Origin

The name Agri comes from Agar, a salt-pan

Salt evaporation pond

Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested...

. The original name seems to be Agle.

The tradition common among them is that they originally dwelt at Mungi Paithan and were transported to the Konkan

Konkan

The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...

 by Bimbaraja, and it is alleged that there are in existence sanads given by him to certain persons of the caste. They are not, however, forthcoming.

The following legend is given for what it is worth. Two sons, Agla and Mangla, were born to the sage Agasti; the former the ancestor of the Agris, the latter of the Mangelas (fishermen). The first was told to support himself by the manufacture of salt from the sea, the latter by fishing. The god Parashuram

Parashurama

Parashurama , is the sixth avatar of Vishnu and belongs to the treta yuga, and is the son of a Brahmin father Jamadagni and mother Renuka. He is considered one of the seven immortal human. He received an axe after undertaking a terrible penance to please Shiva, from whom he learned the methods of...

, intending to throw back the sea, was prevented by the intervention of the Agri and Mangela women. At their request he consented to throw it back only 27 miles and the strip thus formed become the Konkan

Konkan

The Konkan also called the Konkan Coast or Karavali is a rugged section of the western coastline of India from Raigad to Mangalore...

.

There is another legend to the effect that they are the musicians of Ravan

Ravana

' is the primary antagonist character of the Hindu legend, the Ramayana; who is the great king of Lanka. In the classic text, he is mainly depicted negatively, kidnapping Rama's wife Sita, to claim vengeance on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for having cut off the nose of his sister...

, the demon-king of South India, who in reward for good services settled them in the Konkan.

Agris claim to be Kahatriyas of Khatris. The late or Aryan

Aryan race

The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...

 element which they claim and which appear in some of their surnames, according to their story, was introduced into the Konkan from Paithan

Paithan

Paithan , formerly Pratishthana, is a city and a municipal council in Aurangabad district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The city was the capital of the Sātavāhana empire of ancient India that ruled from 2nd century BC to 2nd century AD...

 in the Deccan, when the Deccan was conquered by the Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

s at the close of the thirteenth century.

But the fact is Agris belonged to shudras category of the varna order, which is the lowest Varna as developed by Brahmins, so they were destined to be poor. It does not mean Agris were untouchables, it means the non-untouchables who were considered lowly by the remaining castes but were still touchables. People come under Shudra category are farmers, fishermen, people working on others land for their livelihood etc. it means people other than Brahamins, Kshatriya

Kshatriya

*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...

s (i.e. rulers having their own Sena) and Vaishya (businessmen).

The caste system was such that the Shudras were not allowed to own any property nor were they allowed to accumulate any wealth. In the past, many of the agris were not having land of their own, and used to cultivate on Jamindar’s land as “Kul” (specially Brahmins). For that purpose these people have to give half of the harvested paddy crops (i.e. rice) to Brahamins. Because of educational, social and economic backwardness of Agri caste has been inducted in Other Backward Class (OBC). The famous Chirner Andolan made by Agris in 1930 served as force to invoking “Kul Kaida” by government. It means who cultivate the land will be the real owner of the land and system of Jamindari was abolished. It benefited every Kul of Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

.

On the other hand, states that Kunbi are subdivision of the agri and subgroup of the koli. At present they are distributed in Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

, Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

, Dadra and Nagar Haveli(AMLI,AGRIWAD,VAGHCHHIPA), Gujarat(KARAJGAM,BARAI,GOIMA) and Maharashtra

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

.

The Agri of Maharashtra are also known as Agle and Kharpatil. They are distributed in the Raigad and Thane Districts and in the suburban area of Bombay city. The population of Agri in Bombay Province, according to the 1931 census, was 265,285. They speak the Indo-Aryan language Marathi at home as well as outside and use the Devanagri script.

