Sunday, April 29, 2007

Who are the Bhandaris?

The Mumbai Magic Chor Bazaar Walk ends at the Gol Deoul temple. I was hanging around, saying goodbye to my guest, when I spotted this road sign - Bhandari Street.


I knew that the Bhandaris were among the earliest settlers in Mumbai. Raja Bhimdev, who ruled this area in the 13th century, created a capital city at Mahim (Mahikawati). With him came the Bhandaris. The Bhandaris in Raja Bhimdev's employ were originally toddy tappers.

Have you seen them? The guys that shimmy up tall trees and collect palm wine? It's an interesting sight. I thought I'd read up a bit more about them - so I hunted around, and found out the community has a little legend about why they shimmy up trees!

The story goes thus - Once, Lord Shiva mounted an army and went to war against the demon called Tilakasur. He stopped on the way, it was a hot day, and he was thirsty. A drop of sweat fell from his brow, and from that drop, the first Bhandari man emerged. Shiva asked him to find some water for him to drink. The man roamed the forest, but couldn't find anything. Then Shiva created a palm tree. In a trice, the man went up the tree and fetched the Lord a refreshing drink. And since then, this community has been climbing palm trees. Neat story, huh?

The story doesn't end there. Pleased with the man's service, Shiva appointed him Treasurer of Alkavati - and so they became known as Bhandaris (Bhandar is the local word for treasury).

The Bhandaris have martial traditions, and include themselves among the Kshatriya caste. The Bhandaris formed a part of the armies of many kings (Shivaji's trusted naval general was a Bhandari). They have a reputation for bravery, hardiness and loyalty. Gerald Aungier, the "Father of Bombay" formed the Bhandari Militia in the late 1600's, which was the first police establishment in Mumbai. Later, this group grew into what we call today's Bombay Police. You can read the history of the Bhandari Militia and Bombay Police in this book by S M Edwardes. 

There are Bhandaris all over Western and South India - the Ezhavas of Kerala (who practice the famous martial art of Kalaripayattu, from which Kung Fu originated), the Billavas of Karnataka, the Nadars of Tamil Nadu (also Kalari fighters), the Gaud Bhandaris from Andhra, and the Gomantak Bhandaris from Goa.

They are united by the religious leader they follow -
Shree Narayana Guru, a nineteenth century Ezava saint and social reformer, who preached that all men were equal, and that caste was a whole load of bunkum. In 1888, Narayana Guru built a temple in Kerala, where he inscribed these simple lines:
Devoid of dividing walls of CasteOr hatred of rival faith,
We all live here

In Brotherhood
.

68 comments:

HP said...

Hey

Good Post!!

Thanks!!

Cheers,
HP

Anonymous said...

Are you sure about the Gouds of Andhra Pradesh being part of the Bhandaris? The Gouds have been associated with Toddy Tapping. However, they do not claim any Kshatriya status. They are in fact enumerated as Backward classes.

Deepa said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhandari_caste
Goud or Edigas are said to be in the same group as Bhandaris.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goud
This article says that they used to be warriors.

This page from the Bhandari Mahasangh includes the Gaud Bhandaris:
http://www.bhandarimahasangh.org/appeal.html

This page from Goanet News lists Bhandari as a surname among Gauds, but I don't know whether it is the same community:
http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=137

Anonymous said...

The question was out of curiosity. I am from Andhra Pradesh. In this state, traditionally, only the community known as "Rajus" are taken as Kshatriyas. As a matter of interest, the Telugu areas were never under the control of Kshatriyas except for the northern coastal areas around Visakhapatnam. So the warriors came from all communtites. There is a mention of one Kannammanaidu a member of a schedule caste being the commander of the army on one side in the Battle of Palnadu, which is one of the defining moments in the history of Andhra Pradesh.

Deepa said...

The Bhandaris count themselves among Kshatriyas as per the varna system. However, because of their poor economic status, many Bhandari communities are listed under the 'Other Backward Classes' category. Communities which have not received OBC listing are fighting for it.

Anonymous said...

Your blog is very good resource for information on such topics. I liked it very much.

Thx,
Ken

khalid mohamed said...

