Research Abstract: Sudarshan Biswas
A study on integrated organic farming system at Ajaygarh
village in Ranchi district
Sudarshan
Biswas
The present
study was conducted at Ajaygarh village of Ranchi district of Jharkhand state.
The village is basically a tribal dominating village and which was surrounded
by the hills covered by dense forest. Poor economic condition, poor
infrastructural facility, poor communication system, migration, hunger, lack of
employment opportunity etc were the main challenges of this village.
The average
annual income of this village was about Rs 30,754. Agriculture was the main
occupation of this village besides animal rearing. In this condition Integrated
Organic Farming System (IOFS) has been appeared as a boon for economic
upliftment of the village. It ensured raising income about up to Rs 1,92,460
per annum. It provided year round work opportunity in the village which can
raise about 46% more additional employment opportunity and thereby checked the
migration problem in the village. A participatory adaptive trial on organic
farming responded significantly. IOFS was more practically beneficial
especially for the small and marginal farmers. As the cultivation practices
were eco-friendly and reasonable productive, thus it was more sustainable. As
cost of production was less due to recycling of waste materials coming from
different enterprises of Integrated Organic Farming System. In IOFS, if one
enterprise fails then it is subsequently protected by the other enterprises and
thereby it reduces the risk in the farm as a whole. Thus it was especially
beneficial for small and marginal farmers who are more susceptible to risk.
************************************************************************
Sudarshan Biswas. PhD Scholar, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda
University, Faculty Centre IRDM, Narendrapur, Kolkata-700103 Ex student,
Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Faculty Centre IRTDM, Morabadi,
Ranchi-834008
Email:
sudarshanbiswas@yahool.com
Farmers' Field: S. Chhandogi and R. Sarkar
Gandhiji‘s concept
of development is oriented to the uplift of the common man. He preferred
village habitats to megalopolises and Swadeshi craft to imported
technology for the economic wellbeing of the common man. He stressed the need
for cottage industries in place of gigantic industries and advocated for a
decentralized economy instead of a centralized one. He realized the need for
integrated rural development and believed that education, health and vocation
should be properly integrated. He emphasized the need for education and
training which he called ‗Naitalim‟ (New training) for rural
reconstruction.
This study aimed
to determine the bio-physical and socio-economic characteristics of the
community and to determine the Village development planning encourages the
participation of local people in analyzing their problems and opportunities,
and finding out solutions. This method contributes to village development by
improving capacity of local people and strengthening the roles of villagers;
promoting local participation and ensuring transparency and equity among
different community groups and contributing to efficient and effective use of
village resources. The village Mahuatongri comes under the forest tracts of Chotanagpur
plateau. In this village several ethnic groups are observed to be involved
in different professions besides the principle on agriculture.
The data of the
present survey helped identify several emerging issues related to
sustainable livelihood of Mahuatongri village. The issues are detailed below,
Land holding: Being
belonged to the marginal or small categories. They earn very little amount of
money from the agricultural sectors. It is interwoven with the problems of slow
adoption of new technology and land fragmentation.
Agro-economic
issues: Insects, Natural disasters and the lack of rain in the early
growing season has contributed to the downfall of production. Lack of
enthusiasm in vegetable production and absence of production employment source
have also been burning issues.
Health and
Education: Some critical diseases force the villagers to go to 50km for
Ranchi medical collage due to inadequate local facilities. Besides, lack of
training of immunization authority as well as unhygienic practice of the
villages is bigger problems. No permanent teacher at primary school in the
village.
Natural
Resources Management: The natural resources like timber, non-timber forest
products and fish have been over harvested and continue to deteriorate in a
steady rate. But there is no other way to get fuel for cooking. Public knowledge
about this is low.
Access to
Market: The villagers face problems with transport cost and time for
travelling from village to regulated market. Middleman fixes the price on most
produce and villagers have to sell on that.
