Mahli (other)
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The Mahli are a community in the Indian states of
Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, 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 ...
,
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 ...
and
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
.
Basketry Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
is their main occupation. They speak the Mahali language, which belongs to the Munda group, and many of them also know Odia, Santali,
Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, and
Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
. They are included in list of Scheduled Tribe.


Origin

They are caste who works as palanquin bearers and bamboo workers. They are divided into five endogamous subdivision: the bansphor Mahli, pahar mahli, Sulunkhi, Tanti and Mahli Munda. Their some septs are Barwar (banayan), Bhuktuar, dumriar (wild fig), gundli (a kind of grain), Induar (eel), Kantiar, Kasriar, Kathargachh (jackfruit tree), Kendriar, Kerketta (a bird), mahukal (a bird), Tirki, Tunduar, Turu, Lang Chenre, Sanga. Their four septs Hansda, Hemron, Murmu, Saren also found in Santal tribe.


Culture

Their traditional occupation was making households items of bamboo. They were also making musical instruments such as Mandar, Dhol, Nagara etc. Their deity is Surjahi (Solar deity). Other deity are Bar Pahari (mountain deity) and Mansa Devi. Their festival are Bangri, Hariyari and
Nawakhani Nawakhani is harvest festival of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. In this festival people eat new grain of rice after harvesting. Etymology Nawakhani means ''eating new''. Nawa means ''New'' and Khani means ''eat''. It signifies eating new gr ...
etc.


Official classification

They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe by the Jharkhand government.


See also

*
Ghasi Ram Mahli Ghasi Ram Mahli (; 17 January 1859 – 1937) was an Indian Nagpuri-language poet. He was a poet under the patronage of Nagvanshi Lal Thakur of Thakurgaon. He was the first poet of the Nagpuri language, whose book was published in 1911. Early li ...
, poet


Further reading

*


References

Scheduled Tribes of Jharkhand Scheduled Tribes of West Bengal Scheduled Tribes of India Social groups of West Bengal Social groups of Odisha Scheduled Tribes of Odisha {{india-ethno-stub