Bhumihars

Varna status

Among various narratives regarding their origin, composition and varna status, one states that there is an element of a low caste tribe called "Bhuyans" who gained land and assimilated with the Bhumihars. Many communities do not give them the ritual status of priestly Brahmins, as most of them were cultivators during the British Raj. Some of the early censuses of British India categorised Bhumihars of Bihar as Shudras, the lowest of the four varnas. This was considered insulting, especially since several zamindars (land-owning aristocrats) were Bhumihars. Unlike the Brahmans or Rajputs, the Bhumihars did not participate in the rebellion against British rule in India in 1857, but to their dismay, they were classified as belonging to the third position after Brahmins and Rajputs in Bihar and UP in the ad-hoc census of 1865 and the regular census of 1881.