Bhar

Indian caste

Bhars
ReligionsHinduism
Languages• Hindi • Avadhi • Bhojpuri
Related groupsRajbhar

The Bhar are a caste in India.

History

Influenced by the Arya Samaj movement, as were members of other castes, Baijnath Prasad Adhyapak published Rajbhar Jati ka Itihas in 1940. This book attempted to prove that the Rajbhar were formerly rulers who were related to the ancient Bhar tribe.[1]

Present

Community that is related to the Bhar by occupation in Uttar Pradesh is Rajbhar. It falls under other backward classes in Uttar Pradesh. There were proposals in 2013 that some or all of these communities in the state should be reclassified as Scheduled Castes under India's system of positive discrimination; this would have involved declassifying them from the Other Backwards Class (OBC) category.[2] Whether or not this would happen was a significant issue in the campaign for the 2014 Indian general election.[3]

They are among 17 OBC communities that were again proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the Samajwadi Party-controlled Government of Uttar Pradesh. However, this proposal, which relates to votebank politics, has been stayed by the courts; the prior attempt had been rejected by the Government of India.[4][5]

In 2019, Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh again tried to include these 17 castes as scheduled caste but due to objection raised by Centre and Allahabad High Court, the proposal was stopped.[6]

See also

  • Gondi people
  • Rajbhar

References

Citations

  1. ^ Narayan, Badri (209). Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation. SAGE Publications. p. 25. ISBN 978-8-17829-906-8.
  2. ^ Shah (2013)
  3. ^ Srivastava (2014)
  4. ^ "Setback for Akhilesh government as High Court stays their order to include 17 sub-castes in the SC category". The Financial Express. 24 January 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  5. ^ "UP govt to include 17 other backward castes in SC list". Hindustan Times. PTI. 22 December 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
  6. ^ Ians (16 September 2019). "Allahabad HC strikes down Yogi govt.'s move to shift 17 OBCs to SC list". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 October 2020.

Bibliography

  • Shah, Pankaj (6 April 2013), "Political parties eye Lok Sabha polls, bank on boatmen to claim pole position", The Times of India, retrieved 14 April 2014
  • Srivastava, Piyush (25 February 2014), "BJP castes a wider UP net, uses Modi's background to attract OBC votes while seeking blessings by feeding Brahmins", India Today, retrieved 14 April 2014

External links

  • Sherring, M. A.; Horne, C. (1871), "The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland New Series, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1871), pp. 376-400 (33 pages)", M. A. Sherring and C. Horne, Published by: Cambridge University Press (year 1834), vol. 5, no. 2, Cambridge University Press, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, pp. 376–400, JSTOR 44012788
  • "Identity Crisis of the Rajbanshi Community in Dakshin Dinajpur after Independence: A Historical Appraisal", Govt Regd. English Quarterly Multi-disciplinary International Research Journal