Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.6
Indische Paläographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.6
- Language
- German
c48.s6.6.1
In regard to the latter, it must be noted that the generic designation of Kōl is not returned as the title of a tribe except in the Central Provinces, Central India, and the south of the Ganges valley. Towards the east of the tract in question, the terms used are Hō, Muṇḍā and Bhūmij. Of these, Hō is held to mean Man, the name given to themselves by most primitive tribes. Kōl is probably derived from Hō by transliteration. Muṇḍā and Bhūmij are terms of Sanskrit origin, the former meaning a headman of a village, also a common appellation for the lower races in India, and in this case adopted by the tribe itself. Bhūmij, in the same way, implies connection with the soil, and connotes in most cases in which it is applied the clearers of the village-site. In various forms it is found from Gujarāt to Assam. Occasionally it means the hereditary landholders of the village; elsewhere, the menials and guardians of the boundaries. In the form of Bhūinyā, in Bengal, it is both a generic title, covering a considerable number of castes of different standing and origin, and also the name of a loose and scattered tribe in the south-eastern part of the Belt. The tribe to which the name of Bhūmij is now given is a branch of the Muṇḍā which has spread from the central home of the race to the eastwards, and now lives in western Bengal and the districts of Mān国土and Singhbhūm.
c48.s6.6.2
The community is almost entirely Brāhmanised, except in the tracts immediately adjoining the plateau, where the Muṇḍā language is still current, and the people intermarry with the Muṇḍā of the uplands, and often call themselves by their name. As the tribe advanced into the plain all this was changed. The tribal worship was abandoned by the landholding class in favour of Brāhmanism of a somewhat strict type, and the Āryan vernacular of the district is used by them. In the wealthier families the practice is growing of calling themselves Rājputs and dropping their ancestral connection altogether. The less advanced adhere to their tribal gods and employ their own Lāya, or priests, on all occasions. The Muṇḍā are subdivided into numerous tribes, the names of most of which prove an origin from intermarriage with other tribes of the vicinity. These, again, are further parcelled out respectively into totemistic sections, of course exogamous, and with interesting rules as to prohibited food. The chief object of worship is the Sun, as is the case with most of the larger tribes of this tract, but a more efficient and active deity is found in the Mountain god, again a not uncommon feature of the Kōl race. The priests, or Pāhan, are members of the tribe. The Hō, sometimes called the Larkha Kōl, are probably the oldest, as they are the highest, of the three cognate tribes.
c48.s6.6.3
The Santāl, Bhūmij and the Muṇḍā call themselves Hō, but no one else does, and intermarriage between them and the Hō of Singbhūm is now unusual. The latter are of Cūtiā Nāgpur, like the others, but having got possession of a more fertile region, they have taken the greatest care to prevent strangers from sharing the land with them. Physically, they are the finest of the race, and have become a steady agricultural community of a somewhat undeveloped type. The tribes returning themselves as Kōl are found for the most part in the Mirzāpur district along the Ganges, in Jabalpur and Māndla in the Central Provinces, and in the Baghelkhaṇḍ tract of Central India. They have the tradition of having once lived in the plains of south Bihār from which they were expelled by Savara of some sort, and had to take refuge in Baghelkhaṇḍ. In all the above tracts the tribe is comparatively Brāhmanised and has lost much of the organisation and worship it has retained in Cūtiā Nāgpur, where the Kōl is a branch of the Muṇḍā. Here they live after the fashion of their ancestors, but in the rest of their settlements they have taken to simple cultivation on the ordinary lines, and differ but little from their Brāhmanic neighbours except in more extended respect for sorcery, and in the propitiation of the local gods in preference to those of wider fame.
c48.s6.6.4
One of the most civilised tribes of this group is the Kharvār, to which belong more than one of the local Chiefs who have been accepted as equals by Rājputs, on payment, however, of unusually heavy dowries. The Kharvār appear to be without traditions of immigration from further than the south east of the Cutiā Nāgpur table-land, from which they spread northwards and down into south Bihār. Here their rank seems to depend much upon their connection with the land. Those who hold large estates claim to be Rājputs, and the middle classes employ S'akadvīpī Brāhmans and retain only the more important of their tribal ceremonies. Even amongst these classes the influence of the Baigā, or tribal priest, is by no means extinct. Indeed, the reputation of the tribe for supernatural powers is such that a section bears the name of Baigā, and is so returned in the Central Provinces and Baghelkhaṇḍ, from which it may be inferred that the Kharvār is regarded by its neighbours in that direction as being of an older stock than themselves. On the other hand, sections of the Kharvār now employ a priest of the Korvā, or even a lower tribe. The respect shown by the Kharvār for the Khar grass, which they say they take their name, seems to indicate that they were once a totemistic branch of a larger community, but no traces of this have been ascertained, and the tribe holds itself to be superior to all around it, except, perhaps the Cēru.