Problems in
participation: Villagers are less motivated to participate in village based
activities. Even the leaders of village development committee do not
participate fully in other development programmes due to lack of social unity.
Lack of knowhow
about Govt. Schemes:In spite of different governmental schemes launched for
different sectors, most of the farmers don not have relevant informations.
Consequently, they can not get facilities from different govt. sponsored
programs. Migration: Due to fragmented land and less irrigation
facilities in summer season, many of the farmers migrate to the towns for
employment opportunities. Migration is also occurred for higher educational
opportunities too. Suggestive recommendations ustainable livelihood of
Mahuatongri village
Training of
Agricultural & allied sectors: Integrating agricultural training and
enterprise training can help farmers of Mahuatongri village to manage and
market their farm produce more effectively and to take advantage of new
agricultural opportunities. It is important mechanism to reducing
susceptibility to crisis and developing a more stable year-round income.
Successfully integrating farming development into the farmers‘ lives involved
an array of integrated approaches. So DivyayanKrishiVigyanKendra, Morabadi
provide vocational training for rural youth free of cost in different sector
like-Dairy, Poultry, Mushroom, Bee keeping, Vermi-compost and Agricultural
training. So it will be better for villagers to attached Divyayan KVK to
self-employment and livelihood development.
Ber and Palash
plants are in the village in a large amount. It has a great potential for lac
cultivation. The villagers can get easily assistance for lac cultivation from
Divyayan KVK and Lac Research Institute, Namkum.
Training of
Artisans: Aid to Artisans has the most comprehensive and relevant training
programs in the craft sector. These programs address the needs of artisans,
exporters, designers, organizational leaders, government officials and cultural
preservationists. So DivyayanKrishiVigyan Kendra, Morabadi get vocational
training for rural women like-food processing training, pickle making,
inscented stick (Dhup) making etc. free of cost.
Organization of
community‟s empowerment: Self-help groups and increasingly advice and train
members in a variety of on-farm and off-farm income-generating activities.
Through promoting self-help group, contributed to improving the overall status
of women in terms of income of livelihood status, empowerment of women, welfare
of society, etc. for better livelihood status of Mahuatongri village.
Women
Development: About 40.32% girls of this village who are literate have
expressed their desire to undergo training in Tailoring, in Nursing, and in
income generating schemes.
There are six SHG
in this village. For women such Self Help Groups may be formed for activities
like Dairy, Tailoring (Garment Manufacturing), Para Medical activities (for
ensuring safe maternity, safe delivery and infant health), Poultry, Pig
rearing, Consumer services (consumer stores, retail sale of stationery
articles, school uniforms, thrift and banking etc.) etc. Nearly all households
have the tradition of maintaining cows for milk consumption and sale in very
little quantity. Therefore women coming from weaker sections may be involved in
formulation of Self Help Groups for practising dairy activities. Women can form
Self-help Group for weaving under the auspices of Khadi and village Industries
Commission. As electricity is available in this village women can help generate
their income through this activity by getting trained with KVIC. Provision
of mela (village fairs): Annual kisanmela (agricultural
exhibition-cum-fair) imparting advance technologies, supplying inputs like
seeds, fertilizer, etc. Providing irrigation facilities and other
infrastructures, conducting farmers‘ exchange programmes, cultural
competitions, seminars and so on organised at village level under the guidance
of KVK.
Organization of
co-operatives and self-help movement: Co-operators think that all people,
every man, woman and child, anywhere in the world deserve a decent life.
Everybody has the right to a fair livelihood, adequate health, educational
opportunity and access to water and energy. So co–operative and self-help
movement are more important to Mahuatongri village. The awareness may be
created by VSS, KGVK, KVK or any govt. organization etc. Motivating the
villagers to collect the more non-timber product: To motivate the all
villagers to collect the more non timber forest product from forest. It will be
good for sustain their good livelihood status. The Mahuatongri village almost
bounded by the forest area and different non timber forest products are found
in this village. So the villagers have scope to development a small processing
industry. Encouragement of cottage industries and crafts as the main and
subsidiary occupations Encouragement of employment: In Mahuatongri village
some family are engaged in cottage and crafts industries. They collect the
different Non–Timber like wood for carpentry, Sal leaf for making plate.
