Raut (caste)

Raut (also spelled as Rawat) is an Indian caste, whose traditional occupation is herding.[1][2]

Raut/Rawat
राउत
ClassificationAhir(Yadav)
ReligionsHinduism
Populated states

The Rauts are mainly found in the Chhattisgarh state, and the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh ,Maharashtra and West Bengal ,Bihar and other states . Traditionally, they were predominantly distributed in the districts of Durg, Raipur, Bastar, Nagpur and Bhandara.[3]

History

Raut may have been a tribal militia in Chhota Nagpur, originating from the Kawar and Kol tribes, and probably a small number of local Rajputs.[3]

Culture

Traditionally, the Rauts were involved in herding and milking cattle.[4] Traditionlly, their main business was sale of milk and milk products.[5]

Raut Nacha is a traditional dance of the Raut community which is performed on Diwali. In this dance, the Rauts wear a special costume, sing and dance in a group with sticks in their hands in the village pathways.[6]

The Raut men traditionally performed the local folk epic Candaini (or Chandaini) in a combination of dance and song. The epic tells the story of princess Chanda, who leaves her impotent husband and falls in love with a common man Veer Lorik. Both the characters are from the Raut caste, and the epic seems to have originated in this caste.[7] As late as 1980, the Candaini performers used to be primarily from the Raut caste, but now people from other communities also take part in the performances.[4]

In the 20th century, they underwent Sanskritisation, and adopted customs and values of the high-caste Hindus.[8]

The main Raut sub-castes include Gawala, Thetwar, Jheriya, and Kosariya.[9]

The Rauts are included in the central list of Other Backward Classes for Chhattisgarh, along with other herding castes and sub-castes including Ahir, Brajwasi, Gawli, Gawali, Goli, Lingayat-Gaoli, Gowari (Gwari), Gowra, Gawari, Gwara, Jadav, Yadav, Thethwar, and Gop/Gopal.[10]

References
  1. Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger (1996). Gender and Genre in the Folklore of Middle India. Cornell University Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-8014-8344-1.
  2. Lidia Guzy (2013). Marginalised Music: Music, Religion and Politics from Western Odisha/India. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 147. ISBN 978-3-643-90272-6. ...the Raut/Gour (the caste of herdsmen), the dominant caste in Chhattisgarh...
  3. Kumar Suresh Singh; B. V. Bhanu (2004). People of India: Maharashtra, Volume 1. Popular Prakashan. Anthropological Survey of India. p. 1781. ISBN 9788179911006.
  4. Margaret H. Beissinger; Susanne Lindgren Wofford, eds. (1999). Epic traditions in the contemporary world: the poetics of community. University of California Press. p. 137.
  5. Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. p. 86. ISBN 9788185579573.
  6. "Raut Nacha-Culture & Heritage". Durg District, Government of Chhattisgarh.
  7. Arjun Appadurai; Frank J. Korom; Margaret A. Mills (1994). Gender, genre, and power in South Asian expressive traditions. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 196. ISBN 9788120811782.
  8. Soni, Lok Nath (2000). The Cattle and the Stick: An Ethnographic Profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. pp. 45–46. ISBN 9788185579573.
  9. Arun Kumar Sharma (2000). Archaeo-anthropology of Chhattīsgaṛh. Sundeep Prakashan. p. 96. ISBN 978-81-7574-096-9.
  10. "Central List of OBCs". National Commission for Backward Classes.

Bibliography
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