Dom (caste)
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bangladesh, | |
| Languages | |
| Domari,Marathi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Hindi, Odia, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Mundari | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Islam, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dom people |
The Domba or Dom (Sanskrit ḍoma, dialectally also Domaki, Dombo, Domra, Domaka, Dombar, Dombari and variants) are an ethnic group, or groups, scattered across India. In North India, the preferred self-designation is Dom.
The form ḍomba Prakrit, while ḍoma and ḍumba are encountered in Kashmiri Sanskrit texts. Derived from ḍoma is ḍomaki, the name of a language spoken in a small enclave in Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan. It is also believed that the Dom or Domi people of the Middle East, in addition to the Roma of Europe, are descendants of Domba, who were taken, or travelled, to Sassanid Persia as servants and musicians.
The term ḍoma or ḍomba is extensively used in Indian Hindu and Buddhist literature for a segregated and enslaved population.
Its presumed root, ḍom, which is connected with drumming, is linked to damara and damaru, Sanskrit terms for "drum" and the Sanskrit verbal root डम् ḍam- 'to sound (as a drum)', perhaps a loan from Dravidian, e.g. Kannada ḍamāra 'a pair of kettle-drums', and Telugu ṭamaṭama 'a drum, tomtom'.
In 1989, 500 people were counted as speaking Domaki in the Shina valley of Gilgit Baltistan region. The people are called Bericho, Dom, or Doma. They are musicians and blacksmiths. The Dom identity developed out of their work as musicians and blacksmiths. They are a heterogeneous group, descended from a number of families that took up service with the various local rulers. The Dom belong to the Nizari Ismaili sect in Hunza, and the Athna Ashri Shia sect in Nagar. After land reforms carries out by Pakistan government in the 1970s, the Dom were given ownership of land. However, the majority of the Dom are still landless, and are still employed as blacksmiths.
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