Introduction / History

The Thathera are Hindus living in northern India. They manufacture metal household utensils. The Thathera say they are descended from the Haihay kings which was a very old Hindu dynasty.

The Thathera have clans that are Rajput. They are called Rajputs. In Uttar Pradesh most of them live in the regions of Lalitpur,Jalaun, Allahabad, Lucknow, Mirzapur, Banda and Kanpur. In Bihar they live in the regions of Patna, Nalanda, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Mungur and Nawada. The Thathera in Bihar are in many different exogamous clans. This means marriage partners are chosen from clans other than their own.

What Are Their Lives Like?

The Thathera earn a living in metal work, the selling and repairing of utensils. Many of them are cultivators of land. In Bihar, many others are jewelers. They have a caste council to settle problems to do with such things as divorce and property.

In Rajasthan, the Thathera live in the regions of Jodhpur, Alwar, Jaiselmer, Jaipur, Ajmer, Bikaner, Udaipur and Ujjain. They speak Khari Boli with each other but speak Rajasthani with those who are not in their community.

In Haryana, the Thathera say they are Rajput. They moved from Rajasthan in the 1800s and came to live in Rewari at first. They then began manufacturing utensils. A few living in Jagadhari are supposed to have come from Pakistan. They have many clans. They are strongly endogamous. They do not own land and their main work now is in the making of utensils. Many are small traders selling utensils and other household products.

The main language of the Thathera is Hindi and Hinduism is the religion that they follow.

References

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thathera