The Kamar or Kamara () is an

Indian caste The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic instance of social classification based on castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, espec ...

found in the

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

states of

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 are similar to Karmakar caste of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. Historically, they were

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s by profession, commonly forging

agricultural equipment Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the farm implements that they tow or operate. M ...

s like:

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...

axe An axe (; sometimes spelled ax in American English; American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for thousands of years to shape, split, a ...

spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...

s, crowbars etc. As per Mayurbhanj state 1931 census and Mayurbhanj district Gazetteers 1961, the Kamar are recorded as;

The Kamar caste is of heterogenous nature. Their occupation is iron-smelting and blacksmith. Chapua, Bindhani and Nahar Kamars are perhaps classed as Kol Kamars who are said to be accretions from the rank of the Kols. Chapuas derive their name from the practice of their women treading the bellows with foot while at work. The name Bindhani is perhaps derived from 'Bindha' meaning to bore. They call their chisel as beghuni, or that which pierces. Nahar is a corruption of Lohar or Lauhakar. The Astalohis 'workers on eight metals' work on different metals. Bathuri Kamars are accretions from the rank of the Bathuris and the Hatua Kamars are the indigenous Kamars of Orissa while Bangala Kamars are immigrants from Bengal.

Social Status

In the state of Odisha, The Kamaras are included in the Other Backward Classes minority group. He know as Vishwakarma or Vishwa Brahman

References

Blacksmith castes Social groups of Odisha Indian castes {{India-ethno-stub