Munda people explained

Group:Munda people
Native Name:Hoṛoko, Hoṛo
Regions: India Bangladesh Nepal
Region1: India
Pop1:2,228,661 (2011)
Ref1:[1]
Region2:Jharkhand
Pop2: 1,229,221
Region3:Odisha
Pop3: 584,346
Region4:West Bengal
Pop4: 366,386
Region5:Assam
Pop5: 149,851 (1921)
Ref5:[2]
Region6:Chhattisgarh
Pop6: 15,095
Region7:Tripura
Pop7: 14,544
Region8:Bihar
Pop8: 14,028
Region9:Madhya Pradesh
Pop9: 5,041
Region10: Bangladesh
Pop10:60,191 (2021)
Ref10:[3]
Region11: Nepal
Pop11:2,350 (2011)
Languages:Mundari[4] •PanchparganiaSadriOdiaBengaliHindi
Religions:[5] [6] [7]

The Munda people are an Austroasiatic-speaking ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. They speak Mundari as their native language, which belongs to the Munda subgroup of Austroasiatic languages. The Munda are found mainly concentrated in the south and East Chhotanagpur Plateau region of Jharkhand,[8] Odisha and West Bengal.[1] [9] The Munda also reside in adjacent areas of Madhya Pradesh as well as in portions of Bangladesh, Nepal, and the state of Tripura.[1] [10] They are one of India's largest scheduled tribes. Munda people in Tripura are also known as Mura.[11] In the Kolhan region of Jharkhand the Munda people are often called Tamadia by other communities.[12]

Overview

Etymology

Munda means headman of a village in the Munda-Manki system to govern villages in South-east Chotanagpur. They call themselves horoko or ho ko, which means men.[13] Robert Parkin notes that the term "Munda" did not belong to the Austroasiatic lexis and is of Sanskrit origin.[14] 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.[15] According to Standing (1976), it was under British rule that the term Munda started to be used for the tribal group.[16]

Geographic distribution

The Munda primarily inhabit the eastern states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha, specifically in the Khunti, Ranchi, Simdega, Paschim Singhbhum, Gumla, Purbi Singhbhum, and Ramghar districts of Jharkhand; the Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts of Odisha; and the Jalpaiguri, Paschim Medinipur, and North 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal. They are also sporadically distributed in the neighboring states of Chhattisgarh and Bihar. Additionally, they live in the northeastern states of Assam, Tripura, and Mizoram, largely in the tea valleys of Assam, where they migrated to work as tea garden workers during colonial India. Apart from India, they also reside in neighboring countries such as Bangladesh and Nepal.

History

According to linguist Paul Sidwell, Munda languages arrived on the coast of Odisha from Southeast Asia approximately 4,000 to 3,500 years ago (BCE).[17] [18] The Munda people initially spread from Southeast Asia, but mixed extensively with local Indian populations.[19] They are genetically closely related to Mah Meri and Temuan people of Malaysia.[20]

According to historian R. S. Sharma, tribals who spoke the Munda language occupied the eastern region of ancient India. Many Munda terms occur in Vedic texts that were written between 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. Their presence in texts compiled in the upper Gangetic basin late in that period suggests that Munda speakers were there at the time.[21] According to Barbara A. West, the Mundas claim origin in Uttar 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.[22] Recent studies suggest that Munda languages spread as far as Eastern Uttar Pradesh but not beyond that, and impacted Eastern Indo-Aryan languages, as some groups such as Musahar have Munda genetic lineage. The claim of a Munda presence in the Upper Gangetic plain has no linguistic or genetic basis.[23]

In the late 1800s, during the British Raj, the Mundas were forced to pay rents and work as bonded labourers to the zamindars. During the Kol uprising in 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.[24] During the 19th century, Munda freedom fighter Birsa Munda began the protest marches calling for non-payment of rents and remission of forest dues. He led guerrilla warfare to uproot the British Raj and establish Munda Raj. He was caught by Company forces, along with his supporters, and died in jail. He is still revered in Jharkhand.[25]

Nomadic hunters in the India tribal belt, they became farmers and some were employed in basketwork. With the listing of the Munda people as Scheduled Tribes, many are employed in various governmental organisations (particularly Indian Railways).[26]

