Ahir clans

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Ahir (Sanskrit: Abhira) [1] is a caste found in the Indian subcontinent, mainly modern-day Northern India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nepal. [2] [3] [4] [5] The Ahir clans are almost spread over all the Northern India. [6] Historians such as P. M. Chandorkar, using both literary and epigraphic sources has argued that the modern Ahirs should be identified with the Yadavas of the classical Sanskrit texts. [7]

Contents

Clans

Yaduvanshi Ahirs

The Yaduvanshi Ahirs [8] claim descent from the Rigvedic Yadu tribe of Krishna. [9] [10]

Nandvanshi Ahirs

The Nandvanshi Ahirs [10] are the offsprings of Nanda, the foster-father of Krishna. [11]

Gwalvanshi Ahirs

The Gwalvanshi Ahir are one of the subdivisions of Ahirs. [12] They say that they have descended from the Gopis of Braj and Brindaban (Vrindavan) who danced with Kanhaiya (Krishna). [13] They are also found in Mathura and Brindaban (Vrindavan). [13]

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. [14] Ghosi trace their origin to Nanda, the professed ancestor of Ghosi Ahirs. [15]

Phatak

The Phatak Ahirs claim to be descended from Digpal, the Ahir Raja of Mahaban. [14]

Dauwa

The Dauwa Ahirs are the descendants of Shree Balaram, half-brother of Lord Krishna. [16] Dauwas were rulers of Bundelkhand in past. It is said that Dauwas had established their power in Bundelkhand even before Bundela Rajputs. [16]

Ahar

The Ahar are a Hindu caste of agriculturists. [17] The Ahar tribe are spread through Rohilkhand and other districts of North-Western provinces, following pastoral pursuits. They are of Yaduvanshi stock. [18]

Dhadhor

Dhadhor is a tribe of Ahirs. They are reckoned in Tashreeh-al-akwam amongst the Doab Ahirs. [19]

Kamaria

Kamarias (or Yaduvanshi Thakurs) [20] are a clan of Nandvanshi Ahirs [21] [22] [23] in Braj.

Krishnaut

Krishnaut or Kishnaut are Ahirs that inhabits the state of Bihar. [24] [25] The term Krishnaut which to them denotes their descent from Lord Krishna. [26] [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.

See also

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Krishnaut or Kishnaut Ahir is a clan of the Yadav (Ahir) caste found in Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal. The term Krishnaut which to them denotes their descent from Lord Krishna.

Yadavs in Bihar refers to the people of Yadav community of the Indian state of Bihar. They are also known as Ahir, Gope, etc. The Yadavs form nearly 14.26 % of the state's population and are included in the Other Backward Class category in the Bihar state of India. Ahirs are among the land owning caste in the plains of Bihar.

The Majhraut or Majraut is a clan of Ahir (Yadav) that inhabits the Indian state of Bihar and Jharkhand. They are also found in different parts of Nepal. They are believed to be descended from the Yadav king Madhu who ruled Mathura.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwalvanshi Ahir</span> Ahir subdivision

Gwalvanshi Ahir is a subdivison of Ahirs.

References

  1. ↑ Shashi, Shyam Singh (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian Tribes: The tribal world in transition. Anmol Publications. ISBN   978-81-7041-836-8.
  2. ↑ Shashi, Shyam Singh (1994). Encyclopaedia of Indian Tribes: The tribal world in transition. Anmol Publications. p. 76. ISBN   978-81-7041-836-8.
  3. ↑ Heath, Anthony F.; Jeffery, Roger (2010). Diversity and Change in Modern India: Economic, Social and Political Approaches. OUP/British Academy. p. 223. ISBN   978-0-19-726451-5.
  4. ↑ Gurung, Harka B. (1996). Faces of Nepal. Himal Books. p. 80. ISBN   978-99933-43-50-9.
  5. ↑ Biographical Encyclopedia of Pakistan: Millennium 2000. Research Institute of Historiography, Biography and Philosophy. 2001.
  6. ↑ Fox, Richard Gabriel (1971). Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: Statehinterland Relations in Preindustrial India. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-01807-5.
  7. ↑ Guha, Sumit (15 July 1999). Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200-1991. Cambridge University Press. p. 47. ISBN   978-0-521-64078-7.
  8. ↑ 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.
  9. ↑ Michelutti, Lucia (2002). Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town (PDF). p. 89.
  10. 1 2 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
  11. ↑ 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.
  12. ↑ People of India: Uttar Pradesh. Anthropological Survey of India. 2005. ISBN   978-81-7304-114-3.
  13. 1 2 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.
  14. 1 2 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
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. 1 2 Singh, Mahendra Pratap (2001). Shivaji, Bhakha Sources and Nationalism. Books India International.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ Subodh Kapoor (2002). Indian Encyclopaedia, Volume 1. Genesis Publishing Pvt Ltd. p. 108. ISBN   9788177552577.
  19. ↑ Forbes, Duncan (8 June 2023). A Dictionary , Hindustani and English: Part I. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN   978-3-382-33056-9.
  20. ↑ Mutatkar, Ramchandra Keshav (1978). Caste Dimensions in a Village. Shubhada-Saraswat.
  21. ↑ Dass, Arvind (2002). Caste System: Caste commentaries and documentation. Dominant Publishers and Distributors. ISBN   978-81-7888-029-7.
  22. ↑ Mutatkar, Ramchandra Keshav (1978). Caste Dimensions in a Village. Shubhada-Saraswat.
  23. ↑ Gupta, Dipankar (8 December 2004). Caste in Question: Identity Or Hierarchy?. SAGE Publications. ISBN   978-0-7619-3324-3.
  24. ↑ Bihar (India); Choudhury, Pranab Chandra Roy (1957). Bihar District Gazetteers: Bhagalpur. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar.
  25. ↑ The National Geographical Journal of India. National Geographical Society of India. 1975.
  26. ↑ Swartzberg, Leon (1979). The North Indian Peasant Goes to Market. Motilal Banarsidass Publishe. p. 11. ISBN   978-81-208-3039-4.
  27. ↑ O'malley, L. S. S. (2007). Bihar And Orissa District Gazetteers : Saran. Concept Publishing Company. ISBN   978-81-7268-136-4.
  28. ↑ Sinhā, Mīnākshī (1993). Mithilā ke Yādava (in Hindi). Mahārājā Lakshmīśvara Siṃha Risarca Sosāiṭī.
  29. ↑ Bihar (India); Choudhury, Pranab Chandra Roy (1957). Bihar District Gazetteers: Bhagalpur. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar.
  30. ↑ 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.
  31. ↑ Bihar (India); Choudhury, Pranab Chandra Roy (1962). Bihar District Gazetteers: Hazaribagh. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar.
  32. ↑ Siddiqui, M. K. A. (1993). Inter-caste and Inter-community Relationship: Developing Patterns. Commonwealth Publishers. ISBN   978-81-7169-260-6.
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