Kol people

The Kol people referred to a group of tribal communities of Chotanagpur in eastern parts of India. Historically, the Mundas, Oraons, Hos and Bhumijs were called Kols by the British.

It also refers to some tribes and castes of south-east Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. They are mostly Indigenous people and dependent on forest produce to make a living, and they have their own land. The caste has several exogamous clans, including the Bhil, Chero, Monasi, Rautia, Raut, Gauthiya Rojaboria‚ Rautel and Thakuria. They speaks the Baghelkhandi dialect. Around 1 million lives in Madhya Pradesh while another 5 lakh lives in Uttar Pradesh.

Once spelled "Kole", the swaths of land they inhabited in the 19th-century were called "Kolean".