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Ahir

2022-05-19T07:40:21Z

Baidy540:

{{for|the village in Turkey|Ahır, İpsala}}
{{Short description|Social community of India}}
{{Infobox caste
| caste_name = Ahir/Aheer
| subdivisions = [[Yaduvanshi]], Nandvanshi, and [[Gwalvanshi]] Ahir
| populated_states = India and Nepal
| religions = [[Hinduism]]
| languages = Varies depending on region
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
'''Ahir''' or '''Aheer''' is a community in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian [[Yadav]] community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a [[Caste system in India|caste]], a [[clan]], a [[community]], a [[Race (human classification)|race]] and a [[tribe]].

The traditional occupations of Ahirs are Gau Palan and agriculture. They are found throughout India but are particularly concentrated in the northern area. Apart from India, Ahirs have significant population in [[Nepal]], [[Mauritius]], [[Fiji]], [[South Africa]] and the [[Caribbean]] especially [[Guyana]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], and [[Suriname]]. In Mauritius and Caribbean they are mostly the descendants of settlers who arrived between the 19th and 20th centuries from the former pre-partitioned sub-continent of India during the time of the British Raj.<ref>https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3886</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 177986|title = The Retention of Caste Notions among the Indian Immigrants in British Guiana during the Nineteenth Century|last1 = Moore|first1 = Brian L.|journal = Comparative Studies in Society and History|year = 1977|volume = 19|issue = 1|pages = 96–107|doi = 10.1017/S0010417500008513}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 23050197|title = Indian Heritage in Trinidad, West Indies|last1 = Jha|first1 = J. C.|journal = Caribbean Quarterly|year = 1973|volume = 19|issue = 2|pages = 28–50|doi = 10.1080/00086495.1973.11829152}}</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237306710_Ethnic_and_Caste_Diversity_Implications_for_Development</ref><ref>https://www.historytoday.com/archive/indian-labour-british-guiana</ref><ref>https://www.economist.com/international/2017/09/02/the-legacy-of-indian-migration-to-european-colonies</ref> Current Prime Minister of Mauritius [[Pravind Kumar Jugnauth]] is an Ahir. His Father [[Aneerood Jugnauth]] was former Prime Minister of Mauritius.
Ahirs in India are known by numerous other names, including '''Gauli'''<ref>{{cite book |last=Mehta |first=B. H. |title=Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands |volume=II |year=1994 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |location=New Delhi |pages=568–569 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gu_cN0MhteMC&pg=PA568}}</ref> and '''Ghosi''' or '''Gop''' in [[North India]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science | work=PhD Thesis Social Anthropology |year=2002 |first=Lucia |last=Michelutti | pages=94–95}}</ref> In [[Gujarat]] and [[South India]] as '''Ayar''', '''Golla''' and '''Konar'''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rajbir |last=Singh |title=India's Unequal Citizens: A Study of Other Backward Classes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn3aAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=Manohar, 1994 |isbn=9788173040696 |pages=34, 356, 390}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Shish Ram |last=Sharma |title=Protective Discrimination: Other Backward Classes in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3PaAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Raj Publications, 2002 |isbn=9788186208236 |pages=153, 312, 410}}</ref> Some in the [[Bundelkhand]] region of [[Uttar Pradesh]] are known as '''Dauwa'''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fghQhiowlycC&pg=PA32 |title=Between History and Legend: Status and Power in Bundelkhand |publisher=Orient Blackswan |first=Ravindra K. |last=Jain |year=2002 |page=30 |isbn=978-8-12502-194-0}}</ref> In Haryana, Ahirs are sometimes referred as '''Rao/Rao Sahab'''.<ref>https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/haryana/dynastic-politics-reigns-in-ahirwal-838724</ref><ref>https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/rajkumar-yadav-is-now-rajkummar-rao/story-kdlhn7VwAi4j0pADyOlXmI.html</ref> They have more than 20 sub-castes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58G8PPAN48cC&pg=PA33 |title=Awareness in Weaker Section: Perspective Development and Prospects |publisher=M. D. Publications Pvt. Ltd |first=Mahendra Lal |last=Patel |year=1997 |page=33 |isbn=978-8-17533-029-0}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Gaṅga Ram Garg considers the Ahir to be a tribe descended from the ancient [[Abhira tribe|Abhira community]], whose precise location in India is the subject of various theories based mostly on interpretations of old texts such as the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and the writings of [[Ptolemy]]. He believes the word ''Ahir'' to be the [[Prakrit]] form of a [[Sanskrit]] word, ''Abhira'', and he notes that the present term in the [[Bengali (language)|Bengali]] and [[Marathi language|Marathi]] languages is ''Abhir''.<ref name="Garg1992">{{cite book|editor-first=Gaṅga Ram |editor-last=Garg|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&pg=PA113|volume=1|year=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-374-0|pages=113–114}}</ref>

Garg distinguishes a Brahmin community who use the ''Abhira'' name and are found in the present-day states of [[Maharashtra]] and [[Gujarat]]. That usage, he says, is because that division of Brahmins were priests to the ancient Abhira tribe.<ref name="Garg1992" />

== History ==

=== Early history ===
Theories regarding the origins of the ancient [[Abhira]] – the putative ancestors of the Ahirs – are varied for the same reasons as are the theories regarding their location; that is, there is a reliance on interpretation of linguistic and factual analysis of old texts that are known to be unreliable and ambiguous.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126" />

Some, such as A. P. Karmakar, consider the Abhira to be a [[Proto-Dravidian]] tribe who migrated to India and point to the ''[[Purana]]s'' as evidence. Others, such as Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya, say that the Abhira are recorded as being in India in the 1st-century CE work, the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]''. Bhattacharya considers the Abhira of old to be a race rather than a tribe.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126">{{cite book |title=Krishna – Cult in Indian Art |first=Sunil Kumar |last=Bhattacharya |publisher=M.D. Publications |year=1996 |isbn=9788175330016 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyyNIL7Ug2kC}}</ref> The sociologist [[M. S. A. Rao]] and historians such as P. M. Chandorkar and T. Padmaja say that epigraphical and historical evidence exists for equating the Ahirs with the ancient [[Yadava]] tribe.<ref>{{Cite book|first = Sumit | last = Guha |title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year = 2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|page=47|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first = M. S. A. | last=Rao |title=Social Movements in India |volume=1| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=SODZAAAAMAAJ&q=124|year=1978 | publisher =Manohar|pages=124, 197, 210}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | first = Padmaja|last= T. |title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=RA1-PA35|year = 2001 | publisher = Archaeology Dept., University of Mysore|pages=25, 34|isbn=978-8-170-17398-4}}</ref>

