The Tili caste belongs to West Bengal and Bihar. Tilis speak in Angika and
Bengali. Tilis are now found mainly in
Bhagalpur and
Banka District of Bihar, and also in
Bankura,
Hooghly and
Midnapore districts of West Bengal. According to Ramkrishna Mukherjee, some Bengali
Telis are gradually converting their caste to Tili. By the second half of the nineteenth century, Tili became a symbol of higher status among the Telis. Trade and cultivation were the occupations of the dissident Telis or Tilis in the sixteenth century as testified by
Chandimangalkavya. In south-western Bengal, the Tilis appeared to have become cocoon bearers and traders. In the nineteenth century, the Tilis had become one of the foremost mercantile communities of Bengal. The
Roys of Bhagyakul, the
Nandis of Cossimbazar (Murshidabad), the Kundu Chowdhuris of
Mahiari (Howrah), Pal Chowdhuris of
Ranaghat gained affluence through trade and moneylendling, and became landholders. The Pal Chaudhuris of Ranaghat (Nadia) ran indigo factories. The Dey family of Srerampore rose to prominence by saltpeter trade. Dayaram Roy, initially a diwan, acquired large estate and founded the
Dighapatia Raj, partly by his unjust stewardship. The Pramaniks of
Shantipur also gained fame for their temple building activities. Tilis became a major beneficiary of the economic changes made by the
British government and British commercial interests who had converted Bengal into a vast market ready to supply raw materials to England. ==Social status==