Neo-Saini or Pseudo-Saini groups

In 1881 census, a miniscule Saini presence was also recorded in Bijnore and Saharanpur , which now falls in Western UP but in this area some people returning themselves as `Saini` were said to be inter-marrying with Malis who are not acknowledged to be authentic Sainis by those of submontane Punjab, Haryana and HP, all of whom claim Yaduvanshi Rajput descent from Mathura and have maintained their historical Rajput character. ^[6] In the census of 1901 these Malis in Bijnor area, who were included in Saini category by mistake, were excluded from Saini category and the overall Saini population was reduced by over 21% to 106,011. ^[128][142] So this population group cannot be regarded Saini as authentic Sainis have never kept any relation with them (a fact acknowledged by Ibbetson).^[47] Another noteworthy fact is that in census of 1881 there was absolutely no Saini population recorded in Rajputana (present Rajasthan), although almost all of the Mali groups, who returned their caste as Mali in 1881 census, now claim Saini identity. ^{[2] [1]} These neo-Saini groups cannot be treated as part of Saini fold and simply need to be treated and studied as part of the group named after their original identity.