History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c9: Chapter II. Peoples, Castes and Languages
History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c9
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Chapter II. Peoples, Castes and Languages
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The population of the entire country is as varied as its topography. The majority of the people are Hindus, with the exception of the aboriginals, many of whom also are now approximating to the standard of the lowest class of Hindus of this province. Among the Hindus the principal caste is the Brāhmaṇa, and the different sects of Brāhmaṇas to be found in the three great divisions of the country are considerable. The highest class among these Brāhmaṇas are called Śasanī, i.e., those who had been honoured by past kings with grants of lands embodied in charters written on copper plates, e.g., Tāmra-śāsanas. There are many other sub-divisions of Brāhmaṇas, some of which have emigrated into the country from countries outside Orissa. The records of their immigration, as found in many instances in these charters, show that throughout the mediaeval period Brāhmaṇas continued to pour into Orissa from different parts of Northern India. The oldest of such charters is the Ganjam plate of the Gupta year 300, which records the donation of the village of Chhavalakhya in the Kṛṣṇagiri district (vishaya) to a Brāhmaṇa of the Bhāradvāja Gotra by the feudatory chief Mādhavaraja II. In many of these charters of Orissa, described in the following pages, we find records of the migration of Brāhmaṇas from the Middle Country or Madhya-deśa or Kauśāmbi, i.e., the ancient Vatsa country or the Southern part of the modern district of Allahabad and even Varendrī or Northern Bengal. It is impossible to agree with Mr. Hira Lal in thinking that *Madhya-deśa* in such cases is the border districts between South-western Bengal and Northern Orissa.¹ Whatever may be the traditional value of the word *Madhya-deśa* in modern Orissa, nobody can deny that up to the Musalman conquest of Northern India, *Madhya-deśa* meant the central portion of the United Provinces. It appears, therefore, that from the beginning of the mediaeval period a constant train of Brāhmaṇas flowed into Orissa, as they did into Bengal. Outside the limits of Orissa proper, the accounts of the different classes of Brāhmaṇas is exceedingly interesting. For example, in the district of Sambalpur the Brāhmaṇas are subdivided into six classes, among which the Utkala Brāhmaṇas are regarded as the highest, as they are the most recent emigrants from Orissa. Next to them are the Jhāruās or Āraṇyakas, who are looked down upon by the Utkalas but claim to be the earliest immigrants from Orissa, who cleared the forests of Sambalpur and became its earliest settlers. The third class, the Raghunāthiās, are taken to be converts from the local tribes who were given the rank of Brāhmaṇas by the eponymous hero-god Rāmachandra when he was wandering in these forests. The Bhimgiriyās belong to the same class but say that one Rāja Raghunāth Deva of Hindol granted a charter to them giving five villages close to Bhimgiri mountain. They are also called Pañcha-śāsanīs. The Raghunāthiyās and Bhimgiriyās are the lowest Brāhmaṇas in the Sambalpur district. The Hāluās and Sāruās are Brāhmaṇas but cultivators, who grow potatoes and arums. The Susārīs are apparently a branch of the Jhāruās, and the term means a cook or a superintendent of stores and provisions. These Brāhmaṇas have become totemistic. The Brāhmaṇas of the Bhāradvāja *Gotra* worship the Blue Jay (*Bharadvāja*), those of the Parāśara *Gotra* worship the ordinary pigeon or *Pārā*. These superstitions may indicate aboriginal descent and consequent totemistic influence. Such characteristics are very rarely met with among Brāhmaṇas in other parts of India.
