Chasa (caste)
{{Short description|Agrian community of Odisha, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox caste
| caste_name = Chasa
| subdivisions = Odachasa, Odapadhan
| populated_states = Odisha
| religions = Hinduism
| languages = Odia
| related = Gopal
}}
Chasa is a caste in India natively residing in the Indian state of Odisha. Chasas were traditionally cultivators but are now engaged in several professions. The Odia word chasa means farmer.{{cite book |author1=Nab Kishore Behura |author2=Ramesh P. Mohanty |title=Family Welfare in India: A Cross-cultural Study |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o6Gz0ZDw7PQC&pg=PA43 |date=1 January 2005 |publisher=Discovery Publishing House |isbn=978-81-7141-920-3 |page=43 }} They are third largest caste by population in Odisha.{{cite web |url=https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/iit/Sanjay%20Kumar.pdf |title=casi.sas.upenn.edu |format= |accessdate=}}
History
The Orh/Oda Chasas claim that they were the first tribe to settle in Odisha, and that they began to cultivate the land. They claim that Odisha is named after them.{{cite book|author=Rabindra Nath Pati|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_5seKkk3GkIC&pg=PA114|title=Family Planning|publisher=APH Publishing|year=2008|isbn=978-81-313-0352-8|pages=114–115}}
They are classified as Shudra in the Hindu caste system.{{Cite book|last=Sable|first=Alan|title=Education in Orissa: A Study in Selection and Allocation Process|publisher=S. Chand Group|year=1977|pages=33}}{{Cite book|title=The Eastern Anthropologist|publisher=Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society|year=2006|pages=214–215}}{{Cite book|last=Rösel|first=Jakob|title=Der Palast des Herrn der Welt: Entstehungsgeschichte und Organisation der indischen Tempel-und Pilgerstadt Puri|publisher=Weltforum Verlag|year=1980|pages=46, 66, 70}}{{Cite book|last1=Behera|first1=Deepak Kumar|title=Contemporary Society: Tribal situation in India|last2=Pfeffer|first2=Georg|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|year=1997|pages=191}} The association between Chasas and their occupation of manual labour (ploughing) was used to stigmatize the Chasas and distinguish them from the upper castes as late as the early 19th century.{{Cite book|last=Pinch|first=William R.|title=Peasants and Monks in British India|publisher=University of California Press|year=1996|isbn=0-520-20060-8|pages=112|chapter=Being Vaishnava, Becoming Kshatriya}} "Chasa" was considered to be a "generic derogatory term for cultivators", in contrast to the sabhya bhabya Gan "sophisticated people".{{Cite book|last=Ray|first=Subhajyoti|title=Transformations on the Bengal Frontier: Jalpaiguri 1765-1948|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=978-0-700-71408-7|pages=136}}
Around the turn of the 20th century, Chasas were small farmers and marginal raiyats.{{Cite book|last=Mohanty|first=Bidyut|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9S1AEAAAQBAJ&q=chasa|title=A Haunting Tragedy: Gender, Caste and Class in the 1866 Famine of Orissa|publisher=Routledge|year=2022|isbn=9781000506839 }}
In modern-day Odisha, the Chasas are among the dominant castes in most villages, and are landowners and economically powerful.{{Cite book|last=Mahapatra|first=L. K.|title=The Realm of the Extra-Human: Agents and Audiences|publisher=Mouton Publishers|year=1976|editor-last=Bharati|editor-first=Agehananda|pages=65|chapter=Gods, Kings, and the Caste System in India}}
Classification
Chasas are classified under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in Odisha, where 'Odapadhan', a subdivision of the Chasa caste, belong to the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) category. Colonial administrator and ethnographer Sir Herbert Hope Risley notes that, since the caste system is not practiced as per the Varna model he was idolizing, it was possible for outsiders to become Chasas, and wealthy Chasas who took up the title Mohanty could marry into Karana families.{{Cite journal|last=Hewitt|first=J. F.|date=April 1893|title=Art. VII.–The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, by H. H. Risley. Vols. I. and II. Ethnographic Glossary, Vols. I. and II. Anthropometric Data|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0035869x00022395|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland|volume=25|issue=2|pages=237–300|doi=10.1017/s0035869x00022395|s2cid=163011123 |issn=0035-869X|url-access=subscription}} Some wealthy Chasas began identifying as Khandayats.{{Cite book|last=Pati|first=Biswamoy|title=India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism|publisher=Routledge|year=2007|isbn=978-0-203-93380-0|editor-last=Ernst|editor-first=Waltraud|pages=89|chapter=The order of legitimacy: princely Orissa}} The Chasas are ranked into four subcastes: Benatya, Oda/Odra, Chukuliya, and Sukuliya. The Benatyas are the highest in rank, and the Chukuliyas are the lowest.
People
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- http://www.bcmbcmw.tn.gov.in/obc/faq/orrisa.pdf
Category:Social groups of Odisha
Category:Ethnic groups in India