The Ghosi are a division of Ahir community found mainly in North India. The Ghosis are found in both Hindu and Muslim religion.[17][18] They were the zamidars and small rulers of various parts of country.[19]
The Phatak Ahirs claim to be descended from Digpal, the Ahirs of Mahaban.[19]
Dauwa
The Dauwas claim to be the descendants of Shree Balaram.[citation needed] According to Harihar Nivas Dvivedi, all Ahirs and their sub-castes are Shudras, but Dauwa Ahir is considered as comparatively lower as a caste than pure Ahirs.[20] In Bundelkhand, Dauwa Ahirs were allied with Bundela Rajputs and Dauwa women served as wetnurses for Bundela princes as part of a symbolic ritual.[21]
Sorathia is an Ahir clan found in the state of Gujarat in India. According to B.S Suryavanshi, they are the descendents of chief Rao Navaghana of Junagadh.[29]
^Jassal, Smita Tewari; École pratique des hautes études (France). Section des sciences économiques et sociales; University of Oxford. Institute of Social Anthropology (2001). "Caste in the Colonial State: Mallahs in the census". Contributions to Indian sociology. Mouton. pp. 319–351. Quote: "The movement, which had a wide interregional spread, attempted to submerge regional names such as Goala, Ahir, Ahar, Gopa, etc., in favour of the generic term Yadava (Rao 1979). Hence a number of pastoralist castes were subsumed under Yadava, in accordance with decisions taken by the regional and national level caste sabhas. The Yadavas became the first among the shudras to gain the right to wear the janeu, a case of successful sanskritisation which continues till date. As a prominent agriculturist caste in the region, despite belonging to the shudra varna, the Yadavas claimed Kshatriya status tracing descent from the Yadu dynasty. The caste's efforts matched those of census officials, for whom standardisation of overlapping names was a matter of policy. The success of the Yadava movement also lies in the fact that, among the jaati sabhas, the Yadava sabha was probably the strongest, its journal, Ahir Samachar, having an all-India spread. These factors strengthened local efforts, such as in Bhojpur, where the Yadavas, locally known as Ahirs, refused to do begar, or forced labour, for the landlords and simultaneously prohibited liquor consumption, child marriages, and so on."
^Jaffrelot, Christophe (2003). India's silent revolution: the rise of the lower castes in North India. Columbia University Press. pp. 210–211. ISBN978-0-231-12786-8. Quote: "In his typology of low caste movements, (M. S. A.) Rao distinguishes five categories. The first is characterised by 'withdrawal and self-organisation'. ... The second one, illustrated by the Yadavs, is based on the claim of 'higher varna status' and fits with Sanskritisation pattern. ..."
^Gupta, Dipankar (2021). Caste in Question. SAGE Publication. p. 58. ISBN9788132103455. Their original caste title was Ahir. The idea of a unique Krishnavanshi kinship category which fuses traditional subdivisions Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Goallavanshi into a single endogamous unit
^Russell, Robert Vane “ Sir D. Ibbetson says that in the Punjab the name Ghosi is used only for Muhammadans, and is often applied to any cowherd or milkman of that religion, whether Gujar, Ahir or of any other caste, just as Goala is used for a Hindu cowherd. It is said that Hindus will buy pure milk from the Musalmān Ghosi, but will reject it if there is any suspicion of its having been watered by the latter, as they must not drink water at his hands.“ (28 September 2020). The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (Complete). Library of Alexandria. ISBN978-1-4655-8294-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Hasnain, Nadeem “ Ghosi is a Muslim caste of herdsmen. The name of this community is derived from the word 'ghosh' meaning 'to shout' while herding the cattle. Crooke (ibid) mentions that they are converts like the Gaddi from the Ahir community. They belong to the Sunni sect of Islam. They use Urdu as mother tongue and also speak Hindi.” (2016). The Other Lucknow. Vani Prakashan. ISBN978-93-5229-420-6.
^ abLucia Michelutti, Sons of Krishna: the politics of Yadav community formation in a North Indian town (2002) London School of Economics and Political Science University of London, p.90-98