Kushwaha

Kushwaha (sometimes, Kushvaha)[1] is a community of the Indian subcontinent, which has traditionally been involved in agriculture (including beekeeping).[2] The term has been used to represent at least four subcastes, being those of the Kachhis, Kachwahas, Koeris and Muraos. They claim descent from the mythological Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, who was one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. Previously, they had worshipped Shiva and Shakta.

Kushwaha
Kachhi tribe, a subcaste of Kushwaha in a fruit and vegetable shop,1880.
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Hindi • Bhojpuri
Country	India
Populated states	Bihar • Uttar Pradesh
Region	Eastern India

Demographics and distribution

William Pinch notes a Kushwaha presence in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar,[3] and they are also recorded in Haryana.[4] Outside India, they are found in the Terai of Nepal, where they have variously been officially recorded as Kushwaha and as Koiri.[5] They also have significant presence among Bihari diaspora in Mauritius. The migration of Biharis to neighbouring countries was a phenomenon which became more pronounced in the post independence India. Thus, small island nations like Mauritius has significant population of people of Indian origin. The tradition and culture of Hindu migrants in countries like Mauritius is quite different from Indian subcontinent.This is so with varna status and "social hierarchy" as both these terms have several variation in Mauritius vis a vis India.The traditional ruling elites like Rajputs and Brahmins are politically and economically marginalised on the island whilst the castes like Koeri, Ahir, Kurmi, Kahar and others have improved their social and financial position which is attributed to various factors.[6] According to Crispin Bates:

The Vaish are the largest and most influential caste group on the island . Internally the group is divided into Koeri , Kurmi , Kahar , Ahir , Lohar and other jatis . In the past many admitted to Chamar status ( as shown by historical records ) , but recently this seems to have become completely taboo . This group , now commonly known as ' Rajputs ' , will also sometimes describe themselves as ' Raviveds ' . An explanation may lie in the rapid economic growth of the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the lack of positive discrimination measures of the sort seen in India.[6]

Myths of origin

Today, the Kushwaha generally claim descent from Kusha, a son of the mythological Rama, himself an avatar of Vishnu. This enables their claim to be of the Suryavansh dynasty but it is a myth of origin developed in the twentieth century. Prior to that time, the various branches that form the Kushwaha community - the Kachhis, Kachwahas, Koeris, and Muraos - favoured a connection with Shiva and Shakta.[3] Ganga Prasad Gupta claimed in the 1920s that Kushwaha families worshiped Hanuman - described by Pinch as "the embodiment of true devotion to Ram and Sita" - during Kartika, a month in the Hindu lunar calendar.[7]

Role in naxalite movement

The Koeris had significant presence in naxalite movement of 1960s in feudal pockets of Bihar.[8] Particularly, in the Bhojour region and nearby areas like Arrah, the fight was between upper caste landlords and the lower castes landless labourers and peasants. For the lower castes, the issue was not merely economic but it was the question of Ijjat(honour). The upper castes had swift access to the women of lower castes and the rapes of lower caste women were common.Here, the communist upsurge against the prevalent landlordism was led by Jagdish Mahto, a Koeri teacher who had read Ambedkar and Marx and was sympathetical to the cause of Dalits.[9]

According to Santosh Singh, the Bhumihars of the region, who were eager to teach the proud Koeri a lesson, beat him mercilessly when he was found voicing support for CPI in upcoming elections. After Mahto was discharged from the hospital he formed his own militant outfit with the help of his associates Ram Naresh Ram and Rameswar Ahir. Mahto's organisation was affiliated to Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War group, a radical faction of Communist Party of India. The armed movement of the lower caste led by Mahto lead to assassination of large number of upper caste landlords in the region until he was killed during a police raid. However, the action of Jagdish clearly demarcated the dividing lines between Koeris and Bhumihars in the Ekwaari.[9][10]

Economy

According to Arun Sinha, the Koeris were known for their market gardening activities.Since Indian independence, the land reform movement was making it difficult for the erstwhile landlords who belonged to upper castes to maintain their existing holdings.The growing pressure from left-wing hooligans backed by CPI(ML) and some of the local political parties as well as end of Zamindari System which enabled them to thrive without actually involving themselves in "crop production" was making it difficult for them to survive in the rural settings.Hence, the decades following independence was marked by growing urbanization among upper castes.The migration to cities was accompanied by selling off of their unproductive holdings, which were often bought by the peasants of the middle castes, who were actually involved in cultivation upon those lands and were financially sound enough to purchase the lands of these erstwhile landlords, with whom they were in service relationship earlier.Koeris along with Kurmi and Yadavs were one of the biggest buyer of these lands.[11]

