Distribution of Aheriyas according to the Census of 1891.

District. Number.
Muzaffarnagar 125
Meerut 1,437
Bulandshahr 2,905
Aligarh 9,877
Mathura 765
Agra 4
Mainpuri 781
Bijnor 229
Morâdâbâd 481
Pilibhît 29
Hamîrpur 73
Benares 668
Mirzapur 6
Jaunpur 129
Lucknow 2,266
Faizâbâd 4
Total 19,779

Ahîr[37]:—An important and widely-distributed caste of herdsmen and agriculturists, found in large numbers throughout the Province. According to the Brâhmanical tradition, as given by Manu, they are descended by a Brâhman from a woman of the Ambastha, [[50]]or tribe of physicians. “In the Brahma Purâna it is said that they are descended from a Kshatriya father and a woman of the Vaisya caste; but on the question of the descent of the various tribes, the sacred books, as in many other matters, differ very much from each other, and none are to be implicitly trusted. This pastoral tribe of the Yâdubansi stock was formerly of much greater consideration in India than it is at present. In the Râmâyana and Mahâbhârata the Abhîras in the west are spoken of; and in the Purânik Geography, the country on the western coast of India, from the Tâpti to Devagarh is called Abhîra, or the region of cowherds. When the Kattis arrived in Gujarât, in the eighth century, they found the greater part of the country in the occupation of the Ahîrs. The name of Asirgarh, which Farishta and Khizâna Amîra say is derived from Asa, Ahîr, shows that the tribe was of some importance in the Dakkhin also, and there is no doubt that we have trace of the name in the Abiria of Ptolemy, which he places above Patalene. Ahîrs were also Râjas of Nepâl at the beginning of our era, and they are perhaps connected with the Pâla, or shepherd dynasty, which ruled in Bengal from the 9th to the latter part of the 11th century, and which, if we may place trust in monumental inscriptions, were for some time the universal rulers of India.”[38]

Origin of the tribe. 2. On the tribe to the east Mr. Risley writes[39]:—“The traditions of the caste bear a highly imaginative character, and profess to trace their descent from the god Krishna, whose relations with the milk-maids of Brindâban play an important part in Hindu mythology. Krishna himself is supposed to have belonged to the tribe of Yâdavas, or descendants of Yadu, a nomadic race, who graze cattle and make butter, and are believed to have made an early settlement in the neighbourhood of Mathura. In memory of this tradition, one of their sub-castes, in the North-Western Provinces, is called Yadu, or Jâdubansi, to the present day. Another story, quoted by Dr. Buchanan, makes out the Guâlas to be Vaisyas, who were degraded in consequence of having introduced castration among their herds, and members of the caste who are disposed to claim this distinguished ancestor may lay stress upon the fact that the tending of flocks and herds is mentioned by the authorities among the duties of the Vaisya order. Taken as a whole, the Guâla traditions hardly can be said to do [[51]]more than render it probable that one of their earliest settlements was in the neighbourhood of Mathura, and that this part of the country was the centre of distribution of the caste. The large functional group known by the name Guâla seems to have been recruited not merely by the diffusion along the Ganges valley of the semi-Aryan Guâlas of the North-Western Provinces, but also by the inclusion in the caste of pastoral tribes who were not Aryans at all. These, of course, would form distinct sub-castes, and would not be admitted to the jus connubii with the original nucleus of the caste. The great differences of make and feature which may be observed among Guâlas seem to bear out this view, and to show that whatever may have been the original constituents of the caste, it now comprises several heterogeneous elements. Thus, even in a district so far from the original home of the caste as Sinhbhûm, we find Colonel Dalton remarking that the features of the Mathurâbâsi Guâlas are high, sharp and delicate, and they are of a light brown complexion. Those of the Magadha sub-caste, on the other hand, are undefined and coarse. They are dark-complexioned, and have large hands and feet. Seeing the latter standing in a group with some Sinhbhûm Kols, there is no distinguishing one from the other. There has, doubtless, been much intermixture of blood. These remarks illustrate both the processes to which the growth of the caste is due. They show how representatives of the original tribe have spread to districts very remote from their original centre, and how at the same time people of alien race who followed pastoral occupations have become attached to the caste, and are recognized by a sort of fiction as having belonged to it all along.”

