Gopa (caste)
Gopa or Gop or Gope is a synonym of a caste in India and Nepal. It is generally used as a title by the yadav/Ahir caste in the states of Bihar in India and the Terai region of Nepal.
Etymology
The Sanskrit word Gopa, originally meant only a cowherd; it then came to mean the head of cowpen and lastly the chief of a tribe.Origin and history
Buddhaswami, an ancient scholar, in his Brhatkathaslokasamgraha has mentioned the story of an Abhira who lived in a 'Ghosha' where both the terms 'Abhira' and 'Gopa' have been used for the same people.The Amarakosha lists Gopa, Gopala, Gosamkhya, Godhuk, and Ballava as synonyms for Abhira and states that the village or settlement where Abhiras lived was called Ghosa or Abhirapalli.
Gwalior was known as Gopagiri in ancient and early medieval times, as mentioned in inscriptions by rulers such as Mihirkula and in an 876 AD inscription of Bhoja Deva, which suggest some kind of association of this place with pastoral communities like the Gopas.
Dynasties, chieftaincy & zamindari
- Gopala-Gupta dynasty and Mahisapala dynasty of Nepal.
- Sadgope Dynasty of Gopbhum. It had two Sadgope kings, one ruled from Amrargar and other from Dhekur.
- Sadgope rulers of Midnapore Raj, Narajole Raj, Narayangarh and Balrampur in Bengal.
- Gopa or Ahir chieftain of Murho Estate, Parasadi Estate, Belwarganj Estate, Ranipatti Estate, Tintanga Estate in Bihar.