Kurmi

Kurmi कुर्मी
Classification	Claim Kshatriya status, but generally recognised as Shudra
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Kurmali, Hindi, Chhattisgarhi, Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Oriya, Telugu, South Indian languages and dialects
Populated states	Northern India, Western India, Central India, South India
Subdivisions	Kurmi, Singraur, Umrao, Awadhiya, Kochyasa, Gangwar, Kanbi, Kapu, Katiyar, Kulambi, Jaiswar, Kulwadi, Kutumbi, Patel, Singhror, Choduary, Sachan, Verma, Artarvavanshi,(Niranjan)

The Kurmi (Hindi: कुर्मी) are a Hindu agricutural Jāti (community) in India.

The group has been associated with the Kunbi, though scholars differ as to whether the terms are synonymous. In 2006, the Indian government announced that Kurmi was considered synonymous with the Kunbi and Yellam castes in Maharashtra. They are regarded as being historically a Shudra (agricultural) class by academics, and as an Other Backward Class by the Indian central government, which deprecates use of the Hindu varna ritual ranks, though the community itself claims membership in the Kshatriya (warrior) class.

Etymology

There are several theories regarding the etymology of the term Kurmi. It may be derived from an Indian tribal language, or may be a Sanskrit compound term krishi karmi, "agriculturalist." Other theories include its being a derivative of kṛṣmi, "ploughman", or Kurma a tortise avatar of the god Vishnu.

History

Kurmis have historically been mostly landowners and cultivators.

In 2006, the Indian government included the Jati in the backward category list.

Colonial descriptions

According to Matthew Atmore Sherring: "The Kurmi has a strong, bony hand, natural to a man of his employment. He is frequently a tall and powerful man, outspoken and independent in manner, and is altogether free from cringing obsequiousness."

Colonel Edward Tuite Dalton regards them as the descendants of some of the earliest Aryan colonists:

a brown, tawny-coloured people, of average height, well-proportioned, rather lightly framed, and with a fair amount of good looks. They show well-shaped heads and high features, less refined than Brahmans, less martial than Rajputs, of humbler mien even than the Goalas; but, except when they have obviously intermixed with aborigines, they are unquestionably Aryan in looks. Grey eyes and brownish hair are sometimes met with amongst them. The women have usually small and well-formed hands and feet

— Dalton's Ethnology of Bengal - pg 320

Varna status debate

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Kurmis, along with other castes such as the Yadav, began to assert the claim that they had previously been Kshatriya and had been "reduced" to peasant status by circumstance. The Kurmi embarked on a program of publications, public mobilisation, and temple-building to establish their Vaishnava credentials and buttress their claims to Kshatriya status. These claims have not been proven, though some scholars allow that such an argument can be made. The Kurmis obtained some support for their claims from Brahmin scholars, who were eager to accommodate a caste group which had become politically powerful. Satadal Dasgupta has noted that it is common for Indian lower castes to claim a higher varna, citing the Kurmi Kshatriya as an example. A specific instance of this was the Ramanandi sect, which created such a history in the early part of the 20th century.

Culture

Jogendra Nath Bhattacharya, one of the first anthropologists from India, commented in 1896 on the customs of the Kurmis, primarily in Bihar, of that period:

Diet

Some of the Kurmis ate fowls and field rats; but they did not eat pork or beef.

Religion

Historically, the religion of the Kurmis in Bihar is the same as that of the other local Shudra castes. They offer worship to the gods of the Hindu pantheon, and also to such local deities as Sokha, Sambhu Nath, and Goriya. However, the majority of them mainly followed of Kabir and Ramanand. Some of the Kurmis also worship the five Muslim saints called Panch Piriya.

Marriage

In almost all the sub-castes of the Kurmis, excepting the Ayodhya Bansi, Ghamela and Kochaisa, a widow was allowed to re-marry. If she married a younger brother or cousin of her late husband, she would not forfeit her claim to a share of her husband's estate, or her right to the guardianship of her children. If she married an outsider, these rights were forfeited. Divorce was permitted among the Kurmis, and a divorced wife could marry again in the same manner as a widow. The Kurmis of Northern India usually employed a Brahman to officiate as priest at their marriages, while in Chota Nagpore and Orissa, the practice was different. There the work of the priest, on such occasions, was done by some elderly member of the house or by the Laya of the village.

Cremation

The Kurmis cremate their dead, and perform shrads in the same manner as other high caste Shudras. The period of observing mourning vary according to local practice, from ten days to thirty days.

Politics

The Sardar Kurmi Kshatryia Sabha was organised in 1894 in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh (some sources say 1884) to protest a government decision barring Kurmi recruitment into the police force. However, the influence of this organisation diminished at the end of the 19th century. A similar Sabha was formed in Awadh, which sought to unite as "Kurmi" other castes such at the Patidar, Kapu, Vokkaliga, Reddy, Naidu, and Maratha.

In its fifth conference in 1909, the Sabha changed its name to All India Kurmi Kshatriya Association, and the All India Kurmi Kshatriya Mahasabha (Association) was first registered at Patna in 1910. This organisation promoted both secular and religious interests, supporting Sanskritisation and canvassing for the right to wear the sacred thread, but also pushing for preferential quotas as a backward class.

In the early 1930s, the Kurmis joined with the Yadav and Koeri agriculturalists to enter elections, and in 1934 formed the Triveni Sangh political party, which had a million dues-paying members by 1936. However, the organisation was hobbled by competition from the Congress-backed Backward Class Federation and cooption of its leaders by the Congress party. The organisation also suffered due to the Yadav's "superiority complex" which limited their cooperation with the Kurmi. Similarly, a planned caste union with the Koeris, to be called Raghav Samaj, failed due to caste rivalries.

Again in the 1970s, the India Kurmi Kshatriya Sabha attempted to bring the Koeris under their wing, but again a disunity troubled this alliance. Kurmi politician Nitish Kumar fomed the Samata Party in 1994, forming a backward-upper caste alliance with the conservative Bharatiya Janata Party, which achieved only initial success. In 1998, politician Laloo Prasad Yadav took advantage of this lack of unity in the IKKS, portraying Koeri Shakuni Chaudhry as an incarnation of Kush. Under Yadav, the IKSS became less and less advantageous to the Kurmi, favouring instead the priorities of the Yadav caste, and this combined with the competition of the Kurmi-based Samata led to a divide between these intermittently allied castes.

Language

The Kurmi of Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal and Assam use to speak Kurmali language. Kurmi of other state speak their native and regional languages. In Bihar, Kurmi people speak the Magahi and Angika, while in Uttar Pradesh the Kurmi speak Hindi.

See also

• Ahir clans
• Gujjar
• Jats
• Kunbi
• Kudumbi
• Vishnu Purana
• Agni Purana
• Tripitaka

Further reading

• William R. Pinch (1996). Peasants and monks in British India. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520200616. Retrieved 13 April 2011.