Sunar

Sunar (alternately, Sonar or Swarnkar) is a Hindu caste in India referring to the community of people who work as goldsmiths.[1] The community is primarily Hindu, and they are Kshatriya by origin and fall in Kshatriya Varna, and found usually in Northern India.

Sunar in rajasthan marwadi seth

Etymology

The term Sunar may derive from the Sanskrit suvarna kār, "worker in gold".[2]

The Sunar are still involved in their traditional occupation, that is being goldsmiths. They are also a landlords. There is however a steady process in taking up other occupations, and the community in Haryana and Punjab as whole is fairly successful, having produced several professionals.[3]They are Mair Rajput.

Factions

The Sunars are divided into a large number of territorial and non-territorial groupings called alla. Some of the major alla are the Santanpuriya, Dekhalantiya, Mundaha, Bhigahiya, Samuhiya, Chilliya, Katiliya Kalidarwa, Naubastwal, Berehele, Gedehiya, Shahpuriya, Mathureke Paliya, Katkaria and Nimkheriya. Each lineage is associated with a particular area. To which its ancestors belonged to. The Sunar use Soni, Seth, Swarnkar, Singh, Shah, Bhutani, Shroff, Sharaf, Sonik, Kapoor, Thakur, Rajput, Mair/Maidh, Rastogi, Verma, Verman etc. as their surnames. In Gujarat and Rajasthan, the community is also known as Soni and Mair Rajput.[4] In Harayana, the Sunars are often known as Swarnakar, Soni, Suri, Singh and Verma, are their common surname.

See also

References
  1. People of India: Uttar Pradesh (Volume XLII) edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1500 to 150
  2. R.V. Russell (October 1995). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India. IV. Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration, Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London. 1916. p. 517. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
  3. People of India: Haryana (Volume XXIII) edited by M.L Sharma and A.K Bhatia pages 475 to 479 Manohar Books
  4. People of India: Uttar Pradesh (Volume XLII) edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1500

Further reading
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