Lohra (tribe)

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Lohra
Regions with significant populations
Flag of India.svg  India
Jharkhand 216,226 (2011 Census) [1]
Languages
Nagpuri, Mundari
Related ethnic groups
Lohar, Asur

Lohra is a community found in Jharkhand. They are traditionally associated with works of iron smelting. [1] [2]

Contents

History

Historians have no idea from which period the Lohra are residing in Chota-nagpur plateau. There is also no oral or folklore about the origin of Lohra. [2]

The use of iron tool and pottery spread in the Chotanagpur region during 1400 to 800 BCE according to carbon dating of iron slag, sickle and wheel made pottery which was found in Barudih of Singhbhum district. [3] According to carbon dating, Iron celt was dated to 1200 BCE. [4]

Distribution

They are mainly distributed in the state of Jharkhand in district of Ranchi, Simdega, Gumla, Lohardaga, Singhbhum, Hazaribagh, Palamu, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Giridih district. Their population in Jharkhand is 2,16,226. [1] [5]

Subgroups

Loharas are divided into two subgroups i.e. Kanujia Lohra, who are migrants from Bihar, and the indigenous Kol Lohra or Nagpuria Lohra. The Nagpuria Lohra are further divided into two groups i.e. Sad Kamar and Lohra. Sad Kamar have abandoned their occupation and do farming. Sad Kamar still speaks Mundari and eats only fowl and goat.

Lohra follows very few restrictions on foods and eat carcasses of dead animals. Lohra are distributed all over South Bihar. The Sad Kamar live in the Pach Pargana area. The Lohra speak Sadri and Mundari. [6]

Culture

Their traditional occupation is smelting iron and making agricultural and household equipment of iron. They make sickle, axes, arrow heads and Plowshares. [6] They speak Sadani or Nagpuri. [1] [7]

Clans

They have clans such as Sath, Son (Son river), Magahia, Tutli, Kachhua (turtle), Dhan (rice), Tirkey (a bird) etc. In marriage, the bride price is prevalent. Their festivals are Sarhul, Karam, Sohrai, Fagua. [1]

Official Classification

Lohra are included in Scheduled Tribe in Jharkhand. [1] [8]

Related Research Articles

Bihari languages are a group of the Indo-Aryan languages. The Bihari languages are mainly spoken in the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal, and also in Nepal. The most widely spoken languages of the Bihari group are Bhojpuri, Magahi and Maithili.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Singhbhum district</span> District of Jharkhand in India

West Singhbhum or Pashchimi Singhbhum is one of the 24 districts of Jharkhand state, India. It came into existence on 16 January 1990, when the old Singhbhum district was bifurcated. Chaibasa is the district headquarters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seraikela Kharsawan district</span> District of Jharkhand in India

Seraikela Kharsawan district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state in eastern India. Seraikela town is the district headquarters of Saraikela Kharsawan district. The district is well known for Seraikela Chhau, one of the three distinctive styles of the chhau dance. This district was carved out from West Singhbhum district in 2001. The district was formed from the princely states of Seraikela and Kharaswan, after the independence of India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munda people</span> Ethnic group of India, Bangladesh and Nepal

The Munda people are an Austroasiatic-speaking ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. They speak Mundari as their native language, which belongs to the Munda subgroup of Austroasiatic languages. The Munda are found mainly concentrated in the south and East Chhotanagpur Plateau region of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. The Munda also reside in adjacent areas of Madhya Pradesh as well as in portions of Bangladesh, Nepal, and the state of Tripura. They are one of India's largest scheduled tribes. Munda people in Tripura are also known as Mura. In the Kolhan region of Jharkhand the Munda people are often called Tamadia by other communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singhbhum district</span> District of British India of Bengal Presidency

Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern limit of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, Singhbhum included the Kolhan estate located in its southeastern part. The district has been segmented into two smaller districts, East Singhbhum and West Singhbhum.

The tribes of Jharkhand consist of 32 scheduled tribes inhabiting the Jharkhand state in India. In 1872, only 18 tribes were counted among the scheduled tribes from which Banjara, Bhatudi, Chik Baraik, and Mahli were marked as semi-Hindu aboriginal and Kora as proletariat Hindu. In the 1931 census, including the above four semi-Hindu aboriginal and Kora, a proletariat Hindu, the number was raised to 26 from 18. They were Birajia, Godait, Karmali and Paharia, but Kisan was excluded from the list. In the 1941 census, Baga, Bedia and Lohra were included again taking Kisan in the annexure and the number came to 30 which prevailed till June 2003. Kanwar and Kol were added on 8 June 2003 in the annexure and the number of Schedule Tribes came to 32.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manbhum</span> East Indian district during the British Raj

Manbhum District was one of the districts of the East India during the British Raj. After India's independence, the district became a part of Bihar State. Upon the reorganization of the Indian states in the mid-1950s, the Manbhum district was partitioned based on language. The Bengal-speaking areas were included in West Bengal, while the rest were kept with Bihar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lohar (caste)</span> Caste or clan in India and Nepal

