Tanti

For other uses, see Tanti (disambiguation).

The Tanti surname of Pan Caste are a Hindu caste found in the state of Bihar and Bengal in India. "Pan " has been granted the status of Schedule Castes in Bihar under 1976 modification by the Presidential Order.[1][2] Common surnames of the Tanti community in Bihar are Yadav, Kumar, Parmal, and Ram, while common surnames of the Bengali Tanti caste are Mondal, Tanti, Marik, Bhuiyan, Chakladar, Das, Basak, and Khasta.

Origin

The word tanti is derived from the Hindi word tant, which means a loom. They were traditionally weavers, and are one of the many communities found in South Asia, traditionally associated with this craft. According to their traditions, they were created by the Hindu god Shiva from his tears. The community is found in south Bihar, and district of Ranchi in Jharkhand.[3]

The Tanti are endogamous and consist of a number of totemistic clans, the main ones being the Nag, Sal and Kachchap. They are further divided into uncha or pure Tanti, and the nicha or impure Tanti normally reside in Bihar . These two sub-divisions do not intermarry. They use Pan Tanti,Das and Pan as their surnames. The Tanti speak Panchpargania dialect of Hindi. Their traditions are similar to other Hindu weaving castes, such as the Koshta and Buno Pan.[3]

Present circumstances

The Tanti were victims of mechanization, as their traditional occupation is no longer viable. They have now joined other mainstream occupations like but not limited to business,agriculture and other major industries. The community is Hindu, but incorporate many folk beliefs. They are still in downtrend community, and only few have taken modern education..[3] Tanti is also called Panika Tribe in Sonbhadra and also Tantubai in some districts of Uttar Pradesh mainly Deoria, Gorakhpur and western part (bhojpur region) of Bihar mainly Chhapra, Sivan, Buxar, Arrah etc.They are not restricted to traditional weaving occupation anymore however few of they do own hand-loom mills and textile factories producing a fabric known as "Tanti Silk". There are several economical sections which includes daily wage workers,farmers, small scale industries and very small fraction of them work in government and private sector due to lack of education. main leaders of tanti caste in Bihar:- Ravindra Kumar Tanti(Chairman, Pan/Swasi Choupal,Bunkar Mahadalit Sangh,Bihar ),Kusheshwar Das, Krishna Kumar Das(Santosh Kumar Pan),Rajiv Pan(Resident of Nalanda,General Secretary, Pan/Swasi Choupal,Bunkar Mahadalit Sangh,Bihar) ,Hiramani Tanti(Secretary-Ladies wing,Pan/Swasi Choupal,Bunkar Mhadalit Sangh,Bihar),Pankaj Kumar Pan(Resident of Gaya,Secretary, Pan/Swasi Choupal,Bunkar Mahadalit Sangh,Bihar)

See also

References

  1. ↑ EGazette Bihar :: Recent Gazette. Egazette.bih.nic.in. Retrieved gazette no:-723 Dated:-02/07/2015.
  2. ↑ Eyes wide shut: Dalit votes welcome in Bihar, not their woes
  3. 1 2 3 People of India Bihar Volume XVI, Part Two, edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha, pp. 914-916, Seagull Books
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