Koch is a

social group In the social sciences, a social group is defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties. F ...

in the

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 ...

n state of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

. The members of the caste are converts from different ethnic groups such as the

Bodo Bodo may refer to: Ethnicity * Boro people, also called ''Bodo'', an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India * Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Boro people Culture an ...

s, Garos,

Tiwa Tiwa and Tigua may refer to: * Tiwa Puebloans, an ethnic group of New Mexico, US * Tiwa (Lalung), an ethnic group of north-eastern India * Tiwa language (India), a Sino-Tibetan language of India * Tiwa languages, a group of Tanoan languages of the ...

s, Karbis, Hajongs, Chutias etc.:"In Upper Assam, “Koch” only applies to groups reputed to have converted to Assamese Hinduism and which no longer recognize themselves as Tiwa, Karbi or Bodo." The Koch is one of many categories in the tribe-caste continuum in Assamese society. In some instance, the identity of the Koch overlaps the identity of the Kachari.:"The Boch category does not, however, encompass all the intermediary statuses between caste and tribe. For instance, in the same region of Upper Assam, the Koch category conceptually overlaps the Kachari, the second term being more common on the northern bank and the far east" Any member of the any ethnic group can become a Koch by employing a Brahmin and giving up habits such as the consumption of liquor,

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). Beef can be prepared in various ways; Cut of beef, cuts are often used for steak, which can be cooked to varying degrees of doneness, while trimmings are often Ground beef, grou ...

etc. and giving up their original

mother tongue A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongue'' refers ...

which are considered to be impure in

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. The caste is mostly found to be concentrated in Upper Assam section of the Brahmaputra Valley.

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* * * Social groups of Assam Ethnic groups in South Asia Ethnic groups in India Indian castes {{India-ethno-stub

See also

Notes

References

Printed sources