Jalia Kaibarta
Kaibarta fisherman in East Bengal 1860s | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India (Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Odisha) Bangladesh (Rangpur, Mymensingh, Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong divisions) | |
| Languages | |
| Assamese • Bengali • Odia | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism • Buddhism |
Jalia Kaibarta (or Jaliya Kaibartta, or Jāliya Kaivarta) is a traditional fishing and boating community, originally belonging to Assam, West Bengal, Odisha and eastern Bihar, along with Bangladesh. A few other communities, comprising people of low ritual status, fishermen and fishmongers (Nikari), later acquired respectable caste identities within the larger Hindu fold by adopting Kaibartta name, helped by their commercial prosperity and Vaishnavite affiliations, through Sanskritisation. Jalia Kaibartas are categorised as a Scheduled Caste (CS) and are the second largest among the 16 SCs in Assam under the name Kaibartta, Jaliya.