Whether they were a race or a tribe, nomadic in tendency or displaced or part of a conquering wave, with origins in Indo-Scythia or Central Asia, Aryan or [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] – there is no academic consensus, and much in the differences of opinion relate to fundamental aspects of historiography, such as controversies regarding dating the writing of the ''Mahabharata'' and acceptance or otherwise of the [[Indo-Aryan migration]] (which is universally accepted in mainstream scholarship).{{refn|name="OIT no support"|Out of India aka Indigenous Aryans has no support:
* Romila Thapar (2006): "there is no scholar at this time seriously arguing for the indigenous origin of Aryans".<ref>{{cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |date=2006 |title=India: Historical Beginnings and the Concept of the Aryan |publisher=National Book Trust |isbn=9788123747798 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sDBuAAAAMAAJ&q=indigenous+aryans}}</ref>
* Wendy Doniger (2017): "The opposing argument, that speakers of Indo-European languages were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, is not supported by any reliable scholarship. It is now championed primarily by Hindu nationalists, whose religious sentiments have led them to regard the theory of Aryan migration with some asperity."<ref>Wendy Doniger (2017), [https://inference-review.com/article/another-great-story "Another Great Story"]", review of Asko Parpola's ''The Roots of Hinduism''; in: ''Inference, International Review of Science'', Volume 3, Issue 2</ref>
* Girish Shahane (September 14, 2019), in response to Narasimhan et al. (2019): "Hindutva activists, however, have kept the Aryan Invasion Theory alive, because it offers them the perfect strawman, 'an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument' ... The Out of India hypothesis is a desperate attempt to reconcile linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence with Hindutva sentiment and nationalistic pride, but it cannot reverse time's arrow ... The evidence keeps crushing Hindutva ideas of history."<ref>Girish Shahane (September 14, 2019), [https://scroll.in/article/937043/why-hindutva-supporters-love-to-hate-the-discredited-aryan-invasion-theory ''Why Hindutva supporters love to hate the discredited Aryan Invasion Theory''], Scroll.in</ref>
* Koenraad Elst (May 10, 2016): "Of course it is a fringe theory, at least internationally, where the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) is still the official paradigm. In India, though, it has the support of most archaeologists, who fail to find a trace of this Aryan influx and instead find cultural continuity."<ref name="Elst_2016">Koenraad Elst (May 10, 2016), Koenraad Elst: "I am not aware of any governmental interest in correcting distorted history", ''Swarajya Magazine''</ref>}}<ref name="Yadava2006p1">{{cite book |title=Followers of Krishna: Yadavas of India |first=S. D. S. |last=Yadava |publisher=Lancer Publishers |year=2006 |isbn=9788170622161 |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p69GMA226bgC}}</ref> Similarly, there is no certainty regarding the occupational status of the Abhira, with ancient texts sometimes referring to them as pastoral and cowherders but at other times as robber tribes.<ref>{{cite book |first=Aditya |last=Malik |chapter=The Puskara Mahatmya: A Short Report |page=200 |title=The History of Sacred Places in India As Reflected in Traditional Literature |editor-first=Hans |editor-last=Bakker |location=Leiden |year=1990 |isbn=9789004093188 |publisher=BRILL and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPgBdyxD5MkC&pg=PA200}}</ref>

=== Kingdoms ===

[[File:Asirgarh Fort1.jpg|thumb|[[Asirgarh Fort]] in [[Burhanpur]] District in [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]]]
*Asirgarh fort of [[Asa Ahir]]<ref>{{cite book |author=B H Mehta |title=Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands Vol II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gu_cN0MhteMC&pg=PA569 |publisher=Concept |page=569 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Numismatic Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1NmAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Numismatic Society of Bombay, Original from the University of Michigan.|page=141}}</ref>
* 13th or 14th century A.D. Bijagarh Fort of Bija, a Gauli Raja<ref>{{cite book|first=V. S. |last=Krishnan |title=Madhya Pradesh: West Nimar [5] West Nimar. Supplement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UhuAAAAMAAJ |year=1970 |publisher=Government Central Press, 1970 |page=47}}</ref>
*Digpal, an Ahir Raja of [[Mahaban]]<ref name="mainpuri#">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exg6AAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%AB%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9F%E0%A4%95+%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%B0 | title=Mainapurī janapada kā rājanaitika itihāsa: svantantratā saṅgrāmoṃ kī amara gāthā | publisher=Śuklā Prakāśana Original from the University of Michigan | author=Cintāmaṇi Śukla | year=1977}}</ref>
* [[Thakur Laxman Singh]], an Ahir ruler of Naigaon Ribai, [[Bundelkhand]]<ref name="gbook3">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iOsNUZ2MXgC | title=The Golden Book of India: A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles, and Other Personages, Titled Or Decorated of the Indian Empire | publisher=Aakar Books | date=2005 | accessdate=27 October 2014 | author=Sir Roper Lethbridge | pages=371}}</ref>
* [[Rao Tula Ram]], king of [[Rewari]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science| work=PhD Thesis Social Anthropology | date=2002 | first=Lucia |last=Michelutti | page=83}}</ref>
* Veersen of [[Nasik]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://jalgaon.gov.in/history/ | title=JALGAON HISTORY | publisher=Jalgaon district Administration | work=Jalgaon District Administration Official Website | access-date=7 February 2015 | author=Jalgaon district}}</ref>
* Ahir dynasty in pre-12th century areas in present-day [[Nepal]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Punam |last=Yadav|title=Social Transformation in Post-conflict Nepal: A Gender Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QQRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT57|year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-35389-8|page=57}}</ref>
*Ahir kingdom of [[Jalesar]] and [[Karauli]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science | work=PhD Thesis Social Anthropology | date=2002 | first=Lucia |last=Michelutti | page=47}}</ref>
*Ahir-Rajas of [[Sagar, Madhya Pradesh|Sagar]]<ref>{{cite book |first= A N |last= Sharma | page =13 |title= The Beria (Rai Dancers)A Socio-demographic, Reproductive, and Child Health Care Practices Profile
|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Beria_Rai_Dancers/YX1siOYKthgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ahir+Rajas+sagar&pg=PA13&printsec=frontcover|isbn=81-7625-714-1|year= 2006}}</ref>
*[[Bhandaria, Bhavnagar|Bhandaria]], [[Bodanones]] and [[Morchopna]] were few [[princely state]]s ruled by Kamaliya clan of Ahirs<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V15_171.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 15, page 165 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|website=dsal.uchicago.edu|access-date=2020-09-03}}</ref>

