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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