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167-626: Bhumihar , also locally called Bhuinhar and Babhan , is a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh , Jharkhand , the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh , and Nepal . They have traditionally been a land-owning group of eastern India, and controlled some small princely states and zamindari estates in the region in
334-519: A dominant caste in various opinions. Bihar's land reform drive of 1950s benefitted the groups like Koeris, and they were able to consolidate their landholdings at the cost of big landlords, whose possession witnessed a liquidation. It is argued that these reforms weren't percolated down to the most vulnerable groups in agrarian society, the Scheduled Castes , but the traditional agrarian relations based on caste did witness some changes. In
501-489: A Hindu religious identity". Scholars state that Hindu, Buddhist and Jain identities are retrospectively-introduced modern constructions. Inscriptional evidence from the 8th century onwards, in regions such as South India, suggests that medieval era India, at both elite and folk religious practices level, likely had a "shared religious culture", and their collective identities were "multiple, layered and fuzzy". Even among Hinduism denominations such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism,
668-544: A category of new landlords in the countryside as these three middle castes seldom sold their land, rather they looked on reforms as an opportunity to buy more. This phenomenon promoted the upward mobility of middle peasant castes. While this mobility in the Yadavas consolidated them as both big peasants and landlords, in the Koeris, the vertical mobility was exclusively towards them becoming landlords . The rise of castes like
835-491: A class of rising Kulaks in the agricultural society of India. The diversification in occupation of the Koeri caste in post independence India is shown by studies in select villages of North Bihar. In his paper, called Land and caste relation , Awanish Kumar's study of select villages of West Champaran and Samastipur district of North Bihar revealed that in some of these villages, Koeri and Yadav caste have become dominant over
1002-668: A common name for the country. Al-Biruni 's 11th-century text Tarikh Al-Hind , and the texts of the Delhi Sultanate period use the term 'Hindu', where it includes all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists, and retains the ambiguity of being "a region or a religion". The 'Hindu' community occurs as the amorphous 'Other' of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, according to the Indian historian Romila Thapar . The comparative religion scholar Wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that
1169-534: A consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether Jainism is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006. Starting after the 10th century and particularly after the 12th century Islamic invasion, states Sheldon Pollock , the political response fused with
1336-582: A diversity of beliefs, and seems to oscillate between Hindus holding a centralist and pluralist religious views. In the texts of Delhi Sultanate era, states Sharma, the term Hindu remains ambiguous on whether it means people of a region or religion, giving the example of Ibn Battuta's explanation of the name "Hindu Kush" for a mountain range in Afghanistan. It was so called, wrote Ibn Battuta, because many Indian slaves died there of snow cold, as they were marched across that mountain range. The term Hindu there
1503-571: A fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism. One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states Julius Lipner , to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu. Hindus subscribe to a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but have no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, nor a single founding prophet; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of
1670-570: A geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent . It is assumed that the term "Hindu" traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term Sapta Sindhuḥ (This term Sapta Sindhuḥ is mentioned in RigVeda that refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and as an India whole). The Greek cognates of
1837-645: A long period in politics or played a secondary role, while the Yadav-centric politics of Laloo Yadav flourished in Bihar. However, after the formation of the Samta Party (now Janata Dal (United) ) by Nitish Kumar , they voted en masse for Samta . Its alliance showed that political parties in Bihar are identified with caste and the Samta Party was considered the party of Koeri-Kurmi community. Until
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#17327904816902004-402: A man was to be blamed for his own decline, fecklessly mortgaging and then selling off his lands to maintain his unproductive dependents. By the same logic, a flourishing field of wheat would belong to a non-twice-born tiller, wheat being a crop requiring skill and enterprise on the part of the cultivator. These, said such commentators as Denzil Ibbetson and E. A. H. Blunt , were the qualities of
2171-495: A means to continue their supremacy. He established a caste-agnostic peasants movement, which later evolved into All India Kisan Sabha . In Bihar, Kisan Sabha, as well as the Communist Party of India (which was heavily inspired by Kisan Sabha), were identified as Bhumihar-dominated organisations for years. After Sahajanand gave up caste politics , Ganesh Dutt emerged as the leader of Bhumihar Mahasabha. He later entered
2338-401: A reasonable construction of history. However, the existence of non-textual evidence such as cave temples separated by thousands of kilometers, as well as lists of medieval era pilgrimage sites, is evidence of a shared sacred geography and existence of a community that was self-aware of shared religious premises and landscape. Further, it is a norm in evolving cultures that there is a gap between
2505-430: A result of Western influence during its colonial history. Scholars such as Fleming and Eck state that the post-Epic era literature from the 1st millennium CE amply demonstrate that there was a historic concept of the Indian subcontinent as a sacred geography, where the sacredness was a shared set of religious ideas. For example, the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shaivism and fifty-one Shaktipithas of Shaktism are described in
2672-646: A sacred pilgrimage site is documented in the Varanasimahatmya text embedded inside the Skanda Purana , and the oldest versions of this text are dated to 6th to 8th-century CE. The idea of twelve sacred sites in Shiva Hindu tradition spread across the Indian subcontinent appears not only in the medieval era temples but also in copper plate inscriptions and temple seals discovered in different sites. According to Bhardwaj, non-Hindu texts such as
2839-756: A saint. [...] When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. Sikh scholar Pashaura Singh states, "in Persian writings, Sikhs were regarded as Hindu in
3006-520: A significant population residing in Nepal . The 1991 census conducted there included estimates of their population estimates but these were not included in the 2001 census. In some regions of Uttar Pradesh , many of the Koeris were also involved in the occupation of weaving along with members of the Mallaah caste and produce cloth for local use. Castes similar to the Koeri in northern India include
3173-585: A uniform civil code, where all citizens are subject to the same laws, everyone has equal civil rights, and individual rights do not depend on the individual's religion. In contrast, opponents of Hindu nationalists remark that eliminating religious law from India poses a threat to the cultural identity and religious rights of Muslims, and people of Islamic faith have a constitutional right to Islamic shariah -based personal laws. A specific law, contentious between Hindu nationalists and their opponents in India, relates to
3340-604: A wedding or when a baby is born or cremation rituals. Some Hindus go on pilgrimage to shared sites they consider spiritually significant, practice one or more forms of bhakti or puja , celebrate mythology and epics, major festivals, love and respect for guru and family, and other cultural traditions. A Hindu could: In the Constitution of India , the word "Hindu" has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: Hinduism , Jainism , Buddhism or Sikhism . This however has been challenged by
3507-623: A “Backward caste” or “Other Backwards Caste” under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, so they are entitled to OBC reservations in govt jobs. The findings of 2022 Bihar caste-based survey showed that a total of 1,12,106 members of community were holding government jobs in 2023, leading to their inclusion in the group having highest number of government jobs besides Yadavs and Kurmis in Other Backward Class category in Bihar. However, they were behind Forward Castes in holding government jobs. Between 1872 and 1921
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#17327904816903674-473: Is a controversial political subject, with no consensus about what it means or implies in terms of the form of government and religious rights of the minorities. There are 1.2 billion Hindus worldwide (15% of world's population), with about 95% of them being concentrated in India alone. Along with Christians (31.5%), Muslims (23.2%) and Buddhists (7.1%), Hindus are one of the four major religious groups of
