 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (April 2017) |
A∙chik | |
|---|---|
 A Garo couple in traditional dress | |
| Total population | |
| 1.1 million (c. 2011) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| India • Bangladesh | |
 India | 997,716[1] |
| • Meghalaya | 821,026 |
| • Assam | 136,077 |
| • Tripura | 12,952 |
 Bangladesh | 120,000[2] |
| Languages | |
| Garo (A∙chikku) | |
| Religion | |
| majority Christianity (90%)[3] minority Songsarek, Hinduism (40% in Bangladesh)[4] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bodo-Kachari groups, Boro, Hajong, Konyak other Tibeto Burman peoples | |
The Garo people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who live mostly in the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya with a smaller number in neighbouring Bangladesh.[5][6] Historically, the name Garo was used for a large number of different peoples living on the southern bank of Brahmaputra River, but now refers primarily to those who call themselves A∙chik Mande (literally "hill people," from A∙chik "bite soil" + mande "people") or simply A∙chik or Mande and the name "Garo" is now being used by outsiders as an exonym.[7] They are the second-largest tribe in Meghalaya after the Khasi and comprise about a third of the local population.
- ^ "A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix". censusindia.gov.in. Government of India. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Garo". Ethnologue. SIL International. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
- ^ "Missionary is not a very popular word in India. But in the Khasi hills, it holds a different meaning in their culture". 16 October 2021.
- ^ Chakma, Sheeladitya. "A CASE STUDY ON THE GARO ETHNIC PEOPLE OF THE SAL (Shorea robusta) FORESTS IN BANGLADESH".
- ^ "5 facts you must know about the Garo Tribe of Meghalaya". thenortheasttoday.com. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2023. "The Garos are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group in Meghalaya also known as the A·chik Mande (literally hill people) or simply A·chik or Mande."
- ^ R. Marak, Silba; Sharma, Dwijen (11 September 2023). "Funeral Rites of the Garos: Unveiling Cultural Assimilation Amidst Christian Influence". Journal of Contemporary Rituals and Traditions. 1 (2): 55–66. doi:10.15575/jcrt.354. ISSN 2988-5884.
- ^ Official Homepage of Meghalaya State of India Archived 8 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine