Baishya Kapali
Baishya Kapali (
Mythology
The ninth of the eleven
History
The Dom, Chandal, Savar, and Kapali were the cluster conferred as tribes during the Pala regime. According to Sarma, this caste was higher in status than the Dom and the so-called Chandal.[4]
The caste claims to be of higher rank than the Bhtiinmāli, Chandāl, or Sáha, and being descended from clean Südras the pure Dhobi and Nápit work for them. They adopted "Vaishya Kapali" caste name, to put forward the vaishya varna affiliation. The Purohit, who is distinct from that of the Kawāli, is a Patit Brähman. Their only gotra is Kasyapa; and the caste Panchäft is presided overby a headman, called Mu'tabar. The titles (surnames) found among the Kapális are Manjhi, Mandal, Shikdar, Mala, and Haldar; the families with the first three patronymics being regarded as higher than the others, while a larger sum is paid for their daughters. According to Sarkar, the Kapalis were arranged horizontally into elucidated and organised classes; the custom of kulinism was also exercised by them.[5][6][7]
After the demotion in the social strata, the Kapalis took to agriculture, dairy farming and business. The Kapalis excelled in the cultivation of jute and the preparation of gunny bags from jute. Gradually they became prosperous and some of them even became wealthy landowners. During the reign of
Ethnology
The Kapalis usually have two gotras - Kashyap and Shiva. However Santosh Kumar Kundu mentions three gotras namely, Kashyap, Alambayana and Moudgalya.[8] Some Kapalis still use Kapali as their surname.
Religion
The Kapalis were originally Shaivites belonging to the school of
References
- ^ "List of Other Backward Classes (O.B.C.) Recognized by Govt. of West Bengal" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 November 2014.
- JSTOR 44789610.
- ^ Ghosh, Shourindra Kumar. Bangali Jati Parichay [An Introduction of Bengali Castes] (in Bengali). Kolkata. p. 27.
- ISBN 978-0-8364-0633-7.
- .
- ISBN 978-81-85692-24-1.
- JSTOR 25734824.
- ^ ISBN 978-81-89466-13-8.
- ^ Mitra, Satish Chandra. Jashor Khulnar Itihas [The History of Jessore and Khulna] (in Bengali). Kolkata: Deys Publishing. p. 345.
- ^ a b Mitra, Satish Chandra. যশোর খুলনার ইতিহাস [The History of Jessore and Khulna] (in Bengali). Kolkata: Deys Publishing. p. 1035.