Gadaria

The Gadaria or Gadariya (also known as Baghela, Pal, Gadri, Gayri, or Gayari) is an ethnic group that was traditionally involved professionally in livestock breeding, especially sheep. The Gurjars also have herds along with cattle and it is believed that over time the Gurjars who remained shepherds became a different caste named Gadaria. In Bihar they are called Gangajali, Bhedihar and Gaderi. They speak Hindi or local dialects. They are primarily found in Uttar Pradesh and in some parts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.
Etymology.
The word Gadaria is derived from the old Hindi word "Gadar", which means "sheep".
History.
In the early 1910s, an educated class of Gadarias formed All India Pal Kshatriya Mahasabha. There were debates within the community whether to add Kshatriya suffix to the community name. In the 1930s, they started referring to themselves as "Pali Rajput", a synonym of Pal kshatriya. They started caste magazines like "Pal kshatriya Samachar" and "Shepherd Times". Later the community went through the process of de-sanskritization and dropped the suffix Kshatriya. Among the reasons cited for de-sanskritization were losing autonomy of their caste identity and avoiding being submerged into the identity of high castes.
Sub-castes.
There are two major subdivisions amongst Gadarias, namely Dhangar and Nikhar. They share the same gotras. Chauhan, Parihar, Sisodiya, Chandel, Bhadoriya, Solanki, etc. are some of the gotras amongst them.
In Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Delhi they are classified as Other Backward Class in the Indian System of Reservation.
Religion.
They practice Hinduism, worship family deities and various other deities including Ram, Krishna, Shiva, Vishnu, Hanuman, Kali, Chandi and Lakshmi. Some of them wear sacred thread. Majority of them are vegetarians, though some of them eat meat and drink alcohol.