Rajdhov or Rajdhob () is one of the least counted indigenous group of people mainly in terai of Nepal.There is always a confusion in between the

varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city in Bulgaria **Varna Province **Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna **Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis *Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy *Varniai, a city in Lithuania * Varna (Šaba ...

whether they are

Kshatriya Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the con ...

Vaishya Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of caste hierarchy. The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, taking care ...

. In general, they are categorized as Madhesi.

History

The sixth incarnation of Lord

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

, ''

Parashurama Parashurama (), also referred to as Rama Jamadagnya, Rama Bhargava and Veerarama, is the sixth avatar among the Dashavatara of the preserver god Vishnu in Hinduism. He is believed to be one of the ''Chiranjeevis'' (Immortals), who will appea ...

'' was described in some versions of the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...

'' as the angry Brahmin who killed a huge number of

warriors with his axe because they were abusing his power. As a result, Kshatriyas hides in Dhobi family to save their life. They forgot their main practice while staying in

Dhobi Dhobi known in some places as Dhoba or Rajaka, Madivala is a group of community in India and the greater Indian subcontinent whose traditional occupations are washing and ironing, Cultivator, agricultural workers. They are a large community, ...

community but they could not become Dhobi as per their inner culture and feelings. They started involving themselves in agriculture/farming cultural values in society. There are so many clans (Thar/ Titles) of this caste. The proof of being warrior is still alive. There is a tradition of putting bow and arrow in a ceremony called CHHATHIHAR ( celebration of childbirth after on sixth day ). So, in conclusion this caste has been transformed from Chhetris. There are so many brave figures of the community. Out of them Lakhay Madar is most popular. He was born in 17th century.

Demography

Surnames

# Mandal/Madar() # Khadga() # Raut() # Majhi() # Singh() # Adhikari() # Das() # Laugi() # Sant() # Ishar() # Kapair() # Bishwas() # Pramani() # Paik() # Parihast() # Padey() # Paikra() # Gami()

Inclusiveness

As of 18 December 2019, only three of total Rajdhoves are in Nepal Army.

Language

Mainly they speak Maithili and

Angika Angika (also known as ''Anga'', ''Angikar'' or ''Chhika-Chhiki'') is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken in some parts of the Indian states of Bihar and Jharkhand, as well as in parts of Nepal. It is closely related to languages such as Mai ...

. Nepali, Bhojpuri,

Hindi Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

and English are the preferable secondary language.

Events

1. Honour programme of Satya Narayan Mandal in DDC, Saptari meeting hall,

Rajbiraj Rajbiraj ( ne, राजविराज) is a mid-sized municipality located in the south-eastern part of Madhesh Province of Nepal. Rajbiraj is the district headquarters of Saptari and is the eighth largest city in the province. The township of ...

was organized by the Rajdhob Federation India/Nepal on 16 December 2017. This is the honorific moment after his win in the election of Provincial Assembly of Province No. 2.

2. Rajdhov Diwas: Rajdhov people organize a meeting day every year on the day of Vasant Panchami, Saraswati Puja. They spend some time together and discuss the issues for the upliftment of Rajdhoves.

Poem

-Yugal Kishor Rajdhov

Notable persons

# Birendra Majhi - Mayor of Hanumannagar Kankalini Municipality, Saptari district # Satya Narayan Mandal – Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), CPNUML leader, former youth and sports minister of Nepal and first minister from Rajdhoves. # CK Raut - President of Janamat Party Nepal # Prakash Mani Raut - National President of Backward Castes Association, Nepal

Notes

References

Caste system in Nepal Ethnic groups in India Ethnic groups in Nepal {{Poem-stub