The Sarania Kachari is an ethnic community in the state of

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 ...

Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

. Members of this community are mostly found in the districts of Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup (Rural),

Nalbari Nalbari (Pron: nɔ:lˈbɑ:rɪ) is a town and a municipal board in Nalbari district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Assam. Nalbari town is also the headquarters of Nalbari district, Nalbari District. The town is one of ma ...

, Baksa,

Udalguri Odalguri (; also spelt Udalguri) is a town and the headquarters of Udalguri district under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council which controls the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts in the state of Assam. Geography Odalguri is l ...

Darrang Darrang () is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Mangaldoi. The district occupies an area of 1585 km2. History No definitive records about Darrang are available for the pre ...

Barpeta Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is als ...

Dhemaji Dhemaji (Pron: deɪˈmɑ:ʤi or di:ˈmɑ:ʤi) is a City in Assam and it is the headquarters of Dhemaji district, Assam, India. Etymology The district's name ''Dhemaji'' is derived from the Deori word ''Dema-ji'' which means ''great water'' indi ...

and Bongaigoan. ''Sarania'' (also called saru-koch) is a category in the tribe-caste continuum of Assamese society. This category is also known as ''Phairi'' in the Nowgong district of Assam. In this category, a tribal neophyte starts giving up on habits such as the drinking of liquor. Scholars have identified an instance of this process taking place in Boroma area in the erstwhile

district in the late 19th century, where a section of

Boro __NOTOC__ Boro may refer to: People * Boro people, indigenous peoples of Amazonas, Brazil * A variant spelling for the Bodo people of northeast India * Charan Boro, Indian politician * Isaac Adaka Boro, a celebrated Niger Delta nationalist and Nig ...

population were assimilated into the Assamese society. The notable surnames used by the community are Sarania, Das, Deka,

Choudhury Chowdhury is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminent people, while during British rule, the term was associated ...

, Medhi,

Hazarika Hazarika was a Paik officer under the administration of the Ahom kingdom and Koch kingdom. The commander over 1,000 (''Hazar'') ''paiks'' was known as a ''Hazarika''. As it was a purely administrative position, the title holder could belong t ...

etc.: In the zeal towards their newly accepted faith they preferred to use surnames such as Sarania, Das, Deka, Choudhury, Medhi and Hazarika etc.

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