Difference between revisions 5237737 and 5237739 on simplewiki

'''Kushwaha''' (sometimes, '''Kushvaha''', '''Kachwaha''')<sup>[1]</sup> is a community of the Indian subcontinent, which has traditionally been involved in agriculture (including beekeeping).<sup>[2]</sup>ref name=Pinch1996p91>{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uEP-ceGYsnYC |page=91 |accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref>  is a community of the Indian subcontinent, which has traditionally been involved in agriculture (including beekeeping).<ref>{{cite book|last=Harper|first=Malcolm|title=Inclusive Value Chains: A Pathway Out of Poverty|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=VODZCM5qblYC&pg=PA182|year=2010|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4293-89-1|pages=182, 297|accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref>   The term has been used to represent at least four subcastes in North India, being those of the Kachwahas,kachwaha thakurs,Shekhawats and Bhadorias. They are the real Suryavanshi.They claim descent from the mythological Suryavansh (Solar) dynasty via Kusha, who was one of the twin sons of Rama and Sita. Previously, they had worshipped Shiva and Shakta.

== Demographics ==
The Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) notes the presence of Kachhi communities in Maharashtra and that those communities are also referred to as Kushwaha.<sup>[3]</sup> The ASI also records Kachawah rajput communities in Rajasthan and speculates on their mythological origins.<sup>[4]</sup> William Pinch notes their presence in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.<sup>[5]</sup>ref name=Pinch1996pp91-92 />⏎


== Origins ==
Today, the Kushwaha generally claim descent from Kusha, a son of the mythological Rama, himself an avatar of Vishnu.
This enables their claim to be of the Suryavansh dynasty but it is a 
myth of origin developed in the twentieth century. Prior to that time, 
the various branches that form the Kushwaha community - the Kachhis, 
Kachwahas,Shekhawat, and Bhadoriya - favoured a connection with Shiva 
and Shakta.<sup>[5]</sup> Ganga Prasad Gupta claimed in the 1920s that Kushwaha families worshiped Hanuman - described by Pinch as "the embodiment of true devotion to Ram and Sita" - during Kartika, a month in the Hindu lunar calendar.<sup>[6]</sup>⏎
ref name=Pinch1996pp91-92>{{cite book |title=Peasants and monks in British India |first=William R. |last=Pinch |publisher=University of California Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-520-20061-6 |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uEP-ceGYsnYC |pages=12, 91–92 |accessdate=18 October 2015}}</ref>
== Classification ==

=== Identification as Kushwaha Kshatriya ===
From around 1910, the Kachhis and the Koeris, both of whom for much 
of the preceding century had close links with the British as a 
consequence of their favoured role in the cultivation of the opium poppy, began to identify themselves as Kushwaha Kshatriya.<sup>[7]</sup>
An organisation claiming to represent those two groups and the Muraos 
(contracted; show full)caste. ... [C]laims to personal and community dignity appeared to be 
part of a longer discourse that did not require European political and 
administrative structures."<sup>[21]</sup>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Indian people]]