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'''Musahar''' or '''Mushahar'''<ref name="bpedia">{{cite book|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|first=Subhash|last=Jengcham|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mushahar|chapter=Mushahar|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> are a [[Dalit]] community found in the eastern [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic plain]] and the [[Terai]]. They are also known as '''''Banbasi'''''.<ref name="xlii3">{{cite book|title=People of India Uttar Pradesh|volume=XLII Part Three|editor=A Hasan & J C Das|pages=1006–1012|publisher=Manohar Publications}}</ref>The other names of the Musahar are Bhuiyan and Rajawar<ref name="Sachchidananda1988">{{cite book|author=Sachchidananda|title=Tradition And Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZ1EOSQHhlYC&pg=PA124|accessdate=28 September 2012|date=1 January 1988|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-072-5|pages=124–}}</ref> Their name literally means 'rat-eater' due to their main former occupation of catching rats, and there are many who are still forced to do this work due to destitution and poverty. | '''Musahar''' or '''Mushahar'''<ref name="bpedia">{{cite book|title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|first=Subhash|last=Jengcham|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Mushahar|chapter=Mushahar|publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]]}}</ref> are a [[Dalit]] community found in the eastern [[Indo-Gangetic Plain|Gangetic plain]] and the [[Terai]]. They are also known as '''''Banbasi'''''.<ref name="xlii3">{{cite book|title=People of India Uttar Pradesh|volume=XLII Part Three|editor=A Hasan & J C Das|pages=1006–1012|publisher=Manohar Publications}}</ref> The other names of the Musahar are Bhuiyan and Rajawar<ref name="Sachchidananda1988">{{cite book|author=Sachchidananda|title=Tradition And Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZ1EOSQHhlYC&pg=PA124|accessdate=28 September 2012|date=1 January 1988|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-072-5|pages=124–}}</ref> Their name literally means 'rat-eater' due to their main former occupation of catching rats, and there are many who are still forced to do this work due to destitution and poverty. | ||
== Origins and history == | == Origins and history == | ||
[[File:The People of India Vol 1 Fig 6.jpg|thumb|Photo of a Musahar taken as part of a caste survey by [[Herbert Hope Risley]] in Bihar, 1890s]] | [[File:The People of India Vol 1 Fig 6.jpg|thumb|Photo of a Musahar taken as part of a caste survey by [[Herbert Hope Risley]] in Bihar, 1890s]] | ||
In Bihar, the word Musahar is said to be derived from the [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]] ''mūs+ahar'' (literally ''rat eater''), on account of their traditional occupation as rat catchers.<ref name="UpadhyayPandey1993">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SNw5zVN1V0oC&pg=PA436|title=History Of Anthropological Thought|author1=Vijay S. Upadhyay|author2=Gaya Pandey|date=1 January 1993|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-492-1|pages=436–|accessdate=28 September 2012}}</ref> According to a local legend, [[Brahma|Lord Brahma]] created man and gave him the horse to ride. The first Musahar decided to dig holes in the belly of the horse to fix his feet as he rode. This offended Lord Brahma, who cursed him and his descendants to be rat-catchers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/assembly-elections/uttar-pradesh/news/plagued-by-divine-curse-musahars-see-no-redemption-in-new-politicians/articleshow/57426017.cms|title=UP elections 2017: Plagued by 'divine curse', Musahars see no redemption in new politicians {{!}} Uttar-Pradesh Election News - Times of India|last=Mar 2|first=Shailvee Sharda {{!}} TNN {{!}} Updated|last2=2017|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2019-08-28|last3=Ist|first3=12:39}}</ref> [[Herbert Hope Risley]], in his 1881 survey of castes and tribes of Bengal, speculated that the Musahars were an offshoot of the hunter-gatherer [[Bhuiya]] from the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] who migrated to the Gangetic plains approximately 6-7 generations prior to his survey, around | In Bihar, the word Musahar is said to be derived from the [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]] ''mūs+ahar'' (literally ''rat eater''), on account of their traditional occupation as rat catchers.<ref name="UpadhyayPandey1993">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SNw5zVN1V0oC&pg=PA436|title=History Of Anthropological Thought|author1=Vijay S. Upadhyay|author2=Gaya Pandey|date=1 January 1993|publisher=Concept Publishing Company|isbn=978-81-7022-492-1|pages=436–|accessdate=28 September 2012}}</ref> According to a local legend, [[Brahma|Lord Brahma]] created man and gave him the horse to ride. The first Musahar decided to dig holes in the belly of the horse to fix his feet as he rode. This offended Lord Brahma, who cursed him and his descendants to be rat-catchers.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/assembly-elections/uttar-pradesh/news/plagued-by-divine-curse-musahars-see-no-redemption-in-new-politicians/articleshow/57426017.cms|title=UP elections 2017: Plagued by 'divine curse', Musahars see no redemption in new politicians {{!