3841-471: Is a term used to describe the culture and identity of Hindus and Hinduism , including the historic Vedic people . Hindu culture can be intensively seen in the form of art , architecture , history , diet , clothing , astrology and other forms. The culture of India and Hinduism is deeply influenced and assimilated with each other. With the Indianisation of southeast Asia and Greater India ,
4008-408: Is also common for Bhumihars to affix Singh (usually identified with Kshatriyas, especially Rajputs) to their name. Hindu Traditional Hindus ( Hindustani: [ˈɦɪndu] ; / ˈ h ɪ n d uː z / ; also known as Sanātanīs ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism , also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma . Historically, the term has also been used as
4175-676: Is ambivalent and could mean geographical region or religion. The term Hindu appears in the texts from the Mughal Empire era. Jahangir , for example, called the Sikh Guru Arjan a Hindu: There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be
4342-478: Is an organic relation of Sikhs to Hindus, states Zaehner, both in religious thought and their communities, and virtually all Sikhs' ancestors were Hindus. Marriages between Sikhs and Hindus, particularly among Khatris , were frequent. Some Hindu families brought up a son as a Sikh, and some Hindus view Sikhism as a tradition within Hinduism, even though the Sikh faith is a distinct religion. Julius Lipner states that
4509-643: Is documented in Islamic literature such as those relating to 8th century Muhammad bin-Qasim , 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni , the Persian traveler Al Biruni, the 14th century Islamic army invasion led by Timur, and various Sunni Islamic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. There were occasional exceptions such as Akbar who stopped the persecution of Hindus, and occasional severe persecution such as under Aurangzeb , who destroyed temples, forcibly converted non-Muslims to Islam and banned
4676-567: Is this Rama to be described.. who freed Varanasi from the mleccha (barbarian, Turk Muslim) horde, and built there a golden temple of Sarngadhara". Pollock notes that the Yadava king Ramacandra is described as a devotee of deity Shiva (Shaivism), yet his political achievements and temple construction sponsorship in Varanasi, far from his kingdom's location in the Deccan region, is described in
4843-810: The All India Ccongress Committee Incharge of the National Students' Union of India . In 2023, Government of Bihar published the data of 2022 Bihar caste-based survey . The survey revealed several findings about the community. It showed that amongst the Forward Castes of Bihar, poverty was highest in Bhumihar caste. Out of total families of Bhumihars residing in state, 27.58% were poor (the community totally numbered 8,38,447 families, out of which 2,31,211 families were poor). The criteria for determining poverty
5010-864: The Bhar and Chero natives of the region. The weakening of the Mughal suzerainty over the region gave rise to several small Bhumihar states. For example, the revenue contractors for the Mughal province of Awadh declared themselves the Maharaja of Benares . They successfully defended their independence against the Nawab of Awadh in the 1750s and 1760s, before becoming a British dependency. Other princely states and fiefdoms ruled by Bhumihars included Bettia , Tekari , Hathwa , Tamukhi, Sheohar , Mahishadal , Pakur and Maheshpur . The distinctive Bhumihar caste identity
5177-542: The Bihar Legislative Council , and distributed patronage to other members of his caste. This patronage was extended further, when Shri Krishna Singh became the Premier and Chief Minister of Bihar . His tenure saw the rise of a number of influential Bhumihar leaders including Mahesh Prasad Sinha, Krishnakant Singh, L. P. Shahi, Basawan Sinha, and Kailashpati Mishra . Singh also worked for the welfare of
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5344-522: The Buxar of South western Bihar which were close to each other concluded that Koeris had the largest population and were one of the main landholding castes in ten of those villages but the average landholding by the households in the surveyed villages were found to be just 2.12 acres per household. The limited landholding was also found to be unequally distributed in caste and class. Further, another study conducted in some select villages of rural Bihar revealed
5511-493: The Hindu Sabhas (Hindu associations), and ultimately a Hindu-identity driven nationalism in the 1920s. The colonial era Hindu revivalism and mobilisation, along with Hindu nationalism, states Peter van der Veer, was primarily a reaction to and competition with Muslim separatism and Muslim nationalism. The successes of each side fed the fears of the other, leading to the growth of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism in
5678-610: The Kachhis and the Kurmis were not only the major "agricultural caste", but were also reputed as most skilled cultivators. As per the description of William Crooke of the contemporary agrarian society, the Koeris were 'quiet, industrious and well-behaved people'. In the early 19th century in the Gaya district , Koeris were recorded by Francis Buchanan as a community of "ploughing tribes" consisting primarily of poor and middle peasants. It
5845-600: The United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom . These together accounted for 99% of the world's Hindu population, and the remaining nations of the world combined had about 6 million Hindus as of 2010 . The word Hindu is an exonym . This word Hindu is derived from the Indo-Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu , which means "a large body of water", covering "river, ocean". It was used as
6012-830: The Upanishads . The Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata ) are enduring traditions among Indonesian Hindus, expressed in community dances and shadow puppet ( wayang ) performances. As in India, Indonesian Hindus recognise four paths of spirituality, calling it Catur Marga . Similarly, like Hindus in India, Balinese Hindus believe that there are four proper goals of human life, calling it Catur Purusartha – dharma (pursuit of moral and ethical living), artha (pursuit of wealth and creative activity), kama (pursuit of joy and love) and moksha (pursuit of self-knowledge and liberation). Hindu culture
6179-560: The non-cooperation movement also alarmed the landlords, who were loyal to the British colonial administration. The growing differences between the two factions resulted in a split in the Mahasabha, in 1925-26. Sahajanand established an ashram at Bihta , which started attracting tenants and peasants from other castes as well. When the rich Bhumihar landlords stopped supporting Sahajanand's activities, he declared that caste associations were
6346-399: The "lived and historical realities" of a religious tradition and the emergence of related "textual authorities". The tradition and temples likely existed well before the medieval era Hindu manuscripts appeared that describe them and the sacred geography. This, states Fleming, is apparent given the sophistication of the architecture and the sacred sites along with the variance in the versions of
6513-453: The "most advanced" cultivators in Bihar and said, "Simple in habits, thrifty to a degree and a master in the art of market-gardening, the Koeri is amongst the best of the tillers of the soil to be found anywhere in India." During the colonial period , in the provinces such as Bengal, although majority of rural population was having a living from the agriculture, only a few of them deserved classification as "agriculturists". The Koeris along with
6680-587: The 17th-century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma ". Scholar Arvind Sharma notes that the term "Hindus" was used in the 'Brahmanabad settlement' which Muhammad ibn Qasim made with non-Muslims after the Arab invasion of northwestern Sindh region of India, in 712 CE. The term 'Hindu' meant people who were non-Muslims, and it included Buddhists of the region. In the 11th-century text of Al Biruni, Hindus are referred to as "religious antagonists" to Islam, as those who believe in rebirth, presents them to hold
6847-801: The 1920s, as a reaction to the Islamic Khilafat Movement wherein Indian Muslims championed and took the cause of the Turkish Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, at the end of the World War I . Hindus viewed this development as one of divided loyalties of Indian Muslim population, of pan-Islamic hegemony, and questioned whether Indian Muslims were a part of an inclusive anti-colonial Indian nationalism. The Hindu nationalism ideology that emerged, states Jeffrelot,
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7014-446: The 1980s, in region surrounding Kaimur Plateau of Rohtas district , Koeris also operated bandit groups, which were responsible for caste warfare with the members of rival groups. One such group was Ramashish Koeri gang , which operated out of Kaimur hills. In the interwar years, during a period when there was a general movement among various castes seeking to uplift their status, there was also at least one journal being published for
