Koeri

The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite  caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According to Arvind Narayan Das they were horticulturist rather than agriculturists. Additionally, many of the Koeris of Uttar Pradesh have taken to the occupation of weaving along with members of the Mallah caste and produce cloth for local use. Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation— as part of social resurgence.

During the British rule in India, Koeris were described as "agriculturalists" along with Kurmis and other cultivating castes. The Colonial Era writers had also praised them for being quiet, industrious and skilled cultivators.

Before the land reforms, Koeris had been mostly poor peasants but after the new policies of the Indian government including the land ceiling laws and communist pressure in the 1970s, upper caste landlords resorted to selling off their lands, often to groups such as Koeris. This allowed the Koeris themselves to aspire to be landholders. In post-independence India, Koeris have been classified as Upper Backwards by virtue of being part of the group of four of the OBC communities in Bihar, who acquired land overtime, adopted improved agricultural technology and attained political power to become a class of rising ''Kulaks'' in the agricultural society of India. In some of the districts of Bihar, they have also participated in the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency against the feudal order. In parts of North India, they, besides Yadavs, Jats and Kurmis, are considered as largest politically organised peasant community.

The Koeris are found in Saran district and also live in the Samastipur district of Bihar. Outside India, the Koeris are distributed among the Bihari diaspora in Mauritius where they were taken as indentured labourers. They also have a significant population residing in Nepal.

In 1977, the government of Bihar introduced an affirmative action of quota in government jobs and universities which has benefitted the backward castes like the Koeris. They are classified as a “Backward caste” or “Other Backwards Caste” under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination.

Sanskritisation

Koeris have traditionally been classified as a “shudra“ caste and today
Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation—the attempt by traditionally low castes to rise up the social ladder, often by tracing their origins to mythical characters or following the lifestyle of higher ''varna'', such as following vegetarianism, secluding women, or wearing '' janeu'', the sacred thread. The Sanskritising trend in castes of northern India, including that of the Koeris, was inspired by the vaishnavite tradition, as attested by their bid to seek association with avatars of Vishnu. Author William Pinch wrote:

Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha, the caste association of Koeris, held its first session in 1922.

Some Kushwaha reformers like Ganga Prasad Gupta in Banaras argued the Koeris descended from Kusha and that they served Raja Jayachandra in their military capacity during the period of Muslim consolidation under Shuhabuddin Ghuri. He argued further that after defeat, the fear of persecution at the hands of Muslims caused the Kusvaha Kshatriya to flee into the forest in disarray and discard their sacred threads, so as not to appear as erstwhile defenders of Hinduism. The British ethnographer Herbert Hope Risley recorded various Koeri origin myths in the 1890s. According to one of them, Shiva and Parvati created Koeri and Kachhi to take care of vegetables and their flower gardens in Banaras. Writing eighty years later, Francis Buchanan-Hamilton records that Koeris of Bihar were followers of Dashanami Sampradaya while those of Gorakhpur and Ayodhya looked towards Ramanandi saints for spiritual guidance.

According to Christophe Jaffrelot, the caste associations were formed with the basic objective of unifying individual castes. The All India Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha was formed to bring the horticulturist and market gardener communities like the Koeri, the Kachhi and the Murao under one umbrella. The Koeris also attempted to forge a caste coalition called Raghav Samaj, backed by kurmis which was named after one of Rama's names. This was done to justify the communities' claims of descent from Lava and Kusha, respectively. In 1928, the Mahasabha also petitioned the Simon Commission on behalf of various subcastes of the Koeri community to seek recognition as Kshatriya.

The terminology Lav-Kush for the Koeri-Kurmi community became more important in politics than in culture; in Bihar, it came to represent the political solidarity of the Koeri and Kurmi castes.

In context of the communal riots related to cow protectionism, some writers are also of the opinion that low castes groups like Koeri, Ahirs also took to cow protection for asserting higher social status since ''cow'' already had symbolic importance in Hinduism. This particular view of cow protection was different from the UP's urban elites.

Economy

The community was at the heart of the Indian opium trade, which had its main base in Bihar. For many years the British East India Company via an agency in Patna regulated and exploited it. Carl Trocki believes that. "Opium cultivators were not free agents" and describes the coercion and financial arrangements that were involved to achieve production, which included restricting land to that product even when the people needed grain because of famine. Although profitable for the company, it was often not so for the peasant producer, and, "Only one particular caste, the Koeris, managed to carry on the cultivation with some degree of efficiency. They were able to do this because they could employ their wives and children to help out with the tasks of opium production."

