Rajuar

 ( Scheduled Tribes Of Odisha ) 

Rajwars or Rajuar (also spelt as Rajuala, Rajuad) is a shifting cultivation community. The people of this community mainly live in Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. In Odisha, they are recognized as a Scheduled Tribe, while in Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, they are classified as Scheduled Caste.

In other states, the community is considered part of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) or general population.

Kumar Suresh Singh (1992). 9788170462941, Anthropological Survey of India. . ISBN 9788170462941

(2025). 9789380705521, Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute. . ISBN 9789380705521

Nishakar Panda (2025). 9788178354910, Gyan Publishing House. . ISBN 9788178354910

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Overview The people living in Odisha are mostly from the Nagbansi group and they live in Mayurbhanj and Baleshwar districts. They migrated from places like Dhalbhum, Garh Panchkot, and Tungbhum to the Bengal border village of Handibhanga, from where they scattered to the eastern part of the district.: "The Rajuar of Kamli village of have migrated from Rairangpur area of Mayurbhanj district about two generations ago. Before that, they had been at Midnapur district of West Bengal. They speak in 'Tamlia Bangla' dialect, which is a mixture of Tribal, Bengali, Hindi and Oriya languages." According to 1931 census, their population in Mayurbhanj was 1014 and distributed in Nij Majhalbagh (4), Deuli (34), Asankhali (459) and Khanua (44) of Baripada subdivision; Gartal (6), Khauta (69), Saranda (92) of Bamanghati subdivision; Khunta Karkachia (127), Dukura (142) of Kaptipda subdivision; There was no return from Panchpir subdivision and their literacy rate was 0.39 per cent (only four people). However, the Rujwars were predominantly recorded as 159,698 in total during the 1901 census, with significant numbers in Goya (63,189), Manbhum (32,166), and the Chota Nagpur tributary states (21,686). In contrast, in the Orissa tributary states (incl. Mayurbhanj), their population was only 495. Alt URL As of the 2011 census, they had a population of 3,517 and a literacy rate of 51.6 per cent in Odisha. Many years ago they lived in Chotanagpur and they were engaged in shifting cultivation. Later, They started to live with different ethnic people in a village when they found settleable land to live in the process of shifting cultivation. Now they are occupationally settled agriculturist but some of them are flattened rice sellers.

Satinder Kumar (2025). 9788126105175, Anmol Publications. . ISBN 9788126105175

People living in Odisha speak Odia language for inter-community communication but due to their historical migration from Bengali-speaking region, many people use Bengali language / Kurmali language for daily conversation. The origin of the Rajuar community remains doubtful. While some researchers claim that the Rajuar caste is an offshoot of the Bhuyan, the people of West Bengal claim that the Rajuar caste was formed from a mixture of the Kurmi caste and the Kol people caste.

(1998). 9788185579467, Anthropological Survey of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Culture, Government of India. . ISBN 9788185579467

Swaran Singh (1994). 9788121204668, Gyan Publishing House. . ISBN 9788121204668

As the 1931 Mayurbhanj State census noted that;

The Rajuars are a low cultivating caste of Bihar and Chotanagpur, who are probably an offshoot of Bhuinyas. In the Central Provinces, the Bhuinyas hava a sub-caste called Rajuar. The Rajuars of Bengal give a different story, admitting that they are descendants of mixed unions between Kurmis and Kols. In Chotanagpur, the Rajuars, like the land-holding branches of other forest tribes, claim to be an inferior class of the Rajputs.

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Society The Rajuar is divided into endogamous groups such as Bhogta, Lathaur, Nagbansi and Nakchedia. Among those groups, the Nagabansi group is lagging in society. Again those groups are divided into some exogenous clans such as Nageswar (Nag), Kachap (Kachim), Sankhua (Sankh), Champa, Mukut (Mod), Sinha and Kashyapa. The surnames used by the Rajuar people living in Odisha are Behera, Ram, Ray, and Parmanik.

(2025). 9788170463030, Anthropological Survey of India. . ISBN 9788170463030

Kumar Suresh Singh (1998). 9780195633542, Oxford University Press. . ISBN 9780195633542

The festivals celebrated by the people of Rajuar are similar to the festivals celebrated by the people of the region and are based on Hinduism. Dhulia Festival, Jantal Festival, Magha Puja, Bandna and Karam Festival are considered the main festivals of Rajuar.

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Further reading

• K. S. Singh (1993). 9780195632545, Anthropological Survey of India. . ISBN 9780195632545

Categories: Scheduled Tribes Of Odisha, Scheduled Castes Of Bihar, Scheduled Castes Of Jharkhand, Scheduled Castes Of West Bengal, Ethnic Groups In India, Ethnic Groups In South Asia

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