Status of Tribes in Madhya Pradesh: Social Structure, customs, Beliefs, Marriage, Kinship, Religious Beliefs
The majority of the Madhya Pradesh tribes reside on hilly slopes and forested valleys cradled by the sacred rivers of Narmada and Godavari. Besides the historical monuments, ancient temples and boundless natural beauty that Madhya Pradesh fosters nearly 46 different tribes that resonate with cultures of different eras.
They grace the top ranks of the tribal population in India and can be categorized into a variety of sub-castes and groups. Accounting for about 18-20% of the population of Madhya Pradesh, the traditions, rituals, and lifestyle of these communities are quite fascinating, as they pose a stark contrast to our own lives.
Gond Tribe
Gond people occupy the sides of the Narmada river, and live in close harmony with Mother Nature. Their native language belongs to the Dravidian family, and they are scattered across the country in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha district of Maharashtra, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh. However, the best places to experience the Gond culture are Mandla, Chhindwara, Betul and Seoni districts in Madhya Pradesh.
Hereditary bards and professional storytellers called Pardhans tell stories about Gond legends and myths. This makes for a rich oral tradition. In these stories, it is said that when Gond gods were born, their mother abandoned them. The goddess Parvati rescued them, but her consort Sri Shambhu Mahadeo (Shiva) kept them captive in a cave. Pahandi Kapar Lingal, a Gond hero, who received help from the goddess Jangu Bai, rescued them from the cave. They came out of the cave in four groups, thus laying the foundations of the basic fourfold division of Gond society. Lingal also is responsible for creating a Gond kinship system and establishing a group of great Gond gods.
Persa Pen is the most distinctive feature of Gond religion. Like many other tribes, Gonds worship a high god known as Baradeo, whose alternate names are Bhagavan, Sri Shambu Mahadeo, and Persa Pen. Baradeo oversees activities of lesser gods. He is respected but he does not receive fervent devotion, which is shown only to clan deities. Each Gond clan has its Persa Pen, who protects all clan members. The Persa Pen is essentially good but can be dangerous and violent. Many Gonds believe that when a Pardhan (bard) plays his fiddle, the deity’s fierce powers can be controlled.
Each village has its Village-Guardian and Village-Mother who are worshipped when villagers celebrate regular festivities. Gonds also worship family and household gods, gods of the field, and gods of cattle. Deities such as Shitala Mata, goddess of smallpox, help ward off disease. Spirits are also believed to inhabit hills, rivers, lakes and trees.
Most aspects of Gond life, from the greatest festivals to the building of a new cattle shed, are accompanied by sacrifice. Certain deities, especially female ones, demand chickens, goats, and sometimes male buffaloes. Every nine or twelve years, Gonds sacrifice a pig to the god Narayan Deo in an important ceremony known as the Laru Kaj (Pig’s Wedding). Other rituals also involve offerings of fruits, coconuts, flowers, colored powder, and strings.
Each Gond village has a headman (known by local names such as mukhia, mahji, or patel ) and a village council (panchayat) chosen by the villagers. The council consists of the headman, priest, village watchman, and four or five elders. It helps keep the village running smoothly and upholds Gond customs. Villages also have service castes such as Ahir (cowherds), Agaria (blacksmiths), Dhulia (drummers), and Pardhan (bards and singers). A typical Gond village has several hamlets. Each consists of homesteads that house extended families. Houses are usually built of mud and thatch. They consist of a living room, kitchen, veranda, a special room for women to use while menstruating, and a shrine for clan gods. Gond houses contain cots and a few wooden stools; mats are used for sitting and sleeping.
Gond society is divided into four groups known as phratries or sagas in Gondi. Each saga traces its descent to one of the four groups of gods who emerged from the cave after their release by the hero Lingal. The saga is divided into several clans (pari) . A clan consists of a group of people who believe they share a common ancestor. Generally, it is good to marry outside the clan. Kinship and marriage customs among Gonds reflect broader regional patterns. The norm is cross-cousin marriage (for example, marrying one’s mother’s brother’s daughter), which is typical in southern India. Gond groups that have been influenced by northern peoples such as Marathas, however, follow northern customs in determining marriage partners. Similarly, northern Gonds allow widows to remarry a brother of the deceased husband.
