These tribes are located in Bastar and borders of Odisha. Their settlements made of wall houses and boundary made by clay is unique. They are ranked first in terms of social hierarchy.
Their origin is still a mystery.
They are an advanced tribe in Bastar.
They are much advanced in way of thinking, furnishing houses, and cultural performance like drama etc.
According to legend, they are the few, who went with king purushottam Dev to Jaggannath puri and returned with him. As they returned the king gave them sacred thread as a special honor, while giving the thread, the king addressed them “Bhadr”(civilized) and this makes origin of Bhatra tribe.
Amongst the Bhatra sub caste Amnit Bhatra hold highest status.
They speack the dialect Bhatri. It is a mixture of Halbi and Odia language.
Like other tribes, they are superstitious and believe in magic and sorcery and they also prefer Mahua drink, fruits and animal food.
Women folk enjoy high status in the society and the Bhatra girls have full freedom to choose their husbands.
They practice shifting cultivation type of agriculture and collecting of minor forest procedure. most of them work as farm or household workers for survival.
They worship Mahua trees. This tree is so much revered by them that, the marriage ceremonies cannot be completed without taking rounds of this tree.
