भोजपुरिया सब 𑂦𑂷𑂔𑂣𑂳𑂩𑂲𑂨𑂰 𑂮𑂥 | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| c. 51 million[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| India (Bhojpuri region; WesternBihar,Eastern Uttar Pradesh, NorthwesternJharkhand) andNepal (WesternMadhesh, EasternLumbini) | |
 Nepal 1,820,795[2] | |
| Languages | |
| Bhojpuri AdditionallyHindi-Urdu | |
| Religion | |
Majority: HinduismMinority: | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| otherIndo-Aryan peoples |
TheBhojpuri people, also known asBhojpuriya-sawb (Devanagari: भोजपुरिया सब;Kaithi: 𑂦𑂷𑂔𑂣𑂳𑂩𑂲𑂨𑂰 𑂮𑂥;Romanized: bhojapuriyā sab) are anIndo-Aryan ethnic group from theIndian subcontinent who speak theBhojpuri language and inhabit theBhojpur-Purvanchal region. This area is now divided between the western part of the Indian state ofBihar, the eastern part of the Indian state ofUttar Pradesh, western part of the Indian state ofJharkhand, along with some neighbouring districts in the Indian state ofMadhya Pradesh as well as theMadhesh province andLumbini province ofNepal.[3][4] A significant population of theBihari diaspora of Bhojpuris can be found inTrinidad and Tobago,Guyana,Suriname, other parts of theCaribbean,Fiji,South Africa (Natal),Seychelles,Mauritius,United States,Canada,Netherlands,United Kingdom,Australia, andNew Zealand.[5]
Bhojpuri language is spoken by around 50 million people.[6] It is native to theBhojpuri region ofBihar andUttar Pradesh inIndia as well as theTerai region ofMadhesh andLumbini inNepal. Bhojpuri is sociolinguistically considered as one of the "Hindi dialects" although it linguistically belongs to the geographicBihari languages branch derived from the larger branch ofEastern Indo-Aryan languages. The first Bhojpuri novelBindiyã was written byRam Nath Pandey in 1955. It was published by Bhojpuri Sansad, Jagatganj,Varanasi.Bhikhari Thakur was a famous writer of Bhojpuri language and founder ofBhojpuri songs. His famous book isBidesiya.[7][8]
Bhojpuri cuisine is part ofNorth Indian cuisine. It is mild and spice is less used,Awadhi cuisine andMughlai cuisine have largely influenced it. On the other side, it has majorly influenced cuisines of theCaribbean,Fiji,Mauritius, andSouth Africa.
According toG.A. Grierson, Bhojpuri people have influence all over India and called them people from energetic race and also theCivilizer of Hindostan. In order to compare Bhojpuriyas withMaithils andMagahis he writes:[9]
Maithili and Magahi are the dialects of nationalities which have carried conservatism to excess of uncouthness, while Bhojpuri is the practical language of an energetic race, which is ever ready to accommodate itself to circumstances, and has made it influence felt all over the Indian. Bengali and Bhojpuri are the two civilizer of Hindostan, the former with his pen and latter with his cudgel.
George Abraham Grierson Linguistic Survey of India Vol V. Part II
He further writes that Bhojpuri people form the fighting nation of Hindostan, and has praised for grab any opportunity. He writes:[9]
The Bhojpuri-speaking country is inhabited by a people curiously different from people who speak Bihari dialects. They form the fighting nation of Hindostan. An alert and active nationality, with few scruples, and considerable abilities, dearly loving a fight for fighting's sake, they have spread all over Aryan India, each men ready to carve his fortune out of any opportunity which may present itself to him. They furnish a rich mine of recruitments to the Hindostani Army, and on the other hand they took a prominent part in the mutiny of 1857. As fond as an Irishman, is of a stick, the long-boned, stalwart, Bhojpuri, with a staff in hand, is a familiar object striding over fields far from his home. Thousands of them emigrated to british colonies and have returned rich-men, every year still larger numbers wander over Northern Bengal and seek employment, either honestly, as palki bearers, or otherwise as dacoits. Every Bengali Zamindar keeps a pose of these men, eumphistically termed 'darwans', to keep his tenants in order.
George Abraham Grierson Linguistic Survey of India Vol V. Part II
