Bagata people

Bagata people are one of the tribal ethnic groups of India, mainly concentrated in Andhrapradesh and Odisha. As per the Indian constitution, they are designated as Scheduled Tribe for affirmative action.[2][3][4][5]

Bagata people
Bhokta, Bhogata, Bhagata, Kapu
A traditional house of Bagata people
Regions with significant populations
Andhra Pradesh1,33,427
Odisha8,813
Telangana850
Languages
Telugu, Desia Odia, Regional languages
Religion
Hinduism, Christianity, Animism
Census 2011[1]

Population distribution

The Bagatas, are generally scattered in all districts of Odisha, Telangana, Andhra pradesh but are mainly concerned in Vishakapatnam, Vizianagaram, East Godavari, Rangareddy district of Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana);[6] Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Sambalpur, Baleshwar district of Odisha.[7]

Overview

Bagata is traditionally a Telugu ethnic fishermen tribe. They're alternatively written as Bhakta, Bhogata and Bhagata and in Andhrapradesh their local name is Kampu/ Kapu. In Andhrapradesh they use a dialect of the Telugu language, Desia Odia and in Odisha, they left Telugu and speak the regional language like Hindi, Odia, Sadri, Laria, and Kurmali. Bagata people bear biological traits of Proto-Australoid tribes of the south and center India.[3]

Social structure

The Bagatas of Andhrapradesh retain the original socio-cultural characteristics, whereas the Bagatas of Odisha undergone various socio-cultural purification process and are largely Hinduised. The Bagatas of Odisha are broadly divided into two divisions i.e. Vaishnavites and Saivites according to their beliefs.[3]

The Bagata of Vaishnavas section is divided into totemic clans like Belhar (monkey), Samudia, Bamia, Tiruar (bird), Sarania (flute), Nag, Hatiar (elephant), Chumiar and Kuardar. They use their clan as a surname. However, some authors opined that there was no surname or subgroup system in them but after migration, they adopted those and now almost use surnames like other Hindu societies. Historically, they migrated to the Ranchi region of Chota Nagpur from Andhrapradesh before the 20th century and subsequently migrated to the northern district of Odisha.[3]

In 1976 the Bagata had the highest rate of indebtedness of any of the scheduled tribes of Andhra Pradesh.[8]

References
  1. "STATISTICAL PROFILE OF SCHEDULED TRIBES IN INDIA 2013" (PDF). www.tribal.nic.in. MINISTRY OF TRIBAL AFFAIRS STATISTICS DIVISION, Government of India. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  2. "List of notified Scheduled Tribes" (PDF). Census India. pp. 13–14, 21–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  3. Ota, A.B. (2015). BAGATA. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute, BBSR. ISBN 978-93-80705-29-3.
  4. Das, Nava Kishor (2012). Singh, S.K. (ed.). People of India – Odisha. Part. 1. Anthropological Survey of India by Seagull Books. pp. 214–219. ISBN 978-81-7046-293-4. OCLC 858528738.
  5. Singh, K. S. (1998). People of India – India's communities: A-G. Vol. 4. New Delhi, India; New York: Oxford University Press ; Anthropological Survey of India. pp. 167–169. ISBN 978-0-19-563354-2. OCLC 40849565.
  6. "A-11 Appendix: District wise scheduled tribe population (Appendix) - Andhrapradesh". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  7. "A-11 Appendix: District wise scheduled tribe population (Appendix) - Odiaha". Retrieved 27 June 2022.
  8. "Welcome to aptribes.gov.in - A Portal of Tribal Welfare Department Govt of A.P". Aptribes.gov.in. Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2013.

Further reading
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