Charan (plural Charans; Hindi:चारण; Gujarati:ચારણ) is a name of a caste living in Gujarat and Rajasthan states of India. They are highly revered for their unflinching readiness for martyrdom, bravery in war, high literary sense and deep loyalty to patrons. They are also known with surname Gadhavi (also spelled Gadhvi) and Barot (or Barath). Community is considered to be divine by large section of society. Women of them are adored as mother goddesses by other major communities of this region. Many of the major goddesses worshipped in India across broad spectrum of society were born as daughters of Charan e.g. all shri Sachchai Ma, Karani Ma, Bahuchra Ma, Ma Bhut Bhavani, Hinglaj Ma (main temple is now in Baluchistan), Khodiyar Ma, Ma Bhavani, Sonal Ma, etc. This is one of the reasons Charan men are popularly known as “Deviputra” which means “son of goddess”. In medieval age, presence of Charan in royal court was matter of prestige and pride for kings.While they are considered great warrior and extremely loyal, they equally revered by kings for high literary sense and love for poem. Because of their ability to form poems instantaneously, they are also called with title “Kaviraj” which means Great Poet. Historian Dr. G. N. Sharma writes about Charans “In between social order of the Rajputs and the status of the Brahmans there is a caste of Charans which exercises a great respectability and influence in Rajasthan. The speciality of the caste is that it combines in its characteristics of Rajputs and Brahmans in an adequate manner”. Further he notes that charan was an equal partner of his Rajput chief both in war and peace.
Posted on: Sat, 05 Oct 2013 09:26:52 +0000
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