title: Kuban Cossacks

text: Like many other Cossacks, some refuse to accept themselves as part of the standard ethnic Russian people, and claim to be a separate subgroup on par with sub-ethnicities such as the Pomors. In the 2002 Russian census the Cossacks were allowed to have distinct nationality as a separate Russian sub-ethnical group. The Kuban Cossacks living in Krasnodar Kray, Adygea, Karachayevo-Cherkessia and some regions of Stavropol Krai and Kabardino-Balkaria counted 25,000 men. However, the strict governance of the census meant that only Cossacks who are in active service were treated as such, and at the same time, 300,000 families are registered by the Kuban Cossack Host. Kuban Cossacks not politically affiliated with the Kuban Cossack Host, such as the director of the Kuban Cossack Choir Viktor Zakharchenko, have maintained at various times a pro-Ukrainian orientation.


title: Kuban Cossacks

text: Within the Empire, the Kuban land was administered through the Kuban Oblast with a semi-military administration. It was composed of seven subdivisions (), and numbered 1.3 million people (278 and 32 ). Kuban Cossacks formed regular units of the Imperial Russian Army as listed below. The following lists the structure prior to the outbreak of World War I, although this was re-organised during the conflict (see foot-note).


title: Kuban Cossacks

text: In peacetime the Host provided 10 horse regiments making up a Kuban Cossack division, six "plastun" (infantry) battalions and six horse-artillery batteries; in addition to irregular and support units. The "first" regiments were linked to the specific locales that they were recruited from, although they would often be deployed elsewhere in the Empire. In wartime, recruits were drafted from each region to form "second" regiments during the stage of initial mobilization. If further manpower was required, a "third" regiment would be formed to be dispatched as reinforcements. During World War One a total of 37 horse (cavalry) regiments were raised by the Kuban Cossack Host.


title: Kuban Cossacks

text: As noted the "plastun" units served as infantry. On mobilization an additional six battalions (numbered 7th through 12th) were added to the peacetime establishment, and a further two (13th and 14th) raised as reserve units. The effectiveness of these units was demonstrated during the war, particularly the Caucasus Front and by 1917 a total of 22 battalions, comprising one division plus four brigades, were on active service. A further three battalions were in reserve.


title: Kuban Cossacks

text: In addition there four commands that were responsible for support and home front organisation in the Kuban (supplies, hospitals etc.): Ust-Labinskaya, Armavirskaya, Labinskaya and Batalpashinskaya.


title: Kuban Cossacks

text: From 1914 to 1917 the Kuban Cossack Host committed a total of 89 thousand men to the Russian war effort. These included 37 horse regiments, a cavalry division, 2 mounted regiments recruited from mountain peoples (Adyghe and Karachay), six "convoy" (Imperial Guard) escort half-sotnias, two Leib Guard HIH personal sotnias, 4 infantry plastun brigades (22 battalions), a special plastun division, nine horse artillery batteries, four reserve horse regiments and three reserve plastun battalions.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Reaper is an American comedy television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The series ran from September 25, 2007, to May 26, 2009, airing on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/7:00 p.m. Central, on The CW. The series was produced by ABC Studios and The Mark Gordon Company. The rights for the show have been given to Fox for its broadcast in Asia.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Sam Oliver (Bret Harrison) lives at home with his parents (Andrew Airlie and Allison Hossack) in the Seattle area. Sam dropped out of college ("It made him sleepy", his Mom explains) and took a dead-end job at the Work Bench, a home-repair superstore. He spent the rest of his time hanging out, playing video games and pining for his co-worker Andi (Missy Peregrym).


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: On Sam's 21st birthday, his parents behave very strangely and Sam himself sees hellish visions and experiences odd events. His father eventually claims that many years ago he was very sick, and in return for restoring his health he and his wife promised their firstborn child to the Devil (Ray Wise). Although the couple intended to cheat the Devil by not having children, this plan went awry when Satan persuaded their doctor to lie and tell the couple that they couldn't conceive in exchange for wiping his gambling debts clean. Sam was born shortly thereafter.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: After informing him of his fate, the Devil explains to Sam that he must serve as his bounty hunter (or "Reaper"), tracking down souls that have escaped from Hell and sending them back using his new powers (which include telekinesis) and "vessels", varied objects said to have been hand-made in the bowels of perdition by the iniquitous and the vile. Vessels appear inside a long wooden box sent for Sam to open (with the Italian inscription ""Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch'entrate"" ["Abandon all hope, ye who enter here"], as was written on the entrance to Hell in Dante's Inferno), and are specially designed for each job. Examples throughout the series have included a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, a Taser gun, and a cigarette lighter.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Although Sam initially balks, Satan tells him that should he refuse, Sam's mother's soul is forfeit. Unwilling to sacrifice his mother and convinced that he is doing good in the world by tracking down evil souls, Sam accepts his fate. With the help of his slacker friends Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) he begins his new life tracking down the corrupted souls trying to escape their own eternal punishment.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: "Reaper" premiered on September 25, 2007, in the U.S., airing on Tuesday nights at 9:00PM Eastern/8:00PM Central on the CW, following "Beauty and the Geek". The series had a full 18 episode order for the 2007–2008 season, with 13 pre-strike episodes and 5 post-strike episodes.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: "Reaper" stopped airing new episodes after the tenth episode due to the industry-wide 2007-2008 Writers Guild of America strike. It resumed new pre-strike episodes for three weeks on Thursdays in March, and began airing post-strike episodes on April 22, 2008.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: On May 12, 2008, "Reaper" was officially renewed for a 13-episode second and final season which premiered on March 3, 2009.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: On May 19, 2009, "Reaper" was officially cancelled by The CW. However, ABC Studios was still in negotiations with CW affiliates to syndicate the show, or sell it to cable.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Tyler Labine who plays Sock posted on his Facebook account that "Reaper" is officially cancelled and will not be returning.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The pilot script which was written by creators/executive producers Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters received a script commitment by The CW in September 2006. Mark Gordon and Deborah Spera also joined the project as executive producers under the former's production banner at Touchstone Television, The Mark Gordon Company. The network green-lighted a pilot order for the script in January 2007, and writer/director Kevin Smith agreed to direct the first hour of the series in February 2007. The CW gave the series an early pick-up and a 13-episode order on May 15, 2007.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: While initially not making a full season order, The CW eventually ordered an additional 3 episodes, citing a high percentage of audience retention between "Reaper" and "Beauty and the Geek". Additional episodes were ordered to fill in the first season after the writer's strike was resolved, and a second season of 13 episodes was later ordered, as well.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In a February 1, 2010 interview with CliqueClack TV, creators Fazekas and Butters revealed many of the unresolved plots from the series.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Casting began in February 2007, when Bret Harrison won the lead role of Sam Oliver. At the time, his commitment to the series came second to his show at Fox, "The Loop", which had yet to air its second season on the network. The show was later canceled, leaving Harrison free to fully concentrate on "Reaper". Canadian actor Tyler Labine (formerly of the fan favorite sci-fi series "Invasion") was cast in the same month in the role of Bert "Sock" Wysocki, Sam's best friend and sidekick. Nikki Reed, actress and co-writer of the award-winning film "Thirteen", was originally cast as Sam's love interest, Andi, in March 2007 but she was replaced by Missy Peregrym, who was fresh off a high-profile recurring role on "Heroes" in June 2007. Actors for the roles of Ben (Sam and Sock's co-worker and friend) and Josie (Sock's ex-girlfriend) were found in the same month when Rick Gonzalez and Valarie Rae Miller were cast. Anthony Head and James Marsters auditioned for the role of the devil before Ray Wise was cast in the part in mid-March. Kyle Switzer was cast as Sam's younger brother Keith. Keith's name would later be changed to Kyle, and was written out of the show after two episodes. Donovan Stinson and Andrew Airlie rounded out the cast as Ted Gallagher and John Oliver, Sam's boss and father respectively.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In July 2008, it was announced that Eriko Tamura had been cast as a season 2 recurring character, playing Sock's new stepsister and love interest.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The first showing of the pilot occurred on July 27, 2007, at Comic-Con International in San Diego. It received mostly positive responses from critics and audience members alike. The series premiered on The CW on September 25, 2007, and ran on Tuesdays, but moved in late February 2008 to Thursdays after "Smallville". After the restart following the writers' strike, "Reaper" returned to being broadcast on Tuesday nights on The CW as original releases.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The CW cancelled the show near the end of the second season, airing the final episode on May 26, 2009. ABC Studios was initially in talks with CW affiliates to get a syndicated version of "Reaper" run on Sunday nights.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: It was later reported that syndication talks with CW affiliates fell through, as well as attempts to sell the series to Sci-Fi Channel as part of its change over to Syfy, after news that both Bret Harrison ("Sam") and Tyler Labine ("Sock") would not be returning for season three even if the syndication plan proved viable.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The official "Reaper" website confirmed that there will be no third season, but there will be a comic book series and possibly a cartoon.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In February 2018, Bret Harrison and Tyler Labine reprised their roles from the show on an episode of "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World".


