The Kotwar are a community found in the state of

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 ...

in India. They are sub-group of the

Panika The Panika are a Hindu community found in the Indian states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. Traditionally they are weaver. They are also known as Panka and Panikar. Etymology They used to made Pankha(fan). ...

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 ...

. The word ''Kotwar'' is a corruption of ''kotwal'', which means a keeper of the castle in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. They are said to have acquired the name because they were traditionally village watchmen. The Panika were a caste traditionally associated with weaving, and the change of occupation by the Kotwar led to them becoming a distinct endogamous sub-group of the

. The Kotwar are one many former tribal communities that have now been incorporated into the

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 system. They are now found mainly in the districts of

Sonbhadra Sonbhadra (also known as Sonebhadra) or Sonanchal is the second largest district by area of Uttar Pradesh after Lakhimpur Kheri. The district headquarters is in the town of Robertsganj. Sonbhadra is also known as the "Energy Capital of India" f ...

and

Mirzapur Mirzapur () is a city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is known for its carpets and brassware industries, and the tradition of kajari and birha music. Straddled by the Kaimur extension of Vindhya mountains, it served as the headquarters of t ...

. Their habitat is hilly undulating terrain, and extremely forested. They speak Hindi and have scheduled caste status. They are now a community of small- and medium-sized farmers. The Kotwar are

, and have a number of tribal deities like Dulha Deo, Maharani Devi and Seetla DeviPeople of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Three edited by A Hasan & J C Das page 1108 to 1113 Manohar Publications

References

{{Tribes of Uttar Pradesh Social groups of Uttar Pradesh