>Materialscientist at 19:03, 4 September 2021

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{{Short description|A suggested alliance of the Ahir, Jat, Gurjar and Rajput caste.}}
{{EngvarB|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}

'''AJGAR''' was a suggested alliance of the [[Ahir]], [[Jat]], [[Gurjar]] and [[Rajput]] castes. It was first proposed by [[Chhotu Ram|Sir Chhotu Ram]], a rural leader and politician in pre-independence India as a form of peasant-alliance.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC&pg=PA278|title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|date=2003|publisher=Hurst|isbn=9781850656708|language=en}}</ref>

The theory was later used by [[Charan Singh|Chaudhary Charan Singh]] in the 1970s as a part of his ''Kisan-Politics''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OAkW94DtUMAC&pg=PA288|title=India's Silent Revolution: The Rise of the Lower Castes in North India|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|date=2003|publisher=Hurst|isbn=9781850656708|language=en}}</ref> to break the monopoly of [[Indian National Congress]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vq6YvOM__nsC&pg=PA48|title=Power and Influence in India: Bosses, Lords and Captains|last1=Price|first1=Pamela|last2=Ruud|first2=Arild Engelsen|date=2012-07-26|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781136197987|language=en}}</ref> He subscribed to the [[Martial Race]] theory that [[Ahirs]], [[Jats]], [[Gurjars]] and [[Rajputs]] are of the same social and racial group, the [[Kshatriya]] clan.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tlsPnV87QLoC&pg=PA49 | title=Social, Economic and Political Contribution of Caste Associations in Northern India: A Case Study of All India Jat Mahasabha | publisher=Har Anand Publications, 2008 | author=Brij Kishore Sharma | year=2008 | pages=49 | isbn=9788124114124}}</ref>

==Aims and objectives==
The backward castes are prosperous throughout the state of [[Uttar Pradesh]] and constitute the mid-strata of the village social structure. At present, the [[Caste Panchayat|panchayati raj in india]], has decided that marriages between these castes would not be considered as inter caste marriage.<ref>{{citation|title=Marriages among Ahir, Jaat, Gujjar and Rajput will not be "inter-caste" |url=https://m.jagran.com/lite/uttar-pradesh/lucknow-city-jat-gurjar-ahir-and-rajput-marriage-is-not-intercast-12619709.html}}</ref> It's being promoted as single entity called [[Kshatriyas]]. Their social conditions largely correspond to their economic position, better than the [[Scheduled Caste]]s and nearer to the higher castes. AJGAR emerged to gain political power in the state.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ao5tlGH2sFQC&pg=PA110 | title=Democratic Transformation of a Social Class | publisher=Mittal Publications | date=1991-01-01 | author=M. P. S. Chandel | pages=110| isbn=9788170993148 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58G8PPAN48cC&pg=PA33 | title=Awareness in Weaker Section: Perspective Development and Prospects | publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd | author=Mahendra Lal Patel | year=1997 | pages=33 | isbn=9788175330290}}</ref>

==Political outcome==
In [[Western Uttar Pradesh]], the wealth and power of AJGAR alliance increased during the [[Green Revolution]] period,<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Lucia Michelutti">{{cite web | url=http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2106/1/U613338.pdf | title=Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town | publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science University of London | year=2002 | accessdate=20 May 2015 | author=Lucia Michelutti | pages=34}}</ref> but the AJGAR formula failed to gain widespread support.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kqs1tHWovvcC&pg=PA44 | title=The Samajwadi Party: A Study of Its Social Base, Ideology, and Programme | publisher=APH Publishing | date=2003 | author=Shafiuzzaman | pages=44| isbn=9788176484480 }}</ref> However, later in 1989, the leader [[V. P. Singh]] used the AJGAR cluster successfully to conjoin the [[Other Backward Class]]es and Rajputs.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Rajendra Vora|author2=Suhas Palshikar|title=Indian Democracy: Meanings and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLWICwAAQBAJ&pg=PT252|year=2003|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-93-5150-019-3|page=252}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=successful for what?|date=June 2018}}
==See also==
*[[Triveni Sangh]]
*[[KHAM theory]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Identity politics in India]]
[[Category:Politics of Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Politics of Haryana]]
[[Category:Ahir]]
[[Category:Jat]]
[[Category:Gurjar]]
[[Category:Rajputs]]

AJGAR - Revision history

>Materialscientist at 19:03, 4 September 2021