The Yaduvanshi Aheer or Yaduvanshi Ahir claim descent from god Krishna of the ancient Yadava clan.[1] The Ahirs have three major classifications - Yaduvanshi, Nandavanshi and Gwalavanshi. Yaduvanshis claim descent from Yadu, Nandavanshis claim descent from Nanda, the foster father of Krishna and Gwalavanshis claim descent from gopis and gopas of Krishna's childhood.[2][3]
As per anthropologist Bhrigupati Singh in Classical Hinduism Krishna was from the Yaduvanshi Ahir tribe.[4][5]
Historians such as P. M. Chandorkar has used epigraphical evidence to argue that Ahirs and Gawlis are representative of the ancient Abhiras and Yadavas tribe mentioned in Sanskrit works.[6]