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The Rajbhar (also spelled Rajbhaar) are a community of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Bihar, Mumbai, Nepal and other states India.

They are also known as Bhar. Influenced by the Arya Samaj movement, as were members of other highly 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.

History

Rajbhar is a subcaste of ancient ruling clan Bhar of North India. Bhar is the corruption of Bharshiva Dynasty known as the Nagas of Padmavati which used to be a Naga Dynasty and ruled the Padmavati,Katit(Modern Mirzapur) and Mathura region from 2nd century to the 4th Century ( 150 AD to 344 AD). they were the one who suppressed and subdued the Kushana's reign and dorve them out of the country.

Bhar is a word derived from tribal languages like Gondi and Munda, which means 'warrior'. The tribal society of central India used to have its own hierarchy, with clans ranging from Brahmins (priestly class), warriors to service or menial class. The tribal society had special respect for its warriors and martial clans. 'Bhar' is one such clan which had glorious history in medieval period, having its own small principalities in various parts of North India. As is evident from the origin of its name, Bhar was a warrior tribe which created its own history but slowly disappeared from pages of history. The Bhar formed small kingdoms in the Eastern UP region, until they were disposed by invading Rajput and Muslim groups in the later middle ages. The last Bhar Raja was killed by Ibrahim Shah Sharqi, the Sultan of Jaunpur.

Titles/Surnames used by Bhar Community

Bhar,Rajbhar,Bhardwaj,Singh,Ray,Rai,Bharg,Kalhans,Nagbanshi.They are the Bharshiv Branch of Nagavansi Kshatriyas.

In the beginning of the 9th century A.D., the Gurjara Pratihara king, Nagbhatta II, overthrew the Ayodhyas who was then ruling at Kannauj, and made this city the capital of his growing empire which rose to its greatest height in the reign of the famous Mihirbhoj (836-885 A.D.). From the time of Mahipal the power of Kannauj become to decline and Avadh was divided into small chieftainships, but all of them had ultimately to yield to newly growing power of Gaharwals of Kannauj. Jaychandra(1170-1194 A.D.), the last important ruler of the dynasty was killed in the battle of Chandawar(near Etawah) fighting against the invading army of Shahabuddin Mohd. Gauri. Soon after his death Kannauj was occupied by the Turks. His grandson afterwards fled to Kantit in the Mirzapur District and overcoming the Bhar Raja of that district, he founded the family of Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit, Mirzapur, which was recently still in existence. All the Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit trace their origin to Benares or Bijapur,. The predecorrors of the Gaharwars were the Bhars, an race of great enterprise, who build forts, dams and the like.

Bhar are an Ancient kshatriya clan from the Benares district, of whom the Raj-Bhar and the Bharpatwa are sections, though they do not eat nor intermarry. They are said to have ruled the tract of eastern Uttar Pradesh including Suagor at varying times, and many old forts they are ascribed to them. On the hills to the east of Mirzapur, the principalities of Korar, Kurrich, and Huraha are, however, each held by Bhar rajas. Many of the old stone forts, embankments, and excavations are in Gorakhpur, Azimghur, Jonpur, Mirzapur, etc. are still there. The celebrated fortress of Vijayagarh is still recognised as a Bharawati fort; and a pargana in Benares is called Bhadoi, probably Bhar-dai. It is sometimes said that they might have a connection with the ancient warring tribe of Bharatas.

According to legends, for centuries Basti was a wilderness and that a large part of eastern UP was occupied by the Bhars. The capital of the Bhars, 5 miles from Mirzapur , is said to have had 150 temples. Elliot (Supplemental Glossary, art. Bhar) remarks that “common tradition assigns to the Bhars the possession of the whole tract from Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and many subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad which are ascribed to them, would seem to indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation”. Mr Smith argues that the Bhars adopted the jain religion, but there is no evidence for that. The Gaharwars were probably derived from the Bhars, and the Chandels are said to be a branch of the Gaharwars. Chandels are derived from Gonds. Many of the modern Rajput clans of eastern UP, like Gargwanshis, Bisens, Raikwars, Rajkumars, Kalhans, etc. are believed by the scholars to have originated from ancient ruling Bhar clans. Influenced by the Arya Samaj movement, as were members of other lowly 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.

Present Condition

There were proposals in 2013 that the community 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. Whether or not this would happen was a significant issue in the campaign for the 2014 Indian general election.

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 India.

References

1. Narayan, Badri (209). Fascinating Hindutva: Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation. SAGE Publications. p. 25. ISBN 978-8-17829-906-8.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. "Setback for Akhilesh government as High Court stays their order to include 17 sub-castes in the SC category". 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.

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External links

• "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
• "Identity Crisis of the Rajbanshi Community in Dakshin Dinajpur after Independence: A Historical Appraisal", Govt Regd. English Quarterly Multi-disciplinary International Research Journal

• Indian ethnic group stubs
• Other Backward Classes
• Social groups of Uttar Pradesh