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Gaddi, a Hindu community of the Western Himalayas Christopher, Stephen

Description

The Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh are a community of tribal Rajputs and Bhatt Brahmans, and five partiallyassimilated Dalit castes. They straddle both sides of the Dhauladhar Mountains and share a matrix of commonalities often described as tribal -- distinct dialect, ritual practice, clan-based social organization, transhumant pastoralism, place-making ties to the mountains, and Shavite spiritual beliefs that are distinctly Gaddi. Gaddis are commonly called a tribe, although they have a complex history in being awarded Scheduled Tribe status in Kangra and ethnopolitical mobilizations are underway to include Dalits within the Gaddi tribal fold. The community is heterogeneous, spread across a large swath of the Western Himalayas extending into Kashmir. Primarily Shaivite, some low-status Gaddis have converted into a range of new spiritual beliefs. These include Protestantism, Sikhism, Devi worship, Radhasoami and Arya Samaj, among other Nirankar traditions.

Item Metadata

Title
Gaddi, a Hindu community of the Western Himalayas
Creator
Christopher, Stephen
Contributor
Database of Religious History (DRH)
Publisher
Database of Religious History (DRH)
Date Issued
2018-05-01
Description
The Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh are a community of tribal Rajputs and Bhatt Brahmans, and five partiallyassimilated Dalit castes. They straddle both sides of the Dhauladhar Mountains and share a matrix of commonalities often described as tribal -- distinct dialect, ritual practice, clan-based social organization, transhumant pastoralism, place-making ties to the mountains, and Shavite spiritual beliefs that are distinctly Gaddi. Gaddis are commonly called a tribe, although they have a complex history in being awarded Scheduled Tribe status in Kangra and ethnopolitical mobilizations are underway to include Dalits within the Gaddi tribal fold. The community is heterogeneous, spread across a large swath of the Western Himalayas extending into Kashmir. Primarily Shaivite, some low-status Gaddis have converted into a range of new spiritual beliefs. These include Protestantism, Sikhism, Devi worship, Radhasoami and Arya Samaj, among other Nirankar traditions.
Subject
Indic religious traditions; Christians in india; Radhasoami; Arya samaj; Tribal himalayan traditions; Śaiva traditions; Religious group; Modern hinduism; Hinduism; Sikh traditions
Genre
Other
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-11-22
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0385824
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/72366
Affiliation
Non UBC
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Postdoctoral
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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Attribution 4.0 International