Hello deepa..terrific stuff on city and its history. I edit a paper called Ht Cafe, part of Hindustan Times in Bombay, and would very much like to use the article if it has not been printed elsewhere. Also wanted to know if you would like to contribuite to the city page of the Cafe on a regular basis. Please do call me on my cell 98210-46318. Hoping to hear from you soonest..regards..Khalid Mohamed.

empcarl said...

Hey.. was checking out stuff on the community and, wow, ain't this a treasure trove. A very interesting community, and their warrior lineage is fab. Actually was looking up tidbits to impress my girlfriend ( ok ok.. ;-) ) But really, good history lesson.

Anonymous said...

Deepa ,

Good post , btw we do not count us as Kshatriya , we are kshatriya's I belong to Sheshvanshiya kshatriya bhandari family for your very kind information. Kindly study well before writing on caste and also referring to open sites like wiki where citations are needed.

Deepa said...

Anonymous, If there are any factual errors in the article, please point them out. I don't see any so far, but happy to be corrected. I agree wiki is not reliable, I was only using it to answer a question that someone asked. I also read through several other websites including the marriage portals where I searched for Bhandari brides and grooms to see what castes they listed.

- Deepa

Unknown said...

Deepa,
This was very nice information. quite surprising....

Prashob Nambiar said...

its nice post deepa, i too was checking out the history of bhandaris, they got a great history behind them, just confused there are bahndaris' who are lower caste(not economicaly but due to their profession) and also kshatriyas.
Anyways nice article.

Regards,
Prashob

Anonymous said...

Really great article with very interesting information. You might want to follow up to this topic!?! 2011

Anonymous said...

Okay it's interesting but would anyone like to tell me that what about bhandaris frm Nepal, we do have so many numbers of bhandari families in Nepal. And just for further information in Nepal there is two kinds of bhandaris; one called "rajbhandari" and another just "bhandari". N I m bhandari aswell..Brahmin dananjay gotra... Just wondering if anyone can figured it out...???

Chetan said...

I feel that Hindus should stop talking about their caste and sub caste and think of them as nothing but Hindus and human beings. I cannot think of any good reason that caste can help us in today's modern world. The government should really ban and destroy any paper indicating the caste of a Hindu person. This will make us come together as a religion. Maybe the government is afraid of Hindu unity.

Anonymous said...

Bhandari subcaste belongs to which caste?? Obc????

Sainath Parkar said...

Hi, My self Sainath. I'm belongs to the Bhandari caste community from Mumbai, Maharashtra. First of all Bhadari's are belongs to seafaring castes. Which comes under "Kshatriya" varna. Today it belongs to Other Backward Caste (OBC) category. Our mother tongue is MARATHI. We have big impact on today's Maharashtrian culture especially in Mumbai and Konkan region of Maharashtra. Do not confuse in Bhandari surname and Bhandari caste both are different. Nepali surname Bhandari is different one & it is not comes under our caste.
Thank You!

praveen gowda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

gouds of ap are kshatriyas ,, refer the below sites
rddsaapwarangal.blogspot.com


http://goudayouthforce.blogspot.in/p/history.html

apgouds.com/‎

http://www.gurudevan.info/forum/goud-in-andhra-pradesh-similar-ezhava-billava-community-t464.html


goudsparivaar.com

www.settibalija.com/surnames

nadarsangam.com




www.goudsinfo.com


www.goudsinfo.com/history.htm‎


https://www.facebook.com/pages/Royal-Gouds/437223159650991‎


www.goudmatrimony.com/‎


shubhamgoudsmatrimony.com

www.gopa.co.in

Anonymous said...

wow...that was really a good information nd i ws confused abt the varnas, that it belonged to as i fall in that caste...nd i didnt know why dey put bhandaris in OBC section...thanks a lot....

Anonymous said...

Hi Deepa, I am a 96K Marartha girl, married into a Bhandari family. I have been trying to obtain as much information as I can about the culture, history and origin of the Bhandari community. Your article has certainly helped. Would like to thank you and encourage you to continue your research and post the same.

Ramana said...

i have observed some surnames in bhandaris and bhavasar kshatriya (a caste prominent in maharashtra , gujarat and also seen in karnataka, andhra pradesh, tamilnadu and rajasthan but in less number compared to maharashtra and gujarat) are common.....can any body tell me the reason.

