Ahir - Revision history

Phuntsog at 13:49, 8 November 2017

2017-11-08T13:49:23Z

Phuntsog at 13:47, 8 November 2017

2017-11-08T13:47:24Z

Pdewan at 05:01, 26 October 2016

2016-10-26T05:01:40Z

Pdewan at 21:33, 7 December 2015

2015-12-07T21:33:17Z

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2015-12-07T19:44:33Z

‎Ahir

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2015-05-02T06:29:29Z

‎Ahir

Pdewan: Created page with "This article is an extract from {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
'''THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL.'''
By H.H. RISLEY,
INDIAN C..."

2015-05-02T06:29:09Z

Created page with "This article is an extract from {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%"> '''THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL.''' <br/> By H.H. RISLEY,<br/> INDIAN C..."

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This article is an extract from
{| class="wikitable"
|-

|colspan="0"|<div style="font-size:100%">
'''THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL.''' <br/>
By H.H. RISLEY,<br/>
INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE, OFFICIER D'ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE. <br/>

Ethnographic Glossary. <br/>

CALCUTTA: <br/> ''Printed at the Bengal Secretariat Press.''<br/> 1891. .</div>
|}
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[[Category:India|A]]
[[Category:Communities|A]

=Ahir=
A hiri, Abhir,Abhiri, the cowherd caste of Behar and Upper India. The name also is sometimes used to denote a sub¬caste of Goalas. See Goala.

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:49, 8 November 2017
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	In small-pox (Basanta) Go-baidyas trust to a mash of "Nim" leaves, wild ginger, green turmeric, and the pounded bark of the Seorha tree; while in catarrhs wild fig leaves are said to be very beneficial.		In small-pox (Basanta) Go-baidyas trust to a mash of "Nim" leaves, wild ginger, green turmeric, and the pounded bark of the Seorha tree; while in catarrhs wild fig leaves are said to be very beneficial.
		+
		+	==(b)Mahisha Goala==
		+
		+	The Mahisha, or, as they are called in the Dacca dialect, Maisan, Goalas, derive their name from Mahisha, the Sanskrit for a buffalo, and were originally Ahirs from Patna and Mungir, who have been settled for several generations in Eastern Bengal. In towns, having ceased to keep buffaloes, they own dairies, and sell milk.
		+
		+	On the uncultivated "chars" or islands of the Dhullaserry, these Bengali-speaking Ahirs tend herds of buffaloes belonging to Saha merchants, and sell the milk to Gop-Goalas, who pay in advance for it. The herdsman keeps a daily account of the quantity sold, and at the end of each month his tale of milk is balanced, and compared with that kept by the purchaser.
		+
		+	Buffaloes give from four to five pounds of milk daily, a smaller quantity than in Bihar; but the "ghi" prepared from it is more highly priced, and more palatable, according to native taste, than "ghi" made from cow's milk. Bull calves are always sold as victims for sacrifices, the Bhuinmali and Rishi eating the flesh, and the latter tanning the hides. As the annual inundation subsides, wild bulls from the neighbouring jungles of Bhowal visit the herds, and after remaining several weeks with the cows, revert to their wild habits.
		+
		+	Widow marriages, and the Gae-dagha ceremony, are no longer observed.

