The Raglai () people are a Chamic ethnic group mainly living in Khánh Hòa of Central Vietnam. They speak Roglai - a Malayo-Polynesian language. The word means 'forest' in their language. The Raglai's population was 146,613 in 2019.
Raglai community has many names, among which Rànglai, Ràglai, Ràdlai, Ráglai, Ràng-chák, Ràng-ngák. However, these are just negative ways of "mountainous people" but no other meanings. In the Nguyá» n dynasty's records, this community was once called as má»Âi Lá Vàng ("barbarians of yellow-leaf").
The Raglai people have lived in the high and rugged mountains in the west of Khánh Hòa, Ninh ThuáºÂn and Bình ThuáºÂn provinces, next to the Cham people in the South Central Coast plains for a very long time. The two groups of Cham and Raglai have had a deep relationship during their history. The thousand-year-old remaining proverb "Cam sa-ai Raglai adei" ("Cham oldest sister, Raglai youngest sister") proved their blood relations.
Previously, the Raglai community was only considered a part of the Cham people when considering the language, costumes and some customs. However, while the Cham people basically moved to the beliefs that banned idols and mascots, the Raglai over time returned to the habit of worshiping the "wooden statue" ancestors like the Central Highlands community. Since 1989, there were administrative documents and some efforts of cultural officials to go from review to the recognition of Raglai people entitled to ethnic minority regulations in 1997. Since then, Vietnamese media and entertainment have regularly read the name of this nation as Rắc-lây (in the Kinh language) or Raàk-lei (in the Rhade language).
Although Raglai people is still a small community, they have made great contributions to modern culture in Vietnam. The Raglai people have a rich musical tradition. The Raglai people use their own specific variants of ÃÂàn ÃÂá, Gong, ÃÂàn nhá»Â, Kèn bầu, ÃÂàn bầu instruments those named as PATàU TILẼNG, CHHAR / CHèNG, CANHè, CHAPI VILUAI respectively.