Fact File

Rawat community/ AjmerBEAWAR: The key to the BJP's prospects in Ajmer constituency, under which this area falls, is the Rawat community. ...

Rawat community/ Ajmer

BEAWAR: The key to the BJP’s prospects in Ajmer constituency, under which this area falls, is the Rawat community. The backward caste Rawats have been co-opted into the fold of Rajputs who are traditionally BJP voters. And BJP candidate Rasa Singh is a Rawat. The community’s affiliation with the Sangh Parivar and its social identity feed on each other.

The Ajmer district gazetteer says the Rawats originally practiced animal husbandry. There was another group of Mers, the Hindu Merats, who were also known as Rawats of Todgarh. The Mers, who were closer to Mohammedans, were called Kathat Merats.

The Arya Samaj made some efforts in 1947 to bring the Rawats into the Hindu fold followed by an attempt by former Jodhpur ruler Hanumant Singh in 1950. VHP leaders in the state say a sustained campaign was launched in the early ’80s. The Rawats were told they were Rajputs and descendants of the last Hindu emperor, Prithviraj Chauhan. History was invented with the help of Bhats(bards) at a sammelan (meeting) called in 1981. According to this, after Chauhan’s defeat, the Muslim invaders felt that converting his martial stock to Islam would provide a strong base for Muslim rule and thus started the process of conversions here.

According to a VHP leader, there were two categories of people in this belt Rawats and Mehrawats, named after the titles conferred by the Ranas of Mewar when these people aligned with them. Over a period of time, Mehrawat became Merat. The VHP told them of the Chauhans’ kul devi (family goddess) Ashapoorna Mata and is constructing a huge temple in Beawar.

These people consider themselves to be Rajputs and of a high caste. The Rajput families, however, still do not have roti-beti vyavahar (matrimonial alliances and inter-dining) with them.

— Rajesh Sinha