Indische Palaographie von circa 350 a. Chr. – circa 1300 p. Chr. c48.s6.6.1

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.