The Kolhati are an Indian nomadic community that form a subgroup of the Banjara people. They belong to central India and

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. They traditionally are professional entertainers and acrobats. They are classified as a

nomadic tribe A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the pop ...

by the government of Maharashtra. They have also been employed with tamasha troupes. The kolhati language is spoken in considerable numbers in Pune district. Kolhati

lavani Lavani () is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra, India. Lavani is a combination of traditional song and dance, which particularly performed to the beats of ''Dholki'', a percussion instrument. Lavani is noted for its powerful rhythm. Lavan ...

-tamasha performers have got social prestige from the patronage of the art form by the Maharashtra state government, and is vital to their identity as performing artists according to Morcom.{{Cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nshUAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT87, title=Courtesans, Bar Girls & Dancing Boys: The Illicit Worlds of Indian Dance, last=Morcom, first=Anna, date=2014-02-07, publisher=Hachette India, isbn=9789350097939, language=en

References

Social groups of Maharashtra Tribes of India Banjara people