Other groups involved in opium production had to hire labour, but the Koeris cut costs by utilising that available within their own family. Describing the industrious nature of the Koeri people, Susan Bayly wrote:

Records from 1879, pertaining to the Zamindari areas of Hathwa and nearby areas indicated widespread desertion of the villages. An opinion behind this widespread desertion and frequent mobility was fear of falling in rank from an "independent peasant", cultivating their own field to "landless labourers", working in the field of others. The Maharaja tried to convince authorities by saying these were floating population or landless labourers by which he meant the branches of the koeri community like "Oudhia Koiri" and "Gomta Koiri". But the authorities didn't accepted it as various details of colonial ethnographers like Dr. Hunter identified Koiris and Oudhia Kurmis as most respectable of all cultivating castes in some districts of Bihar. The overall profile of the deserters was found to be very diverse and included different communities of wide social setup, although majority being lower castes.

In 1877, there was an attempt by colonial Government of Bengal to prepare an account of Indian society and it culminated into the process of all india social classification of various castes and tribes beginning with the first census of 1871. In 1901, Herbert Hope Risley applied anthropometrical methods to develop a racial taxonomy of Indian society leading to a problematic attempt to classify people of India. The Koeris were classified as "agricultural caste" along with the Kurmis. An official report of 1941 described them as being the "most advanced" cultivators in Bihar and said, "Simple in habits, thrifty to a degree and a master in the art of market-gardening, the Koeri is amongst the best of the tillers of the soil to be found anywhere in India." During the colonial period, in the provinces such as Bengal, although majority of rural population was having a living from the agriculture, only a few of them deserved classification as "agriculturists". The Koeris along with the Kachhis and the Kurmis were not only the major "agricultural caste", but were also reputed as most skilled cultivators. As per the description of William Crooke of the contemporary agrarian society, the Koeris were 'quiet, industrious and well-behaved people'.

In the early 19th century in the Gaya district, Koeris were recorded by Francis Buchanan as a community of "ploughing tribes" consisting primarily of poor and middle peasants. It was however noted that in his survey, Buchanan had neglected an upper crust among them, which had accumulated and hoarded cash and had emerged as moneylenders forwarding ''Kamiauti'' advances to acquire dependent labor. Oral testimonies from the colonial period indicates that by the end of 19th century, Koeris in the Gaya district included rich peasants, who had acquired material wealth by improving land relation and extending market relations. This enabled them to forward advances to the dependent labourers in order to bring them under debt bondage and ''Kamia-Malik'' relationship.

In post independence India, Koeris have been classified as upper strata of Backward Castes by virtue of being part of the group of four of the OBC communities in Bihar, who acquired land overtime, adopted improved agricultural technology and attained political power to become a class of rising ''Kulaks'' in the agricultural society of India.

Post land reforms

Peasants in middle castes like the Koeris benefitted the most from the land reform policies of the Indian government. Faced with the land ceiling laws and communist pressure in the 1970s, upper caste landlords resorted to selling off their lands. In most cases the buyer would be from the Koeri, the Kurmi, or the Yadav castes. These peasants worked skillfully on their land and made their holdings more productive. In contrast, the upper castes were unable to do so, and they seemed to be satisfied with the price they got for their land. The increased urbanisation among forward castes created a category of new landlords in the countryside as these three middle castes seldom sold their land, rather they looked on reforms as an opportunity to buy more.

This phenomenon promoted the upward mobility of middle peasant castes. While this mobility in the Yadavas consolidated them as both big peasants and landlords, in the Koeris, the vertical mobility was exclusively towards them becoming landlords. The rise of castes like the Koeri, the Kurmi, and the Yadav, and the fall from power of the forward castes was characterised by growing assertiveness among these middle peasants who now acted as the landowners they once condemned.

In 1989, Frankel observed that 95% of the upper castes and 36% of the middle peasant castes like the Koeri and the Yadav belonged to a rich peasant-cum-landlord class. An aversion to manual labour characterised this class. However, some Koeris and Yadavas who held comparatively less land to provide them with subsistence also worked as agricultural labourers, though the bulk of agricultural labourers belonged to the Dalit caste. According to Frankel, the bulk of middle and poor peasantry belonged to castes like the Koeris and the Yadavas; this class worked in their own fields but considered it beneath their dignity to work in others' fields.
However, the socio-economic progress and transition towards the upper edge of the social hierarchy was not unabated. The Koeris, like the other middle level castes in north India, were facing a double-edged confrontation from the upper castes who were supporters of the status quo as well as from the Dalits and the lowest castes who now became assertive for their own rights. All this made the middle castes aggressive. Sanjay Kumar associates the political mobilisation of the middle peasant castes, also called upper-OBCs with this gradual process of land reforms undertaken in Bihar in the decades preceding the period of 1970-90. According to Kumar:

The conflict with upper caste landlords led to an attraction towards far-left naxalism. This was witnessed in Ekwari, a village, in the Bhojpur district where Jagdish Mahto, a Koeri teacher, began leading the Maoists and organised the murders of upper caste landlords after he was beaten up by Bhumihars for supporting the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1967 elections to Bihar Legislative Assembly. Mahto also set up a newspaper in Arrah called ''Harijanistan''. After Mahto was killed in 1971, the communist uprising in Bhojpur subsided.

