Talk:Biharis

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Origins[edit]

The origin and meaning heading was a misnomer since the text had nothing to do with either. Also it must be stressed that Biharis are natives of Bihar. To claim an origin and meaning solely related to Pakistan is a mis-statement.--Antorjal 20:26, 2 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]


"related groups" info removed from infobox[edit]

For dedicated editors of this page: The "Related Groups" info was removed from all {{Infobox Ethnic group}} infoboxes. Comments may be left on the Ethnic groups talk page. Ling.Nut 20:52, 19 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes all three exist, carrying different project-banners for WikiProject Ethnic groups, WikiProject Cold War, WikiProject Pakistan and WikiProject Bangladesh. I have proposed a merger of all three, but what would the title be? As soon we can decide on the title, I can volunteer to do the merging. I am posting to all of the WikiProjects for a solution, but it would be better to have a centralized discussion. Aditya(talkcontribs) 13:21, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

"Biharis" is misleading as it can refer to people from Bihar. Bihari Muslims would also be misleading, as the topic is about migrants who migrated to East Pakistan in or after 1947... they not necessarily came from Bihar, to the best of my knowledge. So, perhaps the widely used term "Stranded Pakistanis" should be the title of the merged page. --Ragib (talk) 17:22, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I've changed the templates so all redirect to this discussion. Certainly, Biharis is the wrong place; that should redirect to Bihari, which is a disambiguation page. There are presumably some Bihari Muslims who stayed in Bihar, some who were loyal to Bangladesh, some who are no longer stranded, and some who are stranded; if the first 3 groups are small enough, they can be mentioned under "Stranded Pakistanis" even though the term is not strictly applicable to them; if they are larger, they should be discussed either in a separate article, or in this article under the name "Bihari Muslims". jnestorius(talk) 18:21, 5 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I think it is important to identify an ethnic group by the name the group uses, instead of an outsider identification (especially not a term that may seem derogatory). Besides, a lot many of these people didn't come from Bihar. Many are from Uttar Pradesh, some are from West Bengal, and few are from Orissa. But then, as Bangladesh has taken steps to integrate the group into the mainstream (i.e. as Bangladeshis), and even in the UK they are increasingly getting integrated into the general Muslim scene, is it alright to call them "stranded"? Aditya(talkcontribs) 06:46, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is the term 'muhajirs' ever used for this group (which would be analogous to naming of Urdu-speaking group in current Pakistan)? Otherwise my feeling is that the article should be at 'Bihari Muslims in Bangladesh'. --Soman (talk) 13:48, 6 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Allow me to state the problems again:
  • Bihari Muslims don't necessarily live outside Bihar.
  • Migrant Bihari Muslims don't necessarily resides in Bangladesh (there are many in Pakistan and the UK).
  • This group of people are popularly identified as Biharis in Bangladesh, Muhajirs in Pakistan, and generally Pakistanis in the UK.
  • The community organizations of this group in Bangladesh often calls them Stranded Pakistanis, a term also picked up by the news media and a few government releases.
  • But, there is no international acceptance of the term (certainly not in Pakistan).
Tricky? You bet. I can merge the three articles a in jiffy (and I volunteer, too), but it desparately needs an appropriate title. Aditya(talkcontribs) 03:41, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Muhajir (Pakistan) includes the 1947 refugees. "Stranded Pakistanis" seems both unambiguous and a self-label, so it gets my vote. Of course, the naming issues can and should be elaborated in the article. --jnestorius(talk) 08:21, 19 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
What about Biharis in Bangladesh?--Pharos (talk) 09:50, 27 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I feel that this article should become a section of Bihari people as the individuals discussed in this article are part of the same ethnic group (source). A section to discuss this group could be created, Population in Pakistan and Bangladesh, making the Bihari people appear like this. If this suggestion is not plausible, I would support Pharos' suggestion of renaming this article Biharis in Bangladesh. I hope this helps. With regards, AnupamTalk 05:58, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
If the stranded Pakistanis are not necessarily from Bihar, then how do you discuss them in Bihari people? Also, how would you rename them as "Biharis in Bangladesh" if they are not exclusively from Bihar. --Ragib (talk) 06:18, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
A lot many of them came from Munger and Patna. But, a lot many also came from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. And, a few are from the Urdu speaking community of West Bengal. Only in popular Bangladeshi coinage are this people Biharis, which again is a bit derogatory, too. I had mentioned the Muhajirs earlier because the only binding factor is that they mostly are from India and mostly are Urdu-speakers. Aditya(talkcontribs) 06:43, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Could you please provide me with references that state that the Urdu speakers who migrated to East Bengal were comprised of ethnicities other than Bihari people? Sources indicate that Urdu speakers from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh migrated to West Pakistan rather than East Pakistan (source 1). Urdu speaking Bihari people migrated to both East and West Pakistan (source 2). Most Urdu speakers in Bangladesh belong to the Bihari ethnic group (source 3, source 4, source 5). For this reason, they are called Biharis and can therefore be appropriately be discussed in the Bihari people article. According to a source from Refugees International:

