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Munda people

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This article is about the Mundari speaking ethnic group. For a list of all ethnic groups using Munda languages, seeMunda peoples.

Munda people
Hoṛoko, Hoṛo
Munda men,Dinajpur District, Bangladesh
Total population
c. 2.29 million
Regions with significant populations
IndiaBangladeshNepal
India2,228,661 (2011)[1]
Jharkhand1,229,221
Odisha584,346
West Bengal366,386
Assam149,851 (1921)[2]
Chhattisgarh15,095
Tripura14,544
Bihar14,028
Madhya Pradesh5,041
Bangladesh60,191 (2021)[3]
Nepal2,350 (2011)
Languages
Mundari[4]• Panchpargania•Sadri•Odia•Bengali•Hindi
Religion
[5][6]: 327 [7]
Related ethnic groups
Munda peoples

TheMunda peopleare anAustroasiatic-speakingethnic groupof theIndian subcontinent.They speakMundarias their native language, which belongs to theMunda subgroupofAustroasiatic languages.The Munda are found mainly concentrated in the south and EastChhotanagpur Plateauregion ofJharkhand,[8]OdishaandWest Bengal.[1][9]The Munda also reside in adjacent areas ofMadhya Pradeshas well as in portions ofBangladesh,Nepal,and the state ofTripura.[1][10]They are one of India's largestscheduled tribes.Munda people inTripuraare also known asMura.[11]

Overview[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Munda meansheadmanof a village in the Munda-Manki system to govern villages in South-eastChotanagpur.They call themselves horoko or ho ko, which meansmen.[12] Robert Parkin notes that the term "Munda" did not belong to theAustroasiaticlexis and is of Sanskrit origin.[13]According to R. R. Prasad, the name "Munde" is a Ho word that means "headman". It is an honorific name given by Hindus, and hence became a tribal name.[14]According to Standing (1976), it was under British rule that the term Munda started to be used for the tribal group.[15]

Geographic distribution[edit]

Distribution of Munda people

The Munda primarily inhabit the eastern states ofJharkhand,West Bengal,andOdisha,specifically in theKhunti,Ranchi,Simdega,Paschim Singhbhum,Gumla,Purbi Singhbhum,andRamghar districtsof Jharkhand; theSundargarhandSambalpur districtsof Odisha; and theJalpaiguri,Paschim Medinipur,andNorth 24 Parganasdistricts of West Bengal. They are also sporadically distributed in the neighboring states ofChhattisgarhandBihar.Additionally, they live in the northeastern states ofAssam,Tripura,andMizoram,largely in the tea valleys of Assam, where they migrated to work astea garden workersduring colonial India. Apart from India, they also reside in neighboring countries such asBangladeshandNepal.

History[edit]

See also:Munda peoples § History

According to linguistPaul Sidwell,Munda languages arrived on the coast ofOdishafrom Southeast Asia approximately 4,000 to 3,500 years ago (c. 2000– c. 1500BCE).[16][17]The Munda people initially spread from Southeast Asia, but mixed extensively with local Indian populations.[18]They are genetically closely related toMah MeriandTemuan peopleofMalaysia.[19]

According to historianR. S. Sharma,tribals who spoke the Munda language occupied the eastern region of ancient India. Many Munda terms occur inVedic textsthat were written between 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. Their presence in texts compiled in the upperGangetic basinlate in that period suggests that Munda speakers were there at the time.[20]According to Barbara A. West, the Mundas claim origin inUttar Pradesh,and a steady flow eastward in history as other groups moved into their original homeland; she suggests that they inhabited a "much larger territory" in ancient India.[21]Recent studies suggest that Munda languages spread as far as EasternUttar Pradeshbut not beyond that, and impactedEastern Indo-Aryan languages,as some groups such asMusaharhave Munda genetic lineage. The claim of a Munda presence in the Upper Gangetic plain has no linguistic or genetic basis.[22]

1903 Group photo of Mundas in Chota Nagpur.

In the late 1800s, during theBritish Raj,the Mundas were forced to pay rents and work asbonded labourersto thezamindars.During theKol uprisingin 1823–1833, some Manki Munda revolted due to their disposition and attacked Thikedars, other Mankis, plundered and destroyed villages. This insurgency was suppressed by Thomas Wilkinson.[23]During the 19th century, Munda freedom fighterBirsa Mundabegan the protest marches calling for non-payment of rents and remission of forest dues. He led guerrilla warfare to uproot theBritish Rajand establish Munda Raj. He was caught byCompanyforces, along with his supporters, and died in jail. He is still revered inJharkhand.[24][better source needed]

Illustration of Munda rebellion in 1800s

Nomadic hunters in theIndia tribal belt,they became farmers and some were employed in basketwork. With the listing of the Munda people asScheduled Tribes,many are employed in various governmental organisations (particularlyIndian Railways).[25]

