Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste is last name of many people in Indian subcontinent. Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste definition is A small caste of cultivators belonging principally to the Bilaspur District. They appear to be immigrants from Rewah where the caste is numerically strong and they are also found in the adjacent Districts of the United Provinces and Bengal. In the United Provinces they are employed as higher domestic servants and make leaf-plates while their women act as midwives.12 Here they claim kinship with the Goala Ahirs but in the Central Provinces and Bengal they advance pretensions to be Rajputs. They have a story however which shows their connection with the Ahirs to the effect that on one occasion Brahma stole Krishnas cows and cowherds. Krishna created new ones to replace them exactly similar to those lost but Brahma subsequently returned the originals and the Bargahas are the descendants of the artificial cowherds created by Krishna. In Sarguja Bargaha is used as a title by Ahirs while in Rewah the Bargahs are looked on as the bastard offspring of Baghel Rajputs. Dr. Buchanan writes of them as follows:13 In Gorakhpur the Rajput chiefs have certain families of Ahirs the women of which act as wet-nurses to their children while the men attend to their persons. These families are called Bargaha; they have received of course great favours and many of them are very rich but others look down upon them as having admitted their women to too great familiarity with their chiefs. In the United Provinces they also claim to be Rajputs as they returned themselves as a clan of Rajputs in 1881.14 Their position as described by Buchanan is precisely the same as that of the Dauwa Ahirs who are the household servants of Bundela Rajputs in Bundelkhand and the facts set forth above leave little or no doubt that the Bargahs are a mixed caste arising from the connection of Rajputs with the Ahir women who were their personal servants. In the Central Provinces no subdivisions of the caste exist at present but a separate and inferior subcaste is in process of formation from those who have been turned out of caste. They are divided for the purpose of marriage into exogamous gotras or clans the names of which correspond to those of Rajputs as Kaunsil Chandel Rana Bundela Rathor Baghel Chauhan and others. Marriage between members of the same clan and also between first cousins is prohibited. The custom of guranwat or exchanging girls in marriage between families is very prevalent and as there is a scarcity of girls in the caste a man who has not got a daughter must pay Rs. 100 to Rs. 200 to obtain a bride for his son. On the arrival of the marriage procession the bridegroom touches with a dagger a grass mat hung in front of the marriage-shed. During the marriage the bridegrooms father presents him with a grass ring which he places on his wrist. The hands of the bridegroom and bride are tied one over the other with a piece of thread and the brides parents catching the hands say to the bridegroom We have given you our daughter; protect her. The couple then walk seven times round a sacrificial fire and a pestle and slab containing seven pieces of turmeric nuts and heaps of coloured rice the bride leading and kicking over a heap of rice from the slab at each turn. The other common ceremonies are also performed. The Bargahs do not tolerate sexual offences and expel a girl or married woman who goes wrong. The Bargahs are usually cultivators in the Central Provinces but they consider it beneath their dignity to touch the plough with their own hands. Many of them are mlguzrs or village proprietors. They take food cooked without water from a Brahman and water only from a Rajput. Rajputs take water from their hands and their social position is fairly high.. Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste is one of the many castes subcastes of India.
India has thousands of castes and subcastes, they are in existence and practice since the Vedic times. They were created to solve the problem of division of labor. Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste name could indicate the type of work people belonging to the Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste do or did in earlier times. Many last names in India indicate the place the person originally belongs to. All castes sub castes are primarily divided into 4 categories:
1.Brahmins – The learned or priestly class
2.Khastriyas – The warrior class or those with governing functions
3.Vaishyas – The trader, agriculturalists or cattle rearers class
4.Shudra – The class that serves other three categories
Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste belongs to one of the above 4 categories. Indian caste system is the best system to solve the problem of division of labor. In earlier times there was no rigidity in caste system. Indian caste system is still the best solution for the problem of division of labor, the only change that is needed as per changed times is that rather than having a vertical hierarchical system with Brahmins on top and Shudras at bottom, it would be good to have a horizontal socialist system with Brahmins, Khastriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras all at same level.
The caste system of India is in ruins at present. It is also cause of bloody quarrels in certain parts of the rural India. People of backward castes have reservations in government jobs, this facility is widely misused in India. Many of the backward caste people have become rich and still use the facility for their benefit. Many in India believe reservation in jobs should be given on the basis of poverty rather than caste because there are many poors in upper castes as well.
Many foreginers and followers of Abrahmic religions criticize the Indian caste system because of bad material condition of lower castes but if they observe in an unbiased way they would find that there are many in upper castes with bad material conditions. The problem lies in power not in castes, power can corrupt anyone be it from upper caste or lower caste.
Secondly I have seen Abrahmic religions especially Muslims and Christians claiming that they have no caste system – It is an utter lie. All cultures, all countries, all religions have caste system in one form or the other. Christians have different churches depending on the region or language or skin color of people. Muslims have a priestly class that tries to control everything. Arab Muslims before the oil boom were so much divided among tribes that if you drank water from a well of a different tribe you could be shot dead. Tribal divisions still exists among Muslims. You can also see the caste system in a different form in your corporate companies. I had seen different food and drinking facilities for people at different levels.
Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat caste is also known as Bargah11 Bargaha Barghat Gotra.
Caste situation is quiet different in urban India, people in urban areas especially youngsters don’t bother about castes. Inter caste, inter religious, inter lingual marriages are quiet common in urban India. Inter caste, inter religious and inter lingual marriages in rural areas attract severe criticism and many times people are expelled from community for not marrying as per religious and caste rules.
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