ABOUT BHUMIHAR

Regions with significant populations
Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bundelkhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Mauritius
Languages
Sanskrit, Hindi, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili, Angika, Vajjika, Bundeli
Religion
Hinduism

Alternative name includes Babhan
Bhumihar or Babhan or Bhuin-har is a caste mainly found in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh where Jihoutia clan of Bhumihar Brahmins live.The Bhumihars, of whom many, though not all, belong to the Saryupareen Brahmin division of Kanyakubja Brahmins.Bhumihars are classified in the Brahmin varna in Hinduism and hence use the designation Bhumihar Brahmin or Babhan, but some other communities dispute this claim.There is also a significant migrant population of Bhumihar Brahmins in Mauritius who have made a mark for themselves in different fields and they are still in touch with their family members in India and there are instances of marital relations between them to keep their cultural identity intact. A significant migrant population are also there in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and others.
Origin and history
Mythology
One story of their origin is that when Parashurama destroyed the Kshatriya race, he set up in their place the descendants of Brahmins, who, after a time, having abandoned their priestly functions, took to land-owning.
History
By the sixteenth century, Bhumihar Brahmins controlled vast stretches of territory, particularly in North Bihar.In South Bihar, their most prominent representative was the Tekari family, whose great estate in Gaya dates back to the early eighteenth century. With the decline of Mughal Empire, in the area of south of Avadh, in the fertile rive-rain rice growing areas of Benares, Gorakhpur, Deoria, Ghazipur, Ballia and Bihar and on the fringes of Bengal, it was the 'military' or Bhumihar Brahmins who strengthened their sway. The distinctive 'caste' identity of Bhumihar Brahman emerged largely through military service, and then confirmed by the forms of continuous 'social spending' which defined a man and his kin as superior and lordly. In 19th century, many of the Bhumihar Brahmins were zamindars. Of the 67000 Hindus in the Bengal Army in 1842, 28000 were identified as Rajputs and 25000 as Brahmins, a category that included Bhumihar Brahmins. The Brahmin presence in the Bengal Army was reduced in the late nineteenth century because of their perceived primary role as mutineers in the Mutiny of 1857, led by Mangal Pandey. The Kingdom of Kashi belonged to Bhumihar Brahmins and big zamindari like Bettiah and Tekari belonged to them. Now, a majority of them are farmers with some big land-holders.
M.A.Sherring in his book Hindu Tribes and Castes as Reproduced in Benaras published in 1872, mentions, "Great important distinctions subsist between the various tribes of Brahmins. Some are given to learning, some to agriculture, some to politics and some to trades. The Maharashtra Brahmin is very different being from the Bengali, while the Kanaujia (Kanyakubja Brahmins) differs from both. Only those Brahmins who perform all six duties are reckoned perfectly orthodox. Some perform three of them, namely, the first, third and fifth and omit the other three. Hence Brahmins are divided into two kinds, the Shat-karmas and the tri-karmas or those who perform only three. The Bhumihar Brahmins for instance are tri-karmas, and merely pay heed to three duties. The Bhumihars, of whom many, though not all, belong to the Saryupareen Brahmin division, are a large and influential body in all that province (United Province)."
Bhumihars were referred to as "Military Brahmin" by Francis Buchanan and as "Magadh Brahmin" by William Adam in 1883. William Crooke in his book, Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, has mentioned Bhuinhar as an important tribe of landowners and agriculturists in eastern districts and that they are also known as Babhan, Zamindar Brahman, Grihastha Brahman, or Pachchima or 'western' Brahmans.
Pandit Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya in his book Hindu Castes and Sects published in 1896, has written about Bhumihar Brahmins of Bihar and Banaras as: "The clue to the exact status of the Bhumihar Brahmans is afforded by their very name. The word literally means a landholder. In the language of the Indian feudal systems, Bhoom is the name given to a kind of tenure similar to the Inams and Jagirs of Mohammedan times. By a Bhoom, according to the Rajputana Gazeteer, an hereditary, non-resumableand inalienable property in soil was inseparably bound up with a revenue-free title. Bhoom was given as a compensation for bloodshedin order to quell a feud, for distinguished services in the field, for protection of a border or for the watch and ward of the village. The meaning of the designation Bhumihar being as stated above, the Bhumihar Brahmans are evidently these Brahmans who held grants of land for secular service. Whoever held a secular fief was Bhumihar. Where a Brahman held such a tenure, he was called a Bhumihar Brahman....Bhumihar Brahmans are sometimes called simply Bhumihars..."
