What is Gopa (caste)?
'''Gopa or Gop''' or '''Gope''' is a synonym of the [[Ahir]] ([[Yadav]]) caste found in [[India]] and [[Nepal]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wWEiAQAAMAAJ&q=abhir+gopa|title=Social Movements and Social Transformation: A Study of Two Backward Classes Movements in India|last=Rao|first=M. S. A.|date=1987|publisher=Manohar|isbn=978-0-8364-2133-0|language=en}}</ref> ==Origin and History== In the Mahabharata, [[Ahir]], Gopa, Gopal and [[Yadav|Yadavas]] are all synonyms. The Amarakośa mentions Gopa, Gopāla, Gosaṁkhya, Godhuk and Ballava as the synonyms for [[Abhira]] and says that the village or place where [[Abhira|Abhiras]] lived is named as Ghosha or [[Abhira|Abhirapalli]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WcnnB-Lx2MAC|title=Personal and Geographical Names in the Gupta Inscriptions|last=Sharma|first=Tej Ram|date=1978|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|language=en}}</ref> The modern [[Ahir|Ahirs]] are the descendants of the [[Abhira|Abhiras]] of ancient times.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9pmo51lRnYC|title=Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World|last=Garg|first=Gaṅgā Rām|date=1992|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-374-0|language=en}}</ref> The [[Abhira|Abhiras]] were the same as the Gopas or Ballavas of [[Mathura]] becomes evident from the fact that the Padma Purana relates that [[Vishnu]] informed the [[Abhira|Abhiras]]: I shall be born amongst you, O [[Abhira|Abhiras]], at [[Mathura]] in my eighth birth.<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|language=en}}</ref> The [[Yadav|Yadavas]] of the [[Mahabharata]] period were known to be the followers of [[Vaishnavism]], of which [[Krishna]] was the leader: they were Gopas (cowherd) by profession, but at the same time they held the status of the [[Kshatriya]]s, participating in the battle of [[Kurukshetra]]. The