Jhinwar

{{Short description|Hindu/Sikh caste traditionally associated with fishing}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Use Indian English|date=January 2019}}

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The Jhinwar is a caste found in the states of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh in India.

Traditionally, the Jhinwar community found in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh was associated with occupations such as boating,{{citation |title=Political parties eye Lok Sabha polls, bank on boatmen to claim pole position |first=Pankaj |last=Shah |date=6 April 2013 |work=The Times of India |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Political-parties-eye-Lok-Sabha-polls-bank-on-boatmen-to-claim-pole-position/articleshow/19409283.cms |accessdate=14 April 2014}} carrying water{{citation |chapter=Caste Regions of the North Indian Plain |first=Joseph E. |last=Schwartzberg |title=Structure and Change in Indian Society |editor1-first=Milton B. |editor1-last=Singer |editor2-first=Bernard S. |editor2-last=Cohn |editor2-link=Bernard Cohn (anthropologist) |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Transaction Publishers |orig-year=1968 |year=2007 |isbn=9780202361383 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_g-_r-9Oa_sC&pg=PA96 |page=96 }} and river fishing.{{citation |title=A History of Pakistan and Its Origins |first=Christophe |last=Jaffrelot |author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot |edition=Reprinted |publisher=Anthem Press |year=2004 |isbn=9781843311492 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9sI_Y2CKAcC&pg=PA211 |page=211 }}

Communities that are related to the Jhinwar by occupation in Uttar Pradesh include the Batham, Bind, Bhar, Dhewar, Dhimar, Gariya, Gaur, Godia, Gond, Guria, Jhimar, Jhir, Jhiwar, Kahar, Kashyap, Keot, Kewat, Kharwar, Khairwar, Kumhar, Machua, Majhi, Majhwar, Mallah, Nishad, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Riakwar, Tura, Turah, Turaha, Tureha and Turaiha. There were proposals in 2013 that some or all of these communities in the state should be reclassified as Scheduled Castes under India's system of positive discrimination; this would have involved declassifying them from the Other Backwards Class category. Whether or not this would happen was a significant issue in the campaign for the 2014 Indian general election.{{citation |title=BJP castes a wider UP net, uses Modi's background to attract OBC votes while seeking blessings by feeding Brahmins |first=Piyush |last=Srivastava |work=India Today |date=25 February 2014 |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bjp-leads-in-the-caste-game-in-up-2014-lok-sabha-polls/1/345392.html |accessdate=14 April 2014}}