Sani caste is surname of many people in southern India. Sani caste meaning is The Sanivallu, who are a Telugu dancing-girl caste, are described, in the Vizagapatam Manual, as women who have not entered into matrimony, gain money by prostitution, and acting as dancers at feasts. Sani is also a title of the Oriya Doluvas in Ganjam, who are said to be descended from Puri Rajas by their concubines. The streets occupied by Sanis are, in Ganjam, known as Sani vidhi. I have heard of missionaries, who, in consequence of this name, insist on their wives being addressed as Ammagaru instead of by the customary name Dorasani.
In a note on the Sanis of the Godavari district, Mr. F. R. Hemingway writes as follows. In this district, dancing-girls and prostitutes are made up of six perfectly distinct castes, which are in danger of being confused. These are the Sanis proper, Bogams, Dommara Sanis, Turaka Sanis, Mangala Bogams, and Madiga Bogams. Of these, the Bogams claim to be superior, and will not dance in the presence of, or after [294]a performance by any of the others. The Sanis do not admit this claim, but they do not mind dancing after the Bogams, or in their presence. All the other classes are admittedly inferior to the Sanis and the Bogams. The Sanis would scorn to eat with any of the other dancing castes. The Sani women are not exclusively devoted to their traditional profession. Some of them marry male members of the caste, and live respectably with them. The men do not, as among the dancing castes of the south, assist in the dancing, or by playing the accompaniments or forming a chorus, but are cultivators and petty traders. Like the dancing-girls of the south, the Sanis keep up their numbers by the adoption of girls of other castes. They do service in the temples, but they are not required to be formally dedicated or married to the god, as in the Tamil country. Those of them who are to become prostitutes are usually married to a sword on attaining puberty.
Sani, meaning apparently cow-dung, occurs as a sub-division of the Tamil Agamudaiyans.
Sani caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Sani caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Sani caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Sani caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Sani caste is also known as Sani Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don?t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.