Social structure

Kinship patterns

Munda are divided into a number of exogamous clans. Clans among Mundas are known as Killi, which is similar to Sanskrit word Kula. 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:[27]

Administrative system

Munda-Manki governing system was prevalent in Kolhan region of Jharkhand.Munda govern their villages by Munda-Manki system. Head of village is called Munda, informant of village is called Dakuwa, village priest is called Pahaan, assistant of Pahaan is called Pujhar, head of 15 to 20 villages is called Manki, assistant of Manki is called Tahshildar, which collected taxes. The priest "Deori" is also prevalent among Hos, Bhumij, Bhuyan, Sounti, Khonds tribe of Odisha and Chutia people of Assam.[30] In Chotanagpur division, Munda have adopted Pahan as their village priest.[31]

Culture and tradition

Festival

Involved in agriculture, the Munda people celebrate the seasonal festivals of Mage Parab, Phagu, Karam, Baha parab, Sarhul and Sohrai. Some seasonal festivals have coincided with religious festivals, but their original meaning remains. Their deity is Singbonga.[32]

Music

They have many folk songs, dances, tales and traditional musical instruments. Both sexes participate in dances at social events and festivals. The naqareh is a principal musical instrument. Munda refer to their dance and song as durang and susun respectively. Some folk dances of the Munda are Jadur, Karam Susun and Mage Susun.[33] Mundari music is similar to the music of Sadan. Mundari Mage song (winter) rhythm is similar to the Nagpuri Fagua song (winter, spring) rhythm.[34]

Rituals

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.[35] According to Sarat Chandra Roy, Sindurdaan ceremony and turmeric use in marriage clearly reflect Hindu elements borrowed into Munda tradition.[36]

Munda people of Jharkhand also follow the age old tradition of Patthalgari, 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.[37] There are some other types of patthalgari also:-

Literature and studies

Jesuit priest John-Baptist Hoffmann (1857–1928) studied the language, customs, religion and life of the Munda people, publishing the first Mundari language grammar in 1903. With the help of Menas Orea, Hoffmann published the 15-volume Encyclopaedia 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 a Hindi translation, describes Munda rituals and customs.[40]

Social issues

Economic condition

In a 2016 research paper on subsistence strategies of Mundas in a village of Sunderbans in 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.[41]

