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Bhumij people

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Bhumij
Total population
c. 1 million[a](2011, est.)
Regions with significant populations
India,Bangladesh
West Bengal376,296[2]
Odisha283,909[2]
Jharkhand209,448[2]
Bihar1,567[3]
Assam72,003 (1951,est.)[4]
Tripura755 (1951,est.)[5]
Bangladesh9,664 (2021)[6]
Languages
Mundari•Bhumij•Regional languages
Religion
Hinduism•Sarnaism
Related ethnic groups
Munda•Kol•Ho•Santal

Bhumij(also transliterated as Bhumuj, Bhumija) is aMundaethnic groupof India. They primarily live in theIndianstatesofWest Bengal,Odisha,Assam andJharkhand,mostly in the oldSinghbhum districtand also in states like Bihar and Assam. There is also a sizeable population found inBangladesh.Bhumijas speak theBhumij language,anAustroasiatic language,and useOl Onalscript for writing.[7]

Overview[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Bhumij means "one who is born from the soil" and it is derived from wordbhūmi(a land or soil).[8]According to N. Ramaswani, the word is etymologicallyBhūm-jomeaning "people originating from Bhum areas, i.e.Singhbhum,Dhalbhum,Manbhum,Barabhum,etc. ",Daltonalso had claimed that Bhumijs were the original inhabitants ofDhalbhum,Barabhum,PatkumandBaghmundi.[9]

Social structure[edit]

The social structure of the Bhumijas is characterized by its dynamism, incorporating both tribal traits inherited from their parent tribe, theMunda,and elements from caste-based society. During the colonial period, they were often labeled as Hinduized or semi-Hinduized tribes, and sometimes even identified as a distinct caste. In modern times, the Bhumij form part of the tribe-caste continuum society. Their society is characterised by nuclear family, patriliny, exogamy and hereditary headship of the village community. They follow Hindu practices of succession and inheritance. The Bhumijs are divided into several geographical endogamous groups based on ancestral territory and occupation, such asTamaliya,Na-gadi, Astha, Choto Asthain Jharkhand;Barah Bhuiyan,Deshua,Haldi Pukhria,TamadiaSikharia, Tharuain Odisha;Borabhui,Mura, Mura bhumij,Chaibasamura, Khanga mura, Kumpat mura, Manki bhumijin Assam;Bara, Bhoogol, Bhuiya, Kada kata, Manki, Nag,Patkumia,Singin Tripura. In Mayurbhanj, segmentary Bhumija group areTamariaBhumij, Tamudia(this subgroup earlier notified as aSchedule Casteof Odisha[10]),HaldipukuriaBhumij,TeliBhumij, Desi or Dehuri Bhumij,Barah Bhuiyan BhumijandKolBhumij.[8]In PuruliaTamaria Bhumij,Sikharbhumi Bhumij.[11]Which are generally indicated their ancestral territory and profession. Each group forms an exogamous group of its own and do not intermarry. Each one of these groups consists of a number of exogamous sub-groups called "kili ",the names of which are chosen from diverse sources representing fauna and flora, heavenly bodies, earth, etc.

Clan Totem Clan Totem
Salrisi sal fish Hansda wild goose
Leng mushroom Sandilya a bird
Hemron betel palm Tumarung pumpkin
Nag snake

A Bhumij refrains from injuring anything represented by the name of the group. But there are no elaborate rituals in honour of clan totems. It may be that the exogamous groups were totemic, but with the progress of time and contact with their Hindu neighbours, the totemic system has turned into prohibitive marriage rules. Besides, lately they have developed a local grouping called the thaks, named after villages. Each of these thaks is also exogamous in the sense that a member of one thak cannot marry a member of the same village even if he or she belongs to a different sept. The rule of exogamy is so strict that a man may not marry a woman of his own sept, nor a woman who comes within the standard formula for reckoning prohibited degrees, calculated to three generations in the descending line, but sometimes extended to five wherebhaiyadior mutual recognition of kinship has been maintained between the families.[12]

