Birhor people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 10,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Birhor language | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional beliefs, Hinduism, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Hos • Kols |
Birhor people are a tribal/Adivasi forest people, traditionally nomadic, living primarily in the Indian state of Jharkhand. They speak the Birhor language, which belongs to the Munda group of languages of the Austroasiatic language family.
Birhor means jungle people - bir means jungle, hos mean men.
The Birhors are of short stature, long head, wavy hair and broad nose. They claim they have descended from the Sun and believe that the Kharwars, who also trace their descent from the Sun, are their brothers. Ethnologically, they are akin to the Santals, Mundas, and Hos.
Birhors are found mainly in the area covered by the old Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Singhbhum districts before these were broken down into numerous smaller units, in Jharkhand. Some of them are also found in Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal. They are one of the smaller of the thirty scheduled tribes inhabiting Jharkhand.
Birhors number around 10,000. According to some sources, their numbers could be lesser than this.
They speak the Birhor language, which belongs to the Munda group of languages of the Austroasiatic language family. Their language has similarities with Santali, Mundari and Ho languages. Birhors have a positive language attitude. They freely use the languages prevalent in the areas they move around and use Sadri, Santali, Ho, Mundari, Hindi and Oriya. Literacy rate in the first language was as low as 0.02 percent in 1971, but around 10 per cent were literate in Hindi.
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Wikipedia