Meo (ethnic group)

Indian Muslim ethnic group from Mewat

The Meo (Hindi: मेव; Urdu: میو) (pronounced: mev or may o) (also spelled Mayo or occasionally, Mewati) are an ethnic group from the Mewat region of north western India. Another theory suggests that there is also common kinship with the Meenas (Minas), another group found in the Mewat region. A British Raj era theory

According to Shail Mayaram, author, and professor of Subaltern Studies at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, the term Meo was not an interchangeable term of the Minas, as Mewatees was the usual term describing Meos until the nineteenth century. Even the traditional epic of Dariyā Khān and Sisbadani was transmuted from the "story" in Powlett to an acknowledged "historical" event in the later text.

Meos claim high caste Hindu Rajput descent. This may be true for some of them. However, some of them may be descendants of other castes who might have laid claim to Rajput ancestry after converting to Islam to enhance their social standing (Harris 1901:23; Channing 1882:28). The names of many gots (gotra) or exogamous lineages of Meos are common with other Hindu castes as Meena, Ahir and Gujjar who live in their vicinity. It thus seems possible that the Meos belonged to many different castes and not just to the Rajputs; this phenomenon is also seen in other Rajput communities and is not limited to the Meos. Meos were divided into three vansh, thirteen pals and fifty two gotras by Rana Kaku Balot Meo in the 13th century. Meos have twelve pals including a thirteenth inferior pal.

Meos generally do not follow the Muslim law of inheritance and so among them, like various other communities in the region, custom makes a younger brother or a cousin marry the widow of the deceased by a simple Nikah ceremony.

Despite pressure to do so from the regional princely states of Alwar and Bharatpur, ruled by Gorwal Khanzadas, the Meo Rajput community decided not to migrate to Pakistan during the Partition of India. Although on the whole the community did not migrate, there were a number of gotras of the Rajput Meos who, on an individual basis, did decide to relocate to Pakistan during partition. They were mostly settled in Pakistani districts of Sialkot, Lahore, Karachi, Narowal, Dera Ghazi Khan, Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Multan, Haiderabad and Kasur, among others.