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Bhojpuri people

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Bhojpuri people
भोजपुरिया सब
𑂦𑂷𑂔𑂣𑂳𑂩𑂲𑂨𑂰 𑂮𑂥
Total population
c. 51 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
India (Bhojpuri region; Western Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Northwestern Jharkhand) and Nepal (Western Madhesh, Eastern Lumbini)
   Nepal 1,820,795[2]
Languages
Bhojpuri
Additionally Hindi-Urdu
Religion
Majority:
Hinduism
Minority:
Related ethnic groups
other Indo-Aryan peoples

The Bhojpuri people, also known as Bhojpuriya-sawb (Devanagari: भोजपुरिया सब; Kaithi: 𑂦𑂷𑂔𑂣𑂳𑂩𑂲𑂨𑂰 𑂮𑂥; Romanized: bhojapuriyā sab) are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group from the Indian subcontinent who speak the Bhojpuri language and inhabit the Bhojpur-Purvanchal region. This area is now divided between the western part of the Indian state of Bihar, the eastern part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, western part of the Indian state of Jharkhand, along with some neighbouring districts in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh as well as the Madhesh province and Lumbini province of Nepal.[3][4] A significant population of the Bihari diaspora of Bhojpuris can be found in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, other parts of the Caribbean, Fiji, South Africa (Natal), Seychelles, Mauritius, United States, Canada, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.[5]

Culture

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Language and literature

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Main articles: Bhojpuri language and Bhojpuri literature

Bhojpuri language is spoken by around 50 million people.[6] It is native to the Bhojpuri region of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India as well as the Terai region of Madhesh and Lumbini in Nepal. Bhojpuri is sociolinguistically considered as one of the "Hindi dialects" although it linguistically belongs to the geographic Bihari languages branch derived from the larger branch of Eastern Indo-Aryan languages. The first Bhojpuri novel Bindiyã was written by Ram Nath Pandey in 1955. It was published by Bhojpuri Sansad, Jagatganj, Varanasi. Bhikhari Thakur was a famous writer of Bhojpuri language and founder of Bhojpuri songs. His famous book is Bidesiya.[7][8]

Cuisine

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Main article: Bhojpuri cuisine

Bhojpuri cuisine is part of North Indian cuisine. It is mild and spice is less used, Awadhi cuisine and Mughlai cuisine have largely influenced it. On the other side, it has majorly influenced cuisines of the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, and South Africa.

Influence and reputation

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According to G.A. Grierson, Bhojpuri people have influence all over India and called them people from energetic race and also the Civilizer of Hindostan. In order to compare Bhojpuriyas with Maithils and Magahis he writes:[9]

Maithili and Magahi are the dialects of nationalities which have carried conservatism to excess of uncouthness, while Bhojpuri is the practical language of an energetic race, which is ever ready to accommodate itself to circumstances, and has made it influence felt all over the Indian. Bengali and Bhojpuri are the two civilizer of Hindostan, the former with his pen and latter with his cudgel.

George Abraham Grierson Linguistic Survey of India Vol V. Part II

He further writes that Bhojpuri people form the fighting nation of Hindostan, and has praised for grab any opportunity. He writes:[9]

The Bhojpuri-speaking country is inhabited by a people curiously different from people who speak Bihari dilects. They form the fighting nation of Hindostan. An alert and active nationality, with few scruples, and considerable abilities, dearly loving a fight for fighting's sake, they have spread all over Aryan India, each men ready to carve his fortune out of any opportunity which may present itself to him. They furnish a rich mine of recruitments to the Hindostani Army, and on the other hand they took a prominent part in the mutiny of 1857. As fond as an Irishman, is of a stick, the long-boned, stalwart, Bhojpuri, with a staff in hand, is a familiar object striding over fields far from his home. Thousands of them emigrated to british colonies and have returned rich-men, every year still larger numbers wander over Northern Bengal and seek employment, either honestly, as palki bearers, or otherwise as dacoits. Every Bengali Zamindar keeps a pose of these men, eumphistically termed 'darwans', to keep his tenants in order.

George Abraham Grierson Linguistic Survey of India Vol V. Part II

Notable people

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See also: List of Bhojpuri people

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  2. ^ National Statistics Office (2021). National Population and Housing Census 2021, Caste/Ethnicity Report. Government of Nepal (Report).
  3. ^ Roy Burman, B. K.; Chandra Sekhar, A. (1972). "Economic and Socio-cultural Dimensions of Regionalisation: An Indo-U.S.S.R. Collaborative Study". pp. 392–409. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  4. ^ Brass, Paul R. (2005). Language, Religion and Politics in North India. p. 69. ISBN 9780595343942. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Journal of Mauritian Studies, Volume 2, Issue 1". 2003. pp. 34–37. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Statement 1: Abstract of speakers' strength of languages and mother tongues - 2011". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  7. ^ Dr. Viveki Rai, Bhojpuri Katha Sahity ke vikaas
  8. ^ भोजपुरी साहित्य के संत-रामनाथ पांडेय Webduniya.
  9. ^ a b "Linguistic Survey of India". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
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