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Kisan people

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The Kisan are a tribal group found in the Indian states of Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand. They are traditional farmers and a food gathering people. They speak Kisan, a dialect of Kurukh, as well as Odia and Sambalpuri. The tribe mainly lives in northwestern Odisha, in the districts of Sundergarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur. Other populations live in Malda district in western West Bengal and Latehar and Gumla districts of western Jharkhand. They also reside in Nepal's Jhapa district in small number (around 1,000).

Kisan
Kisan house at the 2020 Odisha State Tribal Fair, Bhubaneswar
Total population
467,288[1]
Regions with significant populations
India
Odisha331,589
West Bengal98,434
Jharkhand37,265
  Nepal1,739
Languages
First language
Kisan
Second language
Hindi • Odia • Bengali • Sambalpuri
Religion
Hinduism • Traditional religion • Christianity[2]
Related ethnic groups
Kurukh

Geographic distribution

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Kisan people in India

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According to the 2011 Census of India, the Kisan people were registered to dwell in Odisha, where the largest population was registered.[3] The tribe mainly lives in northwestern Odisha, in the districts of Sundergarh, Jharsuguda and Sambalpur.[4][5][6][7]

Aside from Odisha, the Census reported populations of Kisan in West Bengal, Assam, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkand, Maharashtra, and Himachal Pradesh.[8]

Kisan people in Nepal

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The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Kisan as a subgroup within the broader social group of Terai Janajati.[9] At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, 1,739 people (0.0% of the population of Nepal) were Kisan. The frequency of Kisan people by province was as follows:

The frequency of Kisan people was higher than national average (0.0%) in the following districts:[10]

Culture

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Marriage

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The Kisan community practise endogamy and exogamy. Most practice monogamy, but bigamy is also accepted. The community practices adult marriage. Marriage within the same bansa is also forbidden, since they share a bloodline. However, since bansa is patrilineal, marriage with the maternal uncle's daughter is accepted and common. Widows are allowed to remarry.[11]

The Kisan recognise several forms of marriage common to tribal groups of central and eastern India: marriage by negotiation (arranged marriage), marriage by capture, love marriage, marriage by intrusion, marriage by adoption and marriage by exchange. Of these, marriage by negotiation is the most common, and is known as benja. In this marriage, the father or guardian of the person to be married selects the partner. In these negotiations the village headman is consulted.[11]

The benja process is as follows. The agua, a mediator who negotiates between the two families, approaches the bride's father to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage for the groom. Then the groom and his family visit the bride's house with gifts of rice, handia (rice-beer), and animals. By the taking of the food, the bride's family accepts the groom's proposal. The groom's party prepares their food, celebrates with the bride's family in the evening, and returns to their village. The bride's relatives then visit the groom's village. Next, the two families settle on a bride price, called kania muli hessu or sukha mula. The price is paid in rice and may be 10 khani, equivalent to 1 quintal of rice, and is paid by the groom's father to the bride's family. One the kania mula is settled, the date of marriage is fixed with the consent of the kalo, or village priest. Since marriage is time-consuming it can only take place after the harvest, where there is little work to do in the field.[11]

The marriage ceremony is common to tribes of central and eastern India. On the morning of the marriage day, the groom's barat (wedding procession) arrives at the bride's village with handia. They, along with relatives of the bride, escort her to the groom's village. On the village outskirts, the relatives of the bride and groom stage a mock fight, after which the bride is welcomed into the groom's house. The groom and bride and their parents wear clothes of red, yellow and white: never black. In the evening, the bride and groom and led to a pandal in the courtyard of the groom's house. Their rice is cooked in a new pot. The kalo then worships the Dharme Belas, supreme gods. The groom applies vermillion on the bride's forehead and their clothes are tied together, usually by the bride's sister. and the two walk around the pandal 7 times invoking the Dharme Belas. Afterwards there is celebration, dancing and feasting throughout the night.[11]

A marriage is considered successful when the couple have had a child. Divorce is permitted in cases of adultery, impotency or cruelty, or if the marriage just does not work out. Remarriage of widows, widowers and divorcees is also permitted. A widow can marry her younger brother-in-law while widowers can similarly marry their younger sister-in-laws.[11]

Marriage practices have changed in recent years, with the greater influence of broader Odia culture and modernisation. The bride's father now welcomes the barat of the groom to his house before accompanying her to the house of the bridegroom. In addition, instead of using a palaki to carry the bride and groom to the groom's house as was the case in earlier days, a cycle or rickshaw is used now. The members of the barat are now served mahua liquor instead of handia, along with meat and rice, at the bride's house. The post-ceremony dances and celebrations were previously done to the sound of mandar drums, while now loudspeakers are used.[11]

Language

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The Kisan people speak the Kisan language,[12] also known as kunha,[13][14][15][16] sometimes considered an independent member of the North Dravidian group of the Dravidian languages.[17] However, the scholarly opinion is that Kisan is to be understood as a dialect of Kurukh.[18][19][20][21][22]

