The Kamar or Kamara ( or, କମାର) is an

Indian caste The caste system in India is the paradigmatic ethnographic example of classification of castes. It has its origins in ancient India, and was transformed by various ruling elites in medieval, early-modern, and modern India, especially the Mug ...

found in the

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 ...

states of

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 similar to Karmakar caste of

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. Historically, they were

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

s by profession, commonly forging

agricultural equipment Agricultural machinery relates to the mechanical structures and devices used in farming or other agriculture. There are many types of such equipment, from hand tools and power tools to tractors and the countless kinds of farm implements that they ...

s like:

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...

spade A spade is a tool primarily for digging consisting of a long handle and blade, typically with the blade narrower and flatter than the common shovel. Early spades were made of riven wood or of animal bones (often shoulder blades). After the a ...

s, crowbars etc. As per Mayurbhanj state 1931 census and Mayurbhanj district Gazetteers 1961, the Kamar are recorded as;

The Kamar caste is of heterogenous nature. Their occupation is iron-smelting and blacksmith. Chapua, Bindhani and Nahar Kamars are perhaps classed as Kol Kamars who are said to be accretions from the rank of the Kols. Chapuas derive their name from the practice of their women treading the bellows with foot while at work. The name Bindhani is perhaps derived from 'Bindha' meaning to bore. They call their chisel as beghuni, or that which pierces. Nahar is a corruption of Lohar or Lauhakar. The Astalohis 'workers on eight metals' work on different metals. Bathuri Kamars are accretions from the rank of the Bathuris and the Hatua Kamars are the indigenous Kamars of Orissa while Bangala Kamars are immigrants from Bengal.

Social Status

In the state of Odisha, The Kamaras are included in the

Other Backward Classes The Other Backward Class is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify castes which are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with General castes, S ...

minority group.

References

Blacksmith castes Social groups of Odisha Indian castes {{India-ethno-stub