ABSTRACT
The approximate 120,000 Rishi living in Khulna and Jessore constitute a minority of around 1.43 per cent of the total population in this area. Their dwelling places are still found along rivers or in swampy areas, and are well separated from other groups, especially the Caste Hindus. Their para tend to be uncrowded given the widespread shortage of jobs. The most populous para are the longest established, in areas where the Rishi have been able to keep and subsequently cultivate their land. These are mostly found in Jessore and north of Khulna, on the eastern side of the Kabadak. In this area ‘the pattern of distribution of the Muchi settlements is uniform: in whatever direction one moves one comes across a Muchi para within a distance of anything from four to six miles’ (Tobanelli 1989: 8). The uniformity of the para distribution is reinforced by the fact that they were bound together in an alliance of twenty-seven, thirteen or eleven Rishi para. This pattern, which seems to have been consistent in the past, has recently lost much of its effectiveness, especially after Partition and even more after Independence. 36
