The Bagdis are indigenous people descended from people with Dravidian links found in the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh who were associated with professions like cultivating and fishing. [1] [2] The Bagdis are populous in Bankura, Birbhum and other districts in the western fringe of West Bengal. The Bagdis are one of the most numerous Scheduled castes of West Bengal. [3] [4]
J.N Bhattacharya described the Bagdis as an aboriginal tribe, who were fishermen, woodcutters, and litter carriers. The bagdis are also known as the criminal tribe of Bengal. [2]
The Bagdis numbered 2,740,385 in West Bengal in the 2001 Indian census and were 14.9 percent of the scheduled caste population of West Bengal. 47.7 percent of the Bagdis were literate – 60.4 percent males and 34.8 percent females were literate. [5]
The Adivasi are tribes of the Indian subcontinent who are considered indigenous to places within India. The term is a modern Sanskrit word coined in the 1930s by tribal political activists to give an indigenous identity to tribal people by claiming indigenous origin. The term is also used for ethnic minorities, such as Chakmas of Bangladesh, Khas of Nepal, and Vedda of Sri Lanka. However, the government of India does not officially recognise tribes as indigenous people. India ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 107 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the United Nations (1957) and refused to sign the ILO Convention 169. Most of these groups are included in the Scheduled Tribe category under constitutional provisions in India.
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.
Cooch Behar district is a district of Indian state of West Bengal.
The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of caste. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. It is today the basis of affirmative action programmes in India. The caste system consists of two different concepts, varna and jati, which may be regarded as different levels of analysis of this system.
Udaynarayanpur is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Shyampur I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Bagnan I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Furfura Sharif is a village in Jangipara community development block of Srirampore subdivision in Hooghly District in the state of West Bengal, India. It is a holy place for some Bengali Muslims. Before the afternoon prayers, people queue up at the mazar (shrine) of Mohammad Abu Bakr Siddique (1846-1939), a prominent pir of the town. People say it is the second most prominent mazar in the country after Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan.
The Haris are people of indigenous origin found in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Doms are a Bengali Hindu caste found in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Bengali Hindus are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jharkhand, and Assam's Barak Valley region. In Bangladesh, they form the largest minority. They are adherents of Hinduism and are native to the Bengal region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. Bengali Hindus speak Bengali, which belongs to the Indo-Aryan language family and adhere to Shaktism or Vaishnavism of their native religion Hinduism with some regional deities. There are significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus in different Indian states. According to the census in 1881, 12.81 percent of Bengali Hindus belonged to the upper castes.
The Sauria Paharia people are a Dravidian ethnic people of Bangladesh and the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Bihar. They are found mostly in Santhal Parganas region in the Rajmahal Hills.
The Mal is a Hindu caste found in the state of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Gandhabanik is a Bengali Hindu trading caste, who as the caste name suggests, traditionally used to trade in perfumes, cosmetics, spices etc. They were also engaged in agriculture. They are one of the fourteen castes belonging to 'Nabasakh' group. There is almost one hundred percent literacy among the present gandhabanik generation.
Domjur is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Howrah Sadar subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Panchla is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Howrah Sadar subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Uluberia I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Amta II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Bagnan II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.
Shyampur II is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Uluberia subdivision of Howrah district in the Indian state of West Bengal.