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Mer, Maher or Mehar (Gujarati: ISO 15919: Mēr, Mahēr, Mēhar) is a caste from the Saurashtra region of Gujarat in India. They are largely based in the Porbandar district, comprising the Ghēḍ and Barḍā areas, and they speak a dialect of the Gujarati language. The Mers of the Madhavpur Ghed and Barḍā form two groups of the jāti and together they are the main cultivators in Porbandar.
Mers were once associated with the Maitraka dynasty. Sinha suggests that the word Maitraka is an adaption from Mihir, which is in turn an adaption from Mer and does not rule out the possibility that the ruling families of the Maitrakas originated from the Mers. Inscriptions at the Vadava well of Cambay mentions Mers as having originated from the Solar dynasty.
Other historians believe that Mers have [[Hun]] origin.
A further inscription from Mahuva, Dated to 1215 CE mentions a Mer king named Ranasimha, proposed to be a successor of king Jagamal, in the same area. The Hatasni inscription from 1328 describes the construction of a stepwell by Kuntaraja for the Mer ruler Thepak, who wanted to build a stepwell in his own name as his maternal uncle Khengar had done. Nagarjuna was born into the Vakhala family and his son Mahananda had Thepak by his wife Rupa, the daughter of Mandalika I. Thepak had been appointed to rule over Talaja by a Chudasama ruler named Mahisa. The Sīsodiyā branch of Mers was formed when the Sisodia Dynasty Hati Rajputs came from Mewar in Rajasthan to Saurashtra as mercenary warriors and settled at Malia Hatina (Malia of the Hatis) and intermarried with the local Ahirs and Mers. (1988). 9788170750086, South Asia Books. ISBN 9788170750086
An inscription from Bhavnagar mentions the Mer as king of Dvija.
The Arab historian Al-Baladhuri mentioned the Mers as being a powerful tribe residing in north-west Saurashtra.
Historically, the men served the Porbandar State as a feudal militia, led by Mer leaders.
Mers were the dominant agricultural caste in the Jethwa-ruled kingdom around Barda. They would coronate the Jethwa ruler by placing a tilak upon his head. Resultantly, Mers along with Kathi people and were considered to be 'Darbars'. Historically, highland Mers, also known as Bhōmiyā (landed) held more political power than lowland Mers with the latter being restricted from buying land from Bhōmiyās between 1884 and 1947. On 28 April 1895, the of Jamkhirasara (near Bhanvad) organised a collective wedding which was attended by 12,000 people, including large numbers of Mers and the Jam Sahib. Reportedly "places of honour" were reserved for them at the wedding feast and they were "held in most respect" Keshav Bhagat who hailed from Dhandhusar became a radio star in the 1930s, singing traditional Gujarati , dohas and sorthas. In the 1970s Sarman Munja Jadeja rose to prominence after killing gangsters Devu and Karsan Vagher who had been hired by Nanji Kalidas Mehta to break the strike at the Maharana Mills. As the leader of organised crime in Porbandar he ran a parallel system of justice and was hailed by many Mers as a Robin Hood-like figure. After killing 47 people, he renounced violence having been influenced by the Swadhyay Movement. In 1986 he was murdered by a rival gang resulting in Santokben Jadeja taking over her husband's gang and killing 30 people to take revenge. By the 1990s her gang was wanted in 500 cases and she in 9. Shantokben died in 2011, following which a rival ganglord, Bhima Dula Odedara became dominant in local crime and politics. Odedara took control of the profitable limestone, chalk and bauxite mines; he was given double life imprisonment by the Gujarat High Court for double murder in 2017.
Maldevji Odedra was elected from the Porbandar Vidhan Sabha seat in 1972 as an INC candidate. In 1985, Laxmanbhai Agath (INC) was elected. Babubhai Bokhiria (BJP) held the seat in 1995 and 1998, losing to Congress candidate Arjunbhai Modhwadiya in 2002. Modhwadiya maintained his seat in 2007 and became the Gujarat Congress President, but lost to Babubhai Bokhiria, who currently is the MLA for Porbandar, in 2012 and 2017.
