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Pundit Yogendra Bhattacharya in his book "Hindu castes and sets" writes that Bhumihar Brahmin literally means landholder. The Bhumihar Brahmins are evidently those Bhrahmins who held grants of land for secular services. Whoever held a secular fief was Bhumihar. Where a Brahmin held such a tenure he was called a Bhumihar Brahmin.
Bhumihar Brahmins are sometimes simply called as Bhumihars. They perform all their religious ceremonies in the same manner as other Brahmins, but as they also practice secular occupations like the Laukik Brahmans of Southern India, they are not entitled to accept religious gifts or to minister to anyone as priest. The usual surnames/titles of the Bhumihar Brahmins are same as those of other Brahmins of Northern India. Being a fighter by caste few of them have Rajputana surnames/titles.
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| Bhumihar Brahmin Orthodox Brahmin |
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- Bhumihar Brahmins are addicted to agriculture, a pursuit considered to be beneath the diginity of pure or orthodox Brahmins.
- They have accepted and adopted in their cheif families the secular title of Raja, Maharaja and so forth distinctions which high brahmins eschew.
- The Bhumihar Brahmin only perform one half of the prescribed Brahmanical duties. They give alms, but do not receive them; they offer sacrifices to their idols, but do not perform the duties and offices of the priesthood; they read the scared writings, but do not teach them.
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- Aristotle : In the year 331 B.C. Aristotle visited India and wrote that now the ideas about castes and professions, which have been prevelant from a long time, are gradually dying out, and the Brahmins, neglecting their education.......... live by cultivating the land and acquiring the territorial possessions, which is the duty of Kshatriyas." If things go on in the way, then instead of being(Vidyapati) i.e master of learning, they will become(Bhumipati) i.e master of land."
- Fahian: In the year 399 A.D. Fahian came to India and he wrote "The Brahmins having given up asceticism........... are ruling here and there in the place of Kshatriya and are called Sang he Kang ( land-seizer)."The land-sezier word indicate Bhumihar Brahmins.
- Dr. Wilson: Dr. Wilson in his book "Indian castes" part II page 134 has decribed The Mohiyal( synonym of Bhumihar Brahmin) as mentioned below:
Saraswat Brahmins: Another class of the character refers to is that of the Moyals or movals. They are extensively scatterd over the Punjab.
Taga(Tyagi) Brahmins of the Punjab are generally cultivators. They belong to the Gauda division of the Brahmin-hood. They care little about religious rites of any kind..... They are found principally on the banks of the Saraswati, near Thanser, some of the less pure agriculture Brahmin of these villages are called Taga of Gauda Tagas. (Tyagi is the synonym for Bhumihar Brahmin).
- Mr. Crook: Mr. Crook in his book "The Tribes and castes of UP and Oudh" part II, page 64 has written----
Bhumihar(Sanskrit Bhumi and Kara(har) 'maker'): An important tribe and landowners and agriculturists in eastern districts. They are also known as Babhan, Zamindar Brahmin, Grihastha Brahman or Pachchima or "Western Brahmin".
- Sir Elliot: According to Sir Elliot's supplemental glossary, there are five divisions of the Kamkoobj Brahmins. They are Kamkoobj proper, Sunadh, Surwaria, Jijhotia and Bhoinhar.
- Mr. William Oldham: Mr. William Oldham in his book "NORTH WESTERN PROVINCES HISTORTICAL AND STATICAL MEMOIR" has categorically mentioned that Bhoinhars, both by themselves and by ethnologists, are belived to be the descendants of Brahmins, who on becoming cultivators and landholders gave up their priestly functions.
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| Bhumihar Brahmin Orthodox Brahmin |
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- Bhumihar Brahmins are addicted to agriculture, a pursuit considered to be beneath the diginity of pure or orthodox Brahmins.
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| More Information about bhumihar brahmins |
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- Bhumihar Brahmins also known as Bhumihars (भूमिहार) are an influential Hindu sub-caste who have traditionally resided in fertile regions of Indo-Gangetic plains of North India, in the states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. They were referred to as Baabhans (बाभन) too, an apabhramsha word for Brahmin.
