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Although Islam does not recognize any castes (only socio-economic classes), [9] existing divisions in Persia and India were adopted by local Muslim societies. Evidence of social stratification exists in later Persian works such as Nizam al-Mulk's 11th-century Siyasatnama, Nasir al-Din al-Tusi's 13th-century Akhlaq-i Nasiri, and the 17th-century Jam-i-Mufidi.
Islam is the second-largest religion in South Asia, with more than 650 million Muslims living there, forming about one-third of the region's population. Islam first spread along the coastal regions of the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka, almost as soon as it started in the Arabian Peninsula, as the Arab traders brought it to South Asia.
The largest ethnolinguistic group in South Asia are the Indo-Aryans, numbering around 1 billion, and the largest subgroup are the native speakers of Hindi languages, numbering more than 470 million. These groups are based solely on a linguistic basis and not on a genetic basis.
According to some scholars, the Malabar Muslims are the oldest settled native Muslim community in South Asia. [2] [13] In general, a Muslim Mappila is a descendant of Hindu lower caste natives who converted to Islam. [14] [15] Mappilas are but one among the many communities that form the Muslim population of Kerala. No Census Report where the ...
Despite the claims of Islam's egalitarian tenets, [additional citation(s) needed] units of social stratification, termed as "castes" by many, have developed among Muslims in some parts of South Asia. [6] [7] Various theories have been put forward regarding the development of castes among Indian Muslims.
Some scholars assert that the Muslim castes are not as acute in their discrimination as those of the Hindus, [278] while critics assert that the discrimination in South Asian Muslim society is worse. [279] From the earliest days of Islam's arrival in South Asia, Arab, Persian and Afghan Muslims have been recognised as an upper caste.
Another group was organized as "South Asian Histories for All", describing itself as an "inter-caste, multi-faith group of activists," which "cited inaccuracies regarding caste and other issues in the textbook material, and called for a delay on the books’ approval so that they could be submitted for further editing." [5]
The Muslim Dhobi are a South Asian Muslim caste whose traditional occupation is washing clothes. They are considered to be Muslim converts from Hinduism, where the Dhobi castes are launderers. Muslim Dhobis are found throughout the Indian subcontinent. [citation needed] The community is also known as Charhoa and Gazar in Pakistan, and Qassar in ...