AHIR

"Ahir" (Sanskrit Abhira अभीर "fearless" (ਅਹੀਰ, अहीर) ).,[2][6][7][8] is a Hindu caste of Indo-Aryan origin which is subgroup of Yadav.Panini,Kautilya and Patanjali mentioned Ahirs as followers of Bhagwat sect of hindu religion. Greek historians' reference of Abisares are thought to be of Abhira Chief.[9][10] Recent excavations in Nepal and Deccan has revealed that Gupta suffix was common among Abhira kings, and Historian D. R. Regmi, links Imperial Guptas with Abhira-Guptas of Nepal.[11] The Indian census of 1931 counted 14 million Ahirs.[12]
In the opinion of Dr. Budh Prakash,the name of the State of Haryana may have been derived from Abhirayana, its ancient inhabitants having been Ahirs.[13] Ahirs ruled the whole of Haryana under the Mogul rule and later were declared as independent kings. James Tod demonstrated that they were included into the list of 36 royal races of Rajasthan(Tod, 1829, Vol1, p69 ii, p358).[14] Max Muller, Christian Lassen, Mrs. Manning and many others have identified Abhira to be Ophir of Bible, which is the name of a country and also the name of a tribe.[15] Thakur Deshraj famous historian has mentioned that "Ahirs along with other tribes made a great contribution in building the state of Rajasthan" and suffered great difficulties in protecting their culture and the land.[16] The Indian census of 1931 counted 14 million Ahirs.[12]