The Kahars are a community of palanquin bearers originating from the
Gangatic region.
Kahars are present in most parts of India, but are concentrated in North India. They are found mainly in West
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
, in
Sarsawa
Sarsawa is a town at the border of Haryana and a municipal board in Saharanpur district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Sarsawa is a Nagar Palika Parishad town in Nakur tehsil district of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The Sarsawa city is div ...
,
Saharanpur
Saharanpur is a city and a municipal corporation in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the administrative headquarters of Saharanpur district.
Saharanpur city's name was given after the Saint Shah Haroon Chishti.
Saharanpur is declared as on ...
,
Farrukhabad
Farrukhabad is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Farrukhabad tehsil. The city is on the banks of river Ganges and is from the national capital Delhi and from the state capital Lucknow.
...
,
Kanpur
Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help·info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations o ...
,
Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffarnagar is a city under Muzaffarnagar District in the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh. It is situated midway on the Delhi - Haridwar/Dehradun National Highway (NH 58) and is also well connected with the national railway network. It is kno ...
,
Shahjahanpur
Shahjahanpur () is a municipal corporation, town and district headquarters of Shahjahanpur District in Uttar Pradesh, India.
The city is between Bareilly and Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh.
History
Shahjahanpur was established by Dil ...
,
Sultanpur,
Faizabad
Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpor ...
,
Jaunpur and
Ambedkar Nagar district
Ambedkar Nagar is a district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This district is a part of Faizabad division (officially ''Ayodhya division'') in the Awadh region of the state. This district was established on 29 September 1995 by carvi ...
s of Uttar Pradesh and most parts of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
and
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
.
They were engaged to officiate at the various holy occasions which occur along the banks of the
Ganges
The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...
river.
In
Rajasthan
Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
, the Kahars have 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
The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...
in all state.
References
{{reflist
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