In pre-independence India, the Biharis were an Urdu-speaking Muslim minority who resided in the Hindu region of Bihar. At the time of partition in 1947, some of them chose to move to East Pakistan and others to West Pakistan. When civil war broke out in 1970, the Biharis sided with West Pakistan. After the war and the independence of Bangladesh, they were unwelcome in either country. Pakistan feared that a mass influx of Biharis would destabilize an already fragile and culturally mixed population, particularly in Sindh. Bangladesh scorned them for supporting the enemy. With neither country offering citizenship, the Biharis (also commonly called “Bangladeshi Biharis”, “stranded Pakistanis”, “a linguistic minority” or even just “displaced persons”) have remained stateless for 34 years.

In light of what sources say, the content discussed in this article is appropriate for discussion in the Bihari people article since they belong to the same ethnic group. With regards, AnupamTalk 22:17, 16 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
I would like to point out that it would be possible to write an article called Biharis in Bangladesh, which could explain that it's not strictly about Bihari people in Bangladesh, but rather the entirety of the groups commonly called "Biharis" in that country. Or, maybe Bihari refugees in Bangladesh would have even less of an ethnic emphasis.--Pharos (talk) 01:37, 17 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Anupam, your argument is mostly based on the assumption that the Urdu-speaking stateless immigrants in Bangladesh are exclusively from Bihar. Let me point out again that they are not, though they constitute the majority. Here are some sources: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, Journal of Refugee Studies, Refugee Survey Quarterly, Cambridge Journals, The New Nation, The Asian News, The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia (by Tai Yong Tan and Gyanesh Kudaisya). These people are closely related to the Muhajirs in Pakistan, the major difference being state recognition (i.e. those in Pakistan are citizens of land, those in Bangladesh are not). Though UNHCR refers to the group as Biharis in Bangladesh (Source), they are often referred to as Urdu-speaking stateless immigrants in Bangladesh or Urdu-speaking refugees in Bangladesh or Urdu-speaking stateless people in Bangladesh. IMHO, these are much more NPOV and nearer to the facts. Bihari demonym is used mostly to derogate these people, while Stranded Pakistani has strong political bias. I'd really suggest an NPOV title. Say what? Aditya(talkcontribs) 16:52, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Requests for comment[edit]

Dear Friends: I saw the section on Stranded Pakistanis in wiki-pedia. I have suggested revision of some of the basic defination pertaining to the cultural, ethnic and legal identity of this group. I request your comments from all those interested in the subject. Sincerely Syed Kamal, Founder & President, Stateless People in Bangladesh Inc. Houston, Texas. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Stranded Pakistani (talkcontribs) 15:39, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

This section needs to be merged with Bihari people[edit]

It means the same thing - although originally the article seemed to be focusing on Bihari Muslims.Saimdusan Talk|Contribs 07:37, 26 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Untitled[edit]

Chandaneswar is 78KMS from Balasore,on road, Orissa is Holy Pilgrimage Place and 5KMS from DIGHA,WestBengal. It is Connected by Railway Station Jaleswar, Digha in both the Sides.It is on the bank of Bay of Bengal and build up in the Vicinity of Holy CHANDANESWAR TEMPLE ( It is believed that Lord Shiva has come in the Blessings of Disciples at every Night).It is Surrounded by Nice Natural Scenic Beauty. SUBARNAREKHA River is mingled with Bay of Bengal here which is 5 KMS away from CHANDANESWAR Town.