Agriculture is the main occupation to villagers. But to encouragement of the
villagers to take the cottage industries like potato chef making and crafts as
the main and subsidiary occupations. As a result they improve their life style
pattern.
For setting up of
self-employment ventures & Development in rural areas implementing various
central as well as state Government Sponsored Schemes aimed to uplift poor educated
un-employed/under-employed people in rural/semi-urban/urban areas by providing
financial assistance to set up self-employment ventures with the help of
various government authorities/agencies.
The
Govt. of India has restructured the poverty alleviation programmes such as IRDP
(Integrated Rural Development Programme), DWACRA (Development of
Women and Children in Rural Areas), TRYSEM (Training of Rural Youth for
Self-Employment), PMEGP (Prime Minister‘s Employment Generation Programme),
SGSY (Swarnajayanti Gram SwarojgarYojana) etc.
Students' Board: Girija Shankar
Rural development in India
Girija Shankar,
ARTD,5th Semester
In India, since
the Independence, there has been a concerted effort to reconstruct the rural
India and the rural sector of the economy. Prior to this Tagore and Gandhi
suggested the development of the villages in their natural surroundings where
nature could best attract to the people with its beauty.
Gandhiji wanted
total transformation of villages by developing them from within into viable
units. Pt. Nehru tried to give practical shape to these ideas through
urbanization, industrialization and modern technical knowledge without breaking
up the old foundation of the country. As a result, several pilot projects were
initiated all over the country which were concerned with the problems of
housing, transport, communication, marketing and other infrastructural facilities
like irrigation, school and health, etc. A review of rural development
programmes and their strategies in India reveals that its concept has
substantially changed with the passage of time. For long rural development
meant "expansion, development and modernisation of agriculture" and
it was deemed to be synonymous for agricultural development. Perhaps this idea
was based on the as-sumption that agriculture is the prerequisite of rural way
of life. However, this concept changed with the Community Development Programme
launched in 1952, which aimed at transforming the traditional way of life for
rural communities and assisting people to improve their way of life to meet the
constitutional commitment of equity and justice. In real sense planned effort
to rural development was initiated with the launching of Community Development
Programme in the early fifties although programme was not very successful but
it had promoted the growth of a network of basic extension and development
services at the grass root level in village, thereby creating awareness in the
rural communities of the potential and means of development which made quicker
adoption of major technological advances later in the mid 60's in agriculture
possible.
The benefits that
accrued from these pro-grammes were felt more by the better placed farmers and
better endowed regions. This increased the regional disparities and the gap
between the rich and the poor. Hence, the need was felt acutely to direct the
development programmes towards the backward regions and towards the weaker
section of the society. The Fourth and Fifth Plans initiated a number of
programmes with a view to achieve economic equity and social justice. The Five
Year Plans also included following features aimed at rural development. These
are: (a) Clear cut agricultural development strata (b) Animal husbandry, dairy
and fishery development, (c) Forestry including development of social forestry,
(d) Agricultural research and education, (e) Co-operation and credit, (f) Rural
development and poverty alleviate (g) Irrigation, Commend area development
flood control, (h) Village and small industries, and (i) Employment, man power
planning and boor policy.
On
April 1, 1978 Integrated Rural Development Programme was introduced not only to
in grate all ongoing programmes pertaining to areas but to launch a rigorous
drive for eradicate rural poverty and providing economic benefits landless
labourers, marginal farmers and villa artisans. The major thrust of the Fifth
Five Year PI' (1980-85) was on strengthening the socio-concur infrastructure of
development in the rural are alleviating rural poverty and reducing regional
parities. The Ninth Five Year Plan has focused four important dimensions of
State Policy-quality of life, generation of productive employment, re gional
balances and self-reliance. With the multi- pronged approach adopted by the
Ministry of Rural Areas and Employment through a wide range of programmes it is
hoped that adequate productive employment will be generated to eradicate rural
poverty which would lead to significantly better living conditions, Rural
development, thus, implies both the economic betterment of people as well as
greater social transformation.
