Powar (also known as Ponwar, Panwar or Pawar) is a Hindu caste primarily settled in Balaghat, Seoni, Bhandara and Gondia districts of Central India. They claim to be decendents of Panwar Rajputs of Malwa. They have migrated from western Malwa to central province in 17th century. ^[1][2]

Quick Facts Classification, Religions ...

Powar
Classification	OBC (Other Backward Class) in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
Religions	Hinduism
Languages	Powari Hindi Marathi
Country	India
Region	Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat and Seoni districts.) Maharashtra (Bhandara and Gondia districts.)
Ethnicity	Indo-Aryan
Population	18 to 20 Lakhs
Subdivisions	Powar Rahadya Powar (choti pangat)

Close

According to historians, the Powar community is originated from the Agnivansha branch of the Kshatriyas. They are believed to have born approximately 2,500 years before the Common Era (BCE). This community traces its roots back to Mount Abu in Rajasthan from where in the ancient times, sages and ascetics which have been guided by the sage Vasishtha, created a sacred fire pit (agnikund). Through their efforts, they gave rise to four Kshatriya clans which they named as Parmar, Chauhan, Parihar and Solanki.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Thus, the Powars claim to be decendents of this Parmar clan of Agnivanshi Rajputs.^[8][9]

Modern historians suggest that Powars should be considered as a impure tribe of Rajputs. Powars marry among themselves, which a pure Rajput would not do, of course. It is said that when they first came to central province, they did not come with their wives; hence, they married women of other castes, preferably Gonds and Baigas. Historian Manju Awasthi suggests that the Powar caste may be purely Shudra or (वर्णसंकरित) degraded from its original varna. They have two subdivisions: Powar and Rahadya Powar (also called Choti pangat); the latter one is considered inferior in status. The Powar caste consists of a total of thirty-six exogamous sections in which they marry. Some of these have the names of Rajput clans, while others are derived from villages, titles or names of offices, or from other castes. Among the titular names are Chaudhary (headman), Patle (chief officer of a village) and Sonwane (one who purifies offenders among the Gonds and other tribes). The Bisen, Chauhan, Gautam, and Parihar septs have Kshatriya origins. The Turk, Rehmat, and Farid septs have Muslim origins, possibly due to contact between some Powars and Muslim tribes. The Pardhi sept is derived from the Pardhi (hunter caste), the Kolhe sept from the Koli (local cultivating caste), the Bopche sept from Korku tribe, the Sahare sept from the Saharia Tribe, and the Bhoyar sept from the Dholewar Kurmi tribe. It is also possible that the Patle, Bhagat, and Thakre septs could be of Pawara (an Adivasi community in the Kandesh region) origin, as they share the same septs. Furthermore, she states that the Powar caste, without any doubt, has a mixed origin.^{[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Historians suggest that the Powar caste originated from a group of Panwar Rajputs, heavily intermixed with other castes. They migrated from western Malwa to the central province in the 17th century. It is believed that they migrated to the Balaghat, Seoni, Bhandara, and Bhandara districts of the Central province from Malwa through the regions of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand.^{[20][21][22][23][24]}

According to their own account, the Powar caste initially settled in Nagardhan, an older town than Nagpur, once the headquarters of the locality. Legend has it that the first settlers, lacking wives, were permitted to take widows from other castes into their households. While it's likely something of this nature occurred, they probably didn't limit themselves to widows alone. The current family names within the caste indicate a mixed ancestry, yet the original Rajput lineage remains evident in their fair skin, prominent foreheads, and often gray eyes. The Powars still tend to maintain relationships with women from lower castes more than usual, a trait shared with other mixed-origin castes, leading to them sometimes being referred to as Dhakar, a term connoting illegitimacy. Despite centuries among Marathi speakers, the Powars retain their own dialect, Powari, based on Bagheli or eastern Hindi. In the 18th century, some Powars served in the military under the Marathas at Nagpur, accompanying a Bhonsla general on an expedition to Cuttack. As a reward, they received grants of undeveloped land in the Wainganga river valley, where they honed their skills in construction. An inscription, attributed to a ruler of Dhar, records the third repair of temples in Winj Basini, near the statue. ^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

As demonstrated, the Powars have largely abandoned many distinctive Rajput customs. They don't wear the sacred thread and allow widows to remarry. Their diet includes goat, fowl, wild pig, game birds, and fish, but they refrain from alcohol except during ceremonial occasions like the worship of Narayan Deo, where it's mandatory for everyone to partake. They're comfortable drinking water from a Gond's hand and, in some areas, even eating cooked food from them, stemming from their close ties in agriculture, with Gonds often serving as farmhands for Powar cultivators. Typically, a Brahmin officiates at their ceremonies, although his presence isn't crucial, and a caste member can fulfill his duties. Each Powar, male or female, has a guru—either a Brahmin, Gosain, or Bairagi—who occasionally visits and conducts rituals. During such visits, a sacred space is prepared with lines of wheat flour, where the guru and disciple sit on wooden stools, their heads covered with new cloth, as the guru imparts wisdom to the disciple. Sweetmeats and gifts are exchanged, with the disciple presenting the guru with one to five rupees. When a Powar is ostracized, two feasts—known as Maili and Chokhi Roti (impure and pure food)—must be held upon reinstatement, with the former taking place in the morning by a tank or riverbank, attended solely by men.^{[30][31][32][33][34]}

The Powars venerates typical Hindu deities, with Dulha Deo serving as their household god, symbolized by a nut and date wrapped in cloth and hung on a wall peg above a dedicated platform. Annually, or during significant life events like marriage or the birth of a first child, a goat is offered to Dulha Deo. After marking its forehead with red ochre and pouring water over it, the animal is sacrificed upon shivering, believed to signal acceptance by the deity. The family consumes the flesh, while the skin and bones are buried beneath the floor. Narayan Deo, Vishnu, or the Sun, represented by peacock feathers, typically resides in a Mahar's house. During worship, he is brought in a gourd to the Powar's house, where offerings of a black goat, rice, and cakes are presented. The Mahar performs rituals while the offering is made, and upon consuming the goat's flesh, is allowed to partake in the feast inside the Powar's house, with the Powars following suit. Normally, a Mahar is not permitted inside the house, and any Powar sharing a meal with them would face caste expulsion. This rite likely acknowledges the Mahars as the original inhabitants before the Powars' arrival. ^{[35][36][37][38][39]}

The Turk, Farid, and Rehmat septs of Powars observe a similar worship to Liaba Farid, likely referring to Baba Farid, the Muhammadan saint of Girar. Represented by a bundle of peacock feathers, when a goat is sacrificed to him, a Muslim performs the ritual slaughter and is the first to partake of its flesh. This suggests that these septs may have Muslim origins and have converted to Hinduism in the past, yet continue to worship Muhammadan saints.^{[40][41][42][43][44]}

Ambule, Baghel, Bhagat, Bhairam, Bhoyar, Bisen, Bopche, Chauhan, Chaudhary, Dala, Turk/Turkar, Gautam, Hanwat, Jaitwar, Katre, Kolhe, Kshirsagar, Patle, Parihar, Pardhi, Pund, Rahangdale, Rinayat, Rana , Raut, Sharnagat, Sahare, Sonwane, Thakre, Tembhre, Hirankhede, Farid, Rehmat, Randive, Rajhans, Yede.

• The Powar caste consist of these 36 exogamous sections and they only marry within these sections.

• Gaurishankar Bisen, former cabinet minister of Madhya Pradesh.
• Dhal Singh Bisen, Politician.
• Bodh Singh Bhagat, Politician.