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In 2013, FEARnet made a syndication deal to air the entire series. It is FEARnet's first "off-network" series, meaning that it is the first third-party show they air that they didn't make for the network. The series premiered on June 4, 2013, but on May 28, FEARnet aired a 30-minute reunion special that they produced which featured discussion with some of the cast. During the reunion cast members left open the possibility that a Kickstarter campaign could help finance the production of a season 3 of Reaper.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Sam Oliver (played by Bret Harrison), the protagonist of the show, is a dropout and all-around slacker who, due to a deal that his parents made to save his father's life, is coerced into becoming a bounty hunter for the Devil after turning 21 years old. According to the terms of the contract, Sam would serve the Devil by using various tools, called vessels, to recapture souls who have escaped from Hell. After capturing an escaped soul with a vessel, he would then drop the vessel and soul at a portal to Hell, which was the local Department of Motor Vehicles in the show. Also, the Devil would grant Sam a unique power to aid in a particular soul's capture; the type of power ranged from telekinesis to a tattoo hinting the soul's location.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Sam, despite being an inherent quitter, surrendered to his fate as a bounty hunter for the Devil in an endeavor to prevent the escaped souls from endangering innocent lives and to protect his mother's soul. He enlists the help of his best friends Sock and Ben with capturing these dangerous souls.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Since the beginning of the show, Sam had romantic feelings for his co-worker, Andi and the two entered a relationship by the end of the first season.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: At the end of season one, the demon Tony tells Sam that he believes Sam's parents were paid by the Devil to carry his (the Devil's) baby, though Sam's mother denied this, and the Devil admits that he would probably not answer Sam honestly if asked about it. Later, the Devil indicates that Sam is his son, although the father who raised Sam, Mr. Oliver, tells Sam that the deal with the Devil will not allow him to tell Sam the truth of the matter. All other characters who know about the claim assume that Sam, though kindhearted, is indeed the Devil's son.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: During season 2, Sam discovers an escaped soul, Alan, that can't be sent back to Hell because he claims he escaped the Devil. Sam continues throughout the season hunting down Alan, trying to get information on how to escape his contract.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In "Underbelly", the Devil hints that Sam is invulnerable. In "The Home Stretch," Sam inadvertently wins a competition with his half-brother Morgan and is appointed the Devil's right-hand man. In the words of the Devil, he is "my right-hand man, my human representative in this realm, serving at my side as we create Hell on earth". In "No Reaper Left Behind", the Devil tells Sam, "I expect you to rise to the heights of political power here on Earth, seize control of the planet, and hasten the Apocalypse".


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Andi breaks up with Sam once Morgan gives her the idea that Sam is the son of the Devil. She stated she recognized evil within him, and she can't deal with it. Even though she ended the relationship, Andi continues to assist Sam in capturing souls. In "The Devil & Sam Oliver", Andi ends up with him again, united by the fact that both of their souls are owned by the Devil.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In the series finale, Sam gains information that can help him regain his soul. Sam challenges the Devil to a game, but a wingless angel named Steve intentionally broke Sam's hand causing Sam to lose to the Devil. But at the end of the episode, Steve reveals to the then-dating pair Sam and Andi that he helped Sam by breaking his hand and that he was acting on a higher authority.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The lowest-performing salesperson at the Work Bench, Bert "Sock" Wysocki (played by Tyler Labine) spends most of his time sleeping in the stock shelves, planning his topless home supply store, and other time-wasting activities. He won the dog of the month award (the opposite of employee of the month) nine months in a row. He also regularly steals supplies from the Work Bench, both to aid Sam in capturing souls and for fun (like making a mechanical bull from paint mixers and lumber). Fortunately, he is braver and more athletic than his slacker personality suggests, and often provides the muscle of Sam's group. Sock assists Sam with collecting souls.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Sock lived with his mother for the majority of the first season but had to move out after she remarried in Las Vegas. After being kicked out, he first lives in the Work Bench but then he finds an apartment and forges Sam's and Ben's signatures on the lease and they live there for the rest of the season.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: At the start of the show Sock and Josie have just broken their relationship off but they get back together in the 14th episode and break off again in the final episode, with Josie saying that Sock is a bad boyfriend. In the last episode of the first season Sock kissed the succubus Marlena multiple times, losing one year from his life for each kiss (he estimates he has three years left).


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In the beginning of the second season it is revealed that Sock has a beautiful Asian stepsister whom he finds sexually appealing and considers asking out. He continues down this path, even with his new sister continually viewing him as a big brother. Sock eventually manipulates her to have sex with him, which they do in the second-season episode "Underbelly." She leaves for Japan shortly after.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Sock is also one of five characters other than Sam who have captured a soul (the others being Andi, Ben, Mr. Sprong and Morgan). He captured the blob soul in episode five ("What About Blob") with the sweater vessel, and in the season finale ("Cancun"), he caught the fortune teller soul by throwing the baseball vessel through her car window after the fortune teller tried to run over both Sam and himself. In the first episode of season 2 ("Episode IV: A New Hope"), he captured one of the 40 fight club souls with the cattle prod vessel. In the final episode "The Devil & Sam Oliver," he severs the toad-tongue of an escaped soul with a machete and sends it back to Hell.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: One of Sam and Sock's co-workers and friends, Benjamin Casper Perez Gonzalez (played by Rick Gonzalez) knows Sam is working for Satan and helps him out. He seems to have a tendency to get hurt when assisting Sam in capturing escaped souls (though this tendency diminished as the series progressed, partially because he doesn't go soul-hunting along with Sam as extensively as Sock does). In the series pilot he is sent to the hospital by the fire soul and consumed by the blob monster in episode 5 ("What about Blob"), was held hostage in episode 10, ("Cash Out"), and hit by a 2x4 along with his friends while fighting two of the 40 fight club souls (Episode IV A New Hope). However, in "Dirty Sexy Mongol" Ben shows a rare side of bravery fending off a demon with a tiki torch, thereby saving Sam from the would-be assassin. Ben is initially seen as the brains of the trio as he is usually the one responsible for coming up with tactics and strategies in aiding Sam capture escaped souls, and is not above recommending and taking advantage of the Work Bench's merchandise as makeshift hunting gear whenever the three conduct a hunt; he initially sought training as a priest and has an extensive knowledge of the Bible, and often raises theological questions about the nature of their missions and the Devil's involvement.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Ben appears far less competent when he agrees to a green card marriage with his British co-worker Sara. He had just given up on his search for the perfect girl, who happens to be independently wealthy, enjoys mixed martial arts, and reads Sue Grafton novels. Once married, Ben immediately meets Cassidy while chasing a soul, and she fits every criteria for his perfect girl. Sara, far crueler and more shrewd than she initially lets on, forbids Ben to see Cassidy, though she has no qualms about her own extramarital affairs that she keeps secret from Ben. Ben is eventually able to negotiate a compromise with Sara after discovering she is pregnant with her married boyfriend Esteban's child.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: When Ben's sham marriage is discovered by an INS agent, he is told he is going to jail. He gets money together to pay a fine in lieu of jail time, but Sara tricks him into giving her the money so that she can go on the lam. At the end of the episode "The Leak", Cassidy drives Ben to jail, telling Sock ""When this is all over, my boyfriend will no longer be married"". Early in the next episode, "Cancun," Ben arrives at the Work Bench disappointed that his friends forgot to pick him up after serving his eight-day sentence. It is revealed later that Cassidy broke up with him during the jail sentence.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Ben is one of five people who have captured a soul for Sam (the others are Morgan, Mr. Sprong, Sock and Andi) - he captured the tentacle soul in episode 24 ("Underbelly") with Sam's grenade vessel.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In season two, he begins dating Nina, a demon. In "The Home Stretch", he breaks up with her at the insistence of his domineering grandmother, but gets back together with her in "No Reaper Left Behind." He has shown that he has grown out of his nature by going against his psychic grandmother in order to remain together with Nina (which means he has gone against his family, since his grandmother is in control of the entire family). It was later revealed he only followed his grandmother's orders for the purpose of being left in her will. During the mating season for the demons, Ben fought off a male demon determined to mate with Nina; he did not want any demon to touch Nina.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In "The Favorite", Ben is shown to be the laughing stock of the group as Sam and Sock are always wanting to tease him; Sam's zombie like father hides in the backseat of Sam's car while Sock and Sam tempt Ben into the car to see the look on his face when he is scared by Sam's father.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Andi Prendergast (played by Missy Peregrym in the series and Nikki Reed in the unaired pilot) is Sam's girlfriend and for a time, manager. Initially unaware of Sam's Reaper duties, she is let down multiple times when Sam is called away from dates to capture souls. Chancing to see him on duty, Andi watches Sam behead an escaped soul from a distance, and initially threatens to go to the police. Sam is warned by the Devil to ensure she remains unaware of his activities, but eventually he receives permission to let her know what he does. With help from Sam's neighbor (and demon) Tony, as well as from the escaped soul at the time, Sam convinces Andi of his "job". Andi reacts poorly, but eventually accepts Sam's fate and becomes his third assistant in hunting souls, though her assistance seems more focused on research rather than actual confrontation. In season 2, Andi was promoted to manager of the Work Bench when Ted was fired because of harassing a "secret shopper". She was later demoted in "My Brother's Reaper", for allowing the Work Bench to be used for a bachelor party.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Sam and Andi start dating near the end of season one but this ends abruptly in "Underbelly". She can't handle this and believes that evil is brewing within Sam. Although they broke up, Andi continues to help Sam on his quest to get out of his deal with the Devil. In the season two finale ("The Devil & Sam Oliver") she declares her love for Sam and offers her soul as a prize in a contest between Sam and the Devil and, after Sam loses the contest, ends up sharing his fate.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Andi is one of five people who have captured a soul for Sam (the others are Ben, Morgan, Mr. Sprong, and Sock) - she captured the multiplying soul in episode 15 ("Coming to Grips") with Sam's scythe vessel.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Josie Miller (played by Valarie Rae Miller) is Sock's ex-girlfriend who works at the district attorney's office. Despite her obvious dislike for Sock, Josie remains friendly with Sam and agrees to provide information that helps him track down different souls, unaware of his work for the Devil. However, after Sock used a share of stolen bank loot to buy duplicates of all the stuff lost in a fire at her apartment (which he inadvertently caused), she begins to suspect that something isn't quite on the "up-and-up" with the boys, and is even more suspicious and upset when her lost I.D. is used to access the city morgue. Toward the end of season one, Josie got back together (and subsequently broke up again) with Sock, due to his insecurity and his apathetic nature. The character did not appear in the second season.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: John Oliver (played by Andrew Airlie) is Sam's father. Though equally distressed by his son's predicament as his wife, he, in effect, works against Sam for the protection of his family. In one episode, John is seen burning a page from the contract which binds Sam to the devil, to hide information from Sam (which he later admits to in the season finale).