7181-524: The 19th century as a response to British colonialism by Indian nationalists and neo-Hinduism gurus. Jaffrelot states that the efforts of Christian missionaries and Islamic proselytizers, during the British colonial era, each of whom tried to gain new converts to their own religion, by stereotyping and stigmatising Hindus to an identity of being inferior and superstitious, contributed to Hindus re-asserting their spiritual heritage and counter cross examining Islam and Christianity, forming organisations such as
7348-664: The 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly elections, Koeris were well represented in Janata Dal (United) . Out of twenty Koeri legislators elected to 243 membered Bihar Legislative Assembly, eleven were from JDU. The parting of the ways between the Koeris and the Kurmis and the movement of the Koeris away from Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) was witnessed after the formation of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party by Upendra Kushwaha , who commanded huge support among members of
7515-521: The 7th-century CE Chinese text Records on the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang . Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In-tu whose "connotation overflows in the religious" according to Arvind Sharma . While Xuanzang suggested that the term refers to the country named after the moon, another Buddhist scholar I-tsing contradicted the conclusion saying that In-tu was not
7682-775: The Bhumihar Brahmin Sabha of Patna. During the Balia session of 1914, Sahajanand defended the Brahmin status of the Bhumihars, using quotes from Hindu scriptures to argue that priestly functions do not alone define Brahmins. In 1916, he published a book titled Bhumihar Brahmin Parichay ("Introduction to Bhumihar Brahmins"), which outlined these arguments. He classified Brahmins into two categories – begging ( yachak ) and non-begging ( ayachak ) – and stated that
7849-471: The Bhumihar community. The Bhumihar influence in Bihar politics declined considerably after the electoral defeat of Congress in the 1990 Bihar Legislative Assembly election . The backward OBC castes like Yadav , led by Lalu Prasad Yadav , replaced them in political circles. In the 1999 Indian general election , only three Bhumihars were elected: C. P. Thakur ( BJP ), Kailashpati Mishra (BJP) and Rajo Singh (Congress). A few Bhumihar leaders also emerged in
8016-484: The Bhumihars followed the process of sanskritisation to achieve their end. The Bhumihar zamindars and princely state rulers established caste-based associations ( sabha s) to form a community network and to advance their claims to Brahmin status. The Pradhan Bhumihar Brahman Sabha ("Chief Assembly of Bhumihar Brahmins") was established in Patna in 1889. Its objective was "to improve moral, social and educational reforms of
8183-475: The Bhumihars of Pipra and Turkaulia revolted against indigo cultivation . When Mahatma Gandhi launched a satyagraha against indigo cultivation in Motihari in 1917, a number of Bhumihar intellectuals joined the protest. These included Shri Krishna Singh (or Sinha), Ram Dayalu Singh, Ramnandan Mishra, Shilbhadra Yaji, Karyanand Sharma and Sahajanand Saraswati. While a section of Bhumihars were landowners,
8350-413: The Bhumihars were among the non-begging Brahmins. The Bhumihars of Uttar Pradesh attempted to popularise the term "Bhumihar Brahmin", while discarding the term "Babhan". However, the term "Babhan" remained popular in Bihar. The recognised Brahmins did not favour the Bhumihar attempts to claim an equal status, and even stopped going to Bhumihar homes to perform ceremonies. The Bhumihars were influential in
8517-592: The Brahmin rituals, and claim to be "tri-karma" Brahmins. Some Bhumihars in Muzaffarpur trace their lineage to Husseini Brahmins, and participate in the Muharram processions . The Bhumihars outside Purvanchal-Bihar region may follow the respective local customs and traditions. For example, in Chandipur village of Murshidabad district ( West Bengal ), a section of Bhumihars became the landlords after death of
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#17327904816908684-632: The Brahmin status, the caste associations also played an important role in ensuring the general welfare of the community. In 1899, the Bhumihar Brahmin Mahasabha, with financial aid from a zamindar, established a college at Muzaffarpur. This was accredited to award degrees in the following year and it was a significant development because education in the area was improving rapidly but students desirous of furthering it had to travel to Bhagalpur , Calcutta or Patna. By 1920, 10 per cent of Bhumihars in Bihar were literate, making them one of
8851-419: The British indigo plantation owners. They are now "thoroughly Bengali ": they worship Kali as their primary deity, and are regarded as Brahmins by others in the village. In Bihar, the Bhumihars started using the surname Sharma and the title Pandit in the 20th century. Other common traditional Brahmin surnames used by the Bhumihars include Mishra, Chaudhary, Dikshit, Tivan, Pathak, Pande and Upadhyaya. It
9018-476: The European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus. Other prominent mentions of 'Hindu' include the epigraphical inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word 'Hindu' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to 'Turks' or Islamic religious identity. The term Hindu
9185-737: The Hindu identities, states Leslie Orr, lacked "firm definitions and clear boundaries". Overlaps in Jain-Hindu identities have included Jains worshipping Hindu deities, intermarriages between Jains and Hindus, and medieval era Jain temples featuring Hindu religious icons and sculpture. Beyond India, on Java island of Indonesia , historical records attest to marriages between Hindus and Buddhists, medieval era temple architecture and sculptures that simultaneously incorporate Hindu and Buddhist themes, where Hinduism and Buddhism merged and functioned as "two separate paths within one overall system", according to Ann Kenney and other scholars. Similarly, there
9352-642: The Hindu identity and religious response to Islamic invasion and wars developed in different kingdoms, such as wars between Islamic Sultanates and the Vijayanagara kingdom, and Islamic raids on the kingdoms in Tamil Nadu . These wars were described not just using the mythical story of Rama from Ramayana, states Chattopadhyaya, the medieval records used a wide range of religious symbolism and myths that are now considered as part of Hindu literature. This emergence of religious with political terminology began with
9519-477: The Hindu-majority post-British India. After the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the Hindu nationalism movement developed the concept of Hindutva in second half of the 20th century. The Hindu nationalism movement has sought to reform Indian laws, that critics say attempts to impose Hindu values on India's Islamic minority. Gerald Larson states, for example, that Hindu nationalists have sought
9686-760: The Hindus and intensely scrutinized them, but did not interrogate and avoided reporting the practices and religion of Mughal and Arabs in South Asia", and often relied on Muslim scholars to characterise Hindus. In contemporary era, the term Hindus are individuals who identify with one or more aspects of Hinduism , whether they are practising or non-practicing or Laissez-faire . The term does not include those who identify with other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism or various animist tribal religions found in India such as Sarnaism . The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with
9853-530: The Indian opium trade, which had its main base in Bihar. For many years the British East India Company via an agency in Patna regulated and exploited it. Carl Trocki believes that. "Opium cultivators were not free agents" and describes the coercion and financial arrangements that were involved to achieve production, which included restricting land to that product even when the people needed grain because of famine. Although profitable for
10020-514: The Indian government's system of positive discrimination. Haruka Yanagisawa, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo mentions in his work that Koeris along with Yadav and Kurmis were classified as upper-middle caste, who were known for their sturdy and hardy nature. Koeris have traditionally been classified as a “ shudra “ caste and today Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation —the attempt by traditionally middle and low castes to rise up
10187-501: The Indian subcontinent. In the 20th century, the sense of religious nationalism grew in India, states van der Veer, but only Muslim nationalism succeeded with the formation of the West and East Pakistan (later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh), as "an Islamic state" upon independence. Religious riots and social trauma followed as millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs moved out of the newly created Islamic states and resettled into
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#173279048169010354-554: The Indian subcontinent. Some castes in Mauritius in particular are unrecognisable from a subcontinental Indian perspective, and may incorporate mutually antagonistic castes into a single group. The 'vaish', which includes the Koeris, is the largest and most influential caste group on the island. The former Brahmin elites together with former Kshatriya are called 'Babuji' and enjoy the prestige conferred by high caste status, though politically they are marginalised. The Koeris also have