Anonymous said...

interesting... I am a Goud from Telangana. And my surname is Banadari. I have known people with surname Bandari not all of them from Goud community. Traditionally Goud community in Telangana is associated with Toddy Tapping. My father, grandfather & all my uncles were/are Toddy Tappers. Economically we are very poor compared to other common castes. Thus we come under backward caste. Currently I live in Kolkata where one can find many Bhandari's. They are from upper caste unlike Gouds from Telangana/AP. I had lived in Bangalore also. Where people used to associate me with Gowda community which is again an upper caste in Karnataka. I always assumed and debated that Bandari is different from Bhandari and also Gowdas of Karnataka are different from Goud in Telangana/AP. This article suggests otherwise. Now I have a soure that indicates that Bhandaris, Gowdas, Gouds all were same except that Gouds from Telangana/AP are socially and econamically backward community.
Your article is very informative. I have few inferences drawn regarding Goud community in Telangana beging backward unlike other Bhandari's.
This might be due to Muslim rule in Hyderabad State (Telangana) which resulted in oppression of Hindu people. (Other areas were under either British and/or Hindus) After the independence only people with lot of land (Zamindars) and Farmers could regain their economic status (Reddy, Patel)..etc. And thus Gouds of AP are regarded as Backward Caste in current society.

Anonymous said...

Is there any historical eveidence of bhandaris establishing kingdoms in India other than sardar sarvai paapanna of Andhra

Unknown said...

Hey Deepa
Thanks for the wonderful information.
Will you Pls provide this information in hindi or marathi language.

Anonymous said...

I wamted to know that punjabi caste bhandari belongs to which category general or obc?

Rickbha said...

I was searching for the history of Bhandary's and my search brought me here. There are also bhandarys (sometimes spelt bhandari) from the Bunts community of manglore,parts of kasargod district bordering karnataka and kerala. This is the same community with its popular surname being Shetty. None of them were into toddy tapping. Infact they were traditionally feudal lords and are now the hotel business dominating community.

Rickbha said...

There are also bhandarys from the bunts community from manglore and parts of kasargod district bordering karnataka and kerala. The community's widely known surname is Shetty. These bhandarys (sometimes spelt bhandary) were feudal lords in the earlier decades and now are dominant community of hotel business in mumbai.

vaibhav bhatkar said...

Please stop discussing on stupid topic Castism and all, Please focus on developments and growth, don't show your interest of mythological stories which we don't have any evidence.

Please Please Please, don't waste your time being engaged in this stupid things

Marutheeraja said...

REFERRENCES ON RAJUS ( The Telugu speaking Kshatriyas)

" Those who claim themselves to be Kshatriyas are in fact known by local names, in the Punjab - the Khatris; in Bihar,U.P.,Rajashtna and madhya Pradesh - The Rajputs or the Thakurs; and in Andhra Pradesh the Rajus"
- Page Nos. 239,240 A social history of India by S.N.sadasivan. Published by APH Publishing.
------------------------
." The Rāzus, Mr. Stuart writes further, ...... .. As a class they are the handsomest and best developed men in the country, and differ so much in feature and build from other Hindus that they may usually be distinguished at a glance"
- source : 'Castes and Tribes of Southern India' by Edgar Thuston
-----------------------
Sri V. Ramachandra Rao's article "A Brief note on the RAJU community of Andhra Pradesh" is available on the net.
which provides good info. on the Raju community.
-----------------------

Gaurav Patel said...

I am kuber bhandari.we are located in south Gujarat only.can you tell me which cast we belongs??

Anonymous said...

Long time ago a person was carrying history of some castes. He lost his memory and some of the people found some papers translated in English about a caste Bhandari. It was noticed from the summery that, Originally Bhandaris were Brahmins and are from the family of Arya Chanakya. This community was Kshatriya Bhrahmins like CKP.They were Samveda Brahmins. This community was used by several kings who were the followers of Vedas. Many families die during war and many of them settled in various part of world. Including Africa, USA, UK,Nepal, France etc.

This community was appreciated by all kings, Saints and other people as perfect Hindu, very honest and brave community. My personal observation is that, they prevented lots of Mughal attacks on Hindus, They protected lots of saints, including Shankaracharyas. Recently during British raj, they protected Mumbai from Muslim culprits. British and French and even Germans appreciated their bravery and brain.

Also note that, Gaud and Gauda are different. Gauda are from tribal community. I dont know about the status of this community as OBC or any other.

Anonymous said...