Culture

Three major districts of Maharashtra, namely Thane, Raigad and Mumbai, are shelters of Agri Samaj. Salt making, fishery at the sea coast and farming of rice are the major occupations of this community. Rice bread, steamed rice with meat and fish is their daily diet. They celebrate Ganesh Utsav, Navratri, Hanuman Jayanti

Hanuman Jayanti

Hanuman Jayanti is celebrated to commemorate the birth of Hanuman, the Vanara god, widely venerated throughout India especially in North India. It is celebrated on the 15th day of the Shukla Paksha, during the month of Chaitra...

 and Ram Navmi

Rama Navami

Ram Navami also known as Sri Ram Navami is a Hindu festival, celebrating the birth of Lord Rama to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya of Ayodhya. Ram is the 7th incarnation of the Dashavatara of Vishnu. Years later Lord Rama was married to Sita on the...

 and fun fairs with lots of fun and devotion. In spite of birth, death, marriages and all other major differences in life, this community is gifted with lovely and traditional customs along with their adventurous and prosperous occupation of fishing.

If we encounter India we find numerous religions and caste differences. Depending on the local atmosphere they have different cultures and tradition. There are lots of diversities observed. Hence India symbolizes unity in diversity and integrity in diversity. But these cultures, traditions and customs are nowadays declining their importance. There is great need to keep on circulating these practices so that the coming young generating can understand its importance.

Agri Samaj consists of people getting their bread from farming, salt making and fishing as these being their main occupation. Not just men but women also help in earning the daily bread. Women take care of their house as well as manage the professional transactions. This is the major reason why there is no dowry systems experience in this community.

These people celebrate marriage with lots of fun and enjoyment. Haldi ceremony is held before the day of marriage. On this day men and women gather and dance freely with all means of freedom. All young and elder women are provided freedom to dance and they are nowhere bounded with any specific fencing. This shows what a free atmosphere the men and women experience here.

Major change or turning point in an individual's life is the time he marries someone. No role of dowry system is observed strictly in this community. Giving of dowry as well as acceptance of dowry both are considered to be taboo. If we go through India's history we find many cases of dominating and suppressing women for dowry. But women in this community are pretty safe. There is a great need to adopt these type of customs and tradition by other religions. Big people always say that take good thing from anything and throw away all bad thing from everything. This encourages people like us to accept such good traditions.

This Samaj is considered to be low caste but it has qualities that overcome Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 Samaj even. This is required to be pampered freely so that these people in this community do not hesitate to freely express themselves.

Now-a-days,Agri people are more business oriented.People have extensive real estate property which was earlier used for farming.They are fond of Gold.Agri women wears heavy gold ornaments.

Customs

In Maharashtra, there are mainly three districts (Raigad

Raigad

Raigad is a hill fortress situated in the modern day Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. The Maratha king Shivaji Maharaj made the fort his capital in 1674 when he was crowned King of a Maratha Kingdom which later developed into the Maratha Empire eventually covering majority of modern day...

, Thane

Thane

Thane , is a city in Maharashtra, India, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, northeastern suburb of Mumbai at the head of the Thane Creek. It is the administrative headquarters of Thane district. On 16 April 1853, G.I.P...

 and Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

) where we can see people of Agri Samaj. The actual business of Agri people is fishing, salt production and paddy farming . They have Fish, Rice and Bhakari as their food. 'Ganesh Utsav' which comes in the 'marathi' month of Bhadrapad, the fare of RamNavami, Hanuman

Hanuman

Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...

 Jayanti and Navratri are some of their main festivals. Along with this, Agri Samaj believes in all the cultures.The main thing of Agri Samaj is that they do not believe in Dowry system.

The origin of Agri Samaj is farming. This is a culture of hardworking people and the farmers who love the nature. All men and women work together for their homes, fields and salt production. Along with togetherness we can see equality in the Men and Women of Agri Samaj.

Festivals

Gavachi Jatara:

There is a major attraction to Jatra in this community. Jatra is nothing but fun-fair. Mostly celebrated in the Chaitra month of the Hindu Calendar, fun-fair in agri samaj is the symbol of their communal integrity. Generally these village fun-fairs are celebrated for worshipping the village.

