The Tiar are found in

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Centr ...

. They are also known as the Parihar.People of India Bihar Volume XVI Part Two edited by S Gopal & Hetukar Jha pages 933 to 934 Seagull Books

History and origin

The word tiar is a corruption of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

word ''thivara'', which means a hunter. They were traditionally hunters, but with the greater deforestation of their environment, they are now mainly farmers and fishermen. The Tiar in

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

are found in the districts of

Purnea Purnia ()(also romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar. Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is which is next ...

Bhagalpur Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Sil ...

, and

Munger Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern ...

, and in some districts of West Bengal and

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in 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 and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . ...

. A small number are also found in eastern

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. According to some traditions, they are a sub-group of the

Kewat The Kewat, also spelled Kevat, is a Hindu caste, found in the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India. They are the traditional boatmen of northern India.People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume ...

community.

Present circumstances

The Tiar have seven sub-divisions, the Rajbansi, Surajbansi, Polwar, Malhasuraiya, Kewat, Muriary and Bin. Among these clans, there is a sharp stratification and the Muriary and Bins are looked down upon. Like other Hindu communities, they maintain

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 gotra ...

exogamy. The Tiar are now landless, and most are agricultural labourers. They are Hindu, but have their own tribal deity Raja Bhim Sen Salis. The Tiar speak

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

and most now understand

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of North India, northern, Central India, centr ...

. The Tiar in

are confined to the

Ballia Division Ballia is a city with a municipal board in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The eastern boundary of the city lies at the junction of two major rivers, the Ganges and the Ghaghara.The city is situated east of Varanasi and about 380 km f ...

, although at one time they extended as far west as

Sultanpur District Sultanpur district is a district in the Awadh region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This district is a part of Faizabad division (officially ''Ayodhya division'') in Uttar Pradesh. The administrative headquarters of the district is Sul ...

. They were said to the rulers of this region until they were overthrown by the Bachgoti

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

s. The Tiar are now mainly small cultivators, and speak the

Awadhi Awadhi (; ), also known as Audhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in northern India and Nepal. It is primarily spoken in the Awadh region of present-day Uttar Pradesh, India. The name ''Awadh'' is connected to Ayodhya, the ancient city, w ...

dialect.

References

{{Tribes of Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Uttar Pradesh Scheduled Castes of Bihar Scheduled Castes of West Bengal Hindu communities

History and origin

Present circumstances

See also

References