Charan

Charan is a general surname in India, meaning the feet. It is often used in conjunction with Ram (meaning at the feet of Lord Rama)> It is used by various groups in India, e.g. a caste living in the Sindh, Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, where the women of the caste are adored as mother goddesses by other major communities of this region including Rajputs.

A Charan will consider all the other Charans as equal even if they do not know each other and have radically different economic or geographic status.

As the surname is used among various castes, there is some confusion whether that they form a distinct caste. Anil Chandra Banerjee, a professor of history, has said that

In them we have a combination of the traditional characteristics of the Brahmin and the Kshatriyas. Like the Brahmins, they adopted literary pursuits and accepted gifts.Like the Rajput, they worshipped Shakti, drank liquor, took meat and engaged in military activities. They stood at the chief portal on occasions of marriage to demand gifts from the bridegrooms, they also stood at the gate to receive the first blow of the sword.

Their eating and drinking habits resemble those of the Rajputs, except that most of the Charan women do not consume meat (unlike Rajput women). Charans used to enjoy consumption of opium and drinking of liquor, practices which are also popular among the Rajputs of this region. Charans do not eat the flesh of cows and hold those who do in utter disregard. Cows are respected like mothers. A husband and wife will not drink milk from the same cow, or milk soiled by their counter part. Drinking milk from one mother (cow) symbolises that those who do so should be considered as siblings. Before Indian independence in 1947, a sacrifice of a male buffalo constituted a major part of the celebration of Navratri. Such celebrations quite often used to be presided over by Charan woman.

A whole genre of literature is known as Charan literature. The Dingal language and literature exist largely due to this caste.Zaverchand Meghani divides Charani sahitya (literature) into thirteen subgenres:

Other classifications of Charani sahitya are Khyatas (chronicles), Vartas and Vatas (stories), Raso (martial epics), Veli - Veli Krishan Rukman ri, Doha-Chhand (verses).

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