Kurukh

(or Oraon), a people living on the Chota Nagpur Plateau in India, among the Munda peoples, to whom they are close in their cultural features. Small groups of Kurukh also live in Orissa, West Bengal, and Assam states. Population, 1.24 million (1971 census). The Kurukh language is a Dravidian language. In the Kurukh religion, Hinduism is intertwined with ancient tribal cults. The main occupation of the Kurukh is farming.

The Kurukh retain certain vestiges of tribal organization, such as clan division and separate houses for young or unmarried men and women, in which life is strictly regulated. The rural neighbors’ communes of the Kurukh are supervised by elective councils, or panchayats.