CHAPTER - III

ETHNOGRAPHIC PROFILE
 90

Geological age of the land mass at lower Gangetic delta,

at present Sundarbans, has been more or less convincingly

established. Physical features of the bulk of the fishing

community of Sundarbans were definitely among the oldest and

largest inhabitants of this area. Archaeological evidences

could throw some light only on prehistoric period when civili­

sation progressed to a great extent after the advent to the

Aryans. The most conclusive evidences of early human settle­

ment in Sundarban is the discovery of old and new stone age
(1,50,000 B.C. to 40,000 B.C.) weapons in a deserted village,

Deulpota, on the bank of the old Saraswati river. Some of

the findings led the expert to suggest that probably there
were some trade links between Harappa Civilization and of
lower Bengal, i.e., in Chalcolithic age. The Aryans must

have invaded Bengal after that. The non-aryans maintained

their culture, beliefs *and way of living long after their

land were ruled by the Aryans. Gradually, of course the

Aryans-culture crept in. The Aryan civilization in India

is hardly 5,000 years old, but strange as it may apparently

appear, it is true their oldest literary record the 'Vedas*

contain little reference to the river Ganga and its downward

course to sea (Bhattasali, 9141-42). Puranic literature,

of course, have repeated reference about Ganga, which ulti­

mately reached to the sea through this deltic region. Some*
 91

non-Aryans races were the inhabitants of lower Bengal adjacent

to the river Ganga and named as ,Gangaridi* by the Greek

travellers.

Another view about the early inhabitants of this area

was that there were more than one group of people residing

in lower Bengal, viz., Moccolingi, Kolingi, Modgolingi etc.

under powerful kings. It might have so happened that the

present communities like Kaibartya probably came from

Kolingi, Jelia Kaibartya from Modgolingi etc. The ancestors

of present tribal communities like 'Santals1, 'Oraons' and

*Bhumij' might have migrated from Chotanagpur as hired

labourers during the Mughal and British periods. The people

of lower Bengal were referred to as Asura, Nishad, Kirat and

Savara etc. But the local people termed them as 1BUNO" or

the jungle folk. The dark complexioned people of the area

gradually came under the Vedic influence and slowly but

absorbed in overall much modified Hindu religion.

II

Prehistoric prominence of some parts of Sundarbans and

due to very many physiographic, climatic and political

upheaval their subsequent oblivion are historical facts and

 92

must have been occured in various periods of unrecorded

history. The repeated climatic and, to some extent, the
political upheaval made the major part of Sundarban a dense
forest devoied of human population, gradually the situation
changed and during the regime of Pratapaditya, Sundarban
again occupied a prominent place in the recent history. During
the early part of the British rule, need Jor various forest
products increased to a great extent and the virgin Sundarban
forest began to draw the attention of the then British rulers.
But one thing can be safely inferred from the historical
records that the main objective which guided the principle
of reclamation initially was to clear and make suitable as
much jungle—swamp as possible for cultivation and human
settlement. Records are available from around 1770 the private
parties were entrusted with the duties to reclaim the forept
land, so on after the grant of 24-Parganas to the East India
Company in 1757.

Mr. Henckell, Superintendent of Sundarban, gave away

144 grants to individuals for development of the area
comprising 64,928 bighas between the river Raimangal and
Haringhata. This scheme onithe one hand cleared many lands
for cultivation but, opened up a number of boundary disputes
within the next 20 years among the local Zamindars, leasees
and the Government. One of the main achievements of
 93

Mr. Henckell of course was to save the villagers from being

forced to work as hired labourers like slaves (tribals) in

Sundarbahs. As per measurement of the- land in 1839 the

Zemindars were given some rights over the forest land with

99 years lease agreement. The first comprehensive set of

rules for the grant of land lease was issued in 1853 by the

Government and movement for reclamation was authenticated.

The migrants among the tribals from Chotonagpur belt and

other part begins, out of a total of 178 grants, 30 belong

to the Europeans, one to an American, two to the local

Christians, 30 to Muslims and 105 to Hindus. The leasees

are commonly known as latdars or tenure holders, or proprie­

tors to whom the landgrants were made. They could sublet

to the 'raiyats* and, in turn they could further sublet to

1 under-raiyats *. The outright scales were allowed from 1865t

Another legendary person in the history of settlement

in Sundarban ,1s Sir Daniel Hamilton, who was an idealist

person with a noble soul. After retirement from Government

service, he devoted his entire time and energy to develop *

Sundarban. Initially, the majority of the early settlers

of Sundarban were composed of mlgranted low caste people

and the tribal population, beside the small number of

residents of remote past. A percentage of them embrassed

Jainism, Buddhism, Islamic etc., in subsequent periods of

 94

history. But their occupation remained almost the same as

wood cutting, fishing, honey and forest product collection

and, to some extent, cultivation. Gradually, being isolated

from the main stock an endemic culture evolved that was

suitable for that environment which are quite different from

that of urban or muslim cultures.