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:47, 8 November 2017
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	Gotra: Goutam, Kashyap, Sandilya [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]		Gotra: Goutam, Kashyap, Sandilya [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
	Aliman, Kashyap, Madhugulla, Sandilya [West Bengal]		Aliman, Kashyap, Madhugulla, Sandilya [West Bengal]
		+
		+	=Notes=
		+
		+	This important Hindustani pastoral caste is frequently met with in Eastern Bengal, the members assuming a superiority over the Goala, and refusing to hold any social intercourse with it. The Ahir forfeits caste privileges by settling in Bengal, but if he only resides for a short time, a wife can be got from his home in Bihar.
		+
		+	In Gorakhpur the Ahir stands immediately below the Kayath, being regarded as a pure Sudra; but in Bengal he is impure in the eyes of Sudras and Gop-Goalas.
		+
		+	Ahirs are generally handsome, with fine delicate features, retaining in Bengal their ancestral love of spirits and pork. The tribe is known everywhere by a ceremony, peculiar to itself, called Gae-dagha, Gae-dhar, or Gokrirah. On the day after the Diwali, and on the day before the new moon of Kartik (Sept.-Oct.), Ahirs place a cow, which has lately calved, within an enclosure where a pig is confined. They beat drums, sing, and shout outside until the cow, maddened by the din, gores or butts the pig to death, when the carcass is removed, cooked, and eaten.1
		+
		+	The flesh of the wild pig is also esteemed a great delicacy by Ahirs, and when procurable is made the occasion of much conviviality.
		+
		+	In Bengal the subdivisions of the Ahirs are�
		+
		+	[[File:ahir.png\|\|frame\|500px]]
		+
		+	As with other composite castes the subdivisions vary according to locality, and clannish prejudices disappear in a foreign land. For instance, in Dacca the Mungirya and Gauriya intermarry, although it is forbidden in Bihar.
		+
		+	All Ahirs in Dacca belong to a "gotra," called Kasyapa, and the majority worship Krishna, only a few following the Sakta ritual. Ahirs observe the Sraddha on the eleventh day after death, and their funeral service is performed by the Maha-patra, or Kantha, Brahman.
		+
		+	Ahirs sell milk, but are degraded by making butter, curds, or clotted milk. Bullocks cannot properly be used by Hindus in the plough or oil-mill, but the Ahir has no compunction about selling a vicious or unmanageable bull to the Muhammadan Kolu.
		+
		+	Bengal Ahirs never prepare the yellow paint called "Pewri,"2 as is done in Mungir, although the Palasa tree (Butea frondosa) is one of the commonest jungle trees.
		+
		+	==(a) Gauriya==
		+
		+	The Gauriya is the most numerous subdivision of Ahirs in Bengal, and to it belong the Uriya palanquin bearers of Calcutta, and the professional Lathials, or clubmen, of Kishna-ghur and Jesore.
		+
		+	In Eastern Bengal they are reckoned a very impure race who castrate bulls, brand cattle, and act as cow-doctors, being on this account generally styled Go-baidya, or Daghania Goalas.3
		+
		+	''1 This cow baiting exactly resembles the Binda-parab of the Bhumij. Dalton, "Descriptive Ethnology," p. 176.
		+
		+	2 Sanskrit Go-rochana, and used for painting Hindu sectarial marks, and walls of bungalows.
		+
		+	3 In Northern Bengal the cow-doctor is called Hadiq.''
		+
		+	These Ahirs, chiefly residing in Jessore, have become naturalised in Bengal as cultivators, resembling in physique and appearance the common Bengali peasantry, though they still employ a few Hindi words when speaking the vernacular. It is alleged that in Jessore the Gauriya is reckoned a pure Sudra caste, but farther east utterly abominable. A Patit Brahman ministers at their religious ceremonies, which are distinct from those observed by the Goala of the Ballali country. No genuine Sudra Goala would do the menial work of the Go-baidya, nevertheless, a fallen tribe of Goalas in Tipperah is said to practise as cow-doctors.
		+
		+	The Gauriya have only one gotra, the Aliman.
		+
		+	During the cold season the Go-baidyas wander throughout the country, and in villages may be distinguished by the cry "Goru dadha ba!" or simply "Kemon!" How is it?
		+
		+	Preparatory to branding or operating on animals, the Go-baidyas always invoke Krishna and the two Pandava brothers, Nakula and Sahadeva. They use skewers and awls of different shapes and sizes for opening abscesses and puncturing swollen houghs, but deny that they ever castrate bulls, and certainly no cutting instrument is ever found in their wallets. The Rishi and Hajjam, however, who undoubtedly do so, positively assert that the Go-baidya is the recognised operator.
		+
		+	Go-baidyas brand the cattle of the peasantry, and treat the diseases of domestic animals with a few simples. In swollen joints they administer mashes of wild fig leaves and salt, or of the Arum, heated with salt, while they wrap the joint with poultices of pounded leaves. In oedema of the head the forehead is freely cauterised with two red hot iron hooks (dagh), which are also employed in making the common reversed semicircular marks on native cattle.
		+
		+	In small-pox (Basanta) Go-baidyas trust to a mash of "Nim" leaves, wild ginger, green turmeric, and the pounded bark of the Seorha tree; while in catarrhs wild fig leaves are said to be very beneficial.