Genetics[edit]

According to genetic study conducted on Bhumij population on 2010, it was found that their 70% Y Haplogroups belongs toO2a-M95found among population ofSoutheast AsiaandAustro-Asiatic languagespeaker and rest belongs to Haplogroups found in India. Their mitrocondrial Haplogroups belongsHaplogroup M (mtDNA)found in Indian subcontinent.[13][better source needed]

Geographic distribution[edit]

Distribution of Bhumij people, 2011 census

The Bhumijs are primarily inhabitants ofJharkhand,West Bengal,Odisha,Assam,andBihar.Specifically they are thickly concentrated inEast Singhbhum,Saraikela kharsawandistrict of Jharkhand;Purulia,Bankura,Midnaporeand24 Parganasdistrict ofWest Bengal;Mayurbhanj,Sundargarh,Keonjhar,andBalasoredistrict ofOdishaand sporadically distributed in other parts those states. InAssam,where they are very recent immigrants, their greatest concentration occurs in theAssam valley.Bhumijs are also found sporadically inChhattisgarh,Tripura,Arunachal Pradesh,Andaman and Nicobar,Meghalaya,Manipur,Delhi,Maharashtra,Andhra PradeshandMadhya Pradesh.

InBangladesh,the Bhumij people came to theSylhet regionfromBiharas tea-labourers. They can be found inSrimangalwith a population of 3000. The Bhumijs lives inSylhet,Rajshahi,Khulna,Srimangal,DhakaandChittagongregions. They are divided into many clans (killi) such as Kaitra, Garur, Kasim, Bhugal, Baundra, Ban, Nag, Shona, Shar, Tresha, etc. Their Bhumij dialect is less and less spoken and Bengali is more widely spoken among the community.[14][15]

History[edit]

Bhumij means "one who is born from the soil".[16]Herbert Hope Risleynoted in 1890 that the Bhumij inhabit that tract of the country which lies on both sides of theSubarnarekha River.He claimed the eastern branch of Bhumij lost their connection with their original language and spoke Bengali. According to him, they were a group ofMundawho moved east and lost connection with other Mundas, and later adopted Hindu customs when non-tribals arrived in the area.[12]

While those living nearer toChota Nagpur Plateaustill retain linguistic links with Mundari, those living further east have adopted Bengali as their language. InDhalbhumthey are completely Hinduized. During British rule, or sometimes even earlier, many of the Bhumij becamezamindarsand some even secured the title ofRaja.Others were calledSardar.However, all of them, having climbed the social ladder, proclaimed themselves to beKshatriyas,in keeping with the trends in the region.[17]

Rebellions[edit]

An account by ColonelDaltonclaimed they were known as robbers (chuars), and their various rebellions were calledchuaris.[18]The people in the surrounding areas were quite scared of them. The well knownChuar revolt,a series ofpeasant rebellionsstarted between 1766 and 1816 by the inhabitants of the countryside surrounding the West Bengali settlements ofMidnapore,BankuraandManbhumagainst the rule of theEast India Company(EIC).[19]The rebels rose in revolt due to the exploitative land revenue policies of the EIC, which threatened their economic livelihoods. According to L.S.S. O’Malley, an EIC administrator who wrote the Bengal District Gazetteer, "In March 1766 Government resolved to send an expedition into the country west and north-west of Midnapore in order to coerce them into paying revenue, and to capture and demolish as many of their strongholds as possible." Amongst the many dispossessed Bhumijzamindars,those who lent support to the rebels included royalty such as Jagannath Singh ofDhalbhum,Durjan SinghofRaipur,Baidyanath Singh ofDhalbhum,Mangal Singh ofPanchet,Lakshman Singh ofBarabhum,Raghunath Singh ofDhalbhum,Ganga NarayanofBarabhum,Rani ShiromaniofKarnagarh,Raja Madhu Singh ofManbhum,Subal Singh of Kuilapal, Shyam Ganjam Singh of Dhadka, Raja Mohan Singh of Juriah, Lakshman Singh of Dulma, Sunder Narayan Singh and Fateh Singh.[20]In 1798, when thePuncheetestate was sold to pay taxes required of it by theEast India Company,the Bhumij led a revolt against the British.

