The Kurukh or Oraon, also spelt Uraon, or Dhangar (Kurukh: Karḵẖ and Oṛāōn) are a Dravidian speaking ethnolinguistic group inhabiting Chhotanagpur Plateau and adjoining areas - mainly the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh. They predominantly speak Kurukh as their native language, which belongs to the Dravidian language family. In Maharashtra, Oraon people are also known as Dhangad or Dhangar. Traditionally, Oraons depended on the forest and farms for their ritual practices and livelihoods, but in recent times, they have become mainly settled agriculturalists. Many Oraon migrated to tea gardens of Assam, West Bengal and Bangladesh as well as to countries like Fiji, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Mauritius during British rule, where they were known as Hill Coolies. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe for the purpose of India's reservation system. Etymology According to Edward Tuite Dalton, "Oraon" is an exonym assigned by neighboring Munda people, meaning "to roam". They call themselves Kurukh. According to Sten Konow, Uraon will mean man as in the Dravidian Kaikadi language, the word Urapai, Urapo and Urang means Man. The word Kurukh may be derived from the word Kur or Kurcana means Shout and stammer. So Kurukh will mean a speaker. History According to the Indian Anthropological Society, Konkan is said to be the original home of the Kurukh tribes from where they migrated to the Chota Nagpur Plateau. The group is said to have settled in the Chota Nagpur Plateau by 100 CE. There are three opinion of scholar about origin of Kurukh people. According to Sarat Chandra Roy, Kurukh people might have migrated from Coorg in South India. In 1987, Elefenbein proposed Bloch's hypothesis, in which he proposed the Brahui tribe migrated from Baluchistan to Sindh where Brahui is still spoken, and the Rohtasgarh and Rajmahal hills. Those who migrated to Rohtasgarh were Kurukh and Rajmahal hills were Malto. According to another opinion, Kurukh people were living in Indus valley civilization, then they migrated to South and Central India after the decline of the Indus valley civilization due to droughts and floods in 2500 BCE. During the British Period, Kurukh people rebelled against the British East India Company authority and local Zamindars against tax imposition. The Budhu Bhagat led the Lakra rebellion which is also known as the Kol uprising in 1832. According to the writings of Colonel Edward Tuite Dalton, Oraon claimed that they were settled