Yadava

In Hindu mythology, the tribe from which
the god Krishna is said to have come and
over which he ruled after he gained his
kingdom in the city of Dwaraka. In Indian
history, the Yadava dynasty controlled the
Deccan region in modern Maharashtra
between the thirteenth and fourteenth
centuries. In northern Indian society, this
is the name of a particular jati, an endogamous social subgroup that was organized (and whose social status was
determined) by the group’s hereditary
occupation. In past generations the
Yadavas had fairly low status, but they
have recently gained much greater political power—Mulayam Singh Yadav has
twice been elected chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh and has also served as India’s
minister of Defense; Laloo Prasad Yadav
has been the chief minister of Bihar
(either directly or by proxy through his
wife) throughout the 1990s.