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-The '''Koeri''' (also known as '''Koiry''' or '''Koiri''') are an Indian [[caste]], found largely in [[Bihar]], whose traditional occupation was agriculture. An official report of 1941 described them as being 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."<ref>{{cite book |title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India |page=197 |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85065-670-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC |access-date=29 August 2011}}</ref>
+The '''Koeri''' (also known as '''Koiry''' or '''Koiri''') are an Indian [[caste]], found largely in [[Bihar]], whose traditional occupation was horticulture, notably of vegetables. A colonial report noted them as cultivators.<ref>{{cite book |title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India |page=197 |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85065-670-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC |access-date=29 August 2011}}</ref>
-Koeris benefitted greatly from the land reform policies of the Indian government. Faced with the land ceiling laws and communist pressure in the 1970s, upper caste landlords resorted to selling off their lands ,often to Koeris. This allowed the Koeris themselves to aspire to be landlords.
+Koeris benefitted greatly from the land reform policies of the Indian government. Faced with the land ceiling laws and communist pressure in the 1970s, upper caste landlords resorted to selling off their lands, often to Koeris. This allowed the Koeris themselves to aspire to be landowners.{{fact|date=September 2021}}
 The Koeris are found in [[Saran district]] and also live in the Samastipur district of Bihar. Outside India, the Koeris are distributed among the Bihari diaspora in [[Mauritius]] and have a significant population residing in [[Nepal]].
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 [[Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha]], the caste association of Koeris, held its first session in 1922.<ref name="Ashwani2008_36">{{cite book |first=Ashwani |last=Kumar |title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA36 |year=2008 |publisher=Anthem Press |isbn=978-1-84331-709-8 |pages=36 }}</ref>
-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 [[Muhammad of Ghor|Shuhabuddin Ghuri]]. He argued further that after defeat, the fear of persecution at the hands of Muslims caused  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 Sampradaya|Ramanandi]] saints for spiritual guidance.<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://books.google.com/books?id=uEP-ceGYsnYC|page=92}}</ref>
+Some [[Kushwaha]] reformers like Gangaprasad of [[Banaras]] argued the Koeris  descended from [[Kusha]] and that they served Raja [[Jayachandra]] in their military capacity during the period of Muslim consolidation under [[Muhammad of Ghor|Shuhabuddin Ghuri]]. He argued further that after defeat, the fear of persecution at the hands of Muslims caused  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 Sampradaya|Ramanandi]] saints for spiritual guidance.<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://books.google.com/books?id=uEP-ceGYsnYC|page=92}}</ref>
 According to [[Christophe Jaffrelot]], 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 [[kurmi]]s which was named after one of [[Rama]]'s names. This was done to justify the communities' claims of descent from [[Lava (Ramayana)|Lava]] and [[Kusha (Ramayana)|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.<ref>{{cite book |title=India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India |pages=197–199 |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |publisher=[[C. Hurst & Co.]] |location=London |year=2003 |isbn=978-1-85065-670-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWms_1WzF1sC&q=india+silent+revolution+luv+kush&pg=PA197 |access-date=29 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231223916/http://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC |archive-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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 ===Post land reforms===
-Peasants in middle castes like the Koeris benefitted the most from the land reform policies of the Indian government. Faced with 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 skillfully 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 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.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=80,81|publisher=[[Viking Press|Viking]] | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA81 | access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>
+Peasants in [[Upper Backward Castes|upper backward castes]] like the Koeris benefitted the most from the land reform policies of the Indian government. Faced with 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 skillfully 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 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.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=80,81|publisher=[[Viking Press|Viking]] | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA81 | access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>
