| Group: | Julaha |
| Population: | 25 million |
| Rels: | Islam |
| Related: | Pasmanda |
The Julaha are a community of Pakistan and India, which adopted the profession of weaving.
Julaha, Momin and Ansari are the names of one and the same backward community of weavers and they are Socially and Educationally Backward. The members of the community have been using. the name "Ansari" since many centuries either at the beginning or at the end of their personal names throughout the country because the word "Julaha" was being used by others to express their contempt, hatred and as a mark of disrespect to the members of this caste engaged in spinning and weaving.
In order to get rid of this mark of inferiority, contempt and hatred associated with the name "Julaha", the members of the community began to use the word "Momin" and/or "Ansari", more particularly the word "Ansari" as the word "Momin" is equivalent to the word "Muslim". Despite the change in the name, they are still being looked down upon, treated as inferior and low-caste by the Sayeds, Shaikhs, Khans and other communities amongst the Muslims.[1]
The term Julaha may derive from the Persian julah (ball of thread).[2]
Both Hindu and Muslim Julaha groups exist; a number of the Muslim Julaha later changed their group name to terms such as Ansari (but not all Ansari's are Julaha).[3]
The Julah community comes from a diverse background as some are believed to be of Aboriginal descent[4] while others come from influential communities such as Mughal, Rajput, Awan, etc...[5] It's speculated that after experiencing a loss of wealth many took to weaving while those of a lowers social standing took up weaving to enhance it.
Although reliable statistics are old, as per survey done in 1990s, the total population of Julahas in India was around 12 million.
As per Caste Based Survey of Bihar 2022, the total number of Julahas in Bihar was 4.6 million.[6]
Prominent Figures from Julaha/Ansari community include: