Bihari Rajput

Bihari Rajputs refers to the people of Rajput community of the eastern state Bihar and adjoining region of Uttar Pradesh. Babu Saheb (or Babu Sahib) is a term or sobriquet[1] used mainly in the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh[2] and Jharkhand to describe members of the Rajput caste[3] who traditionally formed part of the royalty and feudal elite respectively.[4][5][6]

Legendary accounts state that from 1200 CE, many Rajput groups moved eastwards towards the Eastern Gangetic plains forming their own chieftaincies.[7] These minor Rajput kingdoms were dotted all over the Gangetic plains in modern-day Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.[8] During this process, petty clashes occurred with the local population and in some cases, alliances were formed.[7] Among these Rajput chieftaincies were the Bhojpur zamindars[9] and the taluks of Awadh.[10]

The immigration of Rajput clan chiefs into these parts of the Gangetic plains also contributed the agricultural appropriation of previously forested areas, especially in South Bihar.[11] Some have linked this eastwards expansion with the onset of Ghurid invasion in the West.[11]

From as early as the 16th century, Rajput soldiers from the eastern regions of Bihar and Awadh, were recruited as mercenaries for Rajputs in the west, particularly in the Malwa region.[12]

Kolff describes some of the Rajputs of Bihar, Awadh and Varanasi with the terminology "Pseudo Rajput".These Pseudo Rajputs or the eastern Rajput often accompanied the Rajput of Rajasthan in their battles with the hordes of their supporters.They led the band of warriors called Purbiyas in order to assist their western counterparts but were notorious for frequently changing their allegiance as Silhadi did in the Battle against Babur, when he deserted Rana Sanga in the Battle of Khanwa leading to defeat of Rajput contingents and consolidation of Mughal empire in India.[13][14]

During the colonial period

The colonial period refers to period before 1947 when in the traditional agrarian society, the Rajputs of north Bihar controlled the agricultural production through the Zamindari rights. The upper caste which included Rajput controlled land and some of these upper-castes were also recruited to the lower rung of administration under the British rulers. The Brahmins who were significant landholders were dominant in some regions while those who were poor were recruited as the lathails and tax assesse for agricultural lands and also as Peons. The castes like Kayasthas work in various departments like those of accounts while the middle peasant castes which included Goala, Koeri and Kurmi functioned as occupancy tenants. Some of the peasants from these caste who became prosperous acquired caste consciousness and if ill-treated by the upper-castes were likely to resort to physical violence in retaliation. The moneylenders primarily belong to Sonar and other mercantile castes. The Rajputs were more active in property holding but were less-literate as compared to other upper-castes and hence were less active in public administration.[15] Between 1900-1920, it was noted that Rajputs formed large chunk of the population of some of the region of south Bihar. In Shahabad region were they were most prominently present, it was recorded that they took little or no interest in intellectual pursuits. The literacy rate of the region and Bihar as a whole was also in precarious state.[16]

Dominance in feudal society

Records of the time indicates that the upper-caste Rajputs practiced Dola Pratha in some regions of Bihar and West Bengal, in which the newly wed bride of the Dalits and landless labourers (who worked for wages in their fields) had to spend one night with the landlord before commissioning of her nuptial rites.[17] The ground level reports including the discourse with the women of agricultural labourers families also indicates the various patterns of abuse in which they were forced to perform Begar ( unpaid menial work ) and faced undignified teasing like "pinching on breast" by the Rajput landlords. When these women rejected the landlord's proposal of sexual contact, it was common for the landlords to falsely implicate the male members of their families and their kins in criminal cases. In some of the villages in Bhojpur region of Bihar, the frequent rapes of Chamar and Dusadh women by their landlords in order to keep their men in submissive position was also prevalent. Besides sexual assaults, the drawing of water from the village wells and walking on the pathways alongside the landlords in Rajput villages were also forbidden for the lower castes.[18]

By the 1960s, most of the prevalent feudal practices came to an end due to the activism of Kisan Sabhas, the organization led by middle peasant castes who also brought the issues of women rights and dignity within its fold and allowed the agricultural labourer women to voice for themselves.[18]

The Rajputs also countered the upward mobility of some of the peasant castes, who by virtue of their economic prosperity sought higher status by wearing Janeu, a sacred thread or claimed Kshatriya status. The records indicates that during the tenure of Asaf-ud-Daula in Awadh, when a section of Awadhiya Kurmi were about to be bestowed with the title of Raja, the Rajput nobles of Asaf's court caused stiff opposition to the move despite the fact that the Rajputs themselves were newcomers to the court and were peasant-soldiers a few year before.[19] In the words of historian Richard Barnett:

Ironically, the Rajput constituency of Awadh itself composed a “group of newcomers to the court, who had been peasant soldiers only a few years before. They were called, half sarcastically, the ‘Tilangi Rajas’ [or] ‘trooper rajas’—the people described by the shocked Muhammad Faiz Baksh as the new Nawab’s courtiers: ‘Naked rustics, whose fathers and brothers were with their own hands guiding the plow . . . , rode about as Asaf ud-daula’s orderlies.’”[19]

According to William Pinch :

...the Rajputs of Awadh, who along with brahmans constituted the main beneficiaries of what historian Richard Barnett characterizes as “Asaf’s permissive program of social mobility,” were not willing to let that mobility reach beyond certain arbitrary sociocultural boundaries.[19]

Politics

In pre 1990 period, the Rajputs along with Brahmin, Bhumihar and Kayastha dominated not only the social and political space of Bihar but also the judiciary and bureaucracy. It has been alleged that the upper-caste dominance for the long time hindered the implementation of "land reforms" in the state proactively which could have benefitted the Scheduled Castes and the backwards. In the post Mandal phase Kurmi, Koeri and Yadav, the three backward castes who constitute the upper-OBC due to their advantageous position in the socio-economic sphere of agrarian society became the new political elite of the state. One of the causes of this transformation was weakening of Indian National Congress in the state, which was dominated by upper-caste for long. The rising Kulaks from the upper-OBC rode on the Lok Dal political party for their emancipation and jostled with the erstwhile political elites, the upper-castes. According to Sanjay Kumar, after a long and protracted struggle the upper-caste accepted the leadership of OBCs during this phase.[20]

Present circumstances

According to a report of Institute of human development studies, Brahmins topped in average per capita income with Rs 28,093, the other upper castes of Bihar which comprises Rajputs have an average per capita income of Rs 20,655, closely followed by middle agrarian castes like Kushwahas and Kurmis earning Rs 18,811 and Rs 17,835 respectively as their average per capita income. In contrast, Yadavs’ income is one of the lowest among OBCs at Rs 12,314, which is slightly less than the rest of OBCs (Rs 12,617). Hence; despite the political mobilisation of backward castes in post mandal period, the Rajputs are still among the high income groups in Bihar. According to this report, the economic benefits of the Mandal politics could be seen as affecting only few backward castes of agrarian background leading to their upward mobilisation.[21]

References
  1. "Lok Sabha Elections 2014: Lights fail in Nanaur village in the Ara Lok Sabha constituency". dna. 16 April 2014.
  2. Shahid Amin (1995). Event, Metaphor, Memory: Chauri Chaura, 1922-1992. Univ of California Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780520087804. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  3. Dubey, Priyanka. "Jitan Ram Manjhi and the politics of caste". The Caravan.
  4. "Where Nitish shows up in lantern flicker". 3 November 2015.
  5. Hira Singh (4 March 2014). Recasting Caste: From the Sacred to the Profane. SAGE Publishing India. p. 4. ISBN 9789351504030. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  6. Arun Sinha (1978). "Class War in Bhojpur". Economic and Political Weekly. 13 (1): 10–11. JSTOR 4366262.
  7. C. A. Bayly (19 May 1988). Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the Age of British Expansion, 1770–1870. CUP Archive. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-0-521-31054-3.
  8. Barbara N. Ramusack (8 January 2004). The Indian Princes and their States. Cambridge University Press. pp. 14–15. ISBN 978-1-139-44908-3.
  9. Kumkum Chatterjee (1996). Merchants, Politics, and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar, 1733–1820. BRILL. pp. 35–36. ISBN 90-04-10303-1.
  10. Richard Gabriel Fox (1971). Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: Statehinterland Relations in Preindustrial India. University of California Press. pp. 68–69. ISBN 978-0-520-01807-5.
  11. Gyan Prakash (30 October 2003). Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude in Colonial India. Cambridge University Press. pp. 64–66. ISBN 978-0-521-52658-6.
  12. Farooqui, Amar (2007). "The Subjugation of the Sindia State". In Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (eds.). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  13. Dirk H. A. Kolff (2002). Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy. Cambridge University Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-521-52305-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  14. Sarkar, Jadunath (1960). Military History of India. Orient Longmans(Original from the University of Virginia). pp. 56–61. ISBN 9780861251551. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  15. Bindeshwar Ram (1997). Land and Society in India: Agrarian Relations in Colonial North Bihar. Orient Blackswan. pp. 12–13. ISBN 8125006435.
  16. Shreedhar Narayan Pandey (1975). Education and Social Changes in Bihar, 1900-1921: A Survey of Social History of Bihar from Lord Curzon to Noncooperation Movement. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 11–12. ISBN 0842609865. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  17. Ranabir Samaddar (2009). State of Justice In India Issues of Social Justice. SAGE Publications India. p. 46, 65. ISBN 8132104196. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  18. Case Studies on Strengthening Co-ordination Between Non-governmental Organizations and Government Agencies in Promoting Social Development. United Nations (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific). 1989. p. 72,73. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  19. William R. Pinch (1996). Peasants and Monks in British India. University of California Press. pp. 84, 85. ISBN 0520916301. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  20. Sanjay Kumar (2018). Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns. SAGE Publishing India. pp. 27–28. ISBN 9352805860. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  21. Christophe Jaffrelot; Kalaiyarasan A (eds.). "Lower castes in Bihar have got political power, not economic progress". Indian Express. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
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