Singhbhumi Odia

Singhbhumi Odia is the northernmost dialect of the Odia language spoken in the districts of Seraikella-Kharsawan and West Singhbhum and parts of East Singhbhum district of Jharkhand.

Almost all native Odia speakers of Jharkhand except for those living in the parts of East Singhbhum district bordering West Bengal and Odisha speak in this dialect. The historic Singhbhum region comprises the western parts of Seraikella-Kharsawan district and whole of West Singhbhum district. Singhbhumi Odia is used as subsidiary language by host of non Odia people like Kurmis and Kols and Santhals living in Singhbhum region. Apart from the native Odia households Singhbhumi Odia is spoken as a common language in the old township of Chakradharpur, Seraikella and Kharsawan. Historically Odia was the court language in the ancient kingdom of Porahat (Chakradharpur) apart from princely states of Seraikella and Kharsawan.

Singhbhumi Odia is distinct among the major dialects of Odia as it is spoken in a region completely outside of modern-day Odisha. The vocabulary used by the native speaker has lots of borrowings from his Kurmi neighbor and Sambalpuri dialect of Western Odisha apart from the local dialects of Mayurbhanj and Kendujhar districts of Odisha.

The native Odia people of Singhbhum have preserved their unique identity since centuries by communicating in the local Odia dialect. Their customs, traditions, festivals and ceremonies get life from their native dialect. Singhbhumi Odia is also the language of world famous dance of Seraikella Chhau and its sister form from Kharsawan. Masters use typical Singhbhumi terms to explain technicalities of the ancient dance form to their disciples. Ancient style of songs called Jhumur-peculiar to Chhotanagpur plateau and neighboring areas also got enriched by native Odia poets. Notable among them is Prafulla Singhdeo from Raidih in Kharsawan who has composed and sung Jhumur in Singhbhumi Odia and played important role in popularizing the art form.

Here are some Singhbhumi Odia equivalents of Standard Odia.

Languages of India
Official languages	Union-level Hindi English 8th schedule to the Constitution of India Assamese Bengali Bodo Dogri Gujarati Hindi Kannada Kashmiri Konkani Maithili Malayalam Meitei (Manipuri) Marathi Nepali Odia Punjabi Sanskrit Sindhi Santali Tamil Telugu Urdu State-level only Garo Gurung Khasi Kokborok Lepcha Limbu Mangar Mizo Newari Rai Sherpa Sikkimese Sunwar Tamang
Major unofficial languages	Over 1 million speakers Angika Awadhi Bagheli Bagri Bajjika Bhili Bhojpuri Bundeli Chhattisgarhi Dhundhari Garhwali Gondi Harauti Haryanvi Ho Kangri Khandeshi Khortha Kumaoni Kurukh Lambadi Magahi Malvi Marwari Mewari Mundari Nimadi Rajasthani Sadri Surjapuri Tulu Wagdi Varhadi 100,000 – 1 million speakers Adi Angami Ao Dimasa Halbi Karbi Kharia Kodava Kolami Konyak Korku Koya Kui Kuvi Ladakhi Lotha Malto Mishing Nishi Phom Rabha Sema Sora Tangkhul Thadou