Relation to Ahirs

Several castes and ethnic groups in India claim descent from the Yadu lineage. these include the Ahirs in the North and West India; the "Goalas" and "Sadgopa" or Gauda in Bengal and Orissa; Dhangar in Maharashtra; Yadava and Kurubas in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Idayan and Konar in Tamil Nadu. There are also several sub-regional names such as Thetwar and Rawat in Madhya Pradesh, and Mahakul (Great Family) in Bihar. The traditional occupation of most of these castes relates to cattle.
The Ahirs, also referred to as Abhira or Abhir, also claim descent from Yadu through Krishna, and are identified with the Yadavs. In the 1881 census records of the British empire, Yadavs are identified as Ahirs.
Besides mythological origin, historical evidence exists for identifying the Ahirs with the Yadavas. It is argued that the term Ahir comes from Abhira (Behandarkar, 1911;16), who where once found in different parts of India, and who in several places wielded political power. Ancient Sanskrit classic, Amarkosa, calls gwal, gopa & ballabh to be the synonym of Abhira.A Chudasama prince styled Grahripu and Ruling at Vanthali near Junagarh described in the Dyashraya kavya of Hemachandra, describes him both as a Abhira and a Yadav. Further, in their Bardic traditions as well as in popular stories Chudasmas are still called Ahir Ranas. Again, many remains of Khandesh (historical stronghold of abhiras) are popularly believed to be of Gawli Raj, which archaeologically belongs to the Yadvas of Devgiri. Hence, it is concluded that Yadvas of Devgiri were actually Abhiras. Moreover, there are sufficient number of clans within Yadav, who trace their lineage from Yadu and Lord Krishna, some of which are mentioned in Mahabharata as Yadav Clans, like Gaur, Krishnauth etc. Vātsyāyana also mentions the Abhira kingdoms in the Kama Sutra. Ahir’s also ruled beyond the geographical borders of present day India, as king of the hilly terrain of Nepal. Eight kings of the first Yadav dynasty ruled Nepal, the first being Bhuktaman and the last Yaksha Gupta. Owing to pastoral disputes, this dynasty was then replaced by another Yadav dynasty. This second Yadav dynasty had a succession of three kings, they were Badasimha, Jaymati Simha and Bhuban Simha and their rule ended when the Kirati invaders defeated Bhuban Simha, the last Yadav king of Nepal.