CHAPTER%%

'l'RXUAL SOCIETY AND POLITY IN INDIA• A CC»4PARATIW VIBW

90

we have 41scusa.S tbe patterns of tribal polity in

relation to tr.ibal social s~e in uhJ.s chapter. Tba

ba\sic poiftt. here nfers to bieraz-c:by of po-ar an4 vaJ:>1at1cms

ill tJ:>ibal social OJ:Vani£at1on. Tbe nature of social

at.mtification within a tribal ccmmtmit.y and its aeqment.ar:y

character ar:e the t.wo most .tm,po.nant. points t'ffttch have

been diacu.aea by social and Clllt.ural anthropolog1ste.

our effort. 1G to look at the Uaditional poli~y Gntl the

changes ~hat. have occ:~reS in 1 t over a period Qf time.

~e beve also d1ecus3ed tribal world-view of polity. t.hG

actual s.tate of t.l"ibal polity. eeon~ end poweJ:' at.c'Uet.Gn•

the factors that have afiect.e4 tribal pOlit.y sna tbe

patterns o~ power and authority.

Xt woul4 be really very diffi.c~ t t.o look at U'ibal

potte&" stcucturc as eegmente&y in character. i.e. .ill

isolation to casta system and other non-tribal social

8U\1Ct~s. l~Qpact. of exogenous factors bas been immense

on tribal polity and social -structure and at tbe same

u.me the conversion to H11Ulu1sm. Islam and CbrisUanity

baa been qu.lte v.tdespread in sQllle parts of trlbs1

population. Mow-aver, at the same time the tll"ibes of

91

lfttlia have ma1nta1netl their •eborl,.g1nal' character in many

waye.

It ie well known fact that. t.riaes 1D tnc:Ua ramainecl

J.solatQd f'com the rest of tM populaUon before the advent

Of 9d.t1Gh rule m lndLa. ID fact, it is the British who

for the first tJma systGmat.ic:ally interfered in the affairs

of Uibal people. Tribal economy ~hich was basad on fore~

prOducts was brougb~ Wlder the contr:ol of Brit.~Dh e&niD1s­

trat1on. and at. the same time Hlnliu zamt.mlars and mcmey­

lendars started exploiting the U'ibal people. Fro:n this

point of time, the segmantaJ:y charac:ter of ~e v1ba1

people sta~ eroding. The • ieolationlstic• v::»rld•View

also rec.e.l ved a severe setback end J.t.s int.emal orvuic

relaUono got; J 0opa~iDea. The .impact of caste system.

JUndu ~11gion and Chr1st:innlty could be t.ra<:ea from this

particular poJ.n~ o.£ time. ftis# hovever. <Joea not ~ly

that. the 1 eegJUent;atJ.on• in the tribal society J.mplietl

hamogeneJ.~y, equality of ranks ena egaUtar:~nism. 1D

£act:. the .lnnitllt.ion of •headman•h.tp•, distJ.nct.lon• based

on ldnobip. status, age ana &Gx., eml strategic placement

of soma tribal. fam.llieo in onvken-aetttng were some of

the other important conslderat.tona. which were valued aa

the basis o£ CU.fferentiat~on of n.nk and p0111ar. Tbe other:

~rtaDt facto%" W'ls concerned with tbe •magical aDd

92 ~oss.-s.S . A,U. h-Ll-AL

·~~uml po"'e~"•* whJ.ch certain iftdlvlciualeA recoived a

jolt with the pasaaqe o£ t.lme and processes of change. lD

vtew of e\tch a a1tu.at1on~ s proc:essual view becomes necessary

for analyo.lDg natun of ·•power• in tribal soelety. Tbe

• segmentation model' 1gno¥es some of these vital. sociological

aspects of tribal social st.ruc:ture.

It is also necessa.z:y to have an •e~hnomethoclologlcal•

view of uibGl:, social struct.«U'e. 1~ is not tbat we do not.

cons.t.4ar ,_ltb. powe;r. status, ed\lcat10D and scme other

CJrl ter1a aa the basis of sOCial rankiAg ae we oenerally

ccma14er them ro1evant in ngera to non-tribal soc.lety.

lt bas })eeft pointed out by some scholars t.hat the socio­

logists apply those criteria in the U>J.bal soct•ty which

tbey apply to modem socJ.et.y. The COilc:ept.e of age-sets

and sex are. for mtample. ~be basic eoasJ4erat.1ons for

cliffere~tttauon ancS atJ:'at1£1caUon than any other m:1t.er1a.

~his may a~ be true abo'* ncm--trtbal s~ety 1n wh1c:b

the e&-J.ter1e of aex. ac;• 4ttc. would 1Ja more ilaport.aftt.

It 1a not that the worla-view is a atatJ..c pbenomenon.

It c:hanaes £J:Om trrime to time and 1~ varies ~om u1be to

tribe. we have# therefon. aaalyaed the ~ibes o£ %1l4la

prima&"J.ly 1ft nga&'d to their own conceptJ.cma el)O\lt theJ.r

polity • economy amt social dist.inctions.

93

l.a4&an T~J.,t\~1 &!!t\ P.ollsc lD the 11X11an cont~. the prcmlem of def.f.ning a

tr&-ibe haa been w~th the anthropologists and admlntstratore

for qdte acne t.tme.1 Though the debate bas been l.e.qely

UDpro4w:Uve. tt ahoulCl be noted that wbJ.l.e achol.or.-s wen

looklng £or an apt deftntuon. they were keen to dtstiagu.lsh

clearly between U1be end caste. The ant.turopolog1R8

working among trtbec in the Nort:b-EBatem Hill region.

Andaman Islands or some remote areas did not find it

necessary to distinguish between the two1 on the contra&y

some have found some simtlerid.es betw-een the tt~o. The

<U.atinct.ion battfttE!n the two however still ~ins blurred.

m:ttlngs by surj it. sJ.aM. 2 within t.be fcamework of

tndlan c.lvilisaticnal model, and by sa.u..ey3 basel on the

•uteracUonal m04el•. provide 'IGeful perspeet.ives to

understand the tribes ard the m111e\l in wb1cb they eJCtet.

Now. we Jcn.Oif. for inat.ance. tbat the Ka&u:. the Dhumij

end the ~ TallO t-ribes •• conoiderably different fran

what they we~ a hundred yeara ego. Pw:ther soaae ecbolua

bave exa:Dlnoa di£fercnt systems of pro4t1ction and their

management. processes of interaction with different

forces. an4 the resulting development. muong the tribes.

For example. ~r SQr&ah Singh observasa

•All over t.he MWida land befont the comtcg of t.be

alien .amindac'a an4 money-l.endera (c.Uku.e) 111 the 1~b

94

centuq• the locxn oJ? the time won tJ:tbal and non-t.ribals

(sadaa) into a socially aJJd econcmic:ally 1Dtegmte4 pat.~em.

The let.t.er a:eepected tbe sOCial and ec:oJlCXDlc superiority

of the MunCiaa, an4 their functJ.ons l.mparte4 a fullneae

and an econamf.c self-auff1c1ency to the total tl."ibal

village. The M\mdBa, in t..,, di.d AOt loolc upon ~hem eo

a 11ans (aikus) but ace~ them as adj unct.a of their

cOillln\Ulal life. The ext.ent of tbia in~nUon at the

l·owar level is apparent f~ ~ atmilar pattern of life

1ecl by the tril)al and non-tribals. The social occasions

S\lCb as ~he ame giving ce.l.'emQny, ma~rtaqe~ names of aays

and montbe, househol4 ~tansll, toole, dress, houses and

evan the language an ccmrttOD to both"• 4

Tba developments at the turn of the cantu.~y or even

o little earlier in ~e ChotaDagpwt ana have been entS.zoely

different. A depth analysis o£ different ereaa may nveal

4iffereAt bis~ical developments in the not-too-distant

past. say in 1930s, 1940a, and 1950e. A majority of

Uibals .ill cenual Ind.f.a were pnparing thenselves to

tbl:'ow away tbe1r Uibal identity and assume tbe cloak

e1 ther of Hinduism or of CN'latienitty. COU14 lt be the

admJ.nJ.at.cative ~eat of declar.lng some peoples as scheduled

~ibes end giving tbem epecial protection halted tbJ.a

procesa~ The answor ~o this question wou.ld lie however

in det:.a11ed exam.lnot.ion of ~ historical forces at work

95

in different areaa.5 aut the reality in ~b1cb we 11ve

today is that tbe constitution of India recognizes same

groups ae sch.eduled tribes.

The Const.lt\ltJ.Oil o£ India defines 'scheduled tribes•

as such tribes or total CCX~m~A1Uea a part of a gro~

within such t.ribes oncl t.r:tbal C<XDfAW11tles oe are deemed

Wlder AJ:ticle 342 to be SChec!W.eci 'rri.bes £or the pwrpose

of ~tas COnstit.utJ.on. fite 212 tribes have been deelaz:eci

by the President as the SCheduled Tr.ibel in the exercise

of the powers conferred by Clause (1) of AX'tlcle 342 o~

the Constitution of India in the cJ1fferem states of tntUa.

This provision mllkes a tribe as a •political category• •

According to 1911 and 1981 (P.:ovislonal) oensus. ~e U£bea

constitute 6.9 per c:ent an;,i 1. a per cent, nepeettvely of

the total population of the count~. JroUowinq ublea

sho--<4 a geograpbtcal. 11ngu1st1e ana ctJltural picttm:e o£

tribal Xn4J..e.

Table 1

S~te TOtal Bebedulect

:x: : : : : : : ::()~~: :;:t:V:t :~=a~: :: India 66.39,9'1,512 •• 11.47.922

~¥S9& AntlhR Pradesh s. 35.92,605 31.,76.,001

~ 'l:lf:C:1\'1 -58.,10.867 a~a~t 3.,39.,60.,905 48.48,586

cont:4 •••

96 S0 DS:It.a t. .. 1 I • a~

I • J

Karyana t.aa,so,9o2 -Klmachal ~doeh t2.31.SG9 1.91.263 Jamm\l and Kashmilr 59.54.010 -KBrDStaka 3, ?0.43,451 -Kerala 2, 54, 03, 21? 2,61,475 Madhya Pradesh s.a1,3B,<I67 -Maharashtxa 6~21.15,300 57,72,038 Man!pur 1~11,3?$ -Meghalaya 13,28,343 10,'16,345 Nagalard 7.73,281 a,so,ees C>riGsa 2, 62, ?2, OSt 59,15,067 Punjab ~66,69, '155 -Rajasthan 3,41,08,292 41,83,124 SikY.im 3,14,999 -Tamil Nadu 4,82, 91,456 5,20,226 Tripw:-a 20,47,351 5,83,920 uttar Pratte~ 11,oa,es,e74 -west Bengal 5,44,85,560 -VJ!i.on !!,~~J:s£¥.rt ADdaman and Nicobar Ialanda 1,88,254 22.361

AC'Wlachal Pnd.eeh 6,28,050 4,41,167 Cban4.lgadl t,S0,061 -.cadJ:'a &net Nagar Havelt 1,03,671 et.114 .Delbi G1,96,•t• -Ooa, Da&naD au Di\a 10,82,117 10,721 Lakabael.eep t0.231 37,?60 Mlaoram •·e7,774 4,51,007 Pondicb~ 6,06,162 -sourcaa Jnaia, 6 ••renc:e~'it' 1982, Publication

nlvision. nlstry o 1 ormaucm e»d aroao­cast.tng, Oovemment ot InClla, PP• 11,125.

Notes• No U'1bes were acheduled 1n the Pn&idelltiol orders for Karyana# Punjab. Chandigarb arvl Pon4Lehury.

2. No tcibeo were scheduled in the Presidan~iel ordel:' for Delhi.

3. Cena~s coald. not. bo coJMinctecl in ASSam.

4. The figures of ScheCiulea ?lribes for sCine st:atee «• per 1981 cell5us are not. availab1e.

It

97 Ttt.tbes vary f~om area to a&-ea in regar<t to size of

their popul.at10D# language., soc:lal organitadon an4 econcrDl'

etc.

Andsmanese Angam.I.-Nagaa As~ aadaga Bhoska Bhui~n BhumJ Birhor Ctle1lChll CheJ:O llafla aaaapa Gond Ko Kad.or Rannikac ~t.kar.l Khar.ta KhoDtl K~ Kota ~bOtSti+-\'J& Malal:p Ilia !a yam Ma1pahar:£a t-taloor Mathuvao tevi11ar M~ Nnga U.tbcG Naya41 Oraoll san tal Tbazu 'l'Oda

xaJ>l! ..!&

b~.~ AD4oman Islands Assam Bihar,. ortasa Kack'as Bombey u.P. M.P., alhlu:·, ori.ese Bihar. onaoa Madras, A.P. Bibar • orissa Aaaam OJ:'iasa, M.P.,. Madraa M. P • • l'Jelnbay Blbar. orissa Hacll:as Kerala BQm):)&y, wee~ Incllan States

81bar,. orissa Maeb'aa, Bihar, orissa M.P.,. 91har,. Orissa,. u.P. Nadl'aa Aosam Ma<k'ae Kerala Sibar, oriesa

MDdras Ke~la ,.adlras aibar Assam Kerala Bl.bar # Bengal Blh.ar, a;:,llflal U.P • ., Bengal Bihar Madras.

Tibet.o-Chlnese

The Naga Tribes o~ Assam. Garo~ lQlki, rU.ld.e# oa~1o. AbhOr, Rhaei etc.

Huntinq a~ C011eo­tl.ng St.oge

98 DJ?1• .!!1

LINOUIS'rXC i'AMJLIBS

AWitJ:'O-AsJ.atic

MWlda, Ro, santal lCharJ.a, KO.-wa, Gaclapa etc.

Table xv. BCONOM%C STATUS

Shifting or Aura cultl vatlon lumbering ete.

Dl:'avi&an

ora on, Maler • JChoDd• saora. ParJa.- KOJ'a• PaDlyaa. ChellCbu Kadar. Malsar, Mala&yn Gtc.

settled agricult_,.. riats. t~eavers. poul.ts:y•keepera etc.