Generally these village fun-fairs are celebrated for worshipping the village goddess so that the goddess protects these villagers from all sorts of natural calamities and disasters. The village goddess is worshipped by elderly and young people of the village. During such fun fair people in other villages are also invited and there is colourful and pleasant and loving atmosphere. The major food eaten on this day is deliciously cooked meat with nicely baked bhakris. Also lots of sweet is sold in fun-fair of expressing the happiness.

There are different types of stalls for bangles, cosmetics, food items, sweets, games. For children there are giant wheels, merry go round. There is a chance for the ladies and young girls to roam freely without any botherance and fright. People do lots of shopping for themselves, their children and friends and enjoy a lot.

ganesh chaturthi

Hindus have major devotion towards Lord Ganpati. Similarly Agri Samaj also worships Ganpati whole-heartedly. Ganesh Utsav is celebrated for worshipping Gauri and Ganpati Bhagwan. This Utsav is celebrated in the month of Bhadrapad. During this period farmers and fishermen don't have much work to do. So this festival is celebrated for a longer time in a relaxing mood.

Lots of preparation are done before Ganesh Chaturthi. Ganesh Chathurthi is the day when the people bring a Ganpati

Ganesha

Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...

 (statue of Lord Ganesh) at their home. They make lots of decoration. Some people celebrate this feast for 5,7,10,21 or even for 30 days.

Jaagran is observed during this feast. Jaagran is celebrated by worshipping God whole heartedly and without sleep. Many guests come for visiting these days. On the last day of the Utsav the Ganesh moorti is released in the sea or river or lake with lots of happiness and celebration.

Now days birth of Lord Ganesha is also celebrated in Magha Month which is called as Ganesh Jayanti in most of the Agri Families.

Holi

Holi

Holi

Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United...

 is celebrated in the month of phalgun according to Hindu methology. This day is celebrated for destroying bad nature in mind and he hate betrayal animity, anger, jealousy and encouraging love, happines all bad thought in mind are removed. On this day a huge born fire is related & this born fire is worshipped ladies & gents elders & young together.

puri

Puri (food)

Puri ,Hindi पूरी , Urdu: بوری, Tamil பூரி , Kannada ಪೂರಿ , Oriya ପୁରି, is an unleavened Indian bread, commonly consumed in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries of South Asia. It is eaten for breakfast or as a snack or light meal.Puri is most commonly served at breakfast...

, puran poli, karanj ladu, gulabjamun,anarcee are cooked in every house. Barks of mango tree are generally need for the bonfire village people sing songs for goddess of holi

Holi

Holi , is a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus. Holi is also known as festival of Colours. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, Pakistan, and countries with large Indic diaspora populations following Hinduism, such as Suriname, Malaysia, Guyana, South Africa, Trinidad, United...

. They also dance to express their fereness and happiness. This program is continued full late night.

Narali Poornima

Narali Poornima is the most important and major festival of Agri Samaj. According to Hindu Mythology this feast arrives in Sharavan month. Actually Agri and Koli communities mainly depend on fishery as their main occupation i.e. they are closely related to sea. This is the major reason behind this Narali Poornima being their main fest.

From the monsoon times the sea shows very aggressive nature . In order to calm down the temper of the Sea Lord this feast is celebrated. During this feast people in agri-koli Samaj devote or release a golden coconut in the sea and pray for calmness and protection of their boats and ships they use in sea during fishing. All elders and younger in this community gather at the sea coast to worship the Sea Lord.

All people in the village celebrate this day by dancing, singing and then worshipping on the sea coast. After worship and prayer is done all fishermen go in the sea for fishing and start fishing from that day after a halt in the rainy season. That is why this is the most important festival of Agri Samaj.

