Geography,Meena under British rule and Meo and Meenas

Geography

Members of the Meena community are found in the northern part of Rajasthan. Meenas share the Brij and Matsya Area of Rajasthan i.e.Sawai Madhopur,Dausa,Jaipur,Dholpur and Karauli districts in Jaipur and Bharatpur region (also the Bharatpur and Bayana districts) with other communities. They inhabit the area from Jaipur-Sikar in Shekhawati region and Alwar in the northeast region of the state. They are also widely spread in Kota, Jhalawar and Bundi. Meenas are also found in north-western Madhya Pradesh. The Meenas, community of Rajasthan, are an agricultural people occupying one of the most fertile regions of the state. The Meena kings were the early rulers of major parts of Rajasthan including Amber (early capital of Jaipur).
In the book “Culture and Integration of India Tribes” by R.S.Mann it is clearly mentioned that Meenas are considered as a Kshatriya cast equally as Rajputs, and having higher social status in the society. They are well integrated with other higher cast like Rajputs, Brahmins, Jats etc. Brahmin perform all rituals from birth, marriage and death for Meenas like for any other higher Hindu cast

Meena under British rule

Mark Brown has well elaborated the impact and issues of Meenas community during the British rule, and change in their status from Higher Social Cast to Criminal Tribe. He also mentioned the division in the Meenas as zamindar Mina group and chowkidar Minas. In his case study he answered why and how Meenas have been put under Criminal Tribal category, even being very different from the other tribal people then. How British manage to control Meenas which were growing threat for British rule in Northern India. In Woolbert’s (1898) account of the raising of the Meena Battalion at Deoli the difficulties and achievements of this process were described. Woolbert describes the Minas’ history thus:

“The Meenas are an athletic and brave race, tall, handsome, and pleasing to address, obedient to their leaders and sensible in kindness, but at the same time blood-thirsty and revengeful. …”Vivian (1912) suggested that at the turn of the century there were around one million Minas and related clans, though only a small number of these had ever been involved in criminal activity. Nevertheless, those who were so engaged, most famously the Minas living in the village of Shajehanpur in the district of Gurgaon, south of Delhi, came to be represented as a hereditary band of robbers.

Meo and Meenas

Majority of Meo population come from Meenas and till date they share same gotras (clan names) and follow very similar Ethics and Culture.According to Britannica, also called Meo, or Mewati, tribe and caste inhabiting Râjasthân and Punjab states in northern India, and Punjab province, Pakistan, who speak Hindi and claim descent from the Râjputs. In the 11th century, the Meo branch of the Mina tribe converted from Hinduism to Islâm, but they retained Hindu dress. Although the Mina and Meo are regarded as variants, some Meo claim that their ancestral home is Jaipur. Originally a nomadic, warlike people practicing animal breeding and known for lawlessness, today most Mina and Meo are farmers with respected social positions. In the late 20th century the Mina in India numbered more than 1,100,000, and the Meo, concentrated in northeastern Punjab, Pakistan, numbered more than 300,000. Both are divided into 12 exogamous clans, led by a headman (muqaddam) and a council (panch) of tribe members. They trace descent patrilineally and divide themselves into three classes: landlords, farmers, and watchmen. Both the Mina and Meo permit widow divorce and remarriage, and the Meo allow a man to exchange a sister or close female relative for his bride. Following Hindu tradition, the Mina cremate their dead while the Meo observe burial rites.
Meo of Alwar, Bharatpur, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Gangapur districts of Rajasthan made efforts to come back in Meena community, but the intermarriage concept (i.e., roti and bati) has put down their offer by Meena leaders. As Meo are followers of Islam.