Bihari Rajput

2026-03-20T02:37:33Z

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{{Short description|Indian caste}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2020}}
Bihari Rajputs refers to the people of [[Rajput]] community of the eastern state Bihar and adjoining region of Uttar Pradesh.
'''Babu Saheb''' (or '''Babu Sahib''') is a term or [[sobriquet]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-lok-sabha-elections-2014-lights-fail-in-nanaur-village-in-the-ara-lok-sabha-constituency-1978712|title=Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Lights fail in Nanaur village in the Ara Lok Sabha constituency|date=16 April 2014|website=dna}}</ref> used mainly in the Indian states of [[Bihar]], [[Purvanchal|Uttar Pradesh]]<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pbYwDwAAQBAJ&q=babu+saheb+&pg=PA30 | title=Event, Metaphor, Memory: Chauri Chaura, 1922-1992 | publisher=Univ of California Press | date=1995 | access-date=17 December 2018 | author=Shahid Amin | pages=130| isbn=9780520087804 }}</ref> and [[Jharkhand]] to describe members of the [[Rajput]] caste<ref>{{cite web|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/reportage/battle-bihar-jitan-ram-manjhi-caste-politics|title=Jitan Ram Manjhi and the politics of caste|first=Priyanka|last=Dubey|website=The Caravan}}</ref> who traditionally formed part of the royalty and [[feudal]] elite respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/where-nitish-shows-up-in-lantern-flicker/|title=Where Nitish shows up in lantern flicker|date=3 November 2015|publisher=}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5xhBDwAAQBAJ&q=babu+saheb+rajput&pg=PT9 | title=Recasting Caste: From the Sacred to the Profane | publisher=SAGE Publishing India | access-date=17 December 2018 | author=Hira Singh | pages=4| isbn=9789351504030 | date=2014-03-04 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | title=Class War in Bhojpur | author=Arun Sinha | journal=Economic and Political Weekly | volume=13 |issue = 1| pages=10–11 | year=1978|jstor = 4366262}}</ref>

==History==
Legendary accounts state that from 1200 CE, many Rajput groups moved eastwards towards the [[Indo-Gangetic plains|Eastern Gangetic plains]] forming their own chieftaincies.<ref name="Bayly1988">{{cite book |author=C. A. Bayly |title=Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfo3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA18 |date=19 May 1988 |publisher=CUP Archive |isbn=978-0-521-31054-3 |pages=18–19}}</ref> These minor Rajput kingdoms were dotted all over the Gangetic plains in modern-day [[Uttar Pradesh]] and [[Bihar]].<ref name="Ramusack2004">{{cite book |author=Barbara N. Ramusack |title=The Indian Princes and their States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kz1-mtazYqEC&pg=PA14 |date=8 January 2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-44908-3 |pages=14–15}}</ref> During this process, petty clashes occurred with the local population and in some cases, alliances were formed.<ref name="Bayly1988" /> Among these Rajput chieftaincies were the [[Bhojpuri region|Bhojpur]] zamindars<ref name="Chatterjee1996">{{cite book |author=Kumkum Chatterjee |title=Merchants, Politics, and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar, 1733–1820 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wUeqQ2buQ80C&pg=PA35 |year=1996 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=90-04-10303-1 |pages=35–36}}</ref> and the [[Taluqdar|taluks]] of [[Awadh]].<ref name="Fox1971">{{cite book |author=Richard Gabriel Fox |title=Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: Statehinterland Relations in Preindustrial India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHEcBTmxlOEC&pg=PA68 |year=1971 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-01807-5 |pages=68–69}}</ref>

The immigration of Rajput clan chiefs into these parts of the [[Gangetic Plains|Gangetic plains]] also contributed the agricultural appropriation of previously forested areas, especially in South Bihar.<ref name="Prakash2003">{{cite book |author=Gyan Prakash |title=Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQFvks7lahoC&pg=PA64 |date=30 October 2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52658-6 |pages=64–66}}</ref> Some have linked this eastwards expansion with the onset of [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurid invasion]] in the West.<ref name="Prakash2003" />

From as early as the 16th century, Rajput soldiers from the eastern regions of [[Bihar]] and [[Awadh]], were recruited as mercenaries for Rajputs in the west, particularly in the [[Malwa]] region.<ref>{{cite book |title=India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism |editor1-first=Waltraud |editor1-last=Ernst |editor2-first=Biswamoy |editor2-last=Pati |publisher=Routledge |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-134-11988-2 |first=Amar |last=Farooqui |chapter=The Subjugation of the Sindia State |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9eKbW3ukh9oC&pg=PA57 |page=57}}</ref>