=== Military involvements ===
The [[British Raj|British]] rulers of India classified the Ahirs of Punjab as an "agricultural tribe" in the 1920s, which was at that time synonymous with being a "[[martial race]]".<ref>{{cite book|first=Rajit K. |last=Mazumder|title=The Indian army and the making of Punjab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8G8COTxOUkgC&pg=PA105|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-7824-059-6|page=105}}</ref> They had been recruited into the army from 1898.<ref>{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/peasantsmonksinb0000pinc |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/peasantsmonksinb0000pinc/page/90 90]}}</ref> In that year, the British raised four Ahir companies, two of which were in the [[95th Russell's Infantry]].<ref>{{cite book|first=M. S. A. |last=Rao |title=Social movements and social transformation: a study of two backward classes movements in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZAiAAAAMAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780333902554 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}} In post-independence India, some Ahir units have been involved in celebrated military actions, such as at [[Rezang La]] in the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]] that saw the last stand of Charlie company, consisting of 114 Ahirs of 13 Kumaon, and in the [[1965 India-Pakistan War]].<ref name="Remembering Rezang La heroes">
{{cite news |author=Press Information Bureau, Government of India | title=Remembering Rezang La heroes |date=7 January 2007 |newspaper=Sainik samachar |url=http://sainiksamachar.nic.in/englisharchives/2007/oct01-07/h4.htm}}
</ref><ref name="Heroes of Rezang La">
{{cite news |author= Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd) | title=Heroes of Rezang La 1962 |date=15 December 2018 |newspaper=The Tribune |url= https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/haryanatribune/heroes-of-1962-rezang-la-battle-698535}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Mohan |last=Guruswamy |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/dont-forget-the-heroes-of-rezang-la/article4112584.ece |title=Don't forget the heroes of Rezang La |work=The Hindu |date=20 November 2012 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SBWc27AVmwC&pg=PA212| title=Combat Diary: An illustrated history of operations conducted by 4th Kumaon| publisher=Lancer Books |work=History |year=2010 |first=Jasbir |last=Singh |page=212| isbn=978-1-935501-18-3}}</ref>

The Ahirs have been one of the more militant Hindu groups, including in the modern era.<ref>{{cite book |first=Nandini |last=Gooptu |title=The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India |page=307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZTLEEGmZfQC&pg=PA307 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001|isbn=978-0-521-44366-1 |quote=The Ahirs in particular who played an important role in militant Hinduism, retaliated strongly against the Tanzeem movement. In July,1930, about 200 Ahirs marched in procession to Trilochan, a sacred Hindu site and performed a religious ceremony in response to Tanzeem processions.}}</ref> It was from the 1920s that some Ahirs began to adopt the name of ''Yadav'' and created the [[All-India Yadav Mahasabha|Yadav Mahasabha]], founded by ideologues such as Rajit Singh. Several caste histories and periodicals to trace a Kshatriya origin were written at the time, notably by Mannanlal Abhimanyu. These were part of the jostling among various castes for socio-economic status and ritual under the Raj and they invoked support for a zealous, martial Hindu ethos.<ref>{{cite book |first=Nandini |last=Gooptu |title=The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India |pages=205–210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZTLEEGmZfQC&pg=PA205 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001|isbn=978-0-521-44366-1 }}</ref>

== Distribution ==

=== North India ===
They have a significant population in the region around [[Behror]], [[Alwar]], [[Rewari]], [[Narnaul]], [[Mahendragarh]], [[Gurgaon]]<ref name="nannak$">{{cite book|last1=Guru Nanak Dev University|first1=Sociology Dept|title=Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology|publisher=Sociology Department, Guru Nanak Dev University|pages=5, 6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03_ZAAAAMAAJ&q=ahir|date=2003|language=en}}</ref> and [[Jhajjar]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Dip Chand |last=Verma|title=Haryana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JY5AQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=National Book Trust, India}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Suresh K. |last=Sharma|title=Haryana: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VE71IqAC0YYC&pg=PA40|year=2006|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-046-8|page=40}}</ref> – the region is therefore known as [[Ahirwal]] or the abode of Ahirs.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OIUAQAAIAAJ&q=ahirwal |title=The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste, and Religion in India |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |pages=41, 42 |isbn=978-0-415-46732-2}}</ref>
=== Maharashtra ===
Ahirs live in the [[Khandesh]] region of Maharashtra. The community has been influential in the history of the region. Inscriptions indicate that [[Abhira]]s ruled this region and Abhir/Ahir kings have made a significant contribution to the making of the region. Ahir ethnicity is visible among various castes in Khandesh, including [[Maratha]] and [[Marathi Brahmin|Brahmins]]. [[Ahirani]] dialect continues to be spoken today in the region and is widespread across [[Jalgaon]], [[Dhule]] and [[Nashik]]. It is an admixture of [[Marathi Language|Marathi]], [[Gujarati Language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]], ancient [[Magadhi]], [[Saurashtra language|Saurashtri]], [[Sauraseni]], Lati, [[Maharashtri]], [[Prakrit]] and [[Paishachi]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/land_and_people/L%20&%20P%20pdf/Chapter%20III/3%20Distinctive%20Features%20of%20Sub-regional%20Culture%20of%20Maharashtra.pdf| title = Maharashtra: Land and its people |last=Pathak|first=A. S.| agency= Government of Maharashtra |year=2009|publisher = Maharashtra State Gazetteer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first = Sumit |last=Guha|title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200-1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year=2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7|page=47}}</ref>

== Culture ==
[[File:AhirDecoratedWithCowriesDiwali.jpg|thumb|280px|Ahir dancers decorated with [[cowrie]] shells for [[Diwali]].]]

=== Diet ===
In 1992, Noor Mohammad noted that most Ahirs in Uttar Pradesh were vegetarian, with some exceptions who were engaged in fishing and raising poultry.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ln6_PodhWC0C&pg=PA60 |title=New Dimensions in Agricultural ... |first=Noor |last=Mohammad |page=60|isbn=9788170224037 |year=1992 }}</ref>
=== Language and tradition ===
According to [[Alain Daniélou]] the Ahirs belong to the same culture as the dark skinned prominent figures of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Rama and Krishna. Ahirs of Benares speak a Hindi dialect which is different from one used normally.<ref>.{{cite book |first= Alain |last= danielou | page =56 |title= The Beria (Rai Dancers)A Socio-demographic, Reproductive, and Child Health Care Practices Profile
|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/India_A_Civilization_of_Differences/Ua6yuxBPQdQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ahir|isbn= 9781594770487
|year= 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Nanditha |last= Kirshna | page =56 |title= Book of Vishnu
|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Book_of_Vishnu/pIFFEJXx7L8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ahirs|isbn= 9788184758658
|year= 2009}}</ref> Ahirs usually speak language of the region in which they live. Some languages/dialects named after Ahirs are Ahirani, also known as [[Khandeshi]], spoken in [[Khandesh]] region of Maharashtra, Ahirwati spoken in Ahirwal region of Haryana and Rajasthan. The Malwi spoken is Malwa region of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is also known as Ahiri. These dialects are named after Ahirs but not necessarily only spoken by Ahirs living in those areas or all Ahirs in those regions speak these dialects.<ref>{{cite book |title=Linguistic Survey of India - Volume 9, Part 2 - Page 50 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uT1BAQAAMAAJ&q=ahiri+ahirani+ahirwati+malvi|last1 = Grierson|first1 = Sir George Abraham|year = 1908}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2021|reason=current citation is a Raj-Era source, please add a non-raj era source for this claim}}

