u/BackgroundExam9445

While history often highlights Maratha patronage for Kashi’s iconic temples and ghats, these monumental projects were only possible because Kashi Naresh Maharaja Balwant Singh and his son Kashi Naresh Maharaja Chait Singh established an uncompromising Hindu kingdom in Varanasi.

Balwant Singh was far more than a local ruler; he was a master strategist who carved out the independent State of Benares, outmaneuvering both the Nawabs of Awadh and Mughal hegemony. His formidable hold on the region meant that sacred stone and labor could flow into the city not interrupting the holy work.

Crucially, when internal disputes between powerful merchant guilds and trade cartels threatened to derail supply lines and halt sacred construction, Maharaja Balwant Singh acted as the supreme arbiter. Leveraging his absolute authority, he crushed local profiteering, settled deep-seated trader feuds, and ensured that the sacred rebuilding of Kashi proceeded under his unyielding protection and monarchical command.

In March 1721, Chakwars under Raja Bakhtawar Singh defeated a cavalry force sent by the Nawab of Bengal.

Enraged, the Nawab sent 4000 horses against them but they skillfully avoided battle. Still strong, the Chakwars forced the East India Company to guard its boats with heavy convoys and more soldiers due to the fear of being looted or attacked by the Chakwar Bhumihars.

During the 1781 Rebellion of Raja Chait Singh of Banaras, local Bhumihar zamindars and local supporters completely cut off East India Company supply lines and communications between Banaras and Patna which went till Calcutta.

British officers were labeled as being forced to "show a light pair of heels" (run away fast) and rely on hidden nighttime travel just to survive.

During the 1781 Rebellion of Banaras; the condition of the Britishers reached nadir when the supporters of Chait Singh (supporters were primarily Bhumihars just like the Maharaja was one too) cut off all communication for the English between Varanasi and Patna leading them to not obtain any type of intelligence at or from Calcutta.

Armed Men of the Raja and his supporters (majorly Bhumihars) used to attack upon all British boats indiscriminately. Many Englishmen reported that they were barely able to escape from the terrors of these people.

Background Image - The Battle of Shivala (1781) between Maharaja Chait Singh (along with local people) and the East India Company Forces.

The map shows that the territories under Raja Balwant Singh and Raja Chait Singh stretched from the fertile plains along the banks of Ghagra all the way to the hills of Singrauli.

They were the Chief Rulers of these vast regions.

The map was surveyed by Major James Renell, Surveyor General to the Honorable East-India Company, and Published by order of the Court of Directors of the said Company. Made By Andrew Dury, 1777.

The practice of cattle slaughter which continued throughout centuries of Islamic rule was brought to a complete stop by the Bhumihar rulers like Raja Balwant Singh and Raja Chait Singh.

Source - The History, Antiquities, Topography, And Statistics Of India Vol. 1 by Robert Montgomery Martin

Late Dr. Shreenivas (also spelled Srinivas) was born to a Bhumihar family of landlords who hailed from Birsinghpur, Samastipur.

He was trained at Harvard University with Dr. Paul D White, the father of modern cardiology. Dr. Shreenivas came back to India to start the first Cardiology Institute at Patna as its Founder Director. Later this institute came to be known as 'Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiology. He used his cardiology expertise to develop ' Shreenivas 's E V Method of Identification', a novel method of personal identification based on ECG criteria. His deep belief in a higher power and his scientific background showed him a novel approach to global ethics and spirituality - something he coined as 'spiritometry' on which he delivered a speech in the Second Conference of the Parliament of World's Religions in Chicago in 1993. He penned several literary books as well.

A special cover was released on 30th December 2017 at Patna by Shree Satyapal Malik, the Governor of Bihar, to honor Late Dr. Shreenivas - the first cardiologist of India.

The 4th Image is the ECG bought to India from the USA by him.

Source - The History, Antiquities, Topography, And Statistics Of India Vol. 1 by Robert Montgomery Martin (1838)

The second slide exclusively mentions Bhumihars (Babhans) as a military branch of Magahi Brahmans who do not accord themselves to the trouble of applying to someone for some form of instructions or sect.