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In the season two premiere ("Episode IV: A New Hope"), Sam is confident that the Devil is his true father, not John. After surviving being buried alive at the end of Season 1, John reappears as a zombie. Sam sees him again in "The Favorite" when delivering a freezer to his mother's house. John explains that he cannot die because of the deal with the Devil that cost Sam his soul. As a zombie, he cannot go out in public and needs to be kept cool. His deceased status gives him plenty of free time, which he attempts to spend rekindling his relationship with Sam. At the end of "I Want My Baby Back," John moves into the garage of Sock's parents' house and sleeps in a freezer.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In "No Reaper Left Behind," John attempts to regain some semblance of a normal life through the use of the internet, only to be disappointed. In an effort to find some purpose, he asks Sam to send him to Hell in an attempt to locate Alan Townsend and help Sam get out of his deal. Sam agrees and sends him to Hell with the Nerf gun vessel. John subsequently contacts Sam by cell phone and tells him he's discovered a way for Sam to break the deal, but he's trapped in the third circle of Hell (it is unknown how he got there as the third level is inhabited by the gluttons). Nina goes to Hell to get it and rescue him, but he stays behind, saying he has something important to do.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In the canonical (but yet unmade) season 3, it is revealed that John is in fact Sam's father. John was a demon who made a deal with the Devil to become human. Part of the deal was having his first-born son become a reaper. As a demon, he couldn't die, and therefore, became a zombie.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Smooth-talking and debonair, known as "Jerry Belvedere" to those who have no idea of his true identity, the Devil (played by Ray Wise) claims the rights to Sam's soul thanks to a deal he made with Sam's parents before Sam was even born. Although he knows how it all ends ("God wins"), he is determined to do as much as he can to oppose God until the end. He also convinces Sam that he (Sam) is doing good by clearing the world of the escaped evil souls. Aside from Sam, Morgan, Cady, and Andi at least once, the Devil never appears before any of Sam's friends face-to-face, despite the Devil knowing all about Sock and Ben, and them being aware that they know Sam's secret job of being a reaper for the Devil. In the finale of Season Two Andi sells her soul to the devil in an attempt to free Sam from his own deal.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: While firm at times, the Devil has never expressed outright anger, in spite of Sam's frequent complaints, incompetence, and meddling; however, when Sam cheated him out of a deal with another human, the Devil caused all of the surrounding racks in the Work Bench to collapse on Sam out of "disappointment."


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The Devil has a variety of supernatural powers, and often teleports an unsuspecting Sam to locations that serve to exemplify whatever subject he wishes to speak with Sam about. He also has a habit of providing Sam "motivation" in catching escaped souls, usually by informing him that someone just died (or is about to die) due mainly to Sam's inaction - a habit which generally gets acceptable results; this habit became less displayed in later episodes however, as Sam is beginning to "adjust" to his infernal fate.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The Devil is nearly indestructible, and scoffs at the idea that he could be contained within a Solomon's cage (which can confine the strongest demon). He also has superhuman strength, having tricked and placed Sam once in a painful arm-hold to interrogate him. However, the Devil can be affected by angelic relics, as he can be killed by the Sword of the Archangel Michael (which he has in safekeeping), and could be "destroyed" if the whole world were to turn to pacifism (as Sam deduced after the Devil's near-annihilation of a demon rebellion, as if the Devil couldn't tempt others with sin, he would cease to exist - although the Devil notes that all humanity adopting complete pacifism would be nearly impossible). In addition, the Devil cannot see, hear, or appear within curves or circles, although he can be summoned within a circle. He holds no influence over true love, which may be attributed to his belief that humans are incapable of experiencing it. The Devil also confesses that even though he tried to overthrow God, he still loved Him when Sam asked the Devil about love. He confesses to Sam that God loves us all no matter what we are.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The Devil loves ice cream, but cannot eat it, as it melts as soon as he touches it. This doesn't happen on his own volition, but was apparently a curse given upon him by God shortly before he was cast out of Heaven, knowing how much he loves ice cream. It is later revealed that the devil opposes anthropogenic global warming as anyone who dies of it would be considered an innocent and not be sent to hell.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The Devil is Sam's father, according to the Devil throughout the second season. He does many things throughout the series that imply this: he never gets truly angry with Sam, he only gets outwardly angry with him one time where he says that he is "a disappointment." He often offers guidance to Sam. Plus, he seems to have an extreme dislike of Sam's father. Throughout the series, he and Sam do things that could be considered 'father-son activities' such as going to hockey games, eating ice cream, and playing baseball together.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In "The Home Stretch" the Devil held a competition between Sam and his half-brother Morgan. Whoever captured a soul would be made his right-hand man. Sam inadvertently won, even though he had intended for Morgan to win since the beginning, while saving Morgan's life from the escaped soul.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In "The Devil and Sam Oliver" the Devil is forced to accept a challenge, a game of Quarters, from Sam to win his soul back, and they end in a tie. In the re-match he is distracted by his face in the mirror and only manages to get one quarter into the shot glass. When Sam's hand is broken by Steve and Sam can't score at all, the Devil wins Andi's soul.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The Devil claims that he changes his suit three times a day, despite all of his suits looking exactly the same.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In the canonical (but yet unmade) season 3, it is revealed that John is actually Sam's father, but was unable to tell anyone as a part of the deal he made to become human.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Played by Donavon Stinson, Ted was the Work Bench's pompous, imperious manager (and recovering gambling addict) who gave his employees, especially Sam, Andi, Ben, and Sock, a hard time. In episode 20 ("Dirty Sexy Mongol") Ted was fired from his job as manager at the Work Bench after sexually harassing a secret shopper sent from corporate. Corporate appointed Andi as the new store manager. She took pity on Ted and rehired him as a trainee for the Work Bench with Sock as his trainer. When Andi is demoted in "My Brother's Reaper", Ted reclaims his spot as manager.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Demons, in the "Reaper" universe, are portrayed as seemingly neutral and non-aggressive (so far) entities who are either in the direct service of the Devil or plotting to overthrow his rule. It was stated that all demons were once angels who "fell" out of their place after joining up with the Devil's attempt to overthrow God and got banished along with him from Heaven.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Demons residing within the mortal realm exhibit the ability to assume near-human forms that enable them to live along with real humans, with the only thing distinguishing them from actual mortals (besides their immortality) being two small horns protruding from their foreheads which can be sanded down to create the complete illusion that they are human; they are also capable of morphing into their true demonic forms, as displayed by Tony, which seem to grant an incredible boost of physical power in the process, and also flight with demonic wings. They are immune to mortal weapons in either form. Types of Demons include standard and succubi.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: 'Reapers' are beings tasked by the Devil to apprehend souls that have escaped the depths of Hell. Sam became one in the premiere episode of the series. The word was first used in the episode "Acid Queen", which implies that there may be others like him with a similar obligation (or predicament). Currently, it is not exactly known how many Reapers there are, or if all of them are even human. Sam does not like this status but begins to live with this fate, though shows no surprise towards its utterance. It is made clear by the demon Steve that Sam is perhaps the only person on Earth that the Devil talks with face-to-face, which raises suspicion amongst Sam and his friends. This suggestion is later disproved when the Devil introduces Morgan, a young man the Devil claims is his son.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: These are fugitives from Hell whom the Devil has entrusted Sam to recapture. All of them were once mortals who committed various crimes or sold their souls that ultimately led to their damnation. When they come back to Earth, they are intent on finishing the jobs that they started.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: After escaping Hell and returning to the earthly realm, not only do they regain a corporeal body with which to interact with the living world once again, but sometimes also exhibit supernatural powers that often reflect the nature of their crimes or punishments. For example, an arsonist imprisoned in Hell for 50 years being tortured by being burnt every day came back with pyrokinetic powers and could take on the appearance of a humanoid creature made of molten rock. Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of William McKinley, gained the ability to turn his hands into guns. Not all souls come back to Earth with a corporeal body, as seen in "Ashes to Ashes," where the Mortician soul came back as a spirit since his body was cremated.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: As the souls that Sam is sent to apprehend have already died once (along with the fact that they have various paranormal abilities), an attempt to capture or even kill them by a mere mortal could prove almost impossible. The Devil provides Sam with vessels to help him do his work. The vessel is usually sent for Sam to open in a wooden box which varies in shape per episode, sometimes inappropriate for the vessel they hold (i.e. a large box contained a Zippo lighter vessel) and it's usually up to Sam to figure out how to use it to capture the escaped soul assigned for him to apprehend since the vessels don't usually come with an instruction manual. All vessels are unique because each of them is intended to capture the escaped soul for whom they were created and intended to confine. The vessel could even be a seemingly living thing (e.g. a live dove).


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Vessels often have the appearance of seemingly ordinary day-to-day accessories, and can easily be mistaken for such. Most escaped souls shown in the series seem to be aware whenever a vessel is brought to their presence, especially if that particular vessel is the one intended for their capture, thus alerting them of potentially being sent back to Hell by the one wielding the vessel.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Vessels don't always work for anyone, though several characters in the show other than Sam have used vessels to capture souls. A vessel will only work on the particular soul it is intended for, and has no effect on any other escaped souls. The only known exception is a Nerf gun created by a demon named Dennis (in "Greg, Schmeg"). Although technically a vessel, the Nerf gun can send any person or object to Hell.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In "The Good Soil", it is revealed that vessels can capture other objects besides souls (e.g. a corpse).


