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{{Unclear citation|date=January 2025}}
{{Short description|Adivasi tribe in north and central India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2022}}{{No inline|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Sehariya
| image            = Villageois, Bathpura, district Gwalior.jpg
| image_caption    = A Sahariya couple
| popplace         = {{flag|India}}
| region1          = [[Madhya Pradesh]]
| pop1             = 614,958
| region2          = [[Rajasthan]]
| pop2             = 111,377
| region3          = [[Assam]]
| Script           = 
| religions        = Animism and Hinduism
| related          = 
}}

The '''Saharia''', '''Sehariya''', or '''Sahariya''' are an ethnic group in the state of [[Madhya Pradesh]], [[India]]. The Saharias are mainly found in the districts of [[Morena, Madhya Pradesh|Morena]], [[Sheopur]], [[Bhind]], [[Gwalior]], [[Datia]], [[Shivpuri]], [[Vidisha]] and [[Guna, India|Guna]] districts of [[Madhya Pradesh]] and Baran district of [[Rajasthan]]. They are classified as [[Particularly vulnerable tribal group]]. 

[[File:Swang Dance of Saharia Tribe.jpg|thumb|Swang Dance of Saharia Tribe]]

==History==
[[File:Folks dance by Saharia tribe of Rajasthan1.jpg|thumb|Folks dance by Saharia tribe of Rajasthan in Kaleshwari Art Fair - 2017 held at [[Kaleshwari Group of Monuments|Kaleshwari]]]]

{{unreferenced section|date=March 2016}}
The history of the Saharia tribe is spotty and in many places completely lost. The older generations of the Saharia tribes people fail to give any account of their history, and written records of ancestry are virtually nonexistent. 
Traditionally, they trace their beginnings to the days of the [[Ramayana]] and beyond. They trace their origin from [[Shabari]] of the [[Ramayan]]. Another theory suggests that [[Brahma]], the creator was busy casting the Universe. He made out a place to seat all persons. In the centre of that place he put a Sahariya who was a simpleton. Others came to join him sitting but they pushed him further from the square centre to an extreme corner or khoont. The story goes that an annoyed Brahma chided the Sahariya for his inability to cope with the pressure and decreed that he would henceforth live in forests and such other out of the way places.

==Dwelling==
They inhabit clusters of houses in areas called saharana outside the main villages. The housing is generally characterized by prehistoric standards made of stone boulders and roofing of stone slabs that locally are called patore. In some villages mud structures are also constructed. Brick and concrete are very rare. They live in small joint families. The elder sons live separately after marriage and younger son bear the responsibilities of the parents and unmarried brothers-sisters.{{CN|date=August 2015}}

==Religion==
The tribe members practice [[Animism]] and [[Hinduism]]. Folk Hindu gods and goddess that they worship and celebrate in major festivals include: [[Veer Teja]], thakar Baba, [[Durga]], [[Hanuman]], Lalbai, Bejasan, Savni Amavasya, [[Janmashtami]], [[Raksha Bandhan]], [[Deepavali]], [[Holi]] and Teja Dashmi.{{CN|date=August 2015}}.

==Marriage==
They consider everyone in an [[endogamous group]] to be brother and sister; marriages have to be arranged from other clans. During the marriage ceremony, totems are drawn on paper and the floor that they hold in reverence. Child marriage is not favored, although there are some arranged marriages, and any marriage is performed after attaining the age of 15 years. Widow marriage called not is permitted but only to a fellow widower or a divorcee. Polygamy is reserved only for males.{{CN|date=August 2015}}

==Social life==
The Sahariya community considers every adult member part of a governing council which is headed by a [[patel]]. A patel's appointment is based on heredity criteria but found to be unfit or unsuitable is basis for removal. The council decides disputes by a consensus. It imposes fines and ostracism on guilty offenders committing rape, elopement or adultery. An inter-village dispute is referred to as a [[Chokla Panchayat]]. Since they may be surrounded by speakers of other languages and dialects they may speak various Hindi dialects.