The Marathas had taken considerable power in Bundelkhand and obviously laid pious looks of greed on Varanasi.

However, Peshwa Raghunath Rao's agent Vasudev Dikshit wrote a letter from Varanasi (Banaras) stating that no one before Raja Balwant Singh ruled Varanasi/Banaras as well as him.

He further writes that the Raja (Balwant Singh) has saved this place (Varanasi/Banaras) and that the Marathas should renounce plans of capturing the city.

At its peak, the Bettiah Raj was not only the largest zamindari of Champaran, but the largest zamindari within the entire region under East India Company's control at that time.

The Raj came into power via their capability of controlling and protecting numerous villages as well as their connection with the revenue administration building on local dominance.

(They also had much more lands in places such as Siwan, Saran, Gopalganj, Patna, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, etc.)

These were his observations:

1. Clearly states that it's the ENEMIES of Babhans (a term used before the members of this caste started accrediting the title Bhumihar in honour) who propagated slanderous theories against Babhans.
2. Their Babhan name suggested strongly about their Brahminical origins.
3. Again, Bhumihars shouldn't be confused with Bhuinyas, who are an aboriginal tribe.

There is a certain myth that the "Bhumihars are a low Aryan race of mixed Brahmin Rajput origin who acquired a pseudo respectability by pretending that they are Brahmins"

• However, this theory is outrightly false and has no merit.
• It was published in the Calcutta Review (1883) that, according to the rules of Hindu society, a mixed caste or a group of low Aryan origin would traditionally always hold an inferior status. Therefore, the Bhumihars could not have had such an origin, as they've always enjoyed a very high position among the Hindus and the society in general.
• So them being a low Aryan race of mixed Brahmin Rajput origin who acquired a pseudo respectability by pretending that they are Brahmins is impossible and this false assertion was deemed unreasonable
• **As quoted from the book, "The theory will not stand criticism. The offspring of a Brahmin girl and Rajput father would be of very inferior caste; and, if the Babhuns were of low Aryan origin, as Mr. Magrath thought they were, they could, by no possibility, have attained to that* *high position amongst the Hindus which they now undoubtedly occupy"
• Source - The Calcutta Review, year 1883: Vol 76

Note: This is the eighth post to a series of more debunks regarding myths spread about Bhumihars that are yet to be dismissed (by valid, authentic and trustworthy sources ONLY).

Disproving the myth that the Bhumihars are "formed by an intermixture of Brahmins with some inferior caste"

• The myth stands completely false & as if spoken out of hatred.
•  MA Sherring, the author, states in 1872 that there's no reason given for this erroneous conclusion.
• Source -  Hindu Tribes and Castes, Volume I

Note: This is the seventh post to a series of more debunks regarding myths spread about Bhumihars that are yet to be dismissed (by valid, authentic and trustworthy sources ONLY).

An illogical rumor that is rife is that the Bhumihars were "were tribals promoted as sham Brahmins at a feast organized by King Jarasandha"

• However, it is completely false and illogical.
• William Crooke, the author, regarded the account as an unsubstantiated and unproven story rather than a historical fact.
• Source - The Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh, Volume II

Note: This is the sixth post to a series of more debunks regarding myths spread about Bhumihars that are yet to be dismissed (by valid, authentic and trustworthy sources ONLY).

A rumor spread against Bhumihars is that they are 'degraded Brahmins'

• However, it is complete hogwash & baseless.
• H.H. Risley, the author, argued that the sections, or exogamous groups, into which the Babhans (Bhumihars) are divided prove strongly against the theory that they are degraded Brahmins
• According to Risley, these groups are generally the oldest and most enduring elements in the internal organization of a caste or tribe, making the theory of a later "degraded" offshoot, doubtful and unlikely.
• As quoted from the book, “An examination of the sections or exogamous groups into which the Babhans are divided appears, however, to tell strongly against the hypothesis that they are degraded Brahmans. These groups are usually the oldest and most durable element in the internal organization of a caste or tribe.”
• Source -  Census of India, 1901, Volume I

 

Note: This is the fifth post to a series of more debunks regarding myths spread about Bhumihars that are yet to be dismissed (by valid, authentic and trustworthy sources ONLY).