History of patidar comunity

  

Who are the Patidars?

Patidars or Patels claim themselves to be descendants of Lord Ram. They are divided into two main sub-castes: Leuva Patels and Kadva Patels, who claim to be descendants of Ram’s twins Luv and Kush respectively. There are other sub-castes like Satpanthis, who are mainly centered in Kutch district and have some social customs akin to Muslims, such as following a Pir. And there are Chaudhary Patels, who are concentrated in North Gujarat, and are recognised as OBC. Barring the eastern tribal belt, Patidars are spread all over Gujarat, with a higher concentration in North Gujarat and Saurashtra. Leuvas marginally outnumber the Kadvas. They dominate Saurashtra and Central Gujarat, while Kadvas are the leading community in North Gujarat. South Gujarat has a mixed population thanks to the migration of community members from other parts to Surat.

‘Patidar’ means one who owns a strip of land. In medieval India, members of the community were among the more industrious farmers, and rulers of erstwhile princely states hired them as tenants of the best and largest tracts of land in their kingdoms. Post independence, tenants got land ownership rights, and thus Patidars became lords of large swathes of prime agricultural land.

How well off are Patidars financially?

In medieval society, they were well placed in the caste hierarchy. The village chief was called Patel or Mukhi. In independent India, having got prime agricultural land, they were better off than other agriculturalists, and therefore recognised as an upper caste. They consolidated their position further with the advent of new crop varieties and agricultural equipment.

Why are they angry and demanding a share of the OBC quota?

Quotas have meant that Patidar youth must do that much better in competitive examinations to land a government job or a seat in a government medical college. Youths from rural areas are at a double disadvantage due to their socio-economic background. The community is infamous for its skewed sex ratio, and Patel youths, especially in the rural areas, find it difficult to get a bride. Parents of girls prefer a groom with a government job or business in a city to one with agricultural land in rural areas. Over the years, economic downturns and crop failures have led to a preference for government jobs over farming. Cities like Rajkot have seen training centres such as “Patidar IAS Academy” open with the aim of getting more Patels into the All-India Services. The diamond industry too has been under stress of late, and some diamond polishers have committed suicide in Surat after being laid off. Saurashtra, dominated by Patels, is a major cotton and groundnut belt, but farmers have not got good prices for their crops in the last two seasons. The stress has contributed to the perception that as Patels suffer, OBC youth, helped along by quotas, have been steadily improving their socio-economic situation.

PROMINENT PATIDARS

Industrialists
* KARSANBHAI Patel: Founder of Rs 2,500 cr Nirma group, which also runs Nirma University
* TULSI Tanti: Founder of Suzlon Group
* PANKAJ Patel: CMD of Cadila Healthcare and promoter of Zydus Group, 5th largest pharma company in India
* MAHENDRA G. Patel: MD of Ahmedabad-based Lincoln Pharmaceuticals Ltd
* JAYANTIBHAI Patel: CMD of Meghmani Organics Ltd, a chemicals manufacturing company that makes pigments and pesticides
* PRAYASVIN B Patel: CMD of Elecon Engineering Company Ltd, pioneer in the manufacture of material handling equipment

Diamond Barons
* SAVJI Dholakia: Harekrishna Diamonds, Surat; famously gifted cars and flats to employees as Diwali gifts
* GOVIND Dholakia: Shree Ramakrishna Exports, Surat
* VALLABH Patel: Chairman of the world’s leading diamond company, Kiran Gems, a Diamond Trading Company
* LALJI Patel: Owner of Dharmanandan Diamonds Pvt Ltd; bought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monogrammed suit for Rs 4.31 crore

Politicians
* ANANDIBEN Patel: Chief Minister of Gujarat
* KESHUBHAI Patel: Former Chief Minister
* VITTHAL Radadiya: Porbandar MP
* PRITI Patel: Britain’s Minister of State for Employment

Real Estate
* DIPAK G Patel: Chairman, Ganesh Housing Corporation Ltd
* RUSHABH Patel: MD, Parshwanath Group of Companies
* SURESH Patel: CMD, Surya Group