Biharis

The Biharis (listen ) is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic groups, Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magadhis.[1] They are also further divided into a variety of hereditary caste groups.[2] In Bihar today, the Bihari identity is seen as secondary to caste/clan, linguistic and religious identity but nonetheless is a subset of the larger Indian identity.[3]

For other uses, see Bihari (disambiguation).
For Bihari Muslims who settled in Pakistan, see Muhajir people.

Bihari people
Total population
c. 120 million
Regions with significant populations
Bihar, India
Karachi, Pakistan
various large cities across India and Pakistan
Languages
Bhojpuri, Maithili, Magahi, Hindi, Urdu
Religion
Majority:
Hinduism
Minority:
Islam
Related ethnic groups
other Indo-Aryan peoples

Biharis can be found throughout India, and in the neighbouring countries of Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh. During the Partition of India in 1947, many Bihari Muslims migrated to East Bengal (renamed to East Pakistan; later became Bangladesh).[4][5] Bihari people are also well represented in the Muhajir people of Pakistan (formerly West Pakistan) because of Partition.[6][7]

History
Main article: History of Bihar
Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of Mauryan Empire with Jain monk Bhadrabahu.
Gautama Buddha undertaking extreme ascetic practices before his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, on the bank of river Phalgu in Bodh Gaya, Bihar
Sikh guru Gobind singh bowing to Guru Granth Sahib
Sher Shah Suri

Bihar is one of the longest inhabited places in the world with a history going back to the Neolithic age.[8] Since that time, Biharis have long been involved in some of the most important events in South Asian history. Biharis were the founders of many great empires based out of Magadh including the Maurya Empire and the Gupta Empire.[9] Both of these empires had their capitals in Pataliputra (modern-day Patna).

Two of India's major religions also have their origins in Bihar. Gautama Buddha who was the founder of Buddhism, achieved enlightenment in Bodh Gaya, Bihar. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism, was born in Vaishali in North Bihar.[10] The tenth Guru of Sikhs, Gobind Singh who was the only son of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, and Mata Gujri. He was born in Patna on 22 December 1666, Bihar in the Sodhi Khatri family[11] The founder of Sur Empire, Sher Shah Suri was born in Sasaram, a city in the state of Bihar in present-day India into a Pashtun family.[12][13]

Martial tradition
A Purbiya camel rider in Bihar, India in 1825.

Many academics including Dirk Kolff and Walter Hauser have noted that Bihar has a history of armed activism among its peasantry.[14] For centuries, Purbiya soldiers from Western Bihar have long served as soldiers in the armies of Kings in Western regions of India. Mughal sources also record that many peasant soldiers were recruited from Northern parts of Bihar (Tirhut).[15] The Bihari Soldiers of British army played a major role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British following the suppression of the uprising, British authorities decided not to recruit troops from Bihar. Then they decided to recruit troops from Sikh and Muslim Communities of the Punjab.[16] This martial heritage continued into the late 20th century with the formation of private armies or senas that were formed to maintain the interests of specific castes.[14]

Servan-Schreiber described this martial tradition as follows:[17]

For any traveler on the roads of Bihar, an inescapable image comes to mind. That of a peasant who always keeps his wooden club or lathi at hand, under no circumstances letting it out of his reach. The Biharis, who constitute a martial race in India similar to the Sikhs or the Pathans, in keeping with the role conceived by the British colonial administration, were a mother lode for Monghol and English army recruiters. Their independent fighting spirit, which has earned them a reputation for toughness, has been in evidence throughout their history.

Clothing
A group of Bihari women from Western Bihar, Gopalganj district (1915)
A man from Bihar, attending Kumbh Mela.
Farm workers in Bihar.

The traditional dress of Bihari people includes the dhoti-mirjai (a modified form of the flowing jama)[18] or the kurta (replacing the older outfit of the dhoti and chapkan which is a robe fastened on the right)[19] for men and Saree for women. In everyday life women wear saree or Kameez-Salwar. The saree is worn in "Seedha Aanchal" style traditionally.[20] Nevertheless, Western shirts and trousers are becoming popular among the both rural and urban male population.[20] And Salwar-Kameez for women in urban Bihar. Jewellery such as rings for men and bangles for women are popular. However, there are some traditional Bihari jewelries like "Chhara", "Hansuli", "Kamarbandh", etc.[20]

Language and literature
Main articles: Languages in Bihar and Literature in Bihar
See also: Maithili language, Bhojpuri, Angika, Magahi, Magadhi Prakrit, Hindi in Bihar, and Urdu Language in Bihar
Maithili language in Tirhuta and Devanagari scripts

Hindi is the official language of the State.[21] Maithili (61 million speakers including Bajjika dialect which has 11 million speakers in India),[22] and Urdu[23] are other recognised languages of the state. Unrecognised languages of the state are Bhojpuri (60 million), Angika (30 million) and Magahi (20 million).[22][24] Bhojpuri and Magahi are sociolinguistically a part of the Hindi Belt languages fold, thus they were not granted official status in the state.The number of speakers of the Bihari languages is difficult to count because of unreliable sources. In the urban region, most educated speakers of the language name Hindi as their language because this is what they use in formal contexts and believe it to be the appropriate response because of unawareness. The uneducated and the rural population of the region regards Hindi as the generic name for their language.[25]