A report of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation titled ''Flaming fields of Bihar'' revealed the participation of Koiris in the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in some of the districts of Bihar. It was reported that being the victims of persistent banditry and oppression by the upper-caste landlords, middle castes like them more often come within the folds of revolutionary groups. The CPI(ML) remained successful in mobilising Koeris in the districts of Patna, Bhojpur, Aurangabad and Rohtas districts.

Later, a section of the upper strata of the Koeris and other middle peasant castes voiced their support for the militant organisation Ranvir Sena. This group had benefitted the most from land reforms and became ruthless towards the Dalits.

Affirmative Action

Koeris are classified as a “Backward caste” or “Other Backwards Caste” under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, so they are entitled to OBC reservations in govt jobs.

Distribution

Between 1872 and 1921 the Koeris represented approximately seven per cent of the population in Saran district, according to tabulated data prepared by Anand Yang. Yang also notes their involvement in tenanted landholdings around the period 1893–1901: the Koeris worked around nine per cent of the total cultivated area of the district which was one per cent less than the Ahirs, although they represented around five per cent more of the population. According to Christopher Bayly :

They are also distributed in the Samastipur district of Bihar. In this district the Koeri caste is notorious for their criminal affairs and represent most of the ten Legislative Assembly seats in this district. In a fieldwork study, where data was collected in 2008-11 by Gaurang R Sahay, the details of 13 villages of Unwas panchayat in the Buxar of South western Bihar which were in close proximity to each other concluded that Koeris had the largest population and were one of the main landholding castes in ten of those villages but the average landholding by the households in the surveyed villages were found to be just 2.12 acres per household. The limited landholding was also found to be unequally distributed in caste and class. Further, another study conducted in some select villages of rural Bihar revealed the Koeris perform the function of a ''purohit'' (family priest) and a significant number of houses were seen availing themselves of the services of the purohits of the Koeri caste.

Distribution outside India

Outside India, Koeris are distributed among the Bihari diaspora in Mauritius. Though the island is divided along ethnic and religious lines, 'Hindu' Mauritians follow a number of original customs and traditions, quite different from those seen on the Indian subcontinent. Some castes in Mauritius in particular are unrecognisable from a subcontinental Indian perspective, and may incorporate mutually antagonistic castes into a single group. The 'vaish', which includes the Koeris, is the largest and most influential caste group on the island. The former Brahmin elites together with former Kshatriya are called 'Babuji' and enjoy the prestige conferred by high caste status, though politically they are marginalised.

The Koeris also have a significant population residing in Nepal. The 1991 census conducted there included estimates of their population estimates but these were not included in the 2001 census.

Subdivisions, classification and culture

Castes similar to the Koeri in North India include the Maurya, the Kushwaha, the Mahto, the Kachhi, the Shakya and the Saini. Over the time, these castes have come closer and began intermarrying while developing the all India network to strengthen their caste solidarity.
In 1811, the physician Francis Buchanan-Hamilton classified the producer castes of Bihar and Patna - the Koeri, the Gwala, the Kurmi, the Sonar (goldsmith) and even the Kayasthas (a scribe caste) as "pure Shudra". However, due to the advancements in their level of education, the Kayastha community was first among them to challenge their Shudra status and claimed a higher Varna. They were followed by the rest of these communities.

In Mubarakpur, Shivcharan Bhagat —a ''Koiri'' (vegetable gardener) and a local Ramanandi had an early influence on Bhagvan Prasad’s religious education. He was also addressed as ''scribe'' because of his good command over the Persian language. In the households of the cultivator castes like the Koeris, there was no major segregation of family duties based on gender. Here, both male and female members of the family participated in cultivation- related operations, thus paving the way for egalitarianism and a lack of gender-related discrimination and seclusion. The view of the Koeris regarding their women is portrayed through their (Jati) Caste pamphlet, where Koeri women are described as being loyal to their husbands and having all the qualities of a true Kshatriya woman, who faces the enemy with courage and fights along with her husband rather than being defeated outrightly.

