The Kewat, also spelled Kevat, is a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

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 ...

, found in the states of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

in India. They are the traditional boatmen of northern

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, and also in neighbouring country

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

Origin

The name "Kevata" was first appeared in the Pillar Edict V of Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

In India: Present circumstances

The Kewat are among the 17 OBC communities of

that have been proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

-controlled

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

. However, this proposal, which relates to

votebank politics A votebank (also spelled vote-bank or vote bank), in the political discourse of India and Pakistan, is a loyal bloc of voters from a single community, who consistently back a certain candidate or political formation in democratic elections. Such b ...

and has been made in the past, has been stayed by the courts; a prior attempt was also rejected by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

. Kewats are recognised as Scheduled Caste in the states of

and

as Keot, Keyot or Jalkeot. With a population of 937,861, Kewats constitute 0.7174% of

's population in the 2023 caste census.

In Nepal

The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Kewat as a subgroup within the broader social group of

Madheshi Madheshi people () is a term used for several ethnic groups in Nepal living in the Terai region of Nepal. It has also been used as a political pejorative term by the Pahari people (Nepal), Pahari people of Nepal to refer to Nepalis with a no ...

Other Caste. At the time of the

2011 Nepal census Nepal conducted a widespread national census in 2011 by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. Working in cooperation with the 58 municipalities and the 3,915 Village Development Committees at a district level, they recorded data from all the m ...

, 153,772 people (0.6% of the population of Nepal) were Kewat. The frequency of Kewat by province was as follows: *

Madhesh Province Madhesh Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province of Nepal in the Terai region with an area of covering about 6.5% of the country's total area. It has a population of 6,126,288 as per the 2021 Nepal census, making it Nepal's most densely po ...

(1.4%) *

Lumbini Province Lumbini Province () is a Provinces of Nepal, province in western Nepal. The country's Provinces of Nepal, third largest province in terms of area as well as List of Nepalese provinces by population, population, Lumbini is home to the World Herita ...

(1.0%) *

Koshi Province Koshi Province () is an autonomous Provinces of Nepal, province of Nepal adopted by the Constitution of Nepal on 20 September 2015. It covers an area of , about 17.5% of the country's total area. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its cap ...

(0.6%) *

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province (, ''Bāgmatī pradēśa'') is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. Bagmati is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest province by area. It is bordered ...

(0.0%) *

Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southw ...

(0.0%) *

Sudurpashchim Province Sudurpashchim Province () is one of the seven Provinces of Nepal, provinces established by the Constitution of Nepal, new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, ...

(0.0%) *

Karnali Province Karnali Province () is one of the seven federal provinces of Nepal formed by the new constitution, which was adopted on 20 September 2015. The total area of the province is , making it the largest province in Nepal with 18.97% of the country's ...

(0.0%) The frequency of Kewat was higher than national average (0.6%) in the following districts: * Dhanusha (6.1%) * Parasi (3.5%) * Morang (2.7%) *

Rupandehi Rupandehi District (; ), a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and covers an area of . The district headquarter is Bhairahawa. As per the national census 2011, the population of Rupandehi was 880,196. Etymol ...

(2.5%) *

Siraha Siraha ( Nepali: , ) is the headquarters and municipality of Siraha District, a part of Madhesh Province, Nepal. Siraha had a population of 28,442 according to the census of 2011. and a population of 82,531 as of 2015. The current population of Si ...

(2.2%) * Kapilvastu (2.1%) * Mahottari (1.1%)

References

{{Tribes of Uttar Pradesh Social groups of Uttar Pradesh Indian castes Hindu communities Social groups of Rajasthan Social groups of Bihar Other Backward Classes