Bedar Kare

Bedar Kare tradition traces back to an ancestor named Kannayya, a hunter and devotee of Shiva, credited with the origin of the people's skill in drawing a living from the land with little effort. Over the centuries, the people became known for their warrior vigor: they served as soldiers and local chiefs across the Deccan, and became famous for fighting alongside regional queens and kings against invading empires, using guerrilla tactics in the forests of Malnad.

Over time, they lost political standing and many went from warriors to rural laborers, watchmen and service providers, while still keeping alive the memory of a past marked by honor and resistance.

Today most make their living from farming, from work as watchmen and cattle herders, or from small trades such as masonry, messenger work and trading. Life revolves around the village and work on the land, with simple habits closely tied to the agricultural calendar of the Deccan, a rhythm that has changed little across generations.

The community is organized by internal lineage divisions and by a chief or local guru who guides decisions and settles disputes. Traditional ornaments, such as gold and silver earrings and bracelets, and ritual tattoos on women from childhood, still mark special occasions, a living memory of ancient customs preserved from generation to generation.

The Bedar Kare follow Hinduism, with special devotion to Shiva, linked to the people’s legendary origin, and to protective deities and spirits of the village and family. Their faith is expressed in household rituals, offerings and care for the land which, according to tradition, was blessed to sustain their descendants with abundance and little effort.

Festivals such as Diwali, Dasara and Holi mark the religious calendar, celebrated with songs and dances of their own. A guru or spiritual chief usually presides over ceremonies and important life passages, and religious identity is intertwined with clan identity and the memory of the hunter ancestor who gave rise to the people.

Kannada, the language the Bedar Kare speak day to day, is one of India’s classical languages, with centuries of literary tradition, but that has scarcely reached this particular people: there is no record of believers among them, nor of material translated into their own speech, marked by Marathi terms. Scripture in Kannada remains, in practice, a book distant from the village, associated with another religion and a world outside the community’s everyday reach.

To be Bedar Kare is to be bound to a history of devotion to Shiva and to a caste system that gives a sense of honor and belonging; abandoning that faith can mean breaking with family and with the memory of the people itself. The absence of any known believer, the lack of nearby churches and a modest social position, today far from the old warrior prestige, leave the community isolated from any Christian witness.

Many Bedar Kare today live off unstable manual and agricultural labor, far from the prestige their warrior ancestors once held, and face the need for better working conditions, education and opportunities for their children.

There is no record of a single believer among them: there is a complete absence of a Christian community that could walk alongside, disciple and accompany anyone who came to know Jesus, and the people lack someone to bring the good news in their own language and culture.