This series has been started in response to a request by Puja Upadhyay
In the mythological perspective, Bhumihar Brahmins identify themselves with Bhagwan Parashurama, who was a Brahmin and who is believed to have destroyed from the earth 21 times all those Kshatriyas who had failed or forgotten their duties and had become retrograde.
Pundit Yogendra Bhattacharya in his book "Hindu castes and sets" writes that Bhumihar Brahmin literally means landholder.
The descendants and associates of Parshuram are called Bhumihar brahmins in Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Goud Brahmins in U.P. and Rajasthan, Chitpawan Brahmins in Maharashtra, Anavil Brahmins in Gujarat, Havyak Brahmins in Karnataka, Iyer and Iyengar 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 Bhumihar Brahmins are those Bhrahmins who held grants of land from the rulers for secular services. Whoever held a secular fief was Bhumihar. Where a Brahmin held such a tenure he was called a Bhumihar Brahmin.
The usual surnames/titles of the Bhumihar Brahmins are same as those of other Brahmins of Northern India. Many who performed ‘fighting’ roles , [evidently if you held land in the ancient and middle ages, you would have to defend it ] were considered fighters by caste few of them have Rajput surnames/titles.
1. Bhumihar Brahmins are agriculturists, a pursuit considered to be beneath the diginity of pure or orthodox Brahmins.
2. They have accepted and adopted in their chief families the secular title of Raja, Maharaja and so forth distinctions which high brahmins eschew.
3. The Bhumihar Brahmin only performs 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.
[More on this subject later]
16 comments:
Bhumihar comes from two hindi words "bhumi" and "har" while bhumi as u know means land "har" means to abduct or to acquire something by illegal means. And that is one reason by in many places bhumihar brahmins are not trusted. Is it true?
The word Bhumihar consists of the Sanskrit word, bhoomi (भूमी), meaning "land" and the Apabhramsha har (हार), meaning 'owner'
Mr Crook in his book, The Tribes and castes of UP and Oudh, has written: Bhumihar (Sanskrit Bhumi, 'land' and Kara(har), 'maker')They are also known as Babhan, Zamindar Brahmin, Grihastha Brahman or Pachchima (Western) Brahmin.
According to Sir Elliot's supplemental glossary, there are five divisions of the Kamkoobj Brahmins. They are Kamkoobj proper, Sunadh, Surwaria, Jijhotia and Bhoinhar.
Nice article Frank..do continue it.
thanks a lot sir.there are several myths associated with the bhumihars specially in bihar where they are not considered trustworthy...the thing that really boggles me is that they keep titles from every other caste, right from sharma...a title of brahmins to sinha...a title asscocited with kayasths.can you tell me something about it?am sure you can :D
really is that right. brahmins are the ones who has hijacked hindu society and destroyed, untouchability, social degradation, whole of brahmins in kasmir converting to islam and the rest of it. all ills of india are due to brahmins .
http://biharbhumihar.googlepages.com/
it is a propaganda that bhumihars are not trusthworthy.it originated because bhumihars shifted from priesthood, their duty by caste as they are brahmins,to secular occupations like farming and services.this shift was necessary because the bhumihars have indipendent and self respectful personality which was not suitable for a job of priest since the rajput kings took them for granted.bhumihars are brahmins who dont sing for the king.
I read somewhere that Bhumihar bramhins are the bramhins who converted to buddhism during Ashoka's period and later on on their reconversion to Hinduism were not accepted as true Bramhins..Is this true??
There is also a theory going the rounds...
When alexander the great was going from India after getting defeated..He had a large harem of beautiful women from around the world..He left them here and People from different castes married those girls..from them, comes the bhumihar..
