Sahariya Tribe of Rajasthan: History, Life and Sitabari

The Sahariya tribe is one of the least known communities of Rajasthan and one of the most important to understanding the forests of Hadoti. Concentrated in Baran district, the south-eastern corner of the state that borders Madhya Pradesh, the Sahariya (also written Saharia or Sehariya) have long lived from the dry forests, gathering, cutting and trading what the woods produce. The Government of India lists them as a particularly vulnerable tribal group, and the great fair at Sitabari is known as their Kumbh. This page sets out what is reliably known about their history, way of life and festivals, and how visitors can approach the community with respect.

Where the Sahariya live

Most Sahariya live in northern Madhya Pradesh, in districts such as Morena, Sheopur, Bhind, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Vidisha and Guna. In Rajasthan they are found in Baran district, part of the Hadoti region that also includes Kota, Bundi and Jhalawar. Baran’s forested south and east, including the country around Shahabad Fort and the Shergarh sanctuary, is part of that landscape. Our guide to Baran tourist places gives an overview of the district.

Sahariya villages are often clusters of houses known as saharana, set a little apart from the main village. Traditional houses use stone boulders with roofs of stone slabs, locally called patore; mud houses are also common, and brick and concrete were long rare.

Origins and history

Written records of Sahariya history are almost non-existent, and older generations often say little about it. Their own traditions reach back to the Ramayana: many trace their origin to Shabari, the devotee who offered berries to Rama. Another story tells how Brahma, seating the people of the world, placed a Sahariya in the centre, but as others crowded in he was pushed to a corner, and Brahma decreed that he would live in the forests and out-of-the-way places. These stories are worth hearing as the community’s own account rather than as history in the documentary sense.

Classification as a PVTG

In the 1960s the Dhebar Commission noticed that some Scheduled Tribes were developing far more slowly than others. From the Fourth Five-Year Plan the government created a sub-category, first called primitive tribal groups and renamed particularly vulnerable tribal groups in 2006. The criteria include a pre-agricultural way of life, stagnant or falling population and very low literacy. The Sahariya are on this list. In practice that means they are a priority group for targeted schemes on housing, nutrition, health and education, delivered through the state’s tribal area development system.

Health has been a particular concern. Malnutrition and pulmonary tuberculosis have been widespread, and researchers and public health programmes have worked in Sahariya areas to understand and treat these problems.

Work and livelihoods

The Sahariya are known as expert woodsmen and gatherers of forest produce. Their traditional economy includes:

• collecting and selling wood, gum, tendu leaves, honey, mahua flowers and medicinal herbs;
• making katha (catechu) from the heartwood of khair trees, a skill for which they are particularly noted;
• basket making, stone breaking and quarrying;
• small-scale hunting and fishing.

Many Sahariya are now settled cultivators growing wheat, pearl millet and sorghum, with gram and arhar as the main pulses. Their farming depends almost entirely on rain, with very little irrigation from wells and seasonal streams. Others work as landless labourers.

Social life and councils

Sahariya society governs itself through councils. Every adult member is part of a council headed by a patel, a post that is usually hereditary but from which an unsuitable holder can be removed. Councils decide disputes by consensus and can impose fines or social sanctions. Disputes between villages go to a larger body known as the Chokla Panchayat.

Marriage takes place outside one’s own clan, since members of a clan regard each other as brothers and sisters. Totems are drawn on paper and on the floor during wedding ceremonies, a reminder that the floor and wall art of the region, such as mandana, is part of everyday ritual.

Faith and festivals

The Sahariya follow Hindu traditions with a strong folk character. Deities and festivals they honour include Veer Teja, Thakur Baba, Durga, Hanuman, Lalbai and Bejasan, with celebrations at Janmashtami, Raksha Bandhan, Diwali, Holi and Teja Dashmi.

The biggest gathering is the Sitabari fair. Sitabari lies about 45 km from Baran near Kelwara, among kunds (holy tanks) named after Sita, Lakshman, Surya, Lav and Kush. The fair is held on Jyeshtha Amavasya, around May or June, and Rajasthan Tourism describes it as the Kumbh of the Sahariya tribes. It is also an animal fair where cattle and buffalo are traded. For dates of this and other fairs, see our festivals in Kota and Hadoti guide.

The forest and the Sahariya today

The dry deciduous forests of Baran, with khair, tendu, mahua and palash (flame of the forest, which turns the hills orange in late winter), are the setting of Sahariya life. As forest cover shrank and access to it was regulated, many families lost the gathering work their economy rested on, which is one reason the community has stayed poor even where farmland is good. Forest rights, secure land titles, schooling in the community’s own surroundings and nutrition support are the issues that come up again and again in reports on the Sahariya. If you read about them in the news, it is usually under one of these headings.

Visiting with respect

• Go to public events. The Sitabari fair is open to all and is the best place to see Sahariya culture on its own terms.
• Ask before photographing. People and homes are not scenery. If someone says no, accept it.
• Do not hand out money or sweets to children in villages; if you want to help, support established local organisations.
• Listen. The community’s own accounts of its history and gods are the most valuable thing a visitor can take away.

For more on the people and history of the region, see Kota’s history and the old forest temples of Kakoni and Ramgarh in Baran.