Raut (caste)

Cattle herding caste of central India

Raut/Rawat

राउत
Religions| Hinduism
Populated states|

* Chhattisgarh
* Madhya Pradesh
* Maharashtra

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

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Raut may have been a tribal militia in Chhota Nagpur, originating from the Kawar and Kol tribes[3]

## Culture

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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

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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

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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. ^ a b Kumar Suresh Singh; B. V. Bhanu (2004). People of India: Maharashtra, Volume 1. Popular Prakashan. p. 1781\. ISBN 9788179911006. `{{cite book}}`: Unknown parameter `|agency=` ignored (help)
4. ^ a b 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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* Lok Nath Soni (2000). The cattle and the stick: an ethnographic profile of the Raut of Chhattisgarh. Anthropological Survey of India. ISBN 9788185579573.
* Guptā, Śaśi (2022). Rāuta jāti kā samājaśāstrīya anuśīlana (in Hindi). Saṅkalpa Prakāśana. ISBN 978-93-91435-01-1.
* Sainī, Abhilāshā (2021). Rāuta jāti: udbhava evaṃ vikāsa (in Hindi). Saṅkalpa Prakāśana. ISBN 978-81-951646-6-0.