The land was purchased not only from landlords but also from Muslim families, who were migrating to Pakistan. All class of land sellers had different reasons to sell their land and for the upper castes Naxalite pressure was one such reason while the technical education of their sons and lavish weddings which needed huge sums of money were the other reasons.On the other hand, the peasant castes like the koeris and Yadav valued the land most. They considered it to be the most productive asset and there used to be rare cases in which they sold their land.They worked on it with fine skills and tried to carve out more from less, something which was not possible for upper castes.The zeal of peasant castes to buy more and more land gradually changed their economic profile and some of them became "Neo landlords".They started acting in the same way their adversary upper caste landlords acted and some of them even committed atrocities on Dalits.Thus, the transformation into landlords made them emulate all those practices of upper castes, which they once condemned.[11]

Political action

The Kushwaha also engaged in political action during these latter days of the Raj. Around 1933–1934,[lower-alpha 1] the Koeries joined with the Kurmis and Yadavs to form the Triveni Sangh, a caste federation that by 1936 was claiming to have a million subscribing supporters. This coalition followed an alliance between them for the 1930 local elections which had fared badly at the polls. The new grouping had little electoral success: it won a few seats in the 1937 elections but was stymied by a two-pronged opposition which saw the rival Congress wooing some of its more wealthy leading lights to a newly formed unit called the "Backward Class Federation" and an effective opposition from upper castes organised to keep the lower communities in their customary place. Added to this, the three putatively allied castes were unable to set aside their communal rivalries and the Triveni Sangh also faced competition from the All India Kisan Sabha, a peasant-oriented socio-political campaigning group. The appeal of the Triveni Sangh had waned significantly by 1947[13][14] but had achieved a measure of success away from the ballot box, notably by exerting sufficient influence to bring an end to the begar system of forced unpaid labour and by providing a platform for those voices seeking reservation of jobs in government for people who were outside the upper castes.[15] Many years later, in 1965, there was an abortive attempt to revive the defunct federation.[16]

According to subaltern historian Gyan Pandey, Kisan Sabha movements itself were the movement of peasant castes which included Koiri, Murao, Kurmi and Ahir among others.The participation of lowest caste groups like Chamars and the Pasis in these movement were not significant, provided the traditional occupation of Chamar used to be the tanning of leather and those of Pasis were "toddy tapping".Thus he describes "Kisan Sabha" as the organisation dominated by the middle peasant castes who were forced to organise themselves in the wake of excessive rental demands from the landlords and the fear of "Bedakhli"(eviction), in case of failure to pay the dues.Baba Ram Chandra, a peasant leader from Awadh region however puts a list of 35 castes which actually formed the base of Kisan Sabhas, thus putting a contradictory view to those of Pandey.[17]

For much of the 20th century, the Koeries were generally less politically effective, even less involved, than the Kurmis and Yadavs who broadly shared their socio-economic position in Hindu society. The latter two groups were more vociferous in their actions, including involvement in caste rioting, whilst the Koeris had only a brief prominence during the ascendancy of Jagdeo Prasad. This muted position changed dramatically in the 1990s when the rise to power of Lalu Prasad in Bihar caused an assertion of Yadav-centric policies that demanded a loud reaction.[18]

Earlier, the Koeris were given fair representation in Laloo Yadav as well as Rabri Devi regime.The backward politics unleashed by Laloo Prasad resulted in rise to political prominence of numerous backward castes, among which Koeri were prominent.[18] In this period, the caste remained the most effective tool of political mobilisation and the leaders who were against the "Caste based politics" also resorted to "Caste", in order to achieve desired political outcome. The Rabri Devi government had appointed ten Koeris as minister in her cabinet, which was sought by many community leaders as a fair representation to the clan.[19] The portrayal of Laloo Yadav as "Messiah of backward castes" lost the ground when Yadavas ascendancy in politics led other aspirational backward castes to move away from his party.In the meantime during 1990s, Nitish Kumar who was projected as the leader of Kurmi and Koeri community formed Samta Party, leading to complete segregation of Koeri-Kurmi community from Yadavs and Laloo Prasad.[18][20]

Thus, the decades following independence witnessed a complete shift of power from upper castes to the "upper backward castes", a term coined to describe the castes like Koeri, Yadav, Kurmi and Bania in Bihar. The transfer of power was also witnessed at the local level of governance. The upper caste were first to acquire education and they benefitted from it initially but with the expansion in electoral franchise and growth of "party system", they lost the ground to upper backwards. The nepotism and caste solidarity for the benefit of the members of their own caste through exercise of political and administrative power, which were started earlier by upper castes was now taken forward by backward castes. This phenomenon continued during Karpoori Thakur's Chief ministry, who had taken the call of affirmative action in jobs and educational institutions to backward caste seriously, thus providing 12% reservation to lower backward castes and 8% to upper backwards in which Koeri were included.The peak of this protectionism reached during the tenure of Laloo Yadav.[20]

