Sansi (Devnagari: सैंसी) (Gurmukhi: ਸੈਂਸੀ) are a formerly nomadic people from India that were classified as a criminal tribe in the 19th century by the British during the Raj period. They were stealing food supply from British Government. That's why the British government declared them thief.[1]
The Sansis were considered the most prominent criminal tribe in Punjab, with an estimated population of 25,800 in 1912. The British believed other tribes, such as the Baurias and Harnis, were offshoots of the Sansis, who claimed to have originated from Rajput ancestry. Despite acknowledging their ancestry, the British constantly emphasised the Sansis' "degraded" status through stereotypical descriptions. For instance, Sansi men were described as having a dark complexion, foxy expressions, and a distinctive smell of musk-rat and rancid grease due to their habit of eating vermin. Their religion, primarily a form of Hinduism, was considered primitive, mixed, and debased. After the criminal tribes act was imposed, the Sansi were labelled down to a very pitiful position.
Their language is Sansiboli, or Bhilki too that is a highly endangered Indo-Aryan language of the Central group, total speakers in India 60,000 (2002) and Pakistan 20,000.[2] [3] [4] Their traditional occupations vary, from trading to farming.
During British rule in India they were placed under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871, hence stigmatized for a long time,[5] after independence, however, they were denotified in 1952.[6] As the Sansiya, they were recorded in Uttar Pradesh in the 2011 Census of India. There they were a Scheduled Caste, with a population of 5689.[7]
| Districts | 2011 India census | |
|---|---|---|
| Sansi Caste Population | ||
| Amritsar | 19,237 | |
| Barnala | 2,159 | |
| Bathinda | 2,232 | |
| Faridkot | 1,647 | |
| Fatehgarh Sahib | 2,015 | |
| Firozpur | 10,376 | |
| Gurdaspur | 18,248 | |
| Hoshiarpur | 2,731 | |
| Jalandhar | 9,904 | |
| Kapurthala | 2,056 | |
| Ludhiana | 11,180 | |
| Mansa | 1,131 | |
| Moga | 1,382 | |
| Sri Muktsar Sahib | 2,982 | |
| Patiala | 5,743 | |
| Rupnagar | 391 | |
| Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar | 1600 | |
| Sangrur | 7,701 | |
| Nawanshahr | 1,952 | |
| Tarn Taran | 17,534 | |
