Rajbanshi people
Rajbanshi women dancing in Assam, India | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| India: Assam | 7,021,254 (2011) |
| West Bengal | 3,983,316 (2011) |
| Bihar | 290,079 (2023) |
| Nepal | 127,985 (2021) |
| Bangladesh | 13,193 (2022) |
| Languages | |
| Rajbanshi, Rangpuri, Assamese, Bengali, Nepali | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism • Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nashya Shaikh, Koch, Rabhas, Garos, Boros, Mech, Tharu other Indo-Aryan people | |
The Rajbanshi, also Rajbongshi and Koch-Rajbongshi, are peoples from Lower Assam, North Bengal, eastern Bihar of India, Terai region of eastern Nepal, Rangpur Division of North Bangladesh and Bhutan who have in the past sought an association with the Koch dynasty. Koch-Rajbanshi people speak Kamatapuri, an Indo-Aryan language. The community is categorised as OBC in Assam and Bihar, and in West Bengal Koch, Rajbanshi, Banshi-Barman are three separate groups of people where Koch is categorised as ST and Rajbanshi is SC, and Banshi Barman is OBC. In Nepal they are considered part of the Plains Janjati. They are the largest Scheduled Caste community of West Bengal.
In 2020, Kamatapur Autonomous Council was created for the socio-economic development and political rights of the Koch-Rajbongshi community residing in Assam.
They are related to the ethnic Koch people found in Meghalaya but are distinguished from them as well as from the Hindu caste called Koch in Upper Assam that receives converts from different tribes. Rajbanshi (of royal lineage) alludes to the community's claimed connection with the Koch dynasty.