Yadavs in Bihar

Yadavs in Bihar refers to the people of Yadav community of the Indian state of Bihar. They are also known as Ahir, Yaduvanshi, Gopa, Rai, etc. The community form nearly 14.26 % of the state's population and is given representation in government jobs and educational institutes as an Other Backward Class (OBC). Ahir/Yadavs are among the land owning caste in the plains of Bihar.

Origin
The Yadavs or Ahirs claim to be descended from lord Krishna of ancient Yadu tribe. Ahirs found in Bihar are said to have migrated from the plain of Kachchh, Kathiavad, west Rajasthan and Braj region.

History
According to Vishnu Purana, Abhiras (modern day Ahirs) conquered Magadha and regained there for several hundred years. The Imperial Guptas are said to be from the Gopa race of Bihar.

The Ahir tribe was the dominant group in the Bihar section of the Gangetic valley during the later prehistoric period. The Ahiri country extended from around Banaras eastward to the Kosi River, primarily lying north of the Ganges. The Ahir clans of Bihar are not only confined to Bihar and Jharkhand but they are also extensively found in Mirzapur, Ballia, Gorakhpur, Basti and Kanpur districts of Uttar Pradesh.

List of dynasties, chieftaincy and zamindari
In Bihar, there were many zamindars belonging to Yadav (Ahir) community. These zamindars belonged to the difficult geographical regions, mostly diara land of the rivers. In the diara regions their rule continued with the help of their militia. The Ahir zamindars were predominantly found in northern and eastern parts of Bihar.


 * Yadava-Varman ruler of Anga (East Bihar) and Bengal.
 * Rati Raut, an Ahir chief of Rati Paragana in north Bihar.
 * Daso Ahir, Raja of Bhojpur.
 * Ahir chief of Ruidas-Patna.
 * Ahir Rajas of Gawror Fort, Patna.
 * Ahir chieftain of Murho Estate (Madhepura).
 * Kishnaut Ahir zamindars of Parasadi Estate and Parsauna (Saran).
 * Babu Girwar Narayan Mandal, Zamindar of Ranipatti (Madhepura).
 * Zamindars of Pipra estate in erstwhile Munger district (Now in Shambhuganj block of Banka district, Bihar).
 * Kanaujia Ahir landlords of Mohan Tola, Saran, Bihar.

Occupation
At one time the main occupation of the Yadavs of Bihar was rearing cattle, but now most of them are cultivator. While majority of Yadavs were peasants with minor landholdings in the Northern and Central parts of India, a few Yadavs had taken over large tract of land in the newly reclaimed portion of Eastern Bihar (Purnea and Saharsa) and had become big landholders.

Subdivision
There are four main sub-castes of Ahirs in Bihar, Kishnaut, Majhraut, Kannaujia or Kanyakubja and Goria. Among them the first three never sell either milk, ghee or butter, and have, to a large extent, became cultivator. Apart from these sub-castes, Dhadhor, Ghosin, Sadgop etc. are also found in small numbers.

Title
The titles generally used by the Yadav or Ahirs community in Bihar are Rai/Roy, Chaudhary, Gope, Mandal, Singh, Raut, Bhagat, Sinha etc.

Caste deities
In Kosi division of Bihar, people of the Yadav caste worship their caste deity Bisu Raut, whose temple is situated on the banks of the Gogri river. Baba Karu Khirhari, who was born among Yadavs, is another folk god revered by people not only in Kosi but also in the parts of Nepal. His temple is located in Mahpura village of Saharsa district.

Gobanai Baba is worshipped by Ahir families of Darbhanga district. His temple is situated in village Mahulia.

Ballad song
Lorikayan is sung by Ahir community of Bihar, it is a folk song of veer rasa where events from the life of Lorik, a Ahir hero are described. This epic is more popular in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi.

Politics
Around 1933–1934, the Yadavs joined with the Kurmis and Koeris to form the Triveni Sangh, a caste federation that by 1936 claimed to have a million supporters. This coalition followed an alliance for the 1930 local elections which fared badly at the polls. The new grouping had little electoral success: it won a few seats in the 1937 elections but was stymied by a two-pronged opposition which saw the rival Congress wooing some of its more wealthy leading lights to a newly formed unit called the "Backward Class Federation" and an effective opposition from upper castes organised to keep the lower castes in their customary place. Added to this, the three putatively allied castes were unable to set aside their communal rivalries and the Triveni Sangh also faced competition from the All India Kisan Sabha, a peasant-oriented socio-political campaigning group run by the Communists. The appeal of the Triveni Sangh had waned significantly by 1947 but had achieved a measure of success away from the ballot box, notably by exerting sufficient influence to bring an end to the begar system of forced unpaid labour and by providing a platform for those voices seeking reservation of jobs in government for people who were not upper castes. Many years later, in 1965, there was an abortive attempt to revive the defunct federation.

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.

Politics

 * B.P. Mandal, ex-cm of Bihar.
 * Daroga Prasad Rai, ex-cm of Bihar.
 * Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, former M.P.
 * Bhupendra Narayan Mandal, Indian politician
 * Ram Jaipal Singh Yadav, ex-deputy cm of Bihar.
 * Lalu Prasad Yadav, ex-cm of Bihar.
 * Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, Indian politician
 * Rabri Devi, ex-cm of Bihar.
 * Tejashwi Yadav, ex-dcm of Bihar.
 * Pappu Yadav, M.P from Purnia and President of Jan Adhikar Party (Loktantrik).
 * Nityanand Rai, M.P of BJP.
 * Surendra Prasad Yadav, Indian politician.
 * Ramkripal Yadav, former M.P. of BJP.
 * Girdhari Yadav, M.P. of JDU.
 * Tej Pratap Yadav, former minister in Bihar Government.
 * Dinesh Chandra Yadav, Indian politician.

Sports

 * Sharad Kumar, para-athlete
 * Shailesh Kumar, para-athlete

Film, television and entertainment

 * Chandan Roy, Indian film actor
 * Khesari Lal Yadav, Bhojpuri actor and singer
 * Kunal Singh, Indian film actor

Others

 * Rash Bihari Lal Mandal, zamindar of Madhepura, philanthropist and leader of freedom movement.
 * Mahendra Gop, freedom revolutionary.
 * Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala, posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime military decoration in January 2018.

Present circumstances
It is shown in the Bengal Census Report that 80 per cent of the Ahirs in Bihar are engaged in agriculture.