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:01, 26 October 2016
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	service, mostly as police constables. Of late years a few have taken		service, mostly as police constables. Of late years a few have taken
	to agriculture.		to agriculture.
		+	=Ahir=
		+	(From ''People of India/ National Series Volume VIII.'' Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, [http://www.facebook.com/Indpaedia Indpaedia.com]. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
		+
		+	Synonyms: Baredi, Brajwasi, Gauli, Gwal, Raut, Yadav [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	Ahiri Haoli, Gaolan, Gaoli, Garhe, Golkar, Holkari Gaolar, Rawat, Gayla, Ghosh, Goala, Goar [West Bengal]
		+	Chandabans, Goalbans, Madanbans, Nandbans, Natbans, Raghubans, Suryabans, Yadubans [Madhya Pradesh
		+	and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	Goro, Pallav, Paschima, Sad Gope, Sadgop, Yadava [West Bengal]
		+	Apharia [H.H. Risley]
		+	Boricha, Gujar Ahir (in Kathiawar), Machhua (north Kathiwar), Nesak, Prakhalia, Sorathia (R.E. Enthoven]
		+	Ghosi, Goalbansi, Gujar, Lingabansi, Nandabansi, Yadubansi [S.S.
		+	Hassan]
		+	*Subcastes: Bharotia, Gowalvansi, Jaduvansi, Jhadia, Jijhotia, Kaonra
		+	Ahirs, Kosaria, Nandvansi, Narwaria, Rawats [Russell & Hiralal]
		+	*Sections (endogamous group): Gvalbansi, Jadubansi, Nandibansi [W.
		+	Crooke]
		+	Surnames: Ahir, Gokhle, Kabali, Kolhapure, Kotwal, Pariwale, Ghosh [West Bengal]
		+	Exogamous units/clans: Kaushal, Shyamla [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	Ilishi, Kasiva, Nilesh [West Bengal]
		+	Abalia, Baradia, Bhadia, Bhenda, Bhibha, Bhoria, Bhuthar, Chavda, Chetaria, Chhuchar, Chudasame, Gagia,
		+	Gogham, Gohel, Goria, Jogal, Kachhot, Kamalia, Kanara, Khava, Khunti, Nandania
		+	Pidaria, Pithia, Ravaliya, Sanjva, Sindhav, Sisotia, Vadhia, Varsa, Vijva [R.E. Enthoven]
		+	*Got: Abhiryaa, Bachhwalya, Balwan, Bhankarya, Bhuslaa, Chasya, Chura, Datarli, Harbala, Jadam, Jarwal, Kalalya,
		+	Kankar, Khiswa, Khosa, Kosalya, Lanba, Lodiya, Mohal, Sanp Solangia (of
		+	Jadubansi subcaste), Thokaran [HA. Rose]
		+	Gotra: Goutam, Kashyap, Sandilya [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
		+	Aliman, Kashyap, Madhugulla, Sandilya [West Bengal]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 [[Category:Communities|A]
-=Ahir=
+=Ahir: Bihar=
 Ahiri, Abhir,Abhiri, the cowherd caste of Behar and Upper India. The name also is sometimes used to denote a sub¬caste of Goalas. See Goala.

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:29, 2 May 2015
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	=Ahir=		=Ahir=
−	~~A hiri~~, Abhir,Abhiri, the cowherd caste of Behar and Upper India. The name also is sometimes used to denote a sub¬caste of Goalas. See Goala.	+	Ahiri, Abhir,Abhiri, the cowherd caste of Behar and Upper India. The name also is sometimes used to denote a sub¬caste of Goalas. See Goala.

Ahir - Revision history

Phuntsog at 13:49, 8 November 2017

Phuntsog at 13:47, 8 November 2017

Pdewan at 05:01, 26 October 2016

Pdewan at 21:33, 7 December 2015

Pdewan: /* Ahir */

Pdewan: /* Ahir */

Pdewan: Created page with "This article is an extract from {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"| '''THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL.''' By H.H. RISLEY, INDIAN C..."

Pdewan: Created page with "This article is an extract from {| class="wikitable" |- |colspan="0"|
'''THE TRIBES and CASTES of BENGAL.'''
By H.H. RISLEY,
INDIAN C..."