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Introduced in "The Good Soil", the Ender is the Devil's backup plan. When Sam refused to capture the soul and return it to hell, the Ender was summoned to seek out and destroy the soul. As a result, the soul would be sent to neither heaven nor hell. The Ender took on the form of a cloaked phantom and could destroy anything with one touch. It was never actually confirmed whether the Devil was lying to Sam or the Ender could actually annihilate a soul.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: In February 2010, the show's creators gave an interview that detailed some of their ideas for season three. Included were plans to have Andi work in the DMV with Gladys and the possibility of bringing in the Archangel Michael, though they had no plans to introduce God as a character. They also revealed the truth about Sam's parentage.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: On November 4, 2008, Lionsgate Home Entertainment (under license from ABC Studios) released season 1 of "Reaper" on DVD in region 1. On June 9, 2009, season 2 of "Reaper" was released on DVD.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: The series, as shown on Metacritic, has been dubbed as having "universal acclaim" with a rating of 81 out of 100, out of 27 reviews.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: Critics have compared "Reaper" to the NBC spy comedy "Chuck", which follows the story of another seemingly unremarkable, post-adolescent "big box" store employee (in Chuck's case it's a "Buy More") who also leads a secret double-life trying to save the world.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: As of May 12, 2008, "Reaper" has averaged 2.70 million American-based viewers for each new episode for its first season. Viewing figures from other countries are inconclusive so far.


title: Reaper (TV series)

text: "Reaper" averaged 2.16 million American-based viewers for each new episode for its second season. Viewing figures from other countries are inconclusive so far.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: Welcome to My Nightmare is the debut solo album by American rock musician Alice Cooper, released in March 1975. It is his only album for the Atlantic Records label in North America; in the rest of the world, it was released on the ABC subsidiary Anchor Records (also his only album for that label). "Welcome to My Nightmare" is a concept album. Played in sequence, the songs form a journey through the nightmares of a child named Steven. The album inspired the "" TV special, a worldwide concert tour in 1975, and his "Welcome to My Nightmare" concert film in 1976. The ensuing tour was one of the most over-the-top excursions of that era. Most of Lou Reed’s band joined Cooper for this record.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: The cover artwork was created by Drew Struzan for Pacific Eye & Ear. "Rolling Stone" would later rank it ninetieth on the list of the "Top 100 Album Covers Of All Time". Famed horror movie star Vincent Price provided a monologue in the song "The Black Widow". The original version of "Escape" was recorded by The Hollywood Stars for their shelved 1974 album "Shine Like a Radio", which was finally released in 2013. The ballad "Only Women Bleed", released as a single, is a song originally composed by guitarist Dick Wagner for his late-1960s band The Frost, with a new title provided by Cooper and revised lyrics written by Wagner and Cooper. The song "Escape" was a rewrite of a song by The Hollywood Stars from the album "Shine Like a Radio - The Great Lost 1974 Album". The remastered CD version adds three alternate version bonus tracks.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: The Alice Cooper band broke up by Spring of 1974, with Cooper beginning work on his first solo project. Cooper intended the music to be more theatrical than the previous glam-rock focused records. Cooper hired Bob Ezrin, who had produced four previous Cooper records, to collaborate with him. The album is a concept album, with Cooper telling the story of the nightmares of the character Steven. Ezrin, Steve Hunter, and Dick Wagner had all performed on the Alice Cooper band’s 1973 album "Billion Dollar Babies", produced by Ezrin. Subsequently, Ezrin produced and performed on Lou Reed’s 1973 concept album "Berlin", including Hunter, Wagner, and Tony Levin. Reed’s band on his following live album "Rock 'n' Roll Animal" was composed of Hunter, Wagner, Prakash John, and Pentti Glan. Ezrin and Cooper hired all four members of Reed’s live band, plus Levin, to work on Cooper’s new album. Wagner and Ezrin would co-write the majority of the tracks with Cooper.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: The opening track has been referred to as "Disco flavored". "Only Women Bleed" is a ballad, and "Some Folks" has been compared to cabaret.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: "Welcome to My Nightmare" received generally mixed reviews upon release. Dave Marsh of "Rolling Stone" called the album "a TV soundtrack that sounds like one. The horn parts are so corny you might imagine that you're listening to the heavy-metal Ann-Margret." He noted the absence of the original Alice Cooper band, stating, "without the wildness and drive of the sound the Cooper troupe had, the gimmicks on which Alice the performer must rely are flat and obvious." He concluded by saying that it "is simply a synthesis of every mildly wicked, tepidly controversial trick in the Cooper handbook. But in escaping from the mask of rock singer which he claimed he found so confining, Cooper has found just another false face."


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: In addition, Robert Christgau rated the album a B− grade, stating that it "actually ain't so bad – no worse than all the others". He stated that the varying compositions of the songs would potentially cause the album to influence younger listeners, saying: "Alice's nose for what the kids want to hear is as discriminating as it is impervious to moral suasion, so perhaps this means that the more obvious feminist truisms have become conventional wisdom among at least half our adolescents."


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: A retrospective review by AllMusic's Greg Prato was more positive. Prato considered the album Cooper's best solo work, despite the absence of the original band: "While the music lost most of the gritty edge of the original AC lineup, "Welcome to My Nightmare" remains Alice's best solo effort – while some tracks stray from his expected hard rock direction, there's plenty of fist-pumping rock to go around." However, he maintained that "the rockers serve as the album's foundation – 'Devil's Food', 'The Black Widow', 'Department of Youth', and 'Cold Ethyl' are all standouts, as is the more tranquil yet eerie epic 'Steven'." He concluded by comparing the album to Cooper's subsequent solo efforts by stating: "Despite this promising start to Cooper's solo career, the majority of his subsequent releases were often not as focused and were of varying quality." "The New York Times", describing the subsequent tour, said that Cooper was much tougher than he looked in concert.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: Since its release, "Welcome to My Nightmare" has become the most-represented album in Alice Cooper's concert setlists, accounting for, even including concerts from before its release, 15.7 percent of all the songs he has played live – a proportion which of course will be much larger counting only shows since the album's composition and release. It is the last album from which every song has been performed live, although "The Awakening" was never played until the Trash Tour on November 21, 1989; while "Some Folks" and "Escape" were never performed after the album's support tour apart from a handful of performances of the latter song in 2001. Alice started playing "Escape" again on his 2019/20 Ol’ Black Eyes Is Back Tour.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: In July 1975 Alice fell off stage in front of an audience of 17,000. He puts this down to his drinking at the time. He had 15 stitches to his head. Three days later he collapsed on stage after 25 minutes, after ignoring doctors' advice.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: Cooper talked with "Rolling Stone" over the theatrical adaptation of his album, although there has been little traction on this since 2010.


title: Welcome to My Nightmare

text: The 1999 tribute album "" includes covers of "Cold Ethyl" by Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Mike Inez, Billy Sheehan and Simon Phillips and "The Black Widow" by Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith, Tony Franklin, Tommy Aldridge and David Glen Eisley. The album also includes covers of the title track and "Only Women Bleed". All four tracks also feature the album's producer, Bob Kulick.


title: Flash Boys

text: Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt is a book by the American writer Michael Lewis, published by W. W. Norton & Company on March 31, 2014. The book is a non-fiction investigation into the phenomenon of high-frequency trading (HFT) in the US financial market, with the author interviewing and collecting the experiences of several individuals working on Wall Street. Lewis concludes that HFT is used as a method to front run orders placed by investors. He goes further to suggest that broad technological changes and unethical trading practices have transformed the U.S. stock market from "the world's most public, most democratic, financial market" into a "rigged" market.


title: Flash Boys

text: "Flash Boys" maintains a primary focus on Brad Katsuyama and other central figures in the genesis and early days of IEX, the Investors' Exchange. Sergey Aleynikov, a former programmer for Goldman Sachs, serves as a secondary focus.


title: Flash Boys

text: The introduction begins by naming Aleynikov and describing his arrest, along with the author's personal history on Wall Street, as the impetus for writing the book. The first chapter tells the story of a $300 million project from Spread Networks that was underway in mid-2009—the construction of an fiber-optic cable that cuts straight through mountains and rivers from Chicago to New Jersey—with the sole goal of reducing the transmission time for data from 17 to 13 milliseconds. (The construction of the line was dramatized in the 2018 film "The Hummingbird Project".)


title: Flash Boys

text: Lewis goes on to describe the modern world of electronic trading and how it differs from the past—when trading was mostly performed in open outcry pits on physical trading floors—and how that change has impacted the market. The speed of data is a major theme in the book; the faster a market participant's computer system can receive and act on data, the better their edge, and opportunity to profit, with even nanoseconds making a difference.


title: Flash Boys

text: The central story details financial executive Brad Katsuyama's discovery of how access to this fiber-optic cable—as well as other technologies and special arrangements between HFT firms, exchanges, and large Wall Street banks—presents an opportunity for those insider institutions to profit at the expense of retail investors. To counter this, Katsuyama bands together a team that sets out to develop a new exchange, called IEX, designed specifically to prevent the unfair advantage enjoyed by HFT firms in the rest of the market.


title: Flash Boys

text: The final chapter is dedicated to the tribulation of Sergey Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs programmer twice prosecuted and twice acquitted for a single act of allegedly copying proprietary computer source code from his employer before joining a competing firm.


title: Flash Boys

text: The epilogue details the author's bicycle journey to observe a string of microwave towers along the same stretch as Spread Networks' fiber-optic line. Lewis notes that the time to send a signal from Chicago to New York and back by microwave signal is about 4.5 milliseconds "less" than to send it by optical fiber but, when Spread Networks was laying its line, the conventional wisdom was that microwave transmission's data capacity was too limited and unreliable due to sensitivity to inclement weather. "But what if microwave technology improved?," the author wondered. The story ends as the author climbs up a mountain summit where one of the towers is stationed. He notes the tower showed signs of age, and could have been erected some time ago, for some other purpose, but the ancillary equipment including a generator, a concrete bunker, and repeaters that amplify financial signals, were all new.


title: Flash Boys

text: The book has drawn criticism from some academics and industry experts, particularly on Lewis's views on HFT and other claimed factual inaccuracies in its description of trading strategies. Other critics have praised Lewis's explanations of trading concepts and concurred in his criticisms of HFT. However, it is suggested that he neglected to pay attention to the larger issue of financial regulation, and excessively simplified the relationships between institutions in the financial market. Some industry executives have dismissed the book as "closer to fiction". Michael Lewis responded that those who said he "got it wrong" have a financial stake in the existing system.


title: Flash Boys

text: Manoj Narang, CEO of high-frequency trading firm Tradeworx, argued that Lewis' book is more "fiction than fact," claiming Lewis needs a primer in HFT. A review by academic blogger Scott Locklin notes that Lewis had never spoken to, nor cited, a single high-frequency trader in the book. Andrew Ross, writing in "The Guardian", praised the book as an "effective exposé" but criticizes the author for arguing for the "heroism" of one group of financial insiders over another. A month later, an article in "The Economist" noted that Lewis's book had generated "vigorous criticism", but that there may be some merits in its liquidity concerns.