[[CONTRIBUTED BY:-SUBHASIS PATRA, GUNAIBASAN , BHOGARAI,BALASORE PHONE NO:-06781-231366]]

Races in India[edit]

"Although Indians themselves are together categorized as one race called East Indians" - There is no race called "East Indians", so this section is being altered to "Although racial differentiaion in India is almost non-existent". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.235.32.64 (talk) 03:53, 14 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Origin of Biharis or Origin of King Anga??[edit]

Mythological stories claim that a king of the Yadavas, nicknamed "Mahabali" ruled over this last in the very ancient times. He was impotent. His guru was Maharishi Dirghatamas. Mahabali had many wives and so Maharishi Dirghatamas with the permission of his king impregnated Mahabali's chief queen Sudeshna.[1] Queen Sudeshna bore five children or "Kshetrajas" (rulers of lands), one of them was King Anga, which is modern-day Bihar. From Anga sprang Anapana Anapana.[2]

The above paragraph talks about origin of King Anga and not Biharis. So I am removing it form the section. Kindly discuss if disputed. Manoj nav (talk) 11:27, 21 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chakravarti, P. 99 The Concept of Rudra-Śiva Through the Ages
  2. ^ Political History of Pre-Buddhist India By Asim Kumar Chatterjee

New Additions[edit]

The new additions to this article are highly appreciated and have ameliorated this article from its previous stub condition. Nevertheless, it seems as if some of the newly added information focuses on the region of Bihar rather than the Bihari ethnic group. It might be helpful to compare this article to other ones such as Pathan people, Punjabi people, or Gujarati people. Any comments would be appreciated. With regards, AnupamTalk 04:50, 22 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

UK?[edit]

Is UK one of the regions with significant populations? About 2/3 of British Asians are Punjabi (from both India and Pakistan, mostly Muslims and Sikhs), and the final third is almost entirely Gujarati (from India, mostly Hindus) and Bengali (from Bangladesh, mostly Muslims). Where is the source for the concept that there is a "significant" population of Biharis in the UK? The same goes for the US and Canada. Saimdusan Talk|Contribs 07:00, 25 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Court rules[edit]

Court fees on 1st appeal before district judge against order of suite value Rs. 53000/- with penalty of mense profit of Rs. 571000/-, how much will be the court fees? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 115.117.165.231 (talk) 07:58, 17 June 2010 (UTC)[reply]


Photos of Biharis[edit]

Only three people on the photos are Indian Biharis, Lalu Yadav, Nitish Kumar and the PM of Mauritius (of Bihari origin), the others are Indians from other states. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Notashamed (talkcontribs) 08:16, 18 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 5 May 2015[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved. Number 57 13:16, 29 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]


Bihari peopleBiharis – "Biharis" is the WP:COMMONNAME for these people per Ngram. "Biharis" is an unambiguous and plural demonym. Per WP:ETHNICGROUP#Ethnic groups. And it is more WP:CONCISE than "Bihari people". Per Koreans, Pashtuns, Punjabis, Germans, Swedes, Russians, Serbians, and many other titles of similar articles. "Biharis" is the optimal title for this article. Khestwol (talk) 07:02, 5 May 2015 (UTC)[reply]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Hey, would someone be able to add Sushant Singh Rajput to the inbox? He's a more well known actor then some of the others included like Alok Nath.[edit]

Proposal for the deletion of all the galleries of personalities from the articles about ethnic groups[edit]

Seemingly there is a significant number of commentators which support the general removal of infobox collages. I think there is a great opportunity to get a general agreement on this matter. It is clear that it has to be a broad consensus, which must involve as many editors as possible, otherwise there is a big risk for this decision to be challenged in the near future. I opened a Request for comment process, hoping that more people will adhere to this proposal. Please comment here. Hahun (talk) 14:02, 12 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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Merging of Bhojpuri people article[edit]