The tribals like Oraon, Munda, Santal and Bhumlj along

with other low caste people from adjoining places worked as

hired labourers in far away places after living together in

this hostile environment for several years. They gradually

evolved a culture not prevalent anywhere else. They began

to observe certain rites and worship certain gods and

goddesses whom they thought to be their saviour, such as,

Bonobibi, Dakshin Rai etc., irrespective of their original

caste and creed. Thus, it is a place where religion does

not separate the people and the same god is being worshiped

by the inhabitants in spite of the ban on idol worship in

Islamic culture. The interaction of landless settlers

belonging to different religion and culture along with the

exploiter ruling class of rich Zemindars, their cruel

employers and other small landlords made a very complex
backward community in Sundarbans. It has already been

mentioned that the present inhabitants who have settled here

came from the different Districts and States. They belong

chiefly to the low caste Hindus and Muslims. *Pod* or

 95

or ‘Poundra Kshatrys' are maximum in number towards the

west and ’Naraasudra' towards the east. In addition,

Kalingis from Orissa and Mahisayas from Midnapur can also

be mentioned as other two major communities in this village.

For reclamation work labourers were brought in from Ranchi,

Hazaribagh, Birbhum, Manbhum, Bankura and Orissa. The tribal

population of the villages like the Munda, Oraons and Bhumijas

came from these places and settled here permanently. Pargiter
(1899) stated that a large number of wood-cutter from

Chotonagpur and Magh coolies from Eastern Frontier came and

settled in some parts of Sundarbans.

0*Malley (1914) in his gazetteer of 24 Parganas District

stated that there was annual cycle in movement of the farmers

in Sundarban. They migrate from outside during the monsoon

(July - September) and cultivate in this ‘Abad1 and return back.

During winter (January - February) again they used to come for

harvesting and staring the crop in granaries. Of course,

some land holders used to reside permanently in this village

also. The labourers from the adjoining Districts also came

here for earning and some of them gradually began to stay

and settle down permanently, which ultimately led to the
formation of villages. In this difficult terrain due to heavy

risk and uncertainty in earning livelihood, people belonging

to the same social group started staying together so that they

could help each other at the time of need.

 96

III

The migration and settlement mainly depend on the

economic insecurity of a group of people. The tribals

normally did not have this economic security and used to

move like nomads. A section of these people in search of

fortune somehow entered this village and slowly started

settling when they realised that^the economic security or

a stable income could be obtained in this place. These

people gradually-increased their number and constituted

the main population of Sundarban. The districts of

24—Parganas covering Sundarban areas share 6.16 per cent
of the total tribal population of the State (Das 1991,

71(4) : 572).

The Scheduled Tribes number 25,32,969 as per 1971

census in the State of West Bengal. They constitute

5.72% of the total population (4,43,12,011) of the State.

According to 1981 census, the Scheduled Tribe population

of West Bengal was 30,70,672 constituting 5.63% of the

State population and 6.00% of the total Scheduled Tribe

population of India.

Numerically, most dominant among the Tribal communities

is the Santal, who share more than .50% (54.35%) of the
 97

total Scheduled Tribe population of the State. The following

9 communities jointly share more than 90% of the total

Scheduled tribe population of the State.(Table 3.1).

Table 3.1. Growth rate of the Scheduled Tribe population

of the State of West Bengal.(1971 and 1981).