Exogamous divisions

There are no exogamous sub-division above families have the same surname and observing common mourning. The following is a list of such families, kuls or gortras:
Bhamber, Bhoir, Bholekar, Chavan, Choudhari, Danki, Dasalke, Dhumala, Driyacha, Dukre, Gaikar, Gaikwad, Gavad, Gavil, Shivasi, Gharad, Ghodinde, Gondhali, Gulvi, Jadhav, Joshi,Juikar, Kadu, Kalaj, Kamane, Karbhari, Kari, Keni, Khambalker, Khanda-Agle, Kharik, Khuntale, Kokati,
Kotval, Kutilkar, Madhovi, Mali, Mandre, Mhatre, Mohile, More, Mukadam, Mokal, Naik, Navare, Pangdi, Patil, Pavar,pottey, Sare, Sasai, Shelar, Shirke, Sigola, Tare, Thakur, Vaghoda, Vaze, Yadav.

Some of these names have apparently been borrowed from Rajputs and Marathas, some derived from occupations, some are the names of places and some family titles. It is to be noted that these may be distinct gotras bearing the same surnames, members of one of which may intermarry with members of another: e.g.: the common names 'Bhoir', 'Jadhav,' , 'Mukadam' 'Tare' which occur all over the Thane District, are borne by families quite distinct one from another, who do not observe common mourning and may therefore intermarry.

Following are the endogamous division of the caste:

A) Sudh-Agri (Pure-Agri) who are called:
1. Mith-Agri (Salt Maker),
2. Jas-Agri(Toddy-Drawers),
3. Dhol-Agri(Drummers),
4. Son-agle and Pan-agle.

The exogamous sub-divisions of Sudh-Agris are the following:
Bhoir, Choudhari, Chavan, Gharad, Gulvi, Jadhav, Keni, Mali, Mhatre, Mandre, More, Mokal, Navarye, Pavar, Shelar, Shirke, Tare, Vaze, Yadav.

There are no endogamous division of the caste.

There is no marriage within the limits of any one of the subdivision mentioned above or similar kuls, members of which observe common mourning.

A man may not marry a cousin within five degrees of relationship. There is no distinct prohibition against marrying two sisters, but it is not the practice unless the first sister is dead. A man may marry two cousins

B) Das-Agri's:
The name probably comes from Dasi, a term applied by the Aryans to those of mixed descent or of a different race.

Das garis differ little from the Sudh-Agris in matters of religion and custom. The exogamous sub-divisions of the caste are:
Kadu, Kene, Gharat, Madhovi, Vaze, Sare,Gavad.

Das Agris, according to their own story the thrum or dashi- weaving Agris, but more probably the Agris of impure descent or Dasiputras , The local story is that they are the descendants of an Agri's mistress whose children died in infancy. She vowed to the Mahar's god that if her children lived to grow up she would walk from her house to the Mahar's house with a cow's bone on her head and a tag or thrum of wool in the lobes of her ears. Her children grew up and she carried out her vow and was excommunicated.

A Palshe or Golak Brahman is the priest of the caste. The caste god is Vishnu.

C) Urap Agris:

Urap Agris, know also a Varap Agris, are found in several villages in Salssette and Bassein, and are said to be Christian Agris, who reverted to Hinduism in 1820 and othere in 1828. They are also known as Nave or New Marathas. Both in Salsette and in Bassein the Urap Agris are considered lower than Sudh or Das Agris, who neither marry or eat with them. They have separate priest and a separate headman. Their manners and customs are the same as those of other agris and they worship the Hindu gods.

The chief evidence of their having once been Christians is to be found in their surnames, which are Gomes, Soz, Fernan, and Minez. It is said that the Bassein Agris who reverted in 1820 had to pay Rs 1200. The priest who purified and took them back wa Ramchandra Baba Joshi, a Palshe Brahman. His caste for a time excommunicated him, but he was allowed to rejoin when he ceased to act as priest to the Uraps, One Bhai Mukund Joshi, also a Palshe, succeeded Ramchandra. Like the former he was put out of caste, but when he had a child to marry he did penance and was allowed to rejoin the caste. The name of the priest who admitted the Agris in 1828 (November 12) was Vithal Hari Naik Vaidya, a Palshe Brahman of Bassein.