Despite of the large number of speakers of Bihari languages, they have not been constitutionally recognized in India, except Maithili which is recognised under the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Hindi is the language used for educational and official matters in Bihar.[26] These languages was legally absorbed under the subordinate label of Hindi in the 1961 Census. Such state and national politics are creating conditions for language endangerment.[27] The first success for spreading Hindi occurred in Bihar in 1881, when Hindi displaced Urdu as the sole official language of the province. In this struggle between competing Hindi and Urdu, the potential claims of the three large mother tongues in the region – Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi were ignored. After independence Hindi was again given the sole official status through the Bihar Official Language Act, 1950.[28] Urdu became the second official language in the undivided State of Bihar on 16 August 1989. Bihar also produced several eminent Urdu writers including Sulaiman Nadvi, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Abdul Qavi Desnavi, Paigham Afaqui, Jabir Husain, Sohail Azimabadi, Hussain Ul Haque, Dr. Shamim Hashimi,[29] Wahab Ashrafi[30] etc.

Bihar has produced a number of writers of Hindi, including Raja Radhika Raman Singh, Shiva Pujan Sahay, Divakar Prasad Vidyarthy, Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Ram Briksh Benipuri, Phanishwar Nath 'Renu', Gopal Singh "Nepali" and Baba Nagarjun. Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan, the great writer and Buddhist scholar, was born in U.P. but spent his life in the land of Lord Buddha, i.e., Bihar. Hrishikesh Sulabh and Neeraj Singh (from Ara) are the prominent writer of the new generation. They are short story writer, playwright and theatre critic. Arun Kamal and Aalok Dhanwa are the well-known poets. Different regional languages also have produced some prominent poets and authors. Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay, who is among the greatest writers in Bengali, resided for some time in Bihar. Upamanyu Chatterjee also hails from Patna in Bihar. Devaki Nandan Khatri, who rose to fame at the beginning of the 20th century on account of his novels such as Chandrakanta and Chandrakanta Santati, was born in Muzaffarpur, Bihar. Vidyapati Thakur is the most renowned poet of Maithili (c. 14–15th century). Satyapal Chandra[31] has written many English bestseller novels and he is one of India's emerging young writer.

Castes and ethnic groups
Kushwaha women celebrating Chhath in Bihar.

[32]

The 2011 Census of India indicated that Scheduled Castes constituted 15% of Bihar's 10.4 crores population.[33][34] The census identified 21 of 23 Dalit sub-castes as Mahadalits.[35] The Mahadalit community consists of the following sub-castes: Bantar, Bauri, Bhogta, Bhuiya, Chaupal, Dabgar, Dom (Dhangad), Ghasi, Halalkhor, Hari (Mehtar, Bhangi), Kanjar, Kurariar, Lalbegi, Musahar, Nat, Pan (Swasi), Rajwar, Turi, Dhobi, Chamar and Dusadh[36] The Paswan caste was initially left out of the Mahadalit category, to the consternation of Ram Vilas Paswan.[37][38] Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) constituted around 1.3% of the Bihari population.[39][40][41] They include the Gond, Santhal and Tharu communities.[42][43] There are about 130 Economically Backward Classes (EBCs) in Bihar.[44][45]

Castes of Bihar[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54]
CastePopulation (%)Notes
OBC/EBC 52% Yadavs - 16%
Kurmis -4%

(Dhanuk Kurmi with 1.5% population are included under EBCs)
Kushwaha (Koeri, Kachhi, Murao, etc.) - 8%
(EBCs - 22%[44][55][56][57][58] -includes,[59][60][61] Teli-3.2%)

S.C (Dalit+Mahadalit) 15%[62][63] includes Dusadh- 5%, Chamar - 5%, Musahar- 2.8%[64] and others
Muslims 16.9%[65] includes (Ashrafi) Sayyid, Sheikh Mughal Pathan castes[66][67]
Forward caste 15%


Four upper-castes - Brahmins -5% Bhumihars - 5%, Rajputs - 4

% and Kayasthas -1% constitute around 20% of the state's population.[68][69]

Adivasis(STs) 1.3%[70][71]
Others 1.8% Includes Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists

Religion
Main article: Religion in Bihar

According to the 2011 census, 82.7% of Bihar's population practiced Hinduism, while 16.9% followed Islam.[72]

ReligionPopulation
Hindu82.7
Muslim16.9
Others0.4

Bihari politics
Main article: Politics of Bihar

The politics of Bihar is influenced by caste and religion based consciousness to a large extent. The upper castes dominated the politics and political parties till 1967. But after 1967, resurgence of middle castes took place and the castes like Koeri, Yadav and Kurmi replaced the upper castes in political scenario. Some Dalit caste like Paswan and Chamar also performed well in politics. Politics of Bihar since 1990s is dominated by regional political parties like Janata Dal (United), and Rashtriya Janata Dal whilst a number of small parties like Rashtriya Lok Samta Party and Jan Adhikar Party are also active.[73]

Bihari sub-nationalism

According to social scientist Dr. Shaibal Gupta, the beating of students from Bihar in Mumbai in October 2008 has consolidated Bihari sub-nationalism.[74]

See also

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Bibliography
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