SL. 1971 Communities 1981 1971 1981

NO. (*) (%)

1. 13,76,980 Santal 16,66,610 54.35 54.28 (-)

2. 2,91,173 Oraon 4,37,574 11.49 14.25 (+)

3. 1,98,701 Munda 2,30,014 7.85 7.49 (-)

4. 1,69,426 Bhumij 2,33,906 6.69 7.62 (+)

5. 93,586 Kora 96,845 3.69 3.15 (-)

6. 47,247 Mahali 50,289 1.87 1.64 (-)

7. 45,906 Lodha/Kheria 53,719 ' 1.81 1.75 (-)

8. 33,912 Bhutla 40,192 1.33 1.31 (-)

9. 31,018 Malpahariya 17,020 1.32 1.22 (-)

90.40 92.71 (+)

The rate of increase of the Scheduled Tribe population

in general in the State of West Bengal during the decade

1961-71 was 23.313*. If this be taken as the ‘measuring line1

for examining the position of individual Scheduled Tribe

communities then the following picture emerges relating to

the Scheduled Tribes.

 98

The history of migration and the settlement pattern of

the tribal population of 24-Parganas covering the Sundarban

area reveals that the tribal people were mainly forest dwellers,
and the forest formed they very core or essence of their

culture encircling their socio-economic and cultural life

development. But with the advent of colqnical administration

this symbiotic relationship was gradually destroyed. The

forest was considered as avenues for earning revenues, instead

of maintenance of ecological equilibrium. As the tribals were

gradually thrown out of forest due to several restrictions

imposed upon them, they were forced to migrate from their

homeland to other places in search of new avocations and habi­

tations. They prepared the unfertile land for cultivation by

their hard labour and started settling in fixed villages in

the different Districts of West Bengal covering 24-Parganas,

including Sundarbans. They are the Proto-Australoid stock

and have a good deal of historical tradition. But here also

4-

they could not live in peace. The unscrupulous money lenders,

Zemindars, Jotdars, Mahajans came in their area and exploited

them adopting various means which resulted in alienation of

their vast fertile tract of land and throwing them in utter

distress and many of them had to take the job of labourer in

different zone. These uprooted people from a number of villages

with diverse ethnic affiliations started a new pattern of life

into new socio-economic patterns. A new society emerged there

 99

with a new value system, but still they could maintain their

old tradition to a perceptible extent due to a kin cultural

heritage.

The tribal population of Sundarbans were brought from

Chotanagpur, Mayurbhanj, Singhbhum and also from Manbhum

(Oraoh, Munda and Bhumij and others) for reclaimation of

the forest land and making it cultivable towards eighteenth

century. These migrants settled in these newly reclaimed

areas, totally cut-off from their congeners of their home.

Here, due to constant interactions with the neighbouring

communities they could form a new social order, with good

deal of integration with the regional culture, which reflects

a well balanced synthesis of tribal Hindu-Muslim way of life.

There after initial maladjustment, they could start in new

villages with a good deal of deviation from their traditional

socio-cultural life. The tribal people migrated in a good

number in Sundarbans as seasonal labourers (agriculture and

brick fields, construction and reclaimation of forest) for a

few months every year. This type of seasonal migration poses

serious problems for the smooth and effective functioning of

their family life as well as effects their socio-economic and

cultural activities.
 100

It is a fact that traditional socio-economic and cultural

life of the tribal people were very much associated with

their original settlements, but the colonial administration

mainly and various other factors during post-independence

have forced them to leave their original habitat and migrate

to different regions and start with new settlements, under

diverse ecosystems, different socio-cultural environment and

*n

economic order. As the migration took place from distinct

regions of their original homeland, they could maintain and

retain their traditional way of life, to a considerable extent,

due to their strong ethnic affiliation and cultural heritage.

The local environment [Link] posed some difficulties at

the initial stage, but their inherent characteristics of

socio-rcultural base helped them to overcome the same. That

is the major reason why they can easily be distinguished till

this day as tribal people bearing a distinctive socio-cultural

life, thinking and outlook easily distinguishable from others.

IV

In the second chapter the scribe discussed about the

village population, in this chapter attempts have been made

to discuss about the origin, social status, traditional

occupation of the three tribal communities. Risley in his

book *Tribes and castes of Bengal* (Vol. I and II) discussed

the origin, status and tradition in the following way :

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Munda

Origin : Munda, Mura, Mara—hor, a large tribe of Chotonagpur

classed on linguistic grounds as Kolarian and closely a kin

to the Hos and Santals, and probably also to the Kandhs. The

name Munda is of Sanskrit origin. It means headman of a

village and a titular or functional designation used by the

members of the tribe, as well as by outsiders as a distinctive

9

name, much in the same way as the Santal call themselves as

Manjhi, the Bhumij as Sardar and the Khambir of Darjeeling

hills as Jimdar. Better opinion seems to be that it is a

variant of Hor or Horo, in Mundari *Hor* means 'Man*. The

change of *r* to *1* is familiar and needs illustration while

in explanation of conversion of *h* into ’k', we may cite

’hon', in the Mundari for * child* which is *korwa' become

'kon*, and 'kon' the 'karo*, the Mundar form of ,Haro,-man.

