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, Assamese, Bengali, Nepali | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Nashya Shaikh, Koch, Rabhas, Garos, Boros, Mech, Tharu other Indo-Aryan people | |
| Part of a series on the |
| Culture of Assam |
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The Rajbanshi, also Rajbongshi and Koch-Rajbongshi, are peoples from Western Assam, North Bengal, eastern Bihar, 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, likely due to language shift, and in the past they might have spoken Tibeto-Burman languages. The community is categorised as OBC in Assam and Bihar, and SC in West Bengal. In Nepal they are considered part of the Plains Janjati. In Bangladesh the community is classified as Plains ethnic group under 'Barman'. They are the largest Scheduled Caste community of West Bengal.
In 2020, Kamatapur Autonomous Council has been created for socio-economic development and political rights of 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.