# Krishnaut

Krishnaut or Kishnaut Ahir is a clan of the Ahir (Yadav) caste found in Bihar, Jharkhand and Nepal. The term Krishnaut which to them denotes their descent from Lord Krishna.
With landholdings in the Northern and Central parts of India, a small segment of the community had taken over land in the newly reclaimed portion of Eastern Bihar (Purnea and Saharsa) to become big landowners.

## Origin and history

The Krishnaut subcaste of Yadav's a name which to them denotes their descent from Lord Krishna. The Kishnaut Ahir clan of Saran is said to have been migrated from North-Western Provinces.

### List of Kingdom and Estate

In Bihar, Nepal and Jharkhand there were many rulers and zamindars belonging to Ahir (Yadav) caste. The Ahir zamindars were predominantly found in northern and eastern parts of Bihar. Most of them belonged to Krishnaut and Majhraut clans of Ahir.
* Kishnaut Ahir Jagirdars Or Zamindars of Parasadi Estate and Parsauna (Saran) Ruled 16th century To Independence
* Raja Arganu Singh Yadav of Patna.
* Gosaipur Darbar Estate, Muzaffarpur.
* Rahimapur Estate, Vaishali.
* Kanheli Estate, Araria.
* Khorasan Estate, Saharsa.

## Culture

Krishnaut people worship Bir Kuar, Bakhtaur Baba as their deity. They sing Lorikayan in Bihar. Krishnaut Yadavs never sell milk, ghee, or butter and to a large extent, they became cultivators.

## Distribution and titles
### Distribution

Krishnaut numerically exceed other sub-caste in the diara land of Patna, Saran and Vaishali district of Bihar.

### Title

The titles generally used by Krishnaut and other sub-caste of Ahirs in Bihar are Yadav, Raut, Gope, Ray/Rai/Roy, Mandal, Prasad, pratap, Singh, Thakur, etc.

## Notable persons

* Bir Kuar, a god of Krishnaut Ahir.
* Karu Khirhar, a folk god.
* Bakhtaur Baba, a folk god.
* Ranjit Singh Ahir, commander of rebel army in Bihar during Indian Rebellion of 1857.
* Bishu Raut, a folk God of Kosi division and Bhagalpur district of Bihar.
* Badri Ahir, a freedom fighter.
* Akshyatwat Rai, a freedom fighter.
* Jiriyawati Devi, a brave women freedom fighter who killed 16 english soldiers.
* Narsingh Gope, a freedom revolutionary and Zamindar of Govindpur.
* Jiyalal Mandal, a freedom fighter and politician.
* Daroga Prasad Rai, Ex-Cm of Bihar.
* Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav, a politician.
* Ram Jaipal Singh Yadav, a freedom fighter and 3rd Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.
* Uday Narayan Rai, a politician.
* Hukumdev Narayan Yadav, a Former Union Minister of Cabinet Textile and food processing and recipient of Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award
* Nand Kishore Yadav, Currently MLA of Patna Sahib Assembly consecutive seven time former Leader of opposition Bihar Assembly.
* Nityanand Rai, a leader of BJP, Currently Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
* Dinesh Chandra Yadav, currently Member of Parliament from Madhepura and former minister of Bihar Government.
* Surendra Prasad Yadav, Currently Member of Parliament from Jahanabad Lok Sabha constituency, Former Cabinet Minister of Bihar.
* Dr. Ramanand Yadav, currently Minister in Bihar Government.
* Jitendra Kumar Rai, Former sports and Youth affairs Minister Of Bihar Government.
* Kunal Singh, first superstar of Bhojpuri cinema.
* Corporal Jyoti Prakash Nirala, posthumously awarded the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime military decoration in January 2018
* Naik Ganesh Prasad Yadav, Veer chakra, kargil war 1999.
* Captain Ashutosh Kumar, posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra
* Mayank Yadav, Indian cricketer