Culture: Dipankar Chatterjee
Birhor: A Primtive Tribal Group of Jharkhand
Dipankar
Chatterjee
Assistant
Professor, IRTDM, RKMVU
Introduction:
The
Birhor is one of the primitive tribal groups of the state of Jharkhand
distributed mainly in the districts of Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Gumla and
West Singhbhum. The term Birhor is a summation of Bir and Hor,
meaning jungle and man respectively, meaning ‘man of jungle’. In the
neighbouring Oriya-speaking region, they are popularly known as Mankiria or Mankidi meaning the people who are
in the habit of eating and rearing gari (monkey). The neighbouring
tribal people call them Jomsara referring to their habit of eating
monkeys (in Mundari, Jom means ‘to eat’ while Sara means
‘monkey’). They belong to proto-australoid racial stock. Linguistically, they
belong to Austro-Asiatic (Mundari) group.
They were found living only on the tops and spurs of the
hills, cultivating absolutely nothing. They lead a nomadic life moving in a
radius of 150 -200 kms. They used to move from one hill to another and one
place (village) to another in bands. They move in the jungle of Saranda and
adjoining jungle like Koenjhar jungle and Simlipal jungle in Orissa and other
parts of the Chotanagpur plateau. The distribution of the Birhor was along the
forest extension of Chotanagpur (Roy, 1925).
The Birhor settlement was known as Basa (Tanda). In each place they erected
temporary huts (Kumba) of conical
shape and were covered with leaves and branches. They again moved from that
place to a new place after few days carrying the materials on their heads and
their children on their shoulders. Their territories were fixed and never used
to enter into the area of the other Birhor group.
They used to be continuously on move from one hill to
another collecting forest products such as the Gungu Patta shrub to prepare ropes, honey, herbal medicines, gum,
bark of some trees used for making ropes or herbal medicines, mango, kusum, mohua flowers and fruits, roots and tubers of wild plants used us
vegetables etc. The mohua seeds are
used to extract oil for cooking, body massage, medicine for healing wounds. The
ropes were exchanged for the grains with local villagers and also used to beg
food from them. But now-a-days, they are
living in settled colony provided by the government in foothill of the forest
although still living exclusively on monkeys, birds, jungle roots, and herbs.
They also tame monkeys and teach them to dance, and making a living. The Birhor
economy presents a mixture of forest economy and partially labour, now a days.
The Birhors in a few villages have learnt the art of the agricultural
operations and work as agricultural labourer and also rear pigs, goat, and
poultry to supplement their economy.
At present, the government is doing a lot to settle them at
one place and have provided with built up one room accommodation. The voluntary
organizations such as Bharat Sevashram Sangha have also initiated projects to
rehabilitate them in permanent camps in different villages with built houses,
provide food grains, clothes, blankets, mosquito nets, free education, mid day
meals for the children, medical help as indoor as well as outdoor patients, all
free of cost, employment in the locally established handlooms, and so on. Even
the boys and girls were taken for higher education to places such as Sonari,
Tatanagar but the children do not stay there and return to their settlements.
The government agencies have also taken up many schemes for their upliftment
such as Indira Awas, goats and poultry, agricultural equipments such as spade (Gainta), including the pension for the
old about Rs.3000/- for six months, pension under the social security scheme
about 400/- per month for the men and women, also goats and chicken to rear and
supplement their economy. All the families hold the Antyodaya Card and get the
food grains such as rice (21kgs.), wheat (15kgs.) and Kerosene (1lt.) per month
per family at cheaper rates. But a few opine that whatever assistance they
receive from the government they sell and spend on local drinks. Many of them
start drinking from early morning.
