‘Kammi’ literally means a worker but in Punjab’s socio-historical context the word has wider connotations. It’s a generic term applied to all the traditional producers of specific goods and community service providers without which we could not conceive our social and cultural life till recent times. The word ‘Kammi’ gradually came to be associated with the artisans and artists who were considered to be of low caste or low status in a hierarchy-ridden society which looked at work with disdain. The question is still debated whether it were their low castes that forced the people to adopt these occupations or the occupations themselves which accorded a low status to those who adopted them. The social practice proved it beyond doubt that anybody who had to do anything with physical work or service was considered a lesser human being in a society that put a premium on snobbish idleness and opaque speculation sanctioned by inhuman religious traditions born of historical conditions which forced the victorious Aryans and vanquished Harappa people to evolve a new society marked by ethnicity and caste to the advantage of ascendant forces.

But the Aryan socio-cultural structure was neither fully enforced nor strictly observed in Punjab. So it had never been the bastion of Brahminic Order based on the clear and inviolable distinctions of caste and occupation. The evidence of this can be found in the ancient Indian texts, if the evidence is needed at all. Punjab had been socially mobile and in violation of caste rules.

Professor Malti J Shendge in her book ‘The Civilized Demons’ quotes a horrified Brahmin of ancient time who visited Balhika (one of the ancient words used for Punjabis) in Aratta (one of the ancient names of Punjab): ‘having become Brahmin ones, a Balhika becomes Kashtria, then (he became) Vashia, Shudra and even a barber, having become barber, he again becomes a Brahmin and having become a twice born, he becomes a Dasa. In the same family one becomes Brahmin and the rest followed other professions---Ghandharas, Madrakas and Balhikas (regional and tribal names of Punjabi people) are utterly thoughtless’. The caste system that determined the caste of a person on the basis of his birth and made it obligatory for him to follow his family profession was never fully imbibed by Punjabis as they already had a pluralistic society. So the rigid form of caste system was resisted in Aratta where the individual had freedom to choose or change his profession.

What the Brahmin from Gangetic region saw to his great dismay was the socio-historical reality of Punjab. A venerable Brahmin like him could be the ‘Kammi’ of a Punjabi lord (Rath). Remember the tale of legendry lovers, Mirza and Sahiban? Sahiban, the bold and beautiful daughter of powerful Khewa chief, summons her family retainer, Karmu Brahmin, in her desperation when the day of her marriage is fixed against her will to send a secret message to her lover. With an air of upper class lady and immense persuasive power thus she speaks in the words of poet Hafiz Barkhurdar: ‘Up you Karmu Brahmin, take to your legs and be of some use to me / I shall bestow a piece of gold into your hands / I shall gift you a cow for your milk and a horse for the ride with all the trappings / you shall not cease to receive the largesse as long as I live / if you are truly the Kammi of my household, bring Mirza here forthwith’.

Mullah, the Muslim cleric too was treated like a community ‘Kammi’. In the legend of Heer and Ranjha, Waris Shah exposes his social status. When Ranjha takes refuge in a village mosque, he is grilled by the mullah for his appearance of an infidel and is thrown out. Ranjha in protest plays his flute which attracts the village folks, both men and women, who order the mullah to shut up and let Ranjha stay in the mosque.

The rigidity of caste system though did not weigh as heavily on the minds of Punjabis as it did on the people in the Gangetic region, the caste rules did play a role in the matter of professions and occupations. That is why we have our ‘Kammis’, the people who until recent times stuck to their hereditary occupations. The Kammis mostly are from the so-called non-martial and non-agrarian castes and hence looked down upon by the dominant castes. They are skilled workers, artisans and service providers. The important skilled workers and artisans, who are producers of specific goods, comprise blacksmith, carpenter, weaver, cobbler, and potter. The other segment providing social and cultural services usually includes in it barber, baker, genealogist, minstrel, musician and entertainer. The contribution the Kammis made to the making and functioning of Punjabi society remains woefully underestimated and underappreciated because of the irrational caste prejudice. No farmer could plough his land without the blacksmith and carpenter who supplied the agricultural implements. The people would go naked if the weaver did not struggle with the thread. There would be no family/tribe history if there was no genealogist to pass it on to the coming generation. People would eat from the tree leaves if the potter did not give shape to the clay. Men would have all the hairiness of an animal if the barber did not use his pair of scissors and die unwedded if the matchmaker did not find a match. Imagine Punjab without Kammis: fields full of weeds, homes without décor, births uncelebrated, marriages unsung and deaths unlamented.

— soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, July 11th, 2014