Bhil Tribe
There are two divisions of Bhil: the Central or “pure” Bhil, and the Eastern or part-Rajput Bhil. The Central Bhil live in the mountain regions of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Many years ago, Bhil rajas (kings) permitted immigrants from the plains to settle in the hill regions. To safeguard their independence and rule, the Bhil fought against the Moghals, the Maratha, and the British.
Bhil primarily work as peasant farmers, field laborers, and village watchmen. With a growth in population, most of their land holdings are small and generally non-productive. The people are experts in handling bows and arrows. In fact, the name “Bhil” was derived from the word billee, which means “bow.” For years, the bow has been a characteristic weapon of the tribe, and the men usually carry their bows and arrows with them. The women wear brightly colored clothes. The city boys are distinctive from other Hindus because they tie rags around their heads, wear earrings, and carry swords or guns.
The Bhil usually marry within their own classes. If they do marry someone of another class, the person of the lower class must convert to the higher, leaving behind all family ties. This custom is strictly enforced among the tribes.
Each village is led by a head man who deals with disputes. Respect among family members is strong, and there is a great sense of connection between the living and the dead. Property is shared equally by the male descendants. Bhil villages are rather widely scattered. The houses are located in fields where millet, maize, wheat, and barley are grown. The highlanders live in tidy houses made with walls of sticks intertwined with small branches.
Almost all of the Central Bhil practice ethnic religions that have been highly influenced by Hinduism. Shiva is considered the supreme god. Ancestor worship (praying to deceased ancestors) is also quite popular. Shamans (priests) are also called upon to offer sacrifices to the many gods and mud idols.
In spite of their traditional beliefs, there have been interesting manifestations of God’s Spirit among the upper caste Bhagat gurus. They now worship light and “the Word,” singing prophecies of the future, such as the coming sinless incarnation. At the turn of the century, one guru warned his disciples that there would be a great famine, after which they should look for teachers from the North and West who would teach them the true way of salvation from a book, free of cost. They would teach about the true God, and about a sinless Incarnation who was born of a virgin. The guru also said that they should worship this sinless, invisible God, turn away from stones and idols, and live blameless lives. A famine occurred in 1899-1900, soon after the guru’s death.
Baiga Tribe
Baiga people believed to have descended from Dravid, they reside peacefully in thick, forested woodlands of Satpura. The commonly acknowledged language of the Baigas is Baigani, along with Hindi and Marathi. The art of tattooing is a significant part of the tribal lifestyle, exclusive to the clan.
Oral histories of the tribal communities of central India, strongly highlight the minimalism and simplicity of the Baiga tribe. The Baiga tribe is admired for being unattached to their material possessions, which are few in the first place. It is said that in the past, the Gond tribals would occupy the Baiga agricultural land by tilling their land with a plough. Because the Baigas were opposed to tilling of land, once a plough had been used in a piece of land, they would abandon that patch and move elsewhere into the forests.
The Baiga households of the present continue to be simply provisioned with earthen pots and vessels for cooking and storage, leaves for plates and gourds for drinking vessels. Over time, pots, pans and other utensils of steel, aluminium and brass have also become commonplace. The staple food of the Baiga people consists of kodo, kutki, paddy, jowar, wheat, corn and masoor.
Traditionally, Baigas dressed scantily and their orthodox practice was to wear as little as possible. It is believed that the Nanga Baiga (the first Baiga man) was gifted a piece of cloth nine hands (cubits) in length by the God, but he returned all of it but a hand and a half that was necessary. Some elderly Baigas believe that the present poverty in the Baigas can be traced to their wearing of clothes and shoes. Short dhotis above the knees and sleeveless waistcoats are sported by many Baiga men, though in the recent times trousers, T-shirts and shirts are also commonly worn.
