Kushwaha (surname)

Kushwaha (alternatively spelt as Kushwah)[1] is a surname used by people of Koeri caste in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.[2][3] The Kushwahas are also known as Maurya, Shakya, Saini in various parts of north India.[2][4] [5][6] As per one opinion, the Kushwaha surname is also common among members of Kachhi caste, who later merged with the Koeris to become a single homogeneous community.[7] They are a dominant OBC community in the state of Bihar.[8][9]

Origin

By the early 1900, due to significant knowledge of agricultural practices, the agricultural communities like Koeri, Kachhi and Murao in the Gangetic Plain had amassed rural wealth and prosperity like the members of Kurmi and Yadav caste. This led them to lay claim on Kshatriya status. According to Herbert Hope Risley and William Wilson Hunter, these communities earlier had belief in Shakta and Shaiva faith, but the general claim on Kshatriya status made them link themselves to Solar Dynasty, via Kusha, one of the son of Lord Rama. Thus the Surname "Kushwaha" was adopted to justify the newly gained wealth and prosperity.[10] This trend became more visible with the passing of time and by 1990s these communities had gained education, more access to non farm jobs and acquired political power to become rising Kulaks in many of the north Indian states. They displaced upper castes from power in political sphere, in coalition with members of similar agricultural castes and started calling themselves as Kushwaha Kshatriya, a phenomenon described as Sanskritisation.[11][12]

Notable people

Notable people using Kushwaha as their surname, middle name or first name, who may or may not be associated with caste/clan are:

Bureaucrats

See also

References
  1. "BJP bets big on non-Yadav OBCs in UP Assembly polls". Economic Times. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  2. "Three castes included in backward classes list". Hindustan Times. 5 November 2013. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  3. "Kushwahas' body to plant saplings on Ashoka's birth anniversary". Times of India. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  4. "Keshav Prasad Maurya: The making of BJP's new OBC face in Uttar Pradesh". Business Standard. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  5. "Uttar Pradesh elections: Swami Prasad Maurya says no intention to go back to BJP; court issues arrest warrant". Times of India. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  6. "Amit Shah's choice of UP BJP chief to dampen Nitish Kumar's pitch". Economic Times. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  7. Angela S. Burger (2022). Opposition in a Dominant Party System A Study of the Jan Sangh, the Praja Socialist Party, and the Socialist Party in Uttar Pradesh India. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520365568.
  8. "Emperor Ashoka caught in caste row". Times of India. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  9. "Caste Gets Ticket to the Big Battleground". new indian express. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  10. William R., Pinch (1996). "Peasants and Monks in British India". Berkeley: University of California Press.
  11. Ajit K. Pandey; Ashok K. Pankaj, eds. (2018). Dalits, Subalternity and Social Change in India. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. pp. 21–23. ISBN 9780429785184.
  12. V.S. Upadhyay; G. Pandey, eds. (1993). History of Anthropological Thought. India: Concept Publishing Company. p. 436.
  13. "मुरैना में वोट के लिए अपहरण:सुमावली विधायक अजब सिंह कुशवाह ने किया अपहरण, ग्वालियर से पुलिस छुड़ाकर लाई युवक को". BHASKAR.com. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
  14. Pratip Chattopadhyay; Yatindra Singh Sisodia, eds. (23 November 2022). Political Communication in Contemporary India: Locating Democracy and Governance. India: Taylor & Francis. p. 55. ISBN 9781000801392.
  15. "Bihar cabinet: CM Nitish Kumar allocates portfolios, keeps Home Ministry; Tejashwi Yadav gets Health". India Tv. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
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