10521-403: The Indic religious culture and doctrines. Temples dedicated to deity Rama were built from north to south India, and textual records as well as hagiographic inscriptions began comparing the Hindu epic of Ramayana to regional kings and their response to Islamic attacks. The Yadava king of Devagiri named Ramacandra , for example states Pollock, is described in a 13th-century record as, "How
10688-410: The Koeri and Kurmi castes. In context of the communal riots related to cow protectionism, some writers are also of the opinion that low castes groups like Koeri, Ahirs also took to cow protection for asserting higher social status since cow already had symbolic importance in Hinduism. This particular view of cow protection was different from the UP's urban elites. The community was at the heart of
10855-478: The Koeri castes. The Bharatiya Janata Party appealed to the kushwaha in the 2014 elections in hopes of getting the support of the Koeri caste who had earlier voted for Nitish Kumar and the JD(U). However, the quitting of BJP and alliance by Upendra Kushwaha left Koeri politics in Bihar in a dilemma. This rift between the Koeris and the Kurmis was orchestrated by the rise of influential Koeri leaders like Mahendra Singh and Shakuni Choudhury , while Kushwaha remained
11022-555: The Koeri community, the Kashbala Kshatriya Mitra , while other interests of the Koeri community is taken care of by the Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha. Besides these organisations, there exists various state level organisations catering to socio-political needs of the community. In Jharkhand , one such organisation called Kushwaha Mahasabha works for political empowerment of community. Prominent Jharkhand leaders like Aklu Ram Mahto , Dev Dyal Kushwaha and Bhubneshwar Prasad Mehta had remained associated with this organisation in past. In
11189-577: The Koeri, the Kurmi, and the Yadav, and the fall from power of the forward castes was characterised by growing assertiveness among these middle peasants who now acted as the landowners they once condemned. In 1989, Frankel observed that 95% of the upper castes and 36% of the middle peasant castes like the Koeri and the Yadav belonged to a rich peasant-cum-landlord class. An aversion to manual labour characterised this class. However, some Koeris and Yadavas who held comparatively less land to provide them with subsistence also worked as agricultural labourers, though
11356-422: The Koeris are distributed among the Bihari diaspora in Mauritius where they were taken as indentured labourers. They also have a significant population residing in Nepal . In 1977, the government of Bihar introduced an affirmative action of quota in government jobs and universities which has benefitted the backward castes like the Koeris. They are classified as a “Backward caste” or “Other Backwards Caste” under
11523-431: The Koeris perform the function of a Purohit (family priest) and a significant number of houses were seen availing themselves of the services of the purohits of the Koeri caste. Outside India, Koeris are distributed among the Bihari diaspora in Mauritius . Though the island is divided along ethnic and religious lines, 'Hindu' Mauritians follow a number of original customs and traditions, quite different from those seen on
11690-415: The Koeris represented approximately seven per cent of the population in Saran district , according to tabulated data prepared by Anand Yang . Yang also notes their involvement in tenanted landholdings around the period 1893–1901: the Koeris worked around nine per cent of the total cultivated area of the district which was one per cent less than the Ahirs, although they represented around five per cent more of
11857-414: The Kurmis and the Yadavs to form a caste coalition-cum-political party called Triveni Sangh . The actual date of the formation of Triveni Sangh is disputed among scholars. This caste coalition fared badly against the Congress party and faced a considerable challenge from Congress's backward class federation. Though politically it was not able to make a significant mark, it remained successful in eradicating
12024-673: The Kushvaha- kshatriya movement reveal distinct cosmological associations with Shiva and his divine consort, Parvati. Kushvaha-kshatriya identity was espoused by agricultural community well known throughout the Gangetic north for an expertise in vegetable and (to an increasingly limited scale after the turn of twentieth century) poppy cultivation. Prominent among them were Kachhi and Murao agriculturalist of central Uttar Pradesh , Kachhvahas of western Uttar Pradesh and Koiris of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh." Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha,
12191-767: The Kusvaha Kshatriya to flee into the forest in disarray and discard their sacred threads, so as not to appear as erstwhile defenders of Hinduism. The British ethnographer Herbert Hope Risley recorded various Koeri origin myths in the 1890s. According to one of them, Shiva and Parvati created Koeri and Kachhi to take care of vegetables and their flower gardens in Banaras. Writing eighty years later, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton records that Koeris of Bihar were followers of Dashanami Sampradaya while those of Gorakhpur and Ayodhya looked towards Ramanandi saints for spiritual guidance. According to Christophe Jaffrelot ,
12358-443: The Mahasabha, who glorified the history of the community, led to official recognition of the Bhumihars as Brahmins in the later Raj censuses. According to Ashwani Kumar, the Bhumihar claim to Brahmin status means that today "unlike other upper castes, [they] guard the local caste hierarchy more zealously for they perpetually feel the pressure of being dislocated and discredited in the topsy-turvy world of caste." Besides campaigning for
12525-992: The Maurya, the Kushwaha , the Mahto , the Kachhi , the Shakya and the Saini . Over the time, these castes have come closer and began intermarrying while developing the all India network to strengthen their caste solidarity. In 1811, the physician Francis Buchanan-Hamilton classified the producer castes of Bihar and Patna - the Koeri, the Gwala, the Kurmi, the Sonar (goldsmith) and even the Kayasthas (a scribe caste) as "pure Shudra ". However, due to
12692-570: The Puranic literature. According to Diana L. Eck and other Indologists such as André Wink, Muslim invaders were aware of Hindu sacred geography such as Mathura, Ujjain, and Varanasi by the 11th century. These sites became a target of their serial attacks in the centuries that followed. The Hindus have been persecuted during the medieval and modern era. The medieval persecution included waves of plunder, killing, destruction of temples and enslavement by Turk-Mongol Muslim armies from central Asia. This
12859-456: The Rajputs, Kayasthas and other high castes of Bihar – and as opposed to the methods used by most lower castes – neither the Mahasabha nor any other formal body exercised power to make and enforce caste rules. The Bhumihar Brahmin Mahasabha held annual sessions in different parts of present-day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Among its prominent leaders was Sahajanand Saraswati , a leader of
13026-725: The Sikhs and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus. According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under 'Hindu', but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion. The Republic of India is in the peculiar situation that the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the Constitution of India , while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As
13193-469: The Upper-Backwards. The period of the 1960s witnessed an improvement in the fortunes of the backward castes in politics, with a significant growth seen in the number of backward caste MLAs in the Bihar legislative assembly. In the 1970s, with the defining slogan of social justice, Koeris rose to prominence in the politics of Bihar under the leadership of Jagdeo Prasad . However, this achievement
13360-542: The Yavanas [Muslims], The Kali age now deserves deepest congratulations for being at the zenith of its power, gone is the sacred learning, hidden is refinement, hushed is the voice of Dharma . The historiographic writings in Telugu language from the 13th- and 14th-century Kakatiya dynasty period presents a similar "alien other (Turk)" and "self-identity (Hindu)" contrast. Chattopadhyaya, and other scholars, state that
13527-497: The advancements in their level of education, the Kayastha community was first among them to challenge their Shudra status and claimed a higher Varna. They were followed by the rest of these communities. In the households of the cultivator castes like the Koeris, there was no major segregation of family duties based on gender. Here, both male and female members of the family participated in cultivation- related operations, thus paving
13694-627: The agricultural society of India. In some of the districts of Bihar, they have also participated in the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency against the feudal order. In parts of northern India, they, besides Yadavs , Jats and Kurmis , are considered as largest politically organised peasant community. The Koeris are found in Saran district and are also distributed more heterogeneously across Munger , Banka , Khagaria , Samastipur , East Champaran , West Champaran and Bhojpur district. Outside India,
