The Kharia are an

Austroasiatic The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are th ...

tribal ethnic group from east-central India. They originally speak the

Kharia language The Kharia language ( or ) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family, that is primarily spoken by the Kharia people of eastern India. History According to linguist Paul Sidwell, Austroasiatic languages arrived on the coast of O ...

, which belong to

Austroasiatic languages The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...

. They are sub-divided into three groups known as the Hill Kharia, Delki Kharia and the Dudh Kharia. Amongst them, the Dudh Kharia is the most educated community.

History

According to linguist

Paul Sidwell Paul James Sidwell is an Australian linguist based in Canberra, Australia who has held research and lecturing positions at the Australian National University. Sidwell, who is also an expert and consultant in forensic linguistics, is most notab ...

Munda languages The Munda languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by about nine million people in India and Bangladesh. Historically, they have been called the Kolarian languages. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language famil ...

arrived on the coast of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

from

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

about 4000–3500 years ago. The Austroasiatic language speaker spread from Southeast Asia and mixed extensively with local Indian populations.

Social divisions

The Kharia comprise three tribes, the Dudh Kharia, Dhelki Kharia, and Hill Kharia. The first two speak an

Austroasiatic language The Austroasiatic languages , , are a large language family in Mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. These languages are scattered throughout parts of Thailand, Laos, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Nepal, and southern China and are t ...

, Kharia, but the Hill Kharia have switched to an

Indo-Aryan language The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...

, Kharia Thar. There has not been any language development efforts made for Kharia Tar. The Dudh Kharia and Dhelki Kharia formed together one compact tribe. These Kharia people were attacked by an Ahir chief and then moved on to the Chota Nagpur Plateau. Khariya Tribal lady from Jharkhand

In Odisha, the Hill Kharia are mainly found in Jashipur and Karanjia Blocks of Mayurbhanj district. A few villages are also found in Morada block. In Jharkhand, they are concentrated in East Singhbhum, Gumla, Simdega districts. Though widely found in this district, Musabani, Dumaria and Chakulia Blocks are the blocks where they live in large numbers. And in West Bengal, they are in West Midnapur, Bankura and Purulia districts. The majority are in Purulia. The Hill Kharia are also called Pahari (meaning “Hill”) Kharia, Savara/Sabar, Kheria, Erenga, or Pahar. Outsiders call them Kharia but they call themselves as

Sabar The sabar is a traditional drum from Senegal that is also played in the Gambia. It is associated with Wolof and Serer people. There are several gotras (clans) among the Hill Kharia such as Golgo, Bhunia, Sandi, Gidi, Dehuri, Pichria, Nago, Tolong, Suya, Dhar, Tesa, Kotal, Kharmoi, Digar, Laha, Saddar, Sikari, Rai, Dungdung, Bilung, Kiro, Kerketta, Soreng, Kullu, Baa, Tete, Dolai, Sal, Alkosi and Khiladi. Golgo seems to be dominant one because in every village that clan is spelt out first whenever their clans were asked.

Distribution

They mainly inhabit

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . I ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

, Maharashtra. In

Tripura Tripura (, Bengali: ) is a state in Northeast India. The third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a population of 36.71 lakh ( 3.67 million). It is bordered by Assam and Mizoram to the ea ...

. Few families can be found in

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

and Andaman islands. According to 1981 census, their population in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

(now mostly

) is 141,771, in

it is 144,178, and in

it is 6892.

Culture

Lifestyle

The Kharia who were under zamindars during British rule are now land owning farmers in independent India. All Kharia speak their traditional dialect. The Language spoken by them is a part of the

Munda Languages The Munda languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by about nine million people in India and Bangladesh. Historically, they have been called the Kolarian languages. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language famil ...

, which are part of the

. They are very close to the nature and culture of the tribe is influenced by its ecological and cultural surroundings. Roadside gods of the Hill Kharia Tribe

Dress

The Hill Kharia have preserved their traditional dress pattern and rest of the Kharia have been influenced by the modern contacts and changed their dressing style. Traditionally, they wear Dhoti called Bhagwan. women wear saree falling up to the ankles. A part of the saree covers their bosom. The traditional dress is nowadays going out of use. Both men and women wear ornaments generally made of Brass, Nickel, Aluminium, Silver and rarely of Gold. Dudh Kharia women prefer Gold ornaments.

Economy

Different levels of economic developments on sectional basis exist among Kharia. The Hill Kharia is a food gathering, hunting and labourer community. The Dhelkis are agricultural labourers and agriculturalists, while Dudh Kharia are exclusively agriculturists in their primary economy. Kharia people are skilled in cottage industries.

Religion

According to the 2011 Census on Kharias in all states of India, 46.1% are

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

, followed by 43.4%

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

. Minor populations follow Islam,

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

and other religions.

Dances

Kharia are said to be the great dancers. Youth of both sexes dance together. sometimes they form two groups each of males and females and sing one after the other. It is like a conversation is going on between boys and girls in the form of the song. The following dance patterns are prevalent among Kharias- Hario, Kinbhar, Halka, Kudhing and Jadhura.

Notable people

* Gladson Dungdung, tribal right activist *

Sylvanus Dung Dung Sylvanus Dung Dung (born January 27, 1949) is a former field hockey player from Simdega, Jharkhand, India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies b ...

, hockey player *

Rose Kerketta Rose Kerketta (born 5 December 1940) is a woman writer, poet, thinker and tribal rights activist. She was born in Kaisara, Ranchi District, Bihar which is now Simdega District, Jharkhand to a Kharia people, Kharia family. She has written several ...

, writer * Telanga Kharia, freedom fighter * Jyoti Sunita Kullu, hockey player *

Archana Soreng Archana Soreng (born 1996) is an environmental activist belonging to the indigenous Kharia Tribe from Bihabandh Village of Rajgangpur in Sundergarh, Odisha, India. She has been working for awareness about climate change and documentation, preser ...

, Activist * Salima Tete, hockey player

References

External links

For more information

First Kharia Online Magazine

Patricia Donegan & David Stampe’s Online Kharia Dictionary
{{Authority control Languages of India Odia culture Munda languages Scheduled Tribes of India Social groups of Odisha Social groups of Jharkhand Scheduled Tribes of Odisha