Khandayat (caste)

Khandayat
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Odia
Populated states	Odisha
Population	1,010,146 (1931 census) [1]

Khandayat, also spelled Khandait, is a cultivating caste, ^{[2] [3]} as well as a peasant militia ^[3] or landed militia caste from Odisha, East India. ^{[4] [5]} Some of them had earlier served as feudal chiefs as well as zamindars apart from being land holders and agriculturalists. ^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} Numerically they are the largest caste of the state. ^[10] During British raj, they ruled many tributary states in Odisha, including Khordha. ^[11] Khandayat is recognized as a Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC or state OBC, not in central list) in Orissa. ^{[12] [13]}

Etymology

The term Khandayat is believed to have originated from the word "Khanda" meaning sword. Khandayat means swordsman or headman of a Khand. ^{[14] [15] [16]}

History

Early mention of Khandayats as feudal chief and military personnel is found during the rule of eastern ganga dynasty in 11th century. ^[17] During this time, Khandayat military settlements were established in Bhubaneswar and nearby areas to protect the Great Lingaraj Temple. ^[18]

During the medieval period, this class of peasant warriors or landed militia acquired good amounts of agricultural land and some of them became local zamindars. ^[19]

Mughal chronicler Ain-i-Akbari gave a clear picture of Odisha after the breakdown of the Gajapati Empire. It mentioned different forts ruled by Khandayat Zamindars along with their King Mukund Dev. ^[20]

According to Ratnalekha Ray, the aboriginal Bhuiya and Bhumij ruling chiefs in western part of Bengal assumed the title of Khandayat as a sign of status during mughal period. ^[21]

The British conquered Odisha in 1803 and implemented land reforms to increase tax revenue. Khandayats enjoyed tax-free lands in Khurda Kingdom in strictly military tenure. But after their Paika Rebellion, they lost most of the free-hold lands. ^[22]

During British rule, some wealthy people from communities such as Adivasis, Bhuyans, Chasas, and Agharias started identifying as Khandayats in order to gain status, distance themselves from their original castes/communities, and exploit Zamindar land rights. ^[23]

Currently, the Odia Khandayat caste is recognised by the Government of Odisha among the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC), ^[24] though they are not entitled to any reservation benefit provided by the central Government of India. ^{[25] [26]}

Varna status

There is much debate on this topic. In Odia Dictionary or Purna Chandra Bhasa Kosha, the word Khandayat is mentioned as a Kshatriya caste of odisha. ^[27]

Biswamoy Pati called them the 'Orissan variant of Kshatriyas,' who, along with the Brahmins, enjoyed significant power and authority over other people. ^[28]

Atul chandra pradhan noted that the Khandayats are synonym Kshatriyas in the present social hierarchy of odisha. ^[29]

According to Prasanta kumar pradhan, following the decline of their military power, they came to be regarded as shudras by the brahmins. He also attributes this to Brahmin patronage of Rajputs, who also claimed to be of Kshatriya status. ^{[3] [ clarification needed ]}

