Key Facts about Tharu Tribe

About Tharu Tribe:

• The Tharu tribe is one of the indigenous groups living in the Terai plain on the Indo-Nepal border. 
• They live in both India and Nepal.
• In the Indian terai, they live mostly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. 
• In 1967, this tribe was documented as a Scheduled Tribe by the Government of India. 
• Language: They have their own language called Tharu or Tharuhati, a language of the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-Iranian group of the Indo-European family.
• Economy: Most Tharu practice agriculture, raise cattle, hunt, fish, and collect forest products. 
• Most of their food involves rice, lentils, and vegetables. 
• They build their homes from bamboo and mud.
• Society:
  • Despite their patrilineal social system, women have property rightsgreatly exceeding those recognized in Hindu society.
  • Tharu marriages are patrilocal within the tribe.
  • A common feature of the Tharu community is the joint family system of living in long houses.
  • Tharus live in compact villages, usually in the middle of a forest clearing. Each village is governed by a council and a headman.