Muslim Bhumihar
The Muslim Bhumihar, or sometimes spelled Bhuinhar, are a Muslim community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are also known as Bhumihar Pathan, and are found mainly in the district of Ghazipur. The community is one of three Muslim groups in Uttar Pradesh, the other two being the Muslim Tyagi and the Nagar Muslims, who claim to be Brahmin converts to Islam.
Origin
The Muslim Bhumihar are converted from the Hindu Bhumihar caste. They are said to have been converted to Islam during the period of Lodhi rule over Ghazipur District. Other traditions refer to the conversion having taken place during the rule of Sher Shah Suri. The Muslim Bhumihar belong entirely to a single clan, the Kinwar, who claim to have come from Karnataka in the distant past. They now occupy a compact territory between near the town of Bara, between the Ganges river and the Bihar state border.
Present circumstances
The community has much in common with the neighbouring Khanzadas, with whom they intermarry. Unlike Hindu Bhumihars, the Muslim Bhumihar do not practice clan exogamy, and marry close kin. There are, however, still cases of village exogamy. They are now mainly a community of peasant cultivators, but historically were in possession of most of the Bara of Ghazipur District. The Muslim Bhumihar speak Bhojpuri, although most also understand Urdu. Each of their settlement contains an informal caste council known as a panchayat, which enforces communal norms as well as resolving intra-community disputes. The Bhumihar are Sunni Muslims, although they practice many folk beliefs.[1]
References
- Kin, clan, raja, and rule : state-hinterland relations in preindustrial India / Richard G. Fox