It's a very good,informative and exciting site.Very well smothered with beautiful pictures that makes it much more exhilarating.

sandeep bhandari said...

My self sandeep bhandari I belong to amritsar punjab india. Bhandari kshatriya have great history in ancient india bhandari cast hindu khatri caste .

Stranger said...

I think u misunderstood Gouds of ap are not Kshatriyas,gouds of ap are under BC category....there are Kshatriyas called as rajulu in AP comes under OC mainly in coastal and rayalaseema areas they are concentrated

Stranger said...

Gouds are not Kshatriya's in Andhra Kshatriya's are called as rajulu...if u want search in google

Unknown said...

Hi I am vishwanath bhandari my cast sc madiga. in karnataka so many bhandaris in sc caste is real.please reapply me.

Anonymous said...

Bhandaris of Nepal and Garhwal fall under Chhetri/Rajput (Kshatriya) group. They are Among the other Kshatriya clans like Bisht, Thapa, Basnet, Rana, Negi, Bohora. Where as Rajbhandaris belong to Newar community of Nepal. They also fall under Kshatriya caste but they're considered inferior to Bhandaris.

Anonymous said...

The Name is S K Bole who dragged bhandari caste in OBC in 1957

Anonymous said...

Finally fond origin of our caste

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/study-says-ezhavas-have-european-paternal-lineage/article2489303.ece

Unknown said...

Bhandaris are not Kshatriyas or warrior community as they claim themselves to be. The word Bhandaree is a combination of two Marathi words Bhanda and Aaree. Bhanda is a kind of pot made up of gourd for collecting toddy and aaree is a curved metallic instrument used for making cut on toddy trees. If you can get to see a photo of bhandaris taken by a british - Willliams clerk in 1865 in Mumbai, wherein two half-naked bandareen are having this bhand and aaree with them, it would become clear to you. The story written by you is a fake imagination propagated based on fake mythological stories.

Anonymous said...

There are 4 to 5 subcaste in Marathi Bhandari population resides between Vasai to Goa in which majority is Kitte Bhandari found mainly in Raigad and Ratnagiri coastal villages. Other is Hetkari based mainly in Sindhudurg. :- Parag

Anonymous said...

King Shivaji's Navy (Aarmaar) consist mostly of Bhandaris, chief also was Bhandari from Rajapur. (Maynak Bhandari). And why do you think toddy tappers couldn't be warriors; you have to learn war history of konkan.:- Parag

Mallya vishwanath u said...

Good article !

Mallya vishwanath u said...

Good article !

Mixedbroadcaster said...

Yes,bhandaries count themselves as kshatriya but,they dont have pppr economic status , they earn more than any engineer ,doctor or any business man ,point this note.....

Anonymous said...

Hi,

could you please send me a link stating that there are different form of Bhandaris. One which are a part of OBC and others who are part of general category (Kshatriya Bhandaris). Please its really very important !
Please if you have it, please send it to sayalisawant0017@gmail.com

Siddhesh Gawande said...

Good post.. Thank you

Siddhesh Gawande said...

Good post.. Thank u

Samir n said...

Who is the Kuldevi and Kuldevata of Bandhari people like Hetkari or Kitte

Anonymous said...

Ohk.. You are try to say we should forget our cast or any cast just because it's divid us on cast base, so can you tell then how can we, indian, have cultural diversity on we pride most.. every culture has cast and every cast have its own culture and customs. Indirectly you are trying to say destroy our culture and customs.. !!

Anonymous said...

Andhra Pradesh & Telangana The castes such as Goud, Ediga, Setty Balija, Sri Sayanas, Yatha are similar to Maharashtra - Kalal, Goud Kalal, Bhandari, Namadari, Billava, Jain Kalar, Jaiswal, Shivhare. These castes predominantly into the business of brewing and liquor mainly through toddy tapping. The status of 'Kshatriya' has been claimed by all these castes not only in these two states but also in the state of Tamilnadu and Karnataka. There is no evidence of varna for that matter allover India 'Kshyatriya' status is matter of belief not defined. Because of the imgration of people from place to other place varna status has been getting changed frequently,so it need not be taken in its strict sense. But it can be said without any ambiguity that the castes mentioned above are of different branches the same tree ie 'Palmora'.

Unknown said...

He's just giving information about cast.not spreading hate .and it's others choice to be stuck with mythologies. Btw where are you from??