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¹ *Epi. Ind. Vol. XVIII. p. 302.*
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The next important class may be called the *Rājanyas* in the absence of a better generic term. Most of the Indian chiefs and Zamindars now claim to be Kshatriyas or even Rajputs. In the majority of cases they are of mixed descent and their present rank or caste is due to their position. Thus the Gaṅgā-vamsa chiefs of the Bamra State are distinctly descended from the Eastern Gaṅgas, who claimed direct descent from the western Gaṅgas of Mysore. Intermarrying with them are a number of chiefs of Rajput descent calling themselves Rāthors and Pawars. Thus the Bhañja Rājās of Mayurbhañja informed the Government of Bengal in 1814 that they intermarry with the Rajas of Bissenpore, Kasurgur and Singbhum. Now the Rajas of Vishṇupur belong to the Nāgavaṁśi family, Kasurgadh claims Paramāra ancestry, while the Singbhum chiefs say that they belong to the Rathor clan.¹ The so-called Nāgavaṁśi is not a Rajput but a chief of aboriginal descent; such as the old chiefs of Bastar and the present chiefs of Khairagarh.²
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¹ *Twenty-five Questions Addressed to the Rajahs and Chiefs of the Regulation and Tributary Mehals by the Superintendent in 1914; reprinted Calcutta, Bengal Secretariat Book Depot, 1905, p. 13.*
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² *Chhattisgarh Feudatory States Gazetteer, Bombay, 1909, pp. 36, 112.*
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In the extreme south, the Zamindars of Vizianagram claim to be descended from a Rajput who came to the Vizagapatam district in 591 A. D., totally oblivious of the fact that the name Rajput had not come into existence before the twelfth or the thirteenth century A.D. The family tradition of the Chiefs of Vizianagram has preserved the name of one who is well known from epigraphical records. The records of this family mention one Mādhava as the Rajput who came from Northern India and founded this family in 591 A.D. A Chief named Mādhavavarman is known to have been ruling the Koṅgoda district or Central Orissa in 619 A.D., under Śaśāṅka of Gauḍa, the adversary of Harshavardhana of Northern India. It is more probable that this Mādhava of 591 A.D., of Vizianagram tradition, is the same as Mādhavarāja II of the Śailodbhava dynasty; yet the craze for Rajput descent is so strong among the chiefs of India, many of whom are descended from kings belonging to families which were regarded as very old at a time when the Rajput was a barbarian, that the Vizianagram chief still persists in claiming Rajput ancestry.
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A careful consideration of the data available at the present date would tend to prove that the majority of the chiefs of Kaliṅga or Modern Orissa and Teliṅgānā are of indigenous descent.
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In Northern Orissa a multitude of sub-castes follow the Rājanyas, and it is extremely difficult to locate them in any order of sequence; for example, in the Balasore district there were 2,10,000 Khaṇḍāits, forming about 20 per cent. of the population of this district. They are generally taken to be the descendants of the feudal militia of the Hindu Rājās of Orissa. But beyond this nothing is known of this caste and no attempt has ever been made to connect them with any of the three lower Varṇas of the original Indo-Aryan castes. The Khaṇḍāits form a very large percentage of the population of other districts of Orissa also. There are 3,75,000 Khaṇḍāits in Cuttack but very few in the Puri district. The distinction between the Khaṇḍāits and the cultivator class or Chasās (locally pronounced Tasā) is really very little. Both the Khaṇḍāit and the Tasā are at present cultivators. To the south of the Chilka Lake these castes disappear and their place is taken by others who are practically unknown in Northern Orissa. Among other castes of Northern Orissa must be mentioned the Gauṛas or milkmen and Goḷas or cultivators. The Gauṛas are to be found in the districts of Balasore, Cuttack, Puri and Ganjam. The writer caste, Bhoi or Karan, is very insignificant from the point of view of numbers, but they are to be found in the Bengal district of Midnapur also. The remaining castes of Cuttack are the Kāndrās and the Pāns who are also to be found in Balasore and Ganjam districts. The Pāns are an aboriginal race who at one time ruled over some part of Orissa. They are, at present, regarded as untouchables.
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South of the Chilka the Telugu speaking population is divided into two major heads, the Kapus or cultivators and the Kāliṅgis or the ancient people of Kaliṅga, a caste to be found in the Ganjam district only. In the Vizagapatam district the principal castes are Kapus, Velamas and the Telagas who are all cultivators and traders. Along the Eastern Ghats many castes are more or less named after the aboriginal tribes, such as the Khoṇḍs and Śavaras of the Puri, Ganjam and Vizagapatam districts. The majority of them live in the uncultivable hill tracts and speak some dialect of the Oṛiyā language even in the Vizagapatam district. The Western part of Northern Orissa, called Garhjats, contains a very large and varied aboriginal population, such as Bhuiyās, Binjhals, Bhumijes, Goṇḍs, Hos, Juangs, Khariās, Khoṇḍs, Koras, Oraons, Santals Śavaras and Sudhās. The languages spoken by them are either Muṇḍāri or the language of Santals, or Dravidian, such as the language of the Goṇḍs and Oraons, or Oṛiya, which is a sort of *lingua franca* among the hill tribes. The Bhuiyās are scattered among the hill States from Mayurbhañja in the north to Patna in the south. They live in the wild highlands of the inaccessible hill ranges, and are very strong in the Keunjhar State. They possess the right of installing the Chiefs, which is also claimed in the Bonai State. They have lost their original language and now speak Oṛiyā.
