Traditionally, the Rauts were involved in herding and milking cattle.[4] Traditionlly, their main business was sale of milk and milk products.[5]
Raut Nacha is a traditional dance of the Raut community which is performed on Diwali. In this dance, the Rauts wear a special costume, sing and dance in a group with sticks in their hands in the village pathways.[6]
The Raut men traditionally performed the local folk epic Candaini (orChandaini) in a combination of dance and song. The epic tells the story of princess Chanda, who leaves her impotent husband and falls in love with a common man Veer Lorik. Both the characters are from the Raut caste, and the epic seems to have originated in this caste.[7] As late as 1980, the Candaini performers used to be primarily from the Raut caste, but now people from other communities also take part in the performances.[4]
In the 20th century, they underwent Sanskritisation, and adopted customs and values of the high-caste Hindus.[8]
The main Raut sub-castes include Gawala, Thetwar, Jheriya, and Kosariya.[9]
The Rauts are included in the central list of Other Backward Classes for Chhattisgarh, along with other herding castes and sub-castes including Ahir, Brajwasi, Gawli, Gawali, Goli, Lingayat-Gaoli, Gowari (Gwari), Gowra, Gawari, Gwara, Jadav, Yadav, Thethwar, and Gop/Gopal.[10]
^ abMargaret H. Beissinger; Susanne Lindgren Wofford, eds. (1999). Epic traditions in the contemporary world: the poetics of community. University of California Press. p. 137.
^Arjun Appadurai; Frank J. Korom; Margaret A. Mills (1994). Gender, genre, and power in South Asian expressive traditions. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 196. ISBN9788120811782.
