Rastogi

The Rastogi are a Hindu caste found in North India.[1] They are concentrated in the districts of Varanasi, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Moradabad, Bareilly and Lukhnow in Uttar Pradesh and also in many parts of Delhi, Kolkata, Rajasthan, Haryana.[2]

The caste's varna status is disputed between the Kshatriya[3] and Vaishya[4][5] varnas.

Contents

Legendary origin

Their name is derived from Rohtas (rohit meaning sun, aas meaning vansha). Rastogis however, claim themselves to be descendants of the mythical king Harishchandra, who had a son named Rohit from whom the name Rastogi is derived, and the caste is also sometimes known as Rohatagis. Still, another view[6] is that they are a subgroup of the Vaishya varna, a view probably based on Nesfield's (1885) theory of the occupational basis of the caste system, as Rastogis are mostly money lenders and business men.

History

Some eleven centuries ago they established their rule in the three places, one to the south of Kashi on the banks of river Som, a second in the Punjab to the west of Indraprastha, and a third at Kannauj. Of these, the first extended their kingdom further to the southeast and retained the name of their ancestral prince Rohit in the name of their capital Rohtasgarh. The second who migrated to the Punjab named their kingdom Rohtak also after the prince Rohit, while the people who migrated to Kannauj and ruled up to the fifth century AD later became known as Rothari Rajputs.

Subdivisions

The caste is described as having "about half a dozen" gotras, and 84 exogamous al (clans).[3]

References

  1. ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1206 to 1214
  2. ^ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1206
  3. ^ a b Kumar Suresh Singh; Anthropological Survey of India (2005). People of India. Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 1206–1208. ISBN 9788173041143. http://books.google.com/books?id=tBMwAQAAIAAJ. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
  4. ^ Ethnographic and Folk-Culture Society (Uttar Pradesh, India) (1979). The Eastern anthropologist. Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society. p. 42. http://books.google.com/books?id=f60zAAAAIAAJ. Retrieved 25 July 2011.  - There has never been any internal stratification within the Rastogi community. The Rastogis are considered as a 'bania' (Vaishya) caste within the Hindu caste system. Themselves being strict Vaishnavites until now, they do not like to ...
  5. ^ V. Kannu Pillai (2007). Caste: observation of I.C.S. officers and others since 1881. Gautam Book Center. pp. 85–. ISBN 9788190558365. http://books.google.com/books?id=pAVHffwgzW4C&pg=PA85. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
  6. ^ Crook 1896

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