1 6
2 Ahir origins.
3 56 Blianotra, originally Nathawat Rajputs, from Amla Bhanera
4 in Jaipur: their ancestor committed murder and fled, finding a refuge
5 with the Ahirs : and
6 57 Ddyar, originally Tun war Rajputs till 995 Sambat : the legend
7 is that Anangpal liad given his daughter in marriage to Kalu Rdja of
8 Dhdrdnagar, but her husband gave her vessels for her separate use, and
9 she complained to her father. Anangpal would have attacked his
10 son-in-law but his nobles dissuaded him, and so he treacherously invited
11 Kdlu to his second daughter’s wedding. K^lu came with his four
12 brothers, Pannar, Nil, Bhawan and Jagpdl, but they learnt of the plot
13 and fled to the Ahirs, from whom Kdlu took a bride and thus founded
14 the Ddyar got.
15 Some of the Nandbansi gots are : —
16 1. Bachhw61.
17 2. Harbanwdl.
18 3. Kaholi.
19 4.
20 5.
21 6.
22 Khatban.
23 Pacharyd.
24 Rabar.
25 7. Sanwaryd.
26 The Ahirs again give their name to the Ahirwati dialect, which is
27 spoken in the tract round Ndrnaul, Kanaudh and Kewdri. It differs
28 little, if at all, from the ordinary Hindi of the south-east Punjab ; * * for
29 a full account of it and its local varieties the reader must be referred to
30 the Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. IX, pp. 49 — 51 and 233 — 241.
31 The Ahirs are all Hindus, but in spite of their traditional connec-
32 tion with Sri Krishna,t they affect Shivaji, Devi and Thdkarji. They
33 also worship Bandeo, whose shrine is at Raipur in the Bawal nizamat
34 of Ndbha and who is said to be a black snake : hence no Ahir will kill
35 a black snake. In Saharanpur their marriage deities are Brahn and
36 Bar deotas, but no traces of these cults are noted in the Punjab. J
37 Ahir women dress differently to those of the Jdt tribes, wearing
38 red and yellow striped gowns, with a shawl of red muslin. But in
39 Jind they are said to wear a gown {lenghd) of blue cloth.
40 Tli0 Ahirs were probably by origin a pastoral caste, but in the
41 .Punjab they are now almost exclusively agricultural, and stand in
42 quite the first rank as husbandmen, being as good as the Kamboh
43 and somewhat superior to the Jat. They are of the same social
44 standing as the Jdt and Gujar, who will eat and smoke with them ;
45 but they have not been, at any rate within recent times, the dominant
46 race m any considerable tract. Perhaps their nearest approach to
47 such a position was m the State of Kampnr near RewSri, Uose last
48 " n? n u in 1857 and lost his state. His family
49 still holds a,nyir and its members are addressed as Rao, a title which
50 IS indeed grateful to every Ahir. wiiit.ii
51 They are industrious, patient, and orderly; and though they
52 :s;U b—
53 onltivators than himself. Thus they say i„ Rohtak : ^’^osUWie Wd
54 * C. R. 1891, p. 263. —
55 t Still, according to Mr. Maclagan Krishna i<5 fhoi,.
56 they adopt Brahman or Bairagi gnriis, receiving from Vhem^’a^/^' V
57 Knshna-mantra m return for a bhet or vuid of R<? 2 nr i t-anthi (necklace) and the
58 JN. I. N. Q. IV§46l).