Lodhi (caste)

[4] Robert Vane Russell, an administrator of the British Raj, described several possible etymologies for Lodhi, including derivation from lod ("clod"), or lodh, a tree whose bark the Lodhi of Northern India gather to make dye.

Russell also stated that Lodha was the original term, later corrupted to Lodhi in the Central Provinces.

[6] A historical mention of a Lodhi village chief (nagar chaudhari) occurs in Navalshah Chanderia's Vardhamana Purana, written in Samvat 1825.

It mentions a Gajrath pratishtha function organized by Bhisham Sahu, an ancestor of the author in Samvat 1651 (1594 AD) when a temple at Bhelsi was consecrated.

[8] British sources described the Lodhi as "immigrants from the United Provinces", who spread from that area, and in doing so were able to raise their social status, becoming landholders and local rulers ranking only below the Brahmin, Rajput, and Bania.