The Abhira were a legendary people mentioned in Ancient Indian Epics and Scriptures as early as the Vedas. The Bhāgavata religion was considered primarily as the religion of the Abhiras (Ahirs) and Krishna himself came to be known as an Abhira (Ahir). In the Mediaeval literature, Krishna is called an Abhira (Ahir). The Abhira (Ahir) were named Gopa when they protected the cows, and Gopal when they tended and grazed the cows. In the period (from 500 B.C. to 1 B.C.) when the Pali language was prevalent in India, the word 'Gopal was modified to 'Goal' and by further modification it took the form of Gwal. This has been aptly described by an unknown poet in a verse that" due to rearing cattle, the Yadav are called 'Gopa' and after being called 'Gopal', they are called 'Gwal'.
Krishna belonged 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.
Etymology
The term Abhira means cow-herd or a Gopa. Anthropologists came up with the view that Haryana was known by this name because in the post- Mahabharata period here lived the Abhiras, who developed special skills in the art of Agriculture. According to Pran Nath Chopra Haryana got it's name from Abhirayana=Ahirayana=Hirayana=Haryana.
Origin and History
The Abhiras have been described in the history of Ancient India as a tribe, which migrated from one place to another, and finally settled in various regions. They are said to have developed a complexity in their culture due to fusion of their tribal with the regional cultures and traditions, which are still living. The problem of migration is one of the most important features of the history of India, which itself based on literary and historical material, is one of the expansion of the vista of the country, which was colonized, physically and culturally by higher communities displacing the established tribals to the hilly regions and forests. The Abhiras or Ahiras are conspicuous example of this rule.
When political condition settled down and a full-fledged state system came into existence, this expansionist urge resulted in the emergence of larger and the smaller states, culminating in the empires of Indian history. The Abhiras after undergoing the process of migration from South India established kingdoms in northern and western India. It is presumed that this exciting movement of the Abhiras took place at about the beginning of the Christian era which is not very correct. At that time, their settlements are supposed to confine to Sind, Panjab, Haryana and Rajasthan—parts adjoining to Gujarat, as recorded by the Mahabharata. In the next few centuries, they consolidated themselves in Saurastra, Gujarat, Malava and khandesha, south India, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, Orissa and even in Assam and Nepal. The earliest authentic reference on the Abhiras can be seen in the Mahabhasya of Patanjali (1.2.3) wherein they have been mentioned as a separate caste and have been associated with the Sudras. Other sources of our information, among others, are— Mahabharata, Ramayana, Markandeya Purana, Padma-Purdana, Mricchakatika, Prabodhacandrodaya, Pratijnayaugandharayana, and a lot of other literary works.
According to some authors, the origin of the Abhiras i is steeped in obscurity. Though there are many references about the Abhiras in Ancient India literature, hardly any of them throw any light on their origin. In support of their argument they quote Mahabhasya of Patanjali who mentions them as a tribe distinct from the Sudras, but no information about their origin is available from it. The Mahabharata depicts them living with the predatory forest tribes. According to the Bhuvanakosa chapters of the Mahabharata and the Puranas these forest tribes were organised in the form of ganas of the mercenaries and freebooters, hostile to Aryans. But in later references they have also been connected with the fourfold order of the society. According to an interpolation in the Manusmrti the Abhiras were born of an Ambastha woman and a Brahmana father.