Motisar (caste)

Motisar is an Indian community from Rajasthan and Gujarat known for folk-poetry. They were well respected & patronised by the Charans.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Origin

Motisars claim they were originally Rajputs of Jhala, Khichi, Parihar and other clans, who became devotees & worshippers of Avad Mata. The goddess Avad granted these devotees the divine gift of poetry.^[4]

History

Motisars functioned as one of the genealogist castes for the Charans. They also composed poems & praised them.^[4][6][7]

In the past, Motisars would leave their homes after Dussehra and visit the villages of Charans who patronised them. They received gifts and returned home after four to six months.^[1]

See also

Rawal

References

1. Kothiyal, Tanuja (2016-03-14). Nomadic Narratives: A History of Mobility and Identity in the Great Indian Desert. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-67389-8. The bards of Charans were called Motisars, but they were not genealogists. Instead they wrote poetry in honour of Charans as Charans did for Rajputs. The Motisars like Charans left their villages after Dussehra and returned only after four to six months.
2. Meghani, Zaverchand Kalidas (2003). A Ruby Shattered: A Collection of Love-legends in Folk-balladry Form of Saurashtra. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. MOTISAR: A community (or one belonging to it) that mostly depended upon charan patrons and regarded as a bard community
3. Jansen, Jan; Maier, Hendrik M. J. (2004). Epic Adventures: Heroic Narrative in the Oral Performance Traditions of Four Continents. LIT Verlag Münster. ISBN 978-3-8258-6758-4. In addition, the contemporary Pabuji tradition also includes poetry dedicated to Pabuji by the Rawal genealogists of the Charans, prayers performed by Dhola drummers, poems chanted by poets of the Motisar caste and hymns of Dhadhi singers, who all belong to the gayak jati or 'singing caste-groups' of Rajasthan.
4. Qanungo, Kalika Ranjan; Kānūnago, Kālikā Rañjana (1960). Studies in Rajput History. S. Chand. there are seven categories of persons and communities, who in their turn have a hereditary claim on the Charan's bounty, and are not allowed to beg of any other community. Besides their kula-guru family of Brahmans living in Ujjain till today, and the purohit (family priest), these are: the Rao Bhat of Chandisa sept of Marwar (who are the Bhats of the Charans as of the Rathors of Marwar); the Rawal Brahmans, the Goind-pota and the Viram-pota (Bhats singing with dhol?) and the Motisar community.
5. Gujarat. Gujarat Vishvakosh Trust. 2007. the bhats, motisars, ravals and such other communities also offered duhas, tales or stories and adulations.
6. Prabhākara, Manohara (1976). A Critical Study of Rajasthani Literature, with Exclusive Reference to the Contribution of Cāraṇas. Panchsheel Prakashan. Motisar is a caste which keeps the genealogies of Carans, sings their praises and begs money of them. The Motisars themselves are often good composers.
7. Shastri, Hara Prasad (1913). Preliminary Report on the Operation in Search of Mss. of Bardic Chronicles. Asiatic Society of Bengal.