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Yādav (Template:Lang-hi) refers to an umbrella group of non-elite pastoral communities, or castes, in India and Nepal which since the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has claimed descent from the mythological King Yadu as a part of a movement of social and political resurgence.

The term 'Yadav' now covers many traditional pastoral castes such as Ahirs of the Hindi belt, the Gavli of Maharashtra, the Goala of Andhra and the Konar of Tamil Nadu. In the Hindi belt, "Ahir," "Gwala," and "Yadav" are often used synonymously. Traditionally, Yadav groups were linked to cattle raising and, as such, were considered non-elite but clean, and outside the formal caste system. Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Yadav movement has worked to improve the social standing of its constituents, through Sanskritisation, active participation in the Indian and British armed forces, expansion of economic opportunities to include other, more prestigious business fields, and active participation in politics. Yadav leaders and intellectuals have often focused on their claimed descent from Yadu, and from Lord Krishna, which they argue imputes kshatriya status upon them; however, the overall tenor of their movement has not been overtly egalitarian in the context of the larger Indian caste system.

Origins

In mythology

The term Yadav has been interpreted to mean a descendant of Yadu.

Using "very broad generalisations", Jayant Gadkari says that it is "almost certain" from analysis of the Puranas that Andhaka, Vrishni, Satvatas and Abhira were collectively known as Yadavas and worshipped Krishna. Gadkari further notes of these ancient works that "It is beyond dispute that each of the Puranas consists of legends and myths ... but what is important is that, within that framework certain value system is propounded".

Lucia Michelutti notes that

At the core of the Yadav community lies a specific folk theory of descent, according to which all Indian pastoral castes are said to descend from the Yadu dynasty (hence the label Yadav) to which Krishna (a cowherder, and supposedly a Kshatriya) belonged. ... a strong belief amongst them that all Yadavs belong to Krishna's line of descent, the Yadav subdivisions of today being the outcome of a fission of an original and undifferentiated group.

In practice

There are several communities that coalesce to form the Yadavs. Christophe Jaffrelot has remarked that

The term 'Yadav' covers many castes which initially had different names: Ahir in the Hindi belt, Punjab and Gujarat, Gavli in Maharashtra, Gola in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka etc. Their traditional common function, all over India, was that of herdsmen, cowherds and milksellers.

According to David Mandelbaum, the association of the Yadav (and their constituent castes, Ahir and Gwala) with cattle has impacted on their commonly viewed ritual status (varna) as Shudra, although the community's members often claim the higher status of Kshatriya. The Shudra status is explained by the nomadic nature of herdsmen, which constrained the ability of other groups in the varna system to validate the adherence to practices of ritual purity; by their involvement in castration of the animals, which was considered to be a ritually polluting act; and because the sale of milk, as opposed to personal use thereof, was thought to represent economic gain from a sacrosanct product.

Yadavs in modern India

Occupational background, location and image

The Yadavs mostly live in Northern India, and particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Their traditional occupations changed over time and for many years Yadavs have been primarily involved in cultivation, although Michelutti has noted a "recurrent pattern" since the 1950s whereby economic advancement has progressed through involvement in cattle-related business to transportation and thence to construction. Employment with the army and the police have been other traditional occupations in northern India, and more recently government employment in that region has also become significant. She believes that positive discrimination measures and gains as a consequence of land reform legislation have been important factors in at least some areas.

Although the Yadavs have formed a fairly significant proportion of the population in various areas, including 11% of that of Bihar in 1931, their interest in pastoral activities was not traditionally matched by ownership of land and consequently they were not a "dominant caste". Their traditional position, which Jaffrelot describes as "low caste peasants", also mitigated against any dominant role. Their involvement in pastoralism also accounts for a traditional view of Yadavs as being peaceful, while their particular association with cows has a special significance in Hinduism, as do their beliefs regarding Krishna. Against this image, the uncouthness of the Ahir subdivision was remarked upon by Russell and Lai in 1916, although it is unclear whether their comments were based entirely on proverbial stories, on observation or on both; it persisted, at least in some areas, in the 1990s. Tilak Gupta has described that

The very mention of the community invokes, in Bihar, the image of dull, miserly and loud-mouthed people lacking in grace and culture. Besides, the Yadavs are considered as to be unusually prone to casteism and violence.

