Talk:Katiyar

KATIYAR

Katiyar (Katyar) कटियार / कट्यार
Tomar Rajput clan
Country	India
Region	Awadh (Oudh)
Core area	Hardoi – Kanpur Dehat

Katiyar (also spelt Katyar) is a Tomar Rajput clan primarily found in the Hardoi and Kanpur Dehat district region of western Uttar Pradesh.This clan is said to have derived its title of Katiyars/Katyars or 'slaughterers,' from the ruthless manner in which they massacred all who ventured to oppose them. British colonial gazetteers describe them as Tomar Rajputs who migrated from Gwalior State in the mid-16th century and established large taluqdari estates in the Doab.

History

Migration and settlement under Deoram Dat (c. 1554 CE)

The District Gazetteer of Hardoi (1904) records that the Katiyars are Tomar Rajputs who came from Sonoria (also called Tomar Katar) in Gwalior. The first recorded member of the clan to permanently settle in the region was Deoram Dat (Deo Ram Dut) around 1554 CE, while on a pilgrimage to the Ganges. He initially settled at Singhirampur on the Farrukhabad side of the river. The Katiari pargana was then held by Dhanuks and Manihars (or Baibar Ahirs). Deoram Dat allied with the Manihars to defeat the Dhanuks, then turned on his former allies, slaying their leaders and seizing their lands, thereby establishing the Katiyar estates in present-day Hardoi district.

In the third generation after Deoram Dat, the estate was divided between two brothers, Dhani Singh and Salai Sah. Salai Sah’s four sons — Madan Singh, Pirthi Singh, Narind Sah, and Kirat Singh — received the main Harioli estates, which were further subdivided among their descendants. From Kirat Singh’s line came Ranjit Singh, who built the mud fort of Dharmpur in 1732.

Expansion into Kanpur Dehat

From Hardoi, the clan expanded southwards into present-day Kanpur Dehat, holding taluqdari estates in Akbarpur, Rasoolabad, and Rajpur parganas.

Gotra and Kuldevi

The Katiyars belong to the Vyaghra gotra (tiger lineage), an ancient Vedic gotra symbolising strength and protection, shared by the entire Tomar clan.

The kuldevi of the Tomar clan, including the Katiyar branch, is Yogeshwari Mata (also known as Chilai Mata or Yogmaya Mata). The historic Yogmaya Temple in Mehrauli, Delhi, is associated with the Tomar rulers of Delhi. Sheetala Mata is widely worshipped locally in Hardoi and Kanpur Dehat villages (especially at Dharmpur and Khathri temples) as a regional ishtadevi, but the clan-wide kuldevi remains Yogeshwari/Chilai Mata.

Status in British records

- Crooke (1896): “Katiyār—a sub-division of the Tomar Rajputs… rank as one of the superior Rajput tribes of Oudh.”

- Oudh Gazetteer (1877): “Katiyar proprietors… rank as one of the superior Rajput tribes of Oudh.”

Modern OBC classification

Since the 1990s the community has been administratively listed under the “Kurmi” entry in the Uttar Pradesh OBC list. This is a post-independence decision based on agricultural occupation after the abolition of zamindari and is not supported by pre-1947 British records, which identify the Katiyars exclusively as a Tomar Rajput clan.

Request Kindly update the article with the above fully cited historical details so that the page accurately reflects the clan’s documented identity as a Tomar Rajput clan.

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