Lohar is considered to be a caste among Hindus and a clan among Muslims and Sikhs in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, and in Nepal. They form traditionally artisanal castes. Writers of the Raj period often used the term Lohar as a synonym for blacksmith, although there are other traditional smiting communities, such as the Ramgarhia and Sikligar, and numerous non-traditional communities, including the Kayastha, Rajput and Brahmin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nagpuri language</span> Eastern Indo-Aryan language

Nagpuri is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar. It is primarily spoken in the west and central Chota Nagpur plateau region. It is sometimes considered a dialect of Bhojpuri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ho people</span> Ethnic group of India, Nepal and Bangladesh

The Ho people are an Austroasiatic Munda ethnic group of India. They are mostly concentrated in the Kolhan region of Jharkhand and northern Odisha where they constitute around 10.7% and 7.3% of the total Scheduled Tribe population respectively, as of 2011. With a population of approximately 700,000 in the state in 2001, the Ho are the fourth most numerous Scheduled tribe in Jharkhand after the Santals, Kurukhs, and Mundas. Ho also inhabit adjacent areas in the neighbouring states of Odisha, West Bengal and Bihar bringing the total to 806,921 as of 2001. They also live in Bangladesh and Nepal.

Mundari (Munɖari) is a Munda language of the Austroasiatic language family spoken by the Munda tribes in eastern Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and northern Rangpur Division of Bangladesh. It is closely related to Santali. Mundari Bani, a script specifically to write Mundari, was invented by Rohidas Singh Nag. It has also been written in the Devanagari, Odia, Bengali, and Latin writing systems.

The region have been inhabited since the Stone Age. Copper tools from the Chalcolithic period have been discovered. This area entered the Iron Age during the mid-2nd millennium BCE.

Bihar is a state situated in Eastern India. It is surrounded by West Bengal to the east, Uttar Pradesh to the west, Jharkhand to the south and Nepal to the north.

Most of the languages of Bihar, the third most populous state of India, belong to the Bihari subgroup of the Indo-Aryan family. Chief among them are Bhojpuri, spoken in the west of the state, Maithili in the north, Magahi in center around capital Patna and in the south of the state. Maithili has official recognition under the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India. The official language of Bihar is Modern Standard Hindi, with Standard Urdu serving as a second official language in 15 districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jhumair</span> Folk dance of East India

Jhumair or Jhumar is an Indian folk dance from the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Bihar and West Bengal. It is folk dance of Sadan, the Indo-Aryan ethnic groups of Chotanagpur. It is mainly performed during harvest season. The musical instruments used are Mandar, Dhol, Nagara, Bansuri. This dance style consists of performers standing in a row holding hands, singings couplets, swaying their bodies, clapping their hands and occasionally adding timed jumps.

The Nagpuria people, also Nagpuri or Sadan, are an Indo-Aryan speaking ethnolinguistic group who are the native speakers of the Nagpuri language and natives of the western Chota Nagpur Plateau region of Indian states of Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.

Sadan are the native Indo-Aryan-speaking ethnolinguistic groups of Chota Nagpur Plateau consist of Indian state of Jharkhand and neighbouring states who speak Nagpuri, Khortha and Kurmali language as their native language.

Ram Shah was Nagvanshi king in the 17th century. He succeed his brother Durjan Shah and ruled from 1640 to 1663 CE. Earlier their capital was at Khukhragarh, but later they shifted to Navratangarh. He was brother of king Durjan Shah.

Chakulia block is a CD block that forms an administrative division in the Ghatshila subdivision of East Singhbhum district, in the Indian state of Jharkhand.

Nagpuri culture refers to the culture of the Nagpuria people, the native speakers of the Nagpuri language, which includes literature, festivals, folk song and dance. It is also referred to as the culture related to the Nagpuri language.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 MANISH RANJAN (2022). Jharkhand General Knowledge 2022. Prabhat Prakashan. p. 18. ISBN   978-9354883002.
  2. 1 2 "Lohara". Jharkhandculture. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  3. Singh, Upinder (2008). A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century. Pearson Education India. p. 225. ISBN   9788131711200 . Retrieved 30 October 2022 via Google Books.
  4. Jyoti Bhusan Das Gupta (2007). Science, Technology, Imperialism, and War. Pearson Education India. p. 268. ISBN   978-8131708514.
  5. JHARKHAND PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION PRELIMS EXAMS COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE PAPER. Manish Ranjan. 2021. ISBN   978-9390906321.
  6. 1 2 Pranab Chandra Roy Choudhury (1970). Bihar District Gazetteers, Volume 12; Volume 16. Superintendent, Secretariat Press, Bihar. p. 126.
  7. "Language: जो भाषा बोली ही नहीं जाती, वह भी है पंजीकृत; सरकार को इन भाषाओं को लेकर है भ्रम". jagran. 13 July 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  8. "रांची में आदिवासी लोहरा समाज के केंद्रीय समिति की बैठक, आप भी जानें किन-किन मुद्दों पर हुई चर्चा". etvbharat. 14 March 2021. Retrieved 30 October 2022.