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Sainthwar
/ Saithwar Sangha people are found in majority at Gorakhpur, Deoria,
Maharajganj and Kushinagar districts; while at few places in Basti and Natthupur
Pargana of Mau {earlier Azamgadh}districts of UttarPradesh and at some places
in western parts of Bihar state of India. They are also scattered in
Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi and Chitwan districts of terai belt of Nepal
[1]. Historically these places are known as “Land of Buddha and
initial Buddhism” as Buddha was born here, got enlightenment, preached to
masses and finally got his Mahaparinirvana in this area. During Buddha period,
this land was ruled by ancient republic Kshatriya clans like Malla, Maurya,
Shakya, Lichchhavi and Koliya. Lord Buddha was born in Shakya Kshatriya clan in
564 BC and took his Mahaparinirvana at Kusinara, one of the twin capitals of
Malla Kshatriya republic.
Sainthwar
Sangha people have generally fair to dark complexion depending on their lineage
and ancestoral profession. The main profession is agriculture with many of them
holding jamindari in pre-independent India. This community was shown as
land-holding community similar to Rajputs / Thakurs in the census of 1911 [2,
10]. The census of 1921 gives the population of Sainthwar community at
123424 [3, 4]. Most of the population of Sainthwar Rajput community belongs
to Suryavanshi and Nagvanshi sects while some to Chandravanshi sects of
Kshatriya Varna of Hinduism. Though they claim to be of Kshatriya origin, they
do not have social ties with Rajputs / Thakurs of the same area except few
cases. They are classified as “sub-caste of Kurmi” in 1994 AD when Allahabad
High Court ruled against the petition of “Akhil Bhartiya Kshatriya Mahasabha”
and thus were given the benefit of reservation [5]. The interesting
part is that no clan of Sainthwar community has any social ties with Kurmis of
these areas either. They always considered themselves to be of superior origin
than Kurmis. The community is highly endogamous in nature with marriages taking
place only between their diffirent clans. The various clans of Sainthwar
community as per Dr. Rajbali Pandey, Dr. Raghunath Chand Kaushik,
Tripatkacharya Mahopadhyay Bikshu Buddhamitra and Shri Mehtab Narayan Mall ji
are –
1.1 Suryavanshi clans [6,7,8,9].
1. Malla {Scattered across
Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Madhuban in Mau district and western Bihar}
2. BisenMalla {descendants of Bisen
Rajput Raja Madhav Malla of Natthupur pargana of Madhuban}
3. Rajpalhia
4. Khuthania
5. Mahuliyar
6. Bhiti
7. Brahajparhia
8. Bhediha
9. Bhatparha
10. Sahajavansh
11. Danuriha
12. Pushakar
13. Magra
14. Sohar
15. Kotaria Parmara
16. Mauli Rathod
17. Uder
18. Belharia
19. Bhangara Sisodia
20. Thakurai
21. Harsomant
1.2 Nagvanshi clans [6,7,8,9]
1.
Mahat
2.
Belsadia
3.
Sundila
4.
Das
5.
Bais
6.
Beltharia
7.
Nathania
8.
Bancharaha
9.
Sajania
10. Rajvalia
11. Sondih
12. Parukhia
13. Nevsaha
14. Naraijparaha
15. Madriha
16. Kaudia
17. Karkotak
18. Barvalihia
19. Asaujiha
20. Belha
21. Khagi
Chauhan
1.3 Chandravanshi clans
[6,7,8,9].
1.
Usakha
2.
Raivansh
3.
Bhakkarvansh
4.
Kaushik-Chautisha
5.
Janwar
6.
Darva or Davi
7.
Motipurwa
8.
Inrapar
9.
Gahanha
10. Rawat
11. Wudwaria
12. Mewati
13. Gaharwar
{The King of Padrauna}
14. Bhati
References:
1.
1. Joshua Project – Rajput Saithwar of
India Ethnic People Profile
2.
2. Apexndix I to Chapter XII - Census
Report, United Provinces 1911
3.
3. Table
XIII – Caste, Tribe, Race or Nationality – Part I, p 158, Census
Report, United Provinces 1921
4.
4. Table
XIII – Principal Castes In Each Province, State or Agency – Part II, p 163. Census
Report, United Provinces 1921
5.
5. The
Observer – HC ruling on OBC quota vindicates Kalyan Stance, June 17, 1998 –
Prajnan Bhattacharya
6. 6.
Gorakhpur Janpad aur uski Kshatriya
Jatiyon ka Itihas, p 291 – By Dr. Rajbali Pandey
7.
7. Kshatriya Rajvansh – By Dr. Raghunath
Chand Kaushik
8. 8.
Bhagwan Buddha ke samkalin anuyayi
tatha Buddha Kendra, p 272-283 – By Tripatkacharya Mahopadhyay Bikshu
Buddhamitra
9. 9.
Bisen Vansh Darpan, p 91,116,117 – By
Mehtab Narayan Mall
10. 10.
The caste system of Northern India p
247 – By EAH Blunt
