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Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. II / July 2011 / pp. 27-33 ISSN 0974 - 200X

-27-

Conservation of Tribal Heritage in Jharkhand

( An Anthropological Perspective )

Shamsher AlamUGC - NET - JRF

Department of Anthropology, Ranchi University, Ranchi

Abstract

The present paper attempts to bring out the understanding of cultural heritage and its conservation through

an anthropological vision. It focuses on tracing the origin of culture, its varied attributes, the anthropological

parameters of heritage with reference to the tribals of Jharkhand and importance of heritage conservation.The tribals of Jharkhand have always been in stake in context to their rapidly de-generating cultural heritage.

In this context the paper also suggests measures to be adopted and implemented for conserving the rapidly

waning cultural heritage of the tribals in general and the same belonging to Jharkhand in particular.

Keywords :Anthropology, Tradition, Values, Culture, Heritage, Conservation

Introduction

Man in the course of evolution has passed

through several stages to reach the present

stage of development. This stage-wise

development is true both in the case of

biological progression as well as socio-cultural

and technological development. In these

courses of development, man has remainedthe epicentre of the whole happening.

Biologically, he has achieved the present state

of increased cranial capacity, erect posture,

power and precision gripping, stereoscopic

binocular vision and several other facets. All

these have remarkably affected the other

perspectives of his life as well. The impacts of

developed biological features were seen in

three different frontiers vizually his interaction

with fellow beings, environment and the

unseen world.

The interaction of man with man, led to theupcoming of social senses leading tosocialization, division of labour, marriage,family, kinship ties, kin based political setupetc. It was a major development from the socio-cultural point of view. Secondly, the interactionof man with his surroundings (i.e. environment)was primarily concerned with fulfilling of hisprimary need of food (satisfaction of hunger).The influence of this interaction was alsovisible in the material aspects of human life

such as agriculture, animal taming andhusbandry, building of house and house-holditems, technological development in making oftools and weapons, covering of body etc.Mans interaction with the perceived unseenworld, because of either fear or faith, gave birthto religion, magic and nature-worship.

Ascribing of mystic ancestral relationship withcertain natural objects, led to upcoming of clan(gotra) and lineage setup. Concepts of prayer,belief, faith, witchcraft, sorcery, shamanism,religious taboos, worshipping of totem etc.were the other epilogues of this interaction.

These three basic interactions laid thefoundation-stone of CULTURE from the earlysavage state to the present day civilized stageof advancement.

Materials and Methods

The present study is based on primary as

well as secondary sources. Primary data hasbeen collected through personal interviewswith the help of question schedule. Secondarydata has been collected through availableliterature in form of books, Journals, reportsand websites.

Results and Discussions

In a common-mans perspective, a personmaintaining good manners, etiquettes and skillis referred to as cultured and performing offiner arts like music, dance, drama, paintings

Dr. Kanchan RoyAssociate Professor

Department of Anthropology, Ranchi University, Ranchi

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Anusandhanika / Vol. IX / No. II / July 2011-28-

etc. are referred to as cultural activities. Thisis the general understanding of culture.

Kroeber and Kluckhohn, (1952) held thatculture is very ambiguous and has as many as108 different visualisations like educatedbehaviour, character, idealization, intellect,sophistication, creativity, art etc. In thetraditional Indian Hindu setup, culture ispresaged as performing of Sanskars. Itintegrates the different deeds of man forbecoming a social being.

However speaking in anthropological

connotation, culture refers to the complex

whole of knowledge, belief, art, morals, laws,

custom and any other capabilities and habitsacquired by man as a member of society

(Tylor, 1871). Culture is also often quoted as

the sum total of integrated behaviour pattern

which are characteristics of the members of a

society, and are not the result of biological

inheritance (Hoebel,1958). Thus, culture is a

social heritage, which is given to individuals by

the society.

The above citations make a clear-cut

implication that, the building blocks of culture

has two different facets. The first one is the

material aspect of culture (often referred to astangible component of culture) and the other

constitutes the non-material aspect of culture

(alternately designated as non-tangible

component of culture). The former includes all

perceptible things like house, utensils,

ornaments, clothing, worship place, musical

instruments, agricultural implements, objects-

de-art, means of transport and commu-

nication, industries, weapons etc. In short, all

the physical things come under this category.

In the non-material facet of culture, all the non-

tangible or abstract aspects are categorized. Itincludes knowledge, belief, faith, values,

customs, tradition, law, social organisations,

marriage, rituals, lineage, kinship, religious

setup, political structure etc.

