Origin

The community get their name from the Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 word vari meaning water. According to their traditions, they were the lords of the waterways. The Bari are likely to be sub-group of the Kewat

Kewat

The Kewat are a Hindu caste, found in the states of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are the traditional boatmen of North India.-History and origin:...

 community. They claim descent from Kirat Bari, a soldier in the army of Maharana Pratap. The community is now found mainly in eastern and southern Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

, and speak the Awadhi

Awadhi language

Awadhi is an Indo-Aryan language, part of the Hindi-Urdu continuum. It is spoken chiefly in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh, although its speakers are also found in Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Nepal. Furthermore, the Fiji Hindi dialect spoken by Indo-Fijians is considered a variant of Awadhi,...

 dialect.

According to mythological texts, Bari were also known as Sharaswat Brahmins in the era of Rama

Rama

Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...

 of Ayodhya. They used to cook food for Rama and called as "Bar". Due to lack of education they shifted to other sub clans which was associated with "Sisodiya" of Rajput clan in the middle age of India. In the history of Rajput they lost life for their king in the battlefield. They also claim descent from Rupan Bari, a soldier in the army of [Alha udal]. Bari people are very reserve and spend their whole life in serving their owners and in return they never ask for land, that is why most of the Bari people were landless. Bari spent many year in forest because of fear of killings by Mugals and their subordinates in India. They adopted business of leaves and started making "leaf crockery" for their livehood. Bari also do trading of pan leaves in state like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Present circumstances

The Bari are strictly endogamous community, and marry close kin. They are a landless community, and earn their living by collecting forest products. A majority of the community are now mainly daily wage labourers. Each of their settlement contains an informal caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

council, known as a biradari panchayat. The panchayat acts as instrument of social control, dealing with issues such as divorce and adultery.

Bari classified as Other Backward classes" in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi. The community use the surname i.e. Bari, Rawat, Rawal, Singh & Thakur. They are also very close to " Tamboli" and Baria Community of other state.