The Ahirs have three major classifications Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi. Yaduvanshi claim descent from Yadu, Nandavansh claim descent from Nanda, the foster father of Krishna and Goallavanshi claim descent from gopi and gopas of Krishna's childhood.<ref>{{cite book |first= Bhrigupati |last= Singh| page =13 |title= Poverty and the Quest for Life Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India University of Chicago |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poverty_and_the_Quest_for_Life/FhnRBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ahirs+yaduvanshi&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover|isbn=9780226194684|year= 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Lucia|last= Michelutti| page = 89 |title= Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town|url= http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf|year= 2002}}</ref>

=== Folklore ===
The oral epic of [[Veer Lorik]], a mythical Ahir hero, has been sung by folk singers in North India for generations. Mulla Daud, a [[Sufi Muslim]], retold the romantic story in writing in the 14th century.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100801/spectrum/art.htm |title=Spectrum |work=The Sunday Tribune |date=1 August 2010 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> Other Ahir folk traditions include those related to [[Kajri]] and Biraha.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0415994047 |title=The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia |editor-first=Ellen |editor-last=Koskoff |isbn=978-0-415-97293-2 |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |page=1026}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ahir clans]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ahir clans |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Ahir| ]]
[[Category:Hindu communities]]
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]

Ahir

2022-05-19T07:38:38Z

Baidy540:

{{for|the village in Turkey|Ahır, İpsala}}
{{Short description|Social community of India}}
{{Infobox caste
| caste_name = Ahir/Aheer
| subdivisions = [[Yaduvanshi]], Nandvanshi, and [[Gwalvanshi]] Ahir
| populated_states = India and Nepal
| religions = [[Hinduism]]
| languages = Varies depending on region
}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
'''Ahir''' or '''Aheer''' is a community in India, most members of which identify as being of the Indian [[Yadav]] community because they consider the two terms to be synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a [[Caste system in India|caste]], a [[clan]], a [[community]], a [[Race (human classification)|race]] and a [[tribe]].

The traditional occupations of Ahirs are cattle-herding and agriculture. They are found throughout India but are particularly concentrated in the northern area. Apart from India, Ahirs have significant population in [[Nepal]], [[Mauritius]], [[Fiji]], [[South Africa]] and the [[Caribbean]] especially [[Guyana]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]], and [[Suriname]]. In Mauritius and Caribbean they are mostly the descendants of settlers who arrived between the 19th and 20th centuries from the former pre-partitioned sub-continent of India during the time of the British Raj.<ref>https://journals.openedition.org/samaj/3886</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 177986|title = The Retention of Caste Notions among the Indian Immigrants in British Guiana during the Nineteenth Century|last1 = Moore|first1 = Brian L.|journal = Comparative Studies in Society and History|year = 1977|volume = 19|issue = 1|pages = 96–107|doi = 10.1017/S0010417500008513}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 23050197|title = Indian Heritage in Trinidad, West Indies|last1 = Jha|first1 = J. C.|journal = Caribbean Quarterly|year = 1973|volume = 19|issue = 2|pages = 28–50|doi = 10.1080/00086495.1973.11829152}}</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237306710_Ethnic_and_Caste_Diversity_Implications_for_Development</ref><ref>https://www.historytoday.com/archive/indian-labour-british-guiana</ref><ref>https://www.economist.com/international/2017/09/02/the-legacy-of-indian-migration-to-european-colonies</ref> Current Prime Minister of Mauritius [[Pravind Kumar Jugnauth]] is an Ahir. His Father [[Aneerood Jugnauth]] was former Prime Minister of Mauritius.
Ahirs in India are known by numerous other names, including '''Gauli'''<ref>{{cite book |last=Mehta |first=B. H. |title=Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands |volume=II |year=1994 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |location=New Delhi |pages=568–569 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gu_cN0MhteMC&pg=PA568}}</ref> and '''Ghosi''' or '''Gop''' in [[North India]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science | work=PhD Thesis Social Anthropology |year=2002 |first=Lucia |last=Michelutti | pages=94–95}}</ref> In [[Gujarat]] and [[South India]] as '''Ayar''', '''Golla''' and '''Konar'''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Rajbir |last=Singh |title=India's Unequal Citizens: A Study of Other Backward Classes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn3aAAAAMAAJ |year=1994 |publisher=Manohar, 1994 |isbn=9788173040696 |pages=34, 356, 390}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Shish Ram |last=Sharma |title=Protective Discrimination: Other Backward Classes in India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T3PaAAAAMAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=Raj Publications, 2002 |isbn=9788186208236 |pages=153, 312, 410}}</ref> Some in the [[Bundelkhand]] region of [[Uttar Pradesh]] are known as '''Dauwa'''.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fghQhiowlycC&pg=PA32 |title=Between History and Legend: Status and Power in Bundelkhand |publisher=Orient Blackswan |first=Ravindra K. |last=Jain |year=2002 |page=30 |isbn=978-8-12502-194-0}}</ref> In Haryana, Ahirs are sometimes referred as '''Rao/Rao Sahab'''.<ref>https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/haryana/dynastic-politics-reigns-in-ahirwal-838724</ref><ref>https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/rajkumar-yadav-is-now-rajkummar-rao/story-kdlhn7VwAi4j0pADyOlXmI.html</ref> They have more than 20 sub-castes.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58G8PPAN48cC&pg=PA33 |title=Awareness in Weaker Section: Perspective Development and Prospects |publisher=M. D. Publications Pvt. Ltd |first=Mahendra Lal |last=Patel |year=1997 |page=33 |isbn=978-8-17533-029-0}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
Gaṅga Ram Garg considers the Ahir to be a tribe descended from the ancient [[Abhira tribe|Abhira community]], whose precise location in India is the subject of various theories based mostly on interpretations of old texts such as the ''[[Mahabharata]]'' and the writings of [[Ptolemy]]. He believes the word ''Ahir'' to be the [[Prakrit]] form of a [[Sanskrit]] word, ''Abhira'', and he notes that the present term in the [[Bengali (language)|Bengali]] and [[Marathi language|Marathi]] languages is ''Abhir''.<ref name="Garg1992">{{cite book|editor-first=Gaṅga Ram |editor-last=Garg|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu world|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC&pg=PA113|volume=1|year=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-374-0|pages=113–114}}</ref>