If viewed in stand-alone scenario these

two aspects of culture, may appear to be quite

unrelated and unconcerned with each other

owing to their antagonistic attributes; but if

analyzed carefully, they are very much

complementary to each other and are parts of

the unified cohesive whole of human existence

; and both are incomplete without the other.Tribals of Jharkhand and their Cultural

Heritage

In general usage, the word TRIBE

denotes a primary aggregate of people living in

primitive barbarous condition, usually located

in far flung areas. Often words like -

Aboriginals, Animists, Savage, Pre-Literate,

Indigenous were brought in use as its

synonym. In Hindi the term Adivasi/Janjati

appears in lieu of tribe. In India prior to 1931,

these words were used interchangeably but

after that, the nomenclature referring to tribes

underwent successive modifications and after

independence, such words were dropped and

the notion of SCHEDULED TRIBE was

incorporated in the constitution. Hence-forth it

became widely accepted.

Anthropologically speaking, tribals are a

group of individual having common language/

dialect, common territory, common economic

system and distinct oral traditions and customs

of unique antiquity which varies quite sharply

from the same of the so-called civilizedsocieties. Tribals many a times are biologically

identifiable as well.

` Speaking about Jharkhand, there are 32

identifiable groups under the constitutional

criteria of Scheduled Tribe. They are :-

01. Asur 02. Baiga

03. Banjara 04. Bathudi

05. Bedia 06. Bhumij

07. Binjhia 08. Birjhia

09. Birhor 10. Chero

11. Chik-Baraik 12. Gond

13. Gorait 14. Ho

15. Karmali 16. Kharia

17. Khairwar 18. Khond

19. Kisan 20. Koda

21. Kol 22.Kawar

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23. Korwa 24. Lohra

25. Mahali 26. Mal-Paharia

27. Munda 28. Oraon

29. Parhaiya 30.Santhal

31. Sauriya 32. Sawar

Pahadiya

These tribal groups can be classified into

different groups in accordance to criterions

such as language/dialect, ethnic morphology,

economy, culture, education, religion,

population etc. They account for about 24 % of

the total population of the state and are

scattered throughout the territorial jurisdictionof the region.

These earliest settlers of land possess

well-structured socio-cultural and economic

setup well adapted to the type of environment

they inhabit. Their continuity and survival till

the present times, is a proven evidence of well

balanced and stable cultural setup with self-

sufficient and stable ingredients, well

synchronized with the ecological ambience of

Jharkhand. These ingredients are the real

heritage which needs to be conserved.

The land of Jharkhand is marked by the

prominent presence of the above mentioned

tribal communities. All these groups have

something or the other which is unique and is

not seen in any of the so called modern day

civilized societies. These special uniques are

very important from the conservation point of

view, as these are the real heritage which

needs to be protected. They are necessary for

maintaining the identity of the group and to

some extent for the survival of the community

as well.

Heritage conservation refers to the

combined whole of preservation of both the

material aspects as well as non-material

aspects of culture. Among the material

aspects, tangible things like the special

huts/houses of the tribals, agricultural

implements, dresses, ornaments, hunting and

gathering equipments, dresses, ornaments,

idols and deities, day to day household items

like utensils, cooking devices, totemic

symbols, totem pole, worship place (Sarna),

place of cemetery (Sasandiri/Hadgadi), place

of gathering (Akhra), market place, rice beer(Hadia), market place, art and craft etc. are

some of those which need special attention.

In context to the non-tangible traits and

complexes of culture, the life-style and

panache of the tribals needs to be identified

and conserved. Speaking socially; totemic

clan setup, prohibitive clan practices, lineage

setup, pharatrial and moietial arrangement,

village committees, parha panchayat, clan

exogamy, ways of acquiring marital-mate, kin-

groups, kinship usages, preferential and

proscriptive forms of marriage, are the oneswhich needs to be preserved. Connoting

economically; tribals display a wonderful

balance between ecology and economy. In this

context, their totemic values, traditional folk-

medicinal knowledge and practices like Jani-

Shikaar need special addressal. Religiously;

tribals display a wonderful cohesion between

themselves and the super-natural entity. In this

scenario, religious taboos, animism, animatism,

nature-worship (prakriti-puja), totemic practices,

ancestral worship, pre-agricultural and post-

agricultural rituals, birth and death rituals,

matrimonial practices, associated aspects of

black-magic and white magic, sorcery,

knowledge of witch-doctors, ritualistic

practices of the religious head (Pahan), sacred

and profane beliefs etc. are the ones needy of

conservation. Apart from these, there are a lot

of festivals that needs to be revived in view of

their diminishing ambience such as Karma,

Sohrai, Buru-Parva, Maghe Parva, Phagu,

Sarhul, Chaandi, Jatra Parva, Hareli, Japaad,

Dohrai, Saakraat, Bhagsim, Maghi, Horo,Jomnana, Kolom, Gangi-Adeya and Punnu-

Adeya.

