Qalandar
The Qalandar are a Muslim community, found in North India . They are also known as Qalander Faqir. A few Qalandar are also found in the Terai region of Nepal. The community trace their origin back to the Sufi saint Bu Ali Shah Qalandar. They claim to have come originally from Karnaland Panipat. They were once Qalandariyah Faqirs, who took to the profession of bear fighting. The community consists of three sub-divisions, the Langre in eastern Rohilkhand, the Rohilla in western Rohilkhand and the Machhle in Awadh. They are now found through out Uttar Pradesh, and speak their own dialect, known as Qalandari. The Qalandar were once a nomadic community, but many are now settled. Their traditional occupation of bear fighting has come to much criticism from the animal rights activists in the west, and have now been proscribed by india.They are now undergoing settlement, with many taking to cultivation. But their holdings are extremely small, and many are sharecroppers.
Although the community are sunni, they incorporate many folk traditions and beliefs. This includes special reverence to the sufi saint Bu Ali Qalandar, who is buried in panipat. They visit his shrine every year on occasion of his birth. Many of the settled Qalandar are undergoing Islamization, and some of their folk beliefs are being discarded. But they remain an extremely marganilized community, interacting little with neighbouring muslim communities.
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