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Yadav

A group of Aheers, a major constituent of the Yadav group, from around Delhi, 1868.

Yādav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite,[1][2][3][4] pastoral communities, or castes, in India that since the nineteenth and twentieth centuries[5][6] has claimed descent from the mythological King Yadu as a part of a movement of social and political resurgence.[7]

The term 'Yadav' now covers many traditional pastoral castes such as Ahirs of the Hindi belt, the Gavli of Maharashtra,[8] the Goala of Andhra and the Konar of Tamil Nadu. In the Hindi belt, "Ahir," "Gwala," and "Yadav" are often used synonymously.[1][9] The Yadav are included in the category Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in many Indian states.

Traditionally, Yadav groups were linked to cattle raising and, as such, were outside the formal caste system.[6] Since the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the Yadav movement has worked to improve the social standing of its constituents,[10] through Sanskritisation,[11] active participation in the Indian and British armed forces,[5] expansion of economic opportunities to include other, more prestigious business fields, and active participation in politics.[10] Yadav leaders and intellectuals have often focused on their claimed descent from Yadu, and from Krishna,[12] which they argue confers kshatriya status upon them,[13] and effort has been invested in recasting the group narrative to emphasize kshatriya-like valor,[14] however, the overall tenor of their movement has not been overtly egalitarian in the context of the larger Indian caste system.[15]

Contents

  • Origins 1
    • In mythology 1.1
    • In practice 1.2
  • Yadavs in modern India 2
    • Occupational background, and location 2.1
    • Sanskritisation 2.2
    • All-India Yadav Mahasabha 2.3
    • Post-Independence 2.4
  • Classification 3
  • Gallery 4
  • See also 5
  • References 6

Origins

In mythology

Krishna with cow-herding Gopis in eighteenth century painting.

The term Yadav (or sometimes Yadava) has been interpreted to mean a descendant of Yadu, who is a mythological king.[16]

Using "very broad generalisations", Jayant Gadkari says that it is "almost certain" from analysis of the Puranas that Andhaka, Vrishni, Satvata and Abhira were collectively known as Yadavas and worshipped Krishna. Gadkari further notes of these ancient works that "It is beyond dispute that each of the Puranas consists of legends and myths ... but what is important is that, within that framework [a] certain value system is propounded".[17]

Lucia Michelutti notes that
At the core of the Yadav community lies a specific folk theory of descent, according to which all Indian pastoral castes are said to descend from the Yadu dynasty (hence the label Yadav) to which Krishna (a cowherder, and supposedly a Kshatriya) belonged. ... [there is] a strong belief amongst them that all Yadavs belong to Krishna's line of descent, the Yadav subdivisions of today being the outcome of a fission of an original and undifferentiated group.[18]

In practice

There are several communities that coalesce to form the Yadavs. Christophe Jaffrelot has remarked that
The term 'Yadav' covers many castes which initially had different names: Ahir in the Hindi belt, Punjab and Gujarat, Gavli in Maharashtra, Gola in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka etc. Their traditional common function, all over India, was that of herdsmen, cowherds and milksellers.[8]

M. S. A. Rao had earlier expressed the same opinion as Jaffrelot, and noted that the traditional association with cattle, together with the belief in descent from Yadu, defines the community.[16] According to David Mandelbaum, the association of the Yadav (and their constituent castes, Ahir and Gwala) with cattle has impacted on their commonly viewed ritual status (varna) as Shudra, although the community's members often claim the higher status of Kshatriya. The Shudra status is explained by the nomadic nature of herdsmen, which constrained the ability of other groups in the varna system to validate the adherence to practices of ritual purity; by their involvement in castration of the animals, which was considered to be a ritually polluting act; and because the sale of milk, as opposed to personal use thereof, was thought to represent economic gain from a sacrosanct product.[19]

According to Lucia Michelutti:

...Yadavs constantly trace their caste predispositions and skills to descent, and in doing so they affirm their distinctiveness as a caste. For them, caste is not just appellation but quality of blood (Yalman 1969: 87, in Gupta 2000: 82). This view is not recent. The Ahirs (today Yadavs) had a lineage view of caste (Fox 1971; Unnithan-Kumar 1997) that was based on a strong ideological model of descent. This descent-based kinship structure was also linked to a specific Kshatriya and their religious tradition centred on Krishna mythology and pastoral warrior hero-god cults.[20]

Yadavs in modern India

Occupational background, and location

A woman of the Ahir community, which falls within the Yadav group, harvesting wheat in western India. Many Yadavs have taken to non-traditional occupations.

