Tea-tribes
| Tea-tribe and Ex-Tea tribe | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| (6 million (60 Lakhs) or 17% of Assam's total population 4 million Tea-tribe (চাহ জনগোষ্ঠী) 2 million Ex-Tea tribe (ভূতপূৰ্ব চাহ জনগোষ্ঠী)) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Districts of Cachar, Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Nagaon, North Lakhimpur, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia. | |
| Languages | |
| Nagpuri • Odia • Santhali • Kurukh • Assamese • Bengali | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism • Sarnaism • Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Odia people, Bengalis, People of Central-eastern India |
Tea-tribe (Assamese: চাহ জনগোষ্ঠী) as a term is used to denote those active tea garden workers and their dependents who reside in labour quarters built inside 800 Tea Estates spread across Assam while "Ex-tea tribe" (ভূতপূৰ্ব চাহ জনগোষ্ঠী) to those who were once active as labourers but now have left the job and labour quarters for other employment opportunities after retirement. So "Tea-tribe" and "Ex-tea tribe" are collectively used for those set of people who are the descendants of both tribals and backward caste Hindus who were brought by the British colonial planters as indentured labourers from the predominantly Tribal and backward castes dominated regions of present-day
Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Telangana and Chhattisgarh into colonial Assam during 1860-90s in multiple phases for the purpose of being employed in the tea gardens industry as labourers. They are found mainly in those districts of Upper Assam and Northern Brahmaputra belt where there is high concentration of tea gardens like Kokrajhar, Udalguri, Sonitpur, Nagaon, Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia . The total population is estimated to be around 6 million of which estimated 4 million reside in residential quarters built inside tea estates.Santhali speakers are also found in parts of Kokrajhar, Baksa and Bongaigaon districts. They generally use Nagpuri or Sadri having high degree of Odia and Bengali influence as lingua franca among themselves along with use of other languages like Odia, Santhali, Kurukh and Mundari. They have their own dance form, Jhumur, which is quite popular in Assam.
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