- Etymology: The word Bhumihar consists of two Sanskrit words, bhoomi (भूमि), meaning "land" and har (हर), meaning 'seizer'. There are a lot of theories about the origin of this caste and there is no unanimous accord over any of them excepting one which is the authority of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati who gives the most acceptable account of the origin and history of Bhumihar Brahmins. The name of his book is "Brahmarshi Vansha Vistar". Some of the other theorists owe the origin of the Bhumihars to the displacement of Brahmins from Western India following the Muslim invasion or, a change of religion to Buddhism and reconversion to Hinduism or, a change of profession from priesthood to farming or, a gradual shift from priestly and academic activities to farming and conquest, owing to lack of support from the rulers during the reign of ignorant kings. At some point of time the word 'Bhumi' was also used for some administrative unit or revenue unit or some geographical unit, just like Bundelkhand or Jharkhand. Singhbhumi, Birbhumi and Manbhumi are or was names of districts. Dhalbhumi was an adminitrative unit. Thus the word 'Bhumihar' may also mean Talukdar or Jagirdars etc.
- Traditions:
Ideally, the Bhumihar Brahmins are supposed to perform sixteen major Saṃskāra rites during the course of their lifetime. In the pre-natal stage, Garbhadharana (conception), Pumsavana (rite for consecrating a male child in the womb) and Simantonnayana (rite for parting the hair of a pregnant woman) are performed. During childhood, Jatakarma (birth ceremony), Namakarana (naming ceremony), Nishkarmana (first outing) Annaprasana (first feeding solid food), Choodakarana (first tonsure) and Karnavedha (ear piercing) are performed. During education of the child, Vidhyarambha (starting of education), Upanayanam (thread ceremony- initiation), Vedarambha (starting of the study of the Vedas), Keshanta or Godana (first shaving of the beard) and Samavartanam or Snaana (ending of studentship) are performed. During adulthood, Vivaha (marriage) and Anthyesthi (funeral rites) are the main ceremonies.
All the orthodox Bhumihar Brahmins try to adhere to these customs. But, as among all Brahmins throughout the country (the general masses), all Samskaras can no longer be practically performed. Only the most essential ones like Garbhadharana (conception), Jatakarma (birth ceremony), Namakarana (naming ceremony), Annaprasana (first feeding solid food), Choodakarana (first tonsure), Vidhyarambha (starting of education), Upanayanam (thread ceremony- initiation), Vivaha (marriage) and Anthyesthi (funeral rites) are performed.
- Mythology:
In the context of mythological perspective, Bhumihar Brahmins identify themselves with Bhagwan Parashurama, who was a Brahmin and who is believed to have killed Kshatriyas 21 times who had failed or forgotten their Vedic duties and had become regressed into chaos. The descendants of Parashurama are called Bhumihar Brahmins in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Tyagi Brahmins in Western Uttar Pradesh, Goud Brahmins in U.P. and Rajasthan, Chitpawan Brahmins in Maharashtra, Anavil Brahmins in Gujarat, Havyak Brahmins in Karnataka, Niyogi Brahmins in Andhra Pradesh, Iyer Brahmins of Tamil Nadu, Namboothiri Brahmins in Kerala, Bengali Brahmins in Eastern India and Mohyals in the Punjab region. Their variants are found with different names all across the Indian sub-continent. The records of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati in "Brahmarshi Vansha Vistar" and Acharya Chatursen Shastri in "Vayam Rakshamah" points towards the same origin by taking help of all ancient texts as well as prevailing customary practices and temperament of these illustrious Brahmins.
The Namboothiris' own mythology holds that Parashuraaman created the land (of Kerala) and bestowed it upon them. Thus their reverence of Parashuram shows that these two brahmin castes might be sharing the same lineage. The legend of Parasurama also exists amongst Brahmins of all India and he is worshipped in UP. Hence it has to be seen as a myth not exclusive to Namboothiris and Kerala alone. However, this myth also exist in an old Chera lore about King Velkezu Kuttavan. According to this myth, the king flings his spear into the sea to claim land from it. This lore must have modified later in Malayalam language by the Namboothiris as part of their campaign to establish themselves in Kerala. In the Namboothiri version, Parashuraaman uses his Parashu (Axe), to create new land for the Brahmins. In Bihar bhumihar known with their different surname as Sharma, tiwari,thakur, Pandey. Mishra.