In 1889, Pradhan Bhumihar Brahman Sabha was established at Patna "to improve moral, social and educational reforms of the community."The social reformation among Bhumihar Brahmins had two streams — one led by Sir Ganesh Dutt, and the other by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati.Bhumihars were officially recognized as Brahmins by the government of British India in 1911 census (second all India census report) of British India.
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, a Bhumihar himself, wrote extensively on Brahmin society and on the origin of Bhumihars. He stated that the Bhumihars are among the superior Brahmins.Even so, when Navrang Rai became a sanyasi and adopted the name of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, some of the more orthodox Brahmins had expressed misgivings about admitting Jujhoutia Bhumihar Brahmin to the highest orders of the Hindu religion. However, instead of taking the easy way suggested by Purnanand-forging some hundreds of Sanskrit shlokas (verses) substantiating the claim of the Bhumihars-Sahajanand decided to investigate the matter through reading the ancient scriptures and carrying out the socio-cultural survey of the Bhumihar Brahmins in different parts of Bihar and U.P. His researches having satisfied him about the veracity of the Bhumihar's claim, he decided to pursue the matter further by encouraging them to perform worship (purohiti); and in order to build up confidence among them about their claims, as well as to train them in the knowledge of the rituals (withheld from them by other Brahmins), he wrote several books.
The Bhumihars, although known as Brahmins, were not given the "ritual" status of Brahmins, on account of the fact that they were cultivators. Some Bhumihar Brahmins are also known for their secular and unorthodox practices, where some of them are also descendants of Hussaini Brahmins.
Siyaram Tiwary, the former dean at Visva Bharati University, stated that the Bhumihars are "landed Brahmins who stopped taking alms and performing pujas and rituals", comparing them with Tyagis of Western UP, Jamindar Bengali Brahmins, Niyogi Brahmins of Andhra Pradesh, Nambudiri Brahmin of Kerala, Chitpavans of Maharashtra, Anavil Desais of Gujarat and Mohyals of Punjab.
Acharya Tarineesh Jha, himself a Maithil Brahmin scholar has attested how from ancient times to modern all great Brahmin scholars like Maithili Manishi Mahamahopadhyay Chitradhar Mishra, Mahamahopadhyay Balkrishna Mishra; Saryupareen Brahmin scholars Mahamahopadhyay Dwivedi, Mahamahopadhyay Shivkumar Shastri, Dr. Hazari Prasad Dwivedi; Kanyakubja Brahmins scholars Mahavir Prasad Dwivedi, Pandit Laxminarayan Dixit Shastri, Pandit Venkatesh Narayan Tiwari and others have mentioned about Bhumihar Brahmins as their fellow Brahmin brothers.
Social Organisation
The census returns give no less than four hundred and fifty-eight sections: but here the territorial sections and the Brahminical gotras are mixed up together. The most important local sections are the Chaudhari, Gautama, and Kolaha in Banaras; the Gautama in Mirzapur; the Bharadwaj, Bhriguvanshi, Dikshit, Donwar, Gautama, Kaushik, Kinwar, Kistwar, Sakarwar, Sonwar in Ghazipur; Bhagata, Kinwar, Benwar, of Ballia; the Baghochhiya, Baksaria, Gautama, Kaushik and Sakarwar(Sankritya) of Gorakhpur; the Barasi, Birhariya and Kaushik of Basti; and the Barwar, Bharadwaj, Bhriguvansh, Denwar, Gargbans, Gautama, Purvar, Sakarwar, and Shandilya of Azamgarh. On the Jijhoutia clan of Bhumihar Brahmins, William Crooke writes, "A branch of the Kanaujia Brahmins (Kanyakubja Brahmins) who take their name from the country of Jajakshuku, which is mentioned in the Madanpur inscription."
Domestic ceremonies and Religious Beliefs
The Bhumihar Brahmins follow in every respect the standard Brahminical rules. They are usually Shaivas and Shaktas. There are some Vaishnavas as followers of Ramanujacharya in the Tirhut region of Bihar. Bhumihar Brahmins, like all other Brahmins are endogamous, but marital relations are known to exist since ancient times between Bhumihar Brahmins and Maithil Brahmins in Tirhut and Mithila and between Bhumihar Brahmins and Kanyakubja Brahmins in Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh where Jihoutia clan of Bhumihar Brahmins live.