The Bedia is a caste in India.[1] They believe that they originally lived at Mohdipahar in Hazaribagh district and have descended from the union of a Vedbansi prince with a Munda girl. A legend has heard that they had their own 'Vedas' and hence it is called Bediya. Their Veda was different from the Vedas of Aryans.
Present circumstances[edit | edit source]
The Bedia who have settled down in West Bengal are also known as the Bede or Bedia. They speak in Nagpuri, an Indo-Aryan language, at home, and Bengali for inter-group communication. The Bengali and Devanagari scripts are used.[2]
The 2011 Census of India for Uttar Pradesh, where they were classified as a Scheduled Caste under the name Beriya, showed their population as 46,775.[3] In Jharkhand, they are listed as a Scheduled Tribe.[4]
Clans[edit | edit source]
They have numbers of exogamous clans such as Pecha (owl), Mahua (Madhuca India), Suia (parrot), Kachhua (tortoise), Chidra (squirrel) etc.[4] Their deities are Bad Pahari and Palcharu. They celebrate festivals such as Jitiya, Sohrai, Fagun, and Sarhul.[4]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Gupta, Dipankar (8 December 2004). Caste in Question: Identity Or Hierarchy?. SAGE Publications. pp. 221–46. ISBN 978-0-7619-3324-3.
- ↑ "Bedia". Government of Jharkhand - Directorate of Arts and Culture.
- ↑ "A-10 Individual Scheduled Caste Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix - Uttar Pradesh". Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Saswatik Tripathy, Aditi Khan (2018). "A Study on the Bedia Community of the Village Nagrabera, Jharkhand": 1. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
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Further reading[edit | edit source]
- Agrawal, Anuja (2004). "'The Bedias are Rajputs': Caste consciousness of a marginal community". In Gupta, Dipankar (ed.). Caste in Question: Identity Or Hierarchy?. Contributions to Indian Sociology. Vol. 12. SAGE. ISBN 9780761933243.