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Next to them are the Juāngs, who are perhaps the most primitive among the aboriginal castes of Orissa. They were very probably ousted from the valleys by the Bhuiyās and now live on steep hill-sides. They are supposed to have used "shouldered" stone axes only a few centuries ago and live in very small huts. They speak a Muṇḍāri dialect and are a very small race. The Juāngs are closely allied to the Khariās, another small tribe, living in the feudatory states of Orissa. According to tradition the Khariās and the Purāṇs of Mayurbhañja were produced like the Bhañja kings from the egg of a pea-fowl. It is stated that the Bhañja kings were produced from the yolk, the Purāṇs from the white and the Khariās from the shell of the egg. One of the most important aboriginal tribes of Orissa are the Khoṇḍs; they are very prominent from the State of Kālāhaṇḍi in the Central Garhjats to the extreme west of the Vizagapatam district. They also call themselves Kui or Koi. In Madras they are called Koṇḍs. They were formerly addicted to human sacrifices and infanticide. After the Kondhs or Khoṇḍs are the Śavaras or Sāorās. In the Aitareya Brāhmaṇa the Śavaras are regarded to be the descendants of the sons of Viśvāmitra, who were cursed by their father to become impure. The Rāmāyaṇa states that they were met by Rāma in Central India. A pious Śavara woman met him near some lake. The Śavaras are mentioned in the Śānti-parvan of the Mahābhārata as practising some wicked customs along with Dasyus.
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In the Purāṇas, the Śavaras are called Vindhya-maulikas. They are mentioned by Pliny as Suari and by Ptolemy as the Savarai. The chiefs of the Śavara tribes are mentioned in many historical records. In historical times they are mentioned in the Udayendiram plates of the 21st year of the reign of the Pallava king Nandivarman Pallavamalla who is said to have defeated the Śavara king Udayana and the Niṣāda chief Pṛthivī-vyāghra.¹ They are also known from the Sanskrit and Kanarese praśasti of the Western Gaṅga Chief Mārasimha II, who was a subordinate of the Rāṣṭrakūṭa king Kṛṣṇa III and placed Indra IV on the throne. This Praśasti, which is at Śravaṇa Belgoḷa in the Hasan district of the Mysore State, mentions that Mārasimha II (963-74 A. D.) defeated a Śavara Chief named Naraga.² They are mentioned in the Harṣacharita of Bāṇa-bhaṭṭa and the Gauḍa-vāho of Vākpatirāja. Their language belongs to the Muṇḍā or Kolian group and has been described with the dialects spoken by the Juāngs as Kherwari by Sir George Grierson.¹ The modern Śavaras show remarkable engineering skill in the construction of their fields on the hill-side and their houses. They are ruled by Bissoyis, (Sankrit Vishayin), who were originally feudatory chiefs. The Śavaras are divided into two main groups : (a) the hill Śavaras and (b) the Śavaras of the low country.
