Relli (caste)

Relli (also Reli, Relly, or Raily) is a social group of South Indians who reside in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West bengal, and Chhattisgarh. They are classified as a Scheduled Caste.

Demographics
The Relli people are mainly distributed in coastal districts, such as Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore, and Chittoor of Andhra Pradesh, Jagdalpur of Chhattisgarh and the Koraput, Nabarangpur, Rayagada of Odisha and Kolkata (mominpur), titagarh, budge budge, khardaha, bandel of west-Bengal.

According to the 2001 Census, Relli and Mehtar's population is 2,06,053 in Andhra Pradesh, 37 in Chhattisgarh, and 8,357 in Odisha respectively. Rellis constitutes 1.67% of the total Scheduled Caste population of United Andhra Pradesh in 2001.

Occupation
The primary occupation of the Relli people in Andhra Pradesh is the collection and sale of fruits, seeds, and grass. Some are labourers and manual scavengers. A few are in government service while the Reli of Odisha and Chhattisgarh trade in salt, rice, vegetables, goats, and hens on a small scale. Agriculture is also pursued. They are listed as Scheduled Castes.

Language
Reli people speak the Reli language as their mother tongue and is close to Odia. The Relli people speak the Telugu language in Andhra Pradesh when conversing with outsiders. The Relli people speak the Hindi language in Chhattisgarh.

The 2001 Census stated that there were 21,238 speakers of the Reli language in Andhra Pradesh, 37 in Chhattisgarh, and 4014 in Odisha. Further breakdown to the district level is as follows (2001 Census): Vizianagaram (AP) 7,893; Visakhapatnam (AP) 4,301; East Godavari (AP) 3,079; Krishna (AP) 3,085; Srikakulam (AP) 1,796; Guntur (AP) 597, Koraput (OD) 1607; Rayagada (OD) 907 and Nabarangpur (OD) 1500, in Odisha, Jagdalpur (CG) 37, in Chhattisgarh.