Jalia Kaibarta (or Jaliya Kaibartta, or: Jāliya Kaibbarta, possibly also: Jalia Kaibartya) is a community comprising people of low ritual status, fishermen, who later acquired respectable caste identities within the larger Hindu fold, helped by their commercial prosperity and Vaishnavite affiliations, through
Sanskritisation. They are traditionally engaged in the occupation of fishing and originally belonged to
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
,
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 fou ...
,
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...
and eastern
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 ...
along with
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...
,
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...
,
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...
. The Kaibartas were initially considered a single tribe divided into two groups, Haliya and Jaliya Kaibarta, where the Haliya Kaibarta are considered to be superior than the latter. Jaliya Kaibartas are categorised as a
Scheduled Caste
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 ...
are the second largest among the 16 SCs in Assam under the name Kaibarta/Jalia. Many of the Jalia Kaibarta under the influence of Garamur satradhikar gave up their traditional occupation of fishing and divided themselves into – ''mach mara'' and ''mach na-mara''.
In
Brahmavaivarta, a Kaibarta is said to be born to a
Kshatriya
Kshatriya ( hi, क्षत्रिय) (from Sanskrit ''kṣatra'', "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of Hindu society, associated with warrior aristocracy. The Sanskrit term ''kṣatriyaḥ'' is used in the co ...
father and a
Vaishya
Vaishya (Sanskrit: वैश्य, ''vaiśya'') is one of the four varnas of the Hindu social order in India. Vaishyas are classed third in the order of caste hierarchy.
The occupation of Vaishyas consists mainly of agriculture, taking care ...
mother, while other consider Kaibarta to be a Hinduised word of ''Kevatta'' which refer to a class of fishermens in the Buddhist
Jatakas
The Jātakas (meaning "Birth Story", "related to a birth") are a voluminous body of literature native to India which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. According to Peter Skilling, this genre is ...
. They are also claimed to have their own priest.
The first
proto-Assamese manuscript, in the form of
Caryapādas, was written by a
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
priest, known in
Tibetan language Tibetan language may refer to:
* Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
* Lhasa Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dialect
* Any of the other Tibetic languages
See also
* Old Tibetan, the languag ...
as
Lui-pā, who is identified with
Matsyendranātha, a member of the fishermen community of mediaeval
Kāmarūpa, which later became Kaibartas.
[Ayyappapanicker, K. & Akademi, Sahitya (1997). ''Medieval Indian literature: an anthology, Volume 3''. Sahitya Akademi. , ]
(accessed: Friday March 5, 2010)
Medieval Oriyan poet and
Vaishnavism, Vaishnav saint
Achyutananda Dasa
''Mahapurusa'' Achyutananda Dasa ( Odia:-''ଅଚ୍ୟୁତାନନ୍ଦ ଦାସ'' ) was a 16th-century poet seer and Vaishnava saint from Odisha, India. He was popularly known as ''Gopala Guru''. He was considered to have the power to se ...
wrote ''kaibarta Gita'' which narrates the origin, growth, functions and roles of this community.
Notable people
*
Bhupen Hazarika
Bhupen Hazarika () (8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011) was an Indian playback singer, lyricist, musician, poet, actor, filmmaker and politician from Assam, widely known as ''Sudha Kontho'' (meaning cuckoo, literally "nectar-throated"). His ...
, musician, playback singer, lyricist, poet, actor and filmmaker from
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
, awarded with the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the
Bharat Ratna
The Bharat Ratna (; ''Jewel of India'') is the highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred in recognition of "exceptional service/performance of the highest orde ...
*
Jayanta Hazarika
Jayanta Hazarika (20 September 1943 – 15 October 1977) was an Indian singer and composer associated with Assamese music. He wrote lyrics for a few songs and composed music for several movies. He was the younger brother of Bhupen Hazarika.
Po ...
, musician, playback singer from Assam
See also
*
Mahishya
Mahishya, also spelled Mahisya, is a Bengali Hindu traditionally agrarian caste, and formed the largest caste in undivided Bengal. Mahishyas are considered as Forward caste.
Mahisyas traditionally lived in Bengal and Orissa region. In late t ...
*
Guha (Ramayana)
Guha () was the king of Śṛṅgiverapura, the nation of the Nishadas, in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Guha was Rama's first ally in latter's exile.
Guha is known for arranging the boat and helmsmen who ferried Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita across the ...
Notes
References
*
*
{{Bengali Hindu people
Indian castes
Fishing castes
Ethnic groups in Odisha
Scheduled Castes of Assam
Scheduled Castes of West Bengal