title: Flash Boys

text: A "Financial Post" reviewer suggested that Lewis intentionally omitted details that point to market-stabilizing benefits of HFT: "Ironically, the Flash Crash itself was just glossed over. Could that be because the primary cause of that momentary blip lay in a confluence of regulatory mistakes and that it was many of the demonized HFTs who actually stood fast throughout and thereby ensured that the damage was a fraction of what it could have been had only the shell-shocked, traditional participants been left to respond?"


title: Flash Boys

text: An Oxford University Press handbook chapter authored by Andreas Fleckner calls "Flash Boys" a readable and mostly accurate introduction into such topics as dark pools, front-running, or kickbacks. However, the article suggests that on-site trading practices are too technical for laymen, market observers, or even regulators to fully understand. The author recommends providing incentives for self-regulation rather than SEC regulation.


title: Flash Boys

text: Felix Salmon, a financial columnist for "Slate", asserted that the negative impact of high-frequency trading was restricted to "very rich" financial intermediaries, such as hedge funds. He noted that Lewis's story "needs victims" and that he portrayed several billionaire characters as victims "by pulling out every rhetorical device he can muster." In a crucial part of the book's narrative, a mutual fund manager named Rich Gates was "shocked" to find out he was paying 0.04% per trade due to his fund's dependence on a HFT front. The reviewer noted that Gates' own mutual fund charged an average of 2.41% for "expenses" to retail investors.


title: Flash Boys

text: In April 2014 the book reached No. 1 on "The New York Times" Best Seller list, remaining on the top for three weeks, before being overtaken by Capital in the Twenty-First Century on May 18, 2014.


title: Flash Boys

text: Jonathan Weil at Bloomberg suggests that the FBI's investigation into high frequency trading, a day after the book's release, was directly motivated by the book's claims.


title: Flash Boys

text: Lewis's phrase "The market is rigged" was often referenced. The chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mary Jo White, stated in Congressional testimony on April 29, 2014, that U.S. financial markets "are not rigged" in response to a direct question on claims in Lewis's book.


title: Flash Boys

text: Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg disputed claims made in Lewis' book on May 2, 2014, stating in a CNBC interview that "the system isn’t rigged." Arthur Levitt, adviser to high-frequency firm KCG Holdings and former SEC chairman, commented that variation exists within the group of high-speed traders that Lewis’ book describes, saying "What is missed in the book and in the general discussion of HFT is there are some HFT traders who respect the sanctity of the investor, and some who don’t."


title: Flash Boys

text: In April 2014, Sony Pictures acquired the film rights to the book. In June that year, it was announced that "Flash Boys" was to be adapted into a major motion picture, with acclaimed screenwriter/producer Aaron Sorkin penning the screenplay, and Scott Rudin and Eli Bush producing the film. The project would be a second collaboration between Sorkin and Rudin on a Lewis book adaptation, as the pair also filled the same respective roles on "Moneyball".


title: Flash Boys

text: By September 2017, the project had not appeared to make any progress, seemingly stuck in development hell. Lewis commented his thoughts as to the stumbling block to a book-to-movie adaptation during a session at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. During a conversation with "Washington Post" journalist Joel Aschenbach, Lewis stated the trouble was Hollywood won't cast "a movie with an Asian lead." (The real-life main character in "Flash Boys", IEX founder Brad Katsuyama, is of Asian heritage.) Lewis stated that private emails leaked in the 2014 Sony Pictures hack revealed studio apprehension with having an Asian lead actor, as well as with an Asian character portrayed by a White actor.


title: Flash Boys

text: In May 2018 it was announced that Sony Pictures' option for the screenplay had expired and film rights were acquired by Netflix. Ben Jacoby was named as the new screenwriter.


title: Kunbi

text: Kunbi (alternatively Kanbi , Kurmi ) is a generic term applied to castes of traditional farmers in Western India. These include the Dhonoje, Ghatole, Hindre, Jadav, Jhare, Khaire, Lewa (Leva Patil), Lonare and Tirole communities of Vidarbha. The communities are largely found in the state of Maharashtra but also exist in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala and Goa. Kunbis are included among the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Maharashtra.


title: Kunbi

text: Most of the Mavalas serving in the armies of the Maratha Empire under Shivaji came from this community. The Shinde, Bhosale, Pawar and Gaekwad dynasties of the Maratha Empire are originally of Kunbi origin. In the fourteenth century and later, several Kunbis who had taken up employment as military men in the armies of various rulers underwent a process of Sanskritisation and began to identify themselves as Marathas. The boundary between the Marathas and the Kunbi became obscure in the early 20th century due to the effects of colonisation, and the two groups came to form one block, the Maratha-Kunbi.


title: Kunbi

text: Tensions along caste lines between the Kunbi and the Dalit communities were seen in the Khairlanji killings, and the media have reported sporadic instances of violence against Dalits. Other inter-caste issues include the forgery of caste certificates by politicians, mostly in the grey Kunbi-Maratha caste area, to allow them to run for elections from wards reserved for OBC candidates. In April 2005, the Supreme Court of India ruled that the Marathas are not a sub-caste of Kunbis.


title: Kunbi

text: According to the Anthropological Survey of India, the term Kunbi is derived from "kun" and "bi" meaning "people" and "seeds", respectively. Conjoined, the two terms mean "those who germinate more seeds from one seed". Another etymology states that "Kunbi" is believed to have come from the Marathi word "kunbawa", or Sanskrit "kur", meaning "agricultural tillage". Yet another etymology states that Kunbi derives from "kutumba" ("family"), or from the Dravidian "kul", "husbandman" or "cultivator". Thus anyone who took up the occupation of a cultivator could be brought under the generic term Kunbi. G. S. Ghurye has posited that while the term may "signify the occupation of the group, viz., that of cultivation ... it is not improbable that the name may be of tribal origin."


title: Kunbi

text: Like other Maharashtrian communities such as Marathas, Malis etc., the marriage of a man to his maternal uncle's daughter is common in the Kunbi community. Maratha and Kunbis intermarried in a hypergamous way i.e. a rich Kunbi's daughter could always marry a poor Maratha. Anthropologist Donald Attwood shows giving an example of the Karekars of Ahmednagar that this trend continues even in recent times indicating that the social order between the two is fluid and flexible.


title: Kunbi

text: Very little information was recorded prior to the 19th century regarding the significantly large group of Maharashtrian agricultural castes, known as "Maratha-Kunbis". Both individual terms, "Kunbi" and "Maratha" are equally complex. In the fourteenth century, the term "Maratha" (among other meanings) referred to all speakers of the Marathi language. An example of this is the record of the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta whose use of the term included multiple castes who spoke Marathi. Several years later, as the Bahamani kings started employing the local population in their military, the term Maratha acquired a martial connotation. Those who were not associated with the term "Maratha" and were not untouchables began to identify themselves as Kunbi. According to Stewart Gordon, the so-called Marathas now differentiated themselves from the others such as the cultivators (Kunbi), iron-workers and tailors. At lower status levels, the term "Kunbi" was applied to those who tilled the land. It was possible for outsiders to become Kunbi, an example of which was recorded by Enthoven. Enthoven observed that it was common for Kolis (fishermen) to take up agriculture and become Kunbis. In the eighteenth century, under the Peshwas, newer waves of villagers joined the armies of the Maratha Empire. These men began to see themselves as Marathas too, further obscuring the boundary between the Marathas and Kunbi, giving rise to a new category: "Maratha-Kunbi". While this view of the term was common among colonial European observers of the eighteenth century, they were ignorant of the caste connotations of the term. The dividing line between the Maratha and Kunbi was obscure, but there was evidence of certain families who called themselves "Assall Marathas" or "true" Marathas. The Assal Marathas claimed to be Kshatriyas in the Varna hierarchy and claimed lineage from the Rajput clans of north India. The rest, the Kunbi, accepted that they came lower in the Varna hierarchy. Karve says that the Maratha caste precipitated from the Kunbi through the Sanskritisation process, the two were later consolidated due to social reforms as well as political and economic development during British rule in the early 20th century.


title: Kunbi

text: The British installed Chatrapati Pratapsinh Bhonsle, a descendant of Shivaji, noted in his diary in the 1820s–1830s that the Gaekwads (another powerful Maratha dynasty) had Kunbi origins. He notes further "These days, when the Kunbis and others grow wealthy, they try to pollute our caste. If this goes on, dharma itself will not remain. Each man should stick to his own caste, but in spite of this these men are trying to spread money around in our caste. But make no mistake, all Kshatriyas will look to protect their caste in this matter." Later, in September 1965, the "Marathi Dnyan Prasarak" newspaper published a piece which addressed the changing meaning of the term "Maratha", the social mobility of the day, the origins of the Maratha-Kunbi castes, the eating habits and the living conditions of the people of Maharashtra. The author of the piece claims that only a very small circle of families, like those of Shivaji Bhonsale, can claim the Kshatriya status. He also states that these Kshatriya families have not been able to stop the inroads made by the wealthy and powerful Kunbis, who had bought their way into Kshatriya status through wealth and inter-marriages. Of the most powerful Maratha dynasties, the Shindes (later anglicised to Scindia) were of Kunbi origin. A "Marathaisation" of the Kunbis was seen between the censuses of 1901 and 1931, which shows a gradually declining number of Kunbis resulting from more of them identifying themselves as Marathas. Lele notes in 1990 that a subset of the Maratha-Kunbi group of castes became the political elite in the state of Maharashtra in the 1960s and 1970s and have remained so to the present day. The elite Maratha-Kunbis have institutionalised their ideology of agrarian development through their control of the Congress party. The state Government of Maharashtra does not recognise a group called Maratha-Kunbi.


title: Kunbi

text: According to Irawati Karve, the Marata-Kunbi form over 40% of the population of Western Maharashtra. Later in 1990, Lele records that the Maratha-Kunbi group of castes account for 31% of the population, distributed over the whole of Maharashtra.


title: Kunbi

text: In Maharashtra, the Kunbi communities include the Dhonoje, Ghatole, Hindre, Jadav, Jhare, Khaire, Lewa (Leva Patil), Lonari and the Tirole communities.