3. Another account represents them to be the descendants of the Abars, one of the Scythian tribes who in the second or first century before Christ entered India from the north-west, or, and this is perhaps more probable, they are regarded as an old Indian or half-Indian race who were driven south before the Scythian invasion. That they were very early settlers in these Provinces and the neighbourhood is certain. The Nepâl legend[40] states that the Kirâtas obtained possession of the valley after expelling the Ahîrs. In the Hindu drama of the Toy-Cart,[41] the successful usurper who overthrows Pâlaka, King of Ujjain, is Aryaka, of the cowherd caste; and similarly in the Buddhist chronicles Chandragupta is described as a [[52]]cowherd of princely race. In Oudh they appear to have been early, probably aboriginal, inhabitants before the Râjput invasion. They are also said to be closely connected with the Bhars, and they attend at great numbers on the occasion of a fair at Dalmau in the Râê Bareli district held in honor of the Bhar hero Dal, who has been, in connection with that tribe shown to be mythical.[42] General Cunningham[43] assumes from the reference to them in Manu that they must certainly have been in India before the time of Alexander, and that as they are very numerous in the eastern districts of Mirzapur, Benares, and Shâhâbâd, they cannot possibly, like the Jâts and Gûjars, be identified with the Indo-Scythians, whose dominions did not extend beyond the Upper Ganges. It is merely a conjecture of Mr. Nesfield that the Kor or Kur sub-caste is derived from the Kols of the Vindhyan plateau.[44]

4. At the same time, as might have been expected, some of their traditions indicate a tendency to aspire to a higher origin than those which would associate them with menial tribes such as the Bhars. Thus in Bulandshahr[45] they claim to be Chauhân Râjputs. The Rohilkhand branch say that they came from Hânsi Hissâr about 700 years ago. In Gorakhpur the Bargaha sub-caste provide wet-nurses in Râjput families[46]: others call themselves Jâts and refer their origin to Bharatpur, while they call themselves Kshatriyas. There is again a very close connection between the Dauwa sub-caste and the Bundela Râjputs for whom they provide wet-nurses.[47] In Azamgarh[48] they claim to have been once Kshatriyas who ruled the country; in Mainpuri[49] they assert that they are descendants of Râna Katîra of Mewâr, who had been driven from his own country by an invasion of the Muhammadans and took refuge with Digpâla, Râja of Mahâban, whose daughter, Kânh Kunwar his son subsequently married, and by her became the ancestor of the Pâthak sub-caste. They are the highest clan in that part of the country, and there is a ridiculous legend in explanation of their name, that Râna Katîra was attacked by the King of Delhi, [[53]]and that out of the twelve gates (phâtak) of his capital only one held out to the end. When the enemy had retired, the Râna, in order to commemorate the signal bravery shown by the guard of the twelfth gate, issued a decree that they and their descendants should be for ever designated by the title of Pâthak or Phâtak.

