Koeri

For the village in Estonia, see Koeri, Estonia.

Koeri
ClassificationOther Backward Class
ReligionsHinduism, Buddhism[1]
LanguagesBhojpuri, Magahi, Awadhi, Hindi-Urdu
CountryIndia and Nepal
RegionBihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhesh

The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri), also referred to as Kushwaha and more recently self-described as Maurya[2] in several parts of northern India are an Indian non-elite[3] caste,[4] found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According to Arvind Narayan Das they were horticulturists rather than agriculturists.[5] They are also recorded as performing the work of Mahajan (rural moneylenders) in credit market of rural parts of Bihar and Bengal in 1880s.[6][7] Koeris have attempted Sanskritisation— as part of social resurgence. During the British rule in India, Koeris were described as "agriculturalists" along with Kurmis and other cultivating castes. They are described as a dominant caste in various opinions.[8][9][10]

Bihar's land reform drive of 1950s benefitted the groups like Koeris, and they were able to consolidate their landholdings at the cost of big landlords, whose possession witnessed a liquidation. It is argued that these reforms weren't percolated down to the most vulnerable groups in agrarian society, the Scheduled Castes, but the traditional agrarian relations based on caste did witness some changes. In the backdrop of this change many new landlords of post reform period hailed from groups like Koeris.[11] In post-independence India, Koeris have been classified as Upper Backwards by virtue of being part of the group of four of the OBC communities in Bihar, who acquired land overtime, adopted improved agricultural technology and attained political power to become a class of rising Kulaks in the agricultural society of India.[12] In some of the districts of Bihar, they have also participated in the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency against the feudal order. In parts of northern India, they, besides Yadavs, Jats and Kurmis, are considered as largest politically organised peasant community.[13]

The Koeris are found in Saran district and are also distributed more heterogeneously across Munger, Banka, Khagaria, Samastipur, East Champaran, West Champaran and Bhojpur district.[14] Outside India, the Koeris are distributed among the Bihari diaspora in Mauritius where they were taken as indentured labourers.[15] They also have a significant population residing in Nepal.

In 1977, the government of Bihar introduced an affirmative action of quota in government jobs and universities which has benefitted the backward castes like the Koeris. They are classified as a “Backward caste” or “Other Backwards Caste” under the Indian government's system of positive discrimination.

  1. ^ "Sri Lankan missionary engineers conversion in Gaya". Times of India. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  2. ^ Soroor Ahmed (ed.). "Nitish Kumar's 'Triveni Sangh' of Backward Castes May Threaten BJP's Monopoly in 2024 Polls". The Wire. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  3. ^ Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, Part 4, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 200. ISBN 9780521798426. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2022. In eastern Gangetic Hindustan, there were yet more high-farming zones where superior rent-receivers could claim to have been following a life of lordly refinement for many centuries. Here the established patricians included many co-parcenors from 'secular' or lokika Brahman groupings such as the Kanyakubjas and Sarjuparins of Awadh; these areas also contained clusters of landed Rajputs. Other Gangetic 'squireens' belonged to the north Indian status group known as Bhumihar, who had achieved a somewhat ambiguous entitlement to be regarded as Brahmans under the patronage of eighteenth-century rulers and their local deputies. In addition, some of upper India's high-farming localities contained sizable groups of elite landed Muslims; landed families of scribal and service origin who used the jati title Kayastha had also come to be included among the proprietary 'squireen' populations. In southern Awadh, eastern NWP, and much of Bihar, non-labouring gentry groups lived in tightly-knit enclaves among much larger populations of non-elite 'peasants' and labouring people. These other groupings included 'untouchable' Chamars and newly recruited 'tribal' labourers, as well as non-elite tilling and cattle keeping people who came to be known by such titles as Kurmi, Koeri and Goala/Ahir.
  4. ^ "उत्तर प्रदेश चुनावः कितने ताक़तवर हैं स्वामी प्रसाद मौर्य?". BBC News हिंदी (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. ^ Das, Arvind N. (1992). The Republic of Bihar. Penguin Books. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-14-012351-7.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ram was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Chakraborty was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Kumar, S. (2018). Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns. India: SAGE Publications. ISBN 9789352805860. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  9. ^ Ranabir, Samaddar (2016). Government of Peace: Social Governance, Security and the Problematic of Peace. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317125389. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  10. ^ Giridhar Jha (ed.). "Upper Caste Leaders Back In Circulation In Bihar". outlookindia. Archived from the original on 11 March 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  11. ^ Chetan Choithani (2023). Migration, Food Security and Development: Insights from Rural India. Cambridge University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-1009276771. Archived from the original on 29 August 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023. Although the end of zamindari led to a mass eviction of sharecroppers and tenant cultivators who were the actual tillers of the land, big landlords from high castes also saw their landholdings diminish. A new class of landlords belonging to the upper-middle caste groups such as Kurmi, Koeri and Yadavs- officially categorised as other backward classes in contemporary Bihar - emerged. These were mostly small and middle peasants who were able to consolidate their landholdings and position in society in the midst of zamindari reforms (Wilson, 1999; Sharma, 2005).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference BergerHeidemann2013 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Tiwari, Ravish (11 April 2016). "Amit Shah's choice of UP BJP chief to dampen Nitish Kumar's pitch". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Bihar: Nitish Kumar is Trying to Consolidate the Luv-Kush-Dhanuk Axis to Expand Social Base". News18. 30 January 2021. Archived from the original on 13 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  15. ^ Claveyrolas, Mathieu (2013). "The 'Land of the Vaish'? Caste Structure and Ideology in Mauritius". Archives de sciences sociales des religions: 191–216. doi:10.4000/samaj.3886.