Dorla, also called Dora are a tribal people community found mainly in Bastar area of central

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They are mainly found in the

Dantewada Dantewada (also known as Dantewara) is a town and a municipality, or nagar palika. in the Dantewada district in the state of Chhattisgarh, India.It is the administrative headquarters of Dantewada District. It is the fourth largest city of Bastar ...

and Bijapur districts of present-day Chhattisgarh state.

Social status

Anthropological Survey of India has undertaken a study of Dorla tribe in 1957 and collected details of the tribe in ''The Dorla of Bastar''. They were earlier known as ''Dor Koi'' or ''Dora Koi'' and as it indicated a slightly inferior status in the society, they gradually changed the name to ''Dora'' or ''Dorla''. They usually undertake agricultural activities and live simply in forested areas and mostly illiterate and have a strong belief in supernatural powers and witchcraft. They also worship native gods or goddess like ''Mutta-lamma, Gangamma, Gaman, Kiror'' etc. and follow Hindu tradition. They speak ''Dorli'' or ''Dorla'' language, which is a

Dravidian language The Dravidian languages (or sometimes Dravidic) are a family of languages spoken by 250 million people, mainly in southern India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan. Since the colonial era, there have been small but significant imm ...

and a dialect of Koya language.

Reformation

Dorla people used to collect forest produces like ''tendu'' leaves which is used to manufacture ''beedi'' and harassed by forest contractors while trading ''tendu'' leaves and some members of tribe like Bhadranna joined Maoist groups to fight for justice to their community. Bhadranna fought with Maoists and returned to mainstream after his surrender but several others still continue. Dorla people are very united.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolra People Scheduled Tribes of Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Tribes of Chhattisgarh Dravidian peoples Social groups of Uttar Pradesh Hindu ethnic groups Scheduled Tribes of Jharkhand Scheduled Tribes of Madhya Pradesh