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Hill Śavaras are sub-divided into as many as six tribes : (i) Jāti or Māliyā Śavara, (ii) Ārisi or Lombo Lāñjiya, which means long tailed monkeys, :(iii) Luārā or Muli, who are workers in iron, (iv) Kiṇḍals or basket makers, (v) Kumbi or potters, (vi) Jādu, a little known tribe beyond Kollakoṭa and Puṭṭasingi. The Śavaras of the low country are divided into two tribes : (a) Kāpu or cultivators and (b) Suddho or good. The Kāpu Śavaras still retain many of the customs of the Hill Śavaras but the Suddhos have become Hindus and adopted the Oṛiyā language. The Śavara is as fair as the Oṛiya and therefore much fairer than the black Telugus of the plains. He is shorter than other hill people and distinctly Mongolian in features. Their Headmen are called Gomongo and Boya.² The Śavaras of the present day are widely known in Orissa and Madras as adepts in magic and witchcraft, and these are called Śavarī vidyā in Orissa. According to tradition the images originally enshrined in the temple of Purushottama at Puri were worshipped by Śavaras in the hill tracts of Orissa. Many people believe that a section of the Sevāyatas or servants of the temple of Purushottama originated from the Śavaras. But the term Suara or Suira can also be derived from Sūpakāra, “a cook.” In Bharata’s Nāṭya-śāstra the Śavaras are mentioned with the Oḍras and are stated to have been charcoal-burners. According to Mr. B. C.
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Mazumdar, “all the Kolarians are but branches of the Śavara people.”¹ In medieaval times the Śavaras have been driven out from Central India proper into the inhospitable regions along the crest of the Eastern Ghats. Mr. B. C. Mazumdar also supposes that the Binjhals of Sambalpur are descendant of Śavaras.
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¹ South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. I, p. 365. No. 74 ; Indian Antiquary Vol. VIII, 1879, pp. 275-76.
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² Epigraphia Indica, Vol. V, p. 176.
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¹ Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. IV, 1906, p. 209.
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² E. Thurston—Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Vol. VI, pp. 304-47.
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¹ The Aborigines of the Highlands of Central India, University of Calcutta, 1927, p. 13.
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The Bhuiyāns of Bihar and Orissa were pushed by the Hos to Northern Orissa. At present they stretch in a line from the State of Nilgiri to that of Gangpur. Mr. B. C. Mazumdar is inclined to connect the Bhuiyāns with the Bhumijes.² He is also inclined to think that the Bhañja kings of old epigraphic records “were not in those days far above the social influence of the Kols, because a princess of the Bhañja house once fell in love with a genuine Muṇḍa.”³ There are many instances of ladies of Indian royal families falling in love with their slaves or servants. If Kamalādevī of the Chālukya dynasty of Gujarat fell in love with her captor, Alāuddīn Muḥammad Shāh Khaljī, will it prove that the Baghelas were in the habit of inter-marrying with Musalmans? Such methods of argument are incomprehensible. Beyond the similarity in names there is no other similarity, not even of language, between the Bhuiyāns and Bhumijes and the idea of social intercourse between the Bhañja kings and the Muṇḍās is as absurd as such analytic and synthetic methods.
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² Ibid., p. 26.
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³ Ibid., p. 36.
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The Binjhals and Khoṇḍs inhabit the South-western parts of the Sambalpur district. They are also called Binjhwārs and their tradition prove that they have some remembrance of their migration to the east. The Binjhal chiefs of Borasambar still possess the right of affixing the royal mark or Ṭikā to the fore-head of each chief of Paṭna at the time of his coronation. They are fast becoming Hindus and the great majority of them are cultivators. Like all aboriginal people they eat almost anything except cows, crocodiles, lizards and jackals.
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The Gaṇḍās are an untouchable caste in the Sambalpur district, one section of which is called Pān, showing that they are of the same class as the Pāns or the Pānos of other districts. They eat beef and carrion. Among the aboriginal people the Goṇḍs are one of the principal tribes and they differ widely from the Kolian tribes in their language, which is Dravidian like those of the Orāons. They inhabit the Central Provinces chiefly, but are also to be found on the Eastern Ghats. They are of small stature and dark in colour. They are stoutly built but extremely ugly, as they have round heads, wide nostrils and mouths, thick lips, straight black hair and very scanty beards and moustaches. Goṇḍs are generally divided into two classes: (A) The Rāj Goṇḍs and (B) the ordinary Goṇḍs. The Rāj Goṇḍs are aristocrats and have become Hindus and wear the sacred thread. One family of Rāj Goṇḍ chiefs even became Musalman to save their kingdom. The ordinary Goṇḍs are called Dhut-Gonds or "Dust Gonds". They used to eat beef until recently.
