Rajputs in Bihar

[1][2][3][4] Rajputs were pressed with the Zamindari abolition and Bhoodan movement in post-independence India; along with other Forward Castes, they lost their significant position in Bihar's agrarian society, leading to the rise of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

[8] The immigration of Rajput clan chiefs into these parts of the Gangetic Plains also contributed to the agricultural appropriation of previously forested areas, especially in Southern Bihar.

[20] In the traditional agrarian society of Bihar in the pre-independence period, Rajputs were among the upper castes that controlled the agricultural production through Zamindari rights.

Rajputs, a less-literate relative of other upper castes, played a limited role in public administration and were primarily property holders.

[22][clarification needed] In post-independence India, pressed with the Zamindari abolition and Bhoodan movement, Rajputs and other upper castes lost their prominence in the agrarian society of Bihar.

[25] The Rajputs and Bhumihars and not the Brahmin and Kayastha being the major landowners among the upper castes is also supported by a study by sociologist Badri Narayan.

in a few villages in Bhojpur, rape of lower-caste women from Musahar and Chamar castes by Rajput and Bhumihar landlords was a major cause of anguish until the emergence of Naxalism.

[30] Ranabir Samaddar cited an example of an Anwa village in which upper-caste Rajputs practiced Dola Pratha; newly wedded brides of Dalits and landless labourers had to spend one night with the landlord before having sex with her husband.

[32]: 72–73 Later, assertion of many left-wing organizations took place in Bihar, the most prominent among them being Maoist Communist Centre of India (MCC), which waged wars against the landlords for the cause of lower castes.

Over time, conflict within the upper-caste groups emerged in the INC, and Rajputs and Bhumihars became major challengers of the dominance of the Kayastha caste.

In the post-Mandal phase, Kurmi, Koeri and Yadav, the three backward castes who constitute the upper-OBC due to their advantageous position in the socio-economic sphere of agrarian society, became the new political elite of the state.

[37] Some of the leaders of the community also played important roles in the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led government, which includes Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, who conceptualised MNREGA, the biggest anti-poverty scheme in India.