Mali Community History, Mali Community, Mali Samaj, Mali Vanshavali, Mali Family Tree

Mali Families List :

More

Mali is basically an occupational caste mainly found among the Hindus. The word Mali was derived from the Sanskrit mala which means garland. They traditionally used to work as florists and gardeners. They are OBCs and found throughout North and East India along with the Terai region of Nepal and Maharashtra. Their names were derived from their occupation of growing flowers that is why they also call themselves Phul Mali. There are approximately 8 million Mali.

All Malis does not have the same origin, history, and culture. There is at least one group i.e. Rajput Mali from Rajasthan which overlaps with Rajputs and it was considered under Rajput sub-category in Marwar State Census Report. Malis comprises of many endogamous groups. During the 1930s the Mali community of Rajasthan, as well as the other north Indian states, adopted Saini surname. They speak the language of the region they live in like they speak Bengali in West Bengal, Oriya in Orissa and Gujrati in Gujrat. They also know Hindi as a second language.

They cultivate flowers like roses, lotus, jasmine, tulsi plants which are daily essentials for the worship of the gods. The demand for flowers enables them in earning their living. They also do farming of some crops. They lack in education, mainly boys are allowed to make it to secondary school.

To conclude, Malis are mostly Hindu by faith and worship.