Aheria

The Aheria are an ethnic community of India that number about 140,000. Their name means hunter. And their most of occupation are own business and now they also decent educated people as compare to before,their main occupation prior to the 1920s. Since then they have become farmers. The Aheria are found mainly in the states of "Punjab" or Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh..According to their traditions, the Aheria are Rajputs by origin, who were soldiers in the army of Maharana Pratap. After the defeat of the Maharan by the Mughal Empire, the Aheri were hunted down by the Mughal armies. To escape the Mughals, they fled and settled in Punjab. The Aheri are found mainly in the districts of Patiala, Bhatinda, Firuzpur, and Faridkot.

Their clans called gotras from the Sanskrit gotra or clan, the main ones being the „ Rawal,Rana, Baghria, Rajput, Dharuheria, Ganchand, Ghaman, Hogal,Rathore, Sagaria, Saillingia, Samelwal, Sandlas, Sarsut and Sendhi.and Aheria/Aheriya, Turi, Heri, Aheri karwal, karbal, naik are found in utter Pradesh, Rajisthan and Punjab himachal, Haryana but majority are found in Punjab and rajisthan and Utter Pardes only and they belong to rajput origin and their gotras are, „Rana, Chittodiya, Rawal, Anshwaan, Rathore „Most of the Aheria are Hindus and speak Hindi. However there are 17 other languages spoken by Aheria people, the most numerous being Harauti which has about 2000 speakers among the Aheria.

The Aheria are also known as Aheriya, Aheri, Ahiria, or Beta, Herbi, Heri, Hersi, Hesi, Karwal or Karbal, Naik, Thori or Turi.

History

According to the 1908 Encyclopaedia of religion and ethics, they are a Dravidian tribe, numbering around 35,000, who mainly held animistic beliefs, besides Hinduism. They also worshiped Gugga, a Rajput warrior-king who had acquired the status of a saint. According to their traditions, the Aheria are Rajputs by origin, who were soldiers in the army of Maharana Pratap. After the defeat of the Maharan by the Mughal Empire, the Aheri were hunted down by the Mughal armies. To escape the Mughals, they fled and settled in Punjab

Aheria of Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, the community is said to have get their name from the word ahera, which was a term given to the hunting games organised by the local Rajput princes. As a community that was employed as trekkers and guides in ahera, this association over time led them to become known as Aheri. According to their own traditions, they are of Rajput origin. In Rajasthan, they are found mainly in Kota and Jhalawar districts, and speak the Hadoti dialect of Rajasthani. One of the largest concentrations of Aheri is at Gani Gutta village situated near Kishargarh. Like other North Indian Hindus, the Aheri practice clan exogamy. There clans are referred to as gotras, and all of these clans are of equal status with regards to marriage. There main clans are the Kachwaha, Parmar, Chauhan, Gehlot, Tanwar and Padyan, all of which are well known Rajput clans.

The traditional occupation of the Aheri in Rajasthan was hunting, as well as acting as trekkers and guides for the hunts organized by the Rajput princess. However, in 1920, hunting was banned, and this led to the disappearance of their principal occupation. The community are now engaged mainly in cultivation, or a great majority are now employed as agricultural labourers. They supplement their income by selling firewood.

The Aheri have fairly strong caste council, the jati panchayat, which exercises control over the community. Almost all disputes are referred to the panch, who traditional heads of the panchayat. Violation of social or religious norms invite monetary punishments. There traditional tribal deity is Vijaisan Mataji, who temples the Aheri regularly visit.

References

People of India Hayana Volume XXIII And last edit by Mr.Yaswant Singh Aheria and People of India Hayana Volume XXIII edited by M.L Sharma and A.K Bhatia pages 208 to 215 Manohar People of India Punjab Volume XXXVII edited by I.J.S Bansal and Swaran Singh pages 25 to 28 Manohar People of India Hayana Volume XXIII edited by M.L Sharma and A.K Bhatia pages 208 to 215 Manohar People of India Punjab Volume XXXVII edited by I.J.S Bansal and Swaran Singh pages 25 to 28 Manohar