The Yadavs mostly live in Northern India, and particularly in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.[21][22] Traditionally, they were a non-elite[3][4] pastoral caste. Their traditional occupations changed over time and for many years Yadavs have been primarily involved in cultivation,[23] although Michelutti has noted a "recurrent pattern" since the 1950s whereby economic advancement has progressed through involvement in cattle-related business to transportation and thence to construction. Employment with the army and the police have been other traditional occupations in northern India, and more recently government employment in that region has also become significant. She believes that positive discrimination measures and gains as a consequence of land reform legislation have been important factors in at least some areas.[24]

Although the Yadavs have formed a fairly significant proportion of the population in various areas, including 11% of that of Bihar in 1931, their interest in pastoral activities was not traditionally matched by ownership of land and consequently they were not a "dominant caste". Their traditional position, which Jaffrelot describes as "low caste peasants", also mitigated against any dominant role. Their involvement in pastoralism accounts for a traditional view of Yadavs as being peaceful, while their particular association with cows has a special significance in Hinduism, as do their beliefs regarding Krishna.[23] Against this image, Russell and Lai, writing in 1916, called the Ahir subdivision uncouth, although it is unclear whether their comments were based entirely on proverbial stories, on observation or on both.[25] Tilak Gupta said that this view persisted in modern times in Bihar, where the Yadav were viewed in highly negative terms by other groups.[26] However, Michelutti observed, these very same people acknowledge and coveted their political influence, connections and abilities.[27]

The Yadavs have, however, demonstrated a feature, driven by their more notable members, that shares a similarity with other Indian communities. Mandelbaum has noted that
As the families of a jāti, in sufficient number, accrue a strong power base, and as their leading men become united enough to move together for higher status, they typically step up their efforts to improve their jāti customs. They try to abandon demeaning practices and to adopt purer and more prestigious ways. They usually want to drop the old name for a better one.[22]

Sanskritisation

Two cowherds from the Gauwli caste (now a part of the Yadav group) in Berar (now in Maharashtra) 1874.
A buffalo herder from the Lingayat Gauli caste (now a part of the Yadav group) in Mysore state (now Karnataka, 1875.

By the end of the nineteenth century, some Yadavs had become successful cattle traders and others had been awarded government contracts to care for cattle.[28] Jaffrelot believes that the religious connotations of their connections to the cow and Krishna were seized upon by those Yadavs seeking to further the process of Sanskritisation,[23] and that it was Indian Rebellion of 1857 had demonstrated that Ahirs were good fighters.[29]

The AYKM was a self-contained unit and did not try to forge links with similar bodies among other caste groups that claimed Kshatriya descent at that time. It had some success, notably in breaking down some of the very strict traditions of endogamy within the community, and it gained some additional momentum as people from rural areas gradually migrated away from their villages to urban centres such as Delhi. Ameliorating the effects of strict endogamy was seen as being conducive to causing the community as a whole to unite, rather than existing as smaller subdivisions within it.[29] Rao has said that the events of this period meant that "the term Yadava refers to both an ethnic category and an ideology".[30]

Of particular significance in the movement for Sanskritisation of the community was the role of the Arya Samaj, whose representatives had been involved with the family of Singh since the late 1890s and who had been able to establish branches in various locations.[29] Although this movement, founded by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, favoured a caste hierarchy and also endogamy, its supporters believed that caste should be determined on merit rather than on heritage. They therefore encouraged Yadavs to adopt the sacred thread as a symbolic way to defy the traditional inherited caste system, and they also supported the creation of cow protection associations (Goraksha Sabha) as a means by which Yadavs and other non-Brahmans could affirm the extent of their commitment to Hinduism by observing the strictures relating to cow slaughter.[31] In Bihar, where the Bhumihars and Rajputs were the dominant groups, the wearing of the thread by Ahirs led to occasions of violence.[32]

Jaffrelot has contrasted the motivations of Yadav Sanskritisation with that of the begari (forced labour) for upper castes and having to sell produce at prices below those prevailing in the open market to the zamindars, as well as by promoting education of the Yadav community. This "aggressive Sanskritisation", which caused riots in the area, was emulated by some other of the lower caste groups.[31] In support of the argument that the movements bore similarity, Jaffrelot cites Hetukar Jha, who says of the Bihar situation that "The real motive behind the attempts of the Yadavas, Kurmis and Koeris at Sanskritising themselves was to get rid of this socio-economic repression".[33]

