Tirgar

The Tirgar are found in the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan in India.^[1][2]

History and origin

The Tirgar derive their name from two words – tir meaning arrow and gar meaning maker. This community was traditionally associated with the manufacture of bows and arrows. Their origin myth relates to them being originally Rajput. They are said to have supplied arrows to the god Rama.^[3] The Tirgar of Gujarat claim to have immigrated to the region in the Middle Ages, and were invited by the local Rajput community to manufacture bows and arrows.^[4]

Present circumstances

The Tirgar are distributed in the districts of Jalor, Barmer and Sirohi. They speak Marwari and profess Hinduism. Their main deities are Thakurji and Shundamata. Like other Hindu castes, they are divided into gotras, and they have twenty. There main clans are Chauhan, Bania, Dabi, Solanki, Parmar and Rathore, and they maintain the principle of gotra exogamy.

With the demise of their traditional occupation, the community are now mainly engaged in agriculture. They are mainly landless, and depend on wage labour.^[5]

In Gujarat, the Tirgar are found mainly in the districts of Ahmedabad, Panchamahal, Sabarkantha and Kheda. They divided into clans, which are arranged hierarchical order, starting with the Parmar, followed by the Chauhan, Rathore, Solanki, Makwana, Waghela, Davi, Wangar and Ravalia. The Tirgar practice hypergamy and hypogamy. They are now essentially a community of small farmers, with many immigrating to the various urban centres of Gujarat. There customs are similar to other Hindu communities of north Gujarat.^[6]

In Gujarat, the Tirgar belong to the Bijpanthi sect of Hinduism, and pay particular reverence to Krishna.

References