https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Lodha_peopleLodha people - Revision history2026-08-20T02:25:16ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lodha_people&diff=467468&oldid=prevAryakin2021: slightly expand details to improve readability and fixed typos2025-11-21T21:42:21Z<p>slightly expand details to improve readability and fixed typos</p>
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<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{For|the social group of people in Rajasthan and Gujarat|Lodha}}<br />
{{Infobox Ethnic group<br />
| group = Lodha<br />
| native_name = <br />
| native_name_lang = <br />
| image = <br />
| pop = <br />
| region1 = [[West Bengal]]<br />
| pop1 = 1,08,707<br />
| region2 = [[Odisha]]<br />
| pop2 = 9785<br />
| region3 = <br />
| pop3 = <br />
| languages = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]{{*}}[[Sadri language|Sadri]]{{*}}[[Lodhi language|Lodhi]]<br />
| religions = <br />
| related = [[Sabar (people)|Sabar]]{{•}}[[Lodha Muslims]]{{*}}[[Munda peoples]]<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''Lodha people''' are an [[Adivasi]] group living primarily in the [[India]]n [[States and territories of India|states]] of [[Odisha]] and [[West Bengal]]. Lodhas of West Bengal mostly live the [[Paschim Medinipur district|Paschim Medinipur]] and [[Jhargram district|Jhargham]] districts. A section of the Lodha has converted to [[Islam]], and formed a distinct community called the [[Lodha Muslims]].<br />
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==Demographics==<br />
As per 2001 census, Lodhas numbered 84,966 and formed 1.9 per cent of the [[Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes|scheduled tribe]] population of West Bengal. They had a literacy rate of 34.8 per cent.<ref>{{cite web<br />
|url = http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Tables_Published/SCST/dh_st_westbengal.pdf<br />
|title = West Bengal: Data Highlights the Scheduled Tribes| access-date = 2009-09-26 | work = Census of India 2001 | publisher = Census Commission of India }}</ref> As per the 2011 census, Lodhas now have a population of ~1.09 lakh in West Bengal and almost 10,000 in Odisha.<br />
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They are found in Suliapada and Morada blocks of Baripada sub-division of Mayurbhanj district of Orissa.<ref>{{cite web |url =http://mayurbhanj.nic.in/tribe.htm<br />
|title = Mayurbhanj, Tribal languages, festivals and culture| access-date = 2009-09-26 }}</ref><br />
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==Focus==<br />
Lodha means piece of flesh named after their ancestor. Lodhas have been in the focus of anthropologists and social activists.<ref>{{cite book |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=c3TqmBoQnf4C&q=Lodha+tribe&pg=PA219 |title = Rise of anthropology in India: a social science orientation, Volume 1 By Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi<br />
| access-date = 2009-09-26 |last1 = Vidyarthi<br />
|first1 = Lalita Prasad<br />
|year = 1978<br />
}}</ref> During the early period of their rule, the British government in India oppressed the tribal people of [[Jungle Mahals]], who were traditionally dependent upon the forests for a living. They had revolted but were ruthlessly suppressed. Having been deprived of their livelihood and without any alternatives, they took to criminal ways of life and were subsequently branded a criminal tribe. They should properly be labelled as uprooted rebels. Lodha titles are Nayek, Mallick, Digar, Sardar, Bhokta, Kotal, Dandapat, Bhunya etc. These titles were also used by the [[Sabar people|Sabars]].<ref>Ghosh, Binoy, ''Paschim Banger Sanskriti'', (in Bengali), part I, 1976 edition, pp. 201-203, Prakash Bhaban</ref> One of the most important research on the Lodhas was done by a Calcutta University faculty, Professor Probodh Kumar Bhowmic<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bhowmick |first1=P. K. |title=Rehabilitation of a 'Denotified Community': The Ex-Criminal Lodhas of West Bengal |journal=RAIN |date=1981 |issue=44 |pages=6–8 |doi=10.2307/3032233 |jstor=3032233 }}</ref><ref>Lodhas of West Bengal: A Socio-economic Study by P.K.Bhowmick https://www.amazon.com/Lodhas-Bengal-Socio-Economic-Study-Foreword/dp/B000OMQZYY</ref><br />
Much later, researchers from the Department of Anthropology at Vidyasagar University have done empirical studies on the development scenario of the Lodha tribe in Mendinpur district<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/7999059|title = Lodhas of West Bengal : A Case Study|journal = Tribal Tribune |volume=6 |issue=2 |year=2014|last1 = Guha|first1 = Abhijit}}</ref><ref>https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257221844_Ground_realities_of_Development_among_the_Lodhas_in_West_Bengal</ref> who were by that time declared as a 'Primitive Tribal Group' (PTG) by the Government of India.<br />
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==See also==<br />
* [[Chuni Kotal]]<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{Scheduled tribes of India}}<br />
{{Scheduled tribes of West Bengal}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]<br />
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of South Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Tribes of West Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of India]]<br />
[[Category:Social groups of West Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:Social groups of Odisha]]<br />
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Odisha]]</div>imported>Headbomb