The process of Sanskritisation often included creating a history. The first such for the Yadavs was written in the late nineteenth century by Vithal Krishnaji Khedkar, a schoolteacher who became private secretary to a Maharajah. In 1959, Khedekar's work was published by his son, Raghunath Vithal Khedkar, who was a surgeon, under the title The Divine Heritage of the Yadavas. There has been subsequent work to develop his ideas, notably by K. C. Yadav and J. N. Singh Yadav.[22][34]

Khedekar's history made the claim that Yadavs were descendants of the Abhira tribe and that the modern Yadavs were the same community referred to as dynasties in the Mahabharata and Puranas.[34] Describing the work of the Khedekars as "a well-edited and well-produced volume", Mandelbaum notes that the Yadavs
... have usually been held in considerably less glorious repute by their neighbors. While an occasional warrior of a pastoral jati did establish his own state and dynasty, cattlekeepers are ranked in many localities among the lower blocks of the Shudras ... [The book] postulates divine and noble ancestry for a good many jatis in several language regions covering hundreds and thousands of people who share little more than a traditional occupation and a conviction about their rightful prerogatives.[22]
In creating this history there is some support for an argument that Yadavs were looking to adopt an ethnic identity akin to the Dravidian one that was central to the Sanskritisation of the Nairs and other in south India. However, Jaffrelot believes that such an argument would be overstated because the Yadav "redrawing of history" was much more narrow, being centred on themselves rather than on any wider shared ethnic base. They did acknowledge groups such as the Jats and Marathas as being similarly descended from Krishna but they did not particularly accommodate them in their adopted Aryan ethnic ideology, believing themselves to be superior to these other communities. Jaffrelot considers the history thus created to be one that is "largely mythical [and] enabled Yadav intellectuals to invent a golden age".[34]

Michelutti prefers the term "yadavisation" to that of "sanskritisation". She argues that the perceived common link to Krishna was used to campaign for the official recognition of the many and varied herding communities of India under the title of Yadav, rather than merely as a means to claim the rank of Kshatriya. Furthermore, that "... social leaders and politicians soon realised that their 'number' and the official proof of their demographic status were important political instruments on the basis of which they could claim a 'reasonable' share of state resources."[18]

All-India Yadav Mahasabha

The [21][32]

The Yadav belief in their superiority impacted on their campaigning. In 1930, the Yadavs of Bihar joined with the

