Merat
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (334,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
•  Pakistan •  India
|
|
| Languages | |
| • Urdu • Hindi • Marwari | |
| Religion | |
| •(Hindu) • | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| • Cheetah • Meo • Qaimkhani • Sindhi-Sipahi • Khanzada |
The Merat is a Rajput community from the state of Rajasthan in India and the provinces of Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan. They are also known as Merat-Kathat.
The Merat (Merat-ghodat Kathat.[2]) is an ancient rajput community and descendant of Samrat Prithviraj Chauhan III from the Merwara area of the Ajmer District in Rajasthan state, India. Languages of the 1000,000[1] community, including the diaspora, are Marwari, Hindi and Urdu.
The Mehrat are the descendants of Rao Meraji Chauhan. According to the recorded history in local bards Rao Meraji had two sons - Kunwar Harraj ji Chauhan and Kunwar durraj ji Chauhan. Both of the brothers were employed by the Delhi Sultan in his army who impressed by their bravery and skills awarded the title of Katha (Katha means strong and steadfast) to Harrajji and Ghoda to Durraj ji (Ghoda means horse as Gajraj ji had unmatched horse riding skills). The descendants of Katha (Harrajji Chauhan) came to be known as Kathat-Mehrats and the descendants of Ghoda (Gajrj ji Chauhan) came to be known as Ghodat-Mehrats. As both the brothers were in company of the Gori ruler of malwa kings uring region of akbar and was awarded the honorary title of katha in view of their bravery and warfare and excellence. but during the British rule they stopped marrying with rawats and hence no marriage between rawats and rajputs are practised. On the other hand, the Mehrat-Kathats usually dharam poots have continued to follow the practices of Hinduism and marry dharampoots of rawats and later due to reinforcement work was done by Jamat activists. As a result, the Rawat-Rajputs who have had marital relations with the kathats up to the middle of the 19th century, in a community meeting severed the marital ties with the Kathats. Mehra ji had four sons - Karnaji, Jodhaji, Gajiji and Happa ji. Karnaji built the fort of Chang. As the eldest son of Harraj ji the head of the Karnawat clan (known as Karna ji ki daang among Kathatas) is the titular head of all the Kathats. The present Thakur of Chang is Thakur Kalu Khan. Jodha ji built the fort of Borwa. Gaji ji built the fort of Shyamgarh. It is the most famous village of Mehrats historically. The ancient ruins of the first settlement can still be viewed in the former autonomous region of Beawar (1835), including domestic and military structures. It was acceded by Britain after Merat warriors’ successive victories in battle over occupying troops of the British Army. Three noted Muslim customs of the Merat are: circumcision, halal butchering, and Islamic burial rites proves beyond doubt that are following Islam. Mass conversion programs were started by VHP and other saffron groups but in vain.
The Merat are composed of four exogamous sub-divisions, known as dangs. The dang are arranged in hierarchy, with those descended from younger siblings having a lower status. So the dang of Chang village, descended from Karnaji, have the highest status. Each dang is headed by a patel, and there is no marriage within the dang. They also claim to be related to the Rawat, as one of the ancestors of the tribe Harraj, or Kathaji, was the brother of Goraji, the ancestor of the Rawat.
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Wikipedia