title: Kunbi

text: According to the Anthropological Survey of India, the Jadav and Tirole self-identify as Kshatriya, the Leva as Vaishya, and the rest as Shudra. The Lonari used to refer to themselves as "Chhatriya Lonari Kunbi", but they dropped the "Chhatriya" after their inclusion in the classification "Other Backward Classes." The names of subsets of the Kunbi in Berar Province, according to Edward Balfour, were "Tirale", "Maratha", "Bawane", "Khaire", "Khedule", and "Dhanoje". In a strict interpretation of the caste system, the word "Kunbi" does not identify a caste but rather a status, like the word "Rajput", for example. All Kunbi communities of Maharashtra speak Marathi and use the Devanagri script for written communication. In Gujarat, the Anthropological Survey of India records that Kunbis have benefited economically from government development programmes. While both boys and girls receive formal education, the drop-out rate of girls is higher due to economic reasons. While the diet of Kunbi communities varies between vegetarianism and non-vegetarianism, most (perhaps all) abstain from the consumption of pork and beef.


title: Kunbi

text: Like numerous other communities such as the Mahar, Mehra, Bhil, Koli, and the Brahmin groups, the Kunbi perceive themselves as an indigenous community.


title: Kunbi

text: The Kunbi Dhonoje are primarily a community of land-owning agriculturists with deep roots in Maharashtra, although their origin and historical background are unknown. Their home districts are primarily the Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Bhandara and Nagpur districts of the Vidarbha region in Maharashtra. The Anthropological Survey of India records in 2003 that while Hindi is spoken by when communicating with outsiders, the women of the community can only "understand" Hindi—they cannot speak it. The Dhonoje observe strict endogamy; most marriages are arranged by family elders. Kunbi Dhonoje males marry between 20 and 25 whereas the females marry between 18 and 22.


title: Kunbi

text: Dhonojes engage a Brahmin priest for conducting their marriage, birth and death rituals. Cremation of the dead is the norm; burial the exception for those less than 11 years of age. Common places of pilgrimage include Nashik, Pandharpur, Ramtek and Tuljapur. Important Hindu festivals observed include Vaisakhi, Akadi, Yatra, Rakshabandhan, Dussera, Diwali and Holi. All women and most men are vegetarian though some are occasional non-vegetarians.


title: Kunbi

text: Most Dhonojes live in extended families. There are, however, an increasing number of nuclear families, resulting from urban migration and a break from traditional occupations. In a multiethnic village, it is not possible to tell Kunbi Dhonoje by their surname alone. Formal education has had a positive impact on the younger generation of the Dhonoje women.


title: Kunbi

text: The community name "Ghatole" is derived from "Ghat" meaning a hilly range. The community belongs mainly to the western part of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Oral tradition speaks of their arrival from the Sahyadris in Panchimhat. In Vidarbha, they live mostly in the Aurangabad, Nashik, Buldhana, Amravati, Yavatmal, Parbhani and Akola districts. The Ghatole claim to be the same as the economically and numerically superior Tirole or Tilole. Per their oral tradition, those families which interrupted their migration march from the Ghats became the Ghatole whereas those who continued their journey eastwards became the Tirole Kunbi. Despite the oral tradition, the two communities are now two distinct communities due to geographical barriers the strict practice of endogamy. All women and most men are vegetarian though some are occasionally non-vegetarians who keep their utensils separate and cook outside of the family kitchen. Marriages are generally arranged and families are extended rather than nuclear. Locations of pilgrimage are Nasik, Shirdi, Tuljapur and Pandharpur. According to a report in 2009, the Ghatole Kunbi community in the Akola and Washim areas of Vidarbha prefer the Shivsena political party.


title: Kunbi

text: The Kunbi Hindre (or Hendre) are synonymous with the Hindre Patils, as far as their perceived distribution in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the districts of Nanded, Parbhani, Yeotmal and Akola is concerned. There are no further subdivisions of the community. The community is said to have migrated from the Sahyadri ranges to the central Vidarbha region. The community does not have an oral tradition concerning the etymology of the word "Hindre" or the history of their migration, so their own origin is unknown to them. While the Hindre were grouped with the Kunbis of the Khandesh region in early ethnographical studies, the origin of the community is not known. Their population has not been accurately recorded in any official records; since the community is only found in certain rural districts, the Anthropological Survey of India estimates their population to be in thousands or in lakhs. While the traditional occupation of the Hindre Kunbis is agriculture, better educational opportunities and urbanisation have resulted in a disruption of their traditional economy, which has caused many Hindre to pursue diversified occupations.


title: Kunbi

text: The main language of the community is Marathi with Devanagri script for written communication. Community members who visit urban areas for business reasons are able to communicate in broken Hindi. The communities' traditional dress is similar to that of other peer communities. All women and the majority of the men are vegetarians. Consumption of tea is common, mainly to overcome fatigue.


title: Kunbi

text: Hindre are strictly endogamous and their marriages are arranged. Child marriages were practiced in the past but the age of marriage in 2003 was recorded to be between 20–25 for males and 17–22 for females. Cremation of the dead is the norm; stillborn babies and those who died after a few months are buried. Brahmin priests are employed for the Hindu rituals. The main festivals of the Hindre include Vaishakhi, Akhadi, Yatra, Rakshabandhan, Dussera and Holi. Places of pilgrimage include Pandharpur, Tuljapur, Ramtek, Nashik and Saptashringi. The traditional caste council which existed in the 20th century for solving social issues like divorce has been supplanted by the statutory gram panchayat of the state government. Common surnames are Jaitale, Wankhed, Chouhan, Gawande, Mahale, Bhoir, Choudhary and Jadhav; it is not possible to identify a Hindre Kunbi on the basis of surname alone in a multi-ethnic village. Changes in surnames have been recorded, an example of which is the changing of Chouhan to Jaitale.


title: Kunbi

text: It is not known how the Jadhav came to be known by that name or when and how they were brought under the generic term Kunbi. The home districts of the Jadhav Kunbi are Amaravati, Yavatmal and Nagpur. The community is strictly endogamous; consanguinal marriages with maternal cousins are preferred over those with the paternal. However, the number of marriages of such nature are low. Marriages are arranged. The preferred minimum age is 22 for males and 18 for females, though these ages are increasing as of 2003. Cremation of the dead is the norm, burial being the exception for children and for those who have died of snake bites. Brahmins are employed for naming and marriage ceremonies.


title: Kunbi

text: Surnames are varied, their origins unknown. They are generally formed from the place of their dwelling, key events in the family past, or a reference to an animate or inanimate object. Among the rural Jadhavs, the traditional caste council has been replaced by the "Akhil Bharatiya Jadhav Kunbi Samaj", a registered regional council located in Nagpur which also engages in social work. The rulings of the statutory gram panchayat are followed at the village level. Jadhav males are non-vegetarian but the women generally do not eat meat.


title: Kunbi

text: The name of the Jhade or Jhare Kunbi community (also known as the Jhadpi) comes from "Jhadi", meaning "forest". The home districts of the Jhade are Nagpur, Bhandara, Akola and Amravati. The Jhade of the Bhadara district are also known as the Bowne, meaning "52" in Marathi, due to the high revenue of 5.2 million generated by them for the Mughal administration. In 1916, the Jhade were recorded by Russsell and Hiralal to be members of the Gond people. The same ethnographic records state that the Jhade are the earliest immigrants to the Nagpur area. Contemporaries Jhade and Bowne contest that claim, since the Jhade do not have oral tradition which records a migration. Marriages are arranged; typical ages are between 22 and 25 for men and between 16 and 20 for women. Marriages with maternal cousins are preferred. Cremation of the dead is the norm, the exceptions being those who die before the age of five. The Jhade do not employ the services of a Brahmin priest for death rites. Common Jhade surnames are Katode, Jhanjad, Toukar, Baraskar, Khokle, Shende, Bhoie, Dhenge, Tejare, Bandobhnje, Waghaye, Trichkule, Baraskar, Khawas and Bhuse. The Anthropological Survey of India states in 2003 that the Jhade boys and girls have access to formal education and mostly go on to attain high school education. The Survey also states that the community has access to modern day amenities like electricity, health centres, motorable roads, public transport, post offices, drinking water and fair price shops of the Indian Public Distribution System.


title: Kunbi

text: The Kunbi Khaire derive their name from the local name for catechu, "Khair", which the community has traditionally cultivated. The home districts of the community are Chandrapur and Gadchiroli where they are also known as Khedule Kunbi. The community is endogamous and practices arranged marriages; the typical age of marriage for men and women is between 20–25 and 18–22 respectively. Cremation of the dead is the norm, burial is an exception for the economically disadvantaged who cannot afford cremation. Kunbi Khaire men are occasional non-vegetarians whereas the women are vegetarian. Borkte, Kukorkar, Lambade, Tiwade, Thakur, Chatur, Pal, Dhake, Elule, Sangre, Tangre and Timare are a few of the Khaire surnames. Important festivals observed by the community are Dussera, Diwali, Holi and Ganeshchaturthi. Traditional places of pilgrimage are Pandharpur, Nasik, Ramtek and Tuljapur.


title: Kunbi

text: The use of the traditional "jati panchayats" have lonce since been discontinued by the Khaire community which now makes use of the "gram panchayat", while still consulting community elders for some social disputes. The Anthropological Survey of India states in 2003 that the Khaire boys and girls have access to formal education and mostly go on to attain high school education, sometimes further when conditions are favourable. Drop out rates for girls are higher for social reasons. The Survey also states that the community has access to modern day amenities of electricity, health centres, motorable roads, public transport, post offices, drinking water and fair price shops of the Indian Public Distribution System.