c48.s6.6.5
The latter are even more thoroughly Brāhmanised than the Kharvār, and have the same tradition of having been ousted from dominion in the south of Bihār. They were the last to leave the plain for the plateau, and are accepted as an orthodox Brāhmanic caste. A small section, however, in the interior, still keeps to the jungle and breeds tussar moths, for doing which they are deemed impure by their relatives. Long periods of settled life, combined with frequent intermarriage with high class families of Rājputs and others, have in fact made the larger body of the Cēru a different and distinct community, claiming the name of Cōhān-bansi. The totemistic subdivisions of their poor relations, however, prove their connection with both the general Muṇḍā race and perhaps more especially, with the Khariā. These last say they came up to Mānbhūm and Rānci from the Orissa State of Mayurbhanj. One branch took to cultivation and settled life, whilst those in Mānbhūm remain amongst the most shy and uncivilised of their kind. The former affect the highest regard for purity in diet, and greatly restrict their intercourse with outsiders, a habit which is sometimes unkindly attributed to their own filth and disregard of social decency. They intermarry with the Muṇḍā on unequal terms, the larger tribe taking brides from them but giving none in return. The Khariā keep to their own worship, using Muṇḍā or Orāon priests.
c48.s6.6.6
The jungle section live on the produce of the forest with a little simple cultivation of the migratory sort. When any stranger settles within sight, they move off, a tendency welcomed by their neighbours, who regard them as the possessors of exceptional powers of magic, available against both man and beast. The largest of the Kōl communities is the Santāl, who call themselves, like the Muṇḍā, by a term signifying Headman of a village (Mānjhi). The tribe is not autochthonous in its present locality, though their immigration does not seem to have been from a greater distance than the south-east of the Cūtiā Nāgpur plateau. From thence they spread eastwards and northwards in succession, and peopled the Santāl Parganās about the middle of the 19th century. This eastward movement is still in progress, and the Sant marrying off their girls at a very early age. This practice is common enough amongst the aspiring families of the lower classes, but the remarkable feature in the new departure among the Santāls is that after a few years’ trial the practice was abandoned and the tribal custom of marriage in the teens was resumed.
c48.s6.6.7
There have been a good many converts to Christianity from the tribe of late years, and, indeed, most of the information available about the language and religion of the tribe is derived from Danish and other Missionaries working amongst them: In their own worship and in the periodical great sacrifices the Santāl relies upon the Naiki, or priest of his own community. Akin to the Santāl is a small tribe called Māhilī, which, judging from the names of its subdivisions, must have split off from the main body on taking to work, such as carrying loads and making baskets, deemed degrading by the Santāl. It seems, too, that the Muṇḍā contributed a section to the Māhilī. The latter are now found chiefly in Mānbhūm and the Rānci district of the plateau, with a few scattered amongst their kinsfolk elsewhere. Their religion has been described as a mixture of “Animism half-forgotten and Brāhmanism half-understood”. Sacrifices are offered to the god of the mountain and to the snake and then consumed by those who make the offering. One subdivision only has advanced well into the religion of the plains, and employs Brāhmans and abjures the food dear to the rest. The Binjhiā and Birjiā have usually been considered to be one tribe, but at the last Census it was considered better to tabulate them separately.
c48.s6.6.8
This course appears to have been correct, as the larger community of the Binjhiā is a Brāhmanised cultivating caste, speaking Oṛiyā, and settled in the south of the Ranci district, whilst the Birjiā are residents of the uncleared forest, where they live from hand to mouth by the cultivation of small patches, eked out by hunting wild animals and collecting fruit etc. They are held to belong to the Ägariā, or iron-smelting tribe whose customs they follow. The Juāng, or Patuā, are perhaps the most primitive of all their group. They inhabit the recesses of the Orissa hills, and it is remarkable to find the caste amongst the indentured labourers in Assam. Both language and customs indicate their close relationship with the Khariā and Muṇḍā. They worship the forest and village gods, but are said to be acquiring some appreciation of Brāhmanic deities. They keep village priests, but the important offices are performed by the elders of the tribe. The latter, probably because it is so small, is not subdivided, but forms a single endogamous community. The practice of clothing themselves with leaves, which has been picturesquely described by Dalton and other visitors to their haunts, is said to be yielding to the taste for cotton wrappers, even amongst the women, who have hitherto alleged divine warrant for the leaf-apron.