Purbiya

Purbiya
Regions with significant populations
Bihar and Purvanchal
Languages
Hindi, Bhojpuri, Awadhi
Religion
Hinduism
Related ethnic groups
Rajputs

Purbiya (or Purbia) was a common term used in medieval India for Rajput soldiers and mercenaries from the eastern Gangetic Plain - areas corresponding to present-day western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.[1] In a modern day context, Purbiya Rajputs translates as Eastern Rajputs and is used for those hailing from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh.[2] In contrast, the Rajputs living in Rajasthan were historically referred to as "Western Rajputs".[1]


History

The first significant influx of Rajputs into the Shahabad area occurred In the early 14th century when Parmar Rajputs migrated and deposed the local Chero rulers. These Rajputs later came known as Ujjainiya Rajputs and form one of the many clans to now inhabit the region.[3]

According to the "Khyat", a legendary source for information about the Ujjainiya Rajputs, the Jaunpur Sultanate rulers interrupted the prayers of Brahmins on the bank of the Ganges. The Ujjainiya Rajputs attempted to defend the Brahmins, but the Jaunpur Sultanate soon defeated them and demolished the temples used by the Brahmins.[4] The Ujjainiya clan of Bhojpur went on to become one of the more prominent Purbiya clans who provided mercenaries to other parts of India after the fall of the Jaunpur Sultanate.[5]

Purbiya was a common term given to the soldiers of Awadh and Bhojpur who served as mercenaries for the rulers of west and north India. The rulers of Malwa were keen recruiters due to Purbiyas' expertise with firearms. This expertise may have been gained due to the easy availability of saltpetre in their native areas.[6] Most Purbiyas were mercenaries and were paid for their services but some were actual kings of smaller principalities.[1][7] Persian chronicles from the late 16th century mention 'purbias" as working as mercenaries for the Malwa Sultanate and Gujarat Sultanate.[8]


Along with members of the Bhumihar caste, many of the Zamindari estates were ruled by Rajputs, such as Sonbarsa Raj, ruled by the Ganwaria Rajput clan, and Dumrao Raj, Jagdishpur in South Bihar, and Shakarpura Raj Zamindari in North Bihar, ruled by the Ujjainiya Parmar Rajput clan from Dhar.Kursela was a Zamindari under British India. R. B. Raghubansh Prasad Singh was the last zamindaar of Kursela. [9][10] Bihari Rajputs made up the majority of the Bengal Army.[11]

Bihari Rajputs have a long tradition of being recruited as mercenaries for various rulers such as the British[12][11] and the Marathas.[2] Prior to 1857, the British East India Company preferred to recruit Purbiya soldiers, who they designated as "The fighting tribes of the Hindoos and the Musselmen", or simply "Easterners".[13][14] The Bengal Army of the East India Company preferred to recruit its sepoys from the Brahmins and Rajputs of Awadh and Bihar, in part because they had an average height of 5'8", an important consideration in an army that valued impressive appearance amongst its soldiers.[15]

1857 mutiny

The Purbiya sepoys of the Bengal Army played a major role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British. Mangal Pandey, a notable figure during the start of the mutiny, was a Purbiya serving in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry. Following the suppression of the uprising, British authorities decided not to recruit troops from the eastern plains, and the new Bengal Army was to be recruited primarily from the Sikh and Muslim communities of the Punjab.[16][17] Purbiya recruitment from the western regions of the United Provinces and the Delhi region continued but on a much smaller scale (two out of sixty-four regiments by 1893).[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 M. S. Naravane (1999). The Rajputs of Rajputana: A Glimpse of Medieval Rajasthan. APH Publishing. p. 23. ISBN 978-81-7648-118-2.
  2. 1 2 Waltraud Ernst; Biswamoy Pati (18 October 2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  3. ↑ Anand A. Yang (1998). Bazaar India: Markets, Society, and the Colonial State in Gangetic Bihar. University of California Press. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-520-91996-9.
  4. ↑ Dirk H. A. Kolff (8 August 2002). Naukar, Rajput, and Sepoy: The Ethnohistory of the Military Labour Market of Hindustan, 1450-1850. Cambridge University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-521-52305-9.
  5. ↑ Khan, Iqtidar Alam. "RE-EXAMINING THE ORIGIN AND GROUP IDENTITY OF THE SO-CALLED "PURBIAS", 1500-1800." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress 60 (1999): p.366. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44144102.
  6. ↑ Ernst, Waltraud; Pati, Biswamoy (2007). India's Princely States: People, Princes and Colonialism. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-134-11988-2.
  7. ↑ Journal of Indian history, Volume 66, Dept. of History, University of Kerala, 1988
  8. ↑ Proceedings of the Indian History Congress Vol. 60, DIAMOND JUBILEE (1999), pp. 363-371 (9 pages)
  9. ↑ Kumkum Chatterjee (1996). Merchants, Politics, and Society in Early Modern India: Bihar, 1733-1820. BRILL. p. 35. ISBN 90-04-10303-1.
  10. ↑ Usha Jha (1 January 2003). Land, Labour, and Power: Agrarian Crisis and the State in Bihar (1937-52). Aakar Books. p. 50. ISBN 978-81-87879-07-7.
  11. 1 2 Peter Karsten (31 October 2013). Recruiting, Drafting, and Enlisting: Two Sides of the Raising of Military Forces. Routledge. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-135-66150-2.
  12. ↑ Alf Hiltebeitel (15 February 2009). Rethinking India's Oral and Classical Epics: Draupadi among Rajputs, Muslims, and Dalits. University of Chicago Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-226-34055-5.
  13. ↑ Roy, Kaushik; Lorge, Peter. Chinese and Indian Warfare – From the Classical Age to 1870. p. 335.
  14. ↑ Mason, Philip. A Matter of Honour. pp. 229 & 573. ISBN 0-333-41837-9.
  15. ↑ Roy, Kaushik (2012). Hinduism and the Ethics of Warfare in South Asia: From Antiquity to the Present. p. 214.
  16. ↑ Roy, Kaushik. Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. p. 6.
  17. ↑ Mason, Philip. A Matter of Honour. p. 305. ISBN 0-333-41837-9.
  18. ↑ David, Saul. The Indian Mutiny. p. 404. ISBN 0-141-00554-8.

Further reading

  • M K A Siddiqui (ed.), Marginal Muslim Communities in India, Institute of Objective Studies, New Delhi (2004)
  • Dasharatha Sharma Rajasthan through the Ages a comprehensive and authentic history of Rajasthan, prepared under the orders of the Government of Rajasthan. First published 1966 by Rajasthan Archives.
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