TheBhumij revoltof 1832 is quite well-known. In this case, there was a disputed succession over the crown. The court decided the eldest son of the king, the son of the second wife instead of the son of the first wife (patrani), to be the king. Lakshman Narayan Singh, the son of the patrani, opposed his brother, was arrested and died in jail. A younger son of thepatrani,Madabh Singh, was appointed diwan but became widely detested as a cheat who abused his position. Therefore,Ganga Narayan Singh(Lakshman's son) attacked Madabh Singh and killed him, and afterwards led a general uprising. The Britishers were forced to send in troops to quell the revolt, and pushed him into the hills. Ganga Narayan fled toSinghbum,where he was asked by the Lakras to prove his loyalty if they would join his cause. Their condition was for him to attack a fort ofKharsawanruled by a Thakur that claimed supremacy over the area. During the siege, Ganga Narayan was killed, and his head was set to the Britishers by the Thakur.[12]

Culture[edit]

The Bhumijs ofManbhumclaim that their original occupation was military service. Subsequently, agriculture was taken as the sole activity by all the tribes, except the iron-smelting Shelo. A few were engaged in petty trade, and some immigrated to the tea districts of Assam. In Jharkhand and Bihar, the Bhumij even today depend upon agriculture, fishing, hunting and forest produces. Thus, the Bhumijs who are mainly agriculturists also hunt and trap birds and animals in the jungles, and the landless among them work as labourers. Various seasonally available forest products are a subsidiary source of income for them. Marginal income from wage labour, minor non-forest products and animal husbandry are the main source of livelihood for the rural Bhumij.[12]

Rice is their staple food and is consumed throughout the year. They are non-vegetarians, but do not eat pork or beef. The Bhumijs also eat white-ants (termites) and insects. Drinks like rice beer and toddy are commonly consumed by them. Mahua liquor is used sumptuously during feasts and festivals.

As regards dress and ornaments, they follow their Hindu neighbours. Children of both the sexes go naked till the age of four or five years and after which they wear a towel or trouser till adolescence. The male dress consists of a shirt, a dhoti or lungi, and a towel. The women wear sari and blouse. Young girls are fond of ornaments such as nose-rings, earrings, bead necklaces, armlets and bangles made of brass. They put on flowers in their hair.[12]

In the early 1900s, no Bhumij followed child marriage unless they were from the more Sanskritized wealthy families. Brides would be given for an amount ranging from Rs 3 to Rs 12 (in the early 20th century). Usually the wedding would be at the bride's house, where a square space, called amarwa,would be created in a courtyard by dabbing it with rice-water. In the centermahuaandsidhabranches would be placed, bound with cowries and 5 pieces of turmeric. At the ends of the square were placed 4 earthen water-vessels, each half-filled with pulses and covered with a lamp. The pots were connected with a cotton thread marking the boundary of themarwa.On the bridegroom's arrival, he would be led to themarwaand sit on a board called apira.The bride would then sit on his left-hand side, and a short introduction would be delivered by relatives. A priest, would chant mantras, then the bride would light and blow out the lamps at the corners of themarwa5 or 7 times, depending on the custom. The bride would then be "given" to the groom, and the priest would then join the couple's right hands. Finally, the groom appliedkumkumto the bride's forehead and tied a knot that would remain intact for 3–10 days, after which they would rub themselves with turmeric, bathe, and untie the knot.[12]

Sex before marriage was not considered taboo, but it was understood that if the girl became pregnant she would marry the father of the child. The Bhumij recognise polygyny, barrenness of first wife is the main reason. Polyandry is unknown. Widows are allowed to remarry according to the sanga ritual in which all the ceremonies of a regular marriage are not performed. Remarriage often takes place between widowers and widows, though bachelors are not barred from such a union. However, in case of woman, levirate applies mainly to widows. In case of widow-marriage also, bride-price of lesser amount is given. Divorce is also allowed among the Bhumijs in extreme cases of adultery, and the divorced women may remarry according to the sanga rite. However, a woman has no right to divorce her husband, and if she is neglected or ill-treated, only remedy available to her is to run away with another man. Adultery within the community is generally condoned with a fine but adultery with a member of another tribe results in ostracization.[12]

At birth, a woman is attended by a midwife of the Ghasi community, and the umbilical cord is severed by her, and after birth it is put in a hole dug outside the hut. Birth-related pollution varies from 8 to 10 days, during which mother remains in the lying-in-room. After it, aHinduwasherman and barber are engaged to clean the clothes and shave and pare the nails. This is followed by naming ceremony.

After death, the rich section of the Bhumijs generally cremates the bodies of adults, and the poor ones bury them due to cost of firewood. However, the children of both rich and poor are buried. The practice of burial or cremation and observance of death pollution vary a little from place to place. But mourning takes place generally for ten days after which the cleaning and shaving rituals are performed, followed by certain rituals and feast marks the last part of death rituals. At times even the charred bones are kept in an earthen pot and carried to the ancestral clan ossuary for burial.[12]

They also practice the martial art calledFirkal,although it has been reduced to a single village among the Bhumij who perform it.[21]

Firkal slowly decaying martial dance of ChotaNagpur of Jharkhand

Language[edit]

Main article:Bhumij language

Mother tongue of Bhumij people in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand (2011 census)[22]

Bengali(58.1%)
Odia(17.6%)
Mundari(12.5%)
Bhumijali[b](3.6%)
Santali(1.8%)
Sadri(1.3%)
Ho(1.3%)
Munda(1%)
Bhumij(1%)
Other (1.8%)

Bhumij is the language of the Munda subfamily of theAustroasiatic languages,related to Ho, Mundari and Santali, spoken mainly in the Indian statesJharkhand,OdishaandWest Bengal.According to the 2011 census, the Bhumij people total 869,653 in those three Scheduled States.[22]Among them, 58.1% speak Bengali, 17.6% speak Odia, 12.5% speak Mundari, 3.6% speak Bhumijali, 1.8% speak Santali, 1.3% speak Sadri, 1.3% speak Ho, 1% Munda, 1% Bhumij and 3.8% speak other local languages.[22]Bhumij living in other states and neighboring country Bangladesh primarily speak Bengali and Sadri. Across India, 27,506 people speak Bhumij as their mother tongue, with 24,164 (87.84%) from those three states. Within this group, 36.9% are spoken by the Bhumij tribe itself, 12.8% by other Scheduled Tribes, and the remaining 43.4% by Scheduled Castes, Other Backward Castes, and Non-Scheduled Communities.[22]However, it is claimed that Bhumij language spoken by around 100,000 people in India.[23]

In January 2019, Bhumij was accorded the status of second language in the state ofJharkhand.[24]

Religion and festivals[edit]

