the saraks are an ancient community in jharkhand and bengal. british anthropologist edward tuite dalton noted that according to the bhumij tradition in singhbhum district, the saraks were early settlers in the region. according to santosh kumar kundu, the saraks arrived from the northwestern region of india, presently in gujarat and uttar pradesh. in the region between the rivers barakar and damodar, two democratic republics, shikharbhum and panchakot, flourished. later they merged and came to be known as shikharbhum, with the capital at panchakot. according to ramesh chandra majumder, the jain scholar bhadrabahu, the second louhacharya and the author of kalpa sutra may have come from the sarak community. the saraks were agriculturists and moneylenders having landed properties. many of their rituals and customs are similar to that of brahmins. though the mainstream saraks are bengali hindus, yet they have a touch of jainism.