99

Notvi~betaading the sdminist~ative decl&ra~on ~a~

c:eRaiD g&-OUPa o~ people are Sch.eduleci 'ft"ibes* t.hare st.Ul

rema1Ds some loose ends. A Vibe may have several sub­

gro~a. In soma cases. these subgroups have been limited

as independent tribes ami in some others as part of the

paJ:Ont tribe. FOr QQ thla poaes the p&'Oblem vbether the

ifttenc:t1on ):)etween cbe subgroups of a tribe .ts to be

treG~ed at the same level as the interaction between two

distin«* tribes. ~ ~le. ~ fa~thering Jenu

~u (in kar:nau~) c:oncslders a st~anger aay g~qp living

beyOn~ their !mmediate vicial.~. oac:ause the interaction

of the JeDu lQ&&'Ql)u ie limited in spac:e. g~o~a which a&-e

b&yona theu .tm.-nedlate v1c1n.lty are strangeJ:>s to them.

aut the situation is -Unly different 1ft tbe ease of

• Man4a • or tho • Oft on • tribes.

NO ai.c'eet. work b.a s been done so far on tribnl killahip

ancS power a:-elat£onsh1ps 1n Xndta. &at t:hen tU"e some shul.

ethllo;nphic accoun~s available wblch shade light on t.ba

po11t.lca1 auuctan aftd Jd.nahip in soc~. A ~evtew of

tbasa etbno;,rapbJ.c atwUes will give WJ &amework t.o look

at the tribel aociet.y for analys1og lctnoMp.power matrix.

For tbJ.s purpose Roy eurman•a6 t.e~rritod.al aivS.siona o•

tr~l comrnUDJ.tJ.es end Gebar4 Lensk.l• a "1 c.tJ.vJ.sJ.on of ~ibal

soclet.les in ~ezms of (1) HUnting ana gathering tribes.

100

(2) Simple Hortic:Gltural t.ribee, (3) Advanc:eci ttort~cultu.nl

tl'it)es an quite useful for our analysis.

IQCX!=Ql\~SL !Db!! Most pr.tmitive tribes of the Indian mainland o.n

fo~attmrers Ulte the 'Chenchus• of ADdbr& Pradesh and

'Kadara• and 'Melepentarama• of Kerala. All raen:ibors of

Chenchus tribe t1h1cb 1s scattered over the blgbl.antis to

bot.b aJ.dea of the river, an c:onscious of their identity

so en ethnic gc-oug even ~h tboy do not have a alst.tn~

language as the basis of ~heic- .ldenttflcation. There is

no occasJ.cm, however, for the 121hole tribe or evan for its

sub-gro~s even to p~lC's&J.e a common coU&'so of action, ana the only effec~lve arena of tfO~k other 1:han the nuclear

family ts a g~o"p of families possoss1ng t\ere41tlacy rights

to a tract of land. wit.bin Which its members are ~o to

hunt and collec~ edible cCUIAC)dities. The composlUon of

such a unit is fleJd.ble for ev~ 'chanchu• has the right

to tlWlt ancS collect not cmly on hJ.s fathu• 5 tent tory

but also on that of his mother, and once he is married

also on the natal. tcu:ritOJ:y of his t11fe. MOat ehanchua

live in groups of ttu:ee to tttelve primaq families, £or

a greater c:oncentra~ion of populetJ.on wo\lld exha~ too

quickly tho £onat prod'lce atbin z-easonal:tly easy nacb

of .-tlement.8

101 Nel~her the t1ee of p.roperty nor of aoclal pressure.a

or of poUt:.t.cal authority b.I..Dt.l a •chenchu' ~o any part:.tc:ular

locality. and the ab111~ ~move from one gro~ to the

other ~lies a high dega:ee of ~reedam and mobility. Are

Chonchu gro~s then wl~ any recognized leaders and

is ~ere one maD lnvestea with au~hority CNer t.h.e members

of the groQP? There is cenainly no social atra~iflc:at.lon

of any ~ and tmen is DO one e•rcising authority by

hereciltaq right.. au.~ in eveJ:Y local ~· a position

of some p¥'Cbinenco is held by a man known aa •peddemencbl'

or 'big man•. •te mainly functions aa spokesman in dealings

t~i~h ol.ltdders such as foreat of£1o1ala but. bae very little

authority. in t.t\e 1nt.emal mat.1ters end is at ~he moat a

•primu interpares•. 9

Even t.bOugb chenc:hue ~recognise ce&tain basic r1gh1:e

og J.Ddividuale# there 1a no machinery designed to safeguard

t.heae ~ights. Xf a 41sput.e <Slsrupts the l'laanony of a

gro1a9• the e14Gmaan .lnclwilng tbe • Pedciamancbi• may uy

~ cneaia~ but they have DQ power to impose a settlement

on W'lwl1Ung patties. Pl"1ction bet.ween t;wo memhers of a

grouP cnsmot. be eliminated by amica~le ciisoues1on. it. 1.s

usefW. for one o£ the parties to leave t.he g&-oup anti the

civale woald bence£~b avoid each other. Spatial m0b1.1ity

so immenHly prevalent among nomad.lc locd.wgathere&-s senes

t:hus os a meaae to neut:raUae the causes of social tensions.

102 There hove always been men of s~ personality.

whose voices would be beam 1n a gatbu1ng debating a

):)reach of CWJtcra but auch men can hardly be described as

•leaders•. Fo~ the econcxaic activities of the 'c:banchu'

wblch involve no ozoganlaation of efforts. provides no

scope for ony leadership. Thougtt. in the old times. vhen

cbenduta freely roamed the f=esto, ~t\en might have beeD

occasional quanels &bO\lt the infl:ingeme.nt. of bOundaries,

~re were certaloly never any institutions designed to

enforce tribal. lawe. ~ did ~he forest comads evolveci

any tr.tbal 1eac!ershlp. Wltbdhwal Sl'id avoidance of

contracts were tb$1.r 1Dst1rwt1ve reactions and there is

no memozy of any organi~ res.letance t.o outsiders inter­

fering ~ith ~be chencbu's ~itional 11£e.10

Y.unters end i!ood-gath.en~:s ere tOday so f~w in numbera

that t.heir fut.~e develOJ)lllent ha.l'dly presents a pnctical

pro))lem. Their c:taaracter1atJ.c way of life 1a ctoet1nf.d to

vanish as •c:hench\la* or 'bc!tara• • and t.hey may be absorl',)ed

aaoog the 10flar castes of the local rural population. 11

§!mel~ !!Ortieult!!£&~ TX:lkSs

A type of aeon~ wbicb bns probably a l&r:ger lease

o~ 1~£e is that of the semt-JtOmadie ablfting c:ultJ.vators.

even half a cent.uy ago~ tbare were sU.ll. many large

c:Qimm\Ul.t.Ues of slash-and-bum c:&~l.t.lvatora ac:attend over

the middle In41an t.r.lbal llelt and the Western gbata.

103 JUDong t.he be• Jcncnm of t.heae shifting cultivat.ors ar:e

• &algas•. •tQunara• • Hill KarJ.ae• an4 'Hill Rec!Clies• w

name only fou documented in various cnonognpba.12 JD

~egarcl ~ thBU general ecoocmic: standing eD4 settlement

pattern. these tl'ibas differ radically from ·~ more

advance~ and on tme whole also kom much more settled

sh1fUng C\Jltlvators 02 Ne.galsn4 and NOJ:'th-eae• l?I:Ontler

Agency. The hill or Kencta ae&l~ea o1 A.P. serve as an

exatQple fo~ the kind of social system aosocia ted w1~

primitive slUfUng ataltlvaucm.

The tl:'a&Uonal sattlemen~ pattern persisted at t.hat

time in the nmote ar:ean. whereas Villages o£ a novel .

type bad. grotm ~ along the banks of Godovar1. The Reaai

settlQments in tbe hills consisted of small clusters of

houses which had little permanence ancS vue likely to be

abaudone4 and nb\ll.lt elselfhere when the inhabitants moved

their cultivaUon to newly cleared hill-slopes. '1'he

atmosphen within s\lch a c:cammlty was cma of eq...a111ty

oi all households. Yet. there was usually a headman mown

as 'Pe44a Kapu' owed his position .. o his descent from the

£ounder of the c:ommUDi f:l'• :thJ.e headman enjoyed special

privileges and exon:iae:i authority over bls fellow villagers.

His man1festatJ.on w.ns that o£ a media tor between man end

s~et'DStural powerD# onct .in his capacity aa priest o£

1ocal deities he performed those rites that were believed

104 to secure to prosperity of the eomm\11\ity as a whole.

above all the agJ:>icultw:al rites. Apar~ !rom ~his function.

he was ~he spokesman of the group 1D dealings with out­

eide~s. Where laad was plentiful. the allocation of

parts of the contnWl81ly.owned village land pnsan~ed no

p~roblem but some parts of the hills, where the g&-0\lt.h of

popu.lation bad le4 to SOI'JlG pressure on lead. there arose

the neea of tlu.sbantling a c:cmmunity•s resources. In su.ch

areas the posJ.Uon of headman assumed greater J.lnportance

~ecause his consent ha4 to be obtained before a tract

of forest was t.alten uneler the axe aDd t~s consent co\114

be w.lthheld on the gro\Uld that the ~orest grmRh had not

s~fic:lently recovered. The headman was the gus~an

of tba forest rresourcea ana nsponsible for preventing

the wastage of ~eaourcu.13

Apan from the aelectJ.on of h111-~-vfor cultivatJ.on 1\

there t.~Ntre few oceaaions for ~ ranking of major 4ecisiODa

affecting members off a community. and Retl41 headman ~:arel.y

exercised theU' potc~ial power o£ leadership When they

participated in the eet~ng of disputes they acted as

members o£ informal councils of oldo and the extaot.ttJo 114lich

a heac!mao influenced the council• s ctec.taioo depended mainly

OD his personalJ.ty and strength of character.

In a4dit1on to the headmen of local groups. ~here

were tr.lbal d.lgn:ltarJ.es descr.t.be:l as •K'Ularn Pedda • whose

105 authoriq extended over a large number of sett.lements.

They were tb.e equivalent of the •cas~e-heac:Sman• of the

lower HJ.nel\llltcaates of ~e region and their main £u.ncUOD

was to a~trate in q®rrels which could not be settled

by the headmen an4 tbe eJ.ders of tbe village concernea.

In the past 'Kanda Reddiee• were involved in several

rebellions# the moat nouble being the so-called • ReD:Jpa

rebellion o£ 1819 • which waa cau.secs by ~he oppression of

the ReWSies at the hands of non-Uibal leaders, revenue

collectors aad other government o£f1cials. Significantly

several o~ the leaders o£ the rebell.1on were not. • Kill

Reddl.ee• but. petty cbieftai.ne of different castes wbose

forefathus had gained conuol ovu part. of the Reddi

Hills. aut in the rebelUon. they eepousetl the cause of

the Re&Ues and t.be later gave them ~netl 8\IPPOR

in the f1ght-agaJ.nat. the superior forces of government.

A trJbe laclc11lg an in41genous system of political leadera

axerc1e1ng power ovor their fellow tribosnaen accepted the

londership of outsiders when fac:ed by a ~t to 1ts

rights and pattern of 11fe.14

T~1bes comparable to the Hill R.edates 1n their economJ.c

level su.ch as the &aigas, Kamars and Kill Mariara, waed t.o

run their .internal affairs in a manner somewhat aimJ.lar

to thGt o£ the Re&u... but in their ease pressure by mote

106 a4vance4 populat.iorus c:U4 not leact to v1o1eat movementa

uniting the utbe umter oats14e lea4e.w:a.l5

fl4vapeed uo£!i!sglt'!£!& 1£ib.!• t!A'lile JtODe of the t&'ibes of 1pt:.tmltlve alasb-atld-

bum • cultivation of Ml&Sle and Southem Xndla has deVeloped

a pollUce.l ayatem dlch vests pOWer 1n indivlduale belonging

w opec1£lc lJ.neage or c:laes. we £.lad 8JDOilg' scme of the

more .. t.tled ana economically actvenced t&'!bal groups of

middle %n4.t.a a political ord&J: of wblch the J.n&Uwt.lon

of heredit.acy ~era is an important. eletDeDt. All example

of such a t&-.lbe is the Raj Goads whose 41~lbut1on extenda

today ov• Anahl'a Pradeatt. Mabtu"asbua &nd Madhya PJ:a&ta.16

Inherent in the Raj-Gon4°s social order 1a a c;eJ:UiD

.f.aconaia~nc:y between a aegmentai'J' eya._. based on the

_equality of a ~ of intermany.tn.g olana. aDd ~

o£ various arJ.e~attc linea~•• which £cmn pan of ~­

clau-11 ~ •~n~ ozvanisation ~ clans is no..a.­

daye without UJ:TJ.wr.lal .iaQ)lieaUODs and te o~

mainly with the regulet10D ol maft.t.age al\4 the maiatenance

of the cla-4eltiee (Peraa-PeD) whereas the £eu&ll 87~

had a ~ttor1al an4 polJ.Ucal Mala.

UbUl the e&.C'ly 1940s. there ware. iD Ac!llabad

distriot.. 31 chiefly houses whose authority 1D tribal

matters was etiU a:-ecogniced by the local oonaa. fte

107 members o~ •ome o~ these houaes bore the title of • Raja •

wblle others wen known by 'MOlcashi' or •nestuuukb' t1tlee

.atearning ~ MaPtba cultare. ftae position held by the

a~J.atocntic families DU1St be seen against the background

of a felldal aocJ.ety whlcb bad cuJ.minated in the Gond

dyna~Ri.es of Clarula and •anha•MamUa •, aaa may be 8\1JIIDI8Ct

Q in the following manne~•

(l) 'rbe status of RaJa. Mokashi OJ: Dasbnulch was held

by men of a patc'.t.-Uileage belonginq to one of ~

exosramoua CJond clons.

(2) While the arist.occat1c otetua of: e J:"Sja Uneage

was independent of tur1tor1al asscc:laU.ona,

evcy aw::h 1lneage exercJ.se4 jwrisdlc:Uon i.n

tribal matters wit.bln a limited domatn.

(3) ~he rigbit. t.o elGOJ:Ciae this jurisdt=ton •• not:

atrJ.ct1y c:onfine4 to the senJ.or-moat member of

the lineage bGt junioxo mem1)ers performed~ duty

of nja (or Mokaab1 etc.) .f.D the local.ltJ.ea of

their residence. nlffuaion of eutbor1t.y t.h~ugb­

out a lineage is cban.et.er1st1c of Gond aoc1a1

o~r. Thus~ a clan-priest.. 4os~iaed to minister

at rJ.tuals by vf.~ua of Me memboreh1p of a pr1ast1y

lineage can be zoep1aced by his younger brother/

eon or any other member o£ his lineage, the power

to htab~tah contact with tbe gods being beste4

in the l.i.neage aad not exclusively in any 1ncS1vtaual.