}} Uttar-Pradesh Election News - Times of India|last=Mar 2|first=Shailvee Sharda {{!}} TNN {{!}} Updated|last2=2017|website=The Times of India|language=en|access-date=2019-08-28|last3=Ist|first3=12:39}}</ref> [[Herbert Hope Risley]], in his 1881 survey of castes and tribes of Bengal, speculated that the Musahars were an offshoot of the hunter-gatherer [[Bhuiya]] from the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] who migrated to the Gangetic plains approximately 6-7 generations prior to his survey, around 300–350 years before present.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mukul|date=1999|title=The Untouchable Present: Everyday Life of Musahars in North Bihar|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|volume=34|issue=49|pages=3465–3470|issn=0012-9976|jstor=4408689}}</ref> It is now believed that this theory is generally correct. Modern genetic studies have found Musahars cluster very closely with Munda peoples like the [[Santal people|Santhals]] and the [[Ho people|Hos]], and demonstrate similar haplogroup frequencies for both maternal and paternal lineages.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Chaubey|first=Gyaneshwer|date=2008-02-08|title=Language Shift by Indigenous Population: A Model Genetic Study in South Asia|journal=International Journal of Human Genetics|volume=08|issue=1|doi=10.31901/24566330.2008/08.01.04|issn=0972-3757|doi-access=free}}</ref> Some Musahars have claimed that they once had their own language but it was lost when they migrated.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Politico economic history of marginalization and change among the Musahars of east-central Tarai Nepal.|last=Giri, Madhu.|oclc=927407719}}</ref> This process has been observed in another tribal population, the [[Baiga tribe|Baiga]], who also once spoke a Munda language but shifted to an Indo-European language in the distant past. However, unlike the Musahar, the Baiga remained isolated from Brahminical society at large and so were seen as a tribe rather than a caste. | ||
== Present circumstances == | == Present circumstances == | ||
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The [[2011 Census of India]] for Uttar Pradesh showed the Musahar population as around 250,000. The same census also showed around 250,000 Mushahars in Bihar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/SC_ST/PCA-A10/SC-0900-PCA-A-10-ddw.xlsx |title= A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix - Uttar Pradesh |publisher=Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |accessdate=2017-02-06}}</ref> However, Musahar activists have disputed this figure, claiming the Mushahar population in Bihar is over 4,000,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsclick.in/Bihar-Mushahars-Elections-2019|title=Elections 2019: Polls Come and Go, No Progress for Mushahars of Bihar|date=2019-04-09|website=NewsClick|language=en|access-date=2019-06-13}}</ref> Over 230,000 Musahars live in Nepal, most in conditions similar to their counterparts in India.<ref name=":0" /> | The [[2011 Census of India]] for Uttar Pradesh showed the Musahar population as around 250,000. The same census also showed around 250,000 Mushahars in Bihar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/SC_ST/PCA-A10/SC-0900-PCA-A-10-ddw.xlsx |title= A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix - Uttar Pradesh |publisher=Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |accessdate=2017-02-06}}</ref> However, Musahar activists have disputed this figure, claiming the Mushahar population in Bihar is over 4,000,000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsclick.in/Bihar-Mushahars-Elections-2019|title=Elections 2019: Polls Come and Go, No Progress for Mushahars of Bihar|date=2019-04-09|website=NewsClick|language=en|access-date=2019-06-13}}</ref> Over 230,000 Musahars live in Nepal, most in conditions similar to their counterparts in India.<ref name=":0" /> | ||
Some Musahars in Uttar Pradesh wish to be listed as a Scheduled Tribe, citing their claimed tribal roots that they saw in tribals from other areas of the country as well as the perception that richer Dalit castes like [[Jatav | Some Musahars in Uttar Pradesh wish to be listed as a Scheduled Tribe, citing their claimed tribal roots that they saw in tribals from other areas of the country as well as the perception that richer Dalit castes like [[Jatav]]s were the only ones with access to reservation benefits.<ref name=":1" /> | ||
Mushahars from the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] were transported by the British to the [[Sylhet region]] where they were made to work in tea plantations. They can still be found in areas in [[Habiganj District|Habiganj]] such as Teliapara and Rema where they continue the same livelihood. They are an ethnic minority with a mere population of 3,000. They are divided into 6 clans; Trihutia, Maghaiya, Ghatwar, Darwar, Khairawar and Rikhian.<ref name=bpedia/> | Mushahars from the [[Chota Nagpur Plateau]] were transported by the British to the [[Sylhet region]] where they were made to work in tea plantations. They can still be found in areas in [[Habiganj District|Habiganj]] such as Teliapara and Rema where they continue the same livelihood. They are an ethnic minority with a mere population of 3,000. They are divided into 6 clans; Trihutia, Maghaiya, Ghatwar, Darwar, Khairawar and Rikhian.<ref name=bpedia/> | ||