The Kshatriya reform movement in the middle peasant castes which took place during 1890s turned rural Bihar into an arena of conflict. William Pinch claims that castes like the Koeris, the Kurmi, and the Yadav joined the British Indian Army as soldiers. The ''kshatriyatva'' or "essence of being kshatriya", was characterised by aggressiveness among these castes, which led to the formation of many caste armies resulting in intercaste conflict.

Organisation

In the interwar years, during a period when there was a general movement among various castes seeking to uplift their status, there was also at least one journal being published for the Koeri community, the ''Kashbala Kshatriya Mitra'', while other interests of the Koeri community is taken care of by the Kushwaha Kshatriya Mahasabha.

Politics

In the heyday of British Raj, the Koeris aligned with the Kurmis and the Yadavs to form a caste coalition-cum-political party called Triveni Sangh. The actual date of the formation of Triveni Sangh is disputed among scholars. This caste coalition fared badly against the Congress party and faced a considerable challenge from Congress's backward class federation. Though politically it was not able to make a significant mark, it remained successful in eradicating the practice of begar (forced labour).

The Indian National Congress continued its policy of not giving due importance to the demand of upper-OBCs for more political representation and the Koeris along with other OBCs remained unsatisfied in the post independence period as well, when the question of political representation for greater part of society was gaining ground. The Congress's reliance on its "Coalition Of Extremes", referring to the alliance of Upper Castes, Dalits and Muslims became the prime reason behind the upper-OBC's drive for alternative route to gain political ascendency. The "Coalition Of Extremes" was also favourable for the upper-caste lobby within the Congress, as they knew that Dalits being a weak socio-economic group could hardly pose any challenge to their position in the socio-economic sphere unlike the Upper-Backwards.

The period of the 1960s witnessed an improvement in the fortunes of the backward castes in politics, with a significant growth seen in the number of backward caste MLAs in the Bihar legislative assembly. In the 1970s, with the defining slogan of social justice, Koeris rose to prominence in the politics of Bihar under the leadership of Jagdeo Prasad. However, this achievement was short-lived and their representation was gradually lost to other backward castes after Prasad's death. This period also witnessed Satish Prasad Singh, a lesser known Koeri leader, become the chief minister of Bihar merely a week after the fall of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha government. He led a coalition of the Shoshit Samaj Dal party of Jagdeo Prasad and the Congress.

In 1977, the Karpoori Thakur government of Bihar introduced an affirmative action of quota in government jobs and universities. While the lower backward castes were assigned 12% of the quota, only eight percent was earmarked for landowning castes like the Koeri, the Kurmi and the Yadavs. Being a Nai by caste, Thakur was aware of the robust economic position and aggressiveness of these castes who were many times seen bullying the Harijans and lower backwards castes.

In later years, the Koeris remained in a muted position for a long period in politics or played a secondary role, while the Yadav-centric politics of Laloo Yadav flourished in Bihar. However, after the formation of the Samta Party (now Janata Dal (United)) by Nitish Kumar, they voted en masse for Samta. Its alliance showed that political parties in Bihar are identified with caste and the Samta Party was considered the party of Koeri-Kurmi community.

The parting of the ways between the Koeris and the Kurmis and the movement of the Koeris away from Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)) was witnessed after the formation of the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party by Upendra Kushwaha, who commanded huge support among members of the Koeri castes. The Bharatiya Janata Party appealed to the kushwaha in the 2014 elections in hopes of getting the support of the Koeri caste who had earlier voted for Nitish Kumar and the JD(U). However, the quitting of BJP and alliance by Upendra Kushwaha left Koeri politics in Bihar in a dilemma. This rift between the Koeris and the Kurmis was orchestrated by the rise of influential Koeri leaders like Mahendra Singh and Shakuni Choudhury, while Kushwaha remained the strongest leader of the community in Bihar.

In 2010s, attempts to trace the community's lineage to Mauryan king Ashoka were supported by Bharatiya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United) with an apparent eye towards the electoral benefits, particularly in North Indian states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

See also

* Bihari Mauritians
* History of Backward Caste movement in Bihar
* Upper Backward Castes

References

Further reading

*{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=78rfCgAAQBAJ&q=koeri+rise+of+the+plebeians&pg=PA98, title=Rise of the Plebeians?: The Changing Face of the Indian Legislative Assemblies, first=Christophe Jaffrelot, last=Sanjay Kumar, publisher=Routledge, year=2012, isbn=978-1136516610, access-date=30 June 2020

Social groups of Bihar
Agricultural castes