HALALKHOR

THE HALALKHOR

The Halalkhors are a community of Muslim sweepers. They are also musicians. Their synonyms are mehtar, Bhangi and Halalbegi. They are found through tout the state of BIHAR. There are about 400 members of this community in the RANCHI district it is interesting to note that they are always located near the town. The speak in Urdu but they are also fluent is Sadri and Hindi. They are the Arabic script for communicating with the Muslims, but use Roman and Devanagari script for writing to non – Muslims.

            They are nonvegetarians and eat beef regularly their staple food is rice , wheat , and Rules  such as Arhar Moong , Masur and Kurthi . They use mustard oil as a cooking medium they also consume loeally available seasonal fruits and vegetables .They consume alcoholic drinks, procured from the market

            There one this regulates their material alliance. The Halalkhors are sunnis. They are an endogamous sact among the Muslim; they are ranked low because of their unclean occupation .The marriageable age for a girl varies between 12 and 16 years and for a boy, between 20 and 22 years. Cross - Cousin Marriage parallel Cousin Marriage (excepted among the children of the some mother who offers her breast milk) Nikah (widowmarriage) a love marriage (in rare cases), levirate, sororate (funior) golat (marriage by intrusion) are practiced by them shadi (marriage by negotiation) is comman. Dahej (dowry) is prevalent among them. Before a marriage ceremony there is an agreement between the bride and the bridegroom’s party regarding the amount of den mehar which would be given to the bride in her life time the den Mehar is not given to abride in case of talak (divorce) In case of a widow – remarriage, if the bride has any children, the Question of who would be the custodian of children is decided by the panch they have nuclear and extended families their interitance pattern is as per the Islamic law.

            Their women are engaged as sweeper in the ranch municipal corporation. Their earnings from a part of the family income Pollution (chhut) lasts for 7 days after children on the seventh day, the Nai comes and purifies the new born and the mother by paring off their nails, after the pochha the maulavi reads the milad Sharif, katha after 2 or 3 months the new born is named in consultation with the Maulavi. The Sunnat (circumcision) of a male child is done at an early age in the presence of a Hajam. The marriage (Nikahis Solemnized by the maulvi) . A panchayat is held before the marriage in the bride’s house to finalize the agreement it is followed by salami which involves a token visit and soone gifts from the bride’s house.

            The dead are buried as per Islamic rituals. The eldest son is the First person to put soil on the dead body they do not observed a post death pollution period.

            Their traditional occupations Include sweeping and scavenging. Working as wage laborers and beating the drum or playing some musical instrument in the band are their Subsidiary occupations some of them now are band masters and they charge between Rs. 700/- and Rs. 1500/- for a marriage or  for my other festive oceaion for four months in a year they can earn from this profession  they are also engaged  as rickshaw pullers or motor car mechanics those who are skilled are employed in H .E .C Ranchi as peons and sweepers in the Ranchi medical college in the municipal corporation or the A G’s office in Ranchi some of them sell fish . No child labourers or bonded labourers have been reported among them these days they are keen on giving up their traditional occupation and adopting other gainful occupations they have their own anjuman panchayat. The headman and other members of the panchayat are elected if one is not satisfied with the verdict of the panchayat he moves to the chourasi which consists of 3 to 4 districts. The verdict of such panch is final.

         Their sacred centers are located in Ajmer, Mecca and medina, some of them have visited the dargah at Ajmer sharif.There is a mosque in their locality where they real the namaj at least on Friday

In the economic sphere they have a close relationship with the Hindus and Muslims who hire them for playing the band during their socio – religious

Functions. The literacy rate among them is poor though they live in the towns which have educational apathy about female education . They do not prefer family planning measures. For driking water they are dependent on tap water supplied to them by the municipality. None of them gets any facility under the IRDP Scheme most of Thom are an ware of the various developmental Scheme almost all the families possess a radio a tape recorder a watch and a T.V They have electricity in their houses. They use get ration at controlled rates once a month. They take loan from the banks for the purchase of instruments and dresses for their band party.