Bhumihar or Babhan or Bhuin-har is a upper caste mainly found in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh. The Bhumihars are classified in the Brahmin varna of Hinduism but this claim has been contested by some. Bhumihars have been land-owning Brahmins who came to own land in different periods of History through land grants by kings or during the rule of Brahmin kings. According to M. A. Sherring some of the Bhumihars belong to the Saryupareen Brahmin division of Kanyakubja Brahmins. In the 19th (held at Prayag) and 20th (held at Lucknow) national convention of Kanyakubja Brahmins by Kanyakubja Mahati Sabha, in 1926 and 1927 respectively, it reiterated Bhumihars to be Kanyakubja Brahmins and appealed for unity among Kanyakubja Brahmins whose different branches included Sanadhya, Pahadi, Jujhoutia, Saryupareen, Chattisgarhi, Bhumihar and different Bengali Brahmins. Bhumihars have been the traditional priests at Vishnupad Mandir in Gaya as Gayawar Pandas and in the adjoining districts like Hazaribagh.The Kingdom of Kashi belonged to Bhumihar Brahmins and big zamindari like Bettiah Raj, Hathwa Raj and Tekari Raj belonged to them. Bhumihars were well respected Brahmins in the courts of Dumraon Maharaj, King of Nepal and Raj Darbhanga. The Bhumihar population of Uttar Pradesh had an average literacy of less than 12% in 1911 Some Mohyal Brahmins migrated eastward and became as some sub-divisions of Bhumihars, some of whom are also descendants of HussainiBrahminss and mourn the death of Imam Hussain. There is also a significant migrant population of Bhumihars in Mauritius, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and others. Bhumihars are commonly called Babhans which is the Pali word for Brahmins and is used to refer to Brahmins in Buddhist sources. In recent times, Bhumihars have been in the forefront of casteist violence in some places of Bihar state. Origin and history Mythology The Bhumihars claim that when Parashurama destroyed the Kshatriya race, and he set up in their place the descendants of Brahmins, who, after a time, having mostly abandoned their priestly functions (although some still perform), took to land-owning. They also claim that Lord Parashurama was the first Bhumihar. History By the sixteenth century, Bhumihars known as karm kandi pandit controlled vast stretches of territory, particularly in North Bihar. In South Bihar, their most prominent representative was the Tekari family, whose great estate in Gaya dates back to the early eighteenth century. With the decline of Mughal Empire, in the area of south of Avadh, in the fertile rive-rain rice growing areas of Benares, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Ghazipur, Ballia and Bihar and on the fringes of Bengal, it was the military or Bhumihar Brahmins who strengthened their sway. The distinctive caste identity of Bhumihar Brahman emerged largely through military service, and then confirmed by the forms of continuous social spending which defined a man and his kin as superior and lordly. In 19th century, many of the Bhumihar Brahmins were zamindars. Of the 67000 Hindus in the Bengal Army in 1842, 28000
Posted on: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 10:49:50 +0000
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