Bazigar

Bazigars (from Persian: بازیگر‎‎ bazi + gar) are a nomad gipsy-folk of India and Pakistan found throughout North India. They live a life apart from the surrounding Hindu population, and still preserve a certain ethnical identity. Many make livings as jugglers, makers, basket-weavers and fortune-tellers; and in true European gipsy fashion each clan has its king. They are found in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Origin

The name Bazigar is derived from the Urdu word bazi, which means an acrobat. They themselves claim to be Chauhan Rajputs, who took to the occupation of acrobatics to escape persecution and attempts to forcefully convert them to Islam during the period of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. They have now been granted Scheduled Caste status in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The Bazigar speak their own dialect, known as bazigar boli, while speaking in Hindi with outsiders. In Haryana, they are found mainly in the districts of Yamuna Nagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Rohtak, Sirsa, Fatehabad and Karnal. Major Bazigar clans in Haryan include the muchhals,Lalka, Myane, Dharsout, Namsout, and Jagateka.

In Punjab, the Bazigar have Scheduled Caste status. They are found throughout Punjab, but in terms of numbers, they are concentrated in Patiala, Sangrur and Bhattinda districts are centres of this tribe. The Bazigar are a nomadic tribe, who go about from village to village practicising acrobatic feats. Their primary occupation was the performance of acrobatics. Generally, each family was allocated twelve villages, and the Bazigar were paid by the villagers to entertain them. Many Bazigar were also employed as seasonal agricultural laborers. With the increase in televisions in rural Punjab, the Bazigars traditional occupation is under threat.

Nat The Bazigar are further sub-divided into five sub-groups, the Jogi, Badtia(vertiya), Mushal(muchhals), Dharamsot and Namsout. The first four sub-divisions cannot intermarry, but Namsout only marry within the clan. Historically, the Bazigar were either Hindu or Muslim, but with the departure of their Muslim patrons, the Bazigar have embraced Sikhism. They have also abandoned their traditional dialect Bazigar boli for standard Punjabi.

See also

• Bazigar language