Notable people

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix . censusindia.gov.in . Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India . 18 November 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220107124005/https://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/ST.html . 7 January 2022.
  2. Web site: Estimated Population by Castes, 5. Assam – Census 1951 . 1954 . Office of the Registrar General, India . 9.
  3. Web site: Table 1.4 Ethnic Population by Group and Sex . 2021 . Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics . 33 . bn . 15 August 2022 . 13 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220813235827/https://bbs.portal.gov.bd/sites/default/files/files/bbs.portal.gov.bd/page/b343a8b4_956b_45ca_872f_4cf9b2f1a6e0/2022-07-28-14-31-b21f81d1c15171f1770c661020381666.pdf . live.
  4. Book: Osada . Toshiki . Anderson . Gregory . The Munda languages . 19 March 2008 . Routledge . New York . 978-0-415-32890-6 . 3. Mundari . ...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. Web site: ST-14 Scheduled Tribe Population By Religious Community . Census of India . Ministry of Home Affairs, India . 15 October 2017 . 15 October 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171015214556/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/SCST-Series/ST14.html . live.
  6. Srivastava . Malini . 73737689 . The Sacred Complex of Munda Tribe . Anthropologist . 2007 . 9 . 4 . 327–330 . 10.1080/09720073.2007.11891020 . 22 October 2017 . 17 May 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170517132805/http://krepublishers.com/02-Journals/T-Anth/Anth-09-0-000-000-2007-Web/Anth-09-4-000-07-Abst-PDF/Anth-09-4-327-07-417-Srivastava-M/Anth-09-4-327-07-417-Srivastava-M-Tt.pdf . live.
  7. News: Tribals who convert to other religions will continue to get quota benefits: Jual Oram India News . 10 July 2021 . The Times of India . en . 12 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210712091834/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/tribals-who-convert-to-other-religions-will-continue-to-get-quota-benefits-jual-oram/articleshow/65379249.cms . live.
  8. Book: Gupta . Satya Prakash . Tribes of Chotanagpur Plateau: An Ethno-nutritional & Pharmacological Cross-section . 1974 . Government of Bihar, Welfare Department . 12 . en . 19 March 2023 . 14 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230414192025/https://books.google.com/books?id=0gAEAAAAMAAJ&q=munda+people+are+concentrated+in+chotanagpur+plateau . live.
  9. Web site: December 2012 . Adivasi Volume 52, Number 1&2 . live . 8 November 2016 . Web Archive . https://web.archive.org/web/20161108183956/http://www.stscodisha.gov.in/pdf/June-Dec-2012-Vol-1-2.pdf.
  10. Web site: Mundari Language . Ethnologue . SIL International . 20 October 2017 . subscription . 20 April 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210420113123/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/unr . live.
  11. Web site: Homepage . 14 December 2017 . 14 December 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171214182942/http://tribesindia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=792&Itemid=104&lang=en . live.
  12. Web site: 1993 . Munda Tribe . Dr. Ramdayal Munda Tribal Welfare Research Institute . Jharkhand, India . hindi . 4th 2020.
  13. Web site: History of Munda Tribe Language : Mundari . 29 May 2018 . mundariuniversity . 20 October 2022 . 20 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221020013818/https://mundariversity.com/history-munda-tribe-language-mundari/ . live.
  14. Web site: . Second Reply to Pfeffer . Robert . Parkin . 1993 . 161 . 18 December 2020 . 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). . 16 September 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200916201633/https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/anthro/documents/media/jaso24_2_1993_158_163.pdf . live.
  15. Book: Prasad . R. R. . 1996 . Encyclopaedic Profile of Indian Tribes . 1 . 186 . Discovery Publishing House . 978-81-7141-298-3 . 16 August 2019 . 4 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230504101310/https://books.google.com/books?id=TmDRNTYw49EC&pg=PA186 . live.
  16. Web site: An Anthropological Study of Rural Jharkhand, India . Alpa Shah . 88 . 2003 . 8 November 2022 . 8 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221108161436/https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/46519807.pdf . live.
  17. Sidwell, Paul. 2018. Austroasiatic Studies: state of the art in 2018 . Presentation at the Graduate Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, 22 May 2018.
  18. Rau . Felix . Sidwell . Paul . The Munda Maritime Hypothesis . 12 September 2019 . Journal of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society . 12 . 2 . 1836-6821 . 10524/52454 . 204901974. 35–57 .
  19. Book: Schliesinger . Joachim . Origin of the Tai People 3: Genetic and Archaeological Approaches . 2016 . Booksmango . 9781633239623 . 71 . 20 September 2019 . en.
  20. News: Scientists solve genetic puzzle surrounding Mundas . down-to-earth.org . 12 March 2019 . 1 October 2022 . 25 September 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220925014616/https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/lifestyle/amp/scientists-solve-genetic-puzzle-surrounding-mundas-63548 . live.
  21. Book: Sharma, R. S. . Ram Sharan Sharma . 2005 . India's Ancient Past . Oxford University Press . 2, 118–119 . 978-0-19-566714-1.