Internal structure. 5. At the last Census the Ahîrs were recorded in eighteen main sub-castes—Benbansi, the offspring of Râja Vena, the famous sinner of the mythology; Bhirgudi; Dauwa; Dhindhor; Gaddi; Gamel; Ghorcharha, “riders on horses;” Ghosi, or “Shouters;” Gûjar; Guâlbans; Jâdubans, “of the Yâdava race;” Kamariha; Khunkhuniya; Kur; Nandabans, “of the race of Nanda,” the foster-father of Krishna; Pâthak; Rajauriya, and Râwat. The internal classification of the Ahîrs was very carefully worked out by Sir H. M. Elliot, who writes:—“There appear to be three grand divisions among them,—the Nandbans, the Jâdubans and the Guâlbans, which acknowledge no connection except that of being all Ahîrs. Those of the Central Duâb usually style themselves Nandbans; those to the west of the Jamuna and the Upper Duâb, Jâdubans; and those in the Lower Duâb and Benares, Guâlbans. The latter seem to have no sub-divisions or gotras. The principal gotras of the Nandbans are Samarphalla, Kishnaut, Bhagta, Bilehniya, Diswâr, Nagauwa, Kanaudha, Dûnr, Râwat, Tenguriya, Kur, Kamariya, Barausiya, Mujwâr, Dahima, Nirban, Kharkhari, Dirhor, Sitauliya, Jarwariya, Barothi, Gonda and Phâtak—amounting in all to eighty-four. In Bighoto, besides many of these there are the Molak, Santoriya, Khosiya, Khalliya, Loniwâl, Aphariya or Aphiriya, Maila, Mhaila, Khoro, Sesotiya, Gandwâl, Gird, Bhamsara, Janjariya, Kankauriya and Niganiya, amounting in all to sixty-four. Many of the two last-named clans have been converted to the Muhammadan faith, and are known as Rângars. The two villages whence they derive their name are celebrated in local legends for turbulence and contumacy.

Dihli ten paintîs kos Kanhaur Nigâna; Apni boi âp khâen, hâkim ne na den dâna.—“Thirty-five kos from Delhi are Kanhaur and Nigâna. There the people eat what they sow, and do not give a grain to the Government.”

6. Amongst these the Khoro rank first; but their claim to superiority is denied by the Aphiriya, who have certainly in modern times attained the highest distinction. They all, including the [[54]]Khoro, intermarry on terms of equality, avoiding, like all other Ahîrs, only the four gotras nearest related. A man, for instance, cannot marry into his father’s, mother’s paternal or maternal gotras; and no intermarriages take place between distant clans. Thus those of the Duâb and Bighoto hold little or no personal intercourse, and each declares the other an inferior stock.”

7. In Agra we find the Guâlbans, Nandbans, Kamariha and Ghusiya. The Nandbans call themselves the offspring of Nanda, the foster-father of Krishna, and the Guâlbans say that they are descended from the Gopis who danced with the god in the woods of Brindâban and Gokul. The Nandbans women wear bangles (chûri) of glass (kâncha) and white clothes. Those of the Guâlbans wear bangles of lac and coloured or embroidered dresses. All of them, at the time of marriage, except the Ghusiya, wear a nuptial crown (maur) made of paper. That of the Ghusiyas is made of the leaves of the palm (khajûr). The Kamariya sub-caste have a curious custom of hanging up cakes made of wheat-flour in the marriage pavilion while the ceremony is going on. All of them admit widow marriage, and these sub-castes are strictly endogamous. In Cawnpur the sub-castes are Nandbans, Jâdubans, Kishnaut, Kanaujiya, Ghosi, Guâlbans and Illahâbâsi, or residents of Allahâbâd. In the east of the Province there is a different set of sub-castes. Thus in Mirzapur they are divided into the Churiya Guâl, who are so called because their women wear bangles (chûri); Mathiya, who wear brass rings (mâthi); Kishnaut; Maharwa, or Mahalwa; Dharora; Bhurtiya; and Bargâhi. The Kishnaut sub-caste allege that it was among them that the infant Krishna was nursed. The Maharwas or Mahalwas tell the following story to account for their name:—“Once upon a time there lived an Ahîr at Agori, the famous fortress of the Chandel Râjputs, on the river Son. He was rich and devoted to gambling. The Râja of Agori also loved the dice. One day they were playing, when the Ahîr lost all his property, and, finally, staked his unborn child. He lost this also. When the Ahîr’s wife brought forth a girl the Râja claimed her, and the Ahîr was called Maharwa, because his daughter had to enter the harem (mâhal) of the Râja.” Another version of the legend connects it with the celebrated Lorik cycle. The Ahîr maiden is said to have been saved by the hero, and took the name of Maharwa because she was saved from the harem.