Collection Of Articles On Dhangar Community Of India (001)

"Their original home is said to be Gokul Vrindavan near Mathura. From Gokul they are said to be moved to Mewar and from Mewar to have spread out into Gujrat and Maharashtra. Lord Krishna was Dhangar. Nand Meher, the foster father of Lord Krishna also belongs to this caste.

Initially there were twelve clans of Dhangar and they have a division of labour among brother of one family. This latter formed three sub-divisions and one half division. These three being Hatkar (Shepherds), Ahir (Gawli/Gavali) or Mhaskar (Gujjar), and Khutekar (Wool & Blanket weavers) / Sangar. The half division is called as a Khatik (Butchers). All sub-sects fall in either of these divisions. All sub-divisions emerge from one ancestry and all sub-divisions claim to be a single group of Dhangars. Studies have revealed that they are are genetically the closest.  The Number three and a half is not a random selection but has a religious and cosmological significance.  The Dhangars ignore the subcastes and project themselves only as Dhangars.   

Captain Fitzgerald has observed that 'the general idea is that originally there were twelve races of Bargi-Dhangars, who came from Hindustan, and the nation around Hingoli was called Bara-Hatti (Hatkar)'. The term Bara-Hatti could thus mean a nation of Dhangars of twelve hattis. The term Hatkar is derived from hatti. As per the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary, h(p)atti has the following meaning: pen (Kannada), hamlet (Malayalam), cowstall, sheepfold (Tamil). A hatti would therefore mean a sheep pen or a camp or a settlement of sheep-keepers. In the old Kannada lexicon hattikara occurs as a synonym of Govali, or cowherds. These etymological linkages indicate a connection between the sheep and cattle keepers. The term means a camp of sheep-cattle keepers. Bara-Hatti means a village consisting of twelve vadis. The vadi constitutes 20-23 Dhangar families."

Reference - ‘Martial Races Of Undivided India’ By Vidya Prakash Tyagi (Page 205 & 206)
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