Biharis (Hindi: बिहारी) are a unique ethnic group which is considered to be an early Dravidian offshoot from Bihar in India with a history going back three millennia. They speak Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri and some other local dialects. They however claim to trace their ancestry to the early Indo-Aryans, as well as the indigenous Austro-Asiatic Munda inhabitants of Bengal and Bihar (descendants of the Proto-Australoids). Besides Bihar, Biharis can be found throughout the North India, West Bengal, Maharashtra and also in the neighbouring countries of Bangladesh and Pakistan.
