Tantubai(Tanti) Community

The word Tanti is derived from the Hindi/Bangla word Tant, which means a handloom. This community is also known as the Tantubai community. This is a community of weavers, and is one of the many communities found in South Asia which is traditionally associated with this craft.

Geographical Locations

The Tantubai people are found across the northeastern portion of India. The greatest concentration is believed to be in the state of Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Orissa. There are also some in the western part of Uttar Pradesh, and as well as in Bangladesh. They tend to live in villages outside of major metropolitan areas. But there is a sizeable portion of this community in the urban areas due to rapid urbanization of India.

Information About The Community 

The community is again divided in to three different groups :
1. Asan Tanti
2. Shivakul Tanti
3. Pattra Tanti

Even through Tantubai people are divided in to three different sub-castes groups, they can easily marry each other without any problem.
According to one mythology Shivakul Tanti believe that they are created by lord Shiva. That's why they use Shivakul to highlight this difference.
In relation to the rest of India they are seen as being part of the backward castes(OBC).

Clans/Gotras and Gusti

Tantubai are divided in to several clans/gotras some major ones are Nag, Sal, Kacchap, Sandal etc.
Tantubai are also divided in to several Gusti(Gusti means hereditary) some of them are Dus Bhaiya, Urmakhuri, Dandapath, Hunjar, Katrali Hunjar,Khichka etc.

Languages Spoken

Some of the Tantubai people speaks dialect of Hindi, some speaks Bengali, others speak Oriya and some speaks Assamese as their mother tongue.

Marriage Rituals

In terms of marriage rituals they follow the same rituals as followed by other Hindus, except with some regional differences. Some follow the Jharkhandi way, some follow the Bengali custom of marriage, some do it in Assamese way & some follow the Oriya way of marriage.
People from Tantubai community can get married belonging to the same clans/gotras but not with the same "Gusti" .
In Tantubai community Dowry Or "Paun" can be given by both the parties(Bride/Groom) , depending upon the decision of the father of the bride .
And there is ritual associated with it which is called "Paun Basa".
Tantubai community is also very open to inter-caste marriages so, there is a sizeable number of inter-caste couples in the community.

Other Information

People belonging to this community are scattered in different regions of the globe and is seen less often to be living as a tribe or group. They tend to mix up very easily with people belonging to other caste, culture, religion and colour that are spread throughout the world .
This makes it difficult to identify any one special area to be specified as region belonging only to the Tantubai community. However, there are few villages where only people belonging to this community lives there. These villages can easily be found, mostly in the rural areas of Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar & Assam.

Informaton About Their Lives

Tantubai people have always been worked as weavers, providers of cloths, back in the history as far as the ancient Bengal. They were known for their great skill in weaving and the ability to produce both fine linens as well as more common everyday fabrics. Not too long ago, almost every home of this community had a handloom and cloths ready for sell. They were also good farmers and used to acquire lots of land in earlier times.
Today, much of their trade has been taken over by factory production and imported goods. And most of them have sold their land because of poverty and lack of interest in cultivation and moved out of villages to the cities in search of jobs .
Most of them are uneducated or less educated so often most of them works in low wage jobs or as daily wage laborers in construction sites or in factories.
But now they are educating their children and the new generation is getting more better jobs in both Govt. & Pvt. sectors. Not just that some are excelling in arts like dance and singing.

Religious Beliefs

In terms of religious beliefs, the majority of Tantubai people are Hindus. There is also a small portion of this community who identify themselves as Muslims and Christians, and this number continues to grow. But there are lot of people who don't believe that Tantubai people belonging to the Muslims and Christians religious faiths as real Tantubai.