Raut (caste) explained

Caste Name:Raut/Rawat
Native Name:राउत
Religions:Hinduism

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

The Rauts are mainly found in the Chhattisgarh state, and the neighbouring states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. 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

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]

Sub-castes and related groups

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

The Rauts are present in the central [Chhattisgarh, along with other castes and sub-castes including [[Ahir]], Brajwasi, Gawli, Gawali, Lingayat-Gaoli, Gowari (Gwari),, Yadav, Thethwar, and Gop/Gopal.[10]

Bibliography

Notes and References

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

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