Nanda or Nandagopa, according to the Harivamsha and the Puranas, was the head of the gopas (a tribe of cowherds referred as Holy Gwals).It is said that Nand Baba owned 9 lakhs of cows Nandvanshi Ahirs are descendants of Nand.
On the night of Krishna

Krishna

Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...

's appearance or birth, Vasudeva

Vasudeva

In Hindu itihasa , Vasudeva is the father of Krishna, the son of Shoorsen, of the Yadu and Vrishni dynasties. His sister Kunti was married to Pandu. He was a partial incarnation of Rishi Kashyap....

 (Krishna's father) brought Krishna to Nanda for Krishnas childhood years. Nanda brought up both Krishna and Balarama

Balarama

Balarama , also known as Baladeva, Balabhadra and Halayudha, is the elder brother of the divine being, Krishna in Hinduism. Within Vaishnavism Hindu traditions Balarama is worshipped as an Avatar of Vishnu, and he is also listed as such in the Bhagavata Purana...

. Nanda was married to Yasoda

Yasoda

Yasoda/Yashoda was wife of Nanda within the Puranic texts of Hinduism. Within the Bhagavata Purana it is described that Yasoda later became the foster-mother to Krishna, who was born to Devaki but was given to Yashoda and Nanda in Gokul, by Krishna's father Vasudeva on the night of his birth, for...

. Krishna derives his name Nandanandana (meaning son of Nanda) from him.

Location

Nandvanshi Ahirs are found in Central Doab

Doab

A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...

, West of Yamuna

Yamuna

The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...

. Claim origin from Mathura. Central or Middle Doab consists of Etah

Etah

Etah is a town which is also the district headquarters of Etah district of Uttar Pradesh state, India.-Geography:Etah is located at . It has an average elevation of 170 metres ....

, Aligarh, Mainpuri

Mainpuri

Mainpuri is a city and a municipal board in Mainpuri district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Mainpuri district and is situated to the north-east of Agra.-Geography:...

, Etawah

Etawah

Etawah is a city on the Yamuna River in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is the administrative headquarters of Etawah District. The city was an important center for the Revolt of 1857 . Also is the place of sangam or confluence between Yamuna and Chambal...

, Kanpur, Hathras

Hathras

Hathras is a city and a municipal board in Mahamaya Nagar district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of the district that was created on 3 May 1997 by incorporating parts of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra districts. It forms a part of Aligarh Division...

 , Farrukhabad

Farrukhabad

Farrukhābād , is one of the important cities of Central Doab Region in the State of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The city was founded in 1717 by Mohammed Bangash who named it after the Mughal emperor Farrukhsiyar. Farrukhabad is situated on the bank of sacred river Ganges.-Demographics: India...

, Firozabad

Firozabad

Firozabad is a city in India, in the state of Uttar Pradesh.The ancient name of this town was Chandwar nagar; it is said that once in reign of Akbar the great, revenue was being brought through the city. it was looted by the people who lived here...

, Mathura and Agra

Agra

Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...

. In Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

 they are found in Jaipur

Jaipur

Jaipur , also popularly known as the Pink City, is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Rajasthan. Founded on 18 November 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amber, the city today has a population of more than 3.1 million....

. Nandvanshi Ahirs are also found in Khandwa and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Aurangabad, Akola, Amravati, Bid, Chandrapur, Jalna, Pune, Nagpur, Nanded

Nanded

Nanded is the second largest city in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra, India. It is also headquarters of Nanded district in the Marathwada Division of the state. It is an important holy place for the Sikh faith and is famous for the Hazur Sahib Gurudwara. It is the district headquarters once...

, Thane, Wardha and Washim in Maharashtra and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

Mehar

The Mehar of Rajasthan, also known as Meher claim Rajput

Rajput

A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...

 descent. They have two territorial divisions, namely, Kundali and Hadoti call themselves Nand Mehar as they believe to have descended from king Nand of Vrindavan

Vrindavan

Vrindavan also known as Vraj is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India...

.They call themselves Nandvanshis.

Meher live in eastern part with large concentration in Hadoti area comprising Kota

Kota district

Kota District is a district of the state of Rajasthan in western India. The city of Kota is the administrative headquarters of the district.During the period around 12th century AD, Rao Deva,a Hada Chieftain conquered the territory and founded Bundi and Hadoti...

, Bundi

Bundi

Bundi is a city and a municipality of approximately 88,000 inhabitants in the Hadoti region of Rajasthan state in northwest India. It is of particular architectural note for its ornate forts, palaces, and stepwell reservoirs known as baoris...

 ,and Jhalawar

Jhalawar

Jhalawar is a city in southeastern Rajasthan. It was the capital of the former princely state of Jhalawar, and is the administrative headquarters of Jhalawar District. Jhalawar was once known as Brijnagar .-Jhalawar town:...

 districts of Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...

.

Bharwads

The Bharwads are a Hindu caste found in the state of Gujarat in India. Those of Saurashtra use Ahir as a surname, Bharwad consider themselves as Nandvanshi Ahirs.