23 October 2013 06:35:04 AM
Email: avf24@gmail.com
Chaudhary Ji. Thank you for this information. Very good.
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Few academic facts need to clarified here because some people wittingly or unwittingly try to exploit our ignorance.
1) Krishan Ji Maharaj , his father Vasudev Maharaj and his grandfather , Maharaja Shoorsen were not “gwalas”. They were kings , born in the royal line of Yadu. From Maharaja Shoorsen a new Yadava dynasty started called Shoorsaini and Sainis and a few other Rajput tribes are their legitimate representatives.
2) Krishna spent his childhood among gwalas to escape oppression of Kans. He was there put in hiding by his father in the home of his friend. Nand Baba, Krishan Maharaj’s foster father, who was very well respected in his time as the chief of Gopas or Gwalas , was not of Yadava birth. You can check Mahabharta and Bhagvata Puranas in the original text. Krishna had no blood ties with him or his foster mother Yashoda, although both are honorable and saintly figures.
3) Krishna did not live among ‘gwalas’ after the age of 12 when he killed Kans. Nor did any of his descendants establish any matrimonial links with them. They were always conscious of their royal status.
4) Only a very small section of communities which currently go under the caste name of “Yadav” have any link with the Yadavas or Shoorsainis mentioned in Puranas and history text. A very large number of modern day ahirs or gwala community have no blood link with Yadavas mentioned in Mahabharata
5) In 1924 , Ahir and Gawli groups adopted the caste name of “Yadava” as part of Sanskritization movement. Prior to 1924 only a small section of Ahirs were considered to be linked with Yadavas.
6) Ahir tribe, assuming its a distortion of “Abhira”, is not a Yadava tribe though it was considered to be of royal status. This is clearly stated in Mahabharata. Mahabharata clearly mentions them as separate from Yadavas/Shoorsainis.
7) Over a period of time Ahir community got assimilated with “gwalas” among whom Krishna worship was very popular. Finally, in 1924 they formally changed their identity to “Yadav” just like Malis changed their identity to “Saini” in 1931 to claim army quotas for martial castes.
People who are extending theories that Sainis are “Gole” or “Gwale” (same as modern “Yadav” community) do not know any history of identity politics before 1920s . They are generalizing on the basis of post 1924 caste names and political configurations. Their speculation have no historical or textual basis and they are factually wrong.
Apart from Sainis of Punjab legitimate claimants as blood descendants of Krishna are found among Jadubansi Meos, Tomar and Bhati Rajputs, Sidhu Jats of Patiala, Sinsinwar Jats of Bharatpur, Jadeja and Sameja Rajputs. Some of these groups converted to Islam and are now found in Pakistan. Among the Malis, only Rajput Malis of Tomar and Bhati clans can claim any legitimate link with Krishna. Among Ahirs, only Jadubansi Ahirs can make this claim with any credibility although all call themselves “Yadav” now.