Kolff describes some of the Rajputs of [[Bihar]], [[Awadh]] and [[Varanasi]] with the terminology "''Pseudo Rajput''" as they were regarded as ''Pseudo rajputs'' by their western counterparts. These eastern Rajput often accompanied the Rajput of Rajasthan in their battles with the hordes of their supporters.They led the band of warriors called ''[[Purbiya]]s'' in order to assist their western counterparts but were notorious for frequently changing their allegiance as [[Silhadi]] did in the Battle against [[Babur]], when he deserted Rana Sanga in the [[Battle of Khanwa]] leading to defeat of Rajput contingents and consolidation of [[Mughal empire]] in India.<ref>{{cite book |author=Dirk H. A. Kolff|author-link=Dirk H. A. Kolff|title=Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrdiVPsFRYIC |year=1990|page=87 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-52305-9 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoRDAAAAYAAJ&q=military+history+of+india |title=Military History of India |pages=56–61|author=Jadunath Sarkar|author-link=Jadunath Sarkar|publisher=Orient Longmans(Original from the University of Virginia) |year=1960 |isbn=9780861251551 |access-date=18 August 2020}}</ref>

==During the colonial period==
The colonial period refers to period before 1947 when in the traditional agrarian society, the Rajputs of north Bihar controlled the agricultural production through the ''[[Zamindar]]i'' rights. The upper caste which included Rajput, Yadav controlled land and some of these upper-castes were also recruited to the lower rung of administration under the British rulers. The [[Brahmin]]s who were significant landholders were dominant in some regions while those who were poor were recruited as the ''lathails'' and tax assesse for agricultural lands and also as [[Peon]]s. The castes like [[Kayastha]]s work in various departments like those of accounts while the middle peasant castes which included [[Koeri]] and [[Kurmi]] functioned as occupancy tenants. Some of the peasants from these caste who became prosperous acquired caste consciousness and if ill-treated by the upper-castes were likely to resort to physical violence in retaliation. The moneylenders primarily belong to [[Sunar|Sonar]] and other mercantile castes. The Rajputs were more active in property holding but were less-literate as compared to other upper-castes and hence were less active in public administration.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2b_j0mNe2FwC&pg=PA12|title= Land and Society in India: Agrarian Relations in Colonial North Bihar|
author=Bindeshwar Ram|
publisher=Orient Blackswan|pages=12–13|year=1997|
isbn=8125006435}}</ref> Between 1900-1920, it was noted that Rajputs formed large chunk of the population of some of the region of south Bihar. In Shahabad region were they were most prominently present, it was recorded that they took little or no interest in intellectual pursuits. The literacy rate of the region and Bihar as a whole was also in precarious state.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9PX938QYfmsC&pg=PA11|title= Education and Social Changes in Bihar, 1900-1921: A Survey of Social History of Bihar from Lord Curzon to Noncooperation Movement|author= Shreedhar Narayan Pandey|publisher= Motilal Banarsidass|year=1975|
isbn=0842609865|pages=11–12|access-date=2020-12-22}}</ref>
===Dominance in feudal society===
Records of the time indicates that the upper-caste Rajputs practiced '''Dola Pratha''' in some regions of Bihar and [[West Bengal]], in which the newly wed bride of the [[Dalit]]s and landless labourers (who worked for wages in their fields) had to spend one night with the landlord before commissioning of her nuptial rites.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNCGAwAAQBAJ&pg=RA2-PA46|title=State of Justice In India Issues of Social Justice|author=Ranabir Samaddar|publisher=SAGE Publications India|year= 2009|pages=46, 65|
isbn=978-8132104193|access-date=22 January 2021}}</ref> The ground level reports including the discourse with the women of agricultural labourers families also indicates the various patterns of abuse in which they were forced to perform ''[[Begar]]'' ( unpaid menial work ) and faced undignified teasing like "pinching on breast" by the Rajput landlords. When these women rejected the landlord's proposal of sexual contact, it was common for the landlords to falsely implicate the male members of their families and their kins in criminal cases. In some of the villages in Bhojpur region of Bihar, the frequent rapes of [[Chamar]] and [[Dusadh]] women by their landlords in order to keep their men in submissive position was also prevalent. Besides sexual assaults, the drawing of water from the village wells and walking on the pathways alongside the landlords in Rajput villages were also forbidden for the lower castes.<ref name="UN">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T-s9SIp1-OsC&pg=PA73|title=Case Studies on Strengthening Co-ordination Between Non-governmental Organizations and Government Agencies in Promoting Social Development|publisher=United Nations (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific)|year=1989|page=72,73|access-date=22 January 2021}}</ref>