 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]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Agrarian Reforms, Land Markets, and Rural Poor|first=D. Narasimha |last=Reddy|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|page=279|year= 2009|isbn=978-8180696046|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJgfNVjZ8koC&q=bihar+and+caste&pg=PA279|access-date=16 June 2020}}</ref> The rise of castes like 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 [[zamindars]] (rulers) they once condemned.<ref>{{cite book | last=Sinha | first=A. | title=Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar | page=82|publisher=Viking | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-670-08459-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rT2xWp_iTCYC&pg=PA82| access-date=7 April 2015}}</ref>
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 Communities related to the Koeri in North India include the [[Maurya]], the [[Kushwaha]], the [[Mahto]], the Kachhi, the [[Shakya]] and the [[Saini]]. Over time, these castes grew closer and began intermarrying while developing the all India network to strengthen their caste solidarity.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58G8PPAN48cC&q=koeri+,Maurya,+Shakya,+kachhi&pg=PA36|title=Awareness in Weaker Section: Perspective Development and Prospects|first=Mahendra Lal|last= Patel|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd.|year= 1997|page=37|isbn=8175330295}}</ref>
-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 [[Kayastha]]s (a scribe caste) as "pure [[Shudra]]". However, due to 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.<ref name="William Pinch ">{{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://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft22900465&chunk.id=s1.2.11&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch2|pages=73–75|quote=Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweets vendor), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel-leaf), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parcher), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds)[108].108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; Martin, Eastern India, 2:466–70}}</ref>
+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 [[Kayastha]]s (a scribe caste) as "pure [[Shudra]]". However, due to 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.<ref name="William Pinch">{{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://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft22900465&chunk.id=s1.2.11&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch2|pages=73–75|quote=Buchanan, in the early nineteenth century, had included in the term "pure shudra" the well-known designations of Kayasth, Koiri, Kurmi, Kahar, Goala, Dhanuk (archers, cultivators, palanquin bearers), Halwai (sweets vendor), Mali (flower gardener), Barai (cultivator and vendor of betel-leaf), Sonar (goldsmith), Kandu (grain parcher), and Gareri (blanket weavers and shepherds)[108].108. Buchanan, Bihar and Patna, 1811–1812, 1:329–39; Martin, Eastern India, 2:466–70}}</ref>
-Some Koeris like Shivcharan Bhagat were well known for their knowledge of [[Persian language|Persian]] and they also contributed to the [[Ramanandi Sampradaya]] and their disciples later became major contributors to Ramanandi literature.<ref name="William Pinch "/> 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 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 outrught.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDeFAAAAIAAJ&q=koeri+women|
+Some Koeris like Shivcharan Bhagat were well known for their knowledge of [[Persian language|Persian]] and they also contributed to the [[Ramanandi Sampradaya]] and their disciples later became major contributors to Ramanandi literature.<ref name="William Pinch"/> 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 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 outrught.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oDeFAAAAIAAJ&q=koeri+women|
 title=Daughters of the Earth: Women and Land in Uttar Pradesh|first=Smita Tewari|last=Jassal|publisher=Manohar|year=2001|isbn=8173043752|access-date=1 July 2020|page=71,53}}</ref>
 ===Martial tradition===
 {{Quote box|width=20em|align=right|quote=''Kshatriyatva''( the essence of being Kshatriya, or valour) constituted an important component of this new political framework for reform, in part because martial element contained therein fit a colonial ideology that placed a premium on virility and power. Their claim to "''Kshatriyatva''" was matched by an aggressiveness and violence which had lasting implications for rulral life in Bihar.<ref name="George"/> |salign=right|source= – William Pinch}}
-The Kshatriya reform movement in 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.<ref name="George">{{cite book |title=Rebels From the Mud Houses: Dalits and the Making of the Maoist Revolution ...
+The Kshatriya reform movement in 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. George Kunnath writes that "their claims to ''kshatriyatva'' was matched by an aggressiveness and violence" which led to the formation of many caste armies resulting in intercaste conflict.<ref name="George">{{cite book |title=Rebels From the Mud Houses: Dalits and the Making of the Maoist Revolution ...
 |page=209,210 |first=George  |last=kunnath|publisher=Taylor and Francis group |location=New york |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-138-09955-5|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=JkcrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA209|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref>