History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c9.10

Language: English

v1.c9.10.1

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.