Hi. I'll try and explain in a little more detail.What's a marasii?
The word is "miraasi".
From the word "miraas", meaning heritage.
Back in the day, up to partition and in some cases beyond, (my own family retained a miraasi until the early sixties) every family was attached to a miraasi. The miraasi was the person who held in his memory the genealogy, ( family tree) of the family concerned. Before a marriage proposal between two families was finalised and accepted, the miraasi of both families would sit together and recite the family tree of both of the prospective bride and groom, so that each family could evaluate the pedigree of each others family.
That was their original purpose and that is where they take their name of miraasi.
They were also traditionally the caste that were the musicians and the comedians, entertainers if you will. They are considered low caste, music and comedy considered unbecoming of the supposedly higher castes.
In case you are wondering, Islam doesn't have a caste heirarchy, it is just a part of the Hindu legacy supposedly higher caste Muslims of the sub continent are not prepared to let go because it affects their social status and self image.
I hope this helps.
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