The Kol people are a tribe in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, who migrated there from Chota Nagpur in central India around five centuries ago. Mostly landless and dependent on forest produce to make a living, they are Hindus and are designated a Scheduled Caste under India's system of positive discrimination. The tribe has several exogamous clans, including the Brahmin‚ Barawire, Bhil, Chero, Monasi, Rautia, Rojaboria‚ Rajput and Thakuria. They speak the Baghelkhandi dialect. Around 1 million live in Madhya Pradesh while another 5 lakh live in Uttar Pradesh.

Once spelled "Cole", the swaths of land they inhabited in the 19th-century were called "Colekan".