Garg distinguishes a Brahmin community who use the ''Abhira'' name and are found in the present-day states of [[Maharashtra]] and [[Gujarat]]. That usage, he says, is because that division of Brahmins were priests to the ancient Abhira tribe.<ref name="Garg1992" />

== History ==

=== Early history ===
Theories regarding the origins of the ancient [[Abhira]] – the putative ancestors of the Ahirs – are varied for the same reasons as are the theories regarding their location; that is, there is a reliance on interpretation of linguistic and factual analysis of old texts that are known to be unreliable and ambiguous.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126" />

Some, such as A. P. Karmakar, consider the Abhira to be a [[Proto-Dravidian]] tribe who migrated to India and point to the ''[[Purana]]s'' as evidence. Others, such as Sunil Kumar Bhattacharya, say that the Abhira are recorded as being in India in the 1st-century CE work, the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]''. Bhattacharya considers the Abhira of old to be a race rather than a tribe.<ref name="Bhattacharya1996p126">{{cite book |title=Krishna – Cult in Indian Art |first=Sunil Kumar |last=Bhattacharya |publisher=M.D. Publications |year=1996 |isbn=9788175330016 |page=126 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SyyNIL7Ug2kC}}</ref> The sociologist [[M. S. A. Rao]] and historians such as P. M. Chandorkar and T. Padmaja say that epigraphical and historical evidence exists for equating the Ahirs with the ancient [[Yadava]] tribe.<ref>{{Cite book|first = Sumit | last = Guha |title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200–1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year = 2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|page=47|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book| first = M. S. A. | last=Rao |title=Social Movements in India |volume=1| url =https://books.google.com/books?id=SODZAAAAMAAJ&q=124|year=1978 | publisher =Manohar|pages=124, 197, 210}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | first = Padmaja|last= T. |title=Temples of Kr̥ṣṇa in South India: History, Art, and Traditions in Tamilnāḍu|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=pzgaS1wRnl8C&pg=RA1-PA35|year = 2001 | publisher = Archaeology Dept., University of Mysore|pages=25, 34|isbn=978-8-170-17398-4}}</ref>

Whether they were a race or a tribe, nomadic in tendency or displaced or part of a conquering wave, with origins in Indo-Scythia or Central Asia, Aryan or [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] – there is no academic consensus, and much in the differences of opinion relate to fundamental aspects of historiography, such as controversies regarding dating the writing of the ''Mahabharata'' and acceptance or otherwise of the [[Indo-Aryan migration]] (which is universally accepted in mainstream scholarship).{{refn|name="OIT no support"|Out of India aka Indigenous Aryans has no support:
* Romila Thapar (2006): "there is no scholar at this time seriously arguing for the indigenous origin of Aryans".<ref>{{cite book |last=Thapar |first=Romila |date=2006 |title=India: Historical Beginnings and the Concept of the Aryan |publisher=National Book Trust |isbn=9788123747798 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sDBuAAAAMAAJ&q=indigenous+aryans}}</ref>
* Wendy Doniger (2017): "The opposing argument, that speakers of Indo-European languages were indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, is not supported by any reliable scholarship. It is now championed primarily by Hindu nationalists, whose religious sentiments have led them to regard the theory of Aryan migration with some asperity."<ref>Wendy Doniger (2017), [https://inference-review.com/article/another-great-story "Another Great Story"]", review of Asko Parpola's ''The Roots of Hinduism''; in: ''Inference, International Review of Science'', Volume 3, Issue 2</ref>
* Girish Shahane (September 14, 2019), in response to Narasimhan et al. (2019): "Hindutva activists, however, have kept the Aryan Invasion Theory alive, because it offers them the perfect strawman, 'an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent's real argument' ... The Out of India hypothesis is a desperate attempt to reconcile linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence with Hindutva sentiment and nationalistic pride, but it cannot reverse time's arrow ... The evidence keeps crushing Hindutva ideas of history."<ref>Girish Shahane (September 14, 2019), [https://scroll.in/article/937043/why-hindutva-supporters-love-to-hate-the-discredited-aryan-invasion-theory ''Why Hindutva supporters love to hate the discredited Aryan Invasion Theory''], Scroll.in</ref>
* Koenraad Elst (May 10, 2016): "Of course it is a fringe theory, at least internationally, where the Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT) is still the official paradigm. In India, though, it has the support of most archaeologists, who fail to find a trace of this Aryan influx and instead find cultural continuity."<ref name="Elst_2016">Koenraad Elst (May 10, 2016), Koenraad Elst: "I am not aware of any governmental interest in correcting distorted history", ''Swarajya Magazine''</ref>}}<ref name="Yadava2006p1">{{cite book |title=Followers of Krishna: Yadavas of India |first=S. D. S. |last=Yadava |publisher=Lancer Publishers |year=2006 |isbn=9788170622161 |page=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p69GMA226bgC}}</ref> Similarly, there is no certainty regarding the occupational status of the Abhira, with ancient texts sometimes referring to them as pastoral and cowherders but at other times as robber tribes.<ref>{{cite book |first=Aditya |last=Malik |chapter=The Puskara Mahatmya: A Short Report |page=200 |title=The History of Sacred Places in India As Reflected in Traditional Literature |editor-first=Hans |editor-last=Bakker |location=Leiden |year=1990 |isbn=9789004093188 |publisher=BRILL and the International Association of Sanskrit Studies |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wPgBdyxD5MkC&pg=PA200}}</ref>

