Kanjar

Kanjar is a nomadic Indian tribe from Northern Madhya Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh, who are reputed to have made a living from kidnapping and other criminal activity. In the Colonial period, Kanjars were listed under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, as being a tribe"addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences."

After independence, they were denotified (1952), but the tribe still carries considerable social stigma. Living in small family units, the tribe subsists primarily on begging and entertainment, especially magic. They are the subject of the well known Hindi story "Indrajal" (English: Magic), by Jaishankar Prasad.