravati, Nagpur), and the historic Kannauj region of Uttar Pradesh (Kannauj, Kanpur, Mainpuri, Etawah).

Santaji and Tukaram

Surnames and Identity: The individuals belonging to this group bear distinctive surnames, including Kurhekar, Rathore, Gotmare, Nalat, Isokar, Khodake, Dhore, Lendhe, Makode, Amlkar, Jangle, Ramekar, Chopade, Gomase Iche, Tikhile, Zaparde, Wankhade, Bhirad, Bore, Misurkar, and others. It is noteworthy that these surnames reflect a connection to the debased Rathod Rajputs, tracing their lineage back to the Rathods of Kannauj. Rather than identifying as "Teli," denoting their occupation as oil extractors, these individuals prefer to identify as Rathores/Rathods or Ghanchi, emphasizing their noble Rathore Rajput lineage.

Historical Origins and Separation from Rajput Mainstream: The historical circumstances surrounding their separation from the Rajput mainstream can be traced back to the invasion of India by Ghori. They claim to be the true descendants of the Rathore Rajputs and assert that their divergence from the Rajput mainstream occurred in response to the prevailing circumstances of the time.

Transition from Kshatriyas to Oil Extractors: Interestingly, the Rathore community initially belonged to the Kshatriya (Khachliyan) caste and subsequently adopted the profession of oil pressing during periods of hardship. This shift in occupation represented their adaptation to challenging circumstances and is indicative of their resilience in the face of adversity.

Alternative Narratives and Claim to Rajput Status: In certain regions, the Rathors abandoned the Teli name entirely and asserted their claim to Rajput status. Some individuals allege descent from the Maihar State, where they purportedly received the honorary title of Mahato from the local Raja. Others describe themselves as "debased" Rathor Rajputs, highlighting their ancestral origins as Kshatriyas (Kacheliyan) who took up the occupation of oil pressing during times of distress[7]

Chauhan /Ghanchi Teli- Teli Chauhans are found in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Sahiwal Kashmir and Sialkot, Gujranwal, Lahore district of Western Punjab. Teli Chauhans are seen in Bhiwani, Hissar (Hisar) and other districts of Haryana, Rajasthan and after grand migration of 1947 in Pakistani East Southern Punjab.

Upward Mobilization

Saint Santaji and Tukaram

In the first decade of the 20th century, upward mobilization became the feature of Indian society when lower castes tried to move up in the socio-economic ladder by assuming the names and practices of "upper castes". Professor M.N. Srinivas notes the attempts of Teli community to claim different surnames in different censuses in a bid to improve their position in Varna system and Caste hierarchy. In 1911, the Teli community adopted the surname, Rathore and started calling themselves Rathore Teli; while in 1931 they claimed themselves to be Rathore-Vaishya. According to Shankaragouda Hanamantagouda Patil, this was done in order to climb the social ladder. Such practices were common amongst the lower castes in India.[8] The Arya Samaj movement also attempted to improve the status of lower castes. As in the case of Telis, Shri Satyavrat Sharma Dwivedi an Arya Samajist from Farrukhabad published a magazine "Telivarna Prakash" to prove the Teli caste to be of Vaishya varna.[9]

Despite of the later attempts to claim higher status Teli were initially considered as Shudra and were thought to be lower in status. According to Anand Yang, the Telis worked with beast of burden in the oil pressers and for the purpose of obtaining the desired results from the animals, they were often blinded. This made them ritually impure but later many of them as Yang notes took up the occupation of trading and branched off as Bania in order to conceal their impure origin.[10]