- Mention by historians:
Mr Crook in his book, The Tribes and castes of UP and Oudh: Part II, page 64, has written: Bhumihar (Sanskrit Bhumi, 'land' and Kara(har), 'maker'): An important tribe and landowners and agriculturists in eastern districts. They are also known as Babhan, Zamindar Brahmin, Grihastha Brahman or Pachchima (Western) Brahmin.
They are also called Magadhan brahmin because they have their largest number of presence in the old Magadh region of Bihar
According to Sir Elliot's supplemental glossary, there are five divisions of the Kamkoobj Brahmins. They are Kamkoobj proper, Sunadh, Surwaria, Jijhotia and Bhoinhar.
Mr William Oldham in his book North Western Provinces Historical And Statical Memoir, has categorically mentioned that Bhoinhars, both by themselves and by ethnologists, are believed to be the descendants of Brahmins, who on becoming cultivators and landholders gave up their priestly functions.
Pundit Yogendra Bhattacharya in his book Hindu Castes and Set, writes that Bhumihar Brahmin literally means landholder. The Bhumihar Brahmins are evidently those Brahmins who held grants of land for secular services. Any Brahmin who held a secular fief was a Bhumihar.
The East India Company for the Bengal presidency exclusively recruited soldiers from the Bhumihar Brahmin & Rajput communities. It is a fact that British established their British empire in India with the help of this Bengal regiment.
- Present:
The Bhumihar Brahmins are predominantly farmers. Some are owners of vast quantities of land but many are small farmers too. Currently, most Bhumihars have been reduced to the status of small-scale farmers with the fall of the zamindari system. While most zamindars were Bhumihars, there was widespread discontent among the raiyyats (farmers who were lent land on lease and from whom tax was collected), regardless of their castes. Then, it was a class struggle rather than a caste struggle. And this struggle was led by none other than Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, a Bhumihar, who formed the first Kisan Sabha in India. Many other nationalists like Pandit Karyanand Sharma, Pandit Yadunandan Sharma and Pandit Jamuna Karjee joined Swamiji in the upliftment of the peasantry which included people of all castes and communities and for the freedom of India from colonial yoke.
Marriage of people in this community, like most of other social groups of India, is restricted to their own subcaste. English education was adopted very late by Bhumihar Brahmins because they have been very orthodox Brahmins along with being well off from the rest. There had been some exceptions to this but nowadays they are doing very well in all walks of life. Bhumihar Brahmins were just 2.9% of Bihar population (before partition of Jharkhand) but had a control over 45% of agricultural land in bihar and wielded a great political strength in Pre-Mandal politics of Bihar as Brahmins all over the country. At one time this caste contributed 19 MPs out of total 54 Lok sabha seats in Bihar. It is a fact that Bhumihar Brahmin's contribution to the freedom struggle of India and the upliftment of downtrodden in Bihar is unmatched by any other community in Bihar. Many think that Bihar was the best administered state in India under the tenure of Dr.Sri Krishna Sinha, who was a Bhumihar Brahmin and the state saw most of its development under his tenure only. This caste is vilified even though the first peasant struggle in India against zamindari was started by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati and the communities to benefit most from it were Yadav, Kurmi and Koeri (backward castes) who got the land ownership at the cost of Bhumihar Brahmin zamindars. He is still one of the most revered leaders of peasants. In 1990s the politics in Bihar was done with the sole basis of targeting the upper castes, more particularly the Bhumihar Brahmins. The per cent population of the Bhumihars in Bihar has also increased from a lowly 2.9% to 4.6% after Jharkhand was separated from it, making them politically significant.
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References |
- The Bhumihars: Caste of eastern India (ISBN 81-86208-37-2), published 2005 by Raj Publishing House, Jaipur, India.
- "Brahmarshi Vansha Vistar" by Dandi Sanyasi Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (published in 1915, Sita Ram Ashram, Bihta)
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