The Mallaah are the traditional boatmen and fishermen tribes or communities of North India, East India, Northeastern India and Pakistan. A significant number of Mallah are also found in Nepal and Bangladesh. In the Indian state of Bihar, the term Nishad includes the Mallah and refers to communities whose traditional occupation centred on rivers. History The Mallah who are also referred to as "Nishad" were a community of boatman and fisherman. Earliest reference for these people comes from the Hindu scriptures like Ramayana and the Mahabharata . Nishad claim to have descended from Ved Vyas who composed Mahabharata , and was a son of Satyawati . They also claim many other mythological characters like Eklavya and Nishadraja, a leader of the forest tribe who helped lord Rama . Mallah however is a term used to describe someone who rode a boat and is derived from an Arabic word Mallah(ملاح) which means "to move its wing like a bird". However the word is purely an occupational term according to Crooke which was used for the large community associated with the water centric occupation primarily boating and fishing. There are many subcastes of the Mallah community in which Kewat , Bind , Nishad , Dhimak , Karabak , Sahani are notable. The Mallah community was recognised as backward caste initially though socially and economically they were much behind the backward castes and were more close to Dalits. This made some of the state governments to include them in SC category which was preceded by movement and unrest led by the various caste organisation of the community for the purpose of seeking benefits accruing due to Reservation provided to the Scheduled Caste groups. In the first half of 20th century the rising educated middle class among the community urged for the unification of various subcastes of the larger Mallah community for the purpose of their socio-economic empowerment . Consequently, in 1918 Nishad Mahasabha came into existence, as the largest organisation of the Mallahs and their subcastes. The Nishad Mahasabha was spearheaded by Ram Chandr Vakil and Pyarelal Chaudhary, amongst whom the former was selected to legislative council of United Province in 1936 and voiced support for the political representation of Nishad and its subcastes. The various caste based organisation and the umbrella organisation Nishad Mahasabha sought to mobilise the people belonging to subcastes of Mallah under a common term called 'Nishad' , which