Wagher Community's Social Fabric

The Wagher way of life and threat from SEZs - Part 2

Wagher is derived from the word gher, which means to surround. The early Waghers were fishermen in the Persian gulf from where they migrated to this region. The Waghers of Kutch are muslims. But, there are Hindu Waghers as well in other areas. The basis for the Wagher community is its profession - fishing.

One is tempted to call this social arrangement a kind of caste system, because the children inherit the parents' profession. But, the other characteristic of the caste system, namely caste hierarchy is not to be seen. Like the Waghers, there are other "castes" like the Kumbhars(Potters), Khojas(Agriculturists - farmers n labourers), Hajas(Barbers) in the same village. Each group practises its own trade, but all are equal, as muslims. To cite an example, the panchayat leader of the village, who is a Kumbhar, is seen by Waghers as "hamara aadmi" - someone belonging to their own community.

Within the caste, there are several sub castes. Among Waghers, there are Manjalias, Godhos, Maneks, Gadhs, Kungras, Chamadiyas and others. The basis for the sub-castes is not clear. To me, it seems like the sub caste denotes the place of origin of these people before they settled in Kutch as Waghers. The Maneks, for example were Hindus earlier, who took to fishing and became Waghers.

Marriage Alliances are fixed within the community itself. Marriages are allowed within the same family, cousins are allowed to marry, the only restriction is that no two persons who have been fed the same mother's milk are allowed to marry. Thus, brothers and sisters or cousins who have been brought up by the same aunt, are not allowed to marry.

Marriages are pomp occasions and are generally held during the four month off season. Wedding Ceremonies are held at both the boy's as well as the girl's place. The boy's parents incur an expenditure of nearly 80,000 Rs and the girl's parents incur an expenditure of nearly 50,000 Rs for the marriage. There is no system of excessive dowry among the Waghers.

The girl child is preferred over the boy child. While one boy is a must in the family to become heir of the family, the girl child shoulders a lot of responsibility of the household. In the Wagher way of life, both boys and girls, men and women have important roles to play in their daily life and livelihood and these roles are well recognised by the society. The Waghers believe that the family is blessed if a girl child is born first.

Coming up next: The Wagher Pramukh or Patel and the Joint family system of the Waghers - Dont miss Part 3 of this series. I hope readers are enjoying this at least a fraction of as much as I'm enjoying writing this. Comments are welcome!