108 (4) Within his domain# the raja was the bighes~

judicial authority bttt he edminlsterea juat:ice

not: ae an autoc=at. bu.t pres14ed over a panchayat

in accordance with aona concepts of Juattce.

Hie cotUt had the c~~r of a court o~ appeal

and normally only those disputes whJ.ch had defined

settlement of vUlage-panchayats were brought.

before the court of the •raja' or *kash1'•

(S) ~~thin hi a doma.f.o the raja lev£84 uxes and a

va.:t•y of dues &om bie subjecbJ aft&S he was

entitled to a ahan of evesy fine irapose4 by a

panc:bayat.

(6) At Usuas. when there was no Sflttled government

cont&'Olle4 bye pan110unt power, the local U1bal

chiefs were undoubtedly, alao ro111t:a&y leaders

bouna to Dm4et- aasiata.nce to tbe1r superior

feudal lord••

(1) lD the 1940a, When the local Rajas, MOkash1 alltl

Deshmukb no longer ba4 ·~ formal political powu

in their role aa feudal chJ.efe, they wsually cU.e­

cbaqecl the adrDLDis"aUve and ritual 4utt•• of

headmaD {Patel.) 1D their village of res.S.dence, and

a r-aja'& aon founding a new village assumes· tba

&-ole of beadmaD.

109 (8) Aria~ratlc nralt was acq\dred by btnh aDd then

waa 110 provision f• aay change o£ natus b7 Vhicb

a CQIIIlODDr cou14 rJ.se to chiefly raftlc.

(9) There waa a pnfe1'8nce f<W r.:aafttage of r-ajae­

mouah.l Oon4 Desbnmkb wl~ girls of other arJ.ato­

crat1c fam111eo. but mu"~.leges With CCII'IInOneJ:"s were

wlta and o~fspr.tnqs o£ such mau:riaga aucceede4 to

father•a atataa.18

Today. the Ocnd Rajas e.ad Cbie£s wield no aeeulaar

power. their. admtllisU"at1•e funcUons having bs<im taken

over by tbc offiee:'s of state govenmtents. s= pan of

their pnatige nmaine ana ~s has eD&bled some member•

Of the chiefly houses to ~lete S\&Ccessfully 1n ele~cms

to local bodies end state legislo.tarG.

Qver a period of Ume41 there C&tne a significant

change ill ~e pattenl of a\lth.Ority. It vas eXSX"ci.sea by

~luen~lal headmen Wbooo cu~hority was clue to their

cba.ract.er 'lnci tntolUgence. There was ed11 a\Afficl•nt

flucJlty in settlemen~ pattern ana lan4 tenure to allow

men of RJ:'OJ19 peraoaality ~ establish new vtllagesl

"here tbey assume<~ the role of hea4mea ana t.be bea&Dell

of ex.tadng v:&.llage• posseasirlg qualiUee of 1eaderehl.p

could •JGMlnd their influence to neigh.bourlllg v 111ages,

~hue r1alng to positions o£ p~r w.1th1n a ne1ghbouhootl

110

comprising several villages. The emergence o£ su.ch men

was not J.nconeist.ent with the continuing though gradually

waning eGtb.ol"ity of local mjas and Mokashl. These

chieftains continued to hear cases not resolved in t.be

village-panchayaU.

!19Qcmoas .. De~rs e,ncj CMrult !n ~1Je91 £91lU

A new fact-or arose~ with the inauguration of 'Goad

BClucat.ion SCheme• and t.he consequent establishment of

village schools wJ.tb Oon4 as the med.lum of instruction.

%D t.his scheme• young GOilds were t.nined as teachers and

in 1950 more than 100 Gond schools staffed with Gond

teachers were in oper.'at.s.on. It was elq)O~ t.hat literate

Gonda woJrking ae village t.eachars wo\lld provido a new

leadership and that within 20 years or so a new genera~lon

of literate leaders would come ~· Stlt it was obsenect

in 19'70 that. e'<PftCtations of the late 1940a bave not yet

bean ful~illea.19

The Chn~a iD government. policy wwards the tribes

f'ollowing the CJ:"Htion of Aftdhn Pndeah res\ll~ed 1ft tbe

abandonment of o aepante edw:at.1on scheme for Con4a~

and schools in the tz'.tbal villages weft place4 under tbe

ed.acaUon departaaen~# st.a£fed largely tdth non-U".tba1

teachers ana run l~ke any other primary school. %n 19'70~

there was only one Gond having graduation. %t ia

111

s1qD1£.lcant that he belongs to ono of the arlstoc:ratlc

lineages aDd has been elected member of leg.loletlve

Assembly. Xn local panctayat el.ect..lon~ members o~ the

o14 Raja fam111ea have done relatively well and lt seems

that oonda persist in t.he1r loyalty towads theu o14

t.~ibal lea4era rather than ~nefer their ta:uet. to men

vho have acquired a tnQdium of ed~on. ctu:istopb

beUevea however tba~ a cont.lnuet.lon of ~ policy of

providl.ng spec:J.ol e4u.catiOAal fncJ.lJ.ties for oonas m1gb­

have resu.lted 1D t.he 6lmU'g'ence of new l.ead.ershlp. MaD•

who nma l11ed roote4 ill the tribal tracU Uon ad could

operate within the framevotk of a modem demOCrat.J.c:

syet~ wollld probably be acceptable as leGders. Those

edttcated oat.s1de t.he tribal area and influ.encea by the

values uneorm~ea Wltb tribal life• bowcvw. bnve to

stztve hard to hold on their ~ in ~ SOCial and oultu.ral

&tmQsphere of the state capital or even of t.he district.

headquarters that they have not suffic1~ self-confidence

an4 also Ut.tle mot.ivat:.lon to a~ aa effective spokesmeD

for their £el.low Vibeamen. Belonging to an unde~

privileged minority they f.tD4 it more advantagaows to

associate w1tb advanced sect.tons o£ i:.he populatJ.on ana

to adopt their pottoro of ~ife. 20

The OODds of Adllaba~ e tr.l.bal c:o:amw11ty of some

7s.ooo strong. have clearly failed to i:.~ QP leaders

112 capable of pl0a<ling their cause and effectively opposing

t.he alienation of tribal lana, a danger wh1cb bas ~eappeared

in the last. few years. ThJ.s fa1lw:-e is all tbe more

sw:prlsi~:J eo ln 1940s, o young Gcmd. Kumra Bb1mll# who

had rec0ivec.'l li~tle formal education. although he had

acqu.lred soma Jmowle4ge of reading end writing, had

c:cmmanded a to~ide following to th1s resiat.once to the

al.teDSt.lon of tz.t.bol lend and the oppressive behaviour

of forest. official•• 21 fi\ougb tt. would be misleading

~o 1nt.erp~et ~be rdnor rebellion of a few hundred aonae

as a messienlc movemen~ compa~able to ttle Santal ~ebelliOD

and other tribal risJ.cgs. KGnra Bhimu ev.t.nc:eli unCloUbtecUy

t.zue qualities of leac:iershlp and his 4eat.b 1n a clash

with the po11.ce ended the career of a man who otherwise

rol;Jbt have rnaclo a pos.lt.ive eontr.ib"tion ~ ~he cause of

the Gonda of Adilabade %~ 1e their mlsfORane t.bat. neit.ber

the opportunities of tho 1940a nor tbe recently developed

aanger o£ e mounting influx of non-tribala ialto the

stroq•ho14a ot the Raj-GOJUSs has givcm #'1e& to ony

charismat:.t.c leader cap&b1e o£ wU.dng the Gonda In their

reslstanc:a t.o e2C,ploJ.taUon by o~taiders or eYen rep~esenting

their 1eg1t£mate g~tevances in ~he legislative assembly o£

Andhro Pr.a4eab.22

T~ibes o£ Nor~East !.&:~tigz;

The c:ond.t.Uons prevailirlg among the bill ~i.bes in

%Ddia • s North-East Pront1er ere qa.ire different erom those

113 choracterisUca of middle %ftdia. Their taacU t.J.onal sys~ema

of povu have pers~sted untJ.l relatively and in many cases

~t .is posaiblo to dlscem tbe oatare o~ tho indigenous

eutl\Or1 t.y aVUftW:e as J.t was before the tribes Md come

under tbe Lofluence of outside forces.

An obvious example is the 'Konyak mgas• 23 of Nngaland

and the closely allied •wenchQS• • the T1r:'l.lp District of

NRPA. Most of the Konyak villages and all of the groupo

novJ aesCJ:'.tbed es •wanchu' b&lt. 1n £act inc:11st1ngu.1shable

from the neighbouring ICOnyaks ware then in tJ.Dadminlstered

tribal terr1t.ory• where t.he lndi.qenotts political systems

remained unaffecte4 by o~tstds 1of1u~nces.

xonyak like other ~gas have always ~eC()Gnicac:l

authori t.ies ~owered to exert control and impose san=lons.

Howevw~ there is o 41at!Dc:tion bet·~een a gzoQUp of •amoera­

uc• villages. there was a village cou.nsll. wni.ch c:onsistea

of nprosentattves of the .individuals from mon's houses

{Merung). Thai~ posi~lons as leaders of men•s houses

vas either hereditary or ~bey were chosen only for a Um1te4

period. The vil.la.ga counsil settl.eci disputes and had the

right to p\W. sh offenders guilty of b~enches o£ taboos or

of crimes agoinQt individuals, or the commupity. The

representatives of the men • s hooses had judicial powers

only when they acted ae a village COWlcil and not as

114 individual officlalB of their vordsl leadership was

c:ollect1ve anci men of ex.capt.lonal personality could

exert influence on v1llcge affairs only through existing

machinery. .t..e. by 'b\111d1ng up tbelr position within

their own men•s houses. The means of doing this was

either by the acquisition and jwUcious use of wealt:.b

or by mat.erial e;q,l.oJ.ta. for which in the days of hea4-

bunt1ng oo4 inter-vJ.ll~ge funds. there was ample cc:ope. 24

A differ~nt syot.em prevailecS in the villages ru.led

by autoc:ra~ic chiefs known as (•ANa• or •wMD• ). Such

a chief was undisputed leader of the village. COmmtmlty

and bis subjects treated h1m wlth deference of the highest

degree. 'rl\e allthorit.y of some of ~haoe Konyak chlefe

exten4e4 over a number of satellite villages and the

most powerful chiefs war& the 1ea4ero of ~he confederacies

of upto 30 villages • partly c:o~onies of ~he parent

villages antJ partly s®jugatecl in war. PAch o~ these

had its 0\fn chief ~o t~as usually a member of a branch

of t.he paramo\11\t chief's lineage and owe4 him alleg1enc:e.

The l<onyak c:h1e£e forme<i and 1n4eecl sti.ll £orm. ao ar:tato­

cratJ.c claas clearly 4i.s~ngu.1she4 f#om the commonsra.

-.tth1n the class there is a sQPeri.or eect.lon consisting

of meD anc.t \f'OtneD of pure ch.t.efly blood aDd two lower

catego.rJ.os CORJJi)ris.t.ng of persons spr.t.ng1og &an \IDJ.ons

between chiefs and women Qf C<XIlt\Oner st&twl. All the

115 chiefs of large po'4eriu1 villages and particularly beads

of Con£oderac1ea are ~ers of s~erlor class an.4 known

as ·~eat JUG• in contrast to the lower z:anld.ng. •small

ANQ'• ooly ~he son of a wife of equal etatNs can sw:eeed

a •grf!Qt cb1et• en4 in the cwent of the chiefly lineage

becoming extinc~ it was cuatomaq to bring iDa chief of

pure blood from another v~llage, though preferably

belonging to a collateral biNlftch of e~.lnct lineage. SUCh

an impot:tation o~ a chief of p\are blOOd was c:on&iderecl

preferable to allowing one of tho late chi~' s sona boJ:n

of lower status to wives aw:ceea to the posi Uon o£

cblefs.. Status and authority are inextricably liakea

~lti\ tbe p\U'ity o£ the c:blefly blood• and only 1D some

smaller • sa~ell.l~e• villeqea does not .l~ happen b"t. a

•small AtG•· OC:C:\lS)ies the p<>td.Uon of v1.11age chie£. 25

Wi~hiD tbe limits of their domain Kanyak chiefs

exercisecS j uttlciel pow• a• though they used to associate

to elders of the village wltb their decisions, however

their -..1tb'aate 1)0$'1~ over Uf• aDd dea~ waa a~ 1n dou.bt..

Tbey a~so acted ae war: leaders without necessarily

Gngagtog themee1ves .tnto ~1 fighting. The planni.Dg

of campaign eDCl t.be conclusions of alliances. however •

_.re based on the general aeceptance of the authority

of tba s-apreme chiefs to whom popular belle£ attzJbute4

ma.g1CtS1 p~ers • 26

116

Tbe position of the t<onyak ftlers uapanlleled among

othor ID41an populations ls remiftlecent of the status of

polyneslan chiefs rather than that of the headmen of most

ebo~lginal trl.bae of m1t1dle OJ:" aouthem Xn4.te. liVeD the

poweriul GODd Rajas. whoae authority ~ende4 ewer much

laa:ver anas ea much aa t.hese naga nl~s ana in their case

a~.tccesdon 414 cot depend enttr:ely upon the r1g.ta ma.intenance

of the p\1&'1ty of the chiefly bl.oocl.

