What is Abhira?
The '''Abhiras''' ('''Ahirs''') is an agricultural and pastoral community of Indian subcontinen who call themselves [[Yadav|Yadavas]] and the notion that [[Krishna]] was an Abhira.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kgpLBpUCufwC|title=Epic and Purāṇic bibliography: S-Z, Indexes|last1=Stietencron|first1=Heinrich von|last2=Flamm|first2=Peter|date=1992|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-03028-1|pages=252|language=en}}</ref> The Abhiras often mentioned in [[Literature|ancient Indian literature]] in connection with [[Krishna]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DB29DwAAQBAJ|title=A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism|last=Klostermaier|first=Klaus K.|date=2014-10-01|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-78074-672-2|language=en}}</ref> they were a [[Warrior|warlike tribe]] is admitted by all and Probably they were a semi-nomadic people as they are associated with various peoples and provinces.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q-ksAQAAMAAJ|title=Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona|last=Institute|first=Bhandarkar Oriental Research|date=1917|publisher=The Institute|pages=564|language=en}}</ref> A historical people of the same name are mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. '''[[Krishna]]''' belonged to a nomadic tribe of '''Abhiras''' known as Sāttvatas who inhabited the country near Mathura. These Sāttvatas or more properly the [[Yadav|Yadavas]] of whom they were a branch were mentioned by Panini.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UW1AAAAAIAAJ&q=Krishna+Abhiras+S%C4%81ttvatas|title=The Dynamics of Faith: Comparative Religion|last=Mitra|first=Khagendranath|date=1952|publisher=University of Calcutta|pages=213|language=en|quote=Krishna belongs to a nomadic tribe of Abhiras known as Sāttvatas who inhabited the country near Mathura. These Sāttvatas or more properly the Yadavas of whom they were a branch were mentioned by Panini.}}</ref> ==Etymology== The term Abhira means cow-herd or a [[Gopa (cas