Bhar
The Bhar are a caste found in North India. They are also known as Rajbhar.[1]
History and origin
har 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 Awadh 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.[2]
Title 1- Bhar 2- Rajbhar 3- Bhardwaj 4- Ray,rai 5- Singh 6- bharg 7- kalhans 8- Nagbanshiy 9. Bharra,
Kshatryas are now divided into 49 tribes or gotras: 7 into somavansi, 7 suryavansi, 7 agnivansi, 7 nagavansi, 7 sarasvansi (or apavansi), 7 govansi (or bhumivansi) and 7 vayuvansi.
Suryavansi (Raghava or Raghuvans): Kachwaha, Haiwaha, Rathor, Balla, Tomar, Senghar, Hul
Chandravansi (Yadava or Yaduvans): Jadon, Bharra, Gaharwal, Katoch , Jethwa, Silahar, Chavada
Agnivansi (Agnikula): Pramara, Parihara, Chalukya, Chauhan, Jhalla, Gurjara, Dora
Nagavansi : Tank, Meir, Bais, Bhatti, Dabhi, Dahima, Daharia
Govansi (or Bhumivansi): Kanauji, Gaur, Maithili, Rohilla, Dakshin, Marwari, Sammad
Apavansi (or sagarvansi): Bhonsla, Scindia, Anwan, Rangar, Durgvansi, Sikarwal,
Gangavansi Vayuvansi: Sarwaria, Sarweya, Rajpali, Kotpal, Johiya, Johri, Lad
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 Mr. Crooke says, 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 a a Ancient Rajput 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 from Gorakhpur to Bhundelkhand and Suagor, and many old forts they are ascribed to them; but in that part of India they are now filling the meanest situations. On the hills to the east of Mirzapur, the principalities of Korar, Kurrich, and Huraha are, however, each held by Bhur rajas. Many of the old stone forts, embankments, and excavations are in Gorakhpur, Azimghur, Jonpur, Mirzapur, and Allahabad, and remnants of the people are still there. The celebrated fortress of Vijayagarh is still recognised as a Bharawati fort; and a pargana in Benares is called Bhadoi, properly Bhar-dai. It is sometimes said that they might have a connection with the Bharatas.
According to legends, for centuries Basti was a wilderness and that greater part of Avad 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”. Though there are no Bhars in Bundelkhand there are a large number of Pasis in Allahabad, which are said to derive from the Gujar, and some of them claim even Bhar ancestry. 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
Present circumstances
The Bhar are primarily a community of small cultivators, who supplement their income by wage labour. Landholding are small, and many Bhar work on fields owned land. The Bhar are an Hindu community, and have customs similar to other Hindu communities of the Awadh region. They speak Awadhi and Bhojpuri. The community are found in the districts of Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Varanasi and Faizabad.[3]