13861-457: The alliance of Upper Castes , Dalits and Muslims became the prime reason behind the upper-OBC's drive for alternative route to gain political ascendency. The "Coalition Of Extremes" was also favourable for the upper-caste lobby within the Congress, as they knew that Dalits being a weak socio-economic group could hardly pose any challenge to their position in the socio-economic sphere unlike
14028-450: The backdrop of this change many new landlords of post reform period hailed from groups like Koeris. In post-independence India, Koeris have been classified as Upper Backwards by virtue of being part of the group of four of the OBC communities in Bihar , who acquired land overtime, adopted improved agricultural technology and attained political power to become a class of rising Kulaks in
14195-468: The bulk of agricultural labourers belonged to the Dalit caste. According to Frankel, the bulk of middle and poor peasantry belonged to castes like the Koeris and the Yadavas; this class worked in their own fields but considered it beneath their dignity to work in others' fields. However, the socio-economic progress and transition towards the upper edge of the social hierarchy was not unabated. The Koeris, like
14362-506: The caste association of Koeris, held its first session in 1922. Some Kushwaha reformers like Ganga Prasad Gupta in Banaras argued the Koeris descended from Kusha and that they served Raja Jayachandra in their military capacity during the period of Muslim consolidation under Shuhabuddin Ghuri . He argued further that after defeat, the fear of persecution at the hands of Muslims caused
14529-515: The caste associations were formed with the basic objective of unifying individual castes. The All India Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha was formed to bring the horticulturist and market gardener communities like the Koeri, the Kachhi and the Murao under one umbrella. The Koeris also attempted to forge a caste coalition called Raghav Samaj, backed by kurmis which was named after one of Rama 's names. This
14696-414: The caste's landowner status. The term Bhumihar Brahmin was adopted by the community in the late 19th century to emphasise their claim of belonging to the priestly Brahmin class. The alternate name Babhan has been described as an apabhramsha for brāhmaṇ (Brahmin). As with many castes in India, there are numerous myths regarding the origins of the Bhumihar community. One legend states that they are
14863-537: The celebration of Hindu festivals such as Holi and Diwali . Other recorded persecution of Hindus include those under the reign of 18th century Tipu Sultan in south India, and during the colonial era. In the modern era, religious persecution of Hindus have been reported outside India in Pakistan and Bangladesh . Christophe Jaffrelot states that modern Hindu nationalism was born in Maharashtra , in
15030-457: The community and to represent the wants of the community to the government". The Bhumihar Brahmin Mahasabha ("great assembly") was established in 1896. The local Bhumihar Brahmin Sabha s included the ones at Muzaffarpur (1899), Patna (1899), Gaya (1900) and Saran (1908). These associations made numerous petitions to be classified as Brahmins in the 1901 census report . Persistent pressure from
15197-452: The company, it was often not so for the peasant producer, and, "Only one particular caste, the Koeris, managed to carry on the cultivation with some degree of efficiency. They were able to do this because they could employ their wives and children to help out with the tasks of opium production." Other groups involved in opium production had to hire labour, but the Koeris cut costs by utilising that available within their own family. Describing
15364-502: The culture has also influenced a long region and other religions people of that area. All Indian religions , including Buddhism , Jainism and Sikhism are deeply influenced and soft-powered by Hinduism . Koeri The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri ), also referred to as Kushwaha and more recently self-described as Maurya in several parts of northern India are an Indian non-elite caste , found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh , whose traditional occupation
15531-431: The custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs is a modern phenomena, but one that is a convenient abstraction. Distinguishing Indian traditions is a fairly recent practice, states Lipner, and is the result of "not only Western preconceptions about the nature of religion in general and of religion in India in particular, but also with the political awareness that has arisen in India" in its people and
15698-648: The decades preceding the period of 1970-90. According to Kumar: Despite all their limitations, the land reform laws since 1948 have transferred ownership right in vast areas of land to upper-OBCs mainly Yadav and Koeri-Kurmi. This gave them strength to ask for a larger share in political power and by the late 1960s, they seemed to have started asserting themselves politically, which is reflected in slow but gradual rise of their representation in Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) The conflict with upper caste landlords led to an attraction towards far-left naxalism . This
15865-479: The dependent labourers in order to bring them under debt bondage and Kamia-Malik relationship. According to author Bindeswar Ram, who studied rural credit market of 1880s in region such as Bengal and Bihar, Koeris worked as Mahajan or moneylenders alongside Bania and Sonar caste in rural areas. Ram mentions that these social groups acted both as prosperous peasant proprietors as well as rural credit market agent by forwarding credit to tenants ( Raiyat ). By 1885, when
16032-422: The early 20th century. They played an important role in the peasant movements and politics of Bihar . They claim Brahmin status, although their varna has been subject to much debate. The word bhūmihār is of relatively recent origin, first used in the records of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1865. It derives from the words bhūmi ("land") and hāra ("one who seizes or confiscates"), referring to
16199-477: The early medieval era Puranas as pilgrimage sites around a theme. This sacred geography and Shaiva temples with same iconography, shared themes, motifs and embedded legends are found across India, from the Himalayas to hills of South India, from Ellora Caves to Varanasi by about the middle of 1st millennium. Shakti temples, dated to a few centuries later, are verifiable across the subcontinent. Varanasi as
16366-695: The early twentieth century, the Koeri and their sub-caste the Murao participated in the politics of the Kisan Sabha , which worked for the peasants' cause against the ill effects of landlordism and the 1920 Gandhian non-cooperation movement . These peasant castes, which had a long tradition of independence and caste solidarity, founded the Kisan Sabhas, which later became instrumental in supporting peasant causes. The traditional method of Nai-Dhobi band—disallowing of service of washermen and barbers to enforce
16533-472: The entrepreneur or official who planted the colony were very great." They are also distributed in the Samastipur district of Bihar. In this district the Koeri caste is notorious for their criminal affairs and represent most of the ten Legislative Assembly seats in this district. In a fieldwork study, where data was collected in 2008-11 by Gaurang R Sahay, the details of 13 villages of Unwas panchayat in
16700-568: The few literate castes; in this achievement, however, they were well behind the Kayasthas (33 per cent) and some other groups. In the first half of the 20th century, the Bhumihars suffered increasing economic hardships due to the steady fragmentation of land rights amongst heirs and the decline in agricultural prices during the Great Depression . During this period, the Bhumihar associations served as community networks that facilitated access to English education and urban employment. As with
16867-539: The first Muslim invasion of Sindh in the 8th century CE, and intensified 13th century onwards. The 14th-century Sanskrit text, Madhuravijayam , a memoir written by Gangadevi , the wife of Vijayanagara prince, for example describes the consequences of war using religious terms, I very much lament for what happened to the groves in Madhura , The coconut trees have all been cut and in their place are to be seen, rows of iron spikes with human skulls dangling at
17034-491: The folds of revolutionary groups. The CPI(ML) remained successful in mobilising Koeris in the districts of Patna , Bhojpur , Aurangabad and Rohtas districts. Later, a section of the upper strata of the Koeris and other middle peasant castes voiced their support for the militant organisation Ranvir Sena . This group had benefitted the most from land reforms and became ruthless towards the Dalits . Koeris are classified as
17201-486: The highest percentage of Hindus (in decreasing order) are Nepal , India , Mauritius , Fiji , Guyana , Bhutan , Suriname , Trinidad and Tobago , Qatar , Sri Lanka , Kuwait , Bangladesh , Réunion , Malaysia , and Singapore . The fertility rate, that is children per woman, for Hindus is 2.4, which is less than the world average of 2.5. Pew Research projects that there will be 1.4 billion Hindus by 2050. In more ancient times, Hindu kingdoms arose and spread