By the 1960s, most of the prevalent feudal practices came to an end due to the activism of [[Kisan Sabha (1919-1922)|Kisan Sabha]]s, the organization led by middle peasant castes who also brought the issues of women rights and dignity within its fold and allowed the agricultural labourer women to voice for themselves.<ref name="UN"/>

The Rajputs also countered the upward mobility of some of the peasant castes, who by virtue of their economic prosperity sought higher status by wearing ''[[Janeu]]'', a sacred thread or claimed ''[[Kshatriya]]'' status. The records indicates that during the tenure of [[Asaf-ud-Daula]] in Awadh, when a section of Awadhiya Kurmi were about to be bestowed with the title of ''Raja'', the Rajput nobles of Asaf's court caused stiff opposition to the move despite the fact that the Rajputs themselves were newcomers to the court and were peasant-soldiers a few year before.<ref name="Pinch ">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uEP-ceGYsnYC|title=Peasants and Monks in British India
|author=William R. Pinch|
publisher=University of California Press|year=1996|
isbn=0520916301|pages=84, 85|access-date=22 January 2021}}</ref>
In the words of historian [[Richard Barnett (historian)|Richard Barnett]]:
{{quote|Ironically, the Rajput constituency of Awadh itself composed a “group of newcomers to the court, who had been peasant soldiers only a few years before. They were called, half sarcastically, the ‘Tilangi Rajas’ [or] ‘trooper rajas’—the people described by the shocked Muhammad Faiz Baksh as the new Nawab’s courtiers: ‘Naked rustics, whose fathers and brothers were with their own hands guiding the plow . . . , rode about as Asaf ud-daula’s orderlies.’”<ref name="Pinch "/>}}
According to William Pinch :
{{Quote|...the Rajputs of Awadh, who along with brahmans constituted the main beneficiaries of what historian Richard Barnett characterizes as “Asaf’s permissive program of social mobility,” were not willing to let that mobility reach beyond certain arbitrary sociocultural boundaries.<ref name="Pinch "/>}}

==Politics==
In pre 1990 period, the Rajputs along with [[Brahmin]], [[Bhumihar]] and [[Kayastha]] dominated not only the social and political space of Bihar but also the judiciary and bureaucracy. It has been alleged that the upper-caste dominance for the long time hindered the implementation of "land reforms" in the state proactively which could have benefitted the [[Scheduled Caste]]s and the backwards. In the post Mandal phase [[Kurmi]], [[Kushwaha|Koeri]] and [[Yadav]], the three backward castes who constitute the upper-[[Other Backward Class|OBC]] due to their advantageous position in the socio-economic sphere of agrarian society became the new political elite of the state. One of the causes of this transformation was weakening of [[Indian National Congress]] in the state, which was dominated by upper-caste for long. The rising ''Kulaks'' from the upper-OBC rode on the [[Lok Dal]] political party for their emancipation and jostled with the erstwhile political elites, the upper-castes. According to Sanjay Kumar, after a long and protracted struggle the upper-caste accepted the leadership of OBCs during this phase.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVxODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT27|title= Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns|author= Sanjay Kumar|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|year=2018|
isbn=978-9352805860|pages=27–28|access-date=22 January 2021}}</ref>

==Present circumstances==
According to a report of Institute of human development studies, [[Brahmin]]s topped in average per capita income with Rs 28,093, the other upper castes of Bihar which comprises Rajputs have an average per capita income of Rs 20,655, closely followed by middle agrarian castes like [[Kushwaha]]s and [[Kurmi]]s earning Rs 18,811 and Rs 17,835 respectively as their average per capita income. In contrast, [[Yadav]]s’ income is one of the highest among OBCs at Rs 19,314. Hence; despite the political mobilisation of backward castes in post mandal period, the Rajputs are still among the high income groups in Bihar. According to this report, the economic benefits of the [[Mandal Commission|Mandal politics]] could be seen as affecting only few backward castes of agrarian background leading to their upward mobilisation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/bihar-elections-caste-obc-mandal-6929329/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122091426/https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/bihar-elections-caste-obc-mandal-6929329/ |title=Lower castes in Bihar have got political power, not economic progress|editor1=[[Christophe Jaffrelot]]|editor2=Kalaiyarasan A|website=Indian Express|access-date=22 January 2021|archive-date=22 January 2021}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Rajputs]]
[[Category:Titles in India]]
[[Category:Nicknames]]
[[Category:Indian feudalism]]

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Bihari Rajput