Kotwar (original) (raw)

The Kotwar are a community found in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. They are sub-group of the Panika caste. The word Kotwar is a corruption of kotwal, which means a keeper of the castle in Hindi. They are said to have acquired the name on account of the fact that they were traditionally village watchmen. The Panika were a caste traditionally associated with weaving, and the change of occupation by the Kotwar led to them becoming a distinct endogamous sub-group of the Panika.