Rabha people

Rabha is a little known Scheduled Tribe community of West Bengal and Assam. The language/dialect spoken by the Rabha people is also of the same name. In West Bengal, Rabha people are mainly found in Jalpaiguri district and Cooch Behar district. Moreover, almost, 70 per cent of them live in Jalpaiguri district. In Assam, the Rabhas live mostly in Goalpara and Kamrup districts. The whole area of Eastern and Western Dooars, may be termed as the cradle land of the Rabhas.

The Rabhas belong to Indo-Mongoloid group of people and have similarities with other members of Bodo group such as Garo (tribe), Kachari, Mech (tribe), Koch, Hajong and others. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha. According to Dr. Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, the aspects of socio-religious and material life of the Rabhas have similarities with those of the Pani-Koch. E. Dalton on the other hand, argues that the Rabhas and the Hajongs are the branches of Kachari race and connected with the Garo (tribe). According to B.H. Hodgson the Rabhas belong to the Great Bodo or Mech family. He also considers that Pani-Koch and the Rabhas have the same lineage and the latter has their connection with the Garo (tribe). A. Playfair (1909) also has pointed out some linguistic and cultural similarities between the Rabhas and the Garos. He also remarks that there exists a striking linguistic affinity between the A'Tong language and the Rangdania (Rabha) dialects. This led him to think that, at some point of time they lived in contact with each other.

Rabhas, who once used to live in the forest and practice shifting cultivation, were deprived of their rights to the forest by the colonial rulers. After independence, Indian Government more or less continued the same colonial system of forest management, where the communities like Rabhas could not regain their rights to the forest.

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 settled cultivation and started cultivation with plough.

Dr. Rebati Mohan Saha of Bolasipara College (Dhubri, Assam) has been working on Rabha language for more than a quarter of a century now. Dr. Saha has been promoting for conservation of this rich language and culture. recently he is working on a dictionary for Rabha language. Dr. Saha has been honored by the Rabha Society as "Father of Rabha Community".

Related languages:A'Tong language

Famous personalities:Bishnuprasad Rabha

References

Risley, H.H. (1891)The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, Calcutta: Firma Mukhopadhyay. (Reprint)
Hamilton, Buchanan (1810) “An Account of the District Ronggopoor” in M. Martin ed. [(1838) Reprint 1976] The History Antiquities, Topography and Statistics of Eastern India, Vol. 3, Cosmo Publications, New Delhi.
E.T. Dalton (1872) Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, Calcutta: Govt. Printing Press.
Hodgson, B.H. [(1880) Reprint 1947] “On the Aborigines of India. Essays on Koch, Bodo and Dhimal Tribes” in Miscellaneous Essays Relating to Indian Subjects, Vol. i & ii, Turner and Co., London.
Raha, M.K. (1989) Matriliny to Patriliny: A Study of the Rabha Society, Delhi: Gyan Publishing House.
Karlsson (1997) Contested Belonging, Lund University.
Das, Amal Kumar and M.K. Raha (1967) The Rabhas of West Bengal, Calcutta: SC & ST Welfare Dept., Govt. of West Bengal.
Saha, Rebatimohon (1987) “Jalpaiguri Jelar Koch-Rabha Samaj” (in Bengali) published in AnandaGopal 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.

References

See also