From 1990 onwards the solidarity of backward castes was hit hard due to division among Koeri-Kurmi and Yadavs.The former's voting pattern was in quite contrast to that of the latter. When Samta Party joined Bhartiya Janata Party as alliance Koeris voted for this alliance and thus in 1996 Lok Sabha elections BJP fared well, primarily with the support of Koeri and Kurmis. The division among backwards also costed their representation in the assemblies.It was seen that profile of Bihar legislative assembly was changing rapidly since 1967 and till 1995-96 the representation of upper caste was reduced to as lower as 17%. But, the division among backwards served as a hope to the upper castes to at least increase their representation.The success of BJP-Samta coalition however also consolidated the Koeris and the Kurmis, who now emerged as political force in 1996 elections.[21]

Classification

Disputed varna status

The Kushwaha were traditionally a peasant community and considered to be of the Shudra varna.[22] Pinch describes them as "skilled agriculturalists".[23] The traditional perception of Shudra status was increasingly challenged during the later decades of British Raj rule, although various castes had made claims of a higher status well before the British administration instituted its first census.[lower-alpha 2] The Kurmi community of cultivators, described by Christophe Jaffrelot as "middle caste peasants", led this charge in search of greater respectability.[13] Pinch describes that "The concern with personal dignity, community identity, and caste status reached a peak among Kurmi, Yadav, and Kushvaha peasants in the first four decades of the twentieth century."[25]

Identification as Kushwaha Kshatriya

Koeris, the opium cultivators of Bengal in British India

From around 1910, the Kachhis and the Koeris, both of whom for much of the preceding century had close links with the British as a consequence of their favoured role in the cultivation of the opium poppy, began to identify themselves as Kushwaha Kshatriya.[26] An organisation claiming to represent those two groups and the Muraos petitioned for official recognition as being of the Kshatriya varna in 1928.[27]

This action by the All India Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha (AIKKM) reflected the general trend for social upliftment by communities that had traditionally been classified as being Shudra. The process, which M. N. Srinivas called sanskritisation,[28] was a feature of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century caste politics.[27][29]

The position of the AIKKM was based on the concept of Vaishnavism, which promoted the worship and claims of descent from Rama or Krishna as a means to assume the trappings of Kshatriya symbolism and thus permit the wearing of the sacred thread even though the physical labour inherent in their cultivator occupations intrinsically defined them as Shudra. The movement caused them to abandon their claims to be descended from Shiva in favour of the alternate myth that claimed descent from Rama.[30] In 1921, Ganga Prasad Gupta, a proponent of Kushwaha reform, had published a book offering a proof of the Kshatriya status of the Koeri, Kachhi, Murao and Kachwaha.[23][31] His reconstructed history argued that the Kushwaha were Hindu descendants of Kush and that in the twelfth century they had served Raja Jaichand in a military capacity during the period of Muslim consolidation of the Delhi Sultanate. Subsequent persecution by the victorious Muslims caused the Kushwaha to disperse and disguise their identity, foregoing the sacred thread and thereby becoming degraded and taking on various localised community names.[23] Gupta's attempt to prove Kshatriya status, in common with similar attempts by others to establish histories of various castes, was spread via the caste associations, which Dipankar Gupta describes as providing a link between the "urban, politically literate elite" and the "less literate villagers".[32] Some communities also constructed temples in support of these claims as, for example, did the Muraos in Ayodhya.[7]

Some Kushwaha reformers also argued, in a similar vein to the Kurmi reformer Devi Prasad Sinha Chaudhari, that since Rajputs and Bhumihars and Brahmins worked the fields in some areas, there was no rational basis for assertions that such labour marked a community as being of the Shudra varna.[33]

William Pinch describes the growth of militancy among agricultural castes in the wake of their claims to Kshatriya status.The caste like Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav asserted their Kshatriya status not merely by words but they joined the British Indian Army as soldiers in large number.The growing militancy among them turned the rural Bihar into an arena of conflict in which numerous caste based armies surfaced and atrocities against the Dalits became the new norm. The militia founded during this period were named after the folk figures or the popular personalities which were revered by the whole community as heroes.[34]

Classification as Backward Caste

See also: Other Backward Class

Kushwahas are classified as a Most Backward Caste (MBC) in some Indian states.[35] In 2013, the Haryana government added the Kushwaha, Koeri and Maurya castes to the list of backward classes.[4] However, in Bihar they are categorized as Other Backward Class.[36] The various subcastes of Kushwaha community viz Kachhi, Shakya and Koeri are categorized as OBC in Uttar Pradesh also.[37]

