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সরাক | |
|---|---|
 Sarak Jains celebratingMahavir Jayanti | |
| Total population | |
| 34,000-50,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| West Bengal | 25,000-35,000[2] |
| Jharkhand | 5,000-10,000[3] |
| Odisha | 2,000-5,000[4] |
| Bihar | 1,000-5,000[5] |
| Assam | Unknown |
 Bangladesh | Unknown |
| Languages | |
| Bengali,Odia,Hindi,Assamese,Sambalpuri,Bihari languages | |
| Religion | |
| Jainism | |
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| Jainism |
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Saraks (fromSanskritŚrāvaka) are aJain ethnoreligious group found inWest Bengal,Jharkhand,Odisha,Bihar,Assam andBangladesh.[6] They have been followers ofJainism, such as vegetarianism, since ancient times, however, were isolated and separated from the main body of theJain community in western, northern, and southern India and have beenJain Bengalis ever since. The governments of India and West Bengal both have classified some of the Saraks underOther Backward Classes since 1994 but many of them have been in the General category from the beginning itself.[7]
The Saraks are an ancient community inJharkhand andBengal. British anthropologistEdward Tuite Dalton noted that according to the Bhumij tradition inSinghbhum district, the Saraks were early settlers in the region.[8] According to Santosh Kumar Kundu, the Saraks arrived from the northwestern region of India, presently inGujarat andUttar Pradesh. In the region between the rivers Barakar and Damodar, two democratic republics, Shikharbhum and Panchakot, flourished. Later they merged and came to be known as Shikharbhum, with the capital atPanchkot. According to Ramesh Chandra Majumder, the Jain scholarBhadrabahu, the second Louhacharya and the author of Kalpa Sutra may have come from the Sarak community.[9]
The region is calledVajjabhumi in ancient texts because diamonds were once mined in the region.[10] TheTirthankaraMahavira visited this region according to theKalpa Sūtra.
The Saraks lost contact with Jains in the rest of India after its conquest byIkhtiyar Uddin Muhammad bin Bakhtiyar Khilji. Contact with the DigambaraBundelkhand Jains was reestablished when theParwars Manju Chaudhary (1720–1785) was appointed the governor ofCuttack by theMaratha Empire.
Saraks are concentrated in Purulia, Bankura and Burdwan districts ofWest Bengal andRanchi,Dumka andGiridih districts and Singhbhum region ofJharkhand. The Saraks belonging to most ofJharkhand andWest Bengal areBengali speakers while those living in historical Singhbhum region speak SinghbhumiOdia. Educated Saraks speak fluentEnglish.
In 2009, more than 165 Sarak Jains living in parts ofWest Bengal,Jharkhand andBihar visited the ancient Jain pilgrimage center ofShravanabelagola. A special function to welcome the Sarak Jains was organised at Shravanabelagola.[11]
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