Added to the above they do not have proper employment and
sources of income. Even the neighbouring communities do not employ them in
their agricultural fields or for any other labour as they are unaware of the
techniques, the art of work, and are lazy to do such works and do not cope up
to the satisfaction of their masters. They depend only on the forests and
collection of raw materials and hunting. Most of them think of today and not
tomorrow. The middle men purchase ropes from them at throw away prices and do
not get proper remuneration.
Family, Marriage and Kinship:
The
Birhor practice monogamous marriages. But in case of barrenness, widowhood,
bigamy and even trigamy is followed. Sororate and widow remarriages are
prevalent. They follow the rule of community endogamy and clan exogamy. The age
of marriage for boys is fourteen-fifteen years and for girls eleven- twelve
years of their age. Their customary
marriage is called ‘Sodor Bapla’, it is the parents of the bridegroom
who choose a life partner for their son and conduct negotiations through the
negotiator. There are other forms of marriage also.
Marriage rituals are performed by the priest of their
own caste usually headman (Munda) without reciting mantra and havan and
performed at the brides place. The parents of the boy or girl send rice applied
with turmeric powder to all relatives to invite them for marriage. Haldi mixed with and mustard oil is
applied to both bride and groom. Bride applies haldi to groom and groom in return to bride. The rituals are Chumad bandhan, sindoor lagana wherein
the bride is carried in a bamboo basket to the marriage pandal and the groom applies sindhur
on the forehead of the bride three times symbolizing the marriage. Haldi coloured rice is sprinkled on the
heads and both bride and groom by all relatives. All relatives and friends are
fed with rice and dal on the day of bidhai
of bride. Father of the bride is given dhoti,
kurta and gamocha. The mother of
the bride is given two saris, but not blouse.
Two sisters are permitted to marry two brothers. Divorce is not
permitted. Widow can remarry at young age. But if she has children she stays
back at home. Exchange of girls between two families permitted. Supari, gota, banana are offered to all relatives while inviting for
marriage. In their marriage ceremony only Birhor people assemble and no other
caste people visit them. Some Birhor
girls have married Ho boys. No extra marital or premarital relations are
permitted.
The Birhor follow the rule of patrilineal and
patriarchal in descent and succession. The Birhor women have almost equal roles
in the family and enjoy a better status. They have equal role in maintaining
the economy of the family, decision making in the marriage of their children,
rituals etc. They do all the domestic works including collection of firewood
from the forests, prepare ropes from the shrubs and help the men folk.
Economic
Life:
The
Birhor pursue a number of occupations of which making of rope and rope-made
products is the primary one. They make ropes out of the fibers of a particular
species of vine Lamah and Udal and they are specialized in this
profession. They prepare five varieties of ropes, namely Doga (collar
ropes for tying cattle), barahi-draw ropes for pulling water from wells,
and Jhal baber (a long rope having a number of lopes suspended from it)
for tying a number of cattle at a time for treading them over paddy harvest, Mukar-
a rope for the cattle’s decoration, and Jote, a kind of rope used in a
bullock cart. Beside, these they also prepare Topa, a kind of small
basket made of barks, for extracting oil
from oil seeds such as kusum, baru, and a few varieties of Shikwar,
a kind of rope-made net used by the potters for carrying earthen pots or by
other people for domestic purposes. They also collect bark from the “pocha”
tree for making incense. Making of ropes and rope-made products is based on
jungle resources is their primary occupation, hunting of wild games is
secondary and does not contribute much to their total economy. The Birhor hunt
by Jhali (nets) and hunting by net during rainy season is very
difficult, besides; hunting of wild games is uncertain and is met with frequent
failures. The Birhor themselves prepare the nets by means of barks. The raw
barks are first kept immersed in water for a few days. When the barks become
black in color they take them out from water and make strips out of them. Then
they make thin ropes and dried in sunlight and thick ropes are woven by these
ropes.