The Bhumijs revere the sun under the name ofSing BongaandDharam,both considered to be their supreme deities. They worship Jahuburu in the sacred grove of the village at theSarhulfestival in Baisakh (April–May) and Phalgun (February–March). Karakata, a female deity, responsible for rains and bumper crops, Baghut or Bagh-Bhut, a male deity, responsible to ward off the animals and protect the crops in Kartik (October–November), Gram-Deota and Deoshali, the village deities to ward off sickness and watch over supply of water for drinking and irrigation in Ashadh (July–August), Buru, a mountain deity, for general prosperity in Magh, Panchbahini and Baradela, local deities of Bankura Bhumijs, etc., are worshipped by the Bhumijs.Manasa,a deity, presiding over snakes, is worshipped in Shravana (July–August) for two or three days in the courtyards of Seraikela Bhumijs. The Bhumijs also worship Paori, a female deity, in Jaistha (May–June) and again in Asadh (June–July) for timely rains and general welfare of the village.Asadhipuja is performed before ploughing and transplanting of paddy seedlings. They worship Jaharburi in Chaitra (March–April), associated with the better flowering of thesaltree and also better shooting out of sal leaves. Atra, a Goddess, for protection from smallpox is worshipped. Dhulla Puja is held in Baisakh (April–May) for the wellbeing of the village.Vadhna Parabis held on the day of the new moon in Kartik (October–November) before reaping, and Nua-Khia, the new rice-eating ceremony. The Bhumijs also celebrateKaramfestival in Bhadra (August – September) for prosperity of the village. An unmarried male goes to the jungle and brings a branch of the Karam tree and plants near the house of the Dehuri or at any particular place meant for it. After a long spell of dance and music throughout the night, they immerse it in water on the next day.[12]

The community priest, variously known as Laya, Naya or Dehuri, is from their own tribe rather than a Brahmin, and he solely conducts all the rituals and ceremonies for all deities. As theNayais a communal servant of the village, all its inhabitants have equal claims on his services. For his services he receives a few plots of rent-free land and the heads of sacrificed animals in the communal religious rites. For this, in addition to performance of religious rituals, he makes certain sacrifices like avoiding certain food and observing fast on certain occasions. The office of Naya is generally hereditary. The whole community gets involved in any social or religious celebration. People dance to the tune of amadal(drum) and sing religious and romantic songs depending on the occasion. Community feast and intoxicating drinks provide the Bhumijs the desired amusement. The institutions of soya and phul among the Bhumijs of Manbhum help in establishing ceremonial friendship with people of other communities. Thus, the Bhumijs have a good sense of community feeling and they maintain equilibrium and peaceful coexistence. However, by the turn of the 20th century, Hinduism had begun to change many of their local customs.[12]

The followers ofSarnaismamong the Bhumij have been organising protests and petitions to have their religion recognised by the government of India in census forms.[25][26]

Official classification[edit]

Bhumijas have been designated asScheduled Tribesin only three states—Odisha,Jharkhand,andWest Bengal—by the Government of India.[27]InBihar,they are recognized asScheduled Castes[sic],[28][29]and in Tripura and Assam (as theEx-tea garden community), they fall under the category ofOther Backward Classes.[30][31]Those residing in other states and countries are considered part of thegeneral population.However, the Bhumij were classified asScheduled Castesbefore the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists (Modification) Order of 1956. Until 2024, the Tamudia segment of the Bhumij tribe was designated as Scheduled Caste in Odisha, but it was subsequently recognized as Scheduled Tribes.[32][33]

Notable people[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^The Bhumij are recognized as Scheduled Tribes in three states: Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal, with a population of 869,653 according to the 2011 census.[1]However, Bhumij residing in other administrative states and countries are not individually counted in the census; thus,colonial censusfigures are used to estimate their current total population.
  2. ^Bhumijali is asociolectspoken by the (11.1 percent) Bhumij tribe of Odisha, which is a variety of the Odia language that incorporates Bhumij words and is distinct from the Mundari variety. Thus, in the census, it is categorized under the Odia language family. Similarly, Munda, Mundari, and Bhumj are often considered the same language, though they may also be distinct in certain contexts.

