Sainthwar
The Sainthwar, or Mall, is an Indian caste native to the Uttar Pradesh state.[1] An offshoot of the Kurmi caste,[2][3] they claim Kshatriya status.[4][5] Under the Indian government's reservation system of positive discrimination, the Sainthwars are classified as a "Backward" or Other Backward Class (OBC)[6][7] under the term "Kurmi-Sainthwar/ Kurmi-Mall".[8]
History
Sainthwars originated as a well-off section of the Kurmi caste that broke away to form a new caste and claimed higher ritual status in the caste hierarchy.[2] A dominant landholding caste in some districts of Uttar Pradesh,[9][10] and reputed to be "industrious" peasants,[11] they came to be known as "Mall" ("prosperous") as opposed to the poorer Kurmis.[1]
The early censuses of British India listed the Sainthwars or Saithwars as a sub-division of the Kurmis in Gorakhpur and Benaras regions.[12][13] The 1911 Census listed the Sainthwars as a separate caste, mainly because of the political rise of the Sainthwar princely family of Padrauna.[14] The Sainthwars adopted higher-caste customs, and despised the neighbouring Kurmis who practised the customs (such as widow remarriage) associated with the lower castes.[15] Nevertheless, many people continued to consider them a sub-division of the Kurmis.[9][16] Sachchidanand Sinha (1982) writes that while a section of Sainthwars did not like being associated with Kurmis, many of them were not ashamed of being called Kurmis.[3]
The oral tradition of the Sainthwars traces their ancestry to Chandraketu, a son of the legendary hero Lakshmana.[1] One claim traces their ancestry and derives their name from the ancient Santhāgāra Kshatriyas, associating them with the Malla tribe.[17]
Politics
The rulers of the Padrauna estate in British India were Sainthwar by caste. In 1980, Chandra Pratap Narain Singh of this family became a Member of Parliament from the Padrauna Lok Sabha constituency, as a candidate of the Indian National Congress.[18] His son Ratanjit Pratap Narayan Singh also joined the Congress, and became a three-time Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Padrauna Assembly constituency. In 2009, he was elected as a Member of Parliament from the Padrauna Lok Sabha constituency, and served as a state-rank minister in the Second Manmohan Singh ministry. In 2014 and 2019, he lost the Lok Sabha elections from the newly-created Kushinagar Lok Sabha constituency to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates. In 2022, he joined the BJP and the candidate backed by him won the State Assembly elections from Padrauna.[6]
Janmejay Singh, a Sainthwar and a BJP politician, was a BJP MLA from the Deoria Assembly constituency.[19]
Affirmative action
In 2001, the Rajnath Singh-led BJP state government of Uttar Pradesh constituted a social justice committee led by Hukum Singh for distribution of reservation among various castes. This committee recommended that the "Kurmi-Mall/Kurmi-Sainthwar" be included in the "More Backward Castes" category, which would be allotted 9% reservation. However, its recommendations were not implemented as BJP lost the next assembly elections.[20]
In 2006, the Central Government included the "Kurmi-Sainthwar/Kurmi-Mall" in the Central list of OBCs for Uttar Pradesh.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Kumar Suresh Singh, ed. (1998). India's Communities. Vol. A–G. Oxford University Press. p. 2163. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
- ^ a b Pradipta Chaudhury (2004). "The 'Creamy Layer': Political Economy of Reservations". Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (20): 1990. JSTOR 4415016.
- ^ a b Sachchidanand Sinha (1982). Caste System: Myths, Reality, Challenge. Intellectual Publishing House. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-8364-0791-4.
Saithwar and Patanwar tribes have become ashamed of the term Kurmi, and reject all addition to the names above mentioned, although it is well known that they are Kurmis , and many of them are not ashamed of this name.
- ^ Kumar Pandey, Santosh (9 October 2023). "जातीय जनगणना को लेकर सैंथवार समाज ने किया कार्यक्रम, बोले- 'वोट बैंक के लिए मिटाई जा रही हमारी पहचान'". ABP News.
- ^ Singh, K. S. (1992). "Communities, Segments, Synonyms, Surnames and Titles".
- ^ a b Shashank Chaturvedi; David N. Gellner; Sanjay Kumar Pandey (1 November 2023). "The 2022 State Elections in Uttar Pradesh and the RSS-isation of the BJP". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies: 1–20. doi:10.1080/00856401.2023.2266289.
- ^ "RPN's palace in Kushinagar now symbolises his party shift". Hindustan Times. 11 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Castes / Communities included in Central List of OBCs". Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment. 6 March 2006.
- ^ a b Paul R. Brass; Francis Robinson, eds. (1987). The Indian National Congress and Indian society, 1885-1985: ideology, social structure, and political dominance. Chanakya. pp. 316–317. ISBN 9788170010265.
- ^ Hasan, Amir; Das, J. C.; Rizvi, Baqr Raza (2004). People of India: The Communities: Gaddi-Muslim Teli. Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 932–934. ISBN 978-81-7304-114-3.
- ^ Shahid Amin (1995). Event, Metaphor, Memory: Chauri Chaura, 1922-1992. University of California Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-520-08780-4.
Sainthwar: a middle-ranking caste of 'industrious' peasants, closely related to the Kurmi
- ^ Kamal Shankar Srivastava (1988). Origin and Development of Class and Caste in India. Sangeeta Prakashan. p. 183.
- ^ Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya (1896). Hindu Castes and Sects: An Exposition of the Origin of the Hindu Caste System and the Bearing of the Sects Towards Each Other and Towards Other Religious Systems. Thacker, Spink. p. 271.
- ^ Blunt, Sir Edward (1969). The Caste System of Northern India. Chand & Company. pp. 55, 217. ISBN 978-81-8205-495-0.
- ^ Ranjana Sheel (1997). "Institutionalisation and Expansion of Dowry System in Colonial North India". Economic and Political Weekly. 32 (28): 1716. JSTOR 4405621.
- ^ Paul R. Brass (1984). Caste, Faction, and Party in Indian Politics: Faction and party. Chanakya. p. 204. ISBN 9788170010104.
...Sainthwar by caste , a local backward caste considered by many people to be part of the Kurmi caste category.
- ^ Muzaffar H. Syed, ed. (2022). History of Indian Nation : Ancient India. K.K. p. 46.
- ^ Paul R. Brass (1984). "National Power and Local Politics in India: A Twenty-Year Perspective". Modern Asian Studies. 18 (1): 100–101. JSTOR 312384.
- ^ Subhash Mishra (15 October 2020). "Brahmin candidates get top billing in Deoria bypoll theatre". The Times of India.
- ^ Arvind Kumar (22 January 2022). "Non-Yadav OBCs and their electoral significance in Uttar Pradesh". India Today.