The Bhogta (also known as Ganjhu, Pradhan) is an agricultural community, primarily inhabiting in the state of

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

. They speak

Sadri language Nagpuri (also known as Sadri) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in the Indian states of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar. It is primarily spoken in the west and central Chota Nagpur plateau region. It is sometimes considered a dialec ...

as mother tongue except Bhogta of West Bengal, who are adopted

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

as mother tongue and use

Hindi language Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

as link language.

Social structure

The Bhogta are traditionally cultivators and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. The Bhogta of Bihar divided into eight clan, i.e. Damajhwar, Saichumair (Saichuniar), Bhumchuriar (Bhumchuniar), Rimrimria, Pathbhandhi, Musuar, Kmariar (Kawliar), Beharwar and the Bhogta of West Bengal divided into Hans, Mur, Kaua, etc. They use surname like Bhogta, Ganjhu and Singh.

Official classification

As per 1981 census the Bhogta population in Bihar (include Jharkhand) was 137,175 and as per 1952 census their population was 13,807 in West Bengal. They were previously classified as

Scheduled Castes The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

for affirmative action. But in 2022, the Bhogta of Jharkhand state are classified as a

Scheduled Tribe The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designa ...

, as a synonym of

Kharwar Kharwar is a community found in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and West Bengal. Etymology The ''Khar'' grass is totem of the Kharwar. They don't cut or injure it while growing. Kharwar tribe of pres ...

Notable people

Nilamber and Pitamber Nilamber and Pitamber, freedom fighters from Jharkhand in eastern India, were brothers who led a revolt against the East India Company in 1857. They were born in a Chemo-Senya village to a family of a Bhogta clan of the Kharwar tribe in Latehar di ...

, freedom fighter in 1857 *

Jay Prakash Singh Bhogta Jay Prakash Singh Bhogta was the state legislative assembly member from Chatra. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the 2014 general election, he was elected as MLA of Chatra. His father Mahendra Prakash Singh Bhogta was MLA of Cha ...

, politician *

Mahendra Prakash Singh Bhogta Mahendra Prakash Singh Bhogta was twice the state legislative assembly member from Chatra from 1985 to 1995. He was a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was from Bhogta community. Later his son Jay Prakash Singh Bhogta Jay Prakash S ...

, politician *

Satyanand Bhogta Satyanand Bhogta is an Indian Politician and a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal political party. He is the current cabinet minister for ministry of Labour Resources in Government of Jharkhand and a member of Jharkhand Legislative Assembly fro ...

, politician *

Nikki Pradhan Nikki Pradhan (born 8 December 1993) is an Indian professional field hockey player and is a member of the Indian national team. Pradhan was the first female Hockey player from Jharkhand who represented India in the Olympics. Pradhan was includ ...

, hockey player

References

{{India-ethno-stub Scheduled Tribes of Jharkhand