What is "baiswar"

The Baiswar or Baiswar Chhatri are a Hindu caste found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are considered to be ferocious fighters.

According to the traditions of the community, they are a branch of Bais Rajputs of Dundiya Khera. Their ancestors were two brothers who fled Dundiya Khera to escape a Rajah, with whom they had fallen out with. They fled to Rewa in what is now Madhya Pradesh. Over time, his descendents moved into the districts of Sonbadhra and Mirzapur. A small number migrated to Varanasi District in the 19th Century. Their homeland is in a hilly forested terrain The community have no connection with the Bais Rajput, and are now strictly endogamous. They are further divided into four divisions, the Khandait, or swordsmen, the Rautia, the Chaudhary and the Sohagpuria. Each of these groups intermarry, but marriage is forbidden within the subcaste. They are mainly a community of peasant proprietors. Animal husbandry is an important secondary occupation.