Apart from these, the legacy of the martyrs

and forerunners of Jharkhand like - Baba Tilka

Manjhi, Bindrai and Sindrai, Birsa Munda,

Budhu Bhagat, Chand-Bhairav, Ganpat Rai,

Jaipal Singh Munda, Jatra Tana Bhagat, Lako

Bodra, Nilambar-Pitambar, Sheikh Bhikhari,

Sido-Kanhu Murmu, Smt. Sinagi Dai, Tikait

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Umrao Singh, Vishwanath Sahdeo etc. are

also among the prized possession of this tribal

state.Due to the growing influence of Hindi,

English and a few other languages, triballanguages/dialects like Santhali, Mundari,Kharia, Ho, Kurukh, Nagpuri, Kurmali, Khorthaand Panch Pargania are loosing their roots.They need to be put in the priority-list ofpreservation. Tribals of Jharkhand alsopossess rich folkloric tradition. Associatedattributes like folk-stories, folk-tales, folk-myths, folk-songs, folk-dance, folk-music, folk-proverbs, folk-idioms and phrases, folk-

riddles, folk-welcome songs, folk-riddles, folk-abuses etc. are waning-away quite rapidly andneed special attention. Apart from these, thelife-style of tribals, customary laws, beliefs,faith, youth-dormitories, body-art(tattoo/godna), oral-traditions, art of using naturalresources, technology applied in variousfields, are also among the non-tangibleaspects which demands due consideration.

Importance of Heritage Conservation

Conservation basically refers to savingthe precious. Speaking in context to

anthropology, both the tangible and non-tangible aspects of tribals have enormousimportance because they are the representativeof our past sequence of development. Theycan be designated as living history or livingfossils of our early stages of development. Infact, they are the symbols of biological andsocio-cultural past of mankind as a whole.

The chief aim of preserving any form of

culture is to present a holistic historical

perspective to the coming generations as to

what we were in the past. It teaches us about

the past and the cultural values of those whocame before us. It provides a visible evidence

of continuity between the past, present and

future. Apart from this, a sense of pride and

consciousness is also rendered when people

become acquainted with their past.

Academically, it helps in understanding the

socio-cultural, political and associated outlook

for finding similarities or dis-similarities by

means of cross-cultural comparative study. It

also has great importance because a cultural

trait or complex, once lost cannot be restored

ever again. It is an irreparable damage.Anthropological Perception of Conservation

I n popu la r pa r l ance , he r i tage -

conservation refers to preservation of only the

material aspects of the concerned community/

individual which can be displayed. If

liberalized, it goes to the maximum of

performing folk dances or singing tribal songs.

This however is very different from the

anthropological perception of heritage. The

term conservation circumscribing the

anthropological perspective refers to signifying

the entire field or realm of cultural heritage

preservation (both tangible and non-tangible)

from academic inquiry to historical research to

planning and finally technically protecting such

that it maintains its identity along with

incorporating the modern changes (which are

needed for its up-keeping with the contemporary

time).

Conservation of heritage is observable in

almost every modern society. However its form

and approach varies quite significantly from

culture to culture. Usually, in the non-anthropological methodology of conservation,

the different facets of preservation activities

remain separate, un-integrated and quite

insulated from social contexts. Usually the

tangible things/objects/sites lack the context in

which the society embeds them. These

contexts are values of the associated people,

the function which that heritage-object serves

for the society and the real source of motivation

behind the creation of the concerned object.

Great deal of impetus on conservation is seen

in disciplines like archaeology, architecturalengineering and history, but sadly all of them

focus on the challenges associated with

conservation of physical form rather than its

associated context. Hence, both the tangible

aspects as well as the associated non tangible

context, values, customs, belief, faith,

tradition and other abstract facets along with

the persisting ecological settings, constitutes

heritage and the preservation of this whole can

be designated as conservation in real sense.

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Measures for Heritage Conservation

01. The process of conservation of tribal

heritage emanates with the identificationand ascribing of embedded values in both

the material and non-material aspects of

culture. Also, the environment and

ecological settings in which the tribals

dwell is an important aspect. In this

context the major issues involved include :

Understanding why and for whom an

object/tradition is meaningful and for

whom will it be fruitful and weather it really

needs to be preserved or not?