=== Kingdoms ===

[[File:Asirgarh Fort1.jpg|thumb|[[Asirgarh Fort]] in [[Burhanpur]] District in [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]]]
*Asirgarh fort of [[Asa Ahir]]<ref>{{cite book |author=B H Mehta |title=Gonds of the Central Indian Highlands Vol II |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gu_cN0MhteMC&pg=PA569 |publisher=Concept |page=569 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Numismatic Digest|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i1NmAAAAMAAJ|year=2003|publisher=Numismatic Society of Bombay, Original from the University of Michigan.|page=141}}</ref>
* 13th or 14th century A.D. Bijagarh Fort of Bija, a Gauli Raja<ref>{{cite book|first=V. S. |last=Krishnan |title=Madhya Pradesh: West Nimar [5] West Nimar. Supplement |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2UhuAAAAMAAJ |year=1970 |publisher=Government Central Press, 1970 |page=47}}</ref>
*Digpal, an Ahir Raja of [[Mahaban]]<ref name="mainpuri#">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=exg6AAAAMAAJ&q=%E0%A4%AB%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9F%E0%A4%95+%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%B0 | title=Mainapurī janapada kā rājanaitika itihāsa: svantantratā saṅgrāmoṃ kī amara gāthā | publisher=Śuklā Prakāśana Original from the University of Michigan | author=Cintāmaṇi Śukla | year=1977}}</ref>
* [[Thakur Laxman Singh]], an Ahir ruler of Naigaon Ribai, [[Bundelkhand]]<ref name="gbook3">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iOsNUZ2MXgC | title=The Golden Book of India: A Genealogical and Biographical Dictionary of the Ruling Princes, Chiefs, Nobles, and Other Personages, Titled Or Decorated of the Indian Empire | publisher=Aakar Books | date=2005 | accessdate=27 October 2014 | author=Sir Roper Lethbridge | pages=371}}</ref>
* [[Rao Tula Ram]], king of [[Rewari]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science| work=PhD Thesis Social Anthropology | date=2002 | first=Lucia |last=Michelutti | page=83}}</ref>
* Veersen of [[Nasik]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://jalgaon.gov.in/history/ | title=JALGAON HISTORY | publisher=Jalgaon district Administration | work=Jalgaon District Administration Official Website | access-date=7 February 2015 | author=Jalgaon district}}</ref>
* Ahir dynasty in pre-12th century areas in present-day [[Nepal]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Punam |last=Yadav|title=Social Transformation in Post-conflict Nepal: A Gender Perspective|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QQRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT57|year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-35389-8|page=57}}</ref>
*Ahir kingdom of [[Jalesar]] and [[Karauli]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science | work=PhD Thesis Social Anthropology | date=2002 | first=Lucia |last=Michelutti | page=47}}</ref>
*Ahir-Rajas of [[Sagar, Madhya Pradesh|Sagar]]<ref>{{cite book |first= A N |last= Sharma | page =13 |title= The Beria (Rai Dancers)A Socio-demographic, Reproductive, and Child Health Care Practices Profile
|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Beria_Rai_Dancers/YX1siOYKthgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ahir+Rajas+sagar&pg=PA13&printsec=frontcover|isbn=81-7625-714-1|year= 2006}}</ref>
*[[Bhandaria, Bhavnagar|Bhandaria]], [[Bodanones]] and [[Morchopna]] were few [[princely state]]s ruled by Kamaliya clan of Ahirs<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V15_171.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 15, page 165 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|website=dsal.uchicago.edu|access-date=2020-09-03}}</ref>

=== Military involvements ===
The [[British Raj|British]] rulers of India classified the Ahirs of Punjab as an "agricultural tribe" in the 1920s, which was at that time synonymous with being a "[[martial race]]".<ref>{{cite book|first=Rajit K. |last=Mazumder|title=The Indian army and the making of Punjab|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8G8COTxOUkgC&pg=PA105|year=2003|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=978-81-7824-059-6|page=105}}</ref> They had been recruited into the army from 1898.<ref>{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/peasantsmonksinb0000pinc |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/peasantsmonksinb0000pinc/page/90 90]}}</ref> In that year, the British raised four Ahir companies, two of which were in the [[95th Russell's Infantry]].<ref>{{cite book|first=M. S. A. |last=Rao |title=Social movements and social transformation: a study of two backward classes movements in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tZAiAAAAMAAJ|year=1979|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9780333902554 }}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}} In post-independence India, some Ahir units have been involved in celebrated military actions, such as at [[Rezang La]] in the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]] that saw the last stand of Charlie company, consisting of 114 Ahirs of 13 Kumaon, and in the [[1965 India-Pakistan War]].<ref name="Remembering Rezang La heroes">
{{cite news |author=Press Information Bureau, Government of India | title=Remembering Rezang La heroes |date=7 January 2007 |newspaper=Sainik samachar |url=http://sainiksamachar.nic.in/englisharchives/2007/oct01-07/h4.htm}}
</ref><ref name="Heroes of Rezang La">
{{cite news |author= Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd) | title=Heroes of Rezang La 1962 |date=15 December 2018 |newspaper=The Tribune |url= https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/haryanatribune/heroes-of-1962-rezang-la-battle-698535}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first=Mohan |last=Guruswamy |url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/dont-forget-the-heroes-of-rezang-la/article4112584.ece |title=Don't forget the heroes of Rezang La |work=The Hindu |date=20 November 2012 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4SBWc27AVmwC&pg=PA212| title=Combat Diary: An illustrated history of operations conducted by 4th Kumaon| publisher=Lancer Books |work=History |year=2010 |first=Jasbir |last=Singh |page=212| isbn=978-1-935501-18-3}}</ref>

The Ahirs have been one of the more militant Hindu groups, including in the modern era.<ref>{{cite book |first=Nandini |last=Gooptu |title=The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India |page=307 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZTLEEGmZfQC&pg=PA307 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001|isbn=978-0-521-44366-1 |quote=The Ahirs in particular who played an important role in militant Hinduism, retaliated strongly against the Tanzeem movement. In July,1930, about 200 Ahirs marched in procession to Trilochan, a sacred Hindu site and performed a religious ceremony in response to Tanzeem processions.}}</ref> It was from the 1920s that some Ahirs began to adopt the name of ''Yadav'' and created the [[All-India Yadav Mahasabha|Yadav Mahasabha]], founded by ideologues such as Rajit Singh. Several caste histories and periodicals to trace a Kshatriya origin were written at the time, notably by Mannanlal Abhimanyu. These were part of the jostling among various castes for socio-economic status and ritual under the Raj and they invoked support for a zealous, martial Hindu ethos.<ref>{{cite book |first=Nandini |last=Gooptu |title=The Politics of the Urban Poor in Early Twentieth-Century India |pages=205–210 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wZTLEEGmZfQC&pg=PA205 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001|isbn=978-0-521-44366-1 }}</ref>

== Distribution ==

=== North India ===
They have a significant population in the region around [[Behror]], [[Alwar]], [[Rewari]], [[Narnaul]], [[Mahendragarh]], [[Gurgaon]]<ref name="nannak$">{{cite book|last1=Guru Nanak Dev University|first1=Sociology Dept|title=Guru Nanak Journal of Sociology|publisher=Sociology Department, Guru Nanak Dev University|pages=5, 6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=03_ZAAAAMAAJ&q=ahir|date=2003|language=en}}</ref> and [[Jhajjar]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Dip Chand |last=Verma|title=Haryana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JY5AQAAIAAJ|year=1975|publisher=National Book Trust, India}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2020}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Suresh K. |last=Sharma|title=Haryana: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VE71IqAC0YYC&pg=PA40|year=2006|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-8324-046-8|page=40}}</ref> – the region is therefore known as [[Ahirwal]] or the abode of Ahirs.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8OIUAQAAIAAJ&q=ahirwal |title=The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste, and Religion in India |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |pages=41, 42 |isbn=978-0-415-46732-2}}</ref>
=== Maharashtra ===
Ahirs live in the [[Khandesh]] region of Maharashtra. The community has been influential in the history of the region. Inscriptions indicate that [[Abhira]]s ruled this region and Abhir/Ahir kings have made a significant contribution to the making of the region. Ahir ethnicity is visible among various castes in Khandesh, including [[Maratha]] and [[Marathi Brahmin|Brahmins]]. [[Ahirani]] dialect continues to be spoken today in the region and is widespread across [[Jalgaon]], [[Dhule]] and [[Nashik]]. It is an admixture of [[Marathi Language|Marathi]], [[Gujarati Language|Gujarati]], [[Hindi]], ancient [[Magadhi]], [[Saurashtra language|Saurashtri]], [[Sauraseni]], Lati, [[Maharashtri]], [[Prakrit]] and [[Paishachi]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://gazetteers.maharashtra.gov.in/cultural.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/land_and_people/L%20&%20P%20pdf/Chapter%20III/3%20Distinctive%20Features%20of%20Sub-regional%20Culture%20of%20Maharashtra.pdf| title = Maharashtra: Land and its people |last=Pathak|first=A. S.| agency= Government of Maharashtra |year=2009|publisher = Maharashtra State Gazetteer}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first = Sumit |last=Guha|title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200-1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year=2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7|page=47}}</ref>

== Culture ==
[[File:AhirDecoratedWithCowriesDiwali.jpg|thumb|280px|Ahir dancers decorated with [[cowrie]] shells for [[Diwali]].]]

=== Diet ===
In 1992, Noor Mohammad noted that most Ahirs in Uttar Pradesh were vegetarian, with some exceptions who were engaged in fishing and raising poultry.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ln6_PodhWC0C&pg=PA60 |title=New Dimensions in Agricultural ... |first=Noor |last=Mohammad |page=60|isbn=9788170224037 |year=1992 }}</ref>
=== Language and tradition ===
According to [[Alain Daniélou]] the Ahirs belong to the same culture as the dark skinned prominent figures of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, Rama and Krishna. Ahirs of Benares speak a Hindi dialect which is different from one used normally.<ref>.{{cite book |first= Alain |last= danielou | page =56 |title= The Beria (Rai Dancers)A Socio-demographic, Reproductive, and Child Health Care Practices Profile
|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/India_A_Civilization_of_Differences/Ua6yuxBPQdQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ahir|isbn= 9781594770487
|year= 2005}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Nanditha |last= Kirshna | page =56 |title= Book of Vishnu
|url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Book_of_Vishnu/pIFFEJXx7L8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ahirs|isbn= 9788184758658
|year= 2009}}</ref> Ahirs usually speak language of the region in which they live. Some languages/dialects named after Ahirs are Ahirani, also known as [[Khandeshi]], spoken in [[Khandesh]] region of Maharashtra, Ahirwati spoken in Ahirwal region of Haryana and Rajasthan. The Malwi spoken is Malwa region of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh is also known as Ahiri. These dialects are named after Ahirs but not necessarily only spoken by Ahirs living in those areas or all Ahirs in those regions speak these dialects.<ref>{{cite book |title=Linguistic Survey of India - Volume 9, Part 2 - Page 50 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uT1BAQAAMAAJ&q=ahiri+ahirani+ahirwati+malvi|last1 = Grierson|first1 = Sir George Abraham|year = 1908}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=January 2021|reason=current citation is a Raj-Era source, please add a non-raj era source for this claim}}

The Ahirs have three major classifications Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi. Yaduvanshi claim descent from Yadu, Nandavansh claim descent from Nanda, the foster father of Krishna and Goallavanshi claim descent from gopi and gopas of Krishna's childhood.<ref>{{cite book |first= Bhrigupati |last= Singh| page =13 |title= Poverty and the Quest for Life Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India University of Chicago |url= https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poverty_and_the_Quest_for_Life/FhnRBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ahirs+yaduvanshi&pg=PA21&printsec=frontcover|isbn=9780226194684|year= 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Lucia|last= Michelutti| page = 89 |title= Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town|url= http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf|year= 2002}}</ref>

=== Folklore ===
The oral epic of [[Veer Lorik]], a mythical Ahir hero, has been sung by folk singers in North India for generations. Mulla Daud, a [[Sufi Muslim]], retold the romantic story in writing in the 14th century.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100801/spectrum/art.htm |title=Spectrum |work=The Sunday Tribune |date=1 August 2010 |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> Other Ahir folk traditions include those related to [[Kajri]] and Biraha.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0415994047 |title=The Concise Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: The Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia |editor-first=Ellen |editor-last=Koskoff |isbn=978-0-415-97293-2 |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |page=1026}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Ahir clans]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ahir clans |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Ahir| ]]
[[Category:Hindu communities]]
[[Category:Social groups of Bihar]]
[[Category:Social groups of Haryana]]

Yaduvanshi Ahir

2022-05-19T07:37:18Z

Baidy540:

{{AFC submission/draft}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}
The '''Yaduvanshi Aheer''' or '''Yaduvanshi Ahir''' are descendant of Lord [[Krishna]] of the ancient [[Yadava]] clan<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Yadav|first=Sanjay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nvl1SFI1T8QC&pg=PA52|title=The Environmental Crisis of Delhi: A Political Analysis|date=2011|publisher=Worldwide Books|isbn=978-81-88054-03-9|language=en}}</ref> The Ahirs have three major classifications Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi. Yaduvanshi claim descent from [[Yadu (legendary king)|Yadu]], Nandavansh claim descent from [[Nanda (Hinduism)|Nanda]], the foster father of Krishna and Goallavanshi claim descent from gopi and [[Gopa (caste)|gopas]] of Krishna's childhood.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Bhrigupati |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhnRBgAAQBAJ&dq=ahirs+yaduvanshi&pg=PA21 |title=Poverty and the Quest for Life: Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India |date=2015-04-06 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-19468-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Michelutti |first=Lucia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3iJmgEACAAJ&q=Sons+of+Krishna:+The+politics+of+Yadav+community+formation+in+a+north+Indian |title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a north Indian town |date=2002 |publisher=University of London |language=en}}</ref> They belong to [[Yaduvanshi]] stock.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sherring |first=Matthew Atmore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYnlAAAAMAAJ |title=Hindu Tribes and Castes |date=1872 |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Company |language=en}}</ref>

As per anthropologist Bhrigupati Singh in Classical Hinduism Krishna was from the Yaduvanshi Ahir tribe.<ref>{{cite book|title= Poverty and the Quest for Life|first= Bhrigupati|last= Singh |publisher= University of Chicago|year= 2015|page=146 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poverty_and_the_Quest_for_Life/FhnRBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=yaduvanshi+ahir&pg=PA146&printsec=frontcover|isbn= 978-0-226-19468-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Megasthenes and Indian Religion|first= Allan|last= Dahlaquist |publisher= Motilal Banarsidass Publisher|year= 1996|page= 85 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Megasthenes_and_Indian_Religion/xp35-8gTRDkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ahir|isbn= 9788120813236}}</ref>

Historians such as P. M. Chandorkar has used epigraphical evidence to argue that [[Ahir|Ahirs]] and [[Gavli|Gawlis]] are representative of the ancient [[Abhira tribe|Abhiras]] and [[Yadava|Yadavas]] tribe mentioned in [[Sanskrit]] works.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|first = Sumit | last = Guha |title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200-1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year = 2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|page=47|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{AfC submission|||ts=20220519130628|u=Baidy540|ns=118}}

Yaduvanshi Ahir

2022-05-19T07:37:00Z

Baidy540:

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}
The '''Yaduvanshi Aheer''' or '''Yaduvanshi Ahir''' are descendant of Lord [[Krishna]] of the ancient [[Yadava]] clan<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Yadav|first=Sanjay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nvl1SFI1T8QC&pg=PA52|title=The Environmental Crisis of Delhi: A Political Analysis|date=2011|publisher=Worldwide Books|isbn=978-81-88054-03-9|language=en}}</ref> The Ahirs have three major classifications Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi. Yaduvanshi claim descent from [[Yadu (legendary king)|Yadu]], Nandavansh claim descent from [[Nanda (Hinduism)|Nanda]], the foster father of Krishna and Goallavanshi claim descent from gopi and [[Gopa (caste)|gopas]] of Krishna's childhood.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Bhrigupati |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FhnRBgAAQBAJ&dq=ahirs+yaduvanshi&pg=PA21 |title=Poverty and the Quest for Life: Spiritual and Material Striving in Rural India |date=2015-04-06 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-19468-4 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Michelutti |first=Lucia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n3iJmgEACAAJ&q=Sons+of+Krishna:+The+politics+of+Yadav+community+formation+in+a+north+Indian |title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a north Indian town |date=2002 |publisher=University of London |language=en}}</ref> They belong to [[Yaduvanshi]] stock.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sherring |first=Matthew Atmore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYnlAAAAMAAJ |title=Hindu Tribes and Castes |date=1872 |publisher=Thacker, Spink & Company |language=en}}</ref>

As per anthropologist Bhrigupati Singh in Classical Hinduism Krishna was from the Yaduvanshi Ahir tribe.<ref>{{cite book|title= Poverty and the Quest for Life|first= Bhrigupati|last= Singh |publisher= University of Chicago|year= 2015|page=146 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Poverty_and_the_Quest_for_Life/FhnRBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=yaduvanshi+ahir&pg=PA146&printsec=frontcover|isbn= 978-0-226-19468-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title= Megasthenes and Indian Religion|first= Allan|last= Dahlaquist |publisher= Motilal Banarsidass Publisher|year= 1996|page= 85 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Megasthenes_and_Indian_Religion/xp35-8gTRDkC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=ahir|isbn= 9788120813236}}</ref>

Historians such as P. M. Chandorkar has used epigraphical evidence to argue that [[Ahir|Ahirs]] and [[Gavli|Gawlis]] are representative of the ancient [[Abhira tribe|Abhiras]] and [[Yadava|Yadavas]] tribe mentioned in [[Sanskrit]] works.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|first = Sumit | last = Guha |title=Environment and Ethnicity in India, 1200-1991| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GSa5blriOYcC&pg=PA47|year = 2006| publisher = University of Cambridge|page=47|isbn=978-0-521-02870-7}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{AfC submission|||ts=20220519130628|u=Baidy540|ns=118}}

Yaduvanshi Ahir

2022-05-19T07:36:28Z

Baidy540:

Yaduvanshi Ahir

2022-05-19T07:35:44Z

Baidy540: Created page with "{{AFC submission/draft}}  {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}} The '''Yaduvanshi Aheer''' or '''Yaduvanshi Ahir''' are descendant of Lord Krishna of the ancient Yadava clan<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Yadav|first=Sanjay|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nvl1SFI1T8QC&pg=PA52|title=The Environmental Crisis of Delhi: A Political Analysis|date=2011|publisher=Worldwide Books|isbn=978-81-88054-03-9|lan..."

Rao Gopal Singh Kharwa

2022-05-19T07:28:27Z

Baidy540:

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}

'''Rao Gopal Singh''' (1872–1939) was an [[Yaduvanshi Ahir]] King of Rajasthan.

====Early Life====
Rao Gopal Singh was born in [[Kharwa, Rajasthan|Kharwa]] state (near [[Ajmer]]).

====Revolt====
He was sentenced to four years of imprisonment in the Todgarh Fort located approximately {{convert|70|km|mi}} from Beawar for organising a revolt against the British.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Political Movements and Awakening in Rajasthan: 1857 to 1947 by K. S. Saxena S. Chand|date=1971|pages=136–139|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wUoMAAAAIAAJ&q=gopal+singh+kharwa|accessdate=25 August 2016|last1=Saxena|first1=K. S.}}</ref>

====Lineage====
He was president of Akhil Yaduvanshi Kshatriya Mahasabha for the year 1924.

In 1989, India's postal department issued a postage stamp depicting his picture in his honor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://indianpostagestamps.com/gallery/1989_2.html|title = Indian Postage Stamps - Stamps released in 1989}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Who's who on Indian stamps by Mohan B. Daryanani|date=1999|page=386|isbn=9788493110109|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZPtAAAAMAAJ&q=gopal+singh+kharwa|accessdate=25 August 2016|last1=Suresh|first1=Sushma}}</ref>

Every spring on the anniversary of his death, the residents of Kharwa and nearby villages gather at a ''[[mela]]'' (celebration or fair) to commemorate their former Rao Sahab.

==See also==
*[[Kharwa]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kharwa, Rao Gopal Singh}}
[[Category:People from Rajasthan]]
[[Category:1872 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of British India]]
[[Category:Indian revolutionaries]]
[[Category:Indian royalty]]