Kandu or Kanu (Halwai) is a social group or caste that belongs to the Vaishya varna of the Hindu religion. The community is also referred to as Madheshia Vaishya.[1] They are also identified with the term Bania of the Tirhut and Madhesi region,[2] representing a community that has been historically associated with sweet-making, smaller trading activities, business, shop-keeping, grain -parching etc. in the eastern parts of India.[3][4]
They have been associated with the states like Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal (Madhesi region). The community has a sizeable presence in Nepal as well.[5][6]
The term Kanu/Halwai is used interchangeably in Bihar and in other parts of India and Nepal. Both the terms refer to the same caste group. Kandu (or Kanu) is the name of the caste while Halwai is their traditional profession.
Palwaiya in Vaishali district of Bihar is considered to be a sacred place for the community as the birthplace of Saint Ganinath.[7][8]
The economic and educational status of the community has not been very high over the last couple of decades. As a result, they have been given the status of OBC at the all India level and EBC in the state of Bihar for reservation purposes.
Their population in Bihar (as per the caste survey of 2023) is around 2.8% (including Kanu and Halwai).[9] When it comes to political representation in Bihar and elsewhere, the community is not adequately represented. Given their population size and social standing the community has been demanding political representation on a large scale.
The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Kandu (called Kanu in the Nepal census) as a subgroup within the broader social group of Madheshi Other Caste.[10] At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 125,184 people (0.5% of the population of Nepal) were Kandu. The frequency of Kandus by province was as follows:
The frequency of Kandus was higher than national average (0.5%) in the following districts:[11]