Dhani (settlement type)

rdf:langString Dhani (settlement type)

rdf:langString Dhani (Hindi: ढाणी ḍhāṇī) or Thok is a type of hamlet, the smallest conglomeration of houses, in sandy Bagar region of northwestern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab in India. Per Census of India, 70% of Indians live in villages. 80% of the villages have a population of less than 1000 people and each consists of a cluster of hamlets (e.g. dhani, nesada, pada, bigha). Most dhanis are nucleated settlements, while others are more dispersed. A dhani could be as small as one isolated house for a single family or a small cluster of several houses which could grow in number with successive generations, and even become a village by itself. All families living in a dhani are relatives or at least are of the same caste. An isolated collection of several of dhanis, which could be few hundred meters apart, constitutes a gram panchayat village community. A typical dhani in the arid zone of Rajasthan is a cluster of huts with a boundary (bara or बाड़ा) made of dried shrubs around it and with owners' livestock such as goats, sheep and camels inside the bara. Dhani are atypically mud huts in Rajasthan. Houses in dani nowadays are made of modern brick and mortar, specially in affluent higher-per-capita-income states of Haryana and Punjab, and some richer families of Rajasthan. A hamlet is called "Nesada" (નેસાડા) in Gujarat, "Pada" (पाडा, for example Nagpada and Patlipada) in Maharashtra, "Bigha" (बिघा, for example Bhagan Bigha and Jhakar Bigha) in Bihar.