Page extended-protected

Khandayat (caste)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Khandayat or Khandait is a landed militia caste from Odisha, East india.[1][2][3][4][5] They were feudal chiefs, military generals, zamindars, large land holders and agriculturalists.[6][7][8][9] Numerically they are the largest caste of the state.[10]

Khandayat
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesOdia
Populated statesOdisha

Etymology

The name Khandayat is originated from the word "Khanda" which means Sword and khandayat means sword wielding.[11][12]

History

Medieval Odisha

Early mention of Khandayats as feudal chiefs and military personnels found during the rule of Eastern Ganga Dynasty.[13][14] According to Odia historian K. N. Mohapatra, Khandayat strategies were established in Bhubaneswar and near by areas to protect the Lingaraja Temple.[15]

Fakir Mohan Senapati while Quoting Abul Fazal mentioned Khandayats as a landowning caste that dominated the politics and military of Gajapati Empire.[16] Mughal chronicle Ain-i-Akbari gave a clear picture of Odisha after the broke down of Gajapati Empire. It mentioned about different forts ruled by Khandayat Zamindars along with their King Mukund Dev.[17][18]

Modern Odisha

British conquered Odisha in 1803 & started new land reforms to increase tax revenue. Khandayats enjoyed tax free lands in Khurda Kingdom in return of Military Service. British abolished these tax free jagirs and that led to Paika Rebellion in 1817.[19][20]

During British rule, some wealthy people from peasant castes started identifying themselves as Khandayat in order to gain social status and Zamindar land rights in some princely states of west odisha.[21]

Society and culture

Traditionally, they are quasi-martial caste who claim themselves to be of Kshatriya status, but they were considered by the Brahmins and others to be in the Shudra varna category[22][full citation needed] due to the majority of Khandayats being peasants. Pradhan also attributes this to Brahmin patronage of Rajputs, who also claimed to be of Kshatriya status.[23][clarification needed]

References

  1. ^ Behuria, N. C. (1990). Orissa State Gazetteer. Gazetteers Unit, Department of Revenue, Government of Orissa.
  2. ^ Behura, Nab Kishore; Mohanty, Ramesh P. (2005). Family Welfare in India: A Cross-cultural Study. Discovery Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7141-920-3.
  3. ^ Patnaik, Nihar Ranjan (1997). Economic History of Orissa. Indus Publishing. ISBN 978-81-7387-075-0.
  4. ^ Pati, Rabindra Nath (2008). Family Planning. APH Publishing. ISBN 978-81-313-0352-8.
  5. ^ Regional Development Dialogue. United Nations Centre for Regional Development. 2009.
  6. ^ Bhola, Sudhira Chandra (1990). British Economic Policy in Orissa. Discovery Publishing House. ISBN 978-81-7141-075-0.
  7. ^ Samal, J. K. (1990). Economic History of Orissa, 1866-1912. Mittal Publications. ISBN 978-81-7099-218-9.
  8. ^ Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (18 October 2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  9. ^ Bailey, Frederick George (1970). Politics and Social Change. University of California Press. p. 132.
  10. ^ Punjab Journal of Politics. Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University. 1986.
  11. ^ Ghosh, G. K. (2000). Legends of Origin of the Castes and Tribes of Eastern India. Firma KLM. ISBN 978-81-7102-046-1.
  12. ^ Pati, Biswamoy (2003). Identity, Hegemony, Resistance: Towards a Social History of Conversions in Orissa, 1800-2000. Three Essays Collective. ISBN 978-81-88789-04-7.
  13. ^ 1948-, Miśra, Kr̥shṇacandra (1990). Land system and land reforms. Himalaya Pub. House. p. 103. OCLC 555529354.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  14. ^ Sankar, Das, Binod (1978). Studies in the economic history of Orissa from ancient times to 1833. Firma KLM. p. 56. OCLC 251964827.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ^ The Orissa Historical Research Journal. Superintendent, Research and Museum, Orissa. 1975. p. 23.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  16. ^ Senapati, Fakir Mohan (1 February 2006). Six Acres And A Third: Chaa Mana Atha Guntha. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 978-93-5118-251-1.
  17. ^ Mughal India According to European Travel Accounts: Texts and Studies. Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. 1997. pp. 111–112.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ^ Mubārak, Abū al-Faz̤l ibn (1997). The Ā-īn-i Akbarī. Low Price Publications. pp. 156–157. ISBN 978-81-86142-26-4.CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  19. ^ Hayami, Yōko; Tanabe, Akio; Tokita-Tanabe, Yumiko (2003). Gender and Modernity: Perspectives from Asia and the Pacific. Kyoto University Press. p. 68. ISBN 978-4-87698-451-0.
  20. ^ Mansinha, Mayadhar (1976). Fakirmohan Senapati. Sahitya Akademi. p. 61.
  21. ^ Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (18 October 2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  22. ^ Indian History Congress (1997). Proceedings. Indian History Congress.
  23. ^ Pradhan, Prasanta Kumar (1996). "Story of the Peasant Militias or the Khandayats or Orissa: A Socio-Historical Approach". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 57: 752–745. JSTOR 44133394 – via JSTOR.

Further reading

  • Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy, eds. (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-13411-988-2.
  • Pati, Biswamoy (2001). Situating Social History: Orissa, 1800-1997. Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-8-12502-007-3.
  • Senapati, Fakir Mohan (2005). Six Acres and a Third: The Classic Nineteenth-century Novel about Colonial India. Mishra, Rabi Shankar (trans.). University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52022-883-2.
  • Roy, Bhaskar (2004). "Khandayats moving into political gear in Orissa". Times of India.
Retrieved from ""