Kahar
Community from the Gangatic region
title: "Kahar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["social-groups-of-uttar-pradesh", "social-groups-of-bihar", "social-groups-of-madhya-pradesh", "social-groups-of-rajasthan", "fishing-castes", "other-backward-classes", "social-groups-of-karnataka", "social-groups-of-maharashtra", "social-groups-of-west-bengal"] description: "Community from the Gangatic region" topic_path: "general/social-groups-of-uttar-pradesh" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Community from the Gangatic region ::
The Kahars are a community of palanquin bearers originating from the Gangatic region in India.
Kahars are present in most parts of India, but are concentrated in North India. They are found mainly in West Uttar Pradesh, in Sarsawa, Saharanpur, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shahjahanpur, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Jaunpur and Ambedkar Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh and most parts of Bihar and West Bengal.{{cite book|author=Kumar Suresh Singh|title=India's communities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lZuAAAAMAAJ&q=kahar|date=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-01-9563-354-2|pages=1443–1448}} They were engaged to officiate at the various holy occasions which occur along the banks of the Ganges river.
In Rajasthan, the Kahars have three sub-divisions, the Budana and Turaha. These sub-divisions consist of clans, the main ones being the Pindwal, Bamnawat, Katariya, Bilawat, Kashyap and Oatasaniya. The origins of most of these sub-divisions are rooted in Rajasthan.
Classification
They are currently classified as Other Backward Class in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Subdivisions
Kahar has been described as a social community rather than a caste. It is formed by coming together of several castes and tribes, who shared the same traditional occupation. The traditional occupation of Kahars has been palanquin bearing, but, they have also worked as water carriers and producers of water chestnut in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. On these occupational grounds, they are divided in eleven sub-clans. These are Bhoi, Dhimar, Dhuriya, Guria, Gond, Kaleni, Kamlethar, Hurka, Machhera, Mahara, Panbhara and Singhariya. In the recent time, Kahar community of Uttar Pradesh has been demanding inclusion into Schedule Caste category from the Other Backward Caste category.{{cite web|url=https://www.livehindustan.com/uttar-pradesh/those-carrying-doli-want-to-be-removed-from-the-obc-list-high-court-sought-answers-from-center-and-state-201725768007840.html|title= ओबीसी सूची से बाहर होना चाहते हैं डोली उठाने वाले कहार, हाईकोर्ट ने केंद्र और राज्य से मांगा जवाब |website=Hindustan|accessdate=9 September 2024}}
References
References
- Kumar Suresh Singh. (1 January 1998). "People of India: Rajasthan". Popular Prakashan.
- People of India Rajasthan Volume XXXVIII Part Two edited by B.K Lavania, D. K Samanta, S K Mandal & N.N Vyas page 467 to 470 Popular Prakashan
- (April 2021). "Caste certificate of Bajrang Dal convener cancelled". [[The Hindu]].
- (24 January 2017). "Setback for Akhilesh government as High Court stays their order to include 17 sub-castes in the SC category". Financial Express.
- (22 December 2016). "UP govt to include 17 other backward castes in SC list". Hindustan Times.
- "Central List of OBCs for the State of Uttar Pradesh".
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