References

1. Lacey, W. G. (1932). Bihar and Orissa – Census of India 1931. Vol. 7. Part II, Tables. p. 138.
2. Bailey, Frederick George (1970). Politics and Social Change. University of California Press. p. 132.
3. Pradhan, Prasanta Kumar (1996). "Story of the Peasant Militias or the Khandayats or Orissa: A Socio-Historical Approach". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 57: 752–745. JSTOR   44133394. Archived from the original on 8 May 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
4. Hayami, Yōko; Tanabe, Akio; Tokita-Tanabe, Yumiko (2003). Gender and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific. Kyoto University Press. p. 68. ISBN   978-4-87698-451-0. land that had been granted to chiefs (dalabehera), sub-chiefs (dalai), and peasant foot-soldiers (paik) – primarily of the Khandayat caste.
5. Pati, Rabindra Nath (2008). Family Planning. APH Publishing. ISBN   978-81-313-0352-8.
6. Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN   978-1-134-11988-2. As highlighted above, most of the chiefs, zamindars, privileged tenure holders were Kshatriyas/Khandayats –this marked them out as rulers.
7. Bhola, Sudhira Chandra (1990). British Economic Policy in Orissa. Discovery Publishing House. p. 179. ISBN   978-81-7141-075-0.
8. Samal, J. K. (1990). Economic History of Orissa, 1866–1912. Mittal Publications. p. vii. ISBN   978-81-7099-218-9.
9. Patnaik, Nihar Ranjan (1997). Economic History of Orissa. Indus Publishing. p. 157. ISBN   978-81-7387-075-0. These estates were generally held by Khandayat militia chiefs who earlier served the Gajapati Kings.
10. Punjab Journal of Politics. Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University. 1986. p. 88.
11. Samal, J. K. (1990). Economic History of Orissa, 1866–1912. Mittal Publications. p. 37. ISBN   978-81-7099-218-9. In recognition to their ancient lineage and to secure their loyalty, the rights of Raja Of Khurdha and of all other principal khandayats to hold their states at permanent quint rents were recognised by the settlement officers and by the government.
12. "Odisha to include 22 castes in state OBC list". Hindustan Times. 22 January 2023.
13. "List of SEBC in Orissa".
14. Ghosh, G. K. (2000). Legends of Origin of the Castes and Tribes of Eastern India. Firma KLM. ISBN   978-81-7102-046-1.
15. Pati, Biswamoy (2003). Identity, Hegemony, Resistance: Towards a Social History of Conversions in Orissa, 1800–2000. Three Essays Collective. ISBN   978-81-88789-04-7.
16. Mohanty, Bidyut (2021). A Haunting Tragedy: Gender, Caste and Class in the 1866 Famine of Orissa. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-000-50683-9.
17. Miśra, Kr̥shṇacandra (1990). Land System and Land Reforms. Himalaya Publishing House. p. 103. ISBN   978-81-7040-132-2. Many of the border chiefs, the Khandayats and the Bhunias received estates during the 11th century. Raja Anangbhima Deva was said to have created 16 Sawant Rajas who were posted all round and along the frontier of Orissa in order to defend the kingdom against foreign agression.
18. The Orissa Historical Research Journal. Superintendent, Research and Museum, Orissa. 1975. p. 23. According to K.N. Mohapatra, an eminent historian of Orissa, during the ganga rule in the 11th and 12th centuries Khandayat strategies were established in the surrounding area of Bhubaneswar to protect the Great Temple of Lingaraj.
19. Mohanty, Ramesh P.; Biswal, Durgesh Nandini (2007). Culture, Gender and Gender Discrimination: Caste Hindu and Tribal. Mittal Publications. ISBN   978-81-8324-199-1.
20. Mughal India According to European Travel Accounts: Texts and Studies. Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science. Indiana University. 1997. pp. 111–112. They (the zamindars) are of the castes Khandait and telinga, Kinsmen of Mukund Dev.
21. Ray, Ratnalekha (1979). Change in Bengal Agrarian Society, C1760-1850. Manohar. pp. 132, 147.
22. Hayami, Yōko; Tanabe, Akio; Tokita-Tanabe, Yumiko (2003). Gender and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific. Kyoto University Press. p. 68. ISBN   978-4-87698-451-0. Land that had been granted to chiefs (dalabehera), sub-chiefs (dalai), and peasant foot-soldiers (paik) – primarily of the Khandayat caste was confiscated along with other land that the british considered to have been given for political offices that were abolished under the new regime
23. Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN   978-1-134-11988-2.
24. "SEBC List" (PDF).
25. "The Hindu". The Hindu . 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
26. "Why did Naveen Patnaik government pass the OBC Bill in a hurry |Opinion". Hindustan Times. 21 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
27. Gopal Chandra Praharaj (1931–1940). Purnachandra Odia Bhashakosha by Gopal Chandra Praharaj (Preface + All 7 Volumes) (in Odia). Sabyasachi Mishra. The Utkal Sahitya Press, Cuttack. p. 1919.
28. Pati, Biswamoy; Sahu, Bhairabi Prasad; Venkatasubramanian, T. K. (2003). Negotiating India's Past: Essays in Memory of Partha Sarathi Gupta. Tulika Books. p. 293. ISBN   978-81-85229-81-2. Social stratification implied a consolidation of the exploitation, power and dominance of the upper castes, like the brahmans and the khandayats (the orissan variant of Kshatriyas), and, simultaneously, led to increasing marginalization of the adivasis
29. Pradhan, Atul Chandra (2000). History, Culture, and Economy: Prof. Karuna Sagar Behera Felicitation Volume. Post-graduate Department of History (SAP), Utkal University. p. 173. ISBN   978-81-901303-0-1. The present day social structure divides society in to four castes. They are Brahmans, Kshatriya (Khandayat), Vaishyas and Sudras

Further reading

• Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy, eds. (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-13411-988-2.
• Pati, Biswamoy (2001). Situating Social History: Orissa, 1800–1997. Orient Blackswan. ISBN   978-8-12502-007-3.
• Senapati, Fakir Mohan (2005). Six Acres and a Third: The Classic Nineteenth-century Novel about Colonial India. Mishra, Rabi Shankar (trans.). University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-52022-883-2.
• Roy, Bhaskar (2004). "Khandayats moving into political gear in Orissa". Times of India.