Agrahari

File:Shri Agrasen Maharaj.jpg from whom the Agraharis claim descent.{{cite news |last1=Narath |first1=Radhika |title=People still carry out Maharaja Agrasen's ideals |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2017/state-editions/people-still-carry-out-maharaja-agrasens-ideals.html |work=The Pioneer|location=India|date=22 September 2017}}]]

Agrahari, Agraharee or Agarhari is an Indian Vaishya community. They are the descendants of legendary king Agrasena.{{cite book | title = People of India: Uttar Pradesh , Volume 42, Part | author = Kumar Suresh Singh |author2=Amir Hasan |author3=Hasan, Baqr |author4=Raza Rizvi |author5=J. C. Das | author-link = Kumar Suresh Singh | publisher = Anthropological Survey of India | edition = illustrated | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-81-73041-14-3 | page = 66 }} Predominantly, they are found in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,{{cite book | title = Caste Interaction in Village Tribe: An anthropological Case Study of the Tribes in Dhanaura Village in Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh | author = Lalit Mohan Sankhdher | publisher = K. P. Publications | year = 1974 | page = 10–1 }} Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Terai region of Nepal.{{cite book |author1=Shibani Roy |author2=S. H. M. Rizvi |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian surnames |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgAdAAAAYAAJ |year=2002 |publisher=B.R. |isbn=978-81-7646-247-1 |page=6 }}

History

In 1916, Robert Vane Russell, an ethnologist of the British Raj period wrote, Agrahari,found chiefly Jubbulpore district and Raigarh State. Their name connected with the cities with Agra and Agroha.{{cite book |author1=Robert Vane Russell |author-link1=Robert Vane Russell |title=The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 1 |date=1916 |url=https://www.litres.ru/robert-vane-russell/the-tribe-35006321/chitat-onlayn/page-33/}}

William Crooke states that Agrahari claim partly a Brahmin and partly a Brāhmanical descent, and wear the sacred thread. Like that of the Agarwāla their name has been connected with the cities of Agra and Agroha. There is no doubt that they are closely connected with the Agarwālas.{{cite book |author1=R.V. Russell |author2=Rai Bahadur Hira Lāl |author-link1=R.V. Russell |title=The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (Volume II) |date=1916 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22010/22010-h/22010-h.htm}}

In Chhattisgarh, Central Provinces of British India,{{cite book | title = From Zamidar to ballot box: community change in a north Indian market town | author = Richard Gabriel Fox | publisher = Cornell University Press | year = 1969 | page = 286 }} some of few Agrahari were Malgujars/Zamindars.{{cite book | title = From Zamidar to ballot box: community change in a north Indian market town | author = Richard Gabriel Fox | publisher = Cornell University Press | year = 1969 | page = 83 }} The ruler of Raigarh awarded the title Shaw to Agraharis. The title still continues.{{cite book | title = From Zamidar to ballot box: community change in a north Indian market town | author = Richard Gabriel Fox | publisher = Cornell University Press | year = 1969 | page = 90 }}

Agrahari Sikhs

Most of the Agraharis follow Hinduism, although some are Sikhs. The majority of Agrahari Sikhs are found in the Eastern Indian States of Bihar Jharkhand and West Bengal. Author Himadri Banerjee wrote in his book "The Other Sikhs: A View from Eastern India", that Agraharis converted to Sikhism during Mughal period by Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, 9th Guru of the Sikhs. Mughal rulers were enforcing Hindus to convert to Islam, but Agraharis refused to convert to Islam and they accepted Khalsa Panth, led by Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji for protecting their life and religion.{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030824/spectrum/book8.htm|title=The identity of North-East Sikhs|date=24 August 2003|work=Himadri Banerjee}}

Other legend says that Agrahari Sikhs are a community of Ahom converts to Sikhism from the time of 9th Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji’s travel to Assam. They are also known as "Bihari Sikhs" having lived for centuries in Bihar.{{cite news |title=Away from Punjab – the south Indian Sikhs |url=https://zeenews.india.com/news/nation/away-from-punjab-the-south-indian-sikhs_737141.html |publisher=Zee News |date=18 October 2011}}

They are running several separate Gurudwaras in Bihar and West Bengal. The majority of these Sikhs are found in Sasaram, Gaya and Kolkata of Bihar and West Bengal. In Jharkhand they are found in Dumari Kalan and Kedli Chatti. They are also found in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. Agrahari Sikhs are of the non-Punjabi background.

Surname, Gotra & title

Agrahari often use their community name as surname. However, many people use Gupta, Bania or Baniya, Thagunna, Patwari or Vanik or Banik, Shaw and Vaishya or Vaishy or Vaish or Baishya or Baish as their surname.{{cite book | title = Identity, Ecology, Social Organization, Linkages and Development Process: a Quantitative Profile | author = Kumar Suresh Singh | publisher = Anthropological Survey of India | year = 1996 | page = 18 | author-link = Kumar Suresh Singh }} They have a common gotra, the Kashyap.{{cite book |author1=Kumar Suresh Singh |author-link1=Kumar Suresh Singh |title=People of India, Volume 16, Part 1 |date=2008 |publisher=Anthropological Survey of India |page=50 |isbn=9788170463023 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=diL4PB1jyQ4C&q=agrahari+kashyap}}

Reservation

The Mandal Commission{{cite book | title = Protective Discrimination: General category in India, Raj Publications | author = Sharma, Shish Ram | publisher = Raj Publications | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-81-86208-23-6 | page = 224 }} designated the Agrahari's of Uttar Pradesh and other states as General,Refer List of OBC in India by National Commission for Backward Class (NCBC). [http://www.ncbc.nic.in/user_panel/centralliststateview.aspx NCBC List of OBC] but Agrahari in Bihar{{cite book | title = Reservation in services: a manual for government and public sector | author = Ghosh, Subir Kumar | publisher = Akshar Publication | year = 1996 | isbn = 978-81-75290-00-6 | page = 189 }} and Jharkhand are designated as Other Backwards Class{{cite book | title = Protective Discrimination: Other Backward Classes in India, Raj Publications | author = Sharma, Shish Ram | publisher = Raj Publications | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-81-86208-23-6 | page = 47 }} in the Indian caste system of positive discrimination.{{cite book | title = Protective Discrimination: Other Backward Classes in India, Raj Publications | author = Sharma, Shish Ram | publisher = Raj Publications | year = 2002 | isbn = 978-81-86208-23-6 | page = 50 }}