Caste Name: | Malakar |
Family Names: | Malakar |
Populated States: | Bangladesh, West Bengal, Tripura |
Languages: | Bengali |
Religions: | Hinduism |
Malakar (Bengali: মালাকার) is a Bengali Hindu surname spread throughout West Bengal and Bangladesh and also in some parts of Assam, Jharkhand and Tripura. Malakars are traditionally garlander by trade. They are one of the fourteen castes belonging to 'Nabasakh' group of Bengal.[1]
Malakars lived around Dhaka and other smaller towns of Bengal. The origin of the word Malakar came from Sanskrit. It is a Sandhi of mala and akar, which means a person who shapes mala, i.e. a garlander.