Ahirwal is a region spanning parts of southern
Haryana , north-eastern
Rajasthan, and South-Western
Delhi[1] The region was once a small
principality based from the town of
Rewari and controlled by members of the
Yaduvanshi Ahir community from around the time when the
Mughal empire was in decline.[2]
Overview
The name translates as "Land of the Ahirs".[3] J. E. Schwartzberg has described it as a "folk region"[4] and Lucia Michelutti as a "cultural-geographic region ... which includes parts of the districts of Alwar, Bharatpur in Rajasthan and
Mahendragarh,
Rewari,
Gurgaon in the state of Haryana."[3] The Ahirwal region in southern Haryana has 11 assembly segments spread over three Lok Sabha seats –
Bhiwani-Mahendergarh, Gurgaon and
Rohtak (one segment only) – having a sizeable presence of Ahir voters.[5]
The main language of the area is
Ahirwati. It is commonly taken to be a dialect of
Mewati and classified within the
Rajasthani group of languages, but it also has characteristics in common with the neighbouring
Western Hindi varieties.[6] The closely related
Bangru (also known as Haryanvi) and
Hindi are also spoken in the region.
The events at the battle of
Rezang La on 18 November 1962 involved many soldiers from the Ahirwal region, who were greatly outnumbered by their Chinese opponents.[7][8]
^Singh, Jai Pal; Khan, Mumtaz (1999). "Hindu Cosmology and the Orientation and Segregation of Social Groups in Villages in Northwestern India". Geografiska Annaler. B (Human Geography). 81 (1). Wiley on behalf of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography: 27–28.
doi:
10.1111/j.0435-3684.1999.00046.x.
JSTOR491040. (subscription required)
^Haynes, Edward S. (1978). "Imperial Impact on Rajputana: The Case of Alwar, 1775–1850". Modern Asian Studies. 12 (3). Cambridge University Press: 423–424.
doi:
10.1017/s0026749x00006223.
JSTOR312228. (subscription required)
^
abMichelutti, Lucia (2008). The vernacularisation of democracy: politics, caste, and religion in India. Routledge. pp. 41–42.
ISBN9780415467322.
^Schwartzberg, J. E. (1985). "Folk regions in northwestern India". In Mukerji, A. B.; Ahmad, A. (eds.). India: Culture Society and Economy. New Delhi: Inter India Publications. pp. 205–235.