==Economy==
The Sahariyas are expert woodsmen and forest product gatherers. They are particularly skilled in making [[catechu]] from [[Khair trees]]. The main business is gathering & selling of forest wood, gum, tendu leaf, honey, mahua and [[medicinal herbs]]. Their traditional occupations also include making baskets, mining and quarrying, and breaking stones. They also hunt and fish.
 
Some Sahariyas are settled cultivators. Wheat, pearl millet and maize are the main cereal crops. [[Legume|Gram]] and [[arhar]] are the main pulses. Agriculture is largely rain-dependent with merely 2% of the total land area being irrigated. The main sources of irrigation are wells and rivulets, which are seasonal. Others are landless labourers who were earlier bonded labourers.

== Health ==
 
The general health conditions of the tribe are very poor. There is prevalence of malnutrition and pulmonary tuberculosis. RNTCP-DOTS programme is working effectively to change this condition. The Centre for Genomics at [[Jiwaji University]], [[Gwalior]] is carrying out active clinical and genetic research in order to identify the genetic and non-genetic underlying causes for their ailments.

==Notable people==
* [[Gyarsi Bai Sahariya]] a tribal leader from [[Baran district]].
* [[ Sarbeswar Sahariah]] (Assamese) An award winning Indian nephrologist and organ transplant specialist

==See also==
* [[Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary]]

==References==
* {{cite book |title=The Saharias |last=Naik |first=Thakorlal Bharabhai |year=1922 |publisher=SyneSine Press |lccn=88-901295 }}
: ''Ethnological study of the Saharia tribe of Morena District, Madhya Pradesh''

Joshi, Vibha 1987 'A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh: Social Organization and Religion of the Sahariya'. M.Phil Dissertation. Department of Anthropology, Delhi University. 

V.J.Patel(Vibha Joshi) 1993. 35 minute ethnographic film 'The Sahariya of Madhya Pradesh' filmed in 1992-3 in Sheopur kala division (now a district), in Palpur village in Palpur-Kuno forest, and in Agra, Ameth Parond and other villages of Morena, M.P. (includes an interview of surrendered dacoit, Ramesh Singh Sikarwar) . Anthropological Survey of India.Kolkatta Also see: 

Srivastava, Vinay Kumar 2016 'Speaking of Caste: Merit of the Principle of Segmentation', Sociological Bulletin.

==Further reading==
{{commonscat|Saharia people}}
*{{citation |title=Tribal Cultures and Change |first1=Rann Singh |last1=Mann |first2=K. |last2=Mann |publisher=Mittal Publications |year=1989 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q29TcbHrMfUC}}
*{{citation |title=Primitive Tribes in Contemporary India: Concept, Ethnography and Demography |volume=1 |editor1-first=Sarit Kumar |editor1-last=Chaudhuri |editor2-first=Sucheta Sen |editor2-last=Chaudhuri |publisher=Mittal Publications |year=2005 |isbn=9788183240260 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oG9_QkvmUKMC |chapter=Ecology and Economy of a Primitive Tribe in a Semi-Arid Zone |first1=Pramod |last1=Mishra |first2=A. K. |last2=Kapoor}}

{{Scheduled Tribes in Madhya Pradesh}}
[[Category:Social groups of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Social groups of Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Scheduled Tribes of Rajasthan]]
Joshi, Vibha 1987 'A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh: Social Organization and Religion of the Sahariya'. M.Phil Thesis. Department of Anthropology, Delhi University.supervision by Vinay Kumar Srivastava.

V.J.Patel (name used then by Vibha Joshi) 1993. 35 minute ethnographic film 'The Sahariya of Madhya Pradesh' filmed in 1992-3 in Sheopur kala division (now a district), in Palpur village in Palpur-Kuno forest, and in Agra, Ameth and other villages  of Morena, M.P.  (includes an interview of surrendered dacoit, Ramesh Singh Sikarwar) . Anthropological Survey of India.Kolkatta

Also see: Srivastava, Vinay Kumar 2016 'Speaking of Caste: Merit of the Principle of Segmentation', Sociological Bulletin.