title: Kunbi

text: The Leva or Lewa are synonymous with the Lewa Patil—the suffix "Patil" is a feudal title. The community does not have an oral history of their origin or migration, but they generally accept that they migrated from Gujarat to the Vidarbha region via Nimar (now part of Madhya Pradesh). The community is associated with two other communities from Gujarat: the Lewa and the Lewa Patidar. The former are a well known community; the latter are sometimes referred to as their parental group, but the Kunbi Leva Patil of Maharashtra have roots which are long established in the Kunbi community of Maharashtra. The community perceives their distribution to be in 72 villages in the Jalgaon and Buldhana districts. The Lewa Patil are numerically, economically and educationally superior in some of the multi-ethnic villages of the Buldhana and Jalgaon district. Nuclear families are replacing the traditional extended family system due to a changing economy and an increasing number of conflicts over property inheritance. Cremation of the dead is the norm, burial the exception for the very young (up to three to four months old). There is no distinctive attire of the Leva community—they follow local fashion trends. On very rare occasions, older Leva men wear a Gujarati style, boat shaped "topi" or hat made from black or brown silk. Some of the common Leva surnames are Warade (Deshmukh), Narkhede, Kharche, Supe, Borle, Panchpande and Kolte. Dowry is not practiced in the Leva community today. The attitude towards formal education is positive though Leva girls drop out of school earlier due to social conditions.


title: Kunbi

text: The Lonari Kunbis are regarded as one of the established cultivating communities in Maharashtra. The Lonari are presently located in the eastern part of the Vidarbha region and in the adjoining districts of Madhya Pradesh. The name of the community comes from Lonar lake in the Mehkar-Chikhli taluka of the Buldhana district, where their original occupation was salt-making. They migrated from the Lonar lake region and eventually arrived in present-day Maharashtra. The oral history of the community contains an elaborate story of their migration. According to tradition, the community migrated to Aurgangabad from their original place of origin in the Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh, then to Buldana and finally to their current locations in the Amravati and Betul districts of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, respectively. In the two tehsils of Multai and Warud in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashra, respectively, the Lonari Kunbi are also known as Deshmukhs and Kumbhares. The Lonari now rely on the "gram panchayats" under the state government as changes in the sociopolitical landscape have diminished the influence of the traditional caste council. Monogamy and adult marriages are the norm, but marriages among identical surnames (referred to as "hargote") is not allowed. According to the Lonari Kunbi community, they do not engage in the practice of dowry The Lonari Kunbis follow the joint family system, but restrictions on land-owning for agriculture under the Land Revenue Act and the improved educational status of newer generations has caused nuclear families to form. A large number of community members depend on revenue from agriculture, either by cultivating their own lands or working as agricultural labour. The Lonari Kunbi community has made much progress since the 1950s, but problem of poverty is still prevalent and economic instability is still a concern to community members.


title: Kunbi

text: The Kunbi Tirole are an agricultural community found in the Khandesh region of Maharashtra. The community believe that they are Rajputs who migrated from Rajasthan as a result of a general migration of the tribes of Rajputana. Older ethnographic accounts note that a large scale migration of the community occurred from Rajasthan to Maharashtra in the 18th century under the reign of Raghuji Bhonsle. The community enjoys a high social status among other agricultural communities. One reason for their high social status is the fact that some families were chosen to collect revenue in the days of the Maratha Empire. Two separate etymologies exist for the community name. One states that the community is named after the place of their origin: Therol, in Rajasthan. The other states that the community gets its name from their original occupation of "Til", or sesame cultivation. The population of the Tirole is greater than that of all other Kunbi communities. Their home districts are Nagpur, Wardha, Amravati and Yeotmal. Although occasional non-vegetarian men are found in the community, the community is mainly and traditionally vegetarian.


title: Kunbi

text: Based on evidence from an old Marathi document, Karve concludes that the Tirole Kunbi differ significantly from the Kubis west of Nagpur, and that they did not formerly claim to be Kshatriyas. G. S Ghurye states that Karve's statement is either esoteric or wrong.


title: Kunbi

text: In Gujarat, Kunbi communities are found in the Dangs, Surat and Valsad districts. In 2003, Singh and Lal described the Kunbi of Gujarat as being non-vegetarian and consumers of alcoholic drinks such as mohua. That particular community believes itself to be of a higher status than some other local groups due to the type of meat which they consume (for example, they believe that the Warlis eat rats, and other groups eat beef). The community practices monogamous endogamy; marriage of cross cousins is acceptable, as is remarriage by widows. Divorce is permitted and the practice of marriage around the age of 10–12 years has been abandoned. The dead are cremated.


title: Kunbi

text: The Charotar (Anand) region, tilled by the Lewa Kunbis, had been well-known since the 15th century for high productivity levels which produced potentially high-revenue crops like cotton and food grains. The Lewa community of the region were regarded among the most industrious by colonial officials.


title: Kunbi

text: By the 18th century, Gujarati Kunbis distinguished themselves by two sub-categories: those who continued their traditional occupation as agriculturists, and those who had taken up revenue collection. The former were known as "Kunbis" and the latter as "Patidars". While these two sub-communities resided in the same villages, they did not inter-dine or inter-marry. There was some confusion in the nomenclature of the community during the second half of the 19th century when colonial officials referred to elites simply as "Kunbis". On other occasions the two sub-communities were collectively referred to as the "Patidars".


title: Kunbi

text: The changes implemented to land tenure policy during the colonial era led to the ascendency of the Kunbis in central Gujarat. The Kunbis and the fishermen Kolis were not too different in their socio-economic position until the end of the 19th century. With the aid of favourable policies, the Kunbis were able to transform themselves into a prosperous caste by the time of the 1931 census, in which they had renamed themselves "Patidars". The etymology of term "Patidar", which implied a higher economic status due to land-ownership, comes from one who holds pieces of land called "patis".


title: Kunbi

text: A population of Kunbi (locally called Kurumbi) is also found in Goa, where they are believed to be descendants of the area's aboriginal inhabitants. They are largely poor agriculturalists, though some of the oldest known landowners in Goa were of this class, and claimed for themselves the Vaishya (merchant) varna. According to the leaders of the "Uttara Kannada district Kunabi Samaj Seva Sangh", the population of their community in the region is 75,000.


title: Kunbi

text: The Kunbis, along with the Teli and the Mali, play a major role in the politics of the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The three groups compose 50% of the electorate and are known to influence election outcomes. The Kunbis, being landlords, hold the upper-hand in the politics of the region and can decide the outcome of at least 22 seats, since they are dominant in every village of the region. The Kunbis, who are known to have a more tolerant attitude and are more secular than the Telis, prefer the Congress Party. As a result, the Party has held a dominant position in the region for several decades. However, in the last decade or so, Congress has ignored the Kunbis and other parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party; Shiv Sena responded by giving more opportunities to Kunbi candidates in elections.


title: Kunbi

text: In the 2009 elections, resentment by the Kunbis towards the Congress candidate Wamanrao Kasawar was said to benefit Sanjay Derkar, the independent NCP rebel candidate, in a triangular contest which also included Shiv Sena's Vishvas Nandekar. In the 2004 MLA elections in Murbad, the Kunbi vote was said to be the deciding vote in favour of Digambar Vishe, a BJP candidate belonging to the Kunbi community.


title: Kunbi

text: According to the "Indian Express", soon after its inception in May 1999 the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) worked hard to get rid of its "Kunbi Only" image. Sharad Pawar found, after breaking away from the Congress, that it was not possible to win elections with just the Kunbi vote. In order to attract the non-Kunbi OBC vote, estimated to form 40% of the electorate, Pawar recruited Chhagan Bhujbal (a Mali), and Pandurang Hajare (a Teli). Even though Pawar recruited other Telis like Pandurang Dhole, the "Indian Express" wondered if it would be enough to counter the age-old and keen Kunbi versus Teli rivalry. A closer look at local and regional leaders in the NCP revealed that almost all of them belonged to the Kunbi community. In 2009, the NCP president Sharad Pawar chose Anil Deshmukh over Rajendra Shingane as party candidate from the Vidarbha region because he represented the huge Kunbi-Marathi community there.


title: Kunbi

text: According to Thomas Blom Hansen, a commentator on religious and political violence in India, the failure of political parties to consolidate OBC votes in Maharashtra, despite calls for "Kunbi-zation" of the Maratha caste, was because Maharashtra had, as early as 1967, identified 183 communities as "educationally backward classes". By 1978 there were 199 communities in this category, and the government implemented a policy of reserving 10% of educational seats and government jobs for them.


title: Kunbi

text: The official data used by the government for the definition of the Maratha-Kunbi castes puts them between 30% and 40%, depending on whether a narrow or an inclusive definition of the caste is used. This causes the percentage of OBCs to vary between 29% and 38% of the population. According to Hansen, it is critically important for the politicians of the state to ensure a narrow definition of OBC and maximise the Maratha representation. The Maratha Mahasangha (All-Maratha Federation), fearing that the Mandal Commission would divide the Maratha-Kunbis into Kunbis and high Marathas, took an anti-Mandal stance and tried to attract marginalised Maratha-Kunbis by propagating martial and chauvinistic myths, which in turn stigmatized Muslims and Dalits. While the organization never received success outside of Mumbai, it showed that political leaders were willing to counter the rising OBC assertiveness.


title: Kunbi

text: There are several communities in Maharashtra that have been trying to pass themselves off as depressed in order to reap the benefits of the reservation. An issue of candidates of the Maratha caste (a non-backward caste) running for elections in wards reserved for OBC candidates got centre-stage attention in the 2007 civic polls after the Maharashtra state government amended the OBC list on 1 June 2004 to retain the Kunbis and include Kunbi-Marathas. In 2010, the independent corporator, Malan Bhintade, who claimed to be Kunbi-Maratha but was later found to be of Maratha caste, lost her membership of the Pune Municipal Corporation after it was established that she had submitted a false caste certificate, claiming to be Kunbi-Maratha in order to run for elections in wards reserved for OBC candidates. Subsequently, all candidates who lost to Kunbi-Maratha candidates registered complaints against their opponents by claiming falsification of certificates. A similar case of forgery was reported in 2003 when the former Shiv Sena corporator, Geeta Gore, was sent to jail for falsely claiming to be a Kunbi-Maratha. Gore won in elections from ward 18 of Andheri (west) by claiming to be a member of the Kunbi-Maratha caste.


title: Kunbi

text: In 2006, four members of a Dalit family were tortured and murdered by members of the Kunbi caste from the Khairlanji village in the Bhandara district. Two female members of the same family were paraded naked in the village and then raped. Eight villagers were sentenced to life imprisonment, with the court declaring the killings motivated by revenge and not racism or casteism. An appeal against the High Court judgement to have the crime declared as casteism is still pending in the Supreme Court of India.


title: Kunbi

text: "The Times of India" reported in February 2011 that an honour killing of a Dalit man and Kunbi woman was suspected in Murbad of the Thane district.


title: Kunbi

text: In September of the same year, a 20-year-old Dalit woman alleged that she was raped by a Someshwar Baburao Kuthe of the Kunbi caste in the Sarandi (Bujaruk) village of Lakhandur taluka. The local police registered an offense.


title: Kunbi

text: Modern research has revealed that the Marathas and Kunbi have the same origin - although the two are treated as two different communities currently on a social level. Most recently, the Kunbi origin of the Maratha has been explained in detail by Professor Richard Eaton from the University of Arizona and Professor Stewart Gordon from the University of Michigan. Marathas ("Assal" or true i.e. belonging to 96 clans), who were distinguished from the Kunbi, in the past claimed genealogical connections with Rajputs of Northern India. However, modern researchers demonstrate, giving examples, that these claims are not factual. Modern scholars agree that Marathas and Kunbi are the same. Anthropologist J.V.Ferreira, from the University of Mumbai states: "The Maratha claim to belong to the ancient 96 Kshatriya families has no foundation in fact and may have been adopted after the Marathas became with Shivaji a power to be reckoned with". Eaton shows how the Maratha caste was generated from the Kunbis who served the Muslim rulers, prospered, and over time adopted different customs like different dressing styles, employed genealogists, started identifying as Maratha, and caste boundaries solidified between them. In the nineteenth century, economic prosperity rather than marital service to the Muslims replaced the mobility into Maratha identity. Eaton gives an example of the Holkar family that originally belonged to the Dhangar(Shepherd) caste but was given a Maratha or even an "arch-Maratha" identity. The other example, given by Professor Susan Bayly of Cambridge University, is of the Bhonsles who originated among the populations of the Deccani tiller-plainsmen who were known by the names Kunbi and Maratha.


title: Kunbi

text: Professor Dhanmanjiri Sathe from the University of Pune states that "The line between Marathas and Kunbis is thin and sometimes difficult to ascertain". Iravati Karve, Anthropologist, University of Pune, showed how the Maratha caste was generated from Kunbis who simply started calling themselves "Maratha". She states that Maratha, Kunbi and Mali are the three main farming communities of Maharashtra - the difference being that the marathas and Kunbis were "dry farmers" whereas the Mali farmed throughout the year.


title: Kunbi

text: Professor Cynthia Talbot from the University of Texas quotes a saying in Maharashtra, "when a Kunbi prospers he becomes Maratha".


title: Kunbi

text: Kunbi origin has been one of the factors on the basis of which the head of Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), a Judge, M.G. Gaikwad, and some others in 2018, stated that Maratha associations have submitted historical proofs and petitions to be included in the Other Backward Class. The decision for giving reservation in jobs and education for Marathas based on the petitions that Marathas and Kunbis are one and the same caste was upheld by the Mumbai court in 2019.


title: The Masked Dancer (British TV series)

text: The Masked Dancer is a British reality dancing competition television series that premiered on ITV on 29 May 2021. It is based on the American television series of the same name. In December 2021, the show was recommissioned for a second series which premiered in September 2022.


title: The Masked Dancer (British TV series)

text: On 4 March 2021, it was announced that ITV were producing a local version of the American television dancing competition "The Masked Dancer" following the success of its sister show "The Masked Singer". The show is produced by the British television production company Bandicoot, part of the Argonon Group, the same company who produced "The Masked Singer". The series was commissioned as a replacement in the spring schedule for "Britain's Got Talent", which had its upcoming fifteenth series postponed until 2022 due to health and safety concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The show premiered on 29 May 2021, consisting of 12 contestants competing through seven episodes, which were broadcast across eight nights throughout the following week.


title: The Masked Dancer (British TV series)

text: In December 2021, ITV commissioned a second series of eight episodes, which premiered on 3 September 2022. The second series was broadcast in weekly instalments.


title: The Masked Dancer (British TV series)

text: Following the announcement of the series, it was confirmed by ITV that the panel would consist of presenter and comedian Jonathan Ross, television presenter Davina McCall, and comedian Mo Gilligan, who are all panellists on "The Masked Singer", along with "Strictly Come Dancing" professional Oti Mabuse. It was also confirmed that Joel Dommett would host the show.


title: The Masked Dancer (British TV series)

text: Guest panellists in the first series included David Walliams in the fifth episode, John Bishop in the sixth episode, and Holly Willoughby in the seventh episode.


title: The Masked Dancer (British TV series)

text: On 3 May 2022, it was announced that footballer Peter Crouch would join the panel for the second series, with Ross, McCall, and Mabuse all returning. Series one panellist Gilligan was unable to return due to touring commitments, but served as a guest panelist on the sixth show. John Bishop returned as a guest panelist on the seventh show and sat in on the final for Ross, who was absent. Dawn French was also a guest on the panel for the final.


title: The Beatles in India

text: In February 1968, the English rock band the Beatles travelled to Rishikesh in northern India to take part in a Transcendental Meditation (TM) training course at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The visit followed the group's denunciation of drugs in favour of TM and received widespread media attention. The band's interest in the Maharishi's teachings was led by George Harrison's commitment, and it changed Western attitudes about Indian spirituality and encouraged the study of Transcendental Meditation. The visit was also the most productive period for the Beatles' songwriting.


title: The Beatles in India

text: The Beatles had intended to join the Maharishi in India soon after attending his seminar in Bangor, Wales in late August 1967. Their attendance at the seminar was cut short by the death of their manager Brian Epstein, after which they committed to making the television film "Magical Mystery Tour". Harrison and John Lennon were convinced of the merits of TM and became spokesmen for the Maharishi's Spiritual Regeneration Movement, as he gained international prominence as the guru to the Beatles. The band members arrived in India in mid-February 1968, along with their wives, girlfriends, assistants, and numerous reporters. They joined a group of 60 training to be TM teachers; among the other celebrity meditators were musicians Donovan, Mike Love and Paul Horn, and actress Mia Farrow. While there, Lennon, Paul McCartney and Harrison wrote many songs, and Ringo Starr finished writing his first. Eighteen were recorded for "The Beatles" ("the White Album"), two others appeared on the "Abbey Road" album, and others were used for various solo projects.


title: The Beatles in India

text: The retreat and the discipline required for meditation were met with varying degrees of commitment from the individual Beatles. Starr left on 1 March, after ten days; McCartney left later in March to attend to business concerns. Harrison and Lennon departed abruptly on 12 April following rumours of the Maharishi's inappropriate behaviour towards Farrow and another of his female students. The divisive influence of the Beatles' Greek friend Alexis Mardas, financial disagreements, and suspicions that their teacher was taking advantage of the band's fame have also been cited by biographers and witnesses.


title: The Beatles in India

text: The Beatles' denunciation of the Maharishi was detrimental to his reputation in the West, while their return from Rishikesh exposed differences that anticipated the group's break-up in 1970. Harrison later apologised for the way that he and Lennon treated the Maharishi; like many of the students at the ashram, he said that allegations concerning the Maharishi's inappropriate behaviour were untrue. Harrison gave a benefit concert in 1992 for the Maharishi-associated Natural Law Party. In 2009, McCartney and Starr performed at a benefit concert for the David Lynch Foundation, which raises funds for teaching TM to at-risk students. As a result of continued interest in the Beatles' 1968 retreat, the abandoned ashram was opened to the public in 2015 and has since been renamed Beatles Ashram.


title: The Beatles in India

text: The Beatles attended Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Transcendental Meditation (TM) seminar in Bangor in Wales, but their stay was cut short on 27 August 1967 after they learned that their manager, Brian Epstein, had been found dead in his London home. Eager to explore meditation further, the Beatles made plans to travel to the Maharishi's training centre in Rishikesh, India, in late October. At Paul McCartney's urging, they postponed the trip until the new year to work on their "Magical Mystery Tour" film project, since he was concerned that, with the loss of Epstein, the band should first focus on their career. George Harrison and John Lennon, the two most committed to the Maharishi's teachings, appeared twice on David Frost's television program in autumn 1967 to espouse the benefits of TM.


title: The Beatles in India

text: Now publicised as "the Beatles' Guru", the Maharishi went on his eighth world tour, giving lectures in Britain, Scandinavia, West Germany, Italy, Canada and California. Harrison introduced Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys to the Maharishi when he and Lennon joined their teacher at a UNICEF benefit in Paris in December. Wilson's bandmate Mike Love described the private lecture the Maharishi gave beforehand as "awe-inspiring" and "the most profound experience I'd ever felt". Having long shared Harrison's interest in meditation and Indian religious texts, Scottish singer Donovan also recognised the Maharishi as the "guide" they had been searching for.


title: The Beatles in India

text: The Maharishi received considerable media coverage in the West, particularly the United States, where "Life" magazine devoted a cover article to the TM phenomenon and declared 1968 the "Year of the Guru". The mainstream press remained largely suspicious of the Maharishi's motives, however; the British satirical magazine "Private Eye" nicknamed him "Veririchi Lotsamoney Yogi Bear". Lennon defended the Maharishi's requirement that his students donate a week's wages to his organisation, the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, saying that it was "the fairest thing I've heard of". Lennon added: "So what if he's commercial? We're the most commercial group in the world!" The Beatles were nevertheless concerned that the Maharishi appeared to be using their name for self-promotion. According to Peter Brown, who temporarily assumed Epstein's role following his death, the Maharishi was negotiating with ABC in the US to make a television special featuring the band. In an effort to stop him, Brown twice visited the Maharishi in Malmö, Sweden – on the second occasion with Harrison and McCartney – only for him to "giggle" in response. In Brown's description, Harrison defended their teacher, saying: "He's not a modern man. He just doesn't understand these things."