  1. ^ a b Susan Bayly (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 383.   Quote: Ahir: Caste title of North Indian non-elite 'peasant'-pastoralists, known also as Yadav."
  2. ^ Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 200.   Quote: "In southern Awadh, eastern North-Western Provinces, 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 grouping 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."
  3. ^ a b   Quote: "The Yadavs are one of India's largest 'Other Backward Classes,' a government term that covers most of India's Sudra castes. Yadavs are the traditional cowherd caste of North India and are relatively low down on the traditional pecking order, but not as low as the untouchable Mahars or Chamars."
  4. ^ a b Michelutti, Lucia (2004), "'We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians': Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town", Contributions to Indian Sociology 38 (1-2): 43–71,   Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern states like Bihar) in the last thirty years."
  5. ^ a b Pinch, William R. (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. p. 90.   Quote: "Gopis, Goalas, and Ahirs, who would by the early 1900s begin referring to themselves as Yadav kshatriyas, had long sought and attained (after 1898) recruitment as soldiers in the British Indian army, particularly in the Western Gangetic Plain."
  6. ^ a b   Quote: "In a not dissimilar way the various cow-keeping castes of northern India were combining in 1931 to use the common term of Yadava for their various castes, Ahir, Goala, Gopa, etc., and to claim a Rajput origin of extremely doubtful authenticity."
  7. ^ Jassal, Smita Tewari; École pratique des hautes études (France). Section des sciences économiques et sociales; University of Oxford. Institute of Social Anthropology (2001). "Caste in the Colonial State: Mallahs in the census". Contributions to Indian sociology. Mouton. pp. 319–351. Retrieved 7 October 2011.  Quote: "The movement, which had a wide interregional spread, attempted to submerge regional names such as Goala, Ahir, Ahar, Gopa, etc., in favour of the generic term Yadava (Rao 1979). Hence a number of pastoralist castes were subsumed under Yadava, in accordance with decisions taken by the regional and national level caste sabhas. The Yadavas became the first among the shudras to gain the right to wear the janeu, a case of successful sanskritisation which continues till date. As a prominent agriculturist caste in the region, despite belonging to the shudra varna, the Yadavas claimed Kshatriya status tracing descent from the Yadu dynasty. The caste's efforts matched those of census officials, for whom standardisation of overlapping names was a matter of policy. The success of the Yadava movement also lies in the fact that, among the jaati sabhas, the Yadava sabha was probably the strongest, its journal, Ahir Samachar, having an all-India spread. These factors strengthened local efforts, such as in Bhojpur, where the Yadavas, locally known as Ahirs, refused to do begar, or forced labour, for the landlords and simultaneously prohibited liquor consumption, child marriages, and so on."
  8. ^ a b  
  9. ^ Swartzberg, Leon (1979). The north Indian peasant goes to market. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. p. 11. Retrieved 7 October 2011.  Quote: "As far back as is known, the Yadava were called Gowalla (or one of its variants, Goalla, Goyalla, Gopa, Goala), a name derived from Hindi gai or go, which means "cow" and walla which is roughly translated as 'he who does'."
  10. ^ a b Leshnik, Lawrence S.; Sontheimer, Günther-Dietz (1975). Pastoralists and nomads in South Asia. O. Harrassowitz. p. 218. Retrieved 7 October 2011.  Quote: "The Ahir and allied cowherd castes (whether actually pastoralists or cultivators, as in the Punjab) have recently organized a pan-Indian caste association with political as well as social reformist goals using the epic designation of Yadava (or Jadava) Vanshi Kshatriya, ie the warrior caste descending from the Yadava lineage of the Mahabharata fame."
  11. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. Columbia University Press. pp. 210–211.
  12. ^ Gooptu, Nandini, "The Urban Poor and Militant Hinduism in Early Twentieth-Century Uttar Pradesh", Modern Asian Studies 31 (4 (Oct., 1997)): 879–918,   Quote: " ... Lord Krishna, a legendary warrior and a Hindu deity, whom some shudra castes, notably the ahir or yadav, claim to be their ancestor." (page 902)
  13. ^ Bayly, Susan (2001). Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press. p. 84.   Quote: "They had many counterparts elsewhere, most notably in the Gangetic plain where users of titles like Ahir, Jat and Goala turned increasingly towards the cow-cherishing rustic piety associated with the cult of Krishna. With its visions of milkmaids and sylvan raptures, and its cultivation of divine bounty in the form of sweet milky essences, this form of Vishnu worship offered an inviting path to 'caste Hindu' life for many people of martial pastoralist background.42 Footnote 42: "From the later nineteenth century the title Yadav was widely adopted in preference to Goala. ..."
  14. ^ Flueckiger, Joyce Burkhalter (1996). Gender and Genre in the Folklore of Middle India. Cornell University Press. p. 137.
  15. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. Columbia University Press. p. 211.   Quote: "Rather, the low caste movements can more pertinently be regrouped in two broader categories: first, the reform movements situating themselves within the Hindu way of life, be they relying on the mechanisms of Sanskritisation or on the bhakti tradition; and second those which are based on an ethnic or western ideology with a strong egalitarian overtone. The Yadav movement—and to a lesser extent the Ezhavas—can be classified in the first group whereas all the other ones belong to the second category. Interestingly none of the latter has a North Indian origin."
  16. ^ a b  
  17. ^ Gadkari, Jayant (1996). Society and religion: from Rugveda to Puranas. Bombay: Popular Prakashan. pp. 179, 183–184.  
  18. ^ a b Michelutti, Lucia (February 2004). We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town""". Contributions to Indian Sociology 38 (1–2): 49.  (subscription required)
  19. ^  
  20. ^ Gupta, Dipankar; Michelutti, Lucia (2004). "2 ‘We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians’: Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town". In Dipankar Gupta. Caste in Question: Identity or hierarchy?. Contributions to Indian Sociology. New Delhi, California, London: Sage Publications. pp. 48/Lucia Michelutti.  
  21. ^ a b Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 196.  
  22. ^ a b c d Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 442.  
  23. ^ a b c Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 188.  
  24. ^ Michelutti, Lucia (February 2004). We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town""". Contributions to Indian Sociology 38 (1–2): 52–53.  (subscription required)
  25. ^ Russell, R. V.; Lal, Raj Bahadur Hira (1916). Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India 2. London: Macmillan. p. 37. Retrieved 2011-08-16. 
  26. ^ Gupta, Tilak D. (27 June 1992). "Yadav Ascendancy in Bihar Politics". Economic and Political Weekly 27 (26): 1304–1306.   (subscription required)
  27. ^ Michelutti. "Wrestling with (body) politics: understanding ‘goonda’ political styles in North India". Quote:"I saw many high-caste people, who refer to Yadavs as goondas in a disapproving fashion using their ‘services’. Their connections, political influence and abilities are thus practically acknowledged. By the end of the fieldwork the same non-Yadav informants who advise me of not going around with politicians asked me to use my ‘Yadav contacts’ to help them to get their telephone line sorted out, to get a taxi-licence or to speed up a court case.". Retrieved 27 October 2011. 
  28. ^ a b Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 443.  
  29. ^ a b c Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 189.  
  30. ^ Rao, M. S. A. (1979). Social movements and social transformation: a study of two backward classes movements in India. Macmillan. p. 123. 
  31. ^ a b Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. pp. 191–193.  
  32. ^ a b c Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 444.  
  33. ^ Jha, Hetukar (1977). "Lower Caste Peasants and Upper-Caste Zamindars in Bihar, 1921–1925: an analysis of sanskritisation and contradiction between the two groups". Indian Economic and Social History Review 14 (4): 550.  
  34. ^ a b c d Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. pp. 194–196.  
  35. ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. London: C. Hurst & Co. p. 197.  
  36. ^ Michelutti, Lucia (February 2004). We (Yadavs) are a caste of politicians": Caste and modern politics in a north Indian town""". Contributions to Indian Sociology 38 (1–2): 50–51.  (subscription required)
  37. ^ Mandelbaum, David Goodman (1970). Society in India 2. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 485.  
  38. ^ "Traditional Sadar Festival Celebrated". The Hindu. Hyderabad. November 7, 2010. Retrieved September 26, 2012. 
  39. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF BIHAR" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 104)
  40. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: CHHATISGARH" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 1)
  41. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: DELHI" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 3)
  42. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: HARYANA" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 29)
  43. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: JHARKHAND" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 118)
  44. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: KARNATAKA" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 58)
  45. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES: MADHYA PRADESH" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 1)
  46. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF ORISSA" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 43)
  47. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF RAJASTHAN" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 1)
  48. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 1)
  49. ^ "CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF WEST BENGAL" (PDF), National Commission of Backward Classes (Government of India), retrieved 28 October 2011  (Serial Number 3)
  50. ^ Pai, Sudha; Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (2007). Political process in Uttar Pradesh: identity, economic reforms, and governance. Pearson Education India. p. 160.  