17368-609: The historical records in Vaishnavism terms of Rama, a deity Vishnu avatar. Pollock presents many such examples and suggests an emerging Hindu political identity that was grounded in the Hindu religious text of Ramayana, one that has continued into the modern times, and suggests that this historic process began with the arrival of Islam in India. Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya has questioned the Pollock theory and presented textual and inscriptional evidence. According to Chattopadhyaya,
17535-408: The industrious nature of the Koeri people, Susan Bayly wrote: "By the mid-nineteenth century, influential revenue specialists were reporting that they could tell the caste of a landed man by simply glancing at his crops. In the north, these observers claimed, a field of 'second-rate barley' would belong to a Rajput or Brahman who took pride in shunning the plough and secluding his womenfolk. Such
17702-476: The influential Asiatick Researches founded in the 18th century, later called The Asiatic Society , initially identified just two religions in India – Islam, and Hinduism. These orientalists included all Indian religions such as Buddhism as a subgroup of Hinduism in the 18th century. These texts called followers of Islam as Mohamedans , and all others as Hindus . The text, by the early 19th century, began dividing Hindus into separate groups, for chronology studies of
17869-503: The labourers). Among various narratives regarding their origin, composition and varna status, one states that there is an element of a low caste tribe called "Bhuyans" who gained land and assimilated with the Bhumihars. Many communities do not give them the ritual status of priestly Brahmins, as most of them were cultivators during the British Raj. Some of the early censuses of British India categorised Bhumihars of Bihar as Shudras ,
18036-571: The land ceiling laws and communist pressure in the 1970s, upper caste landlords resorted to selling off their lands. In most cases the buyer would be from the Koeri, the Kurmi , or the Yadav castes. These peasants worked skilfully on their land and made their holdings more productive. In contrast, the upper castes were unable to do so, and they seemed to be satisfied with the price they got for their land. The increased urbanisation among forward castes created
18203-486: The legal age of marriage for girls. Hindu nationalists seek that the legal age for marriage be eighteen that is universally applied to all girls regardless of their religion and that marriages be registered with local government to verify the age of marriage. Muslim clerics consider this proposal as unacceptable because under the shariah-derived personal law, a Muslim girl can be married at any age after she reaches puberty. Hindu nationalism in India, states Katharine Adeney,
18370-507: The local Bhuiya population in bonded labour system by forwarding Kamiauti advances (a kind of loan) to them. These Koeri Mahajans, according to Chakraborty, were most stringent in terms of their advances to Bhuiya . In post independence India, Koeris have been classified as upper strata of Backward Castes by virtue of being part of the group of four of the OBC communities in Bihar , who acquired land overtime, adopted improved agricultural technology and attained political power to become
18537-678: The local Indian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era , or that it may have developed post-8th century CE after the Muslim invasions and medieval Hindu–Muslim wars . A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and Bengali . The 14th- and 18th-century Indian poets such as Vidyapati , Kabir , Tulsidas and Eknath used
18704-510: The lower backward castes were assigned 12% of the quota, only eight per cent was earmarked for landowning castes like the Koeri, the Kurmi and the Yadavs. Being a Nai by caste, Thakur was aware of the robust economic position and aggressiveness of these castes who were many times seen bullying the Harijans and lower backwards castes. In later years, the Koeris remained in a muted position for
18871-466: The lower castes, such as the Laxmanpur Bathe massacre. The Ranvir Sena which employed Bhumihar youths emerged as the most feared caste force in Bihar. It was named after the 19th century chieftain, Ranvir Chaudhary, who became a cult figure among Bhumihars after taking on powerful Rajput Zamindars. Currently, Kanhaiya Kumar is a notable example of a Bhumihar politician, currently serving as
19038-668: The lower castes. He was the first chief minister in India to abolish the zamindari system. He also led Dalits ' entry into Baidyanath Temple . After Shri Krishna Singh's death in 1961, the Bhumihar political hegemony gradually declined. A small number of Bhumihar leaders continued to play a significant role in the state unit of the Indian National Congress . These included Ramashray Prasad Singh, Rajo Singh, Ramjatan Sinha, Shyam Sunder Singh Dhiraj and Maha Chandra Singh. The Congress parliamentarians Ganga Sharan Singh (Sinha) and Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra also belonged to
19205-487: The lowest of the four varnas . This was considered insulting, especially since several zamindars (land-owning aristocrats) were Bhumihars. Unlike the Brahmans or Rajputs, the Bhumihars did not participate in the rebellion against British rule in India in 1857, but to their dismay, they were classified as belonging to the third varna in the ad-hoc census of 1865 and the regular census of 1881. Like many other castes,
19372-509: The memoirs of Chinese Buddhist and Persian Muslim travellers attest to the existence and significance of the pilgrimage to sacred geography among Hindus by later 1st millennium CE. According to Fleming, those who question whether the term Hindu and Hinduism are a modern construction in a religious context present their arguments based on some texts that have survived into the modern era, either of Islamic courts or of literature published by Western missionaries or colonial-era Indologists aiming for
19539-415: The mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists , Sikhs and Jains , but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. At approximately 1.2 billion, Hindus are
19706-542: The middle peasant castes which took place during 1890s turned rural Bihar into an arena of conflict. William Pinch claims that castes like the Koeris, the Kurmi, and the Yadav joined the British Indian Army as soldiers. The kshatriyatva or "essence of being kshatriya ", was characterised by aggressiveness among these castes, which led to the formation of many caste armies resulting in intercaste conflict. In
19873-399: The military and political campaign during the medieval era wars in Deccan peninsula of India, and in the north India, were no longer a quest for sovereignty, they embodied a political and religious animosity against the "otherness of Islam", and this began the historical process of Hindu identity formation. Andrew Nicholson, in his review of scholarship on Hindu identity history, states that
20040-679: The name of the Indus River and also referred to its tributaries. The actual term 'hindu' first occurs, states Gavin Flood, as "a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu )", more specifically in the 5th-century BCE, DNa inscription of Darius I . The Punjab region , called Sapta Sindhu in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta . The 6th-century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions
20207-559: The non-patrician 'peasant' – the thrifty Jat or canny Kurmi in upper India, .... Similar virtues would be found among the smaller market-gardening populations, these being the people known as Koeris in Hindustan" Colonial ethnographers like Dr. Hunter identified Koiris and Oudhia Kurmis as most respectable of all cultivating castes in some districts of Bihar. In 1877, there was an attempt by colonial Government of Bengal to prepare an account of Indian society and it culminated into
20374-421: The offspring of a union between Rajput men and Brahmin women, while according to another, they derive from Brahman - Buddhists who lost their high position in Hindu society. The Bhumihars themselves dislike these narratives involving "hybridity" or "fallen status", and claim to be pure Brahmins. Another legend states that they are the descendants of the sixth incarnation of Vishnu , Parashurama . As Parashurama
20541-516: The other middle level castes in northern India, were facing a double-edged confrontation from the upper castes who were supporters of the status quo as well as from the Dalits and the lowest castes who now became assertive for their own rights. All this made the middle castes aggressive. Sanjay Kumar associates the political mobilisation of the middle peasant castes , also called upper-OBCs with this gradual process of land reforms undertaken in Bihar in
20708-431: The phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma ( Islam ). The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term 'Hindu' in a religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus , in contrast to Mohamedans for groups such as Turks, Mughals and Arabs , who were adherents of Islam. By
20875-511: The points, In the highways which were once charming with anklets sound of beautiful women, are now heard ear-piercing noises of Brahmins being dragged, bound in iron-fetters, The waters of Tambraparni , which were once white with sandal paste, are now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by miscreants, Earth is no longer the producer of wealth, nor does Indra give timely rains, The God of death takes his undue toll of what are left lives if undestroyed by