Social structure[edit]

Kinship patterns[edit]

Munda are divided into a number of exogamous clans. Clans among Mundas are known asKilli,which is similar toSanskritwordKula.Munda are patrilineal, and clan name descends father to son. According to tradition, people of the same clan are descendants of the same forefather. Clans among Mundas are of totemic origin. Some clans are:[26]

  • Baa(a fish)
  • Baba(rice)
  • Bodra
  • Balamchu(fish net)
  • Barla
  • Bhengra(horse)
  • Bukru(a bird)
  • Bulung(salt)
  • Dang, Dungdung(a fish)
  • Gudia, Hans(swan)
  • Hemrom/Hembram(a tree)
  • Herenz(a specific Bird)
  • Horo(turtle)
  • Hundar(hyena)
  • Jojo(tamarind)
  • Kauwa(crow)
  • Kerketta(a bird)
  • Kula(tiger)
  • Nil(bull)
  • Mus(mouse)
  • Nag(cobra)
  • Oreya(bammboo basket)
  • Pandu(cobra)
  • Purty
  • Runda(wild cat)
  • Sandil(meteor)
  • Sanga(a type of root)
  • Surin/Soren/Soreng(a bird)
  • Tiru(a bird)
  • Tuti(a type of grain)[27]
  • Topno(red ants)
  • Kongari(white crow)

Administrative system[edit]

Munda-Manki governing system was prevalent inKolhanregion of Jharkhand. Munda govern their villages by Munda-Manki system. Head of village is calledMunda,informant of village is calledDakuwa,village priest is calledPahaan,assistant ofPahaanis calledPujhar,head of 15 to 20 villages is called Manki, assistant of Manki is calledTahshildar,which collected taxes. The priest "Deori" is also prevalent amongHos,Bhumij,Bhuyan,Sounti,Khondstribe ofOdishaandChutia peopleof Assam.[28][a]In Chotanagpur division, Munda have adopted Pahan as their village priest.[30]


Culture and tradition[edit]

Festival[edit]

Involved in agriculture, the Munda people celebrate the seasonal festivals ofMage Parab,Phagu,Karam,Baha parab,SarhulandSohrai.Some seasonal festivals have coincided with religious festivals, but their original meaning remains. TheirdeityisSingbonga.[31]

Music[edit]

They have manyfolk songs,dances,talesand traditionalmusical instruments.Both sexes participate in dances at social events and festivals. Thenaqarehis a principal musical instrument.[citation needed]Munda refer to their dance and song asdurangandsusunrespectively. Some folk dances of the Munda areJadur,Karam SusunandMage Susun.[32]Mundari music is similar to the music ofSadan.Mundari Mage song (winter) rhythm is similar to theNagpuriFagua song (winter, spring) rhythm.[33]

Mundari dance

Rituals[edit]

The Munda people have elaborate rituals to celebrate birth, death, engagement and marriage.

Munda practice clan exogamy and tribal endogamy. Monogamy is the norm. Bride price is prevalent. Marriage ceremony starts with Sagai and ends with Bidai. Munda enjoy this occasion with feast, drinks and dance.[34]According toSarat Chandra Roy,Sindurdaan ceremony and turmeric use in marriage clearly reflect Hindu elements borrowed into Munda tradition.[35]

Munda people of Jharkhand also follow the age old tradition ofPatthalgari,i.e., stone erection, in which the tribal community residing in the village buries a large inverted U-shaped dressed headstone on the head side of a grave or at the entrance to the village, in which is inscribed the family tree of the dead persons.[36]There are some other types of patthalgari also:-

  • Horadiri- It is the stone in which family tree is written.
  • ChalpadiriorSaasandiri- It is the stone in remarking boundary of any village and its limits.
  • Magodiri- This is the headstone of a social criminal who committed polygamy or unsocial marriage.
  • Ziddiri- This is the stone placed over burial of placenta and dried navel part of a newborn.[37][38]
Munda House at "State Tribal Fair- 2020", Bhubaneswar
Munda Lady

Literature and studies[edit]

Eight books on a shelf
Part ofJohn-Baptist Hoffmann's 15-volumeEncyclopaedia Mundarica

Jesuitpriest John-Baptist Hoffmann (1857–1928) studied the language, customs, religion and life of the Munda people, publishing the firstMundari languagegrammar in 1903. With the help of Menas Orea, Hoffmann published the 15-volumeEncyclopaedia Mundarica.The first edition was published posthumously in 1937, and a third edition was published in 1976.The Mundas and Their Country,by S. C. Roy, was published in 1912.Adidharam(Hindi:आदि धर्म) by Ram Dayal Munda and Ratan Singh Manki, in Mundari with aHinditranslation, describes Munda rituals and customs.[39]