ID the wake of the .recant Cft!at1on of democntlc

institutions in Nagalamt ~ere is clearly no panm~

place of autOCRatic Nlers whose power zens solely on the

principle Of paU11ineal .ucceas1on. On the basi• of visit

to fta:up nt.awlct .ln 1962 ones Nagaland .tn 1910• eta-tnoph

VOD-Purer. 21 aays that tbe G-lntchv. chiefs of the 'l'U\lp

41GU.lct: had at that. time retained thai.:- tra41Uonal

position aDd the hall• of their enomous houses wore aUll

teamiDg wit.b retainers and wivea. The aarea ha4 then ODly

recently ccme under t.he effect.tve administration of NBI'A

and the off.lc1ala workeci throu.gb the c::hlefe as neogn.t.aed

leadore of thai&" v illa~ea. Except for the fac::t that tbey

could no longer haYe put offendors to death. the chie£e

.retained the JWS.lcial powers which they ex~sea in

ccmjunct~on w.l~h tbo village council. M.lssJ.cmaq activity

was not pem.ltttd in NUA. Hance then vas no m1as1oc

edu.catea youngmen wbo c:oul4 challenge the autmorJ.ty of the

117

Xn Nagaland• on tbe other hand. tho authority of the

chiefs ia ~884 w e&'OsiOD by a n\Dnber o~ fa~n.

ctuoiatJ.aeity haa Hen can-iecl .f.nw ~be Konyak a#ea fECal

the nei~iftg A.Oe teft'itoq laqely tha>ugh t.be agency

o£ A.O. pas~.ra aatl teachene The development began after

1947 and iD some of the KOayak villages. Cbris~iana ~

ia msjo»i-y. Neazoly all t.be &'bacatea Konyaka an Cbrist;iana

and ill tbe newly inR.itutecS system of J:'egional councils

only meD 1iteztat.e in english - the offic.tal langage of

Neigalall4 • have any chance of vatn1nq influence. The

chief~ Wl\0 have thei.~> veaUCS inte.re• in tbe pneewation

of ~e old o~, were the last. to ake the adVantage of

the bell .Sucat1ona1 factUUes aDS most of them natated

C'hrfietiao p.topagab6a. COnaaquently tbue has developed a

cbtel on the td4e ~ the latter. 1'tte of'ficara of tile

g~ernment of NlagalaD4 wbicb beraef1tteel fRm the et.q)I)Oft

of the cbJ.efa qairast ttaa ~ol\l~i.ona#y foft*a o£ the ao­

called UD4e~oun4 aacw•ent• ue U'eating the cMefa vl.th

couft.eq end c:oneideratton aACS ,_ waa no• official poUey

t.o WXlel:'ldne their au.t.hor.ity. Ytlt• men wJ.th ~t4111

ectwcatlonal quallf1cat1ons a~:e eme.:gt.ng ns t.t. QOkeameD

oR cbe voung 11~" Konyaks. an4 J.n the opill1on of

Cbr1Roph. 29 it ts only a matter of tJ.me until the cbJ.e£a

loaa their g~.lp on the affaire of tbe1r villages. l'or a

118 genenUon or t.o. ~hey may be able to return some of tbeilr

p&'Ost.1ge. bu~ aevez:al cbiefs flnd it. difficult t.o obtain

t.he tracU.Uonal free labour £rom thelzo villagers and to

ext:rac:t. t'.he paymeuts of t~rJ.bute £~ aatellita v.Ulages,

as these ezoe no longer .lft need of protoction. Jn tbe eo­

called 4emoe&'Qt1a JConyak villages the new system o£ elec$1ona

to ftgional councils has oleo given rise to phenomena

Obs~ fJ:ICID t.RCU.Uonal Konyak aooioty. The need of a

prospe~ve 1eaaer to convas for votes n~ only wit.hift

his 011n village. b~ also in othu villages of the cluat.er

£orming a conft.i~uency has 1ec1 to the omergenc:e of £a~ons

cutting aoross village bOun&lrJ.es. such alignments cUd

not ex.l.et in pavious time.

nlfferent ft'Om the &welopment. of the polltic:al pONer­

structure pattanl emong ~he Konyak Nagae is the reaftton

to c:on~et \fi~h the modeh wo~lct by another UJbe of ~

NOrth Eo.st F~nt!el:'• the •APA TANis•. like the Konyaks. tho

AliA TANIS are 4J.91cted into a privileged ~er class end a

class ~rising c<X!Illoners and elaves. Bdt authorJ.t;.y

is not c011centra~ 1n ind.f.v J.auals who could be c1eac.-J!ae4

as ch.t.eifs# b® is 41ffuse4 among tbe membelrW of the upper

class. These men. acting as rep.resentaUvea o£ •tobeJ.r

class•. constitute in theJ.t pl~llty a kind of village

government. They e~ o&'bJ.t:a1o ~ tri.bal law and provide

119 leadership Sn the APA TANIS dealtngs with neighbouing

tribee. A man•• position J.n the COl'llnUD1ty is laJ:Vely

depeDSeZ* on bla atrength of char:ac:ter. intell.lgence and

wealth. Persons of illte;dt.y. energy ana w1adcm an

chosen w repnaent t.heh" clens in the v 11lage-counc11.

sa& rich meJl gaJ.o p#Ostige by dle lavishness with wbic:b

~hoy 41epoaa of their wealth for the bane£1t of tbeir co­

villagere. Tbe APA TANIS adaptation ~modem eondlt.1ons

os an access -os;y unequatecl by ony other xa:.u.an t.J:'J.bcl

of wblcb 1'\Jr~ bas personal kn0\11ledge. Wlt.hou~ abandoning

their c\alt.U~al tR<litions and re11glotts practices. they

bave manage4 t.o profit f~om t.he imlcwations ~ought to

tbam by govemrnent and to bridge wit.bln e single gen0ntion

tho gap between en anciont'. tribal c1v1liaation ana. ~

lr141an in the 20t.b c:entuq. wealthy APA TANIS wen ~

.in t.be a&t of making ~ best economic &&se of men and

materials. and their system of U'ibal ~l:lat.lon encouraged ....

private entQprJ.se and self•~relianae. but e~ enough

cont~l to safeguard the pu1)11c: J.nu~st. 1n aelfishness

ancl h1gh handedness of inlllv i&tal•• 29

~t.ive ~iew of P!!fGr a!!4 ..,A}!!ho£1$% __l!__~e~:Ia:i'i!!ki

In none of ~be political sy~e we have £ouna tha

ctaaz:-1amat1c leaders eujoying the power and authority solely

b&sed on kinship. only tho GonCls ana the Kcmyaka remember

120 c:b1efe 1ilbo Nletl ~ham long time ago. and ~hrougb legeDSa

we know of the valiant deeds of their rajaa. TheJ."e is

no .-zrozy of a GOOd leader who cloimea ~e role ozo universal

aaviowr of bls people or a~teptec! to launch measian1c

mcwement witt\ the poUUcal un4~onee. The OJ'Jly ~cal

Gond figw:"e sugges~ chanct_.:latics of a Vibal leader

is Lingo Co~ Llngal) • but his notw:e is that of a cultural

tluo. 1nat.&'Umento1 .in the est.abJ.ishment of social ordez:o

rathelt than that o~ a r:e£omer ~ c:hariematic leader.

Y'et there is ev14ence for tri):)al mass1an1c movements

led by men clalm.lng s~tura1 powers and we know ~hat.

some of these movements naa led t.o rebellions on a large

scale. ln bls book J\epllf,ou~ uoeht!S. (A Study o£

t·teasienic mavO"aeot• in lacUan Religion•> Stephen Fuchs

bas given accounts oi sw~l ~eu.nts ortglnatJ.cg C1ID.OJ'V

uibaJ. people~ 30 end it. would be ndunctant ~o deupllcat:e

his descriptions. Nearly all 8\IC:b movements are a &"eBftiOD

~o the oppaesaion encS expJ:Opz-iatiOD of t&"J.bal peoplo b.1

aconomically an4 po11Ucally mo.re powed~ grOQps. As

fer as can be diac:em.ea fC'QD the accounts of these Dl<W-.nta

wbLch aft~ web dJ.v~&Dt ~ibes as t.tte relatively

advanced aanta~a. nuuadaa aDd oraons. ana the more ba~

ab1.1s and ~r11s. ~here ie no correlotion between the fOJ:mal

a~ortty an4 1ea4e.&-ebip pat.t4Kn of various tribes and t.ha

121 ainct.lon ~ken by the meeslonic: 1nsurec=.tcms. Thsy arose

in ~s,ponse to p&"essure 1J¥ outai4e forces an4 eo a zoeault

of a con£uslon in spir.ltual and social values d\1.e to

clash of c:ultw:es wbich ~1 soci~les could not neuallze.

Most. fea~s of ew:b mcNem31lte ore not: peculiar to the

rebellions of the aboriginal Uibc!o but conform to a pettem

pnva111nG also GmOn9 •JUndu ea~a· end •M\.lSUm ooctetiea•.

Bai1'¥ bas described poUtical change GmOJl9 the

Kondamals. Three Cl1s~4t.act &Uuct.\lres can be perceJ.veci

tberot (1) Tribal orgaosaauon. (2) caste sv~em. aid

(3) The system p~J.c.ied by ~e bureaw:nUc administrcltion. 31

aa.lloy has swumar.leed t.he poUt.J.cal s~ of the fia-et

two gro~s as followaa

~~There a~ fun the KOnct inet.ttut.lons~ ond the t(GJII

political society in which tbe main cleavage& ~ loca.liee! composite cleue# usinr.J the 14tom of GgnatiODJ seCOJldly. then ere oriya settl«nent.a 1nt.arnally oroanieGCI em the basis of caste and e~lly fomtftg an egaUt:aJ:J.an acgmenta.cy sys~GD 1ne that o£ tbe Konde. the key catego,;r baln<J the dominant wazor.tor grou.,a•.32

After the adVent. of the British, 1n the Konci hUle

Jon 1850 e Jtegulor civilian admlnietra~~on wns fome:t in

~he area 1n tess. Tile nmt a&dnistJ:aUon ~sst. tho balance

between the Kl:md ana the Or1yas wb.f.cb hac2 oxlsted foro

122 oumbu o£ years. In ~ba new admlnt~a~D the powers

~ce given ~o the or1yaa. It also afferSect the eJq»analon

of l<oD4 teft'.lto~ ana gave the right ~0 p~ect 1en4 ~

the a&alni~Uon.

Now, wo will twm to t.he a~ority G\ii'U.Ctu.are among

the Bbumij 33 aad the Bhil. 34 The abwnlj Uve in tba Glstem

pal't of laldia iD t.he sta~es of asngal, Bihar aNi ortasa.

The Bb.l.ls an the .:-eetdenta of ~he tfaeteJ:"D pan of the

~ in tbe atatee of Rajasthan, MaherashU'a and the

So®b-Weot.em Madhya P&'aCSeah.

'l'be Bl\umlj bad unUl very recently a veU 4•elopEd

political aystea. It. can be briefly deacdbed ae !»eing

eonn.lt.ut.S of hlerareblc:al omer so that a rising ltWel

aync~aed witb a wider t.err.ltosy and greater pa><~U' o£

j urJ.adiction. 'the prJma~ lerel of aocJ.ol political

authority -. located in the village UDder a aeculer-cum­

aae&"OS village headman. 1'he v 111a~e was a pan of the

largu Wd.t eal.le4 'PazbG • c:ons1stlng of 12 villages w.t.th

a Parba c~ef known ee 'MEmk1' ~ 'Parba Raja•. t'be

Parhas were easClt.J.a11y defiDable in teJ:me of clan so~

aarit.y. A Dl111lber of aucb Parha WLlte c:onetit.ate4 wbat

was called the •Tara•• wJ.tb a •Tara£ Cbl.e~• known ao the

•aardar•. A c:ODfederaUon of several 'ftu:a~• conet.J.tutea

the •st.ate• • the state o£ BarabbwD h.eadeci by a aouler ~

123 a • Raja •. The Nling family which is j ~ifiably believed

~o be of abum1J or.f.q1Jl haa al~emately ~ec.t clatmlng

Rajp\lt <188Cent. a phenomenon which hae marw por:allela

ela•hent ln IDdla.

The ao11dar1ty of the •nate• waa ~ely baaed on e.

coamunity of sentiment. belief. 1n coamon ance~ &Dtl

CCXIInOD interests_. bu~ the political .lnatltut.iona wan

esaent.ially madcea by the nady art.ic:ulatton of the people

to tme ,art1e4 ~u .. of the auth.orit.y. Tbe ~er

ovtd bia poslUon to the "spec~ and obedlenc:e ~ hie

fellow U'J.beaman and wa• synt)oliaecl as tbe soc1o-re11gtoue

leader of the C2CinlllwUty. 'Ibis phasomenon ws well

ftmifie4 in the1ar soc1a1 o~an1Ation wherey the village

headman Mank1 ana saraar nceivacl special &"asp~ end.

obedience fJ:'Clm their fellow vibUDlen vbile w1tbla the

~here of k1nshlp attd feaily life tJw male el<lez-a oneS the

fathers wee c1-.rly zoecogbiaed as the a~erlor ealbocU.men~•

of authority.

Tbe saciet.y presented a fairly well dtWelopCI soc:Jal

a~at1f1eot1on. The c,.._aee vep cbiefly ba•e4 on the

blerarcblcal poUUcal anr~ure• •• well •• on tdle

dUferentJ.el laatl ownership and caplt:al ac:cumt11aUOD ~c:b

t:he •etate• .aruct:ue foRor.S. The pat.tem of st:rat..l£1ea­

tJ.on conUnuea to eoc:lst to-ciate. Tbe ent.tre camnuntty

124 of Bhlll'D1j was as it 1a today - hamon.lously and closely

a&t1c\lle~aS w1t.h the Hlndua who wer:e ~sentoo by a

number of e~san eDL'l professional castes. The BhumJJ

were themselves zoec:ogn.laeci as a Hlndu caste.

The Bh1m1J and HJ.n&ta vera ~brown into nexue of

ndprocal interact..log process of va17tng kinds. v.t.a.

economic. soc1o-r1tua11st.tc. exchange of profeadonal

councils aad serv.lcaa. and not the least. the exchange o£

J.Cl•a and ~la. In a4d1t1on to thEuJe. the suvtces

o£ the literate class of !UndWJ were eq,loyed by the

nlc for eff1c1$Jlt. organt2ations and a&D.lntsuat1ve

purposes. The H1nc1u.s ware almost centml at or arow:d

the ~own of BaRbhum wherefrom they periomeci their zole

act1v 1t1es. The town. the only one Of the • state', waa

tbe seat of the ~ulw an4 administration ae well as the

Centre of all major ac:Uv J.t.les in the regi.~ thus leac!iag

o significant EUq>reasion to the existence of lclngship. 35

The a bene deacr.lpt.lon ot: Bbum.t.j structure ow ioualy

refers to -he ~Jmea prior to tbe xnaependenc:e o£ InaJa ln

1941 • £or the aUbsequent. abolJ.t.ion of the feudal state&

broke ~ ita entire poUtical et.l:'uc:ture and it became pan of the %nd1an RepUbUc:. EVen 1n times earlier ~ this.

tbe s~tt• waa converted into a •zamtnc!arJ.• under the S&"J.t.ish

~e ba 1765. but tb.ts £omaa11y brOJce the state stJ:Uct\U'e.

