Gwalavanshi

The Gwalvanshi Ahirs are historically associated with cowherding.[1] According to History Professor Rahul Shukla, the Gwalvanshi Ahirs had settled in Azamgarh, Varanasi, Gorkakhpur, Mirzapur, Jaunpur etc. Most of the Ahirs in Awadh are Gwalvanshis only.[2] They are also found in the historical Braj region (anciently Surasena Janapada) though in small numbers.[3][4] In the Varanasi district, they are known as "Sardars".[5][6] Every Veer Baba (deities who died violent death) in Varanasi was often a Gwalvanshi Ahir.[7][8]

Etymology

Abhiras were called Gopa, when they protected the cows, and Gopal, when they tended and grazed the cows. In the period (from 500 B.C. to 1 B.C.) when the Pali language was prevalent in India, the word 'Gopal' was modified to 'Goala' and by further modification it took the form of 'Gwal'. This has been aptly described by an unknown poet in a verse that due to rearing of cattle the Abhiras (Yadavs) are called 'Gopa', and after being called 'Gopal', they are called 'Gwal'.[9]

Origin

They are the descendants of the holy Gopas (Shree Krishna's childhood playmates among whom he grew up) and Gopis of Gokul[10][11][12] who were from the Vrishni tribe[13][14][15][16][17][18][19] of the Yadava-Abhira clan.[20][21][22][3][23][24]

History

During Akbar's reign, they ruled a zamindari at Ahirwara (Present Ahraura) in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.[25] They also ruled a brick fort (Nimkhar Fort) at Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.[26][27]

Present circumstances

They were cultivators or farmers in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. At the turn of the century, they evolved into business and other vocations in a big way.[28][29]

Notable people

▪ Heer Chand Yadav, ruler of Jaunpur[30]

▪ Babu Lal Gaur Yadav

▪ Ramakant Yadav

▪ Surya Kumar Yadav

▪ Umesh Yadav

▪ Paras Nath Yadav

▪ Lucky Yadav

▪ Shailendra Yadav Lalai

▪ Narsingh Yadav

▪ Mulayam Yadav, a Wrestler

▪ Rohit Yadav, a Javelin thrower

▪ Vaishnavi Yadav, a Basketball player

▪ Ram Naresh Yadav

▪ Sardar Bachau Yadav[8]

▪ Kashi Das Baba[8]

▪ Yash Dayal Yadav

▪ Suraj Yadav, a Boxer

▪ Kuldeep Yadav

▪ Sanjeev Kumar Yadav

▪ Udainath Baba, alias Veer Udai Singh (a local deity)[8]

▪ Veer Lorik (disputed)[31][32][33][34]

Culture

They sing Loriki and Birahas.[35] They have started the Ramleela at Chaukaghat (Nati Imli) in Varanasi.[36] They also actively participate in the Bharat Milaap done in the Ramleela.[36]

References
  1. Gupta, Dipankar (2021). Caste in Question. BookRix. p. 58. ISBN 9788132103455. Their original caste title was Ahir. The idea of a unique Krishnavanshi kinship category which fuses traditional subdivisions Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi into a single endogamous unit
  2. Williams, J. Charles (2020-09-10). The Report on the Census of Oudh. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-8460-5700-1.
  3. Michelutti, Lucia (2020-11-29). The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-08400-9.
  4. Ibbetson, Sir Denzil; Maclagan (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0505-3.
  5. Saath Ke Hemant By Umesh Prasad Singh · (2023)
  6. मुखर्जी, विशवनाथ (2009). बना रहे बनारस (in Hindi). भारतीय ज्ञानपीठ. ISBN 978-81-263-1713-4.
  7. Coccari, Diane Marjorie (1986). The Bir Babas of Banaras: An Analysis of a Folk Deity in North Indian Hinduism. University of Wisconsin--Madison.
  8. Comar, Savitri (2018-09-07). "Bir Babas Of Banaras Diane Marjori Cocarie ( Thesis)". Bir Babas Of Banaras. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  9. Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. Anthropological Survey of India, Government of India, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Department of Culture. ISBN 978-81-85579-57-3.
  10. Michelutti, Lucia (2020-11-29). The Vernacularisation of Democracy: Politics, Caste and Religion in India. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-000-08400-9.
  11. Mithilā ke Yādava By Mīnākshī Sinhā · (1993)
  12. Ibbetson, Sir Denzil; Maclagan (1990). Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North West Frontier Province. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 978-81-206-0505-3.
  13. Muir, John (1873). Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India, Their Religions and Institutions. Trübner & Company.
  14. Nurani, Sangameswaran. SATYAM PARAM DHIMAHI ( Part 1). Sankalp Publication. ISBN 978-93-90468-91-1.
  15. Raghav, Rangey (2016-06-11). Devki ka beta (in Hindi). Rajpal & Sons. ISBN 978-81-7028-716-2.
  16. Moropanta (1961). Kavivarya Moropantāñce samagra grantha (in Marathi). Marāṭhī Sãśodhanamaṇḍaḷa, Mumbaī Marāṭhī Granthasaṅgrahālaya.
  17. Sammelana patrikā (in Hindi). Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. 1985.
  18. Vāgvikalpa: Ḍô. Ānandaprakāśa Dīkshita abhinandana-grantha : kāvyaśāstra, bhaktikāvya, Śailīvijñāna, evaṃ samīkshā se sambandhita maulika lekhoṃ kā sandarbha grantha (in Hindi). Vibhūti Prakāśana. 1986.
  19. U. P. Information. 1964.
  20. Haryana's Art & Culture By Gopal Bhargava • (2011)
  21. Srimad Bhagavatam By Geeta Kasturi · (2013)
  22. Singh, K. S. (1998). People of India: Rajasthan (2 pts.). Popular Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-7154-766-1.
  23. The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh By Lok Nath Soni • (2000)
  24. People of India: Rajasthan (2 pts.) By K. S. Singh · (1998)
  25. Contemporary Social Sciences. Research Foundation of India. 1978.
  26. Uttar Pradesh District Gazetteers: Sitapur. Government of Uttar Pradesh. 1964.
  27. Mubārak, Abū al-Faz̤l ibn (1993). The Ain i Akbari. Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University.
  28. Ratan Mani Lal (11 May 2014). "Azamgarh: Why Mulayam cannot take Yadav votes for granted"
  29. Lucia Michelutti, Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town (2002) London School of Economics and Political Science University of London, p.90-98
  30. "रुचि के स्थान | जिला जौनपुर, उत्तर प्रदेश सरकार | India" (in Hindi). Retrieved 2023-10-22.
  31. Caturvedī, Paraśurāma (1956). Bhāratīya premākhyāna kī paramp̣arā (in Hindi). Rājakamala Prakāśana.
  32. Sharma, Gyanchandra; Śarmā, Jñāna Candra (1973). Candāyana kā sāṃskr̥tika pariveśa (in Hindi). Viśāla Prakāśana.
  33. Śrīvāstava, Lakshmī Prasāda (1989). Yaduvaṃśīya lokadeva Lorika aura Lorikāyana (in Hindi). Sītārāma Prakāśana.
  34. Rāya, Baikuṇṭha (1990). Bhāratīya premākhyānaka kāvya paramparā aura Dāūda kr̥ta Cāndāyana (in Hindi). Sāhitya Ratnākara.
  35. Beissinger, Margaret; Tylus, Jane; Wofford, Susanne Lindgren (1999-03-31). Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World: The Poetics of Community. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-21038-7.
  36. Arya, Banarasi Lal (1975). Mahārāja Balavanta Siṃha aura Kāśī kā atīta (in Hindi). Āryā.
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