  22. Book: West . Barbara A. . Encyclopedia of the Peoples of Asia and Oceania . 2010 . Infobase Publishing . 9781438119137 . 564 . 20 September 2019 . en . 14 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230414174240/https://books.google.com/books?id=pCiNqFj3MQsC&q=munda+people+came+from+south+east+asia&pg=PA564 . live.
  23. Web site: 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) . John Peterson . October 2021 . 1 September 2022.
  24. Book: Mughal Administration and the Zamindars of Bihar . 9781000651522 . Ansari . Tahir Hussain . 20 June 2019. Routledge .
  25. News: Jharkhand: Amit Shah launches scheme for villages of freedom fighters . Pandey . Prashant . 18 September 2017 . The Indian Express . 21 October 2017 . en-US . 14 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191114151130/https://indianexpress.com/article/india/jharkhand-amit-shah-launches-scheme-for-villages-of-freedom-fighters-khunti-4848635/ . live.
  26. Web site: List of Schedule Castes . Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India . 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140923060507/http://socialjustice.nic.in/aboutdivision1.php . 23 September 2014.
  27. Book: Roy, Sarat Chandra . The Mundas and their Country . Asia Publishing House . 1912.
  28. Web site: Communities, segments, synonym, surnames and titles V.8, xiii,1948p.-(People of India National Series) . Google Books . 1 August 2024 . live.
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  30. Prasad, Hem Chandra. Bihar. 1983/2003, pp. 36, 67, 159, 162, 184. National Book Trust, New Delhi.
  31. Pages from the Old Records: A Note on 'The "Kols" of Chota-Nagpore' by E.T. Dalton . Sanjay Nath . academia.edu . 19 . 2015 . 25 October 2022 . 25 October 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221025154052/https://www.academia.edu/42298290 . live.
  32. Web site: Mundas, Munda Tribe in Jharkhand India, Occupation of Mundas . ecoindia.com . 26 March 2016 . 16 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191116025801/http://www.ecoindia.com/tribes/munda.html . live.
  33. Book: Prasad . R. R. . 1996 . Encyclopaedic Profile of Indian Tribes . 1 . 188–191 . Discovery Publishing House . 978-81-7141-298-3 . 16 August 2019 . 4 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230504101310/https://books.google.com/books?id=TmDRNTYw49EC&pg=PA186 . live.
  34. Book: Ethnomusicology and Modern Music History . University of Illinois Press . 1993 . 978-0252063435 . Blum . Stephen . 215 . Bohlman . Phillip Vilas . Neuman . Daniel M. . 30 January 2023 . 14 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230414174239/https://books.google.com/books?id=GbbQyA557B0C&pg=PA215 . live.
  35. Book: Marriages in Indian Society . Discovery Publishing House . Prakash Chandra Mehta . 2005 . 9788171419210 . 116 . 24 October 2022 . 4 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230504101302/https://books.google.com/books?id=za396I85CPEC&pg=PA116 . live.
  36. Book: The Mundas and their country . Sarat Chandra Roy . 1912 . Asia Publishing House . 22 October 2022.
  37. Poyil . Manjula . 2006 . Death funeral and the ancestors Cult of the dead and the Malabar tribes . PhD . Death Customs In The Tribal Context: Concluding Observations . http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/20515/11/11_chapter%205.pdf . University of Calicut . 10603/20515 . 21 February 2022.
  38. Web site: Menhirs and cultural diffusion: megalithic practices in Central-eastern India | Antiquity Journal . antiquity.ac.uk . 22 December 2019 . 18 December 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191218142113/https://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/mendaly352 . live.
  39. News: The Constitution set in stone: Adivasis in Jharkhand are using an old tradition as a novel protest . Scroll.in . 31 July 2018 . 31 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180731125000/https://scroll.in/article/878468/the-constitution-set-in-stone-adivasis-in-jharkhand-are-using-an-old-tradition-as-a-novel-protest . live.
  40. Web site: Mundari: The Language of Munda Tribe . 6 February 2015 . 1 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180501192451/http://tribalstuffs.blogspot.in/2011/11/mundari-language-of-munda-tribe.html . dead.
  41. Bandyopadhyay . Ayan . Subsistence strategies of the Mundas in a village of Sundarban, West Bengal . November 2016 . Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society . 51 . 3 . 128–144 . 30 March 2020.
  42. Web site: Amrit Lugun has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Greece . 3 October 2019 . mea.gov.in . 11 March 2022 . 14 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230414185759/https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/31896/Amrit+Lugun+has+been+appointed+as+the+next+Ambassador+of+India+to+Greece . live.
  43. Web site: SAARC Secretariat . 23 January 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150403005743/http://saarc-sdmc.nic.in/saarc_secretariat.asp . saarc-sdmc.nic.in . 3 April 2015.
  44. News: Ganguly . M. +date=11 Aug 2011 . Hindi stalwarts praise tribal poet . Yahoo! News . 26 March 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141112214729/https://in.news.yahoo.com/hindi-stalwarts-praise-tribal-poet-000000197.html . 12 November 2014 . dead.

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