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Historical development

Islam does not recognize any castes, but, when it came to Persia and India, the existing divisions in these regions were adopted among the local Muslim societies. Evidence of social stratification can be found in several later Persian works, such as Siyasatnama of Nizam al-Mulk (11th century), Akhlaq-i Nasiri of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (13th century), and Jam-i-Mufidi (17th century).

The Muslims who came to the subcontinent during the 12th century Muslim conquest of India were already divided into social classes such as priests, nobles and others. Further, a racial segregation demarcated the local Muslim converts from those of foreign origin. The foreigners claimed a superior status as they were associated with the conquerors, and categorized themselves as Ashraf ("noble"). Over time, the Indian Muslim society also split on the basis of the existing Hindu caste system. According to M. N. Srinivas (1986), Indian Hindu converts to Islam brought their original caste system to the Muslim society in the region. On the other hand, Louis Dumont (1957) believes that the Islamic conquerors consciously adopted the Hindu caste system.

Ziauddin Barani, the 14th century political thinker of the Delhi Sultanate recommended that the "sons of Mohamed" (i.e. Ashrafs) be given a higher social status than the low-born (i.e. Ajlaf). His most significant contribution in the fatwa was his analysis of the castes with respect to Islam. His assertion was that castes would be mandated through state laws or "Zawabi" and would carry precedence over Sharia law whenever they were in conflict. According to Barani, every act which is "contaminated with meanness and based on ignominity, comes elegantly ". Barani also developed an elaborate system of promotion and demotion of Imperial officers ("Wazirs") that was primarily based on their caste.

History of research

There are various definitions of the term "caste", and therefore, various opinions on whether this term can be used to denote social stratification among non-Hindu communities. Ghaus Ansari (1960) uses the term "caste" to describe the Muslim social groups with following characteristics:

• endogamy within a given social group
• hierarchical gradation of social groups
• determination of the group membership by birth
• in some cases, association of an occupation with the social group

Beginning in the 19th century, the British scholars of India first catalogued the various Muslim castes:

• Henry Miers Elliot's Supplement to the glossary of Indian terms (1844), later amplied into Memoirs on the history, folk-lore, and distribution of the Races of the North Western Provinces of India
• John Charles Williams's The Report on the Census of Oudh (1869)
• Denzil Ibbetson's Census Report of Punjab (1883), later adapted into Panjab Castes
• John Nesfield's Brief View of the Caste System of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh (1885)
• Herbert Hope Risley's Tribes and castes of Bengal (1893)
• William Crooke's The tribes and castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh (1896)

Nelson's book, in particular, included a whole chapter dedicated to the Muslim castes. In the 20th century British India, a number of works included the Muslim social groups in their descriptions of the Indian castes. These included H. A. Rose's A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province (1911).

In independent India, Ghaus Ansari (1960) initiated academic discussion over the Muslim caste system. Subsequently, Imtiaz Ahmed elaborated the topic in his Caste and Social Stratification among the Muslims (1973).

Divisions

Ghaus Ansari (1960) named the following four broad categories of Muslim social divisions in India:

• Ashraf, who claim foreign-origin descent from Afghans, Arabs, Persians, Turks etc.
  • E.g. Mughal
• Converts from upper castes
  • E.g. Muslim Rajputs
• Converts from other "clean" castes
  • E.g. Darzi, Dhobi, Dhuniya, Gaddi, Faqir, Hajjam (Nai), Julaha, Kabaria, Kumhar, Kunjra, Mirasi, Manihar, Teli

1. Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 27. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGhaus_Ansari1960 (help)
2. Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 29. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGhaus_Ansari1960 (help)
3. ^ Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 30. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGhaus_Ansari1960 (help)
4. Azra Khanam 2013, pp. 115–116. sfn error: no target: CITEREFAzra_Khanam2013 (help)
5. Das, Arbind, Arthashastra of Kautilya and Fatwa-i-Jahandari of Ziauddin Barrani: an analysis, Pratibha Publications, Delhi 1996, ISBN 81-85268-45-2 pp. 124-143
6. Sikand, Yoginder (2003), Sacred Spaces: Exploring Traditions of Shared Faith in India, Penguin Books India, pp. 7–, ISBN 978-0-14-302931-1
7. ^ Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 22. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGhaus_Ansari1960 (help)
8. Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 2. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGhaus_Ansari1960 (help)
9. Azra Khanam 2013, p. 115. sfn error: no target: CITEREFAzra_Khanam2013 (help)
10. Ghaus Ansari 1960, p. 32-35. sfn error: no target: CITEREFGhaus_Ansari1960 (help)