Sources[edit]

  1. ^"A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix".censusindia.gov.in.Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived fromthe originalon 4 May 2020.Retrieved18 November2017.
  2. ^abc"Statistical profile of scheduled tribes in India 2013"(PDF).tribal.nic.in.Minister of tribal affairs: statistics division, Govt of India.
  3. ^"A-10 Appendix: District wise scheduled caste population (Appendix)".Census commission of India.2011.
  4. ^"Estimated Population by Castes, 5. Assam – Census 1951"(PDF).Office of the Registrar General, India. 1954. p. 12.
  5. ^"Estimated Population by Castes, 7. Tripura – Census 1951"(PDF).Office of the Registrar General, India. 1954. p. 11.
  6. ^"Table 1.4 Ethnic Population by Group and Sex"(PDF)(in Bengali). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 2021. p. 33.Archived(PDF)from the original on 13 August 2022.Retrieved15 August2022.
  7. ^"Ol Onal".omniglot
  8. ^abOta, A. B. (2014).Bhumij(PDF).Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute, Bhubaneswar.ISBN978-93-80705-25-5.
  9. ^N Ramaswamy (1992).Bhumij Grammar.
  10. ^"Tamudia".scstrti.in.Retrieved9 November2022.
  11. ^The Asiatic Quarterly Review.Swan Sonnenshein & Company. 1886. p. 89.
  12. ^abcdefghijRisley, H. H. (1892).The tribes and castes of Bengal.Bengal secretariat Press.OCLC68183872.Archivedfrom the original on 13 May 2022.Alt URL
  13. ^Smita Kujur (2010).Genetic study of Bhumij Tribe of Jharkhand using mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA markers(Thesis).Retrieved11 November2022.
  14. ^Jengcham, Subhash."Bhumij".Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh.Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
  15. ^"STORY OF AN ANCESTOR'S BELIEF"(PDF).silbangladesh.2022.
  16. ^Ota, A. B. (2014).Bhumij(PDF).Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute, Bhubaneswar.ISBN978-93-80705-25-5.
  17. ^Ghosh, Binoy,Paschim Banger Sanskriti,(in Bengali), part I, 1976 edition, pp. 423-434, Prakash Bhaban
  18. ^Minz, Diwakar; Hansda, Delo Mai (2010).Encyclopaedia of Scheduled Tribes in Jharkhand.Gyan Publishing House.ISBN978-81-7835-121-6.
  19. ^Bhattacherje, S. B. (1 May 2009).Encyclopaedia of Indian Events & Dates.Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.ISBN978-81-207-4074-7.
  20. ^History of the Bengali-speaking People by Nitish Sengupta, first published 2001, second reprint 2002, UBS Publishers’ Distributors Pvt. Ltd. pages 187-188,ISBN81-7476-355-4
  21. ^"The martial dance of the Bhumij still survives in a little outback | Outlook India Magazine".Outlook (India).Retrieved28 February2020.
  22. ^abcd
  23. ^"Bhumij language and Alpha bet".omniglot.Retrieved19 April2022.
  24. ^"Jharkhand notifies Bhumij as second state language".The Avenue Mail.5 January 2019.Retrieved17 April2022.
  25. ^SANTOSH K. KIRO.Delhi demo for Sarna identity.The Telegraph, 2013
  26. ^Pranab Mukherjee.Tribals to rally for inclusion of Sarna religion in census.Times of India, 2013.
  27. ^"List of Scheduled Tribes"(PDF).tribal.nic.in.
  28. ^"List of Scheduled Castes State wise / UT wise list of Scheduled Castes updated up to 05-01-2023".socialjustice.gov.in.Retrieved21 May2023.Direct URL
  29. ^"203 castes in Bihar to choose from as 2nd leg of survey begins April 15".Hindustan Times.23 March 2023.Retrieved1 February2024.
  30. ^"National Commission for Backward Classes".ncbc.nic.in.Retrieved25 May2023.
  31. ^"CENTRAL LIST OF OBCs FOR THE STATE OF ASSAM"(PDF).ncbc.nic.in.
  32. ^"Parliament passes the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill 2024".pib.gov.in.Retrieved13 March2024.
  33. ^"Odisha ST list gets two new entrants and offers relief to at least 50 sub-tribes".Hindustan Times.9 February 2024.Retrieved13 March2024.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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