The Sabar people (also Shabar and Saora) are one of the Munda tribes living mainly in northern

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and southern

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

in India. During the colonial period, they were classed as one of the 'criminal tribes' under

Criminal Tribes Act Since the 1870s, various pieces of colonialism, colonial legislation in India during British Raj, British rule were collectively called the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA). This criminalised entire communities by designating them as habitual criminals ...

1871, and suffer from social stigma and

ostracism Ostracism (, ''ostrakismos'') was an Athenian democratic procedure in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years. While some instances clearly expressed popular anger at the citizen, ostracism was often us ...

in modern times. There are small communities of Sabar people in Bangladesh. Also known as Saora, the Sabar tribe finds mention in the Hindu epic

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

, while in some parts of

East Singhbhum district East Singhbhum is one of the 24 districts of Jharkhand, India. It was created on 16 January 1990. More than 50% of the district is covered by dense forests and mountains, where wild animals once roamed freely. It is known for being a centre of ind ...

mainly in

Musabani Musabani, also spelt as Mosabani or Mushabani, is a census town in the Musabani block, a Community development block in the Ghatshila subdivision of the East Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. History Origin of the town date ...

, they are known as Kariya. Noted writer and activist

Mahasweta Devi Mahasweta Devi (14 January 1926 – 28 July 2016)
''

is known for working with these forest tribals. This reclusive tribe is found primarily in

and in

Midnapore District Midnapore (Pron: mad̪aːniːpur), or sometimes Medinipur, is a former district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Midnapore. On 1 January 2002, the district was bifurcated into two separate districts namely Purba Medinipur ...

History

The traditionally forest-dwelling tribe lack experience in agriculture, and rely on the forests for their livelihood. In recent years, with the spread of the

Naxalite Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology. Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic Eight ...

rebellion in the area, the police often restrict their access to the forest. In 2004, five persons in the Sabar village of Amlasole, in

Midnapore Medinipur or Midnapore 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 ''Kasai'' and ''Cossye''). ...

district, died after several months of starvation, leading to a national media furore. Subsequently, Durbar Mahila Samanway Committee (DMSC) started a school in the area, funded partially by sex workers from

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. In June 2008, the Sabar suffered severe flooding in many of their West Bengal villages, and then received large amounts of aid from Catholic missionaries. Hundreds of Sabars migrated to present-day Bangladesh during the colonial period to work as tea garden labourers. Today, there are around 2000 of them residing in the northeastern district of

Moulvibazar Moulvibazar (), is a town in north-eastern Bangladesh just south of Sylhet. It is the capital of Moulvibazar Sadar Upazila and Moulvibazar District, and is located on the banks of the Manu River, Tripura, Manu River. History In 1771, Moulvi S ...

, in areas such as Nandarani, Harinchhara and Rajghat. In Gplot which is in

Sundarbans Sundarbans (; pronounced ) is a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal ...

, under

Patharpratima Patharpratima is a village and a gram panchayat within the jurisdiction of the Patharpratima police station in the Patharpratima CD block in the Kakdwip subdivision of the South 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. Geog ...

block which is in South 24 parganas it has been observed that there is presence of Sabars, who have migrated from Midnapore district of West Bengal. Currently there are 2500-3000 people of Sabar community residing there.

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Sabar tribe in Sabar Nagar, Jamshedpur district
{{authority control Social groups of Odisha Social groups of West Bengal Tribes of West Bengal Ethnic groups in Odisha Scheduled Tribes of India Ethnic groups in Jharkhand Hindu communities Social groups of Jharkhand Denotified tribes of India People from Srimangal Upazila People from Kamalganj Upazila Ethnic groups in Bangladesh Scheduled Tribes of Odisha

History

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Further reading

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