Hello,nice post thanks for sharing?. I just joined and I am going to catch up by reading for a while. I hope I can join in soon.
as far as my knowledge goes Bhumihars history is very very debatable, i wonder why havent any of you discussed this part. one of the stories goes like this...a few section of brahmins were fed up with ( KARM KAND) of brahmins, budhism was coming up as effective solution so a section of brahmins became budhists. Well after sometime they saw & were feeling marginalised & Budhism also started getting corrupt so they wanted to return in back to Brahmins, but well, according to hindu religion once u leave the religion there is no coming back. So they were not welcomed at alll. Then they were given huge chunks of land for their survival. Hence Bhumihars & agriculture & MOST IMPORTANT BHUMIHARS ARE MOSTLY FOUND ON BUDHIST BELT of Bihar & U.P. Any takers of this...
Bhumihar people are found in only UP and Bihar and that also in Buddhist places. Brahmins did a great conspiracy by declaring Buddha as 9th incarnation of Vishnu and this lead to merger of Buddhism and Brahminism in one fold and todau we know this merged fold as Hinduism. During this Buddhist Brahmins of eastern UP and Bihar were placed below other Brahmins and were known as Bhumihar and similarly Buddhist Kshatriyas were placed below other kshatriya and known as Sainthwar, derived from Santhagara. Both Bhumihar and Sainthwar community were not welcomed happily and were defamed over a time of Brahmins. Bhumihar and Parasurama linkage is mostly a myth or fake. Also Parsurama's big story of killing kshatriya 21 times is myth as one should not forget Lakshmana's dialogue with Parasurma. Brahmins did this to prove their superiority over kshatriya as their condition was very poor in Buddha and Jain period. God save India from Brahmins and their thinking.
History of Bhumihars
Bhumihars is a caste Mainly Found in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand , Uttar Pradesh and in the Bundelkhand area of the Madhya Pradesh . One Story of their origin is that the Bhumihars Brahmins Parashurama destroyed the Kshatriya Many times and he set up in their Place the descendents of Brahmins. Bhumihar Brahmins is known as Karm Kandi Pandit in the sixteenth Century Particularly in North Bihar. In South Bihar their Most Prestigious King (Gopal Sharan) was the Tekari Family in the Eighteenth Century . In our Country So many Bhumihars Scholars have been born like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati , Sir Ganesh Dutt and Siyaram Tiwary the Former Dean of the Vishwa Bharti university Formerly Known as Shanti Niketan .
Bhumihar Brahmins is also known for taking the revenge .As for example when Kshatriya King has stolen the Parashurama's Father wish-granting Cow,Kamdhenu.That time he has killed thousands of kshatriya army. But in retaliation the King's Son has killed the Parashurama's Father. Then, he has decided to destroy the Kshatriya and he has fought battles from the Kshatriya 21 times and destroyed all the Kshatriya . This shows the Power between the kshatriya and Bhumihar Brahmins.
History of Ranvir Sena
The name Ranvir comes from Ranvir Baba, a supposed mythical figure, and Sena is a Hindi
Word (origin: Sanskrit sena, meaning 'army)
As the legend goes, during the late 19th century, Ranvir Baba, a retired military man and a resident of Belaur village in Bhojpur district, protected the rights of the Bhumihars against the Rajputs. It is believed that Bhumihars asserted their power in Bhojpur because of his efforts.
This gave the Ranvir Sena its name when it was founded decades later under the leadership of Brahmeshwar Singh 'Mukhiya'.
It is claimed by the Ranvir Sena, that it came into existence primarily to counter the influence of various left-wing extremist Naxalite groups and the Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) Liberation in Bihar.
However the Indian government considers the group an extremist right-wing terrorist group, who serve the needs of wealthy landlords. It was founded in September 1994 in Belaur village of Udwantnagar block, Bhojpur district following the merger of private caste armies like Savarna Liberation Army and the Sunlight Sena. The forerunners to the Ranvir Sena in Bhojpur district were the Brahmarshi Sena and Kuer Sena, Kisan Morcha and Ganga Sena. These groups were smaller in size and operated with a limited area. They could not sustain for long and had withered away due to repeated Naxalite onslaughts.
Dharichan Chaudhary of Belaur had founded the Ranvir Sena. Its founding and continuing commander is Brahmeshwar Singh of Khopira village.
