Product Code Database
Chuhra, also known as Bhanghi and Balmiki, is a Dalit caste in India and Pakistan. (2010). 9789386042934, SAGE Publishing India. ISBN 9789386042934 (1990). 9780520304673, University of California Press. ISBN 9780520304673 Populated regions include the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, as well as Uttar Pradesh in India, among other parts of the Indian subcontinent such as South India. (1998). 9780195633542, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195633542 (2025). 9788173043277, Manohar Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 9788173043277 (1997). 9788170226390, Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 9788170226390 Their traditional occupation is sweeping, a "polluting" occupation that caused them to be considered Untouchability in the caste system.
Originally following the Balmiki sect of Hinduism, many Chuhras converted to Sikhism, Islam and Christianity during the colonial India. (2020). 9780199910922, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199910922 Today, Chuhras in Indian Punjab are largely followers of Sikhism. A minority continue to follow Hinduism, which incorporates elements of Sikhism in its practices, as well as Christianity. (2008). 9780567047267, Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9780567047267 In Pakistani Punjab 90–95% of its Christian population are Dalit Christians of the Chuhra caste; other Chuhras practice Islam or continue to follow Hinduism. (2025). 9788173043277, Manohar Publishers & Distributors. ISBN 9788173043277
The Bhangis claim descent from Valmiki (also known as Lal Beg or Balashah), a Brahmin who composed the Ramayana and who is worshipped as a Hindu patron saint by the Bhangis. (2017). 9781351772990, Routledge. ISBN 9781351772990 The word Bhangi is derived from Bhanga which means broken. The Bhangi community claims that they were made to sweep the floor and do other menial jobs when they refused to convert into Islam during Mughal Empire era.
There are many other different theories of their origin. Some scholars link the institutionalization of "sweeping and scavenging" as a profession in India to the advent of Muslim rule. The need to dispose of waste from secluded defecation areas, particularly for women observing purdah due to a lack of sanitation infrastructure, led to the employment of war captives for cleaning latrines, bucket privies, and removing night-soil. These freed captives, shunned by society, formed a distinct caste known as the Bhangis, who continued manual scavenging. Emperor Akbar later renamed this caste Mehtar(prince or leader), as noted by sociologist Bindeshwar Pathak in his 1999 work, Road to Freedom: A Sociological Study on Abolition of Scavenging in India. Another theory suggests the name "Mehtar" comes from the Sanskrit word "Meh," meaning "saturated." This connection is seen as fitting due to the caste's historical work with "night soil." (Sharma 1995). Some link it to the consumption of "bhang" (hemp), while others apply this derivation only to those scavengers who also worked with bamboo. Crooke (1896) and Zilliot (1970) connect the term to Sanskrit "Bhang" and a perceived drunken habit, but Mishra (1936) rejects this theory. The 1960 Malkani Committee noted that even untouchable Hindu castes who converted to Islam continued scavenging. Writer Gita Ramaswamy argues the view of the relation with Islam aligns with Hindutva narratives that blame Muslim rule for social ills, thereby downplaying the pervasive role of caste in India.
Originally following the Balmiki sect of Hinduism, many Chuhras converted to Sikhism, Islam and Christianity during the colonial India. The faith practiced by the Lal Begi Chuhras came to syncretize elements of Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. The Arya Samaj drew the majority to mainstream Hinduism while conversions similarly happened to Islam, Christianity, and Sikhism in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In 1932 in colonial India, the Balmiki Sabha was created to advocate for the rights of the Chuhras. The Balmiki Sabha was applauded by the Indian National Congress in the mid-1940s for heralding its political message among the Chuhras.
(1995). 9780195637427, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195637427
In what is now Pakistan, the conversions to Christianity and consequent invention of a new identity were largely responsible for the name Chuhra becoming archaic. It is often considered pejorative and applied to almost all of the Christians in the country, whom John O'Brien describes as "descended from one tribe-caste of oppressed and excluded people". The status of the Christian Chuhra as Dalit Christians continues to be "distinct feature of social discrimination" against them.
The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Balmiki population, which was classified as a Scheduled Caste, as 1,319,241.
The Balmikis represent 0.08 per cent in Andhra Pradesh and are mainly concentrated in Anantapur, Kurnool district and Kadapa district districts of Andhra Pradesh. They also built a temple of Valmiki in Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh.
In the UK, the Council of Valmiki Sabhas UK was established to represent the Balmiki.
| Andhra Pradesh | 70,513 | 0.083% | In the Joint State of Andhara Pradesh during the 2011 census, the Valmiki caste had been counted as a Scheduled Tribe instead of a Scheduled Caste. |
(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 207,549 | 0.199% | Counted as Hari, Mehtar, Bhangi |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 82,624 | 7.82% | Counted as Mazhabi, Balmiki, Chura or Bhangi |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 19,016 | 0.074% | Counted as Bhangi, Mehtar, Balmiki, Lalbegi, Dharkar |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 577,281 | 3.43 % | Counted as Chuhra (Balmiki) |
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(Accessed: 24 August 2024). | 309 | 0.0% | Counted as Bhangi (Hadi) |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 439,444 | 0.72% | Counted as Bhangi, Mehtar, Olgana, Rukhi, Malkana, Halalkhor, Lalbegi, Balmiki, Korar, Zadmalli,Barwashia, Barwasia, Jamphoda, Zampada, Zampda, Rushi, Valmiki |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 1,079,682 | 4.25% | Counted as Balmiki, Chura, Bhangi, Mazhabi and Mazhabi Sikh |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 35,150 | 0.51% | Counted as Balmiki, Bhangi, Chuhra, Chura, Chuhre and Mazhabi |
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(Accessed: 24 August 2024). | 6918 | 0.0% | Counted as Chura, Bhangi, Balmiki, Mehtar |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 58,242 | 0.17% | Counted as Hari, Mehtar, Bhangi |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 5,281 | 0.0086% | Counted as Bhangi, Mehtar, Olgana, Rukhi, Malkana, Halalkhor, Lalbegi, Balmiki, Korar, Zadmalli |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 365,769 | 0.5% | Counted as Bhangi, Mehtar, Balmik, Lalbegi, Dharkar |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 217,166 | 0.19% | Counted as Bhangi, Mehtar, Olgana, Rukhi, Malkana, Halalkhor, Lalbegi, Balmiki, Korar, Zadmalli, Hela |
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(Accessed: 24 August 2024). | 21 | 0.0% | Counted as Mehtar, Bhangi |
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(Accessed: 24 August 2024). | 2,453 | 0.0% | Counted as Hari, Mehtar, Bhangi |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 3,500,874 | 12.61% | Counted as Mazhabi, Mazhabi Sikh, Balmiki, Chuhra, Bhangi |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 625,011 | 0.91% | Counted as Majhabi, Bhangi, Chura, Mehtar, Olgana, Rukhi, Malkana, Halalkhor, Lalbegi, Balmiki, Valmiki, Korar, Zadmalli |
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(Accessed: 24 August 2024). | 1,851 | 0.0% | Counted as Mehtor |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 118,421 | 1.17% | Counted as Mazhabi and Balmiki |
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(Accessed: 17 August 2024). | 1,319,241 | 0.66% | Counted as Balmiki |
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(Accessed: 24 August 2024). | 431,257 | 0.47% | Counted as Hari, Mehtar, Mehtor, Bhangi, Balmiki |
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