I believe it was incorrect to merge the Bhojpuri people article with this one. The Bhojpuri region is spread equally between UP and Bihar not to mention the bordering districts of Nepal. They are spread between three regions and not just Bihar. A separate article should be created in my opinion. Damien2016 (talk) 23:19, 11 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

I believe what Damien2016 is saying in this regard is correct. A separate article should be created for Bhojpuri people. Ind akash (talk) 03:20, 12 March 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Merge with Bihar article[edit]

There is no ethnicity known as "Bihari" so the existence of this article is very dubious. There is no article for "Uttar Pradeshi" or "Madhya Pradeshi" so why does this article exist? It would be better to merge with Bihar article. We already have articles for the separate ethnic groups like Bhojpuris, Maithils etc and they are present in Nepal and UP as well. 207.154.197.50 (talk) 12:08, 19 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

  • Oppose I agree that "Biharis" is not an ethnic group and the article clearly mentions that it is a demonym given to the people of the Indian state of Bihar. However, just that it is not an ethnic group, doesn't mean it is not notable. Thanks. —Ind akash (talk) 15:04, 19 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Extreme support per 207.154.197.50. 70.50.212.64 (talk) 21:29, 22 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose There are two ways to deal with this - (1) keep it as it is, like Orcadians or Hong Kong people in the United Kingdom; (2) turn this into an article on the demonym, i.e. the word itself, like Cantabrigian or Carioca, and merge the stuff that generally applies to the state of Bihar into the article on Bihar. Either way, this article exists independently. Aditya(talkcontribs) 03:20, 23 November 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • SupportThere is no page for UP people, MP people, Jharkhand people etc so why for Bihar? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tarwana (talkcontribs) 15:13, 7 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]
It just shows that someone took the effort to write one one Biharis, and no one took any effort to write on UP or MP people. There are many articles on many roads, and there are many roads that have no article on WP. Aditya(talkcontribs) 17:55, 7 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]
There is no historical sources that denote some sort of group known as "Bihari". It is a completely modern-day and artificial identity that has been imposed on the people by the British and Indian government. Tarwana (talk) 19:22, 7 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]
It may be a relatively modern term but is definitely not artificial (indicated by multiple references in the article). Pratyush (talk) 21:33, 7 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose The article does not claim 'Bihari' to be an ethnicity. The first paragraph itself says Biharis are of different ethnicities. As for the absence of Uttar Pradeshi or Madhya Pradeshi articles, the nominator is free to create an article on the topic. We do not merge articles simply because some other article does not exist (WP:OSE). Pratyush (talk) 21:17, 7 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support Bihari is a language not people. 45.116.232.18 (talk) 16:02, 2 September 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Ethnicity of Biharis.[edit]

Biharis are not fully Indo-Aryans, some groups can be of Indo Aryan community. But mostly are mixed of Indo Aryans and native Austro-Asiatic people whom are called Adivasis. After separation of Jharkhand many Austro-Asiatic people migrated there who were primarily Santalis and Munda tribe people.Communities like Kurmi, Koeri and Ahirs or Gwala are more closer to Austro-Asiatics than Aryans. Deadx650 (talk) 02:08, 25 April 2021 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion[edit]

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 05:52, 9 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding adding caste Khatri/Sindhi under Forward class[edit]

Sir, previously Khatri/Sindhi was there under forward caste,that has been removed and that has to be recorrected, thanks Rajeshithar (talk) 14:03, 13 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Caste is Khatri/Sindhi Rajeshithar (talk) 14:15, 13 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Sir, Kindly add Khatri/Sindhi under forward class under caste section of Bihar as it was before, thanx[edit]

Sir kindly add Khatri and Sindhi under forward class of Bihar in charts ,thanks. Rajeshithar (talk) 14:23, 13 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

ADDING KHATRI/SINDHI CASTE UNDER FORWARD CASTE IN CASTE CHART OF BIHARIS AS BEFORE[edit]

Sir, kindly add Khatri/Sindhi caste under Forward caste of Bihari caste chart as added before ,Thanking You! 117.252.182.123 (talk) 14:56, 13 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 16:35, 13 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Adding sub topic "discrimination against Biharis"[edit]

Add it. 1.38.97.209 (talk) 07:02, 19 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]