125 its basic chanctar vas presenecl by the c:on~J.Dued conscJ.oaa­

nesa a rut a~v ity of the folks. Tb.ts was so because of

the lea that etruct;ure of authority tnto ita content ana

hiwa~rchlc:al anangement dt4 cot dwindle# but was only

.c-eor.tented resul~ 1D a Clu.al a~.tc\llation on the one

band with t.be zamlndal"i carqpany in matters of lanes J:eYenue

and on the other band with ~be traditional a:aJ or k1agsbip.

The zoaja whO &-ecelvd atllPle &nm.lity from ~e 2.amlnda&'i

company continued to &"emain the symbo.lical he.tld ana aacra2

leader of t.be coamuo1ty and the consc.tousnQSG i4entificaUoo

of the people w!tb the uadltional pa~tem vas perpetua~ect

through the iuact.ton o~ e number oft ~rtont soc~l

proc:uaea, feotivala etc. 36

we sball pees not~ em to consideration of • Bbil

S~Wt•• 1.n identical tem. end as in the case of atnamlJ

about the period irmleeltetely p.l'eCed!nq tho lndepcndonc:e

o£ ladta. U'b11ke the Shumij, the abil o£ the &rea were

politically w.led by the a&jput etete of a well-kDOWD

dynaftl'~ tme Sapyavanehl Ouhilee oDd their petty feudal

lo~a, the •jagtJtaan•. The ShU were. hovever, n~

•&Uy Nletl and awnaiDed constantly exa-emelv troublesome

s@jects of tba state. These people never swxut.~eci to

the a'*CilOCIW of ~he stata and ~ere persiatont. p1UD4crera

an4 c1epJ:G4ators in ~he rE91on. They had thus become a

126 perpe~ual eouce of tenor to ~ rest of the people

throu{Jbout the :-egion. Tbe H1n4ws or ~ber foJ:eignus

&4 ~ &are enter Bhil villages ~1~ttou1s t.he assw:anc:e

of suitably ermed esco~. Xn sho~. the nature of Bbil

relat.lonahip w.f.tb other people was an~ b\lt hlu:monloua.

It waa not only c~raUvely meagre bu~ •• predQDina~

by tha feeliftqs of opposJ.tt.on. def lance an4 hOstility.

TMe was tbe pa~t.em of ~he Bbil• e tola~1onsh1p wi~h

o~he~s# but wba~ is of panmo\AD~ importance to u.s pi'Gsontly

1a tbeJ.,- Internal. organization 1a ~e pan.

The ShU socie~ ha4 no cenual tdbel b0d7 to

exerclse social cont.rola. cor bad they any pat-.t.em o~

confedeJ!'atlon of v illagea. The mx&mum and the only ecmmunel

level of authority to engineer social rulers al\4 st.andal:'de

was confiDed to the Village units. In this respect. soh

village unit was spec1fieally tnaepend~ of others. '!bey

tte%'G not refuable to ansr higher str\lCt.ul:'al 1nst1tut1oas

except f~ ~e forced J.nte"ention of ~ho state government

in ce~J.n mattere pe...~1ft.tng to revenue or to such cr1miaa1

p1raet1c:ee as hOmiCides# 4acoit.1es RC:. Notwi~rul.log

the fact that tbe Yi11agea were 1ndepeadently f~onlcg

ana ti\Q'efop they 4o not comcetn ony particular or

exclustvG organJ.eatJ.on oR autbor.t~. '1'bera was a v .tllege

hea&nan~ che •AA.wta•. but hi• verde ha4 110 stat~&toq walght.

127 He .as essenUeUy represtmtat.tve of dle 1111eaqe which

held the rights aver ~he village lanc!s •gam-no-tak' eDCI

tbe~ef!ore an JntermaLUary bet.tteen tble lJ.nooc;Je and other

eettlue within the .lineage. was he the spokesman of

the entiCe village 1n r:elo~ion with the state end the

outer people? . In cases of internal disputes. the Mwat

was Obliged to call all t;he village poopl& to consider

the issue ana finally pronounce a judgement. The 'Rawat•

ba4 oo special rights oneS unanJmoue opinion. CommUDe

alone could settle e dispute. Since j.n many t.ypos of

e&ses. this 1nclude<l b=b the o1fer:etl and ag~rJ.ewed parties.

such a WlGDJmity cou.la be scarcely &-cached. &ven in 1the

mat.ters of magJ.c:o-re11g1ous cont.J:Ols- a UDanimOI.lS decision

~s cecessar:y to adopt effective meao~s. Jt was tbrougb

Stl.Cb wmnimity alone that t.ba wcme were fauna gQilt.y of

b81rag w1t.ches and. were ccmdemned and p\lt too cteat.h. 37

mlen cUsput.es were n~ settled tturough tbo v111ago

cCXl.'mlWte somG able villagemen •atsanjjaate• used t.o be

E:f\P1oyed by the pa~es t.o a&"bitrate o.n4 fiDeS out a

solution ag~l• to au. Tbis procedue was espec1811y

&-esoR«l to 1n setting tba inter-village dlaputea. No

absolute rooasures C:Quld be at'£ect.ed t.o r.tgt\tfUlly enforce

oll1:h0rity and maAnteAn the social mores and l&va, there

d1d not exist. any con-odpondtng loe~ o£ autho.r1 .. tty. Authantv

128

was &ffusect W.tima"ly \UlUoJ:mally among all the indiv.t.

duals, or to be moR acCUE'Elte. among the ad\llt male ...

1ndS.vi4llllls.

In ordi.Daq c:owrse, therefore, tbe ocew:renoe of

internal dwi&Uons wa ~ttvely c:aumon and the .lft4lv~

dual not too iftf.requently defied thei,r own social noDH~.

The va1uu JregaJrdiog submission to auttton~y wen litUe.

developea ana indivld\161• e llbeny unaerneat.h wae anu>ly

~haeJ.aed. Thla Cleecr1ption hoveYer <ioee not imply the

lac'k of ha&'mOI'Jy w1thln •he society. It ~k account of

t.be GQphaala on the individuality and was adj wsted t-.o all

.l~a consequences. The ma.lastay of hsr:mony among them was

theu feeling o£ nat.ural solidarity tfbic::h, in t.um, epracg

f&'QD theu canmon body of ance8to~. clan. lineage and

lc.lnahlp. c:cm:u.oD hab1taUon. eoamon. ~ienc:es ana ccmnoa

interests at laqe. and ~a leaet. of all, the feeling of

wa.lty, d~cate4 by the antagonistic 8J$eroal ~eaeure

fl:"cm outside. Tbis natural aolidaC"ity was n<* iDsUtu­

tionally reinforced or politically st~ured ana the lack

oi! ioatitut.lonol autbOrlt.y only nlie4 more and aon em

the pue naU.ve cohealon of the individuals diaorientecl

to tbe posJ.t:tvo attitudes of au~bod.~y. synchrcmlcally

w.lth tbls •pue• cohes.loa. tha society vae pat~erned along

the linea of what c:an be called • egalltariaD • social.

129 atru.cture abd classes of no kind oxistec! within it, 1n

so far as 'the aocio-econO!'nl.c and poliUc:al Rn.ctureo of

tbe society were ccmcen1ed.

'Rhc c~r1aon now of the Bhwa.lj ai'.Kl ~he ehll

suuctues indicate that they npreaantect easan~lly

two 4iag<mally opposite or <Uvergent types 1n mattes o£

s~UI'es of authod.ty ana social con~ols, pol1tic:al

structure4' ablcs of social authodty, aoci&l st.ratifica~J.on,

and finally in ~air ~elationshipa with the Hindus. l~ is

tne that in both tJ\e societJ.es, the people were a4just.«t

to their reapeotive pat~erns, sncl these patterns in tum

we~e more or less integratecl w.ttb the entlze aoclo-cultval

mata:-1x of the people. B\lt that is not an fllq)le.aation t'.o

the exl.at:cu:e oi pu:t.1clllar pat.tema. Tho aruswv to t.bia

question Uea ln certain &verse blatorical ~lenc•

vhic:h ean be ~fully l'endere4 as nsponaiblo for

aiffuenUal vaneformat.J.cm o£ theJte two eoc.l~lea.

To t:ake the Bbumlj soci•y fuat. wbat we not.lce here

1a a well 4We1opad 1ntcna1 ~Jt~Nc:tue of • st.at.e• vit.b

atu:uctw:oally well 4ef.lned loci of authorit.y euangetl 1ft

a biuarchical order1 a coft'espondingly well 4ave1optd

Rhica of poa.t.Uve ~•culat:icm and •dentif1cat1on with

tbe vaar£owl atruct.aes of eutbo~ityl the eld.st.ence o£

Eamtly, well developed social atrat.tficaUoft# encS finally

130 ~be presence of a ha&'lllODLO\lO and intimate relationship

wi~b the KlP&us. 'l'o these featu-es. ill contrast to pattema

found witbln the Db11 society. ~e historical causat.lons

sten:iered 1nte111gib1e by relevan~ nnaft:b glve an

GlCPlanati<m.

The political &Uuct~e of the Bburdj pr10J:> ~o the

state fOJ:mat.~<m as described above was fun&lmentally

differQDt. an(l ~be d.~cunaot:antial as well as CO!r\pa"Uve

eYJ.acanc:eo ahov that. it was 1n ell probability c:onat.ttta~ed

of Yillago unitaq organieatJ.ono or of £ec!exat1ons of a

number of Villages like ~he ~ecent. •Padm• organiaaUon

of the nefqhbourlng •MUnda•. crha- t.hese federe.tlons were

spec1£J.cally definable in t.ermo o£ cla.n o~anlzat1one la

amply ev ldenced f~ram f:he pnae~ eu-u~uea of •Parbaa'

among ~e Bbumij t.hanselves aa well as the pat"allel • Padla••

O.r'fJlmizaUons among the Munds. At. &Dy rate# an accurat:o

ana det:a11e4 4esCJ:"!ptJ.on of ~· Bbumi.J poUt.ic:al at~ure

J.n those tlmea ls of ccmperatJ.vely lesser s1gnlf1caace

than the fact. that J.~ waa posJ.t.J.vely less c:enUaliaed thaD

the otate ~ore founCl 1n la~er times. The movement

t.owarde e state foxmauon waa essentially chnra~ert.a.a

by tho qradual ~nsforma~ion of the forces of ood.al

aollc:Jar1 ty caused by ~he internal a a well as extGI'Il&l

hctor"s. The earl1eJ: oJ:\,JQft1zat1ons cbanc:t.ulzed bl' ~•

131 natural sense of social eoU&u:-ity vlth their source in

the c:ouanOD familial ~ of 11neage~ clan., and kinship

wore. h.OweYer. oxceoclingly important in that t~ developed

the nccessaq orientat.ton o~ the society to ec:b1e9e coh~cm

on ~he lines of cenuo11ae4 political aoUdarit.y. Thta

sense of pol.ttleal aolldac-lty wae actuallce4 by the

neeesslt.y of coopention to tlefenc.t against the bO~deriag

tdbal communities &s well as CU.roctly related to the

nel9hbour!ng state eoneol!dat.o:y tn(Wentcmts and these

sl.multenooue processes eventually gave way t.o crystal~

zat.1ono. It is sigDlf icant to note that the state actually

g~• out of the internal soUdUylng processes J:e1at.1ve

only t.o t.be demanas of ~mel faet.ors and that it dia

not in eay case come into exi~tence thl"~h conq\leste

ONer other paopl.e and their tettito.c1ee. The etbica of

such milltan mcwementCJ <to ~e c:ontra.:y bas been consJ.stently

lacking in the c:ommuni~y in question as well as in the

ne1ghbow:inq ~ibal cOID:ItWlitJ.ee which waa ao iq,ortant

factor in ~ gro"b of the st.at.e.

The formation of the state J.D tum was en efteet1ve

causation. A number of major transformations whlch sab­

quently occucre:i wJ.tbin the society can be t~:aced bscl: to

.it ss the sowrce. ln the first place1 tbe £o.anat.ion of

the stete laid e potential £1eld of trade and commsrc:e

132 and other exchanges wi~h the ottter commun1Ues. 38 TbG

attention of the neighbovt.ng Klnelu artisan castes vas

spontaneously drawn and "ey started coming into close

interaction wit.b tho ahumij agrlc:ul.tu.rista ea4 land bolclers.

In the wake of t.l\la ec:onomic symb.losia b•\f8en the two.

there folloved a f~tue inf.llt.araUon of the higher caste

literate KincSas who were nR only pauoonizai by the state1

bu~ whose serv.ices were significantly ~lized by it

eepec:ially in ot.r~bening its organimaUon according ..

to l1G'J1el:'• valuable ana vall tied J.deas ttum giving a new

oymbolical OlCPJ:eSs.lon to t.be ~ersh!p. As the Hl.nclue

who entore~ the ng.ton kept> thenuselves predominantly

centrEd at B:lrabhum which otherwise was the seat of ~·

ru1ccs and his a&DJ.n.lsU:aUoll# it grew up b<*b physically

end in J.awortance ana became a vital centz'G o1 all majo ..

act.lvitiea ojf the area. The cenual market ~a.ftizaUon

wblcb came into existence at the ~ became dlo n'lcleue

of ec:onond.c o.c:t.ivJ.t.lcaa as well as of the inten~ona

between tho Bburd.J ana the Hllldwt. These iot.era~ioos

tthic:b travw~ further beyond t.he f1e1CI o£ economic

s~ead.tly g:t:ew deeper to t.oucb t.hs ~liglous attd eoclo­

r.ltual Uvea of the people. The HJ.n4ga &"ep.Nsented a

blgbly eoau>lex eocJ.ety c:haracter.iaeci gy complic:at.ed class

end coste auuctw:e on~ tbe ponet~:auon ~ the1.r .tcteas

133

ana !aehavioUI'al patterns assts~ea in the gr~b of stra~

ficaUon within the Bhumij society whlcb wa othonrlee

also pJ:'OmQted by ~e atate auuct.Qre itself. Tho val"iou

classes. en!sans an4 uadeJI"a. large laa4 owners an~ o%'dS.Dea:y

peasants. the s~ante oneS masters and the rules (lncludinq

el.l the bierarch1cal ch.S.efa) •e. all atart.a to ba gro~d

according w ~e aocJ.opoUt1c:a1 and ec:onamlc power A~r

than OD the basJ.e o£ kinship aDd blood relat.lons tlb.tcb was

e profoun4 <leparture irom the tmicUUonal pattern. 'the

town of Bal:'abhum became tbe best representative UDit of the

varied stz:uct\ll'es and atn~ and auboclied the ideal pattem

of the .lnter:-relat1onsbip v.tEntab~e as a fnma o1 reference

for t.he c-eat of the area. 39

The behavSourat among Blnamij thsmselveo assumed

orientations to the aoc1o-po11Uc:al E$Mca of tile sU!te

organbat.lon. Tho et.~it\&Cle towal"do author!t.y became

concordont with the bler.arcb¥ of structure which devel~

within the society ant! which was eventually well ~amlfled

within the entie'e social lifo of the people. The behav1ou

patterns ~ook cogDidnce of the strat1flcatlcm ~J.ob

gradually energea witt\ the state structure ana was promot.ecl

fur:ther through the pa~clpation o£ t.be Jfiftdus. '.Ala

reciproe&l .f.ftteract.~on• between 9humiJ and the Hlncl\l&

eon~1nuet'l to gJfOW more an(~ ~re intense and strengtbene&S

134 the bonds between ~he two societies wbi.cb were originally

not onl.y relatJ. vely alien of life# but:. essentially discrete.

