Kahar
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Kahar is an community of India. They are divided into Hindu, Muslim and Sikhs communities. The Muslim Kahar chiefly found in Punjab, Haryana and western belt of Uttar Pradesh.
Some Kahar identify as Rajput Kashyap, claiming descent from the rishi Kashyap.[1]
They are found mainly in Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Shahjahanpur, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Jaunpur and Ambedkar Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh and most parts of Bihar and West Bengal. Although they are present in most parts of India but mainly concentrated in North India. There main occupation is to officiate at the various holy occasions which occur along the banks of the Ganges river.[2] With changing times this community has also abandoned its ancestral work and shifted to new avenues of modern living.
In Rajasthan, the Kahar have three sub-divisions, the Budana, Turaha and Mahara. These sub-divisions consist of clans, the main ones being the Pindwal, Sikarwal, Bamnawat, Katariya, Badgujar, Bilawat, Kashyap and Oatasaniya. They have abandoned their traditional occupation of palanquin bearing, and now involved mainly in petty trading and wage labour.[3]
Some Kahar are also Decendent of King Jarasandh.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=vm_KCE4XXPMC&pg=PA467&lpg=PA467&dq=Rajput+Kashyap+kahar&source=bl&ots=VxkFcmA9f0&sig=PrbejeCFOUNaIXXEn-QgpGhhqMM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4rNcULaDFoaE0QGRgIGYCQ&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Rajput%20Kashyap%20kahar&f=false
- ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 507
- ^ People of India Rajasthan Volume XXXVIII Part Two edited by B.K Lavania, D. K Samanta, S K Mandal & N.N Vyas page 467 to 470 Popular Prakashan
