The Banjara (also Banjari, Bangala, Banjori, Banjuri, Brinjari, Lamani, Lamadi, Lambani, Labhani, Lambara, Lavani, Lemadi, Lumadale, Labhani Muka, Gohar-Herkeri, Goola, Gurmarti, Gormati, Kora, Singali, Sugali, Sukali, Tanda, Vanjari, Wanji) are a community in
India spread in
Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka,
Maharashtra,
Madhya Pradesh,
Rajasthan and other states of India. Abuot half their number speaks
Lambadi, one of the
Rajasthani dialects of
Hindustani, while others are native speakers of
Hindi,
Telugu and other languages dominant in their respective areas of settlement. They are a
Scheduled Tribe in Orissa, a
Scheduled Caste in Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.They live in settlements called Tandas. They have a unique culture and dance form. The women wear colorful and beautiful costumes and have
tattoos on their hands. Their traditional occupation is agriculture and trade. Banjaras are also a group of nomadic cattle herders.The traditional food of Lambadis is Bati which is
Roti. Their customs, language and dress indicate they originated from
Rajasthan. Their traditional occupation is agriculture and trade. The accurate history of Lambanis or Lambadis or Banjaras is not known but the general opinion among them is that they fought for
Prithvi Raj against
Muhammad of Ghor. The trail of the Lambadi/Banjara can be verified from their language, Lambadi borrows words from
Rajasthani,
Gujarathi,
Marathi and the local language of the area they belong to.Banjaras originally belong to Rajasthan and they were Rajputs who migrated to southern parts of India for trade and agriculture. They settled down in the southern or central areal of the country and slowly loosened contacts with Rajasthan, and their original community. Over a period of time both the communities separated and they adopted the local culture. The language spoken by Banjaras settled in Yavatmal district of Vidarbha, Maharashtra is an admixture of Hindi,Rajasthani and Marathi. The word "Banjara" itself means " the one who travels and dosent have their own Home" The Banjara are (together with the
Domba) sometimes called the "
Gypsies of India".