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The Kahars are a community of palanquin bearers originating from the Gangatic region.[1]
Kahars are present in most parts of India, but are concentrated in North India. Kahars originally came under the Kshatriya fold due to their unrestricted (all segments under Hinduism) protection service provided to the brides (married girls) especially. Gradually, with moving time Kahars got absorbed into multiple streams of the Indian Economy for the sake of livelihood and lost their true identity as Kshatriyas. They are found mainly in West Uttar Pradesh, in Sarsawa, Saharanpur, Farrukhabad, Kanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shahjahanpur, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Jaunpur and Ambedkar Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh and most parts of Bihar and West Bengal.[2] They were engaged to officiate at the various holy occasions which occur along the banks of the Ganges river.
InRajasthan, the Kahars have three sub-divisions, the Budana and Turaha. These sub-divisions consist of clans, the main ones being the Pindwal, Bamnawat, Katariya, Bilawat, Kashyap and Oatasaniya. The origins of most of these sub-divisions are rooted in Rajasthan.[3][4][5][6]
They are currently classified as Other Backward Class in the state of Uttar Pradesh.[7]
