| Classification: | Schedule Cast |
| Languages: | Hindi, Bhojpuri, Angika |
| Region: | Eastern India Central India North India |
| Populated States: | Majority: Bihar Uttar Pradesh West Bengal Minority: Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh Gujarat/Assam |
The Bind are a caste found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Tripura. Bind are under the obc[Other backward caste] category of the central list. Bin/Bind is one of the jaliya communities. In Uttar Pradesh, they are known by the jaliya sub-caste. In Assam Bind/Bin comes under SC.[1]
As per the caste based census data release by Bihar government, there are 12,85,358 Binds (0.9833% of population of Bihar)[2] S.R. Naik's report on Backward classes commission puts Bind as a depressed schedule caste in Bihar. A depressed schedule cast class is similar in spirit to the Extremely Schedule caste.
According to Herbert Hope Risley, the early settlement of Bind community was on the foothill of Vindhya Range of central India [3] [4]
People of this cast have various surnames usually depending on which part of country they are from. They use 'Maḏar'(मड़र), 'Mandal', 'Mondol', 'Prasad', 'Prasad Singh', 'Singh', 'Chauhan', 'Bind'. Women usually have 'Devi' in their surname if they don't use their husbands surname.
The marriage ceremony of the Binds is very close to orthodox Hindu ritual. After the first negotiations have passed between the parents of the bride and bridegroom, the headman (manjan) and the caste council (panchayat) are consulted on the important question of prohibited degrees. This being settled, the next step is ghardekhai, an exchange of visits, at which the bridegroom's people see the bride, and vice versa. In the course of the ghardekhai a date is fixed for tilak when the bride's relatives come to the bridegroom's house and present to him a rupee, a new cloth, some cooking utensils, some betel leaves and areca-nut, and fix in the presence of the headman and some representatives of the caste council an auspicious date for the celebration of the marriage. The ceremony is described in detail in Chapter III. SPECIAL WEDDING CEREMONIES AMONGST THE HINDUS.[5]
The Bind are among 17 Other Backwards Class communities that have been proposed for Scheduled Caste status by the Samajwadi Party-controlled Government of Uttar Pradesh. However, this proposal, which relates to votebank politics and has been made in the past, has been stayed by the courts; a prior attempt was also rejected by the centre.[6] [7]
The Bind have a traditional caste council and, like other occupational castes, maintain strict social control over members. They are Hindu, and customs similar to other similar groupings such as the Kewat. They are concentrated in eastern Uttar Pradesh, and speak Bhojpuri and Maithili..[8]
In Bihar, the Jethaut are mainly engaged in fishing, well sinking and basket making, while the Kharaut are mainly farmers. They speak the Maithili.[9]
BJP leader and Bihar's Mines and Geology Minister Brij Kishor Bind stirred a controversy by claiming that Lord Shiva is from the Bind caste and that it is mentioned in Shiva Puran.[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The function was organized by Noniya, Bind, Beldar Mahasangh.