Sadgop

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title: "Sadgop" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bengali-hindu-castes", "social-groups-of-bihar", "social-groups-of-west-bengal", "social-groups-of-jharkhand"] description: "Social community of India" topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadgop" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Social community of India ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ethnic group"]

Field	Value
group	Sadgop and Gop
regions	Birbhum, Burdwan, Hooghly, Bankura, Midnapore, Murshidabad, 24 Parganas, Nadia
languages	Bengali
religions	Hinduism
::

| group = Sadgop and Gop | image = | caption = | regions = Birbhum, Burdwan, Hooghly, Bankura, Midnapore, Murshidabad, 24 Parganas, Nadia | languages = Bengali | religions = Hinduism Sadgop (), also spelled as Sadgope, is a Bengali Hindu Yadav (Gopa) caste. Traditionally they are engaged in cultivation. Since late mediaeval period Sadgops had established themselves as dominant political power in peripheral lateritic forest areas of Rarh region, now included in Birbhum, Burdwan and Midnapore districts in West Bengal. Karnagarh, Narajole, Narayangarh and Balarampur in Midnapore and several other zamindari estates in Burdwan, Hooghly, Birbhum belonged to them. As of the late nineteenth century they were one of the fourteen castes belonging to 'Nabasakh' group.

Origin

Etymology

The Sadgop name is derived from two Sanskrit word Sad and Gope, which means clean or good Gopes or milkmen.

Origin

The Sadgops are an offshoot of the pastoral Gopa caste who broke away from the main caste before the middle of the sixteenth century. Their switch to agriculture was only 'the starting point of rise to eminence'. Through extending their activities to trade, they established control over the land they had put under the plough. Thus, leaders from the group acquired political power at the local level. Later on the group also ventured into trade and worked as officials of the state and the big Zamindars. Members of the new group also made achievements in the fields of religion, and from dissident Gop families came popular saints like Syamananda and the founder of the influential Kartabhaja sect, Aulchand. In the process, they changed their jati affiliation by adding sad (sat, 'clean') to their name, thus becoming Sadgops.

The Sadgops believe they have descended from Lord Krishna.

History

Varna

Sadgops have generally been considered as clean shudras (sat-shudras) in the caste structure of Bengal. Like south India social groups of east India usually divided in two grades - Brahmins and Shudras.

Sanskritisation

In the 1910s, Sadgops along with Ahirs, Gops, Gopals etc began claiming kshatriya status based on claimed descent from the legendary king Yadu. The Yadav-kshatriya movement attracted communities in the Gangetic plain who were associated with a combination of cultivation, cattle-herding, and dairy farming.

Present circumstances

The Sadgop consist of a number of sub-divisions. They are an endogamous group and practice gotra exogamy. The Sadgop are mainly a landholding community, but many Sadgop have settled in Kolkata and other cities of West Bengal. Their own community organization is named as Bangiya Sadgop Samiti.

Sadgops and Gops(Goala) both were included in the list of 177 "backward classes" for the state of West Bengal by Mandal Commission. Gops were given Other Backward Class status in 1990s (now OBC-A in West Bengal), and Sadgops have been recognized as an other backward class (OBC-B) since June 2025.

Notable people

• Rani Shiromani, Zamindar of Karnagarh, one of the leaders of Chuar Rebellion
• Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian physician, founder of Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
• Rash Behari Ghosh, Indian politician, lawyer and social worker

References

References

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6. Bhaumik, Sudarshana. (2022). "The Changing World of Caste and Hierarchy in Bengal: Depiction from the Mangalkavyas C. 1700-1931". Taylor & Francis.
7. Sekhar Bandyopadhyay. (1 July 2004). "Caste, Culture and Hegemony: Social Dominance in Colonial Bengal". SAGE Publications.
8. Sanyal, Hitesranjan. (1981). "Social Mobility in Bengal". Papyrus.
9. Guha, Ayan. (2022-09-26). "The Curious Trajectory of Caste in West Bengal Politics: Chronicling Continuity and Change". BRILL.
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12. Heierstad, Geir. (2017-01-02). "Caste, Entrepreneurship and the Illusions of Tradition: Branding the Potters of Kolkata". Anthem Press.
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17. Sanyal, Hitesranjan. (1971). "Continuities of Social Mobility in Traditional and Modern Society in India: Two Case Studies of Caste Mobility in Bengal". The Journal of Asian Studies.
18. Mitra, A.. (1953). "The Tribes and Castes of West Bengal". Land and Land Revenue Department, Government of West Bengal.
19. SIRCAR, D. C.. (1959). "STUDIES IN THE SOCIETY AND ADMINISTRATION OF ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL INDIA VOL. 1". FIRMA K. L. MUKHOPADHYAY, CALCUTTA.
20. William R. Pinch. (18 June 1996). "Peasants and Monks in British India". University of California Press.
21. (1997). "Contemporary Society: Developmental issues, transition, and change". Concept Publishing Company.
22. (1991). "Educational and Social Uplift of Backward Classes: At what Cost and How? : Mandal Commission and After". Concept Publishing Company.
23. "Anagrasarkalyan {{!}} Backward Classes Welfare Department".
24. Gupta, Swarupa. (2009). "Notions of Nationhood in Bengal: Perspectives on Samaj, c. 1867–1905". BRILL.
25. Ernst, Waltraud. (November 2002). "Plural Medicine, Tradition and Modernity, 1800-2000". Routledge.

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