Kurmi, which is the name of one of the Jatis (castes) of the Hindus, has recently emerged as new political umbrella term for several castes and sub-castes of people who call themselves as Kurmi Kshatriyas. Kurmi Kshatriyas have been traditionally kings; land-owners; and farmers in India, as also in Nepal, particularly the Terai regions of Nepal.

Kurmi Origins

In 1894, the Kurmis formed their first association in Lucknow to give teeth to their protest against the British decision to cut their numbers in the police force. Realising it was not enough, the Kurmi Sabha of Awadh included the Patidars, Kappus, Vokkaligas, Reddys, Naidus and Marathas of other states in its fold.

By 1910, in the All India Kurmi Kshatriya Mahasabha, the Ramanandi sect, a group of monastic brahmin sages, traced the Kurmis ancestry to Luv, confirming their Kshatriya claims.

Most Kurmis are land owning aggrarians. The link between kshatriyas and agriculture has been justified on the grounds of linguistic affinities between the root *ar- ("bravery, heroism", found in English and Greek hero, Russian geroj, and Sanskrit ārya) and other words for cultivators, i.e. those who labour nobly (Russian oratel' or ploughman, Airga in the Zend-Avesta); as well as in the legend of King Prithu, who tamed the earth to make the earth fertile again. It is for this reason that the Sanskrit word for "earth" is "Prithvi", in honor of the Aryan King Prithu who first cultivated the earth.

Kurmis in India and Nepal

Kurmis, as also the Kunbis Kshatriyas, are found throughout India, from Punjab to Bengal in the east as well as southern India. They are relatively prosperous and educated but due to their being mostly aggrarians, they were classified as backward castes. Etymologically, the words, Kunbi and Khanbi are generally considered a derivative of the word Kurmi.

Kurmis constitue around two-to-three percentage of the total population of India.

Common Kurmi Surnames

Common surnames or family names of Kurmis include Singh, Sinha, Chaudhary, Patel, Patil, Pawar, Reddy, Gowda,

Etymology and usage

"Kurmi" in Sanskrit, which is frequently used in the Ramayana, literally translates as "I can" or "I am able", or "within my power to act". In other words, those who are not Kurmi are not able,incompetent or without power to act.

Examples of the usage of the word in Sanskrit are from the Ramayana:

"yat na kurmi" sadresam priyam.. (Valmiki Ramayana, Book 6, Sarga 1).

I am not able" to do a pleasant act..

"na kurmi' tvam bhasmam (Valmiki Ramayana, Book 5, Sarga 22)

"I am not making" you into ashes.

Kurmi Kshatriyas: Karma Yogis

The word "kurmi" is related to karmi, which is based on Karma or action and service to humanity rather than purely on lineage and birth, is perhaps best evidence of the change of attitude from the corrupted Vedic caste based derivations of the Brahmins based on birth lineage and ancestry alone and the "karma or merit" based derivations of lineages of the early Vedic Aryans, Buddhists and Jains.

In ancient Indo-Iranian Arya teachings, the true nature of a real Kshatriya is that of self sacrifice and service to humanity without discrimination. This can be found in the holy kshatriya texts of the Bhagwad Gita:

Chapter 3 verse 25

saktah karmany avidvamso yatha kurvanti bharata kuryad vidvams tathasaktas cikirsur loka-sangraham

As the ignorant perform their duties with attachment to results, similarly the learned may also act, but without attachment, for the sake of leading people on the right path.

This is also found in basic prayer of the Zoroastrians:

And the Kshatra of Ahura (descends) indeed upon him who becomes a shepard to the meek. Ahuna Vairya prayer.

In other words, the Kshatriya is the power of God which descends upon only those who serve mankind. Thus the path of the kshatriya is the path of service.

As Political Force

The word "Kurmi" and why many of the Vedic Kshatriyas would use this term, reflects the advent and reasons for the advent of religions such as Buddhism and Jainism. The "Kurmi" movement as a national movement was started in the northern and eastern regions relatively recently to offset their tiny numbers.

By 500 BC, many of the traditional Kshatriyas throughout India and Nepal no longer were initiated into Vedas. This fact is attested to by Gautam Buddha who himself in Pali texts calls mantras of the Brahmins

Thus did the young Brahman Ambaññha for the first time charge the Sàkyas with being menials.

