The Sahariya are a community found in the

Bundelkhand Bundelkhand (, ) is a geographical and cultural region and a proposed state and also a mountain range in central and North India. It corresponds to the Post-Vedic Chedi kingdom. The hilly region is now divided between the states of Uttar Prad ...

region of

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

, which is administered by the states of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. They are also known as Rawat, Banrawat, Banrakha and Soarain.

History and origin

The term ''saharia'' is derived from the

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 ...

word ''sahra'', meaning jungle, thus Sahariya means jungle dwellers. They trace their origin from Shabri of 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 ...

''. Others claim descent from Baiju Bheel, a worshiper of the

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 ...

god

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

. The community is divided into several exogamous

gotra In Hindu culture, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) is considered to be equivalent to lineage. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally, the gotr ...

s, the main ones being Sanauna, Rajauria, Chandele, Rohtele, Solanki, Khareyia, Bagolia, Jecheria, Kusmorna, Chakardiya, Kurwana and Theogana.

Present circumstances

The Sahariya are found in the Bundelkhand region, which covers parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh states. This region is covered with thick and thin forest, with low rainfall, and is home to number of other tribal communities such as the

Chero The Chero is a caste found in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh in India. History and origin The community claims to have originally been tribal people. The Chero are essentially one of many tribal communities, such as the Bhar ...

and Kol. Forests are a major economic resource for the Sahariya community. Their traditional occupations are cutting wood, collecting honey, making baskets, mining and quarrying, and breaking stones. Basketry is also an important craft the community. The community has a caste council, headed by a

patel Patel is an Indian surname or Indian honorifics, title, predominantly found in the States and union territories of India, state of Gujarat, representing the community of land-owning farmers and later (with the British East India Company) busine ...

, and the council imposes fines and social boycotts on the offenders found guilty of committing rape, elopement and adultery. The Sahariya are Hindu and worship a number of local deities such as Bhavani, Gond Devta, Bundela Devta, Soorin and Bijasur. The

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (International Organization for Standardization, ISO: ''Uttara Pradēśa Sarakāra''; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appoin ...

had classified them as a Scheduled Caste but by 2007, they were one of several groups that it had redesignated as Scheduled Tribes. As of 2017, this designation applied only in Lalitpur district, as it also did at the time of the 2011 Census of India when the Sahariya Scheduled Caste population in Uttar Pradesh was 23,644. The figure for the Rawat population at that time was 213,326.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sahariya (Caste) Scheduled Tribes of Uttar Pradesh Social groups of Madhya Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Uttar Pradesh

History and origin

Present circumstances

See also

References