The Khotta are a

Sunni Muslim Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...

community that resides and lives in the

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

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 ...

History

The Khotta Muslim community trace their origins to some of the Pathan Muslim families who came and settled during the reign of Nawab

Alivardi Khan Alivardi Khan (1671 – 9 April 1756) was the Nawab of Bengal from 1740 to 1756. He toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs by defeating Sarfaraz Khan in 1740 and assumed power himself. During much of his reign Alivardi encountered frequent Mar ...

from

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 ...

and

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

. Some of the Khotta community trace their origins particularly to the districts of

Darbhanga Darbhanga is the fifth-largest city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Bihar situated centrally in Mithila region. Darbhanga is the headquarters of the Darbhanga district and the Darbhanga division. It was the seat of the erstw ...

and

Muzaffarpur Muzaffarpur () is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth m ...

in the

state. The common surnames among them are mainly Khan, Pathan, Mir, Mirza etc. Besides these titles Sheikh, Mallick etc. are also present. Their presence in Bengal dates back several decades and they are mentioned in 20th-century writer

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ � ...

's Srikanta novel.

Geographic distribution

They mainly inhabit in Kaliachak I & II, Harishandrapur, Ratua and Manikchak blocks in the district of Malda and Farakka, Samserganj, Raghunathganj and Suti blocks in the district of

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. During ...

. They are also found scattered in parts of

Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impor ...

Medinipur Medinipur or Midnapore (Pron: med̪iːniːpur) is a city known for its history in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the West Medinipur district. It is situated on the banks of the Kangsabati River (variously known as '' ...

and Hooghly.

Culture

The people of Khotta Muslim community usually live in groups in a neighborhood or village. There a few families together form 'Samaj' or 'Dash'. The head of the society is called 'Sardar'. Besides these, there are two positions in the society called 'Maral' and 'Chharidar'. The society or people of Dash are responsible for performing all the ceremonies related to birth, marriage and death. In addition, these people of Samaj also handle family and land disputes locally. The Khotta Muslim people are

endogamous Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group, rejecting those from others as unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. Endogamy is common in many cultu ...

people in general but in recent times marriages happen outside their clans also. They have their own Lok sangeet, funeral rites, marriages etc. having traits and features peculiar to their community only. They have special food habits such as kadoka gillabhat, gurbhatta, chinaka gillabhat, palo etc.

Language

The Khotta Muslim people speak

Khotta Bhasha Khotta Bhasha is the language of the Khotta people, a small group of people who inhabit in the state of West Bengal. Khotta speakers are of entirely Muslim origin & reside in West Bengal. There is a language in Jharkhand and in western borders o ...

in their homes. The language, which is sort of a dialect, is an admixture of Hindi, Urdu and Bengali. But they all are bilingual and speak & learn Bengali, as Khotta Bhasha has no written form. At present the language has only an intra community conversational status. Their medium of education is now Bengali.

Present circumstances

The total population of Khotta Muslim people is about 10

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ex ...

s in the State of West Bengal. The traditional occupation of the community is cultivation. But they have to fall back on the job of small farmers, land labourers, migrant labourers etc. for their livelihood.

References

{{Indian Muslim People from West Bengal Muslim communities of India