The Yadavs have, however, demonstrated a feature, driven by their more notable members, that shares a similarity with other Indian communities. Mandelbaum has noted that

As the families of a jati, in sufficient number, accrue a strong power base, and as their leading men become united enough to move together for higher status, they typically step up their efforts to improve their jati customs. They try to abandon demeaning practices and to adopt purer and more prestigious ways. They usually want to drop the old name for a better one.

Sanskritisation

By the end of the nineteenth century, some Yadavs had become successful cattle traders and others had been awarded government contracts to care for cattle. Jaffrelot believes that the religious connotations of their connections to the cow and Krishna were seized upon by those Yadavs seeking to further the process of Sanskritisation, and that it was Rao Bahadur Balbir Singh, a descendant of the last Abhira dynasty to be formed in India, who spearheaded this. Singh established the Ahir Yadav Kshatriya Mahasabha (AYKM) in 1910, which at once asserted that its Ahir constituents were of Kshatriya ritual rank in the varna system, descended from Yadu (as was Krishna), and really known as Yadavs. The organisation claimed support from the facts that various Raj ethnologists had earlier claimed a connection between the Ahir and the Abhira, and because their participation in recent events such as the Indian Rebellion of 1857 had demonstrated that Ahirs were good fighters.

The AYKM was a self-contained unit and did not look to forging links with similar bodies among other caste groups which were claiming Kshatriya descent at that time. It did have some success, notably in breaking down some of the very strict traditions of endogamy within the community, and it gained some additional momentum as people from rural areas gradually migrated away from their villages to urban centres such as Delhi. Ameliorating the effects of strict endogamy was seen as being conducive to causing the community as a whole to unite, rather than existing as smaller subdivisions within it. M. S. A. Rao has said that the events of this period meant that "the term Yadava refers to both an ethnic category and an ideology".

Of particular significance in the movement for Sanskritisation of the community was the role of the Arya Samaj, whose representatives had been involved with the family of Singh since the late 1890s and who had been able to establish branches in various locations. Although this movement, founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, favoured a caste hierarchy and also endogamy, its supporters believed that caste should be determined on merit rather than on heritage. They therefore encouraged Yadavs to adopt the sacred thread as a symbolic way to defy the traditional inherited caste system, and they also supported the creation of cow protection associations (Goraksha Sabha) as a means by which Yadavs and other non-Brahmans could affirm the extent of their commitment to Hinduism by observing the strictures relating to cow slaughter. In Bihar, where the Bhumihars and Rajputs were the dominant groups, the wearing of the thread by Ahirs led to occasions of violence.

Jaffrelot has contrasted the motivations of Yadav Sanskritisation with that of the Nairs, another Indian community. He notes that Gyanendra Pandey, Rao and M. N. Srinivas all assert that Yadav Sanskritisation was not a process to imitate or raise the community to ritual parity with the higher ranks but rather to undermine the authority of those ranks. He contrasts this "subversion" theory with the Nair's motive of "emancipation", whereby Sanskritisation was "a means of reconciling low ritual status with growing socio-economic assertiveness and of taking the first steps towards an alternative, Dravidian identity". Using examples from Bihar, Jafrrelot demonstrates that there were some organised attempts among members of the Yadav community where the driving force was clearly secular and in that respect similar to the Nair's socio-economic movement. These were based on a desire to end oppression caused by, for example, having to perform begari (forced labour) for upper castes and having to sell produce at prices below those prevailing in the open market to the zamindars, as well as by promoting education of the Yadav community. This "aggressive Sanskritisation", which caused riots in the area, was emulated by some other of the lower caste groups. In support of the argument that the movements bore similarity, Jaffrelot cites Hetukar Jha, who says of the Bihar situation that "The real motive behind the attempts of the Yadavas, Kurmis and Koeris at Sanskritising themselves was to get rid of this socio-economic repression".

The process of Sanskritisation often included creating a history. The first such for the Yadavs was written in the late nineteenth century by Vithal Krishnaji Khedkar, a schoolteacher who became private secretary to a Maharajah. In 1959, Khedekar's work was published by his son, Raghunath Vithal Khedkar, who was a surgeon, under the title The Divine Heritage of the Yadavas. There has been subsequent work to develop his ideas, notably by K. C. Yadav and J. N. Singh Yadav.

Khedekar's history made the claim that Yadavs were descendants of the Abhira tribe and that the modern Yadavs were the same community referred to as dynasties in the Mahabharata and Puranas. Describing the work of the Khedekars as "a well-edited and well-produced volume", Mandelbaum notes that the Yadavs

... have usually been held in considerably less glorious repute by their neighbors. While an occasional warrior of a pastoral jati did establish his own state and dynasty, cattlekeepers are ranked in many localities among the lower blocks of the Shudras ...  postulates divine and noble ancestry for a good many jatis in several language regions covering hundreds and thousands of people who share little more than a traditional occupation and a conviction about their rightful prerogatives.

In creating this history there is some support for an argument that Yadavs were looking to adopt an ethnic identity akin to the Dravidian one that was central to the Sanskritisation of the Nairs and other in south India. However, Jaffrelot believes that such an argument would be overstated because the Yadav "redrawing of history" was much more narrow, being centred on themselves rather than on any wider shared ethnic base. They did acknowledge groups such as the Jats and Marathas as being similarly descended from Krishna but they did not particularly accommodate them in their adopted Aryan ethnic ideology, believing themselves to be superior to these other communities. Jaffrelot considers the history thus created to be one that is "largely mythical enabled Yadav intellectuals to invent a golden age".

Michelutti prefers the term "yadavisation" to that of "sanskritisation". She argues that the perceived common link to Krishna was used to campaign for the official recognition of the many and varied herding communities of India under the title of Yadav, rather than merely as a means to claim the rank of Kshatriya. Furthermore, that "... social leaders and politicians soon realised that their 'number' and the official proof of their demographic status were important political instruments on the basis of which they could claim a 'reasonable' share of state resources."

All-India Yadav Mahasabha

The All-India Yadav Mahasabha (AIYM) was founded at Allahabad in 1924 by a meeting of disparate local groups from Bihar, Punjab and what is now Uttar Pradesh. Although the AIYM was initially organised by V. K. Khedakar, it was Rao Balbir Singh who developed it and this coincided with a period – during the 1920s and 1930s – when similar Sanskritisation movements elsewhere in the country were on the wane. The program included campaigning in favour of teetotalism and vegetarianism, both of which were features of higher ranking castes, as well as promoting self-education and promoting the adoption of use of the "Yadav" last name. It also sought to encourage the British Raj to recruit Yadavs as officers in the army and sought to modernise community practices such as reducing the financial burden dowries and increasing the acceptable age of marriage. Furthermore, the AIYM encouraged the more wealthy members of the community to donate to good causes, such as for the funding of scholarships, temples, educational institutions and intra-community communications.

The Yadav belief in their superiority impacted on their campaigning. In 1930, the Yadavs of Bihar joined with the Kurmi and Koeri agriculturalists to enter local elections. They lost badly but in 1934 the three communities formed the Triveni Sangh political party, which allegedly had a million dues-paying members by 1936. However, the organisation was hobbled by competition from the Congress-backed Backward Class Federation, which was formed around the same time, and by co-option of community leaders by the Congress party. The Triveni Sangh suffered badly in the 1937 elections, although it did win in some areas. Aside from an inability to counter the superior organisational ability of the higher castes who opposed it, the unwillingness of the Yadavs to renounce their belief that they were natural leaders and that the Kurmi were somehow inferior was a significant factor in the lack of success. Similar problems beset a later planned caste union, the Raghav Samaj, with the Koeris.

In the post-colonial period, according to Michelutti, it was the process of yadavisation and the concentration on two core aims – increasing the demographic coverage and campaigning for improved protection under the positive discrimination scheme for Backward Classes – that has been a singular feature of the AIYM, although it continues its work in other areas such as promotion of vegetarianism and teetotalism. Their proposals have included measures designed to increase the number of Yadavs employed or selected by political and public organisations on the grounds of their numerical strength, including as judges, government ministers and regional governors. By 2003 the AIYM had expanded to cover seventeen states and Michelutti believed it to be the only organisation of its type that crossed both linguistic and cultural lines. It continues to update its literature , including websites, to further its belief that all claimed descendants of Krishna are Yadav. It has become a significant political force.

The campaign demanding that the army of the Raj should recruit Yadavs as officers resurfaced in the 1960s. Well-reported bravery during fighting in the Himalayas in 1962, notably by the 13th Kumaon company of Ahirs, led to a campaign by the AIYM demanding the creation of a specific Yadav regiment. In 1966 the AIYM held its annual conference in Etawa, with Mulayam Singh Yadav as chairman of the reception committee and Rao Birender Singh the scion of the Rewari dynasty as president.

