Khandayat (caste)

Khandayat, also spelled Khandait, is a cultivating caste,[1][2] as well as a peasant militia [2] or landed militia caste from Odisha, East India.[3][4] Some of them had earlier served as feudal chiefs as well as zamindars apart from being land holders and agriculturalists.[5][6][7][8] Numerically they are the largest caste of the state.[9] During British raj, they ruled many tributary states in odisha including Khordha.[10]

Khandayat
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesOdia , Bengali
Populated statesOdisha

Etymology

The term Khandayat is believed to have originated from the word "Khanda" meaning sword. Khandayat means swordsman or headman of a Khand.[11][12][13]

History

Early mention of Khandayats as feudal chief and military personnel is found during the rule of eastern ganga dynasty in 11th century.[14]

During this time, Khandayat military settlements were established in Bhubaneswar and near by areas to protect the Great Lingaraj Temple.[15]

During the medieval period, this class of peasant warriors or landed militia acquired good amounts of agricultural land and some of them became local zamindars.[16]

Fakir Mohan Senapati, while Quoting Abul Fazal, mentioned Khandayats as a landowning caste that dominated the politics and military of Gajapati Empire.[17]

Mughal chronicle Ain-i-Akbari gave a clear picture of Odisha after the broke down of Gajapati Empire. It mentioned about different forts ruled by Khandayat Zamindars along with their King Mukund Dev.[18]

British conquered Odisha in 1803 and started new land reforms to increase tax revenue. Khandayats enjoyed tax free lands in Khurda Kingdom in strictly military tenure. But after their Paika Rebellion, they lost most of the free-hold lands.[19]

During British rule, some wealthy people from communities such as Adivasis, Bhuyans, Chasas, and Agharias started identifying as Khandayats in order to gain status, distance themselves from their original castes/communities, and exploit Zamindar land rights.[20][21]

Currently, the Odia Khandayat caste is recognised by the Government of Odisha among the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC),[22] though they are not entitled to any reservation benefit provided by the Government of India.[23][24]

Varna status

Traditionally, they are a peasant militia caste who claim themselves to be of Kshatriya status considering their quasi-martial background, but they were considered by the Brahmins and others to be in the Shudra varna category due to the majority of Khandayats being peasants. Pradhan also attributes this to Brahmin patronage of Rajputs, who also claimed to be of Kshatriya status.[2]

References
  1. Bailey, Frederick George (1970). Politics and Social Change. University of California Press. p. 132.
  2. Pradhan, Prasanta Kumar (1996). "Story of the Peasant Militias or the Khandayats or Orissa: A Socio-Historical Approach". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 57: 752–745. JSTOR 44133394 – via JSTOR.
  3. Hayami, Yōko; Tanabe, Akio; Tokita-Tanabe, Yumiko (2003). Gender and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific. Kyoto University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-4-87698-451-0. land that had been granted to chiefs ( dalabehera ) , sub - chiefs ( dalai ) , and peasant foot - soldiers ( paik ) - primarily of the Khandayat caste.
  4. Pati, Rabindra Nath (2008). Family Planning. APH Publishing. ISBN 978-81-313-0352-8.
  5. Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (18 October 2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2. As highlighted above, most of the chiefs, zamindars, privileged tenure holders were Kshatriyas/Khandayats - this marked them out as rulers.
  6. Bhola, Sudhira Chandra (1990). British Economic Policy in Orissa. Discovery Publishing House. p. 179. ISBN 978-81-7141-075-0.
  7. Samal, J. K. (1990). Economic History of Orissa, 1866-1912. Mittal Publications. pp. Vii. ISBN 978-81-7099-218-9.
  8. Patnaik, Nihar Ranjan (1997). Economic History of Orissa. Indus Publishing. p. 157. ISBN 978-81-7387-075-0. These estates were generally held by Khandayat militia chiefs who earlier served the Gajapati Kings.
  9. Punjab Journal of Politics. Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University. 1986. p. 88.
  10. Samal, J. K. (1990). Economic History of Orissa, 1866-1912. Mittal Publications. p. 37. ISBN 978-81-7099-218-9. In recognition to their ancient lineage and to secure their loyalty, the rights of Raja Of Khurdha and of all other principal khandayats to hold their states at permanent quint rents were recognised by the settlement officers and by the government.
  11. Ghosh, G. K. (2000). Legends of Origin of the Castes and Tribes of Eastern India. Firma KLM. ISBN 978-81-7102-046-1.
  12. Pati, Biswamoy (2003). Identity, Hegemony, Resistance: Towards a Social History of Conversions in Orissa, 1800-2000. Three Essays Collective. ISBN 978-81-88789-04-7.
  13. Mohanty, Bidyut (9 November 2021). A Haunting Tragedy: Gender, Caste and Class in the 1866 Famine of Orissa. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-50683-9.
  14. Miśra, Kr̥shṇacandra (1990). Land System and Land Reforms. Himalaya Publishing House. p. 103. ISBN 978-81-7040-132-2. Many of the border chiefs, the Khandayats and the bhunias received estates during 11th century. Raja Ananga Bhima Deva was created 16 sawant Rajas who were posted all round and along the frontier of Orissa in order to defend the kingdom against foreign agression.
  15. The Orissa Historical Research Journal. Superintendent, Research and Museum, Orissa. 1975. p. 23. According to K.N. Mohapatra, an eminent historian of Orissa, during the ganga rule in the 11th and 12th centuries Khandayat strategies were established in the surrounding area of Bhubaneswar to protect the Great Temple of Lingaraj.
  16. Mohanty, Ramesh P.; Biswal, Durgesh Nandini (2007). Culture, Gender and Gender Discrimination: Caste Hindu and Tribal. Mittal Publications. ISBN 978-81-8324-199-1.
  17. Senapati, Fakir Mohan (1 February 2006). Six Acres And A Third: Chaa Mana Atha Guntha. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-93-5118-251-1.
  18. Mughal India According to European Travel Accounts: Texts and Studies. Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science. Indiana University. 1997. pp. 111–112. They (the zamindars) are of the castes Khandait and telinga, Kinsmen of Mukund Dev.
  19. Mansinha, Mayadhar (1976). Fakirmohan Senapati. Sahitya Akademi. p. 61. The Paik Rebellions of 1804 and 1817-18 against British administration in Orissa left the feudal khandayat militia deprived of both its age-old swords as well as free-hold lands.
  20. Waltraud Ernst; Biswamoy Pati, eds. (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. ISBN 9781134119882.
  21. Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (18 October 2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  22. "SEBC List" (PDF).
  23. "The Hindu". The Hindu.
  24. "Why did Naveen Patnaik government pass the OBC Bill in a hurry |Opinion". Hindustan Times. 21 February 2020. Retrieved 21 May 2023.

Further reading
  • Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy, eds. (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-13411-988-2.
  • Pati, Biswamoy (2001). Situating Social History: Orissa, 1800-1997. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-8-12502-007-3.
  • Senapati, Fakir Mohan (2005). Six Acres and a Third: The Classic Nineteenth-century Novel about Colonial India. Mishra, Rabi Shankar (trans.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52022-883-2.
  • Roy, Bhaskar (2004). "Khandayats moving into political gear in Orissa". Times of India.
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