The Gwalvanshi Ahirs are historically associated with cowherding and farming.[1] According to History Professor Rahul Shukla, the Gwalvanshi Ahirs had settled in Azamgarh, Varanasi, Gorkakhpur, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Jaunpur etc. Most of the Ahirs in Awadh are Gwalvanshis only.[2] They are also found in the historical Braj region (anciently Shurasena Janapada) though in small numbers.[3][4][5] In the Varanasi district, they are known as "Sardars".[6][7] Every Bir Baba (deities who died violent death) in Varanasi was often a Gwalvanshi Ahir.[8][9]

Etymology

Abhiras were called Gopa, when they protected the cows, and Gopal, when they tended and grazed the cows. In the period (from 500 B.C. to 1 B.C.) when the Pali language was prevalent in India, the word 'Gopal' was modified to 'Goala' and by further modification it took the form of 'Gwal'. This has been aptly described by an unknown poet in a verse that due to rearing of cattle the Abhiras (Yadavs) are called 'Gopa', and after being called 'Gopal', they are called 'Gwal'.[10]

Origin

They are the descendants of the holy Gopas and Gopis of Braj[11][12] who were from the Abhira tribe.[13][3][14][15]

History

During Akbar's reign, they ruled good chunk of land at Ahirwara (Present Ahraura) in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.[16] They also made Warren Hastings fled away from Varanasi.[17]

Present circumstances

They were farmers and land-owners in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. At the turn of the century, they evolved into business and other vocations in a big way.[18][19]

Notable people

Culture

They sing Loriki and Birahas.[20] They have started the Ramleela at Chaukaghat (Nati Imli) in Varanasi.[21] They also actively participate in the Bharat Milaap done in the Ramleela.[21] They are great devotee of Radha-Krishna.[22]

Kuldevi

Their clan deity (Kuldevi) is Mata Vindhyavasini Jogmaya.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Gupta, Dipankar (2021). Caste in Question. BookRix. p. 58. ISBN 9788132103455. Their original caste title was Ahir. The idea of a unique Krishnavanshi kinship category which fuses traditional subdivisions Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi into a single endogamous unit
  2. ↑ Williams, J. Charles (2020-09-10). The Report on the Census of Oudh. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-8460-5700-1.
  3. 1 2 Michelutti, Lucia (2020-11-29). The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-08400-9.
  4. ↑ Ibbetson, Sir Denzil; Maclagan (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0505-3.
  5. ↑ Crooke, William (1896). The Tribes and Castes of the North-western Provinces and Oudh. Government printing.
  6. ↑ Saath Ke Hemant By Umesh Prasad Singh · (2023)
  7. ↑ मुखर्जी, विशवनाथ (2009). बना रहे बनारस (in Hindi). भारतीय ज्ञानपीठ. ISBN 978-81-263-1713-4.
  8. ↑ Coccari, Diane Marjorie (1986). The Bir Babas of Banaras: An Analysis of a Folk Deity in North Indian Hinduism. University of Wisconsin--Madison.
  9. 1 2 Comar, Savitri (2018-09-07). "Bir Babas Of Banaras Diane Marjori Cocarie ( Thesis)". Bir Babas Of Banaras. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  10. ↑ Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture. ISBN 978-81-85579-57-3.
  11. ↑ Michelutti, Lucia (2020-11-29). The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-08400-9.
  12. ↑ Ibbetson, Sir Denzil; Maclagan (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0505-3.
  13. ↑ Singh, K. S. (1998). People of India: Rajasthan (2 pts.). Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7154-766-1.
  14. ↑ The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh By Lok Nath Soni • (2000)
  15. ↑ People of India: Rajasthan (2 pts.) By K. S. Singh · (1998)
  16. ↑ Contemporary Social Sciences. Research Foundation of India. 1978.
  17. ↑ Sharma, Hemant (2022-06-13). Dekho Hamri Kashi: Bestseller Book by Hemant Sharma: Dekho Hamri Kashi (in Hindi). Prabhat Prakashan. ISBN 978-93-5521-380-8.
  18. ↑ Ratan Mani Lal (11 May 2014). "Azamgarh: Why Mulayam cannot take Yadav votes for granted"
  19. ↑ Lucia Michelutti, Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town (2002) London School of Economics and Political Science University of London, p.90-98
  20. ↑ Beissinger, Margaret; Tylus, Jane; Wofford, Susanne Lindgren (1999-03-31). Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World: The Poetics of Community. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21038-7.
  21. 1 2 Arya, Banarasi Lal (1975). Mahārāja Balavanta Siṃha aura Kāśī kā atīta (in Hindi). Āryā.
  22. 1 2 Saraswati, Baidyanath (2000). Bhoga-moksha samabhava: Kaśī kā sāmājika-sāṃskr̥tika svarūpa (in Hindi). Ḍī Ke. Prinṭavarlḍa. ISBN 978-81-246-0151-8.
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