The Ahirs(Sanskrit: Abhira)[1] are a Hindu caste[2][3][4] of Northern India. The Ahir clans are spread almost all over country.[5] They are a tribe of Yadubansi stock.[6] There are three main divisions among Ahirs: Jadubans, Nandbans and Gwalbans. All Ahirs, no matter where they reside, were originally of the same ethnic stock; and it is probable that they were originally a tribe of pastorals, probably Scythian, who entered India, via Persia and Baluchistan.[7]
Clans
Yaduvanshi
The Yaduvanshi[8] claim descent from the Rigvedic Yadu or Yadava tribe of Krishna.[9][10]
Nandvanshi
The Nandvanshi Ahirs[10] are the offsprings of Nanda, the foster-father of Krishna.[11]
Gwalvanshi
The Gwalvanshi are one of the subdivisions of Ahir caste[12] which is populated in the districts of Lower Doab,[13][14] Awadh[15] and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.[16] Their descent is from the Gopis of Braj.[17]
Ghosi
The Ghosi are a division of Ahir community found mainly in North India. They were the zamidars and small rulers of various parts of country.[18][19] Ghosi trace their origin to Nanda, the professed ancestor of Ghosi Ahirs.[20]
Phatak
The Phatak Ahirs claim to be descended from Digpal, the Ahir Raja of Mahaban.[18][21]
Dauwa
The Dauwa Ahirs are the descendants of Shree Balaram, half-brother of Lord Krishna.[22] Dauwas were rulers of Bundelkhand in past. It is said that Dauwas had established their power in Bundelkhand even before Bundela Rajputs.[22]
Ahar
The Ahar are a Hindu caste of agriculturists.[23] The Ahar tribe are spread through Rohilkhand and other districts of North-Western provinces, following pastoral pursuits. They are of Yaduvanshi stock.[24]
Krishnaut
Krishnaut or Kishnaut are Ahirs that inhabits the state of Bihar.[25][26] The term Krishnaut denotes that it was among them that the infant Krishna was nursed.[27]
Majhraut
The Yadavs who migrated from Mathura (Braj) to Bihar and its surrounding areas came to be known as Mathuraut or Majrauth.[28] They inhabit the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand.[29][30][31][32] They claim to be descended from the Yadava king Madhu who lived in Mathura.
See also
References
- ^ Garg, Gaṅgā Rām (1992). Encyclopaedia of the Hindu world, Volume 1 By Gaṅgā Rām Garg, Page no. 113. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN 9788170223740. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
- ^ Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 443. ISBN 978-0-520-01623-1.
- ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. Columbia University Press. pp. 210–211. ISBN 978-0-231-12786-8. Quote: "In his typology of low caste movements, (M. S. A.) Rao distinguishes five categories. The first is characterised by 'withdrawal and self-organisation'. ... The second one, illustrated by the Yadavs, is based on the claim of 'higher varna status' and fits with Sanskritisation pattern. ..."
- ^ Fox, Mr. (1971). Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: Statehinterland Relations in Preindustrial India. University of California Press. p. 19. ISBN 9780520018075.
- ^ India, United Service Institution of (1911). Journal of the United Service Institution of India.
- ^ Bonarjee, P. D. (1899). A Handbook of the Fighting Races of India. Thacker, Spink & Company.
- ^ Singh, Bhrigupati (2021). Poverty and the Quest for Life Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India. University of Chicago Press. pp. 21, 146. ISBN 9780226194684.
- ^ Michelutti, Lucia (2002). Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town (PDF). p. 89.
- ^ a b Gupta, Dipankar (2021). Caste in Question. SAGE Publication. p. 58. ISBN 9788132103455.
Their original caste title was Ahir. The idea of a unique Krishnavanshi kinship category which fuses traditional subdivisions Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi into a single endogamous unit
- ^ Crooke, William (1896). The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh. Government printing.
- ^ Ames Library Pamphlet Collection: consists of extracts from the Journal of the United Service Institution of India, v.1-12, 1871-1883. 1764.
- ^ Bhattacharya, Jogendra Nath (1896). Hindu Castes and Sects: An Exposition of the Origin of the Hindu Caste System and the Bearing of the Sects Towards Each Other and Towards Other Religious Systems. Thacker, Spink.
- ^ Calcutta Review. University of Calcutta. 1885.
- ^ Crooke, William (1890). An Ethnographical Hand-book for the N.-W. Provinces and Oudh. North-Western provinces and Oudh government Press.
- ^ Pradesh (India), Uttar (1988). Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers. Government of Uttar Pradesh.
- ^ Crooke, William (1896). The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh. Government printing.
- ^ a b Lucia Michelutti, Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town (2002) London School of Economics and Political Science University of London, p.90-98
- ^ Provinces (India), Central (1908). Central Provinces District Gazetteers. Printed at the Pioneer Press.
- ^ Ibbetson, Sir Denzil; Maclagan (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0505-3.
- ^ Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers: Mainpuri By Uttar Pradesh (India) · [1980]
- ^ a b Singh, Mahendra Pratap (2001). Shivaji, Bhakha Sources and Nationalism. Books India International.
- ^ Oliver Mendelsohn, Marika Vicziany (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India Volume 4 of Contemporary South Asia. Cambridge University Press. pp. xi. ISBN 9780521556712.
- ^ Subodh Kapoor (2002). Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 108. ISBN 9788177552577.
- ^ Bihar (India); Choudhury, Pranab Chandra Roy (1957). Bihar District Gazetteers: Bhagalpur. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar.
- ^ The National Geographical Journal of India. National Geographical Society of India. 1975.
- ^ Crooke, William (1896). The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh. Government printing.
- ^ Sinhā, Mīnākshī (1993). Mithilā ke Yādava (in Hindi). Mahārājā Lakshmīśvara Siṃha Risarca Sosāiṭī.
- ^ Bihar (India); Choudhury, Pranab Chandra Roy (1957). Bihar District Gazetteers: Bhagalpur. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar.
- ^ Singh, Rana P. B. (1977). Clan Settlements in the Saran Plain (Middle Ganga Valley): A Study in Cultural Geography. National Geographical Society of India, Banaras Hindu University.
- ^ Bihar (India); Choudhury, Pranab Chandra Roy (1962). Bihar District Gazetteers: Hazaribagh. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar.
- ^ Siddiqui, M. K. A. (1993). Inter-caste and Inter-community Relationship: Developing Patterns. Commonwealth Publishers. ISBN 978-81-7169-260-6.