In a short visit to the state of Orissa, one can easily get in touch with numerous tribal population that have settled down in every corner of the region and that too in large numbers. As per the records of the anthropologists of the Indian Territory, Sabar is one of the ancient tribes in the whole of the country.

In some part of the region, these Sabar tribes are also known by the name of Kariya. Regarding the traditional heritage of these Shabar tribes, one can even find reference in the great epic of Mahabharata. To be specific, in the chapter nineteen, Drona Parva of Mahabharata made a mention of the "Shaved headed" Kamboj soldiers, Shabar and several other tribes like the Yavanas, Shak, Kirat and Barbar tribes who took an active part in the combat . Further it also has been depicted that due to the infiltration of these Sabar and other tribes from other foreign region had created lot of social upheaval in the then society.