Doms

From Bharatpedia, an open encyclopedia

Dom
ReligionsHinduism
LanguagesBengali
Populated statesWest Bengal
Population316,337 (2001 census)
Family namesDom, Bansfor, Malik

Doms are a Bengali Hindu caste found in large numbers in Birbhum, Bankura and other districts in the western fringe of the Indian state of West Bengal.[citation needed] Traditionally, Doms were basket-makers, cultivators, labourers and drummers; their wives serving as midwives.[citation needed]

The Doms were formerly classified as a criminal tribe under the Criminal Tribes Acts of the British Raj.[1][2]

Demographics[edit]

Doms numbered 316,337 at the 2001 census and were 1.7 percent of the scheduled caste population of West Bengal. The same census found overall 46.0 percent of Doms (aged 7 and up) were literate. Along gender lines, 58.9 percent of males and 32.6 percent of females were found by the census to be literate.[3]

References[edit]

  1. Bates, Crispin (1995). "Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: the early origins of Indian anthropometry". In Robb, Peter (ed.). The Concept of Race in South Asia. Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 227. ISBN 978-0-19-563767-0. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  2. Gupta, Ganesh (2005). Padabi Abhidhan [Dictionary of Family Names] (in Bengali). Kolkata: Annapurna Prakashan. p. 52.
  3. "West Bengal, Census of India 2001, Data Highlights – The Scheduled Castes" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General, India. Retrieved 28 June 2009.