But
these days they are preparing the nets and most of the ropes from the plastic
sack strips but the demand is for the ropes barks one as they are long lasting
compared to plastic. The price offered to them is very low for the rope of
barks in comparison to their hard works right from the collection of barks from
the nearby jungle to the preparation of final products. They are struggling for
survival on this rope making business due to lack of raw materials in jungle in
recent decades after due to deforestation and government attempts to settle them into permanent villages. Hence in some
places they have switched on to the preparation of ropes by plastic threads
procured from the used plastic sacks.
They
also collect horns, bones, skins and other parts of rare wild dead and trapped
animals from jungles and sell them in the neighbouring market and villages for
magico-religious purposes. They lift the dead animals of village and skin them
and sell to Mochi. Earlier, they used
to sell honey after collecting from the jungle, but this business is no more
today due to its unavailability and deforestation. Some of them occasionally
work as mines laborer in the neighboring mines and building construction works
in nearby semi urban town and some work as agricultural laborer in few
villages. The Birhor also engage in fire wood selling in the nearby villages
and semi urban areas. Some of the Birhor women and men are also found to resort
to begging in the neighboring villages and markets.
Religion,
Beliefs and Practices:
The
Birhor believe in supernatural spirits. They worship and offer sacrifices to
these spirits from time to time and endeavor to keep them in good spirits.
These supernatural spirits are thought to play important role in their life and
activities. They think that the whole
universe is created and presided over by Sing Bonga -the sun god and his
wife Chado Bonga -the moon god. Their supreme deity is Sing Bonga and Dharati Maa is his consort.
These two deities are responsible for good health, harvest and happiness in the
Birhor society.
They also worship their household deities. The Munda is their priest as well as headman. He is
social, political, and religious head of the basa. He has an assistant
called dakua. They also believe
in witchcraft and diviners Ojhahs.
Birhors celebrate
the festivals, viz., Mokro-Parab in January; Phagun-the hunting
festival in February; Sarhul in March; Karam and Jitia in
September; Dasai and Sohrai in October, Singbonga, Sarana,
Mabonga and so on. They dance the Lujh’ri at the Karam and the Jittiya,
the Jarga at the Phagua and Sarhul, and the Sauntari
at other times (Oraon 1994). They also celebrate the local festivals of the
area like Maghe, Ba Parab and Buru Bonga.
During
any bonga, they smear the floor with
cow dung, they prepare three sun dried rice structures in the name of the
deities under the roof of house and offer them the sacrifice of the fowls and
goat during the bongas and black
chicken to get relief from the effects of witchcraft. The rice beer illi
is compulsory in any rituals people of the Birhor. They also worship their
ancestors and offer dhoti and saree.
Life Cycle Rituals:
The
birth is an enjoyable occasion for the couple, family, Basa and the
community. The marriage is successful when the couple is blessed with child.
Birth of child is celebrated as the family name, succession and lineage
continue from one generation to the next.
The birth takes place in the home and
never visits hospitals. Delivery takes place in a separate room. Mother is fed
in separate plate and cups for one week. The elderly woman of the community
functions as midwife. The navel is cut with bamboo knife. The placenta is
buried at an isolated place to avoid black magic and attack of malevolent
spirits. The woman is kept secluded and no body other than the attendant is
allowed to enter in the delivery room. A branch of thorny plant is placed at
the gate. Fire is burnt nearby the mother and the child, and a knife is placed
by the side of the mother to protect the mother and the child from the evil
spirits. Pollution (chattighar) is
observed for one week. Both mother and child are given bath after one week for
purification in river or stream. On this day, the room, and all utensils and
blankets are washed. The woman members of the community are invited to bless
the child and the mother. The mother and the child are brought before the deity
of the Basa to seek blessings. Bamboo pots represent them. All families
are invited and fed with rice, dal and local beer (illi).
