Mang (caste)

Matang musicians with drums (Russell, 1916)
Matang in western India (c. 1855-1862).

The Mang, or tang, community is an Indian caste mainly residing in the state of Maharashtra. Matang are known as Madiga "kommati" in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The community was historically believed to be associated with village security and professions such as rope making, broom making, musicians, cattle castration, leather curing, midwifery, executioners, and funeral directors.[1] In modern day India, they are listed as a Scheduled Caste, Their origins lie in the Narmada Valley of India, and they were formerly classified as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Acts of the British Raj.[2]

  1. ^ Robert Vane Russell (1916). pt. II. Descriptive articles on the principal castes and tribes of the Central Provinces. Macmillan and Co., limited. pp. 188–. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  2. ^ Bates, Crispin (1995). "Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: the early origins of Indian anthropometry". In Robb, Peter (ed.). The Concept of Race in South Asia. Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-19-563767-0. Retrieved 1 December 2011.