Anonymous said...

Do not trust the early British as they and also Mughals played this famous strategy of divide and rule, they would love to defame such communities especialy thosecwith warrior bone in body.

I belong to Bhandari community, Kashyap Gotra, Ram vansh and we are landlords here in our current native and not toddy tappers. its in 18th century some Bhandari people adapted to this profession of toddy tapping with Gawade or gawada. Bhandari community were originally Bhramin from kashmir later migrated to central Bharat where they had to became Kshatriya to Protect Dharma, some of them later in Rajputana (Rajasthan) were called Rajput then many migrated to southwards to west (Konkan) to stop the Unwanted intruders because this was also the time when loads of unwanted intruders came by ships Bhandari along with other communities like Koli Defended the West coast. later during the british raj some bhandari had to adapt to the profession of toddy tapping. everything has a link Bhandari as a community itself has many diff profession just like many other caste of Hindus of Sanatana Dharma.

Save Samaja, Save Dharma because unity will be Acknowledged.
one unity should protect and encourage other unity which will be an Ultimate Dhrama.

This Community has lost its much of things in the warfare just to Protect the Dharma and this land of spirituality. so it deserve the Respect just like we should respect all other community of this spiritual land.

Unknown said...

There are bhandari family in Punjab, belong to khattri clan

Anonymous said...

Yeah..he is absolutely right!
(REFERENCE : GOUDA PURANAM (and a lot of other sources too) - Where it was mentioned that this community people were originated from a sage called koundinya) They don't claim it because neither many people from this caste know about the fact of them belonging to a kshatriya varna nor were any people concerned enough regarding their status.
And to let you know, I am currently researching on this very topic of gouds/bhandaris/ or billavas or whatever names this community has were actually kshatriyas.

Unknown said...

Hi, love this post. Informative. Do you know anything about Bengali Bhandari. I am a bengali bhandari but of Mahishya caste. I don't know much about my ancestry.

Anonymous said...

hi deepa this is bvg from hyderabad i am from same caste.i would like to discuss with you.present i am researching about our caste please once mail me email.id srikoundinyaastrology@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

iam from same caste will you give me your email id

Unknown said...

Kaalbhairav & Bhairibhavani

Unknown said...

Hi deepa thx for the bhandari caste information.i am from karwar

Anonymous said...

Awesome work
I really appreciate your deep research.
I have a request actually, have you heard of bhandari of odisha are they different somehow cause many are even priests in different temples for example most famous temple of Brahmapur bhudhi thakurani amd many other ma temples in odisha have bhandari priest how?

Rev. Godson said...

Which palm they climb, where are they concentrated?

Unknown said...

Tuljabhavani

Anonymous said...

In Nepal Bhandari is of Kshatriyas.There are three gotra of chhetri bhandari in Nepal.
Kaudinya :Bhandari (kaala)
Kaushik : Bhandari(achhami)
Vasistha :Bhandari (Thansinghe)

There are Brahmin bhandari in Nepal But they were not originally Bhandari .They used to have other Brahmin surnames previously and later only transferred to bhandari after they started working in Bhandar.There are three gotra of Brahmin Bhandari of Nepal.
Dhananjaya :Bhandari (Bhusal)
Bhanrdwaja : Bhandari ( Niraula)
Mandabya : Bhandari ( Bajagain)
This is the reason why you would find Brahmin bhandari in Nepal only.If you are Brahmin bhandari of gotra dhananjaya then if you trace back to your family names you must find Bhusal surname in your fore father.

Anonymous said...

In Nepal Bhandari is of chhetri.There are three gotras of chhetri Bhandari of Nepal. They are:
Kaushik: Bhandari (Acchami)
Kaudinya: Bhandari (Kaala)
Vasistha: Bhandari (Thansinghe)

The Brahmin Bhandari of Nepal weren't originally Bhandari. They later only transfered to Bhandari after started working as store keepers in Bhandari. They used to have other brahmin surnames previously.There are three gotras of brahmin Bhandari in Nepal. They are:
Dhananjaya: Bhandari (Bhusal)
Bhardwaja: Bhandari (Niraula)
Mandabya: Bhandari (Bajgain)
This is the reason you would find Brahmin Bhandari in Nepal only.

Nature wonders said...
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Nature wonders said...
This comment has been removed by the author.