Singing and dancing are not only popular pastimes, but have a ritual and cultural significance in the lives of the Baiga people. Festivals, madais (fairs), rites and rituals, weddings, and even birth and death ceremonies are all incomplete without singing and dancing. Of the several dance forms of the Baigas, Karma is the most popular one. The Baigas are considered to be the inventors of the Karma dance which is one of the most popular dance forms of central India. Other dance forms include Saila, Reena, Sua and Tapadi.
The Baigas share an intimate relationship with the forests and the wildlife in it. They are adept woodcutters and extremely skilful at using the axe, including its use for hunting. Baigas have been traditionally skilled hunters and could hunt small animals such as deer, hares and peacocks with a single throw of their axe. Even larger animals such as panthers are known to have been killed with one single skilful blow by the Baigas.
Sahariya Tribe
Saharias are another tribal group prominent in Madhya Pradesh, sheltered in the districts of Gwalior, Shivpuri, Vidisha, Raisen, Morena, and Bhind. Though some of them may have embraced a nomadic lifestyle and have little to no contact with the outside world. Most of them depend on agriculture as a source of livelihood.
The hills Saharia are divided into five sub-tribes: the Jati, Arsi, Muli, Kindal, and Kumbi. This classification is based primarily on occupation. The Jati are farmers; the Arsi are weavers; the Muli are iron workers; the Kindal are basket makers; and the Kumbi are potters. The sub-tribes are divided into approximately 17 territorial units rather than clans. They are free to marry within these divisions, and they generally live as extended family units. The Saharia farmers use the “slash and burn” method of cultivation along the hill slopes. This has brought them into tremendous conflict with the Forestry Department. Their main crops include gourds, millet, sorghum, and wild rice.
Saharia villages generally contain several quarters called longlongs. Each longlong is inhabited by one patrilineage (the line of descent as traced through the male’s side of a family) called a birinda. Several houses belonging to close relative may be joined together on one terrace. Conversations can be held between houses over the dividing walls. The houses have thatched roofs and are built of stone plastered with red mud. During the autumn, the villages are largely deserted; the people move to widely scattered “baby houses” in order to guard their crops against wild animals.
The Saharia practice their traditional ethnic religions. However, they are also aware of Hindu values and use them in defining their own identity. As a non-literate culture, they associate literacy with the power of the shaman’s familiar spirits. All illnesses and deaths are believed to be caused by the spirits of the dead.
Bharia Tribe
The state of Madhya Pradesh houses a number of Bharia tribal communities. Their main concentration is at the Patalkot valley in the Chhidwara district. Apart from this, Jabalpur district and its adjoining regions of the state are also inhabited by the people of Bharia Tribe. Patalkot valley is a nature’s wonder, surrounded by gorgeous hills. Doodhi River flows through this valley. About 12 villages and 13 hamlets are situated in this valley and, owing to its picturesque beauty especially during the rains, it has been also identified as an exotic tourist destination. The valley is completely secluded from the world; however several pathways are there to reach the villages.
The cultural exuberance of the Bharia Tribe has been prominently reflected in all its socio-cultural elements such as festivals, songs and dances. Their societal structure is nuclear and about 78 percent of the Bharia households have nuclear families. Their tribal language like Dravidian tribal Language is known as Bharia. The Bharia tribal community lives in beautiful houses built by their own hands. Anthropologists of the Indian subcontinent have enumerated that most of these people pay least attention to education and learning. The literacy rate of Bharia Tribe is hence very low. They have a number of exogamous groups. The nuptial rituals of this tribe also have typical attributes and the marriage proposal always first comes from the boy’s side. Bharia people also follow several birth and funeral rites. They have a Panchayat for the maintenance of law and order in their community.
People of Bharia Tribe are highly religious by nature and worship several Hindu deities. They celebrate festivals like Shivratri, Diwali, Holi, Akhati and many more. Most of the people have adapted to Hinduism. Like most other tribal communities, the Bharia Tribe is also greatly inclined towards religion and spiritualism.
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