The tribes are divided into thirteen sub-tribes, several

of which are 'Kharia-Munda*, *Mahili-Munda', 'Oraon-Munda*

appear to be the result of the crosses with neighbouring

tribes, while others, like Bhuinhar Munda and Manki-Munda,

have reference to the land and communal system of the tribe.

The Mahali Munda sub-tribe has the pig for its totem and for
them pork is tabooed. But appetite has proved stronger than

tradition, and the taboo is satisfied by throwing away the

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head of the animal, the rest of the carcass being deemed

a lawful food. The septs or 'Killis' which are a

numerous, are mainly totemistic, and the totem is a taboo

to the members of the sept which bears its name. All the
members of a clan are considered to be descendents of a

common ancestor. Sept or clans or 'Kills' are exogamous.

Clans are known after some animal, plant, soil, certain

event etc. In course of time, the numbers of Munda swelled

resulting in the expansion of clan membership. According to

S.C. Roy "The Munda is essentially an agriculturist, and,

naturally, uses a large variety of agricultural implements

(1912 i 317). He then described the different agricultural

implements. The staple food of the Munda is boiled rice.

Well-to-do Munda uses boiled pulse or 'dal' for a side-sish

(Roy 1912 : 379).

Oraon

Oraon, Uraon, Kunokh, Kuhrukh, A Dravidian cultivating

tribe of Chotonagpur classed on linguistic grounds as

Dravidian and supposed to be closely a kin to the Males

of the Rajmahal hills. Their tradition say that their

original homeland was in the Southern of India. Roy
stated (1915 : 27) *
 103

Such was the primitive stage of

savagery in which the forefathers
of the Oraons once lived in the
hills and hill—caves of Southern
India, wandering about, ill-clad
and ill-armed, winning as best as
they could a precarious subsistence
from the hill and the forest. If
our identification of the 'Vanara'
followers of Rama Chandra with the
Oraons be correct, it was probably
during their long association with
the Aryan hero and their long travels
in his company ... that the Oraons
first understood the benefits of
cattle-breeding and agriculture, and
the use of metal implements and utensils,
and thus got a moderate lift in the
ladder of civilization.

The exogamous clans are extremely numerous and all

that can be identified are totemistic, the totem being

taboc to the members of the clan. The rule of exogamy

in force is the simple, in that, a man may not marry a

woman of his own clan. The clan name descends in the

male line, and there is no objection to a man marrying
a woman belonging to the same clan as his mother. In
addition to this, some system of prohibited degrees seems

to exist among them, though no one can state it clearly,

 104

nor is it expressed in a definite formula. Still every

Oraon will admit that he cannot marry his maternal aunt or

his first cousin on the mother's side, though he will

probably not be able to say how far these prohibitions go

in the decending line. So also none can marry his younger

brother's widow or the older sister of his deceased wife,

though marriage with an elder brother's widow or deceased

wife, or a deceased wife's younger sister is deemed to

be punishable.

In the eyes of the average Hindu, the Oraon have no

social status at all, and are deemed to be entirely outside

the regular caste system. In the important matter of diet,

the main body of the tribe have as yet made no concessions
to Hindu perjudice, the Oraons will eat almost anything
and are looked down upon as promiscuous feeders by the

Bagdis, Bauris and other dwellers in the outskirts of Hinduism.

Oraons hold the ass to be sacred and will not kill it

or eat its flesh, thus assigning to the animal much the

same position and dignity as the Hindu give to the cow.

The Oraon claim to have introduced plough cultivation

into Chotonagpur, and thus to have displaced the barbarons

 105

’daha’ method of tillage which is carried on by burning

the jungle and sowing a crop of pulse or Indian corn in

the ashes.

