Korwa people

Korwa people are a community of India. They live in the hills and forests of Chhotanagpur, which lies on the border of the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. A small number of Korwa are also found in the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh.

The Indian Government has implemented several facilities for them, such as roads to their settlements, boys hostels for education, providing agricultural aid, etc.

Korwa of Uttar Pradesh

The Korwa in Uttar Pradesh are found mainly in the southern districts of Mirzapur district and Sonbhadra. Their habitat is a hilly, forested and undulating area. The community has four sub-groups- the Agaria Korwa, Dam Korwa, Dih Korwa and Pahar Korwa. They are further divided into seven exogamous clans, namely the Guleria, Haril, Huhar, Leth, Munda, Mura and Pahari. Most Korwa are still hunter gatherers, and are one of the most isolated of the Uttar Pradesh communities. A small number have taken to settled agriculture, and are being assimilated into Hindu society. However, they have their own deity known as Dih. Each of their settlement contains a shrine to the goddess called a Diwar.^[1]

The Korwa Scheduled Caste population in Uttar Pradesh at the 2011 Census of India was 1563.^[2]

Language

The mother tongue of Korwa people is the Korwa language.^[3] Alternative names for this language include Ernga and Singli.^[4] However, the Korwa people call their language as their Bhashi, which means local language. This language belongs to the Munda branch of the Austroasiatic language family. Korba people also speak Sadri and Chhattisgarhi as their second language.

References