People / group

Kurukh people

Also known as Oraon people, Oraon, Oraons

The Oraon, who call themselves Kurukh, are an Adivasi people of eastern and central India, living mainly in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. They speak Kurukh, a Dravidian language, and traditionally farmed the uplands of the Chota Nagpur plateau. Many adopted Christianity through Lutheran, Catholic and Anglican missions from the 19th century, and they are one of the largest Scheduled Tribes.

Kurukh people
Image: Rocky international · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 4 state histories

Gangpur StateJashpur StateSurguja StateUdaipur State (Chhattisgarh)

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kurukh people. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kurukh-people
MLA
“Kurukh people.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kurukh-people. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Kurukh people.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kurukh-people.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kurukh people’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/kurukh-people (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