Rabha people

Rabha

Total population
c. 3,57,000
Regions with significant populations
India
Assam	2,96,189
Meghalaya	32,662
West Bengal	27,820
Languages
Assamese • Rabha (Native) • Bengali
Related ethnic groups
Boro-Kachari peoples

The Rabha are a Tibeto-Burman community indigenous to the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha.

The Rabha community have a rich, multi-faceted and distinct culture of their own. The agricultural practices, food habit and belief systems of the Rabhas reflect a conglomeration of features from both the Aryan and Mongoloid culture. The Rabha society is matrilineal. The village economy is based on agriculture and both men and women work in the fields. The women love to wear colorful clothes that they weave themselves and they wear a lot of beads and silver ornaments. The Rabhas are non-vegetarians and rice is their staple food.

The traditional economy of the Rabhas in general, is based on agriculture, forest based activities and weaving. In the past, the Rabhas used to practice shifting cultivation. They continued to cultivate the land with Gogo or bill-hook. Later they took up the job of settled cultivation and started cultivation with plough. Besides cultivation, hunting was also an old practice of Rabha people. Weaving was a traditional occupation of the Rabha women.

The Rabhas are mostly found in Lower Assam on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, in the districts of Goalpara and Kamrup. Some are found in the north bank districts of Baksa, Udalguri and Kokrajhar. In Meghalaya, the Rabhas mainly live in West Garo Hills and East Garo Hills districts. In West Bengal, the Rabha inhabit the district of Alipurduar.

Rabha Tribal Lady

Language

The Rabha language is closely related to neighbouring Boro and Garo, as well as many other Sino-Tibetan languages of Assam. They have 11 dialects: 1) Maithori, 2) Rongdani,3) Pati, 4) Dahori, 5) Dotla, 6) Halua, 7) Betolia, 8) Hanna, 9) Sunga, 10) Modahi, 11) Kocha Rabhas. These all are Rabhas but some of them have loss their mother tongues. Some of them have totally died out. But the Rongdani, Maithori and Kochas dialects are still used by Koch-Rabhas. The Rabha language is only spoken by a minority of the Rabhas, most of whom speak Assamese in Assam and Bengali in West Bengal.

See also

• Rabha language
• Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council
• Bishnuprasad Rabha
• Assamese language
• Himalayan Languages Project

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading

• Saha, Rebatimohon (1987) "Jalpaiguri Jelar Koch-Rabha Samaj" (in Bengali) published in Ananda Gopal Ghosh edited Madhuparni, Special issue on Jalpaiguri District.
• Raha, M.K. (1974) "The Rabhas of Western Duars: Structural Analysis of a Changing Matrilineal Society", Bulletin of the Cultural Research Institute, Vol. 10 (1 & 2).
• Ghosh, Saumitra (1990) "Vanbasi Rabhara" (in Bengali) Desh, Vol 57 (12), January 20.
• Roy Choudhury, B. (1970) "Social Mobility Movement among the Rabhas of North Bengal", Man in India, Vol 50 (1).
• Gupta, Pabitra Kumar (1977) "Uttarbanger Rahba Samaj O Dharmasanskar Aandolon", (in Bengali) in Madhuparni: Special North Bengal Issue, 1977.
• Sarma, Dr. Nabin Ch (2006) "Oral Songs of Tribal Communities of Assam" a project of Assam Sahitya Sabha, Assam Institute of Research for Tribals and Scheduled Castes