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Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tillage and manuring, and gender-neutral culture, bringing praise from Mughal and British administrators alike.
The history of Bihar is one of the most varied in India.Chirand, on the northern bank of the Ganga River, in Saran district, has an archaeological record dating from the Neolithic age. Regions of Bihar—such as Magadha, Mithila and Anga—are mentioned in religious texts and epics of ancient India. Mithila is believed to be the centre of Indian power in the Later Vedic period. Mithila first gained prominence after the establishment of the ancient Videha Kingdom. The kings of the Videha were called Janakas. A daughter of one of the Janaks of Mithila, Sita, is mentioned as consort of Lord Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana. The kingdom later became incorporated into the Vajjika League which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.
Nitish Kumar is an Indian politician who has served as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest serving chief minister, and also holding the post for 9th term.
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The voter turnout in 2000 assembly polls was 62.6%.
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Babu Jagdeo Prasad, alternatively spelled as Jagdev Prasad and popularly known as Jagdev Babu, was an Indian politician and a member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly who served as Bihar's deputy chief minister in 1968 for four days in the Satish Prasad Singh cabinet. A great socialist and a proponent of Arjak culture, he was the founder of Shoshit Dal and was a staunch antagonist and critic of India's caste system. He was nicknamed as the "Lenin of Bihar".
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Rajputs in Bihar are members of the Rajput community living in the eastern Indian state Bihar. They are popularly known as Babu Saheb, a term that is mainly used in Bihar, the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand. They traditionally formed part of the feudal elite in Bihari society. Rajputs were pressed with the Zamindari abolition and Bhoodan movement in post-independence India; along with other Forward Castes, they lost their significant position in Bihar's agrarian society, leading to the rise of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The Zamindars of Bihar were the autonomous and semi-autonomous rulers and administrators of the Mughal subah of Bihar and later during British rule. The zamindars of Bihar were numerous and could be divided into small, medium and large depending on how much land they controlled. Within Bihar, the zamindars had both economic and military power. Each zamindari would have their own standing army which was typically composed of their own clansmen.
The Backward Caste movement in Bihar can be traced back to the formation of Triveni Sangh, a caste coalition and political party, in the 1930s, which was revived after the introduction of land reforms in the 1950s aimed at removing intermediaries from agrarian society. But, this drive could not succeed in bringing long-lasting changes in the condition of lower strata of society, as they lacked political representation and economic power. The period since land reform included caste conflicts and the class struggle which eventually led to a transfer of absolute political power in the hands of Backward Castes, who had been kept away from it earlier. The class struggle succeeded the struggle of some of the Upper Backward Castes against the sacerdotal authorities for improvement in their ritual status. By the 1990s, the conflict between upper-castes and the lower-castes continued, with nearly 17 massacres taking place during this time period. But with the advent of politics of social justice and the Janata Dal in the 1990s, the lower caste became more active politically.
The Upper Backward Caste is a term used to describe the middle castes in Bihar, whose social and ritual status was not very low and which has traditionally been involved in the agricultural and animal husbandry related activities in the past. They have also been involved in low scale trade to some extent. The Koeri, Kurmi, Yadav and Bania are categorised as the upper-backwards amongst the Other Backward Class group; while the various other caste groups which constitutes the OBC, a group comprising 51% of the population of state of Bihar, has been classified as lower backwards. The upper-backwards also called upper OBC represents approximately 20.3% of the population of Bihar. These agricultural caste were the biggest beneficiaries of the land reform drive which was undertaken in the 1950s in the state and they strengthened their economic position by gaining a significant portion of excess land under the ceiling laws, which prohibited the ownership of land above a certain ceiling.
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.
Dalits in Bihar are a social group composed of many Scheduled Castes, placed at the bottom of the "caste-based social order". The Dalits also include some of the erstwhile untouchable castes, who suffered various forms of oppression in the feudal-agrarian society of Bihar. Some of the Dalit castes have specific cultural practices, which differ from those of orthodox Hinduism.
References
- ↑ "Nitish Kumar's Honourable Exit: A brief history of caste politics". Economic and Political Weekly. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- 1 2 Arun Kumar (11 October 2010). "Land reforms, bataidari' tops Left agenda". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ "Bihar BJP chief banks on Nitish for smooth seat-sharing talks". The Times of India . 31 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ Sita Ram Singh (1 January 2005). Land Reforms And Farm Diversity. APH Publishing. pp. 81–82. ISBN 978-81-7648-838-9 . Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ Binay Bhushan Chaudhuri. (2008). Peasant History of Late Pre-colonial and Colonial India. Pearson Education India. pp. 614–. ISBN 978-81-317-1688-5 . Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ Anil Kant Mishra (1 January 1998). Rural Tension In India. Discovery Publishing House. pp. 80–. ISBN 978-81-7141-416-1 . Retrieved 1 July 2013.
- ↑ Kedar Nath Prasad (1 January 1998). Dimensions of Development: Agriculture. Concept Publishing Company. pp. 378–. ISBN 978-81-7022-741-0 . Retrieved 1 July 2013.
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