Korku
Korku, 1908
A primitive tribe in the Central Provinces. Out of 140,000 Korkus enumerated in India in 1901, nearly 100,000 belonged to the Central Provinces and the remainder to Berar and Central India. They dwell almost exclusively on the west of the Satpura range in the Districts of Hoshangabad, Nimar, and Betul. The word Korku simply signifies ' men ' or ' tribesmen,' kor meaning ' man ' and ku being a plural termination. The Korkus have been identified with the Korwas of Chota Nagpur, and it is not improbable that they are an offshoot of this tribe, who have a legend giving the Mahadeo or Pachmarhl hills as their original home. The Raj Korkus now claim to be descended from Rajputs, and say they came from Dharanagar, the modern Ujjain, whence their ancestors were led to the Pachmarhl hills in the pursuit of a sambar stag. This legend is of the usual Brahmanical type, and has no importance.
They have four endogamous divisions : the Mowasis and Bawarias in a higher rank, and the Rumas and Bondoyas in a lower one. The Mowasis and Bawarias are Raj Korkus occupying the status of cultiva- tors, and Brahmans will take water from them. The term Mowasi means a resident of Mowas, the name given to the western Satpura Hills by the Marathas, and signifying the ' troubled country,' a reminis- cence of the time when the Korkus were notorious robbers and free- booters. Bawaria means a resident of Bhowargarh, in Betul. Each division has thirty-six exogamous septs, which are mainly named after trees and animals, and are totemistic. The Korkus have generally forgotten the meaning of the sept names, and pay no reverence to their totems, except in one or two cases.
Ten of the septs consider the regular marriage of girls inauspicious, and simply give away their daughters without the performance of any ceremony. Among the others, several formalities precede the marriage ceremony. A proposal for marriage is in the first place made by the father of the boy to the father of the girl, and the latter is bound by etiquette to continue refusing the suggested alliance for a period varying from six months to two years, and averaging about a year. The father always receives a sum of about Rs. 50 for the loss of his daughter's services ; and if the girl is once betrothed, the payment is due even should she die before marriage. Before the wedding procession starts, the bridegroom and his elder brother's wife are made to stand on a blanket together and embrace each other seven times. This is possibly a survival of the old custom of fraternal polyandry still existing among the Khonds. The bridegroom receives a knife or a dagger with a lemon spiked on the blade to scare away evil spirits, and the party then proceeds outside the village, where the boy and his parents sit under a &?r-tree {Zizyphus Jujuba). The Bhumka or caste priest ties all three with a thread to the tree, to which a chicken is then offered in the name of the sun and moon, whom the Korkus consider to be their ultimate ancestors. On reaching the bride's village the progress of the wedding procession is barred by a leathern rope stretched across the road by the bride's relatives, who have to receive a bribe of two pice each before it is allowed to pass. The marriage is completed by an imitation of the bhanwar ceremony or walking round the sacred pole.
After death, ceremonies must be performed in order to cause the soul of the deceased person to take up its residence with the ancestors of the tribe, who are supposed to pass a colourless existence in a village of their own. Corpses are buried, two pice being thrown into the grave to buy the site. No mourning is observed, but some days after death the members of the family repair to the burial-place carrying with them a piece of turmeric. This is sliced up and put into a leaf cup and water poured over it. A piece is then laid on the tomb, and the remainder brought back tied up in a cloth, and placed under the main beam of the house which is the dwelling-place of the ancestors. A second ceremony called the sedoli may be performed at any time within fifteen years. Each sept has a separate place for its performance, where a stake called nwnda is set up for every one whose rites are separately performed, while in the case of poor families one stake does for several persons. On the stake are carved images of the sun and moon, a spider and a human ear, and a figure representing the principal person in whose honour it is put up, on horseback, with weapons in his hand. For the performance of the ceremony the stake is taken to the house, and the pieces of turmeric previously tied up are untied, and they and the post are besmeared with the blood of a sacrificial goat. After the stake has been placed in the ground, the pieces of turmeric are carried to a river, made into a ball, and allowed to sink, the Korkus saying, 'Ancestors, find your home.' If the ball does not sink at once, they consider that it is due to the difficulty experienced by the ancestors in the selection of a house, and throw in two pice to assist them. After this ceremony the spirits of the ancestors are laid, but before its performance they may return at any time to vex the living.
The Korkus generally call themselves Hindus, and profess venera- tion for Mahadeo, of whose shrine in the Pachmarhl hills two Korku land owners are hereditary guardians. They also worship a number of tribal deities, among whom may be mentioned Dongar Deo, the god of the hills ; Mutha or Mutwa Deo, the general deity of disease, who is represented by a heap of stones outside the village: Kunwar Deo, the god who presides over the growth of children ; and others. They have caste priests called Bhumkas, who are members of the tribe ; the office is sometimes but not necessarily hereditary, and if it be vacant a new Bhumka is chosen by lot. The Bhumka performs the usual functions and has special powers for the control of tigers. The Korkus are well-built and muscular, slightly taller than the Gonds, a shade darker, and a good deal dirtier. They are in great request as farm-servants, owing to their honesty and simplicity. They are as a rule very poor, and wear even less clothing than the Gonds, and where the two tribes are found together the Gonds are more civilized and have the best land. The tribe have a language of their own, called after them Korku, which belongs to the Munda family. It was returned by 88,000 persons in 1901, of whom 59,000 belonged to the Central Provinces. The number of Korku speakers is 59 per cent, of the total of the tribe, and has greatly decreased during the last decade.
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Korku
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Groups/subgroups: Bawaria, Bondeya, Bondhi, Bondog, Bopchi, Mouasi, Nahul, Nihal [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] 'Subcastes: Bawaria, Bondoya, Mowasi, Ruma [Russell & Hiralal] Surnames: Atkom, Baraskar, Bethekar, Darshima, Dhik ar, Lobo, Maware, Muasi, Patel, Sapkar, Selu, Singh [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]*Exogamous septs: Atkul, Banku, Basam, Bhuri Rana, Bhurswa, Dewda, Jambu, Kasada, Mawasi, Sakum, Takhar [Russell & Hiralal] Exogamous units/clans: Bethe, Chauhan, Oarsima, Dhi, Kasda, Lobo, Rathore, Selu [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
Korku, Bawaria
(From People of India/ National Series Volume VIII. Readers who wish to share additional information/ photographs may please send them as messages to the Facebook community, Indpaedia.com. All information used will be gratefully acknowledged in your name.)
Synonyms: Bairio, Baoria, Bawar [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Surnames: Balthe, Barsima, Bhasam, Bhorsuna, Changri, Logo, Sakum, Silu [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Exogamous units/clans: Balthe, Barsima, Bhasam, Bhorsuna, Changri, Logo, Sakum, Silu [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