Tbe Hindus were 1D possession of s"lPerior atan&u:'ds of life

cltWer execution of a wide range of crafts and moJ:'e or less

developed means of subsistence while tho Bhumij efficlen~y

counto~lance4 t.heu leek in these aspects wStb the

political power whlcb tmey continually held w1t.hiD ~he

tcr1~o.r:y. The fus.ion of the two s.oci~J.es was as spontaneous

as it. was also smooth aDd ostensibly un~at by any factor1°

The Sbils bad no pOllt..lc:al. nructuro ot tbeu OWDI

i:.hat theu a~titwte towards au~ho.rity was t.o defy it1 that

t.hey had an egali~rian anrangemen~ Of their social

s~ure1 and their rele~ with H.lndus were anything

but harmcmlou ..

unU.ke the BbumJ.j • t.he ebi~Hlncl'l coouct baa beaD

very ancient. All available historical accounts fairly

agree that. the BbJ.ls not only &tel~ in the hilly Jtegions

of Rajp\ltana (Mjaatban) an4 cent.aral J:ndia 1n the ancicmt

~es. but. ttlttr ha<l tha1.zo Otm &'Ulership. The earlieR

b1stor1ca1 p~•• of sansvaJ:~a dating back ~o ~be 2nd-4th

centwr.las and tbe bls~or.lcol sources leaa one to bel~•e

that the ru1e of Kahat.rapaa waa follovaS by the successive

r~es of Gupta. HUn, Harsha o£ KaDaQj aaa P~t..l.ban. This

.la at once auggest.lve of the poss1b1Uty of sunival o£

135 Bhil cb1eftaiftahip. ~en with any theoretical de<l~ons,

it is •taencea beyQDd dOUbt. tbat ~he Shi1 cbleftaJ.nsbipa

414 survive tM'ougbou.t thio pvi«l • al~hough tbe exa~

natw:e of t.beir political agc-eemeut. w.lt.h the changing

SOVe#'O.l~DS is not fully Jmown - becatase ~heU' S\UY1Va1 J.n

the let.er h.lst.orical times is mentioned. 41 If one 1s t.o

believe tbe stzay bistoricel evidence, .lt seems fairly

cl•r that the earlier Sb.t.l stru~ue of rularships bad

by tban ekea<Jy dvindlecl enCI'Oachment by the Hind\& sovuetgaa

over the Bhil countq was lazvel.y, if not. solely. ~:"esponsible

f08 t.bls break qp.42

CJ.rcunlst.anc:ea wee sha.:ply altereS by t.he close of

the medJ.eval pmr.lod • 16~b cent~ • syncha"OJJlzl.ng w.lt.b

the total eR6bl1sbllent of the GQbil (Rajput 4YtJaaty of

the se•o41a KUla) aweretgnty aver sa novara. Tbe Gubil

cSynasty bad much earUer establlehett its rule 1n the northern

pan of the •vagaa•. namely, ~&#par area .•~ where ~

axt.41Dde4 funhw to tho south and by ~ium»blng ewer the

sonalld. aad by c:onqueriag tbe sporadically sU&VJ.Ving SbU

d\1eft:a.lnsblpa•3 establieh.S t.heir cQQplfte awau&l.bty 1ft

the a~ea of BaDswaz-a. KaYiDg Qste:l conq\lest at ~he handa

of these aaw eamere~ tho Bblls le~ely retzectoa and conf1ne4

themselves to the 1\.tlly and woody 1n~r1or. This eve'*

marltea a major shift in the hlstorv of the Bhile, so far

lenore to us,. it was conaequontial not. only of a major

136 uansfoJ:mation within ~heir Olin aoct~y but also tn ~bel~

.a-elations wi~b outside wcu-14.

'1M SbJ..ls who escaped ~o the geographically inhospitable

J.n~orioro wee mo~ive~ea by their urge ~ pnservc indeptSD­

denc:e# but t.beir po~.t.tJ.c:al structur:e was ahat.terea a= t.hey were politically dis.lntegrated. ~ in~o tme waste,

~:oclcy ana wooay lands- confJ:Onted by wild environs. the Bhlls

suffered a qrea~ deterioration in ~he level of their sU))sis­

tence end ~a production became meagre ana 1ndependable.

They adjusted to the jungles but at the same ~!me- ~hey

adopt.ea the grap of plund~ers ena depredators. The state

orderoci i:he Bhlls as a gc-ol:W of Olltlaws anci crJ.minals b"*

faile4 t.o bring them do;rm ~o normal life. In the beginning

the et.ate sufferett a qreat deal et the tmnas of these people

and pra~ically lett them t.o t.hetr Jungle autono:q. • 3

The Bbil eventwllly returned ~o a co:nperative seclueton

bayonet the reach of the alien people anet part.tcularly of

the ama of the state authority. COneu&".rently their ~ec.a,.

p~l contact with tbe outsJ.dero grGW ocareo and irregular

an4 zoelaUonshlp bet.ween ~he Hinelws and ~he Bbils became

overtonecS by the ~ee11ngo of opposJ.don and t\oRiltty.

~11th ~be slow conc::Cift'tratJ.on of pO"vier and later oesisted

by the Bdtishe!'s• t.ha stteco of aaaswaza succeeded .tn

entrorcing c::ont&"olo more rigidly and wtdely. aut t:he t:ota.l

137

subjugation o£ the Bhila~ could not be achievea. The Bb.Us

on the contra~ fsJ:led in reun1£ying ~hemselves. Their

diaper"aal 1n epace was as profound as ~he cUsilltega:aUOD

of their structure. Authority gone with the tradiUonal

st.J:uct~e of chieftainships, ~ined now in no one• s hands,

end tbuefore in everyone• s hllnds. Political ethJ.aa .as

~ defy autho.trit.y for t.he authority was enforced from quar­

tus ~eroal to them. They were motivat.ed by the urge to

preserve .1.n.dependeDCe. Ill<1191duals oriented in this value

system uncteratood no submission. In its liDBett.led and d1s-

1nt.egrattd stat~ the society faileci t.o deXine ~he appUea­

b111ty of these val\les. Whatever prevailed in outer

appaaraa.ee or 1n the new created ckcumetancos was eventually

grossly internalized. ~haeia on individuality therefore

became tbe trad1~1on and social life go~ a<lj.aeted to all its

manifestations. No one reseated tt, because it. was tJDiver~

among the 1n<l1V1<!ua1 rights, even to avecqe ancJ to pt.misb

were tacitly pe'"sonsllned. Vend~ta became the COde of

~hies. R1ghts and s~tus were eq\IGliafld. unlike the

ahum1J, tho ShU society was thus led to develop an egalt.

tarien power-struct\lre ana this W&S la"Uely influencoa by

their sJ.multaneous economic anarchy. 'lhls tfils anothec­

development wht.ch was entirely <.Uff?erent fran the s1tuat1cm

that ex1ste4 among them 1n the EKlr11er t.lmes of chieftain­

ships or rulersh1ps. The nhils • s oatward rela~ions thOugh

138 cons14erably modified stUl presei'YeCl the hangover of the

past."

u~es .t.,n !&!!!£ ACcos>ding to tbo ConsUt.ution (Schedulcci Tribes) Order

1950• there ore 29 sched.\lled ~1bes i.n Blhar. AecorcUng

to 1971 census 4.932,767tt persons ware found to belong to

scheduled tribes 1D B1harl therefore they represent a.75 per

cent of ~he etate•s population. The following ore the 29

Scheduled T.Tibes of Bihar (Table V).

!!zb\eV SC:HBIXJLED 'rltt SES

s~: Name ol ·kea -;bare a .. :::. i : ida~rm :\~~ :i :: No. seh.auled found Ma e Fe.-na • '.fota ~ll'.tbes • A) •

1. Bhwn.&J %ra tbe diet- 61,.892 63,086 124,918 Jr.lc::ta of Ranc:hl. SiDgb-bha,Hise~ oagb,san~hal Pal"gaftlla aDd DhaQl)ad

(B) 1. As- Tbrougbod 3.607 3.425 ,.026

the State 2. Baiga -cso- 933 8'7. s,e01 3. sanjaJ:"a -do- 15 $5 130

•• Batbudl -4o- 493 . ., 880 conW. •• p.138 ••

139 Tabla v •• contd••• s. 98416 Throughout 2f,Ot7 23.924 48.021

~a S-tate 6. Biftjhta 4,.514 4,525 9,119 ,. au hew 1,.785 1,679 3,466 e. Okjia 1,965 1.663 3.628 9. Chei'O 20,021 18#720 38#7fl to. CMk sara.uc 16.495 16,981 33.476 11. Goad 2S,.oos 23,86. 48.869 12. Gora1.t. 1.604 1,635 3,239 13. Ho 24?,554 257,618 505,172 14. JCal:maU 13.722 13,126 26,908 15. Ktusria 61,403 65,599 121,.002 16. 14harwar 71,113 68,099 139,212 11. KhOnd 269 32"1 596 te. Klsaa e.•ao 8,413 16,.903 19e KO~a 10.051 10,?53 20,804 20. ko.l'Wa 9,586 9.131 18,717 21. LOM.ta Lohn 59,156 51,014 116,828 aa. Mahli 31,879 3G,S73 74.452 23. Mal Babeuria ~.424 24.212 49,.636 24. MWlda 359,698 363,468 723,166 as. OftOD 436.385 439,833 876,.218 26.ea~ ,,.aoa 6,959 14.&41 :n. santal 899.566 991,.MO 1801,304 28• Seurio PaharJ.a 30,922 28,125 59,047 29. sauaar 1,955 1,593 3,M8

N01; ectuduleci 19,204 11.081 36,285 (unspecifi«l Vibu)

1'he pla~eaG contains as many aa 93 per ceart. of ~he

persons be.lonqtng to sched\aled Uibea. ~he cemaiiling 'I

per cen~ of tbeae uibea cu:e aparael.y aprea4 over ~e other

a,_s of ~na state. Pu.nuaa,. Bbagalpu.c', Ml.ID)er and Sbababad

a.-e the only four cU.stl!~ct.s of t.he plains wtaeh have any

s.1gni£1caot numb&~:" of sc:bed\1led tribes. ID ~he plateau.

the cUstr.icts o£ RAnc:h.1 (now CU.vided into three., AaDcb.l.,

140 Ownala on<l LObar:daga), &an tal Pargana an4 Slnghbhum have

a very higher population of SCbaciuled Tribes. :rn ia~.

77 per cent of the st.ote• a total scbe4\lled tribes have

been ret\U'Ded from the ebcWe 41s~1~a. 1'1\e ~her tbree

<i1stz:'ictos oi ploteau v tz. Kaaaribagh. Palamau. ana Dhanba4

contain 3 to 7 par cent only of the ~ot.al scheduled tribes

of tbe atate.

l'Ule n OlS'l'JUSUTION OP SCHEDUL&o 'l'Rl&SS JN DJP.PBRf:N'Z

msraxc.rs O'B THE s-:AT£ •• • I I •81 -rot 'i ••

Stat4!V'nlst.rict sehe4ale4 c:Ust.rlbuUOD !£a! • a

BIHAR 4,932,16'7 100

Pataa a.na N Gaya 1,538 R Sbababad 38,126 1 SenD t.f33 N Cbampa&"an aa.e&o N M\lsaffarpu 7GG H au:bbanga 335 R MWlgU 54,916 1 Bb&gal_pu VS,056 a saluea 9.159 N PQI.'ft- 155,813 3 s.n~bal Paqanaa 1.154,281 33 Pe.lamau 28'7,150 6 Hlaza&-ibagh 331,198 1 RaDChl 1.516,698 31 l)hallba<l 155,"5 3 Singhbbla 1,124,31? 13

N • Neg11g.tb1•• ~19wr• less 'bhao o.oos

TbU'ty trlbea have been zoec:ogDized as schedu.led ~ribes

- tbe PnsJ.den~J.el order £OJ: the state of auu~.r. %1lCSJ»t­

cluols who were representeet as • Ad.lvnsi.s• at the tlme o£

141 census wee gJrOUped as 'VllspecJ.fied •. 'the fo1Y ;ng

~ sta~ement gives the population of each schtdulec:t tl'ibe

ond the co.ft'eapondiag perc.Uge -.o total achedu1ed v.tbe

popul.etton of the State (Table VU).

san tal ORQft MW\da no Khazwar Kha~J.a Bbumlj LOhan Mab.t.l SawrJa Pabad.a C3on4 Mal Pabfu~ta seat. ebuo Cb1Jc Banik brmaU kOA l(Ortlfll K1aan hrbaiya Bl.nghea AsU&" Bic-jia sava~ a1&-boJ.9 Gora~~ Btl.lga aa~ Kbond Banjat:a UDspscJ.f1e4

•N• YAJ.

142 Tbe population of <Ufferent scheduled ~ribes varies

from over a hun"ed to wer a m11li<m. The first. eic;ht

tribeD (each Clfler a million) account for 89 per coM of

the total ~.tbal. population of ~e state. on the other

hand. the fifteen least poplllous trJ.bes account for only

3 per cent and the remaining tribes including the • Wlspf!Ci,.

f tea' contaiD e per cent of the tribal population.

