The Barda are a tribal community found in the states of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

and

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. They have scheduled tribe status. The community is also known as Adivasi or Khandeshi

Bhil Bhil or Bheel refer to the various Indigenous peoples, indigenous groups inhabiting western India, including parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and are also found in distant places such as Bengal and Tripura. Though they now speak the Bhili ...

Origin

The word in the (

Gujarati language Gujarati ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Western Rājasthāni, Old Gujarati (). In India, it is one of the 22 Languages with ...

) means a dweller of a hilly region, and the term Barda is now applied to members of the

community who are said to have immigrated from

Khandesh Khandesh is a geographic region in Maharashtra, India. It was made up of present Jalgaon, Dhule and Nandurbar districts. It also said that Burhanpur District of Madhya Pradesh was also its part. The region have seen many geographical ch ...

some three hundred years ago . The community is now settled in the districts of

Mehsana Mehsana (), also spelled Mahesana, is a city and the headquarters of Mehsana district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Established in 14th century, the city was under Gaekwad dynasty, Gaekwads of Baroda State from 18th century to the independen ...

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

, and

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

. They spoke Gujarati. In

, the Barda is considered to be a sub-group of the

ethnic group. According to their traditions, the community descend from Sabari Bhil , a well-known character from the

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

. The Bardas are concentrated in the districts of

Dhule Dhule is one of the largest cities in Maharashtra, and central region of India. The city located in the Dhule District in the northwestern part of Maharashtra state, India known as West Khandesh. Situated on the banks of Panzara River, Dhule i ...

Jalgaon Jalgaon () is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. The city is located in North Maharashtra in the subregion of Khandesh, and serves as the administrative headquarters of its namesake district, the Jalgaon district. In the subregion of ...

Nasik Nashik, formerly Nasik, is a city in the northern region of the Indian state of Maharashtra situated on the banks of the river Godavari River, Godavari, about northeast of the state capital Mumbai. Nashik is one of the Hindu pilgrimage sit ...

Osmanabad Osmanabad, officially known as Dharashiv, is a city and a municipal council in Osmanabad district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Maharashtra. The city is the administrative headquarter of Osmanabad district. It is the ...

Sangli Sangli (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Sāṁgalī''; ) is a metropolitan town and the headquarters of Sangli District in Maharashtra, in south-western India. It has earned the nickname "Turmeric City of India" for being the hub of the Asia's largest produ ...

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

and

Sholapur Solapur () is a city located in the south-western region of the Indian state of Maharashtra, close to its border with Karnataka. Solapur is located on major highway, rail routes between Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad, with a branch line ...

. They speak Barda bhasha, which is related to

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

. Most Barda also speak Gujarati.

Present circumstances

In Gujarat

The Barda are strictly endogamous and practice clan exogamy. Their major clans are the Ahir, Baria, Dania, Gaikwad, Mali, Mori, and Thakur, all of whom intermarry. Historically, the Barda was a community of

hunter-gatherers A hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living in a community, or according to an ancestrally derived lifestyle, in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local naturally occurring sources, especially w ...

. The Barda has now settled as agriculturists, while many more are agricultural laborers. A few who have small pieces of land produce millets and pulses. The number of casual laborers from amongst the community. The Barda have their tribal belief system, to which they have later added a pantheon of

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

gods and goddesses. Like other tribal communities in the west

, they perform several folk dances and songs. Economically, they are a marginal community, and literacy levels are very low.

In Maharashtra

The Barda Bhil consist of a number of exogamous clans such as the More, Sonone, Thakre, Wagh, Gaikwad, Mali, and Phulpagare. Each of these clans is of equal status and intermarry. The community is strictly endogamous. Their traditional occupation was hunting and gathering. A small number have agricultural land, but most are landless agricultural labourers. A few are also employed by the police. The Barda Bhil have their own tribal deities such as Khanderaoji.People of India Maharshtra Volume XXX Part One edited by B.V Bhanu, B.R Bhatnagar, D.K Bose, V.S Kulkarni and J Sreenath pages 158–162

References

{{Scheduled Tribes in Maharashtra Bhil clans Social groups of Gujarat Tribal communities of Gujarat Scheduled Tribes of India Social groups of Maharashtra Tribal communities of Maharashtra