The Bhumijas, who form an important branch of the

Mundari speaking race, have been residents of Chotonagpur,

Orissa, and Western Bengal. Almost all the anthropologists,

including Colonel Dalton and Sir Herbert Risley, who have

come in contact with the peoples are of opinion that they

form a branch of the great Munda family from which they

have separated them selves on the same conclusion of the

linguistic evidences. The date of separation from the

main branch of the Mundas settled on the Ranchi Plateau, may

conveniently be placed after their settlement in the Districts

of Manbhum and Singhbhum. The whole culture of the Bhumijas

seems to be the product of this region and is intimately

connected with this tract. This is clearly borne out by

their traditions and manners and "customs, especially the
funeral customs. The nature of their social organisation also

points to a long connection with the District of Manbhum. Thus,

the following conclusion is forced upon us that the Mundas

settled in the District of Manbhum originated a culture which

is, to a certain extent, different from that of the Ranchi

plateau and on this basis separated themselves from their

congeners to the west. The Bhumijas adopted Hindu customs

 106

and are fast becoming Hindus, there can be no doubt that

they are the descendants of Mundas who first settled in

the country and were given the name Bhumijas (autochthons)

by the Hindu immigrants who found them in possession of

the soil.

The sub-tribes are numerous and vary greatly in different

districts with the possible exception of the iron smelting

•Shelo* in Manbhum, the names of these groups seem to have

reference to their supposed original settlements. It deserves

mention that the tendency to form endogamous division seems to

be stronger in outlying districts and that it is at the

recognised headquarters of the tribe. Thus, in Manbhum and

Singhbhum, we find only one sub-tribe, which obviously got

detached from the parent group by reason of the members

adopting or perhaps declining to abandon the comparatively

degraded occupation of iron smelting. Some groups become more

rapidly Hlnduised than the others and thus there arises

divergences of usage in the matter of food and drinks, which

constitute a bar to inter marriage and in time it led to the

formation of sub-tribes.

It has already been observed that the Bhumijas are

pre-eminently agriculturists and every Bhumij family of

ordinary means own a number of heads of cattle or buffaloes
 107

or both. These animals require tending and as soon as

Bhumij boys are 6 or 7 years old they are put in charge

of them (Das, T.C. 1931 S3), Table 3.2 shows a cross—

-cultural comparison of three tribes which includes their

language, origin, economy past and present.

Tribals of Sundarban area, like the Mundas, Oraons and

Bhumijas etc. mainly subsist on rice cultivation or work as

agricultural labourers on other's fields. Traditional

occupations of the Mundas were agriculture and hunting. At

present, in West Bengal Mundas are mainly agriculturist,

in Sundarban they also collect some forest products. The

Oraons have been cultivating, hunting and food gathering

tribe as their traditional occupation.

At present, though agriculture remains the main occupation,

still there are some families who are engaged in other jobs,

like agricultural labourers, fishing in the river etc. The

Bhumijas are fully agriculturists. Traditional occupations

of gathering, hunting, fishing, handicrafts etc. nowadays play

a less dominant role in the subsistence pattern of the tribals.

Tribal life is felt mostly in a symbolic way. A good deal of

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Table 3.2. Cross-cultural comparison of three tribal

communities.

Ethno-cultural Munda Oraon Bhumij

marker

Constitutional Scheduled Scheduled Scheduled

category Tribe (S.T.) Tribe (S.T.) Tribe (S.T.)

Racial feature Dravidians* Dravidians* Dravidians*

Proto- Proto- Proto-
Australoid** Australoid** Australoid**

Main distri­ Mainly in West Bengal, West Bengali,

bution West Bengal, Bihar Bihar, Assam,
Bihar, Orissa, Tripura
Assam, Tripura

Mother tongue Mundari (Sandri) Kurukh Mundari

(Oraon speaking with
language) Bhumij diadect

Other languages Bengali Bengali Bengali

Migration from Chotonagpur Chotonagpur Singbhum and

(Bihar) to (Bihar) to Manbhum to
Sundarban Sundarban Sundarban

Purposes of Survival Survival Survival

migration labourers labourers labourers
reclamation reclamation reclamation
of forest of forest of forest

* The peoples of India (Rislet, H. 1951, Calcutta)

** An outline of the Racial Ethnology of India

(Guha, B.S. 1937, Calcutta, Ind. Sc. Cong. Asso.)
 109

changes have taken place in their economic life due to

spread of modernisation and contact with other people.

They are getting touch with the formal Government

Organisations, like Gram Panchayat, financial institutions,

like Bank and Co-operative societies and other socio-

-political organisation and institutions. The net result

of this is their getting diversified occupational activities,

though to a limited extent. Monocropping is the general

practice of cultivation in Sundarbans, it is due to lack of

irrigation facilities. Saline water destroyed the nature of

fertility of cultivable land. However, in some tracts double

or multiple cropping is being practised.