Paswan

Paswan is a community in India. They are also known as Dusadh.[1] They are a Hindu caste, found in the states of Bihar,[2] Purvanchal and Jharkhand.

They have been considered to be an untouchable community.[3] In Bihar, they are primarily landless, agricultural labourers and have historically been village watchmen and messengers.[4] The folk hero of the Dusadhs is Chuharmal. Within Dusadh folklore, he symbolizes the victory of the community over the Bhumihar oppressors.[5]

The Dusadhs have also been historically associated with martial pursuits[5] and many fought on behalf of the East India Company during the 18th century.[6]

The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh showed the Dusadh population, which was classified as a Scheduled Caste, as being 230,593.[7] The 2001 Census of India recorded 4,029,411 in Bihar.[8]

See also

References
  1. Mendelsohn, Oliver; Vicziany, Marika (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India. Cambridge University Press. p. xiii. ISBN 978-0-52155-671-2.
  2. Tewary, Amarnath (27 March 2019). "Hemraj Paswan: A 'centenarian' voter shows political acuity". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  3. Mendelsohn, Oliver; Vicziany, Marika (1998). The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty and the State in Modern India. Cambridge University Press. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-52155-671-2.
  4. Hewitt, J. F. (1893). "The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, by H. H. Risley. Vols. I. and II. Ethnographic Glossary, Vols. I. and II. Anthropometric Data". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 237–300. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25197142.
  5. Walter Hauser (2004). "From Peasant Soldiering to Peasant Activism: Reflections on the Transition of a Martial Tradition in the Flaming Fields of Bihar". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. 47 (3): 401–434. doi:10.1163/1568520041974684. JSTOR 25165055.
  6. Markovits, Claude; Pouchepadass, Jacques; Subrahmanyam, Sanjay, eds. (2006). Society and Circulation: Mobile People and Itinerant Cultures in South Asia, 1750-1950. Anthem Press. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-843312-31-4.
  7. "A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix - Uttar Pradesh". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  8. "DATA HIGHLIGHTS : THE SCHEDULED CASTES Census of India 2001" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 8 March 2014.
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