Korwa people

Korba people are one of the scheduled tribes of India. They live in hills and forest of Chhotanagpur; the bordering area of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. They are socially and economically poor (it is estimated that 60% of Korwa people are below the poverty line) and outsiders often look down on them because of this. A small number of Korwa are also found in the Mirzapur District of Uttar Pradesh. The Indian Government has implemented several facilities for them, such as roads to their settlements, boys hostels for education, providing agricultural aid, etc.

Korwa of Uttar Pradesh

The Korwa tribals in Uttar Pradesh are found mainly in the southern districts of Mirzapur and Sonbhadra. Their habitat is a hilly, forested and undulating area. The community has four sub-groups- the Agaria Korwa, Dam Korwa, Dih Korwa and Pahar Korwa. They are further divided into seven exogamous clans, namely the Guleria, Haril, Huhar, Leth, Munda, Mura and Pahari. Most Korwa are still hunter gatherers, and are one of the most isolated of the Uttar Pradesh tribes. A small number have taken to settled agriculture, and are being assimilated into Hindu society. However, they have their own tribal deity known as Dih. Each of their settlement contains a shrine to the goddess called a Diwar.^[1]

Language

The mother tongue of Korba people is Korba;^[2] it is named after their name. Alternative names for this language include Ernga and Singli;^[3] however, the Korba people call their language as their Bhashi, which means local language. This language belongs to the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family. Korba people also speak Sadri and Chhattisgarhi as their second language.

References

1. ↑ People of India Uttar Pradesh Volume XLII Part Two edited by A Hasan & J C Das pages 840 to 846 Manohar Publications
2. ↑ ethnologue.com/
3. ↑ linguistlist.org