The Dawoodi Bohras: An Anthropological Perspective

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Dawoodi Bohras undeterred from the socio-political turmoil of the Indian sub-continent prospered and today are one of the few richest contemporary Muslim communities of India. The batin' ideology of Bohra religious belief, unhesitant claim of conversion to Islam from the Anavil Brahmins of Gujarat and practice of clitoridectomy are some of the factors responsible for suffixing the title of 'secret society' to this community even by their coreligionists. Till recently Bohra was a community seen, not heard or read about. The early 70s witnessed unprecedented intracommunity violent clashes and bloodshed in Udaipur. This shattered the peace and harmony of the otherwise peaceloving Bohras, who suddenly found themselves at the forefront of national and international news media. The undercurrent of erosion of faith in the function of chief spiritual leadership was not revealed to the outside world the parasitic nature of the religious establishment till the emergence of 'progressive bohra youths' had safely prevented the community from succumbing to the traumatic experience of socio-political upheavals of the Indo-Pak sub-continent. In face of brutal criticism and various insinuations, the cool and forgiving composure of the religious head makes an observer speculate endlessly. A prosperous and well knit society reputed for gentleness and unconflicting disposition suddenly became unleashed and violent. How and Why? These are some of the questions which have been raised and answer looked for in this book with a wealth of empirical facts collected during over a decade's rigorous and indepth anthropological fieldwork among the Dawoodi Bohras of Udaipur with the help of established methodological tools.

Shibani Roy's interest in this pioneering field of anthropology of Muslim communities began with her Ph. D. thesis from the University of Delhi (1976). Her involvement in studying Muslim minorities turned into a passion and since 1969 she has been conducting field oriented research to present anthropological insight in the polymix of Indian Muslim corgmunity which presents a kaleidoscopic pattern of Indian Muslim culture. Her works include Status of Muslim Women in Northern India' (1979), 'Kolis of Talpad Vistar' (1983) and Muslims: Bio-cultural Perspective' (1984). Besides, she has several research papers and articles to her credit published in professional journals and popular magazines.

The discipline of anthropology, educationally is highly productive and is generalised as the primary basis of learning about tribal and rural communities in particular. The restricted publication in this discipline has severely limited the development of an important area of knowledge, specifically certain urban communities like Muslims, which form an important segment of the Indian society. On the history, religion, socio- -cultural matrix of the tribes and castes of India ample information may be obtained from valuable published works, but as far as my knowledge extends, no anthropological work exists giving an intensive field work oriented insight in the polymix of Indian Muslim society which presents a kaleidoscopic pattern of Muslim culture with regional sectarian diversity. Unlike the other Muslim groups the Bohras-a group of Shias-claim their conversion into the fold of Islam from a Brahmin caste group of Gujarat. This ancestry primarily acts as a premium for psychological sustenance of this community which thus exhibit an immense moral strength in their social behaviour. Being true to their religion they follow the basic tenets of Islam to the last of word. This was the first Muslim community which revealed true egalitarianism. Repeated investigations revealed a total lack of class and caste hierarchy which is .contrary to my earlier experience with other Muslim communities.

The Bohras, a trading community, undeterred from the socio-political turmoil of the Indian subcontinent, prospered and is one of the few richest Muslim communities of India with a high rate of literacy. A closer evaluation of the community revealed that the secret of this success lay in the religious leadership which had safely stirred the followers from the troubled waters of struggle for Indian independence thereby evading some of the detrimental and distressing experiences of partition. A society considered to be a 'secret society' by their coreligionists had withstood this allegation from historical times mainly due to the religious philosophy which is based on the 'batin' aspect. Recently they had been the topic of discussion due to wide press coverage emanating from the criticism of their religious leader launched by a section of Bohra youth. This initial friction was responsible for farfetched consequences which ultimately made a deep dent in the community by giving birth to an anti-traditionalist group called Asghariyas. This socio-political split in the community has been viewed as a fresh challenge towards the survival of this otherwise well knit society which is an exemplified illustration of solidarity. To guard against misconception on the part of those who have a partial knowledge of Indian Muslims and to bring forth the anthropological perspective in studying this minority community in contemporary India, the author, through rigorous field. investigations equipped with established methodological tools, has attempted to place the empirical facts in this book. After completing the analysis of the cultural traits it was felt that a deep lacuna existed in presenting a holistic picture of this. group. Thus the idea of including the chapter on anthropogenetics emerged. For this I had to depend on the expertise of my husband Mr. Rizvi who had conducted the investigations of certain biological traits among Bohras. These traits had been established as genetical parameters and used as tools in delineating the genetical characteristics. From the results of this exercise it is apparent that Bohras present phenotypic similarities with neighbouring caste Hindu populations. The similarities in the gene frequencies of the selected traits between Bohras and Hindu caste groups tempt the author to corroborate the hypothesis that Bohras belonged to local populations. prior to their being converted to Islam a few centuries ago. To further confirm this a detailed genetic distance study consisting of several loci is required.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages