Pathans in Bihar: Difference between revisions

|group= Pathan/Pashtun

|poptime =  

|popplace = [[India]]

|langs   = [[Bhojpuri]] • [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]

|rels     = [[Islam]] 100%

|related = [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]]

The '''Pathans of Bihar''' in [[India]] are said to have settled in the region from the 13th century CE onwards. These [[Pashtun people]] are known as ''[[Pathan]]'' in the [[Hindustani language]]. Another common name for the community is [[Khan (title)|Khan]], which also a common surname. [[Lohani]] [[Pashtuns]] ruled a princely state within [[Bihar]].<ref name="Bhardwaj">{{cite book|author=Bhardwaj|title=Study Package Cds Exam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cTZEAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA160|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (India) Pvt Limited|isbn=978-0-07-107215-1|pages=160–}}</ref>

The name Pathan in Bihar refers to two distinct but related Muslim communities, the Nasli (from the Arabic word ''nasl'', meaning racial or by birth) and Divani (from the [[Arabic]] word ''[[Divan|diwan]]'', meaning a royal court). The former are descendants of various Pashtun settlers in Bihar, while the latter are Hindu converts to [[Islam]] from Rajput and Bhumihar castes.<ref>''People of India Bihar'' Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal and Hetukar Jha Seagull Books</ref> They are considered one of the [[Ashraf]] communities meaning they have a powerful status among the Muslims of the state.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSceVSL-3C8C&pg=PA20&dq=pathans+in+bihar#q=pathans%20in%20bihar|title=Government and Politics in Colonial Bihar, 1921-1937|last=Alam|first=Jawaid|date=2004-01-01|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=9788170999799|language=en}}</ref> <ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA119&dq=ruhella+landowners+in+bihar#q=ruhella%20landowners%20in%20bihar|title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar|last=Kumar|first=Ashwani|date=2008-01-01|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=9781843317098|language=en}}</ref>

[[Sher Shah Suri]] was born in [[Rohtas district]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6RdChiM00IC&pg=PA73&dq=sher+shah+suri+sasaram#q=sher%20shah%20suri%20sasaram|title=History & Civics 7 (Col. Ed.)|last1=Khan|first1=Consulting Editors-Behula|last2=Mitchell|first2=S. J.|last3=Mukundan|first3=Subhadra Sen Gupta & Monisha|publisher=Ratna Sagar|isbn=9788183320610|language=en}}</ref>

The Pathan proper of Bihar belong to eleven sub-groups, the main ones being the [[Suri (Pashtun)|Suri]], [[Shirani (Pashtun tribe)|Sherwani]],  [[Yousafzai]], [[Bangash]], [[Afridi (Pashtun)|Afridi]], [[Khattak]], [[ Bettani]], [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodhi]], [[Tanoli]], [[Orakzai]] and Ghori, all of whom are well known [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]] tribes. Most of them have intermarried into local Muslim communities and are undistinguishable from local population. But there's an exclusivist and superior sense of tribalism and Casteism in some erstwhile landowner families even though those are now involved in small farming. They now speak [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] as well as local dialects such as [[Awadhi]] and [[Bhojpuri]]. Like other communities in the region, the Pathan are endogamous, and tend to marry close kin. They practice both parallel cousin and cross cousin marriages. Those who live in the larger cities, such as [[Patna]], Darbhanga. Many villages of Yusufzai and Sherwani Pathans are found in Mithilanchal especially Darbhanga as well as Sitamarhi and near Brauni Refinery area. Many villages of  Koderma, Jharkhand especially Jainagar(Jainagar East, Kheskari etc.) and there nearby area Pathan or Khan are found.