The
name giving ceremony takes place after seven days but before a month. If the
child is born on Friday, is named as Shukra,
if Monday as Somara or Somwari for a girl, if born on Tuesday
as Managara for boy or Managari for a girl. The first feeding
ceremony for the child is held after the eruption of first tooth. Ear boring is
done at 2 to 3 years of age by a person of the low caste community named Sonar and he is paid a payment of one
paila (less than 1kg) of rice and Rs.10/- only. Hoyo (mundan) takes place in a year.
The Birhor believe that the old
persons die and become ancestral spirits. They join the abode of ancestors.
They incarnate time to time through birth. They believe that to change of old
body, birth and death at old age is essential. The death at the old age is
considered as good. But death during childhood and at young age is considered
bad because the soul and spirits of such persons remain dissatisfied and they
may have to lead a life of Bhuta-Preta and evil spirits. Such spirits
attack on women, children, bride and groom.
The Birhor bury their dead with head
to east and leg to west in lying position and pollution is observed for one
week. The death is mourned at family, lineage and clan level. On 7th
day the house, utensils and clothes are washed. Women take purificatory bath.
The male members shave head, mustache and beard and take purificatory bath. On
15th day all families bring one kg of rice and cook together and offer
food in the name of the deceased. The members of the community are given a
feast (Bhoj Bhandan).
Folk Life:
About
the creation of earth Birhors believe that ‘there was all water in the
beginning. In the water, an Upal (lotus) plant stood with its head above
the water. The supreme spirit ‘Singbonga’ was then in patal (the nether
region). He came up of the waters through the hollow of the stem of the lotus
plant to the surface. He took seat on the lotus flower, then commanded the Horo
(tortoise) to bring up some clay from underneath the water. The tortoise asked Singbonga, where (the shell) should I
leave my house? Singbonga told him to ‘take your house with you’. Then Tortoise
jumped into the water and took up some clay, and placed it on its back but the clay
was washed off the shell while coming up and the Tortoise failed to bring clay
from the underneath water. Now term is for the Katkom (crab) but he also
failed to bring some clay from the deep water. Then, Singbonga ordered to Lendad (leech) to bring some clay from
beneath the waters. The Leech swam down to the bottom of the ocean and devoured
its fill of clay and came up to Singbonga and vomited out the clay from its
stomach into the hand of Singbonga. Singbonga pressed the clay between his
hands and threw a bit of this clay in each of the four directions of the world.
And forthwith there arose on the surface of the waters a four sided land mass
and thus was formed this Earth. The Singbonga
began to level because the earth was moist and uneven with the karha
(leveler). Some unplanned lands became the hills and mountains. After that, He
scattered seeds around and trees and plants sprang up all over the earth. Then,
the Singbonga created mankind after
he created of animals through the clay figures.
Conclusion
The Birhor is an isolated ‘primitive’ hunting and gathering
tribe dependent exclusively on jungle produces in the earlier days. The Birhor
‘a primitive tribe group’ having specialized in hunting, gathering and
jungle-based crafts have developed an essential economic interaction with the
settled peasantry and operate like a ‘nomadic’ group within the broad framework
of the agrarian economic structure in rural India especially in Jharkhand and
Orissa. All these occupations were based on jungle resources and their
traditional knowledge of these resources. But, the Birhor have been quite
disrupted in recent decades due to deforestation and government attempts to
settle them in permanent colony or agricultural villages although, they are
still continuing their oral tradition from one generation to another with
salient changes in term of ceremonies or functions.
References:
Bhatt, S.C. 2002. The District
Gazetteer of Jharkhand. New Delhi: Gyan Publishing
House.
Oraon, P.C. 1994. Bihar ke
Birhor (In Hindi). Ranchi: B.T.W.R.I.
Roy, Sarat Chandra. 1925.
The Birhors: A Little-Known Jungle Tribe of Chota Nagpur.
Ranchi: Man in India
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