Post-Independence

After Independence, the Yadavs have emerged as the leaders of the other backward classes. Rao’s study of the Yadava elite in the various states (based on the members and supporters of the All India Yadav Sabha and not on those of the rival All India Yadav Mahasabha) reveals the growth of varied business and professional groups within the caste category. Heading the list are businessmen who comprise roughly 21 per cent of the elite. They include dairy owners, contractors, tobacco and timber merchants, wholesale grass dealers, owners of engineering firms and other industries as well as restaurant owners. They are followed by the large farmers who comprise around 21 per cent of the Yadav elite. Politicians (MPs, MLAs, ministers, municipal councillors, district board members, office-bearers of political parties) constitute 17 percent of the elite and school and college teachers, doctors, lawyers and engineers together another 20 percent. Mandelbaum has commented on how the community basks in the reflected glory of those members who achieve success, that "Yadav publications proudly cite not only their mythical progenitors and their historical Rajas, but also contemporaries who have become learned scholars, rich industrialists, and high civil servants." He notes that this trait is can also be seen among other caste groups.

See also

• Saini
• List of Yadavs
• Konar
• Haryana
• Yaduvanshi Ahirs
• Ahir clans
• Nandvanshi

References

1. Luce, Edward (2008). In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-4000-7977-3. Retrieved 9 October 2011. Quote: "The Yadavs are one of India's largest 'Other Backward Classes,' a government term that covers most of India's Sudra castes. Yadavs are the traditional cowherd caste of North India and are relatively low down on the traditional pecking order, but not as low as the untouchable Mahars or Chamars."
2. Michelutti, Lucia (2004), "'We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians': Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town", Contributions to Indian Sociology, 38 (1–2): 43–71 Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low- to middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern states like Bihar) in the last thirty years."
3. ^ Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-520-20061-6. Retrieved 4 October 2011. Quote: "Gopis, Goalas, and Ahirs, who would by early 1900s begin referring to themselves as Yadav kshatriyas, had long sought and attained (after 1898) recruitment as soldiers in the British Indian army, particularly in the Western Gangetic Plain."
4. ^ Hutton, John Henry (1969). Caste in India: its nature, function and origins. Oxford University Press. p. 113. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "In a not dissimilar way the various cow-keeping castes of northern India were combining in 1931 to use the common term of Yadava for their various castes, Ahir, Goala, Gopa, etc., and to claim a Rajput origin of extremely doubtful authenticity."
5. Jassal, Smita Tewari; École pratique des hautes études (France). Section des sciences économiques et sociales; University of Oxford. Institute of Social Anthropology (2001). "Caste in the Colonial State: Mallahs in the census". Contributions to Indian sociology. Mouton. pp. 319–351. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "The movement, which had a wide interregional spread, attempted to submerge regional names such as Goala, Ahir, Ahar, Gopa, etc., in favour of the generic term Yadava (Rao 1979). Hence a number of pastoralist castes were subsumed under Yadava, in accordance with decisions taken by the regional and national level caste sabhas. The Yadavas became the first among the shudras to gain the right to wear the janeu, a case of successful sanskritisation which continues till date. As a prominent agriculturist caste in the region, despite belonging to the shudra varna, the Yadavas claimed Kshatriya status tracing descent from the Yadu dynasty. The caste's efforts matched those of census officials, for whom standardisation of overlapping names was a matter of policy. The success of the Yadava movement also lies in the fact that, among the jaati sabhas, the Yadava sabha was probably the strongest, its journal, Ahir Samachar, having an all-India spread. These factors strengthened local efforts, such as in Bhojpur, where the Yadavas, locally known as Ahirs, refused to do begar, or forced labour, for the landlords and simultaneously prohibited liquor consumption, child marriages, and so on."
6. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 187. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
7. Susan Bayly (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 383. ISBN 978-0-521-79842-6. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: Ahir: Caste title of North Indian non-elite 'peasant'-pastoralists, known also as Yadav."
8. Swartzberg, Leon (1979). The north Indian peasant goes to market. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 11. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "As far back as is known, the Yadava were called Gowalla (or one of its variants, Goalla, Goyalla, Gopa, Goala), a name derived from Hindi gai or go, which means "cow" and walla which is roughly translated as 'he who does'."
9. Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-521-79842-6. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "In southern Awadh, eastern North-Western Provinces, and much of Bihar, non-labouring gentry groups lived in tightly-knit enclaves among much larger populations of non-elite 'peasants' and labouring people. These other grouping included 'untouchable' Chamars and newly recruited 'tribal' labourers, as well as non-elite tilling and cattle-keeping people who came to be know by such titles as Kurmi, Koeri and Goala/Ahir."