Organization
• The Ranvir Sena is highly organized, has extensive influence among landowners in its areas of operation, and is supposedly well-endowed with financial resources.
• Ranvir Sena cadres are militarily better-organized and are better-paid than any of the private armies of the past.
• Brahmeshwar Singh 'Mukhiya jee', the founder chief of the Ranvir Sena.
• Strength of 900 underground cadres.
• Strength of 1900 Temporary cadres.
• 2900 New cadres Required for New operation area in all Bihar.
• Each member of the Ranvir Sena paying between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 15000 per month for work that essentially involves committing murders. In addition, the life of each cadre participating in a massacre is insured for a hundred thousand Indian rupees.
Old Area of Operation
• Jahanabad districts.
• Rohtas districts.
• Patna districts.
• Aurangabad districts.
• Gaya districts.
• Bhabhua districts.
• Buxar districts.
It mobilizes the landed gentry in these districts against the People's War Group (PWG), the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the CPI-ML (Liberation).
New Areas of Recruiting
• East champaran districts.
• West champaran districts.
• Sitamarhi districts.
• Shivhar districts.
• Muzaffarpur districts.
• Hajipur districts.
• Begusarai districts.
• Samastipur districts.
Note: 2900 New cadres Recruiting in these districts against the People's War Group (PWG), the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the CPI-ML (Liberation).
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a bhumihar bramin is one of the best cast, 'cause it's not binded with any sort of rules and regulations. here whatI belong to this cast is not the only thing which makes me binded to it , it is what was done by bhagwan parshuram attracts me more. the history of bhumihar bramins is very interesting , when the kshatriyas were to loose out there duties this was what parshuram punished and killed all the kshatriyas from this world,they were finished , now here comes a question now who will protect the bramins as all the kshatriyas are finished off so parshuram decided that from now itself they will be there protectors... they will fight for there selves and will also own lands to get money of there own these bramins are not at all dependent on bhikshaws.. they don't perform any priest activity,they read sacred laguages and writtings which was allowed only to the bramins to read nor the shudras neither the kshatriyas were permitted to spell or read those writtings as only bramins were considered as the purest human on the earth and only they are suppose to be the teachers or Guru of that time.. but these bramins don't teach . these things makes a bhumihar bramin different from just a bramin.. people are still in confution that if a particular person is bramin then this means he'll be cruel, just praying and yes offcource a pure vegetarian ..it's not always like that, how we think it is or it's been made us to see like as it is . every where eception lies so here ,there could might have been bramins who do disparity among people, but still there are more bramins who don't know the meaning of desparity.. Always loking in that way where the crowd moves its head is not always right!! so change the way you look the peopler and don't look them wach them..........ALWAYS!!
why bhumihar boys and girls dnt have surnames? why this kumar and kumari?
Still community member r orthodox no freedom to children
after reading everyone comments, i am very confused that Parshuram was a bhumihar brahmin. As per vedas, he was the son of great sage Jamdagni Rishi and great grandson of Bhargava Rishi, he tought brahmin students including Dronacharya, so he has done his teaching practice furtheron, after conquring kshatriyas he performed yajnas for himself and gifted whole land to his guru Kahyap Rishi and afterward he indulged in his vedic studies on mountains. This shows that he has performed his duties so on what basis we are claiming that he was a bhumihar. He was the founder of bhumihars because he distributed the territories which he conquered among Brahmins, who ruled for many centuries.Those people who claim that they are the decendent of parshuram, kindly note that he was unmarried and sanyasi, it is hilarious if someone claims himself his decendent. Please stop making fun of yoursef, believe in logic not in myth. If you believe that parshuram was brahmin then please accept every brahmin is bhumihar because now a days no one is following priesthood and no body is indulged in teaching practice. I dont know why i am saying this coz it is irrespective of the fact that parshuram had forgotten his duty, he had done but we are not. Shame on us that we are just spreading wrong knowledge.
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