References

See also

Dancers from the Ahir caste, a major segment of the Yadav group, in Diwali costume, circa 1916 
Photograph (1916) of Ahir (now Yadav) dances dressed in cowrie shells for the stick dance at Diwali 

Gallery

The Yadav are included in the category Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the Indian states of Bihar,[39] Chhattisgarh,[40] Delhi,[41] Haryana,[42] Jharkhand,[43] Karnataka,[44] Madhya Pradesh,[45] Odisha,[46] Rajasthan,[47] Uttar Pradesh,[48] and West Bengal.[49] In the state of Uttar Pradesh the Yadav/Ahir are the only group listed in Part A of a three-part OBC classification system introduced there following an official report of 2001.[50]

Classification

The Sadar festival is celebrated by Yadav community in Hyderabad, the following the day of Diwali each year. Community members parade, dancing around their best buffalo bulls, which have been colorfully decorated with flowers and paint.[38]

Rao’s study of the Yadava elite in the various states (based on the members and supporters of the All India Yadav Sabha and not on those of the rival All India Yadav Mahasabha) reveals the growth of varied business and professional groups within the caste category. Heading the list are businessmen who comprise roughly 21 per cent of the elite. They include dairy owners, contractors, tobacco and timber merchants, wholesale grass dealers, owners of engineering firms and other industries as well as restaurant owners. They are followed by the large farmers who comprise around 21 per cent of the Yadav elite. Politicians (MPs, MLAs, ministers, municipal councillors, district board members, office-bearers of political parties) constitute 17 percent of the elite and school and college teachers, doctors, lawyers and engineers together another 20 percent. Mandelbaum has commented on how the community basks in the reflected glory of those members who achieve success, that "Yadav publications proudly cite not only their mythical progenitors and their historical Rajas, but also contemporaries who have become learned scholars, rich industrialists, and high civil servants." He notes that this trait can also be seen among other caste groups.[37]

Sadar festival of Yadavs in Hyderabad celebrated during Diwali

Post-Independence

The campaign demanding that the army of the Raj should recruit Yadavs as officers resurfaced in the 1960s. Well-reported bravery during fighting in the Himalayas in 1962, notably by the 13th Kumaon company of Ahirs, led to a campaign by the AIYM demanding the creation of a specific Yadav regiment.[32]

[36] In the post-colonial period, according to Michelutti, it was the process of yadavisation and the concentration on two core aims – increasing the demographic coverage and campaigning for improved protection under the

[35]

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