Availability and use of resources includingfunds, trained personnels, incorporation

of technology and legislative mandate.

These key issues need to be worked out

before instigating the conservation

process.

02. Realistically speaking, the EMIC-

Approach (insiders perspective) about

the importance and conjoined values of a

particular aspect of culture is not fully

understood and assimilated by the key-

people involved in the mechanism. In thiscontext special mention may be made of

the bureaucrats and ministerial people.

Adding to misery, the tribals, who are the

real bearers of this legacy, are also very

less involved in the process of

conservation. This creates a void between

the top-notch people and the executing

personnels working at the grass-root

level. Without mitigating this void, the

desired motive of conservation cannot be

achieved.

03. In 2005, the Kyoto declaration onProtection of Cultural Properties, Historic

Areas and their Settings from Loss in

Disaster established a frame-work on

preservation of cultural properties and

historic areas. It was a major move in

which the UNESCO (The United Nations

Educational, Scientific and Cultural

Organization), ICCROM (International

Centre for study of Preservation and

Restoration of Cultural Property) and

ICOMOS (International Council of

Monuments and Sites) were closely

involved. The guidelines and voguepassed in the meeting provides a clear set

of instructions regarding issues and

involved perspectives for cultural and

natural heritage preservation. The same

charter should be adopted and followed

by the agencies in Jharkhand as well.

(Details at - http://international.icomos.org

/xian2005/kyoto-declaration.pdf)

04. For preserving heritage, the saviour action

should be implemented via a multiple

networking system incorporating conservationmanagers of the bureaucracy, concerned

ministerial personnels of central and state

governments, local planning departments,

quasi-public entities conservation

societies, NGOs, legal experts, cultural

activists and even individuals. The role of

bodies like Archaeological Survey of

India, Anthropological Survey of India,

Ministry of Culture (both centre and state

governments) and other related ministries

like Ministry of Tribal Affairs, is quite

crucial in this venture. The role of fundingagencies, businessmen, corporate

houses and governmental agencies

relating to financial assistance cannot be

side lined either. Usually, the degree of

cohesion and integration needed for

successful implementation of conservation

practices is not seen among these bodies.

Proper visionary planning, suitable

organising and above-all co-ordination

between all these involved entities, needs

to be ensured. Governmental laws and

legislation in this context can act as

guidelines for the aforesaid purpose.

05. The whole process of conservation and

preservation needs to be multidisciplinary

in nature. It should include heritage and

conservation experts, historians, archaeologists,

architects, engineers, management

experts, sociologists and anthropologists.

The assignment of preservation, needs

an integrated assessment from expertise

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programmes at the grass-root level can

be helpful. However, care should be taken

that the developmental schemes do notlead to displacement, migration or other

conditions which abrupt their ecological

setting. Also, a friendly and helping

attitude towards the tribals to gradually

change in light of the present day

developmental processes such that it

does not endanger their socio-cultural

and other legacies should be attempted.

Conclusion

As an individual (and at a personal level),

looking after the welfare, survival and

respecting the existence, autonomy and

identity of the tribal people needs to be

ensured. If the same is being ratified, the much

felt need of heritage conservation would be

automatically catered.

References

1. Filho W.L, Castles of Tomorrow - Tools of

Her i tage Conserva t ion , TuTech

Innovation GmbH, 2005

2. Hasnain N., General Anthropology, 4th

Edition Revised, pp. 3-9, JawaharPublishers and Distributors, New Delhi,

2003

3. Kluckhohn C., Universal Categories ofCulture. In Anthropology Today: An

Encyclopaedic Inventory, edited by A. L.Kroeber, pp. 507 - 523. University ofChicago Press, Chicago, 1953

4. Kroeber A. and Kluckhohn, C., Culture,Meridian Books, New York, 1952

5. Kyoto Declaration Report, Protection ofCultural Properties, Historic Areas andtheir Settings from Loss in Disasters heldat the Kyoto Kaikan, 16th January, 2005

6. Management Policies, U.S. Departmentof the Interior National Park Service, 2001

7. Mason R. et al, Values and HeritageConservation Research Report, TheGetty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles2000

08. Ministry of Environment and Forests,National Environmental Policy 2006,Government of India

09. Pandey Gaya, Bhartiya Janjatiya Sanskriti(Hindi), Concept Publishing Company,New Delhi, 2007, p 72

10. Roy Kanchan, Excerpts from lecture on

Conservation of Tribal Heritage, INTACH(Jharkhand Chapter), ICFAI University,Jharkhand, 2010

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