21042-532: The political parties dominated by the OBCs . These included Akhilesh Prasad Singh ( RJD ) and Arun Kumar (Samata Dal; now Rashtriya Lok Samata Party ). As their power in electoral politics declined, a number of Bhumihars were attracted to Ranvir Sena , a private militia established in 1994. The group has carried out armed attacks against the Naxals in the region, and has been involved in committing atrocities against
21209-546: The politics of Bihar since the British days upto earlier decades of post independence India. Noted Bhumihar princely state rulers included Harendra Kishore Singh (Raja of Bettiah ) and Vibhuti Narayan Singh (Raja of the Benares ). However, in the latter years, the OBC consolidation in the state of Bihar led the dominant OBC castes like the Koeri , Kurmi and Yadav to take lead in acquisition of political power; they replaced
21376-433: The population. According to Christopher Bayly : "Eighteenth-century settlement of Kurmi, Kacchi and Koeri cultivators were also numerous in northern and western Awadh. On the fringes of cultivation, these castes were given special rental rates for bringing areas of jungle under plough. In the first five years, for instance the rent might be only half of what was common for soil of the same type. The revenue benefits to
21543-449: The practice of begar (forced labour). The Indian National Congress continued its policy of not giving due importance to the demand of upper-OBCs for more political representation and the Koeris along with other OBCs remained unsatisfied in the post independence period as well, when the question of political representation for greater part of society was gaining ground. The Congress's reliance on its "Coalition Of Extremes", referring to
21710-639: The price of land surged, they started increasing their landholdings through purchase. There also witnessed increased transfer of the land of tenants by these social groups, when they mortgaged their land for credit. Ram also mentioned that after 1885, due to increase in registration of land under law and growing prices of land, the bargaining power of these groups, acting as moneylenders increased tremendously. Malabika Chakrabarti also mentions that better-off peasants of Koeri caste in region of South Bihar supplemented their income from cultivation by working as Mahajan or moneylenders. She also notes that they also involved
21877-415: The process of all india social classification of various castes and tribes beginning with the first census of 1871. In 1901, Herbert Hope Risley applied anthropometrical methods to develop a racial taxonomy of Indian society leading to a problematic attempt to classify people of India. The Koeris were classified as "agricultural caste" along with the Kurmis. An official report of 1941 described them as being
22044-429: The prosperity attained by some of their clan members.The study also presented a differentiated pattern of control over land and resources, as, in some quarters, caste like Koeri and Yadav were dominant, while in others, Bhumihar caste still had control over significant amount of cultivable land. Peasants in middle castes like the Koeris benefitted the most from the land reform policies of the Indian government. Faced with
22211-433: The province of Hi[n]dush , referring to northwestern India. The people of India were referred to as Hinduvān and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian language in the 8th century text Chachnama . According to D. N. Jha , the term 'Hindu' in these ancient records is an ethno-geographical term and did not refer to a religion. Among the earliest known records of 'Hindu' with connotations of religion may be in
22378-522: The religion and traditions across Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand , Nepal , Burma , Malaysia , Indonesia , Cambodia , Laos , Philippines , and what is now central Vietnam . Over 3 million Hindus are found in Bali Indonesia, a culture whose origins trace back to ideas brought by Hindu traders to Indonesian islands in the 1st millennium CE. Their sacred texts are also the Vedas and
22545-453: The religions have drawn their curved swords;" however, the date of this text is unclear and considered by most scholars to be more recent. In Islamic literature, 'Abd al-Malik Isami 's Persian work, Futuhu's-salatin , composed in the Deccan under Bahmani rule in 1350, uses the word ' hindi' to mean Indian in the ethno-geographical sense and the word ' hindu' to mean 'Hindu' in
22712-526: The same terms are " Indus " (for the river) and " India " (for the land of the river). Likewise Hebrew cognate hōd-dū refers to India mentioned in Hebrew Bible ( Esther 1:1 ). The term " Hindu " also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) River . By the 16th century CE, the term began to refer to residents of
22879-544: The sanctions on the landlords and use of their robust caste panchayats—became a symbol of this peasant movement. Koeri leader Mata Badal Koeri became a founding leader of Oudh Kisan Sabha (Awadh Farmers Conference) along with Baba Ram Chandra . Large numbers of Koeris participated in the Awadh Kisan Conference of 1920, which was held in Ayodhya. In the heyday of British Raj , the Koeris aligned with
23046-477: The sense of a follower of the Hindu religion". The poet Vidyapati 's Kirtilata (1380) uses the term Hindu in the sense of a religion, it contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks (Muslims) in a city and concludes "The Hindus and the Turks live close together; Each makes fun of the other's religion ( dhamme )." One of the earliest uses of word 'Hindu' in a religious context, in a European language (Spanish),
23213-443: The sense of non-Muslim Indians". However, scholars like Robert Fraser and Mary Hammond opine that Sikhism began initially as a militant sect of Hinduism and it got formally separated from Hinduism only in the 20th century. During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam. In early colonial era Anglo-Hindu laws and British India court system,
23380-482: The social ladder, often by tracing their origins to mythical characters or following the lifestyle of higher varna , such as following vegetarianism , secluding women, or wearing Janeu , the sacred thread. The Sanskritising trend in castes of northern India, including that of the Koeris, was inspired by the vaishnavite tradition, as attested by their bid to seek association with avatars of Vishnu . Author William Pinch wrote: "The nineteenth century antecedents of
23547-625: The subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims . Since ancient times, Hindu has been used to refer to people inhibiting region beyond the Sindhu river, therefore some assumptions that medieval Persian authors considered Hindu as derogatory is not accepted by practicing Hindus themselves as those references are much later to references used in pre-Islamic Persian sources, early Arab and Indian sources, all of them had positive connotation only as they either referred to region or followers of Hinduism. The historical development of Hindu self-identity within
23714-470: The term 'Hindu' retained its geographical reference initially: 'Indian', 'indigenous, local', virtually 'native'. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves and their "traditional ways" from those of the invaders. The text Prithviraj Raso , by Chand Bardai , about the 1192 CE defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Muhammad Ghori , is full of references to "Hindus" and "Turks", and at one stage, says "both
23881-408: The term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions as well as two non-Indian religions: Judaism and Zoroastrianism. In the 20th century, personal laws were formulated for Hindus, and the term 'Hindu' in these colonial 'Hindu laws' applied to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in addition to denominational Hindus. Beyond the stipulations of British colonial law, European orientalists and particularly
24048-416: The time, leaving behind old elite groups, such as Bhumihars . Kumar's study found that both these caste compete for political power in these zones and a few Koeri families, who are economically sound, also own the local Primary Agricultural Credit Societies and Public Distribution System . However, intra-caste differentiation in Koeris was also high, as not all Koeri households in villages under study shared
24215-399: The upper castes, the Bhumihars, Rajputs , Brahmin and Kayastha in the political circle. By 1990s, there emerged two political blocs in the state, led by Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar respectively, which represented these three castes. The Bhumihars have also played a pioneering role in organising peasant , leftist and independence movements since the 1910s. In 1914 and 1916,
24382-505: The various beliefs. Among the earliest terms to emerge were Seeks and their College (later spelled Sikhs by Charles Wilkins), Boudhism (later spelled Buddhism), and in the 9th volume of Asiatick Researches report on religions in India, the term Jainism received notice. According to Pennington, the terms Hindu and Hinduism were thus constructed for colonial studies of India. The various sub-divisions and separation of subgroup terms were assumed to be result of "communal conflict", and Hindu