`Once, Gotama, I had to go to Kapilavatthu on some business or other of Pokkharasàdi's, and went into the Sàkyas' Congress Hall. Now at that time there were a number of Sàkyas, old and young, seated in the hall on grand seats, making merry and joking together, nudging one another with their fingers; and for a truth, methinks, it was I myself that was the subject of their jokes; and not one of them even offered me a seat. That, Gotama, is neither fitting, nor is it seemly, that the Sàkyas, menials as they are, mere menials, should neither venerate, nor value, nor esteem, nor give gifts to, nor pay honour to Brahman.

Thus did the young Brahman Ambaññha for the second time charge the Sàkyas with being menials.16. Then the Blessed One thought thus: `This Ambaññha is very set on humbling the Sàkyas with his charge of servile origin in. What if I were to ask him as to his own lineage?' And he said to him:

`And what family do you then, Ambaññha, belong to?'

`I am a Kaõhàyana.

`Yes, but if one were to follow up your ancient name and lineage, Ambaññha, on the father's and the mother's side, it would appear that the Sàkyas were once your masters, and that you are the offspring of one of their slave girls. But the Sàkyas trace their line back to Okkàka the king.

This particular incident points to the fact that the relationship between the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins had become highly strained, with brahmins imagining insults where there were none, and kshatriyas being blamed for these imagined insults. So most Vedic kshatriyas in India were no longer initiated into the Vedas. So while the Brahmins were keeping their Vedas a secret from the kshatriyas, the kshatriyas under Buddha and Mahavira showed they didn't need Vedic scriptures for supreme spiritual self mastery. Many Kshatriyas of the region of India's great Empires in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar as well as the rest of Northern India either adopted the Kshatriya led religions of Buddhism and Jainism, or if they remained Hindu, their lineage was simply not kept up by the Brahmins of the area. In fact, the lineage of the founders of the kingdoms of the Mauryas and Guptas many of whom were heavily Buddhist or Jain in their leanings, are obscure compared to the pre-Buddhistic, pre-Jain Kshatriyas.

The term or usage of the word "Kurmi" as a unified umbrella term for local and national level political purposes, is a relatively new usage for various ancient kshatriya clans and related aggrarians whose lineage became obscure due to either the estranged relationships between the Kshatriyas and Brahmins or their ancestral adoption or major influence of caste neutral religions such as Buddhism and Jainism.

When one says, the "kurmis", it literally means "the I cans" or the "I am ables".

Suryavanshi and Chandravanshi

As Kurmis are descended from various Kshatriya clans, they divide themselves into Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis with the Suryavanshis claiming to be from the same clan as that of legendary King Rama of Ayodhya and Gautam Buddha. The Chandravanshi kurmis claim descent from the same clan as those related to Shri Krishna and the warriors mentioned in the Mahabharat.

Kurmi Kshatriya Empires

Most of the empires of India's historical age as recorded in the Puranas were classified in many Puranas as being formed under "shudras" since many of these kings and nobility leaned towards Buddhism or Jainism, and no longer took up the sacred thread (Upanayanam) of the Vedic Kshatriyas. This bias can be seen starting from the Mauryans. The Magadhans and Kosalans were classified as Kshatriyas by Vedic Puranic texts. From the Mauryans, a distinct divergence is seen between Buddhist and brahmanical sources: Mauryans were classified as Kshatriyas by Buddhist tradition and texts, including the Mahaparinibbana Sutta; whereas they were classified as of mixed ancestry or Shudras by the Brahmins in Vishnu Purana. This trend of being unable to classify the lineage of Vedic Kshatriyas continues into complete obscurity by the time of the Guptas whose entire lineage is obscure as to origins.

Famous Empires and Dynasties

1. Magadhans
2. Mauryas
3. Guptas
4. Harshavardhana
5. Maratha Empires: Shivaji's father was a Bhonsle Kunbi, his mother was Jijibai, a Yadav from Devgiri.

References

• The Times of India, "Mighty Kurmis of Bihar" March 12, 2004
• Vishnu Purana
• Agni Purana
• Tripitaka