~st}.!e and .POff!£\ A C?\¥ af, .~~es iq J!ihax; 'fhe Uibes of Bihar came into con~ct. with tbe K1n4ua

a~ ~"U.sl1ms Det~eral cantw:J.sa ago. The non-tribal people

have been living side b1' s1do witb the uoibals .tn tbe

villages. The t.-ibala came in contact witb outsiders at

the weelcly mnrketa also. 'l'ho freqt~en~ vtsit.e of government

officials sicco indepeocience. ind"atrJaUmatlon end npia

91r01fth of asu.eat.tOD have also helped l.n breaking tbe isolation

~ tribes. 'the tribala oi al.har - t.be Ho• tbe Kbaria. the

MUn&l• the oracm. and the Sant.al. • bave well c.'levelope4

~adit.lonal laad~ablp beaded by aecu.ler anc! aacratl leaden.

They are Jmot111 by dif£e~ names.

A cumber of villages £omu aD organiutlon call.S

•P.arha'• The Parha Paru:hayat is a soc:iel aad poliUeal

body and eatt.lea disputes betveen vill&gee and people of

dUf.-eAt v.f.1.1ages. ,_.he h•4 of t~s orgaD12at.f.on is Jcnown

as Pargana cr Pir. Por a variety of rcascms. these bO(U.ea

143

0 D\U'ing Britioh .nale end .t.n ~e years immo&Uet.ely

following# t.hese t~adit.ional leade.&-s enjoyed t&'e:nGncloua

authority and wielded effect1ve powU' iD U1e vibal

ccxmNol~y. Silt gm4ually with the decay o£ Pa~ba Pancbsyat.

village Antro4uctlon of govemmont pancbnyatt. vit.~\1181

of police. an4 z:wonue p~ers. growtb of ai\lcat.io.n. ad

of the new rich class and br<aak40tm of ~he social soU,.

darity of tha village t.he U.d1t1ona.1 leaders have lo~

much of t;hetr inf luenoe oDd ~est.tge•. • 5

The U.Sbea o~ tb£11 J:'e010D no4uc:ed e &Nmbsr of leaders

1fho organizeS a auzal)eJ: of elgn.l.ficaa~ mcwements. ln the

l~h eentuey. a number of p~est movement.s were OJ:V&alsec!

blf O%'aOllB• Muna.as. Santhals ancl Hos. 46

The tza&Uonal leaders verea .. t'u=l-brea. chaco.tamat.tc

ond n11g1ot~s 1n t.helt- approach. Tbey were not Qducoat.ea

but were supposed t.o hr:We a:"eCeived divine gu1dance ~~b

dreams or otheJ:Wise to lea4 t.be maseee•. 41 Kith tbe .tmpad:.

of mieo1onar:-1es. t.he leaderablp pat.tem bas changed ia the

last msoy ymrs anc!l ~ lmdersh1p of t.he Ui))ale bas

paaaed to the banda oi the weste&'ft edw:ated,. ucbeu,_bred

Chd.et1an tr1bals tfbo ar:e essenUal.ly ratlonal .to £Mer­

prating and taclclinv a polltJ.cal s.U~uat.ton•. 48

144 AmODg the rto. the headman is knovn as 0 Maold.•. He

is select.ed on ~he basis of t.ha influence he hue in hla

nelgbbourhood. file gcmeral consent of the 1nhabi.tanto

of the villages tRe~ which he is to be plaeed 1e also

~kGn tnt:o account. ~-days. a Hankl Clec1Cles only the

c:asa of adultcy &ftd of 4ssal"U.on by s wife. Fa.rlier he

uaed to~ dvtl eDti c:~£m.t.nal cases.

Th•• a~e variou sections among the Khlr1a end eaeb

sect.lon is lmowb by a dUfe.rent. rwme. These a.ra t.ha Hlll

tdaria. t.be ~helk1 Kbar.t..a and tho CUdb Rharta. The iDt:er­

village panchaya~ of ~he hill Ktmria is known eo Bhlm.

1~6 bead As called naad.la. The el4est and wJ.eeat of all

the vLJ.loga headmen. it is ooJ.a. is eelectecl as the DaDdio.

The Dhe1Jd. Khar.la do not. have a pet:manent ponchayat.. They

only have occas.lOtlBl irltor-village gatherings callect

Pa~ba or Kutwnb &lbha• The Parha of thea J:landb Kharta

c:onstst.s of v111agee of .Ufferent clane. The vtllave

headman is l<n.own as KaJ:tahBe The office of the h•cftman

is here61teu:y. The main fUDct:ion of those panchayat.e &DlODg

oll sections of Xhaarta. is the readmission of o~acla.S

persons into ~he tlribal field•

The M\mt!es have t.'.IIO kinds of v 111age unions - the

Bhumhruri Patti. wblcb became a pan of tho raalm of thG

.caja o£ Chotanagpar and tho JChu.ntkatt.i PettJ., wbic:b consisted

145 o.£ people wm. wanted to be free of ~he raja • s rule. aln

the Bhwzd.har1 e~oa. tbe Pama panchayat is a fixeci body

w1~b a peaan.GDt c:b1ef atyleci as Raja or Maharaja and a

pem:nanezm staff o£ off.1ccs. In the Kl\wstJca~t1 area. em

the other baud. ~he pancbayat is net tiler a fixed body no~

has it elCCept. fol.' its Puesident called the • Pat Mtmda • •

aQY permanent off.lc~a•.49

The number of v.t.lleges foming a Parhs am=.g the O%'aOD

J:Sngeu from S to 20. .ftmOD9 then ~he Par:l"ta ie a loose

confederacy of a number of neighbo~.tng v11lagos with a

ccmt.J:al organ.lzatJ.on lcD.mm aa tha tlparha Pancb•. 50 Besides

p~eoting t.he allied villages from numau aml sapemat.ural

enemies. 1t also helps in pr0flid1ng for the spiritual ana aoc:Lal weltare of the Pa~b:l CCIDmUDit.y.

The village:s of ~he S&Dtal Pacgana ere presided t:Ner

bV en officer kD.own as Pa~natt. •'fhe village becdmaD

of ~he Pa~gana ~ogt*ber wlth t.he Pa.:gaoslt and elders o£

the villages make up the body of the Pa&gana psnc'hayot..

The council beers appee).s fr;oom tbe dec1.aions of the v.tllage

b.ea&DBn•.51

The santala tmve a village council. 'I'he cOURcil is

Gl(peeted to take ctecioions tn r9epec:t cf all n:others

conc:unlng the vt.l1&90 CO!ml\&D1ty. Jf; £~ .ls wwml.e to

de~do the ca•e• a meeting o£ all the adult menber:s of the

146

village COUWUDi~ is held. Gellecally~ a 4ec1s1on is takerl

by consensus. Howwer. in acme cases e declsJ.on favoured

by the majority to alsC) accepted. The o£ftcers of ~be

eoWtCJ.l ere ~he Manjh1 (~he headman) who 18 assisted bV a

Paarani'k (the eseJ.st;.ant. hEBdman) • tbe myak (Village

prieR)., ~be JQG-Manjhi (tba monl-guar4!8n of v tllage

,outb), the 3~-Psrantk (the aes1st.ent to tbe prJ.eat)., ancJ

the GOdet (cha mesaanger). Tbese officlala ~o ~be council

are elec:t.GIS custcmari~y at the time o~ the foundation of a

village. Latw aw:cess1on to thetJe o£f1cea is heredtt-.aq.

usually., tbe el<Sest eon aucc:Geds the father. The village

comnmlty fOJ:ms paltt of a lw:ge~r poll.t:.t.cal garO\q). The

leader of the la"9er gro-~ 1a known as 'PargaM1t'• HCJ

is one of thG headmen. He 1s assJ.ateci by the Das Mao.jhl.

ana a cou.nd.l of bGaam&ra of all tta. villages. The status

and .-ole of the prcasent cSay san tal village heac3mall io tbe

sontal Pa~anas of Bl~ poses a ccxqplex p~lma £or

analysis. 1'he enactment Of headmanabip ukes place ira

a mauJ.:c of UeaJ.Uonal inst1tutiClls wb1cb have been amdw

pressQX"e to cbange frcaa ma~ CU.fferent inflwmceo. Sirlc:e

the ssnt.al r~Uon o£ 1955-57 the lan<!ed vtlla~ara

desJ.gaatea as • &nta.l. vUlagcs• in tbe santal Pal"ganas

have l.ed certain political 1nst1t.utions imposd upon ~hen

by tho col~al sr.t.Ush aDd by the ill<iependcnt. state of

Zndt.a. These cli.ffering som~.tmes c:onfl1~1ng J.nstitutiona

147 have placed the sactal villages and m~o parU.c:ularly.

HeadmtuJ&b1.p .ls mo~:e tbaD a pol.lt.lcal pos.I.Uon in the

US41t1onal socJ.ol ayaten1 ~he villagers ~hemselves .l'der:

to b.eadmanship as the eg1ttxo.lsat1on of t:hellr 'Ha~ atoak•

custQn (~be sa•$! cunoms of the ance~or•>• I'~ the

cul.tQE'al point. of view, headmanllhip r-epresent. a eoau>lex

of JA.eals b9G.f.e to ~e santal way ot. lUe as we find 1~

today.

Uoyd Fallus• article on "'rhe P~ut of ~hQ

t-~ern Md.can Chief- AD 1n~nc:e from UqanQ.a• appeared

1o tbe .Mtortcan anthropologist. TWO of gallers' g~lS...

2at1ons era pertiaent fo~ wn (1) Pirst, he stetes that

sys~emat.ic analyate of the 'hBzmonloW'. integraticn• of o

soc.lal syste:n may not be any more fnait:ful than an analyst•

of •events• rel.ate4 to 41scot:df (2) secondly. he uta~eo

that •soci&l systems ~ing at verse and c:onf lic:tlng

elements have ecme into betcg• • 1. e. all the clements o£

a aoc:iel systcmt nttca not be c<:Qplementaq 1n oJ:lier for

the system to continue. 52

AlthoUgh Pa11er6 w~e of an African aitua~:l.on, rather

t.han an Ind.ian. that. t.oo# many years ago. both of i:heae

a.o~.tons are approprj.ete to the sentel sltu.at.ton. Mally

events relatcxl to ._b.e cUsCOJ:'d ore manLiest. Tho santal

148 social system can certaiDly be labelled tttracii~1ona1•. but

J.t is certai.nly in a stet.e o£ f.lwc. sJ.m1l.er1y. this peasa'*

soc.let.y has incORPOI"ated elements which are Hauingly dis-

bamonioua into •he system. bat. tbe system caamot be

described as anything but santal.

o

The santal headman is in~tcably involved or subj~

to lnvolvem~ bcac:ause of ~he vadit1onal expectations.

'l'hel"e are five such ins~rumental.lti.ese tho firs~ three are

tha cbaract.u.&etics oif trad£t.1onal santal eod.ety1 ~he last

two are the chaJ:aet.er:J.st.lcs of pan-lnc:U.en pol1.~y. They

exist. by the allthority of the national government in its

pa-esent fo.~:ma (1) The ho\lsahold 1n tho v111nge set.tJ.n<J~

(2) ths village council ccm,posed of hollSehold heo.ds. (3) the

acimioistntive elders 1nelud1ng the headmn. (4) the eub-

41v 1aJ.onal administrattion t~bich has continued in .tta

present form since the 1855 r~elllon, ana (5) the oov

panchayat systcam. an instrumentality of moclem ~1

democracy. 53

Tbe genoRl purpose of ~he lottQ%' t.wo llke all national

s~ueture 1s to bl:ing ttle con<iuc:t of the government in

t:he aantal uea into coordination w~th C'CIDIZIOD proc:essGs

tturcugtlo"t the natj,on. Por the Santel ~his a~teRUJt tends

to negate the allogatl c:oncom £or ethnic ~dentJ.ty. DS.ffo­

ranc:e between tradition and pan-IncU.an 1nstrumental.ttias

149

santal ~rience- presCJ:Ved orally ~il recen~

times. 1ncU.cates ~hat ~he unwrit~en Nlos o£ aocJ.et.y have

been coattnually cballeng~ by the pngmat1c acts of indl­

v14uals ond gJ:Oupa. NGV'al:'tlheless three chaRct.c1stJ.cs

pervade tbe t.t:adidonal instJnmentaliUcs 1D a nnoner uhtch

may pr091de ~he key to ~o sw:9iva1 of u-aclitJ.onal culcure

1n modem times. (1) Bacb 1nst~entality is J:eSPOnsible

for and e~teea au~hO.r:l~y (;Ner its mEmbers displeying

c certain degJ:>eo of au~ thJ:OUghout t'.ho entire soeial

sys~am. (2) Each I'GCogniees an eldar member: of the gnQP

ls 1ts cooZ'CUna~ion and an eutt\ority whose role it if9 ~

easure the pul"sult of mo~li- and equalii:y of l!'.lght.s aDd

z:respons1b1l1t1es as define<l by tba tradJ.tlona of the

ancest.o~s. (3) Tbe people of •cb inotl'umenta11'-Y c:ompose

e counterbalanc1og body of autbort~. modifying the pow(:U'

of tbe eld9~ member. Tbe th~ ch6racte#1st1c serves

to preserve ~he egalit".a.tiao principle of SGntal sOCiety

~hicb awards equal rights w esch part.t.CS.patlag member

of the c:omrmm1t.y, n.wer aw:roundino ebsolut.e poae~ ~o

anyone. 54 Heroin lies t.ho bnnis of one partictlla~ st$Uqgle

and hacmonious e1cmcnt1 namely, the struqgle between ~he

traditional village council and ~ha new i)a)nchaya~. 'l'be

beaam&n J.s ~e e~4er o.f dle vJ.llago c:ounc1.1. aDCJ w.ltbout a

150 vall defllled ~role 1n ~elation to -he new partchayat.

ftaCI1tiona1 sanul society dlctatos ~t ~he hendmao

~DUSt be responsib~e for the smootob operation of the vho1e

system1 be .le t~ainea thus fnm t:be cb1ldhoocl 1D the

household Of his fatbel' £rem wbcxa he .IDherits his sta~ua.

