 Manganiar children performing with their guru at Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur at World Sufi Spirit Festival in 2016. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Unknown | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Rajasthan, India · Sindh, Pakistan | |
| Languages | |
| Marwari · Sindhi · Dhatki | |
| Religion | |
| Islam |
The Manganiar are a Muslim community found in the Thar Desert region of Rajasthan, India; mostly in the districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, and in the districts of Tharparkar and Sanghar in the bordering province of Sindh in Pakistan.
They are known for various compositions describing stories focused on humans, nature, and salvation. They, along with the Langha community, are known for their folk music. They are groups of hereditary professional musicians whose music has been supported by wealthy landlords and aristocrats for generations. Some of their ragas have originated in the Thar and are not found in north Indian classical tradition.[1][2]
- ^ Abbas, Shemeem Burney (4 June 2010). The Female Voice in Sufi Ritual: Devotional Practices of Pakistan and India. University of Texas Press. pp. 46–47. ISBN 978-0-292-78450-5.
- ^ Kothiyal, Tanuja (2016). Nomadic narratives: a history of mobility and identity in the Great Indian Desert. Cambridge University press. p. 261. ISBN 9781107080317.
The Manganiyars and Langhas are Muslim musicians and are quite different from the Bhopas of Pabuji, as they do not claim to be bards but musicians in a real sense. Using instruments like rabab, kamayacha, pyaledar sarangi, chautaro, sirimandal etc., they not only sing songs of birth, marriages and death, but are also entitled to sing in the kacheris of the patrons. It is in these assemblies that they sing ballads like Dhola-Maru, Umar-Marvi, Moomal-Rano and Sassi-Punnu. Manganiyars sing classical compositions like mota git (bada khayal) and chota git (chota khayal). Some of their ragas have originated in the Thar and are not found in north Indian classical tradition.