Boria

Boria may refer to:

People

Places

Other uses

See also

Boria (caste)

The Boria, also known as Baurasi are a Hindu caste found in North India, and those in Uttar Pradesh have scheduled caste status .

Origin

The Boriya are sub-group of the Pasi community. Although of Pasi origin, the two communities are quite distinct, and do not intermarry. They are found mainly in the Awadh region, mainly in the districts of Gonda, Faizabad and Barabanki districts. The Boria speak the Awadhi dialect.

Present circumstances

The Boria are strictly endogamous community, and prefer marrying close kin. Most Baria belong to the Kabirpanthi sect.

The Boria are mainly a community of landowners and cultivators. They grow wheat and pulses, with animal husbandry being an important secondary occupation. Historically, the community were mainly tenant farmers, working on land owned by Rajputs and Banias. They live in multi-caste and multi-religious villages, but occupy their own quarters. Each of their settlement contains an informal caste council, known as a biradari panchayat. The panchayat acts as instrument of social control, dealing with issues such as divorce and adultery.

Boria (theatre)

Boria (Jawi: بوريا) is a form of Malay theatre of Indian origin which has through adaptive processes, become the one and only theatre of Malay community in Penang, Malaysia

History

Records on the origin of Boria are fairly limited but it was first mentioned by H.T. Haughton in 1897 which according to him, it was first brought to Penang in 1845 by the Muslim soldiers of 21st Madras Regiment. It was originally played to celebrate the annual Shiite festival, the Mourning of Muharram. In 1910, R.J Wilkinson, a Straits Civil Service officer and a noted scholar of Malay studies, made a comparison between the boria of Madras and Penang, and established that the resemblance was only in name, for the show as then known in Penang had evolved to a totally different form.

The performance

A typical Boria troupe consists of a leader, a chorus, comedians and musicians. The performance normally begins with a short comic sketches and followed by a song-dance routine featuring a juxtaposition of choral and solo parts. The song-dance routine commonly performed in a western music style and with dance forms such as rumbas, cha-cha-cha or soul.