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Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group in northeast India
The Rabha people are a Tibeto-Burmeseethnic group who live mostly in the Northeast Indian state of Assam, with a lesser population in the adjacent state of West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha.
Language
Linguistically, Rabha has been classified in the following way: Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman, JingphoKonyak-Bodo, Konyak-Bodo-Garo, Bodo-Garo, Koch (Lewis 2009). Members of each of the nine groups of Rabha are thought to speak their own dialect. However, except Rongdani and Maituri, the rest of the Rabha groups have abandoned their mother tongue for Assamese. In their day-to-day conversation they speak a broken variety of Assamese mixed with some Rabha words and expressions, and it has been called by a few researchers (perhaps jokingly) “Rabhamese” (Tibeto-Burman speeches and their studies, n.d., 22). The language of the Koch-Rabhas is much more similar to that of the Koch rather than Rabha. A sociolinguistic survey conducted among the Koch (Kondakov 2010) establishes the evidence for this. According to U.V. Jose, the dialectic variations between Rongdani and Maituri are minimal. They are mutually intelligible, and the one merges almost imperceptibly into the other around the GoalparaBaida-Rongsai region. The Rongdani-Maituri dialectical differences become gradually more marked as one moves further west (Jose 2000). Rabha in many cases shows points of resemblance with Atong – a variety traditionally considered a dialect of Garo.
Mitra, A. (1953), West Bengal: District Handbooks: Jalpaiguri, Govt. of West Bengal
Basumatārī, Phukana Candra (2010). The Rabha Tribe of North-East India, Bengal and Bangladesh. Mittal Publications.
Joseph, Umbavu (2006). Languages of the Greater Himalayan Region, Volume 1 Rabha. Brill.
Further reading
Saha, Rebatimohon (1987) "Jalpaiguri Jelar Koch-Rabha Samaj" (in Bengali) published in Ananda Gopal Ghosh edited Madhuparni, Special issue on Jalpaiguri District.
Raha, M.K. (1974) "The Rabhas of Western Duars: Structural Analysis of a Changing Matrilineal Society", Bulletin of the Cultural Research Institute, Vol. 10 (1 & 2).
Ghosh, Saumitra (1990) "Vanbasi Rabhara" (in Bengali) Desh, Vol 57 (12), January 20.
Roy Choudhury, B. (1970) "Social Mobility Movement among the Rabhas of North Bengal", Man in India, Vol 50 (1).
Gupta, Pabitra Kumar (1977) "Uttarbanger Rahba Samaj O Dharmasanskar Aandolon", (in Bengali) in Madhuparni: Special North Bengal Issue, 1977.
Sarma, Dr. Nabin Ch (2006) "Oral Songs of Tribal Communities of Assam" a project of Assam Sahitya Sabha, Assam Institute of Research for Tribals and Scheduled Castes
Hinduism (94.36%)
Christianity (5.17%) Islam (0.05%)