Halba (tribe)

Halba are a community found in Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa in India. However over last two decades, many people have moved to other parts of India for education, work and jobs.They speak the Halbi language, Marathi and Hindi. The literacy rate has improved in Halba community over last decade. [1] The name Halba derive form the term 'Hal' that locally means ploughing. Traditionally Halba community people are seen engaged in farming,weaving and other farm related works. Halba tribe is also synonymously referred as Halbi, Koshti,Kosti etc.

Halba
Regions with significant populations
Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha
Languages
Halbi, Hindi,Marathi
Religion
Predominantly:
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Aryan peoples

Culture and Festivals

Halba community celebrates all major and minor festivals of India cordially with other society members. Diwali, Holi, Makarsankranti, Rakshabandhan, Ganesh Festival, Durga Festival, Nagpanchami are some of the important festivals. Padva,second day festival, is especially popular in Halba community. People celebrate it by visiting their relatives and taking blessings of elders.[2]

Demography and Economic Development

Halba community is situated mainly in Maharashtra ( Vidharbha region, Districts of Gadchiroli, Bhandara, Gondia, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Thane, Yavatmal, Wasim, Akola, Amaravati and Mumbai), Chattisgarh ( Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Rajnandgoan), Madhya Pradesh ( Bhopal, Jabalpur, Bhillai etc.) and also in the state of Orissa and Gujrat ( Surat). However over last two decades many people have moved to other parts of India for education, work and jobs ( Government and private) and adopted culture there cordially. Over last two decades, this community has participated aggressively on economic development by focusing on education. There have been numerous cases logded by many prominent personalities of this community for getting Scheduled Tribe status through caste certificate and validation for upliftment of people of this community. This is one of the reason why community chose to focus on education and social upliftment on their own. There is still quite a big section of this community below poverty line and dependent on government schemes and initiatives to improve living.

Cuisine

Halba community is very famous for its spicy and tasty food preparation skills. One of the famous culinary preparation is known as 'Saoji'. Saoji taste is available in both veg and non veg category however Saoji non veg preparations are very famous and has often find a mention in major food shows on TV channels. One can see many hotels named as Soaji Hotel, Saoji Dhaba, Saoji Restaurant etc. in Vidharbha region.

Prominent Personalities

Vikas Shankarrao Kumbhare, Member of 14th Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Central Nagpur.[3]

References
  1. Tiwari, Shiv Kumar (2002). Tribal Roots of Hinduism. ISBN 9788176252997. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  2. "Halbaa". mapsofindia. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  3. http://myneta.info/maharashtra2019/candidate.php?candidate_id=8980
  1. Gell, Simeran M. S., The Ghotul in Muria Society. Singapore: Hardwood Academic Publishers, 1993.
  2. https://www.thestatesman.com/india/handloom-communities-india-1502670307.html


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