Politics

Bihar

In the post Mandal phase the growing differences between upper castes and OBC due to tussle between the two groups over political power culminated into replacement of upper castes by the OBCs in the political circle. The Telis along with Yadav, Kurmi, Koeri and Bania took over the erstwhile political elites namely Brahmin, Bhumihar, Rajput and Kayastha.The OBCs in Bihar are divided into upper and lower OBC on the basis of socio-economic mobility and political representation. The trio of Yadav, Kurmi and Koeri are considered as upper OBC; Teli along with Kanu, Dhanuk, Kahar, Kumhar and others are classified as lower OBC.[11] In the late 2000s, some among the Teli community of Bihar, organized by the Teli Sena, were engaging in vote bank politics as they sought to achieve categorization as a Most Backward Class in the state. Initially, they had failed to achieve this repositioning in India's official positive discrimination scheme,[12] with opposition coming from other groups who considered the Teli to be too populous and socio-economically influential to justify the change.[13] In April 2015, Bihar chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced a decision to include the Teli caste in the list of Extremely Backward Class in Bihar.[14][15]

Jharkhand

In 2018 the Bharatiya Janata Party led government in Jharkhand tried to include castes like Teli and Kurmi in the category of Scheduled Tribes, which was welcomed by protests from tribals of Jharkhand under the banner of Jai Adivasi Yuvashakti (JAY) a local organization which organized "Adivasi Akrosh Maharally", a gathering of all principal tribal groups of the state to protest against the same.[16]

Telis in Nepal

The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Teli as a subgroup within the broader social group of Madheshi Other Caste.[17] At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 369,688 people (1.4% of the population of Nepal) were Teli. The frequency of Telis by province was as follows:

The frequency of Telis was higher than national average (1.4%) in the following districts:[18]

Notable People

  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi
    Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  • B. S. Yediyurappa
    B. S. Yediyurappa
  • Meghnad Saha
    Meghnad Saha
  • R K Shanmukham Chetty
    R K Shanmukham Chetty
  • Raghubar Das
    Raghubar Das

See also

References

  1. ^ Hasnain, Nadeem (2016). The Other Lucknow. Vani Prakashan. p. 47. ISBN 978-93-5229-420-6.
  2. ^ Ramesh P. Mohanty (2003). Dalits Development and Change: An Empirical Study. Discovery Publishing House. pp. 40–. ISBN 978-81-7141-696-7.
  3. ^ "Proceedings - Indian History Congress". Indian History Congress(original from The University of Michigan). 2003. pp. 383, 387, 392. Retrieved 28 August 2020. Often oil presser is referred as Teli , " Telikar or Tailyakar ( Sanskrit - Tailikakar ) etc . The reference of ... Obviously oil industry , whether on small or large scale was important and the telikaras i.e. the oil pressers assumed importance in the rural and urban life . ... It appears from the inscriptions that some part of the oil production was donated to the Temples , for the worship of the diety ( in the temples ) .
  4. ^ "Chauhan Teli". teliindia.in. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  5. ^ Gupta, Sankar Sen (1976). Folklore of Bengal: A Projected Study. Indian Publications.
  6. ^ "Nitish Kumar's 'wait and watch' on Bihar BJP's latest Narendra Modi gimmick". NDTV. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  7. ^ "Kshatriya Teli". teliindia.in. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  8. ^ Patil, Shankaragouda Hanamantagouda (2002). Community Dominance and Political Modernisation: The Lingayats. Mittal Publications. p. 88. ISBN 8170998670. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. ^ Gupta, Dipankar (2004). Caste in Question: Identity Or Hierarchy?. SAGE. ISBN 0761933247. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. ^ Yang, Anand A. (February 1999). Bazaar India: markets, society, and the colonial state in Gangetic Bihar. p. 230. ISBN 9780520919969.
  11. ^ Kumar, Sanjay (2018). Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns. SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 978-9352805860. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  12. ^ Sengupta, Joy (27 September 2010). "Caste brigades drive hard bargain for their share in Assembly, keep parties guessing". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  13. ^ "Bid to make Teli an EBC opposed". The Times of India. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  14. ^ "Bonanzas in Bihar for upper castes, contractual employees". Business Standard. PTI. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
  15. ^ "Bihar: BJP, JD(U) set for a war of sops ahead of Assembly polls".
  16. ^ "Tribals warn Govt against ST status to Kurmi, Teli". The Pioneer. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  17. ^ Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II [1]
  18. ^ 2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report

Further reading

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