Bihari Rajputs

Bihari Rajputs
Regions with significant populations
• India
Languages
• Hindi, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Angika, Bajjika
Religion
• Hinduism, Islam[1]
Related ethnic groups
Rajputs, Khanzada Rajputs, Thakurai, Purbiya

Rajputs in Bihar are members of the Rajput caste found in the Indian state of Bihar. In some historical sources, they are also referred to as Purbiya Rajputs, meaning Eastern Rajputs.[2] In contrast, the Rajputs living in Rajasthan were historically referred to as "Western Rajputs".[3][4]

History

They have a history stretching back to the early 14th century when Parmar Rajputs migrated and deposed the local Chero rulers. These Rajputs later came known as Ujjainiya Rajputs and form one of the many clans to now inhabit the region.[5] According to the "Khyat", a legendary source for information about the Ujjainiya Rajputs, the Jaunpur Sultanate rulers interrupted the prayers of Brahmins on the bank of the Ganges. The Ujjainiya Rajputs attempted to defend the Brahmins, but the Jaunpur Sultanate soon defeated them and demolished the temples used by the Brahmins.[6]

Bihari Rajputs have a long tradition of being recruited as mercenaries for various rulers such as the British[7][8] and the Marathas.[2]

In the Battle of Khanua the Purbiyas served as a mercenary force under Silhadi and lead the vanguard of the Rajput army but defected to the Mughals resulting in the defeat of the Rajput confederation.[9]

Along with members of the Bhumihar caste, many of the Zamindari estates were ruled by Rajputs, such as Sonbarsa Raj, ruled by the Ganwaria Rajput clan, and Jagdishpur, ruled by the Ujjainiya Rajput clan.[10][11] Bihari Rajputs made up the majority of the Bengal Army.[8]

Present Circumstances

Rajputs are scattered all over the Mithila region of North Bihar and are divided into different sub-groups such as Chandravanshi, Suryavanshi and others. They are mostly landowners, cultivators, doctors, lawyers and even petty zamindars. They have social relationships with Rajputs in other parts of India and are more exposed to them.[12]

An Indian Army handbook describes them as being tall and bearing the same characteristics as Rajputs in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.[13]

Major Clans in Bihar

Some of the clans are of local origin and some are of immigrant origin from other parts of India.[14] List of all the prominent clans in Bihar.[15]

Notable Historical figures

See also

References

  1. ↑ Mohammad Sajjad (13 August 2014). Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours. Routledge. p. 104. ISBN 978-1-317-55982-5.
  2. 1 2 Waltraud Ernst; Biswamoy Pati (18 October 2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  3. ↑ David McCay (1912). The Protein Element in Nutrition. E. Arnold.
  4. ↑ M. S. Naravane (1999). The Rajputs of Rajputana: A Glimpse of Medieval Rajasthan. APH Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-81-7648-118-2.
  5. ↑ Anand A. Yang (1998). Bazaar India: Markets, Society, and the Colonial State in Gangetic Bihar. University of California Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-520-91996-9.
  6. ↑ Dirk H. A. Kolff (8 August 2002). Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850. Cambridge University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-521-52305-9.
  7. ↑ Alf Hiltebeitel (15 February 2009). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. University of Chicago Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-226-34055-5.
  8. 1 2 Peter Karsten (31 October 2013). Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces. Routledge. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-135-66150-2.
  9. ↑ Journal of Indian history, Volume 66, Dept. of History, University of Kerala, 1988
  10. ↑ Kumkum Chatterjee (1996). Merchants, Politics, and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar, 1733-1820. BRILL. p. 35. ISBN 90-04-10303-1.
  11. ↑ Usha Jha (1 January 2003). Land, Labour, and Power: Agrarian Crisis and the State in Bihar (1937-52). Aakar Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-81-87879-07-7.
  12. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=A0i94Z5C8HMC&pg=PA33&dq=rajputs+mithila&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=rajputs%20mithila&f=false
  13. ↑ https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015022447810;view=2up;seq=280;skin=mobile
  14. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jHQMAQAAMAAJ&dq=bihar+local+jatis+rajput+lohtamiya&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=lohtamia+bihar
  15. ↑ People of India - Volume 16, Part 2 - Page 801
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