Historian Views and Research on Bhumihars: Difference between revisions
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== William Dalrymple == | == William Dalrymple == | ||
William Dalrymple writes about the Bhumihars in his book Dalrymple, W. (2004). The Age of Kali: Indian Travels & Encounters. India: Penguin Books Limited. | William Dalrymple writes about the Bhumihars in his book Dalrymple, W. (2004). The Age of Kali: Indian Travels & Encounters. India: Penguin Books Limited. | ||
[[File:William Dalrymple, the age of Kali.jpg|thumb|source preview ]] | |||
He describes the Bhumihars as Brahmins who had converted to Buddhism during the reign of Emperor Ashoka and were denied readmittance into the Priestly class once Hindu revival happened. They were still high-caste but lost place from the top of the caste pyramid.<blockquote>Bhumihar: Brahmins who had converted to Buddhism at the time of the Emperor Ashoka, around 300 BC, and who had then been denied readmittance to the priestly caste when Indian Buddhism was wiped out by an aggressive Hindu revival a thousand years later, Bhumihars were still high-caste, but they had never quite regained the top place in the caste pyramid they had lost 250 years before the Romans first arrived in Britain.<ref>[https://books.google.co.in/books?id=NcwDAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gb_mobile_entity&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en&gl=IN&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Bhumihar&f=false Dalrymple, W. (2004). The Age of Kali: Indian Travels & Encounters. India: Penguin Books Limited.]</ref></blockquote> | He describes the Bhumihars as Brahmins who had converted to Buddhism during the reign of Emperor Ashoka and were denied readmittance into the Priestly class once Hindu revival happened. They were still high-caste but lost place from the top of the caste pyramid.<blockquote>Bhumihar: Brahmins who had converted to Buddhism at the time of the Emperor Ashoka, around 300 BC, and who had then been denied readmittance to the priestly caste when Indian Buddhism was wiped out by an aggressive Hindu revival a thousand years later, Bhumihars were still high-caste, but they had never quite regained the top place in the caste pyramid they had lost 250 years before the Romans first arrived in Britain.<ref>[https://books.google.co.in/books?id=NcwDAQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gb_mobile_entity&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&hl=en&gl=IN&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Bhumihar&f=false Dalrymple, W. (2004). The Age of Kali: Indian Travels & Encounters. India: Penguin Books Limited.]</ref></blockquote> | ||