The Sainthwar, or Mall,[1] is a group of warrior (kshatriya) landholding clans settled primarily in eastern Uttar Pradesh. They rose to prominence in late Vedic Period, formed an oligarchy system as ganas or sanghas, and remained powerful forces until the Magadha Empire defeated them in the 5th century BC. Following their defeat and as per the agreement, the group paid taxes or other revenues to their various monarchs in exchange for maintaining power over the local administrations of their region in the ensuing years. In the British Indian census, the group was included as one of the four landholding castes in the United Provinces of Agra and Awadh.

The eastern Uttar Pradesh, India, districts of Gorakhpur, Maharajganj, Kushinagar, and Deoria are home to a sizable community of Sainthwar-Malla-Kshatriya , whose wealth peaked between the third and fifth centuries BC, or from the Mauryan to Gupta era. Basti, Mau, western Bihar, and the districts of Kapilvastu, Rupandehi, Nawalparasi, and Chitwan in Nepal's Terai Belt are home to a small population. The forefathers of this group were closely related to both Buddha and Mahavira, and they took part in rebellions against the East India Company in 1760–1795 AD, Emperor Jahangir in 1626 AD, and the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The epics Mahabharata and Ramayana both make reference to them. They had comparable socioreligious histories with the Bhumihar Brahmins in Gorakhpur and the surrounding areas, and later with Guru Gorakhnath.

The oral tradition of the Sainthwars traces their ancestry to Chandraketu, a son of the legendary hero Lakshmana.[2]The literal meaning of Malla in sanskrit is wrestler, boxer and athlete [1] . The traditional wrestling game is referred as Malla-yuddha in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Lakshmana gave Malla epithet to his son Chandraketu as he was master in wrestling. As an honorary title, it was first used by the descendants of Chandraketu .

The name Sainthwar derives from the political system and operation of ganas or sanghas, which were assemblies or groups of aristocrats that included the heads of powerful Kshatriya households. The Santhagara council hall/assembly house served as the venue for the function. The assembly members were referred to as Kumaras (Kunwar or Princes), and their sons as Rajas [5]. The Sanskrit term Sanstha-vara (transliterated as SaMsthavara) is corrupted and is the source of the English Sainthwar. The words "Vara" and "Sanstha or SaMstha" respectively denote "royal, princely, excellent, foremost" and "assembly" [6]. The gathering of aristocratic, royal, or princely households is known as the Sainthwar. In many groups, clan or caste names frequently contain the suffix "vara"; for example : Donwar, Kinwar, Kistwar, Sakarwar, Sonwar, Benwar, Barwar, Purvar etc.

References

  1. ↑ Subodh Kapoor (2002). Encyclopaedia of Ancient Indian Geography. Cosmo. p. 413. ISBN 978-81-7755-299-7.
  2. ↑ Kumar Suresh Singh, ed. (1998). India's Communities. Vol. A–G. Oxford University Press. p. 2163. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2.
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