References

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  1. ↑ "Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  2. ↑ "ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community - Odisha". Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
  3. ↑ Government of India (2022). Dr. VIVEK JOSHI (ed.). Census of India: Language Atlas of India 2011. New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs. p. 112.
  4. ↑ B. Chowdhury (2004). "Kisan". Tribes of Orissa. Bhubaneswar: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute. pp. 175-179 [175].
  5. ↑ Singh, K. S. (2013). People of India. Vol. 35, Part 2: Odisha. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 886. ISBN 9788170462941. The word 'Kisan' means cultivator whose primary occupation is agricultural activities. This little-known community of Odisha is said to be a segment of Oraon tribe who belong to the Dravidian group. But at present they pride in declaring themselves as a separate tribe and only acknowledge Orans as their brethren. The Kisans are said to have migrated from the Chotanagpur plateau and settled down in Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts where they took up agriculture as their major economic pursuit.
  6. ↑ Gopal Bhargava, ed. (2003). Encyclopaedia Of Art And Culture In India (in 27 volumes). Vol. 18: Jharkhand. Delhi: Isha Books. p. 270. ... different names and forms of Oraon languages are Malto, Berga, Dhangri, Khendroi and Kisan etc. ... Berga and Kisan are spoken in Gangapur (Sundergarh) and Sambhalpur districts of Orissa.
  7. ↑ KISHAN, LAXMAN (2022). THE KISAN TRIBE Of WESTERN ODISHA AN ETHNO HISTORICAL STUDY FROM 19TH 20TH CENTURY A D (PhD). Utkal University. p. 16. hdl:10603/572810. The Kisan, which is major tribe of Odisha, concentrate mainly in the districts of Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Dhenkanal, Devgarh, Balangir, Kendujhar, and Fulbani.
  8. ↑ Government of India (2022). Dr. VIVEK JOSHI (ed.). Census of India: Language Atlas of India 2011. New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs. p. 112.
  9. ↑ Population Monograph of Nepal, Volume II
  10. ↑ "2011 Nepal Census, District Level Detail Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 March 2023. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Kishan, Laxman (May–June 2016). "The Marriage System of the Kishan Tribe of Western Odisha" (PDF). Odisha Review: 72–75. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2024. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "Kisan". The Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Tribes. Vol. 3. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. 1996. p. 125. ISBN 9788185692210. The Kisan are so called because of their language, "Kisan", which has been recognized as a member of the Dravidian family.
  13. ↑ Ekka, Sarojini (2017). Tribals of Western Orissa A study on history culture and society of the Kisans (PhD). Sambalpur University. p. 31. hdl:10603/284181. The word Kisan/Kuna is derived from the word Kurukh and the Kisans speak Kunha/Kurukh.
  14. ↑ KISHAN, LAXMAN (2022). THE KISAN TRIBE Of WESTERN ODISHA AN ETHNO HISTORICAL STUDY FROM 19TH 20TH CENTURY A D (PhD). Utkal University. p. 20. hdl:10603/572810. The Kisans of Odisha speaks 'Kisan' and call them as 'Kunhar'.
  15. ↑ Majhi, Gouri (2024). socio cultural history of the kisan tribe of sambalpur district of odisha from 1947 AD to 2020 AD (PhD). Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). p. 268. hdl:10603/567194. A unique language called "Kisan Bhasa" is spoken by more than 10 lakh farmers in Odisha. ... One of the [tribal languages of Odisha] is Kisan or Kunha language. The Kisans speak their own language, ...
  16. ↑ Xalxo, Albin Rico (2024). Documentation of the Kurux, an endangered Dravidian language (PhD). University of Hyderabad. p. 6. hdl:10603/642551.
  17. ↑ Xalxo, Albin Rico (2024). Documentation of the Kurux, an endangered Dravidian language (PhD). University of Hyderabad. p. 5. hdl:10603/642551.
  18. ↑ Gopal Bhargava, ed. (2003). Encyclopaedia Of Art And Culture In India (in 27 volumes). Vol. 18: Jharkhand. Delhi: Isha Books. p. 270.
  19. ↑ B. Chowdhury (2004). "Kisan". Tribes of Orissa. Bhubaneswar: Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute. pp. 175-179 [175]. Whatever may be the tradition they [Kisans] recall concerning their original birth place, they show much similarity in language and in cultural traits with the Oraon, whom they consider their younger brothers. No doubt one can conclude that the Kisan tribe is an offshoot of the Oraon tribe.
  20. ↑ KISHAN, LAXMAN (2022). THE KISAN TRIBE Of WESTERN ODISHA AN ETHNO HISTORICAL STUDY FROM 19TH 20TH CENTURY A D (PhD). Utkal University. p. 20. hdl:10603/572810. The original tongue of the Kisan is Kurukh which is classified as the speech of The Kurukh language family ... From cultural and linguistic points of view the Kisan seem to be a branch of Oraon.
  21. ↑ Government of India (2022). Dr. VIVEK JOSHI (ed.). Census of India: Language Atlas of India 2011. New Delhi: Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs. p. 112. Kisan is one of the Non-Scheduled languages of India spoken by the Kisan tribe who are a Dravidian ethnic community of Odisha and West Bengal. The Kisan language/mother tongue is a dialect of the Kurukh language.
  22. ↑ P. Perumalsamy (2002). "Kisan". In B. P. Mahapatra; Linguistic Survey of India (eds.). Linguistic Survey of India: Orissa. Language Division, Office of the Registrar General. pp. 497-516 [512]. Along with Kisan, a small survey was conducted in Kurukh/Oroan also which is returned by a substantial number of speakers and a comparative study of the same has been done with Kisan. It has been seen that both Kisan and Kurukh are linguistically one and the same.
Bibliography

Further reading

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Language
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