Mools

In Bhumihars or Babhans, Mools or Moolgrams are their internal exogamous subsections. Mools are divided based on the village, which is considered their place of origin, each Mool indicates from which specific place they originated. Their total number is more than 450.

Most Mools originate in South Bihar and Tirhut, but some Mools also claim to have come from Central UP.

Almost every Mool had a fixed original Brahminical surname, but most of these surnames have long been abandoned, and in many places, they have been replaced by new zamindari-based titles such as Singh/Sinha, Rai,Thakur, and Chaudhary.

Also, Mools are directly related to Bhumihar’s Gotras in such a way that one Mool can have only one Gotra, but a Gotra can be common amongst multiple Mools.

From a particular Mool, new Mools can also emerge, or branch off. Since about 90% of Bhumihar Mools are territorial in nature, if some people of a Mool leave their original village and settle in another village or place for a long enough period, that smaller offshoot group begins to be known by the name of the new village or place. Over time, this new place name becomes their new Mool and is recognized as a distinct Mool, however gotra remains unchanged because it signifies direct lineage from Hindu Rishis.