References

Notes

1. The date of formation of the Triveni Sangh has been variously stated. Some sources have said it was the 1920s but Kumar notes recently discovered documentation that makes 1933 more likely,[12] whilst Jaffrelot has said 1934.[13]
2. William Pinch records that, "... a popular concern with status predated the rise of an imperial census apparatus and the colonial obsession with caste. ... [C]laims to personal and community dignity appeared to be part of a longer discourse that did not require European political and administrative structures."[24]

Citations

1. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
2. Harper, Malcolm (2010). Inclusive Value Chains: A Pathway Out of Poverty. World Scientific. pp. 182, 297. ISBN 978-981-4293-89-1.
3. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. pp. 12, 91–92. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
4. "Three castes included in backward classes list". Hindustan Times. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
5. Mandal, Monika (2013). Social Inclusion of Ethnic Communities in Contemporary Nepal. KW Publishers. pp. 109–110. ISBN 978-93-81904-58-9.
6. Bates, Crispin (2016). Community, Empire and Migration: South Asians in Diaspora. Springer. p. 14. ISBN 978-0333977293. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
7. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
8. Ahmed, Suroor. "Bihar-seat-sharing-amit-shah-had-no-time-to-meet-kushwaha-rlsp-leaders-upset". National Herald. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
9. Omvedt, Gail (1993). Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India. M.E.Sharpe. p. 59. ISBN 0765631768. Retrieved 16 June 2020.^ Its first mass leader was Jagdish Mahto, a koeri teacher who had read ambedkar before he discovered Marx and started a paper in the town of arrah called Harijanistan("dalit land")..
10. Singh, Santosh (2015). Ruled or Misruled: Story and Destiny of Bihar. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-9385436420. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
11. Sinha, A. (2011). Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar. Viking. pp. 80–84. ISBN 978-0-670-08459-3. Retrieved 7 April 2015.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
12. Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. pp. 43, 196. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
13. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India (Reprinted ed.). C. Hurst & Co. pp. 197–198. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
14. Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. p. 44. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
15. Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
16. Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
17. Rawat, Ramnarayan S. (2011). Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North India. Indiana University Press. pp. 12–15. ISBN 978-0-25322-262-6.
18. Kumar, Ashwani (2008). Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar. Anthem Press. pp. 34–37. ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8.
19. Sondhi, M. L. (2001). Towards a New Era: Economic, Social and Political Reforms. Har-Anand Publications. ISBN 8124108005. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
20. Thakur, Baleshwar (2007). City, Society, and Planning: Society. University of Akron. Department of Geography & Planning, Association of American Geographers: Concept Publishing Company. pp. 393–400. ISBN 978-8180694608. Retrieved 16 June 2020. While Samta with its leader Nitish is considered to be the party of Koeri-Kurmi, Bihar people's party led by Anand Mohan is perceived to be a party having sympathy and support of Rajputs.
21. Shah, Ghanshyam (2004). Caste and Democratic Politics in India. Orient Blackswan. pp. 346, 350–354. ISBN 8178240955. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
22. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
23. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
24. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
25. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. pp. 83–84. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
26. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
27. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India (Reprinted ed.). C. Hurst & Co. p. 199. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8.
28. Charsley, S. (1998). "Sanskritization: The Career of an Anthropological Theory". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 32 (2): 527. doi:10.1177/006996679803200216. S2CID 143948468.
29. Upadhyay, Vijay S.; Pandey, Gaya (1993). History of anthropological thought. Concept Publishing Company. p. 436. ISBN 978-81-7022-492-1.
30. Jassal, Smita Tewari (2001). Daughters of the earth: women and land in Uttar Pradesh. Technical Publications. pp. 51–53. ISBN 978-81-7304-375-8.
31. Narayan, Badri (2009). Fascinating Hindutva: saffron politics and Dalit mobilisation. SAGE. p. 25. ISBN 978-81-7829-906-8.
32. Gupta, Dipankar (2004). Caste in question: identity or hierarchy?. SAGE. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-7619-3324-3.
33. Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6.
34. kunnath, George (2018). Rebels From the Mud Houses: Dalits and the Making of the Maoist Revolution ... New york: Taylor and Francis group. p. 209,210. ISBN 978-1-138-09955-5. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
35. "Upper castes rule Cabinet, backwards MoS". The Times of India. 27 May 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
36. "Central list of backward castes (Bihar)". scbc.bih.nic. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
37. "Central list of OBC (Uttar Pradesh)". ncbc.nic.in. Retrieved 12 August 2020.

Further reading

• Alf Gunvald Nilsen, Kenneth Bo Nielsen (23 November 2016). Social Movements and the State in India: Deepening Democracy?. Springer. p. 2016. ISBN 978-1137591333. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
• Samaddar, Ranbir (2019). From popular movement to rebellion:The Naxalite dacade. New york: Routledge. p. 317,318. ISBN 978-0-367-13466-2. Retrieved 30 May 2020.