The Sainthwar, or Mall, is an

Indian caste The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mug ...

of peasants native to the

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 ...

state. Under the Indian governments system of positive discrimination, the Sainthwars are classified as a "Backward" or

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 Forward caste, Gen ...

. The Sainthwars are closely related to the

Kurmi Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior til ...

s, and are sometimes described as a division of the Kurmi caste. Though Sainthwars deny the claim but in Census of 1881 Sainthwars were mentioned along with Kurmi in Oudh and Benaras. Sainthwar was earlier a Kurmi sub-caste. But due to the rise of the leading family (princely family of Padruna) it was classified as a separate caste in 1911. The Sainthwars are known as "Mall" ("prosperous") as opposed to the Kurmis. They are the dominant landholding caste in some districts of Uttar Pradesh. The oral tradition of the Sainthwars traces their ancestry to Chandraketu, a son of the legendary hero

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

politician RPN Singh belongs to the Saithwar community and is a prominent leader from Eastern Uttar Pradesh.

References

{{Reflist Social groups of Uttar Pradesh Agricultural castes Hindu communities