Benvanshi or Benbansi is a

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

native to Central India. The Chief of Singrauli Sirdars

Benbansis originated as a Kharwar clan that

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

itself to the

Rajput Rājpūt (, from Sanskrit ''rājaputra'' meaning "son of a king"), also called Thākur (), is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating fro ...

rank.

Francis Buchanan-Hamilton Francis Buchanan (15 February 1762 – 15 June 1829), later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, was a Scottish surgeon, surveyor and botanist who made significant contributions as a geographer and zoolo ...

, in his ''An Account Of The District Of Shahabad in 1812-13'', mentions that the chief of

Singrauli Singrauli is a city in Singrauli district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and Commissionaire of Rewa. It lies about from the district headquarters of Waidhan. History Previously it was a part of Singrauli State which was ruled by the ...

(in present-day

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

) and was not ashamed of calling himself a Kharwar. Later, he married his daughter to another Kharwar chief and who was offended at being called a Kharwar. After this event, the chief of Singrauli assumed the royal title of ''Raja''. Buchanan wrote that chief's son would probably call himself a Rajput. This prediction was correct, as by 1896, the ''Raja'' of Singrauli claimed to be a "Benbansi Rajput", as recorded by

William Crooke William Crooke (6 August 1848 – 25 October 1923) was a British orientalist and a key figure in the study and documentation of Anglo-Indian folklore. He was born in County Cork, Ireland, and was educated at Erasmus Smith's Tipperary Grammar S ...

. Crooke wrote the name "Ben-bansi" ("of Ben family") is variously thought to be derived from the word ''ben'' meaning "bamboo" or from the name of the legendary king Vena. Crooke mentions that the Benbansis had "made rapid stride to acquire the rank of Rajputs".

References

{{Rajput Groups of India Rajput clans of Madhya Pradesh