'1'herefcure. the role of thG headman bec:cmas complex and

mulUpliec:t. but> hie poli Ucal ~ole is of special intenst

at. this point in time. %t: '"· however. &fficul~ ~0 ~ore

~e fact. tbat the status Of tbe headman ia of incU.genoua1y

aae~ natue~ be represents ~e spirit o£ the village

£0\&Dde~ whose g-aar41an spkit ~:ema1ne 1.n the village more

pan.tc:ularly CI'IJ'dpraaent. in Ute bouse of ~o headmaft - the

inh•1tct awaJ.Ung from generaUon to generation. The

~tus and the role of the headman bec:cme more clear Vlrougb

~e inaU"UmeotaliUe& aa 4ef1ne4. 55

na ahon. tbe village headman a-emaioa ~b ...

vaCU.Uonal MaDjbi an4 the Pndban by offic.lel gcwenmtet*

appointment. He ie the headman by b~ right ancS approval

o£ the f!d1ow-vi.1lagers, his atatua ie •vtv•• ami bls 1101•

1e defJ.ned occo~g to tdle WlWd.tt.en eta~ of tbe ~ ...

taRed Seatal social ay~em ana guid.S by~ 14eala of

an egol.tt.arJan (ae opposEd to a caste-zonked) Ctlltunl

m111Gl1. At t.be same time as PracSban be is exp~e5 to

£unc:t1on ao an appo.S.Dt-.ee of tbe state ancl pa"£oJ:JDa bJ.a

151 4\ltiea ac:co~ to cocu.£ietl stab.la appUc:able ~o eay and

all headmen of villages in BJ.bar. Ddtb tbe changes 1D

the local gCNemmental av~U&"e, the baadmnn repeat.ealy

fin&J himseU caught between ~he forces ~ vaditional

aDd •11ew structure• the dynamics o~ which of~eD leave b.lm

in ather ~ll.ca~e4 predicaments.

so the tribal v illagu of 81har are also pert of at

least. three con~oJ:ary adrl'drl.lst.rattve agenciea ia addit.iOD

to ~e.tr vac11tionol uibal QrOllPings. These agemctes al:'e

~e polka sU.ttons. tbe ft6t.utoq panchayat, ana the

cCIIInUnity 4•elopmon~ bloctc. ftJ:n Blt1ar tba panchayau

wwe o~ania«l on a at.at.utoq basts fJran 1947. By nov,

la.r:ge pens of Chotaaaqpv and sant.bal P&zvaaas have come

unaer the opora~lon of ~he s.tha~ PaDchayat Raj ~ •. 56

The lD~w:taoo of the a.ew system baa not. al~en4 tblt

a-acU.Uonal pattern 1n those aJreae where botb village

pancbayata aDS tlle Palrba aw •t..f.ll in opemt~on. ID these

vJ.llagee, all aociel offices ere et.ill handled by tbe

villague ttunselvea and "oDly cog~l• o~fencu on

ukeft to the statult0%7 panchaynta•. 51

To finci out d\e changea .t.n tho tza41t1.onal moa .. ad

patt.erns of l.eaclerah£p and power ~=~ Bachcbldaaaad

condu.ct.ed a ~ey in eo onon village. TradJ.t.1onally tbe

vUlago has ~ee 1•4era- tbe Pabarl Caacrect leadez>)l tbo

152 Mabato (sec:ular). ~he ~ar (Pahan•s assiBtent). Earll•

the Dhumltur1a provided a training ground for futun leader:a.

~ore the il'ltro4uc:tJ.on of the statutory panchayato.

~be pceer and ~1\lence iD the villege were sbal"ed by the

Paban. the tr:ac.U.tl.onal panchayat# ana the v.lllage cho>1k1dar.

In the trac.U.tional pancbayat the village used to take

dec1G1one 1n c:ons\lltet.lon with other adults. The 1ntroau.c1aon

of statutozy 9Bnchapts ana ccxwmmlty development prognmwne

have changed the p~er structure of the village. They

brought a number of changes 1n the v J.llages emS ltmlttd

the decislOD mald.ng power Of the tarad&t1ona1 letlder. 58

The ~udiea of two oraon v .tllages by sadlcbidanand

and MC>inal aol'9 bava sbown that. tho leodersh.t.p plays an

-oftant role in ensuring social change. If the leadexo­

abip is dyna.m1c and ie tbe first to accept changGa~ people

wtU goU«* him easily and such a leader can be more

effective than any other factor.

On the basio of the pc>lJ.Uc:al h.lstOJ:y of the td.bes.

t~ diat.l.nct phaaea can be identtnea 1n u1ba1 India -

ime pre-British pariod# the Britiab period an4 tohe post­

Xndependenc:e pertod. Altohough o=tact.s between tho Viboa

and oon-UJ.bal groups date bQcl< to the early period of

Indian histoq. it wao on.ly du&'.lng tho .-.lt.tsh period ~t

the ~teract.tOD bet.ween the two ~s .tntEDaUied. Bes14ea

153 weekly maa:-ket.s, where these pGOple came 1n conta~ with

Ofle another, the W:J.beG bad regula.e- interaction witb ccma fYv,. c....~<-\$

a~:tlaan castes Uke blacksml~a. 'bask~. potters, 1\

anc.t weavers. Tbe early .f.rQpact of non-tr:1bal on tribal can

easily be founc! in ~e ec:OJ'lamlc o~:gaDlzat.lon of! these

peoplo. Later on, the socla1 and cul.~ural aspects o£

vt.bal 1J.£e were also iafluenc:ed.

As far as changes 1D tho political pO'#Gr structure

of the tJr.lbea an concorned, o wwiew of the existing

literature rcwealo that no ccmprehensivo stuctv on tho

political organ1rmt1on of any of the tr.tbes 1n India has

boen done, aiJ4 ffwhat is available is 1n the fom of stray

a~cles with haphazoftlly collected illustrations•. 60

em. ewe~ On tho basis of ~d1Uona1 political paAer struc:t:ure

1n i:rtbol Ind4a we can classify ~he Uibes into the

loll<NJ.ng categor1-•

(l) 'J.T.lbes wbicb have a v.lllage cOWtc11 or trad1Uona1

pancbayat only'

(2) Trit»es wbtcb tmve tbe two-ttu syatta.n of orgaa£­

zaU.ons • one at the Village level onc:i tbe ~her

at the .lllter-v.lllage levalt

(3) ~s w.ltb a t~a-tier system of organizations­

QOe at ~he v£.l.J.age .level.. tba other a~ th€3 trJ.ba1

154 l•el~ and ~· t.bUd a~ the in~illage l•el•

Thle .ta found among ~be tribes UviruJ along witb

ncm-tr.lbala. like the kond o§ Oa-.18sa. Thct~e are

seme uJbes wb1ch do not have any cetraUHd

$7RCOI

On t.he basis of the scanty J.nformatt.OD available,

the following Obsewations about the pOSer stru.etw:e

of the t.l'ibes CDn be mad••

(a) xo almost ell t.l:'.tbes, the tratUt.tonal authority

et.ru.oture ia n1U 4CID1nant. The in~oduc\\ton

o£ new syste:ua of govemment en.d eutborl~ h&a

a:-educed tbe powers of twd1Uona1 ch1efo, b\&

tb~ c:ontiaue t.o be infl\leftt.tal.

(b) The inu-od.w:Uon of new system has hacl• in

8Cltltt c:ases. two confusing situations. ~s

happened because most U.tbala were wmble -o

gn.ep the .t<ll\'ha and stru.c:t:uxoo of the new ~co.

(c) Fomnerly the decis.lons \18~ ~o be taken either

by ~e heaa or by cocu.ensws. naa.t. the .tnt&"OSuo­

Ucn of the new ~·t.em bas tcmded to replace

consensus by majo.-.lty aecJ.Giona.

(4) zn same tribes there ie no c:1~cu.t <l.lsUnc:U.on

~ween aecu.lsr ana aacred tnst.l tut.ions. The

bea&t of the tradltlonal panchayats also •~

aa ~e c:hiefs £or religious activ J.Ues.

1.

a.

s.

e.

12.

155 (e) The emeaging lEBde~sbip is alffvellt £:-om ~e

uad.Stlonal leade.&-shtp.

-GeS• Gbw:ye, m &qhet!gled .TZ.:i~!a. (Delhit Popular Plt"akastmo. 19 •

surjit S!nha, ~Ab&scas~e and Tribe-Peasaatt Continua ~n CcmU'al India •• [$8!) .A.n Xgdts, vo1.16• no. 2. 1965.

sujit SJ.olm, "TTribnl soltdartty Mcwemsnts in India• in tc.s. stngb (eti.), ~ .tatMU,'Yft a !~!A (sJ.mlaa InsUtu.te of AdVanced st · • 9 · J. R.OF• DUJ'mOD, •aome dimensions of 'rft\nafol:'UI8t.1cm o£ Td.bal Sod.Gttes 1D tncSJ.a•. ima£nn.~ of, .§.oSl!!! Ru~g;b, vol.xx, no.s, 1968.

Gehar4 Lenakl, t!fi!E a,nd RJti.V.}..l$1~ ~ ~ 1 fa~ s-~t~h'o1.11 . (l'lw~~: M~ 11.:U 11a~ ~; /~(,~

P~Halmordori* Christoph Von~ e b e e 'falls .~ AAs.Ja!SSa'\ (Londont r-acmt • 19 l • P• ·

Xb.t<t., pp.eS-99.

lbtd •• pp.ll0-42.

Xbt4e, p.l-92•

v. Elvin. :£be f:.ta~ (Londona John KU&"S"ay, 1939), s.c. lAibey~iffif}cil 5': (l..uclcnol4J The Ulliversal PUblJ..­atuats, 1951) t '~~•J• Grt.gson. 3,hG Maria Gond of sa~a (London, 1949), eda. a. - . . .. --.

17.

%7 •.

28.

29.

ao. 31.

Ibid•• Pe62.

XbLd.• Pe89•

156

Scl"ara Jay. •Laeu:!ersl\lp and external Relations in Tribal Canmunity of Middle lnc:lia" in L.P. Vl.dyarth1 (ed.), ~~e£~hiR in ~odie, (aambaya ASia• 1967).

A~ tbe moment At is CU.fficalt ~o discuss the prO})lem of i:he cooxietence of these two oysteme and eo we ~111 c:onceDt.J:'ate en the position of ~he Qond Rajas ana other CJUefa who U'aditionally hold ~er.

Burer-Ha1mendori• Christoph Von. §aJ. goads o£ A61ilabada ll Pc;asaut • .9!15W£a of ~n (Loooona MOciiiiiJ.e"ti. fg'fer: X bid.

1b1~. pp.113-17.

Ibid.• pp.119-21.

tbJ.d.

u~ HaJmendori. Chrl-h von, ~ ~~k Nadaa • MJ fi!&!D ,J?r~-: .t~i- (New Yarka olt R niiii and

nston. 19 9).

%bid.

rbid •• pp.QG-112.

IbJ.d•• Pe11S.

%bAct.

XbJ.de• pp.121•2S.

J?w:eJl\-KaJ.mendorf. ChristOph von# ~~e ~T. Tanis en~ their ne1ghbow.:,boocl {London• RI<P, giJa •

Stephen l?wms. Re!!!11.1oaa ,P£0Phet~ (OQmbayt ASia, 1965).

,.a. &U1", "PoUtlcal Change .tn the sccn:Imals•, a!. f:Astf!m ~lgg1.§!;~ vol.zi, no.2.

35.

36.

31.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

so. S1.

157

%b.tcJ.. p.ts. S\Wen &wlakhe# ~he Autbor.S.~ suuct.~ among tho Shwd.j end BbU0 i.ft !£~e, Cast~ and &ea!HD!SX« 1962. p.s7. v.s. Na~. u!P'lg o£ &l~iafl!. (Baroda a The Mahoraje sayajino verolty# 19 o • suven ttavlakhca-. op. cit.. p.S1.

IMd.. p.se. v.s. Nath• op. cit •• p.S9.

Ibid•• p.Ga.

Xb.ta •• p.63.

tbid•• P•64•

Ibid•• p.65.

Ibtd •• pp.SG-70.

Ibid. • pp.GB-69•

Xbta •• pp.7o-7a.

sechchidanoncS, ttThe tTJ.bal Situati= .ill Blha.-• 1ft K.S. Singh, 91 sl~ua. A!\ ~~1ft. (Simlat Indian Institute o£ ancec!l at • 1972 • p.172.

District GszRteer of different d1st.r1cte.

Le P. VldyaRhi, •Aspects of Tdbe1 leadersbip An Chotenagpur• in L.P. V.f.4yartb1 (ed.) • L~·uter.sb12 &D !ndiA (Bombaya Asia PubUshing Kousa), pp.i29•30.

xbt<l •• p.tso. sachch1Claoand .• ~ht ~ribal Villa~e 1n ai~ • As~ 1g ,Y.n:\~ aQ(! E~ns:t;oiig (New iiOfiJ.t MUDS m•m Pianor­Ja~, 19 S}, Pe1 •

xbt.a.. p.taa. %b.1d.. p.1».

sa.

56.

57.

se.

60.

158

Ll~ hllws. -The PJ:ectteant Of the ~tOdenl African Cble£ - An tnstacee £&!'0!0 t1(JOcda•. 'Elm Am!u~!eoa ~~ vol.e4• no.3~ 1968.

aarwi# Singh. "Poli~lCCll oruanlaot.to.n of Nortm Im:Uan TrJ.be0

• ~-n~~~ 2~ no.a. 1.9691 oDd v. Rifg~rm~;o Tnfin. Qb!m!G&xa. MJstu& evaJs tJS1Pi.b, tolbl. 1916.

%bide• pp.ae-90.

MSJ~~ Datta ~u. J.be •nt:.a! • th~ AB c.slt;~.~~ (l.)a1h1t Manag¢1:' ol Pwi ciiCon. aova&"n-m- o X Pat~# ~rt.LUP.nt uf Antt\l"'polcgy. r.tGnlOl&' 2).

Saehch~anand. n.s. p.144.

Ibid., P• 145.

sac:hcbid..mand, "Changing Pattern of Leadership in an oraon village .. in L.P. Vidyarthi (ed.) • Leadershie in :tndia (Bombaya ASia Publishing House, 19lN).

Mr1nel Roy, "Changing Pattern of leadership in an oraon villager~ in L.P. Vidyartlli (ed. ), Leadership in %nd1e (Bombaya ASia PUblishing House, 196,).

Shah, P.o., "stuaies on pol1~cs of sehedule4 Castes and Sched\lled Trices, 1971", TrenCl Re;x>rt submitted to the ICSSRe