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The Bhuiyāns live in the wild highlands of the inaccessible hill ranges of the State of Bonai, Pal Lahara, Keonjhar. The Bhuiyān is a short man with a round face, thick lips, narrow forehead and high cheek-bones. In colour they are tawny to light brown. They are divided into four sects or clans: The Māl or Desh, the Rājkulī, the Rāutāli and Pabana-añśa. Their villages are mostly situated at the foot of hills covered with wood and at the side of hill streams.
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All over Orissa there are numerous castes which cannot be connected with the castes of other districts, while some are common to all districts of Northern Orissa. The Gaurās and Telis are common but the Kulta or Kolita are the chief cultivating class of Sambalpur. According to their own tradition they immigrated from the State of Baudh and their ancestors were water-carriers in the household of Rāmachandra. The Kultas, Sudhs and Dumals will take food together at the time of festivals. The Kewats are fishermen and boatmen and are to be found in most of the districts of Northern Orissa. The Bankas are a small caste found principally in the Kalahāṇḍi State. They consist of people of all castes from the Brāhmaṇa to the Kumhār and even the Marāṭha and became mixed together in military service. They are still permitted to carry a sword or a big knife without a license inside the State. The Bhulia is weaver by caste, also known as Bholia, Bhoriya, Bholwa, Mihir and Meher. They talk Hindi among themselves and are supposed to have immigrated to Orissa with the first Chauhan Chief of the Patna State. The Dumals are a sub-caste of the Gaurā or Āhir, but they have no connection with them at present. The Ghāsis are a very low caste who are said to have immigrated from Mayurbhañja. They are more common in the Gangpur State. They act as sweepers and grass-cutters and will eat swine and cattle. They are taken to belong to the Kāruā sub-caste of the Hāris. The Hāris or Hāḍis are a caste common to Western Bengal and Northern Orissa. According to their tradition, they were created after the four Varṇas by Brahmā from the dust of his arm. The Karans or Mahāntis of Orissa are said to correspond to the Kāyasthas of Bengal or the United Provinces. They are a fairly industrious and influential caste in Orissa. The Paiks of Orissa are the descendants of the ancient feudal militia of Orissa who were disbanded after the British conquest. They are generally regarded as being equal to the Chasā in social rank. They contain people of all castes, including Kindras, Pāns, Bāuris, Khoṇḍs and even Musalmans and Telugus. They were originally paid from Chākṛan or service-land. The Sudhās are another military caste who were formerly musketeers and therefore worship the gun. They are divided into four sub-castes : (1) the Barā or High Sudhās, (2) the Dehri or worshippers, (3) the Kabāṭkoniās or those holding the corners of the gate and (4) Butkā or forest Sudhās. According to their tradition they were descended from Ghaṭotkacha, the son of Bhīma and the she-demon Hiḍimbā. The Sansis are a caste of masons and navvies. They are really a branch of the great migratory Uḍ or Oḍḍe caste, who are weight-carriers all over India and are also found in Sindh. They enjoy a high position and are usually stone-workers and tank-diggers in Orissa. In the plains districts of Puri and Cuttack there are a few low castes who are either aboriginals or immigrants. The Malangis are salt manufacturers and live on sea-fish and a little rice they grow during the rains. The Nuḷiās or sea-fishermen of Puri speak Telugu and are recent immigrants from the South.
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Prehistoric Site at Mayurbhanj
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In the Vizagapatam district, a peculiar caste is the Golla, a pastoral caste like the Gauṛās of Northern Orissa. They are said to be descended from Kṛiṣhṇa himself and their social status is fairly high. They are distributed all over the Telugu country and contain many different sub-divisions. They are Vaishṇavas and Śaivas, but eat meat. The Gavaras are cultivators of this district and are seldom to be found anywhere else. They state that they have migrated from Veṅgī. They speak Telugu and are either Vaishṇavas or Śaivas. The Vaishṇavas are burnt and pay special reverence to Purushottama or Jagannātha of Puri. The Śaivas are buried in a sitting posture. The Yātās are toddy-drawers, corresponding to the Pāsis of Bihar and the United Provinces. They are to be found in the districts of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. They are a criminal tribe and speak Telugu. Their headmen are called Kulampedda.