24549-485: The vast majority belonged to tenantry . Starting in 1914, two factions emerged in the Bhumihar Mahasabha: the landowner-dominated faction led by Ganesh Dutt , and the tenant-dominated faction led by Sahajanand Saraswati. Sahajanand came from a zamindar family, which had been reduced to tenant status. He attracted a large number of followers who, as tenants, were exploited by the rich landlords. His support for
24716-470: The vast majority had economic status similar to middle peasants of Koeri , Kurmi and the Yadav caste. The general categorisation of all the Bhumihars being landlords is thus not a factually correct idea, as in urban areas latter were found to be engaged in variety of occupation. The upper crust among Bhumihars in urban areas were professionals and bureaucrats but many of them also worked as factory workers , coal miners and even load carriers ( Mazdoors or
24883-456: The vernacular literature of Bhakti movement sants from 15th to 17th century, such as Kabir , Anantadas, Eknath, Vidyapati, suggests that distinct religious identities, between Hindus and Turks (Muslims), had formed during these centuries. The poetry of this period contrasts Hindu and Islamic identities, states Nicholson, and the literature vilifies the Muslims coupled with a "distinct sense of
25050-445: The way for egalitarianism and a lack of gender-related discrimination and seclusion. The view of the Koeris regarding their women is portrayed through their (Jati) Caste pamphlet, where Koeri women are described as being loyal to their husbands and having all the qualities of a true Kshatriya woman, who faces the enemy with courage and fights along with her husband rather than being defeated outrightly. The Kshatriya reform movement in
25217-424: The wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it". A Hindu may, by his or her choice, draw upon ideas of other Indian or non-Indian religious thought as a resource, follow or evolve his or her personal beliefs, and still identify as a Hindu. In 1995, Chief Justice P. B. Gajendragadkar
25384-479: The world's third-largest religious group after Christians and Muslims. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million (94.3% of the global Hindu population), live in India , according to the 2011 Indian census. After India, the next nine countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order: Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , the United States , Malaysia ,
25551-564: The world. Most Hindus are found in Asian countries. The top twenty-five countries with the most Hindu residents and citizens (in decreasing order) are India , Nepal , Bangladesh , Indonesia , Pakistan , Sri Lanka , United States , Malaysia , Myanmar , United Kingdom , Mauritius , South Africa , United Arab Emirates , Canada , Australia , Saudi Arabia , Trinidad and Tobago , Singapore , Fiji , Qatar , Kuwait , Guyana , Bhutan , Oman and Yemen . The top fifteen countries with
25718-446: Was a Brahmin who carried out warfare like a Kshatriya , Bhumihars thus claim the traits of both the varnas . By the 16th century, the Bhumihars controlled vast stretches of land in eastern India, particularly in north Bihar. By the late eighteenth century, along with Bihari Rajputs , they had established themselves as the most prominent landholders of the region. Oral legends suggest that along with Muslims and Rajputs, they displaced
25885-405: Was a sum of ₹ 6,000 (US$ 72) per month as family income. Being one of the early literate groups of British India, the Bhumihar community produced several prominent literary figures. These include Ramdhari Singh Dinkar , Rahul Sankrityayan , Rambriksh Benipuri and Gopal Singh Nepali . In the field of journalism, Ravish Kumar is notable example of a Bhumihar. The Bhumihars follow a subset of
26052-472: Was agriculture. According to Arvind Narayan Das they were horticulturists rather than agriculturists. They are also recorded as performing the work of Mahajan (rural moneylenders) in credit market of rural parts of Bihar and Bengal in 1880s. Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation — as part of social resurgence. During the British rule in India, Koeris were described as "agriculturalists" along with Kurmis and other cultivating castes. They are described as
26219-635: Was codified by Savarkar while he was a political prisoner of the British colonial authorities. Chris Bayly traces the roots of Hindu nationalism to the Hindu identity and political independence achieved by the Maratha confederacy , that overthrew the Islamic Mughal empire in large parts of India, allowing Hindus the freedom to pursue any of their diverse religious beliefs and restored Hindu holy places such as Varanasi. A few scholars view Hindu mobilisation and consequent nationalism to have emerged in
26386-664: Was constructed by these orientalists to imply people who adhered to "ancient default oppressive religious substratum of India", states Pennington. Followers of other Indian religions so identified were later referred Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains and distinguished from Hindus, in an antagonistic two-dimensional manner, with Hindus and Hinduism stereotyped as irrational traditional and others as rational reform religions. However, these mid-19th-century reports offered no indication of doctrinal or ritual differences between Hindu and Buddhist, or other newly constructed religious identities. These colonial studies, states Pennigton, "puzzled endlessly about
26553-537: Was done to justify the communities' claims of descent from Lava and Kusha , respectively. In 1928, the Mahasabha also petitioned the Simon Commission on behalf of various subcastes of the Koeri community to seek recognition as Kshatriya. The terminology Lav-Kush for the Koeri-Kurmi community became more important in politics than in culture; in Bihar, it came to represent the political solidarity of
26720-541: Was however noted that in his survey, Buchanan had neglected an upper crust among them, which had accumulated and hoarded cash and had emerged as moneylenders forwarding Kamiauti advances to acquire dependent labour. Oral testimonies from the colonial period indicates that by the end of 19th century, Koeris in the Gaya district included rich peasants, who had acquired material wealth by improving land relation and extending market relations. This enabled them to forward advances to
26887-554: Was killed in 1971, the communist uprising in Bhojpur subsided. A report of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation titled Flaming fields of Bihar revealed the participation of Koiris in the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in some of the districts of Bihar. It was reported that being the victims of persistent banditry and oppression by the upper-caste landlords, middle castes like them more often come within
27054-782: Was largely created through military service. During the early days of British expansion in India, Bhumihars under Raja of Banaras, Cheyt Singh participated in revolts against the East India Company . After his defeat, the Company started recruiting Bhumihar sepoys in large numbers until the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . In post independence India , according to author Rumela Sen, the majority of upper caste households, including those of Bhumihars, had landholdings of sufficient size to qualify them as "middle peasants". Though there existed few large landholders amongst them,
27221-435: Was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450 ) and some 16th- to 18th-century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata . These texts used it to contrast Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas (foreigners) or Mlecchas (barbarians), with the 16th-century Chaitanya Charitamrita text and
27388-442: Was quoted in an Indian Supreme Court ruling: Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, Hindus share philosophical concepts, such as but not limiting to dharma , karma , kama , artha , moksha and samsara , even if each subscribes to a diversity of views. Hindus also have shared texts such as the Vedas with embedded Upanishads , and common ritual grammar ( Sanskara (rite of passage) ) such as rituals during
27555-646: Was short-lived and their representation was gradually lost to other backward castes after Prasad's death. This period also witnessed Satish Prasad Singh , a lesser known Koeri leader, become the chief minister of Bihar merely a week after the fall of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha government. He led a coalition of the Shoshit Samaj Dal party of Jagdeo Prasad and the Congress. In 1977, the Karpoori Thakur government of Bihar introduced an affirmative action of quota in government jobs and universities. While
27722-407: Was the publication in 1649 by Sebastio Manrique . In the Indian historian DN Jha 's essay "Looking for a Hindu identity" , he writes: "No Indians described themselves as Hindus before the fourteenth century" and that "The British borrowed the word 'Hindu' from India, gave it a new meaning and significance, [and] reimported it into India as a reified phenomenon called Hinduism." In the 18th century,
27889-612: Was witnessed in Ekwari , a village, in the Bhojpur district where Jagdish Mahto , a Koeri teacher, began leading the Maoists and organised the murders of upper caste landlords after he was beaten up by Bhumihars for supporting the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1967 elections to Bihar Legislative Assembly . Mahto also set up a newspaper in Arrah called Harijanistan . After Mahto
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