Mers are mostly vegetarian, with pearl millet (Bājarō), sorghum ( Jōwār) and wheat being consumed with vegetables, chillis and . During weddings jaggery, ghee, lāpsi and khichdi is served. As of 1976, it has been reported that vices are common amongst Mers with around 30% consuming alcohol despite the prohibition in Gujarat. Historically, Mers were wedded through arranged marriages, which were agreed between the parents of two new-borns. However, a girl married as a child would only be sent to live with her husband's family after achieving maturity. Cousin marriage was common, while polygamous marriages were rare, only being permitted if a man was unable to have children with his first wife. The women of this community do not observe Purdah, widow remarriage was not prohibited and menstruation seclusion taboos are not followed. Dowry operates largely in the favour of women. Differing from typical , the Khaṁḍūṁ ceremony involves a sword being wed as a proxy for the groom. Grooms wear a jūmaṇuṁ made of twenty tolas of gold which has either been passed down or borrowed from relatives. Modern transport and equipment such as orchestra troupes are employed. Dates would be distributed in a custome called Lāṇ, to fellow villagers to celebrate a wedding or the birth of a son. Wedding processions are taken out in a gāḍū, a traditional bullock cart which transports women from the bridegrooms's side to the bride's home in the jān. Mers are Kshatriyas. However, in the local caste system, Vaishyas would not consume food from Mers due to their consumption of meat and alcohol. Mers are considered part of the Kānṭio Varna or haughty groups that included other tribes such as Rajputs and Ahirs. The Tēr Tāṁsḷī (13 bell-metal bowls) a group of thirteen communities that dine together but do not intermarry, includes the Mers. Vasvāyā - crafstmen, merchants and the barber are considered to be rūp or the beauty of the village by Mers. Mers and maintained a symbiotic relationship with every Mer-majority village having Rabari families, who would manage the village herd and sell dairy products from their own animals.
Mer men used to wear umbrella shaped gold called Śiṁśorīya; while Mer women wore bead shaped Vedla. Men also wore Japamala with alternating red and gold coral beads. Mer women also tattooed large parts of their body including the neck, arms and legs. Mer women were usually tattooed when they were about seven or eight years old. The hands and feet are marked first and then the neck and chest. It is customary for a girl to be tattooed before marriage. Mer tattoo motifs have a close relation to secular and religious subjects of devotion. Designs include holy men, feet of Rama or Lakshmi, women carrying water in pitchers on their head, Shravana Kumara carrying his parents on a lath (kāvad) to centers of pilgrimage, and popular gods like Rama, Krishna and Hanuman are also depicted. The lion, tiger, horse, camel, peacock, scorpion, bee and fly are other favorites. Mēr nō Rās (Dance of the Mer) a unique form of Dandiya Raas is performed. The performance includes liberal dusting of Gulal (Vermilion) on the bodies and costumes of the dancers. The practice of the dance is noted by colonial authors, where they describe its performance with both the stick and sword variation, during a collective wedding or "Bharwad Jang" of the of Jamkhirasara near Bhanvad. Mers keep a variety of weapons including battleaxes, swords, lances, guns and shields. In particular the battleaxe is used as an purpose instrument and is seen as an emblem of manhood.
The worship of Ramdev Pir is also formalised through a panth focusing on the worship of Agni and the secret Pāt ceremony is organised, breaking all caste and societal barriers. The Mers of Ghēḍ organise the Mandapa ceremony with Kolis and bring entire villages together in worship. Bhakti tradition is practised through the singing of about the Hindu epics; jiva; brahman; Jnana yoga; sannyasa; bhakti and moksha. Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism are found amongst the Mers, with every village containing a temple to Shiva, Rama, and various forms of Devi. Amidst the worshippers of Devi, the presence of a small minority of secret Vamachara practitioners has also been noted; they are reputed to worship Kali with meat and alcohol. Within the Bhakti tradition the Pranami Sampraday is prevalent and devotees worship Krishna as . The Kabir panth also has a small following, functioning in open ceremonies under the guidance of a mahant. Some Mers follow Pirs based on individual experiences. Typical forms of Hindu worship such as aarti are common. Satis of the Charan jāti including Khodiyar are highly revered. When praying to Kuldevis, Satis or Vachhara Dada, the services of a bhuvā (Shamanism) are employed . Around marriage the goddess Saranyu is worshipped for fertility, while are invited to recite the Satyanarayan Katha to pray for relief from difficult times.
Mers commission three types of to venerate their ancestors. The first type is for surāpurā (lit. perfect brave, referring to warriors); the second for surdhan for ancestors who have died an unnatural death and finally for satis. They are venerated with sindoor by Mer descendants on Diwali. One occasion on which are venerated, is weddings, where permission for marriage is taken from ancestors. In addition consent is also taken from Vachharadada.
Celebrations of Holi begin after the lighting of the Rabari Holi at Kanmera Nes in the Barda Hills is spotted in the plains villages. The Rabaris act as an intermediary to sacred powers by inviting the spirits of Puranic and Vedic figures to their Holi.
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