10. ^ Leshnik, Lawrence S.; Sontheimer, Günther-Dietz (1975). Pastoralists and nomads in South Asia. O. Harrassowitz. p. 218. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "The Ahir and allied cowherd castes (whether actually pastoralists or cultivators, as in the Punjab) have recently organized a pan-Indian caste association with political as well as social reformist goals using the epic designation of Yadava (or Jadava) Vanshi Kshatriya, ie the warrior caste descending from the Yadava lineage of the Mahabharata fame."
11. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. Columbia University Press. pp. 210–211. ISBN 978-0-231-12786-8. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "In his typology of low caste movements, (M. S. A.) Rao distinguishes five categories. The first is characterised by 'withdrawal and self-organisation'. ... The second one, illustrated by the Yadavs, is based on the claim of 'higher varna status' and fits with Sanskritisation pattern. ..." Cite error: The named reference "Jaffrelot2003" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
12. Gooptu, Nandini, "The Urban Poor and Militant Hinduism in Early Twentieth-Century Uttar Pradesh", Modern Asian Studies, 31 (4 (Oct., 1997)): 879–918 Quote: " ... Lord Krishna, a legendary warrior and a Hindu diety, whom some shudra castes, notably the ahir or yadav, claim to be their ancestor." (page 902)
13. Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-521-79842-6. Retrieved 7 October 2011. Quote: "They had many counterparts elsewhere, most notably in the Gangetic plain where users of titles like Ahir, Jat and Goala turned increasingly towards the cow-cherishing rustic piety associated with the cult of Krishna. With its visions of milkmaids and sylvan raptures, and its cultivation of divine bounty in the form of sweet milky essences, this form of Vishnu worship offered an inviting path to 'caste Hindu' life for many people of martial pastoralist background. Footnote 42: "From the later nineteenth century the title Yadav was widely adopted in preference to Goala. ..."
14. Enthoven, Reginald Edward (1990) . The tribes and castes of Bombay. Vol. 1 (Reprinted ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. p. 134. ISBN 81-206-0630-2.
15. Gadkari, Jayant (1996). Society and religion: from Rugveda to Puranas. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. pp. 179, 183–184. ISBN 978-81-7154-743-2.
16. ^ Michelutti, Lucia (February 2004). ""We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 38 (1–2): 49. Retrieved 27 August 2011.(subscription required)
17. Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 442–443. ISBN 978-0-520-01623-1. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
18. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
19. ^ Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 442. ISBN 978-0-520-01623-1. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
20. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 188. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
21. Michelutti, Lucia (February 2004). ""We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 38 (1–2): 52–53. Retrieved 27 August 2011.(subscription required)
22. Russell, R. V.; Lal, Raj Bahadur Hira (1916). Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India. Vol. 2. London: Macmillan. p. 37. Retrieved 16 August 2011. ... according to the proverbs the Ahir is held to be treacherous and false to his engagements. They are also regarded as stupid ...The Ahirs are also hot-tempered, and their propensity for drinking often results in affrays, when they break each other's heads with their cattle-staffs.
23. Gupta, Tilak D. (27 June 1992)). "Yadav Ascendancy in Bihar Politics". Economic and Political Weekly. 27 (26): 1304–1306. Retrieved 2011-08-16. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)(subscription required)
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25. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 189. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
26. Rao, M. S. A. (1979). Social movements and social transformation: a study of two backward classes movements in India. Macmillan. p. 123.
27. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. pp. 191–193. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
28. ^ Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 444. ISBN 978-0-520-01623-1. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
29. Jha, Hetukar (1977). "Lower Caste Peasants and Upper-Caste Zamindars in Bihar, 1921–1925: an analysis of sanskritisation and contradiction between the two groups". Indian Economic and Social History Review. 14 (4): 550.
30. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. pp. 194–196. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
31. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
32. Michelutti, Lucia (February 2004). ""We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 38 (1–2): 50–51. Retrieved 27 August 2011.(subscription required)
33. Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-85065-670-8. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
34. Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India. Vol. 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 485. ISBN 978-0-520-01623-1. Retrieved 25 August 2011.

• Use dmy dates from August 2011
• Ahir
• Indian castes
• Social groups of Uttar Pradesh
• Social groups of Bihar
• Chhatis Rajkul