Social issues[edit]

Economic condition[edit]

In a 2016 research paper on subsistence strategies of Mundas in a village ofSunderbansin West Bengal, it was found that many people migrate out of their residences because of poor economic conditions and landlessness. This rural to urban migration has followed a greater trend within India. Men and women engage in forest product collection, cultivation, small business and agricultural as well as non-agricultural jobs. A person or a family may be engaged in multiple occupations, often undertaking risky visits to the forests and rivers. It was also found that younger generation preferred to engage as migrant workers outside the village and often outside the district and the state.[40]

Notable people[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^"All theseBodotribes had their own respective priests calledDeoris".[29]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^abc"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 7 January 2022.Retrieved18 November2017.
  2. ^"Estimated Population by Castes, 5. Assam – Census 1951"(PDF).Office of the Registrar General, India. 1954. p. 9.
  3. ^"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.
  4. ^Osada, Toshiki (19 March 2008). "3. Mundari". In Anderson, Gregory (ed.).The Munda languages.New York: Routledge.ISBN978-0-415-32890-6....the designation Munda is used for the language family. Mundari, on the other hand, refers to an individual language, namely the language of Munda people.
  5. ^"ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community".Census of India.Ministry of Home Affairs, India.Archivedfrom the original on 15 October 2017.Retrieved15 October2017.
  6. ^Srivastava, Malini (2007)."The Sacred Complex of Munda Tribe"(PDF).Anthropologist.9(4): 327–330.doi:10.1080/09720073.2007.11891020.S2CID73737689.Archived(PDF)from the original on 17 May 2017.Retrieved22 October2017.
  7. ^"Tribals who convert to other religions will continue to get quota benefits: Jual Oram | India News".The Times of India.Archivedfrom the original on 12 July 2021.Retrieved10 July2021.
  8. ^Gupta, Satya Prakash (1974).Tribes of Chotanagpur Plateau: An Ethno-nutritional & Pharmacological Cross-section.Government of Bihar, Welfare Department. p. 12.Archivedfrom the original on 14 April 2023.Retrieved19 March2023.
  9. ^"Adivasi Volume 52, Number 1&2"(PDF).Web Archive.December 2012.Archived(PDF)from the original on 8 November 2016.
  10. ^"Mundari Language".Ethnologue.SIL International.Archivedfrom the original on 20 April 2021.Retrieved20 October2017.
  11. ^"Homepage".Archivedfrom the original on 14 December 2017.Retrieved14 December2017.
  12. ^"History of Munda Tribe Language: Mundari".mundariuniversity. 29 May 2018.Archivedfrom the original on 20 October 2022.Retrieved20 October2022.
  13. ^Parkin, Robert (1993)."Second Reply to Pfeffer"(PDF).University of Oxford.p. 161.Archived(PDF)from the original on 16 September 2020.Retrieved18 December2020.The term 'Munda' is of Sanskritic origin and therefore not original in any sense to Austroasiatic speakers, although it has come to be used by one tribe as an alternative to their own term 'Horo' (Le. Roy's group; cf. Pfeffer above, p. 154; also Parkin 1990: 17, 23).
  14. ^Prasad, R. R. (1996).Encyclopaedic Profile of Indian Tribes.Vol. 1. Discovery Publishing House. p. 186.ISBN978-81-7141-298-3.Archivedfrom the original on 4 May 2023.Retrieved16 August2019.
  15. ^Alpa Shah (2003)."An Anthropological Study of Rural Jharkhand, India"(PDF).p. 88.Archived(PDF)from the original on 8 November 2022.Retrieved8 November2022.
  16. ^Sidwell, Paul. 2018.Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018Archived3 May 2019 at theWayback Machine.Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, 22 May 2018.
  17. ^Rau, Felix; Sidwell, Paul (12 September 2019)."The Munda Maritime Hypothesis"(PDF).Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society.12(2): 35–57.hdl:10524/52454.ISSN1836-6821.S2CID204901974.
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  19. ^"Scientists solve genetic puzzle surrounding Mundas".down-to-earth.org. 12 March 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 25 September 2022.Retrieved1 October2022.
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  22. ^John Peterson (October 2021)."The spread of Munda in prehistoric South Asia -the view from areal typology To appear in: Volume in Celebration of the Bicentenary of Deccan College Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University)".Retrieved1 September2022.
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Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

  • Parkin, R. (1992).The Munda of central India: an account of their social organisation.Delhi: Oxford University Press.ISBN0-19-563029-7
  • Omkar, P.(2018). "Santhal tribes present in India" like Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal... Belavadi.
  • Omkar, patil.(2018). "Kola tribes"...

External links[edit]

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