Tarkhan (Punjab)

Tarkhan
Regions with significant populations
India and Pakistan
Languages
Hindi • Punjabi
Religion
Hinduism • Islam • Sikhism
This article is about the Punjabi community. For other uses, see Tarkan.
Tarkhan, carpenter caste of the Panjab - Tashrih al-aqvam (1825)

The Tarkhan is a kin-based group commonly found in the Punjab regions of India and Pakistan. They are traditionally carpenters by occupation.[1]

The Hindu Tarkhans are generally identified as Khatis or Suthar, following the Vishwakarma community of India.[2]

The Tarkhan Sikhs were said to be much more advanced than the Muslim and Hindu Tarkhans.[3] They were known to have owned large areas of land and in some cases, villages.[4] Tarkhan Sikhs are among those groups identified as Ramgarhias, after the Misl leader Jassa Singh Ramgarhia. Despite Sikhism generally rejecting the caste system, it does have its own hierarchy and in that the Ramgarhias, of which the Tarkhans are a part, rank second to the none in Punjab.[5][6][7]

During the British rule in Africa a large number of Sikhs were taken to East Africa, for cheap labour, over 90 percent of whom were Ramgarhia Sikh, due to their skills in carpentry.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ McLeod, W. H. (2000). Exploring Sikhism: Aspects of Sikh Identity, Culture and Thought. Oxford University Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-19-564902-4.
  2. ↑ Atal, Yogesh. Sociology: A Study of the Social Sphere. Pearson Education India. p. 242. ISBN 978-8-13179-759-4.
  3. ↑ King, Noel Quinton. Perspectives on the Sikh Tradition. p. 303.
  4. ↑ Sharma, Subash Chander. Punjab, the Crucial Decade. PA (1987). p. 114. ISBN 978-8171561735.
  5. ↑ Childs, Peter. Encyclopaedia of Contemporary British Culture. p. 270. ISBN 1134755546.
  6. ↑ Judge, Paramjit S.; Bal, Gurpreet. Strategies of Social Change in India. p. 54. ISBN 8175330066.
  7. ↑ Cole, W. Owen (2005). A Popular Dictionary of Sikhism: Sikh Religion and Philosophy. p. 70. ISBN 1135797609.
  8. ↑ Light, Ivan Hubert; Bhachu, Parminder. Immigration and Entrepreneurship: Culture, Capital, and Ethnic Networks. p. 172. ISBN 1412825938.
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