Dhani_(settlement_type)
Dhani (settlement type)
The smallest conglomeration of houses
Dhani[1] (Hindi: ढाणी ḍhāṇī) or Thok[2] is a type of hamlet, the smallest conglomeration of houses, in the sandy Bagar region of the northwestern states of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab in India. Per the 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 dhanis, which could be few hundred meters apart,[3] constitutes a gram panchayat village community.[4] 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.[5][2][6][7][8][9][10] 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.[citation needed]
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.