The Oraons are one of the largest tribes in South Asia, numbering 1,702,663 persons at the 1971 census. About half of them live in Bihar, mainly on the Chota Nagpur Plateau; the remainder are in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and West Bengal. They speak a Dravidian language known as Kurukh. Oraons are closely related to the neighboring Munda tribe, and the headman of an Oraon village is called munda.
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| Oraon Dance @ Himalaya World Museum |
| Oraon Dance @ Himalaya World Museum |
Although there are no subcastes among the Oraons, the Kudas ("navvies") and Kisans ("cultivators"), having their distinct occupations, tend to marry among themselves. Beyond this, Oraons observe village and clan exogamy. The patrilineal extended family is the ideal residential unit, but Nuclear families are nearly as common. On the average a family contains five to seven co resident members.
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