Relli (caste) explained

Group:Reli people
Langs:Reli language, Odia language
Rels:Hinduism

Relli[1] [2] (also Reli, Relly, or Raily) is a social group of South Indians who reside in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West bengal, and Chhattisgarh.[3] [4] They are classified as a Scheduled Caste.

Demographics

The Relli people are mainly distributed in coastal districts, such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, and Chittoor of Andhra Pradesh, Jagdalpur of Chhattisgarh and the Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada of Odisha and Kolkata (mominpur), titagarh, budge budge, khardaha, bandel of west-Bengal.

According to the 2001 Census, Relli and Mehtar's population is 2,06,053 in Andhra Pradesh, 37 in Chhattisgarh, and 8,357 in Odisha respectively. Rellis constitutes 1.67% of the total Scheduled Caste population of United Andhra Pradesh in 2001.[5]

Occupation

The primary occupation of the Relli people in Andhra Pradesh is the collection and sale of fruits, seeds, and grass. Some are labourers and manual scavengers.[6] A few are in government service while the Reli of Odisha and Chhattisgarh trade in salt, rice, vegetables, goats, and hens on a small scale. Agriculture is also pursued. They are listed as Scheduled Castes.

Language

Reli people speak the Reli language as their mother tongue and is close to Odia. The Relli people speak the Telugu language in Andhra Pradesh when conversing with outsiders. The Relli people speak the Hindi language in Chhattisgarh.

The 2001 Census stated that there were 21,238 speakers of the Reli language in Andhra Pradesh, 37 in Chhattisgarh, and 4014 in Odisha. Further breakdown to the district level is as follows (2001 Census): Vizianagaram (AP) 7,893; Visakhapatnam (AP) 4,301; East Godavari (AP) 3,079; Krishna (AP) 3,085; Srikakulam (AP) 1,796; Guntur (AP) 597, Koraput (OD) 1607; Rayagada (OD) 907 and Nabarangpur (OD) 1500, in Odisha, Jagdalpur (CG) 37, in Chhattisgarh.

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Book: Murti, Kamakshi Pappu . Bandilanka's Forgotten Lives . Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd . 978-93-5458-595-1 . en . "The Relli thought they were so superior! They gathered fruit and sold them. And that gave them the right to steal all the Government benefits. Not that this Government does much for the likes of us. He spat as he thought of the government. It was always the same, always the same unending misery and hunger.".
  2. Book: Singh, K. S. . People of India: Odisha (2 pts.) . 1992 . Anthropological Survey of India . 978-81-7046-294-1 . 1302 . en . "THE RELLI The Relli do not have any other name or synonym . They use their caste name as their surname . They do not have any sub - caste . It is said that when Rama was in exile, the forefathers of the community met Rama, Laxman and ...".
  3. Book: Malik, Suratha Kumar . Land Alienation and Politics of Tribal Exploitation in India: Special Focus on Tribal Movement in Koraput District of Odisha . 2020-06-15 . Springer Nature . 978-981-15-5382-0 . 133 . en.
  4. News: Reli. Ethnologue. 2018-05-31. en.
  5. Book: Jammanna . Akepogu . Dalits' Struggle for Social Justice in Andhra Pradesh (1956-2008): From Relays to Vacuum Tubes . Sudhakar . Pasala . 2016-12-14 . Cambridge Scholars Publishing . 978-1-4438-4496-3 . 222 . en.
  6. Web site: 2018-10-04 . 'They Want us to Clean their Shit, But Won't Respect Us': Manual Scavenging is Rooted in Casteism . 2023-06-25 . . en.

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