Oraon
This article was written in 1916 when conditions were different. Even in Readers will be able to edit existing articles and post new articles directly |
From The Tribes And Castes Of The Central Provinces Of India
By R. V. Russell
Of The Indian Civil Service
Superintendent Of Ethnography, Central Provinces
Assisted By Rai Bahadur Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner
Macmillan And Co., Limited, London, 1916.
NOTE 1: The 'Central Provinces' have since been renamed Madhya Pradesh.
NOTE 2: While reading please keep in mind that all articles in this series have been scanned from the original book. Therefore, footnotes have got inserted into the main text of the article, interrupting the flow. Readers who spot these footnotes gone astray might like to shift them to their correct place.
Oraon
Oraon, Uraon, Kurukh, Dhangar, Kuda, Kisan
The Oraons are an important Dravidian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau, numbering altogether about 750,000 persons, of whom 85,000 now belong to the Central Provinces, being residents of the Jashpur and Sarguja States and the neigh-
bouring tracts. They are commonly known in the Central
Provinces as Dhangar or Dhangar-Oraon. In Chota Nagpur
the word Dhangar means a farmservant engaged according to
a special customary contract, and it has come to be applied
to the Oraons, who are commonly employed in this capacity.
Kuda means a digger or navvy in Uriya, and enquiries made
by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar and Mr. Hira Lai have demonstrated
that the 1 8,000 persons returned under this designation from
Raigarh and Sambalpur in 1901 were really Oraons.
The same remark applies to 33,000 persons returned from Sambalpur as Kisan or cultivator, these also being members of the tribe. The name by which the Oraons know themselves is Kurukh or Kurunkh, and the designation of Oraon or Orao has been applied to them by outsiders. The meaning of both names is obscure. Dr. Halm ^ was of opinion that the word ktirukh might be identified with the Kolarian horo, man, and explained the term Oraon as the totem of one of the septs into which the Kurukhs were divided.
According to him Oraon was a name coined by the Hindus, its base being orgordn, hawk or cunny bird, used as the name of a totemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection with the Kaikari, iirupai, man ; Burgandi urapo^ man ; iirdng, men. The Kaikaris are a Telugu caste, and as the Oraons are believed to have come from the south of India, this derivation sounds plausible. . In a similar way Sir. G. Grierson states, Kurukh may be connected with Tamil kurugu, an eagle, and be the name of a totemistic clan.
Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil, and Kudagu. In the Nerbudda valley the farmservant who pours the seed through the tube of the sowing-plough is known as Oraya ; this word is probably derived from the verb urna to pour, and means ' one who pours.' Since the principal characteristic of the Oraons among the Hindus is their universal employment as farmservants and labourers, it may be suggested that the name is derived from this term. Of the other names by which they are known to outsiders Dhangar means a farmservant, Kuda a digger, and Kisan a cultivator.
The name Oraon and its variant Orao is very close to Oraya, which, as already seen, means a farmservant. The nasal seems to ' Linguistic Sui~i>ey, vol. iv. p. 406.
be often added or omitted in this part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh. According to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes/ 2. Setiic- " The Kurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence "\'^"* '" they went up the Nerbudda river and settled in Bihar on the Xagpur. banks of the Son. Driven out by the Muhammadans, the tribe split into two divisions, one of which followed the course of the Ganges and finally settled in the Rajmahal hills : while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-western portion of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where many of the villages they occupy are still known by Mundari names. The latter were the ancestors of the Oraons or Kurukhs, while the former were the progenitors of the Male or Saonria as they often call themselves." Towards Lohardaga the Oraons found themselves among the Mundas or Kols, who probably retired by degrees and left them in possession of the country. " The Oraons," Father Dehon states, " are an exceedingly prolific tribe and soon become the preponderant element, while the Mundas, being conservative and averse to living among strangers, emigrate towards another jungle.
The Mundas hate zamlndars, and whenever they can do so, prefer to live in a retired corner in full possession of their small holding ; and it is not at all improbable that, as the zamlndars took possession of the newly-formed villages, they retired towards the east, while the Oraons, being good beasts of burden and more accustomed to subjection, remained." In view of the fine physique and martial character of the Larka or Fighting Kols or Mundas, Dalton was sceptical of the theory that they could ever have retired before the Oraons ; but in addition to the fact that many villages in which Oraons now live have Mundari names, it may be noted that the headman of an Oraon village is termed Munda and is considered to be descended from its founder, while for the Pahan or priest of the village gods, the Oraons always employ a Munda if available, and it is one of the Pahan's duties to point out the boundary of the village in cases of dispute ; this is a function regularly assigned to the earliest residents, and seems to be strong evidence that
- Bengal Census Report ( 1 90 1 ).
the Oraons found the Mundas settled in Chota Nagpur when they arrived there. It is not necessary to suppose that any conquest or forcible expropriation took place
and it is probable that, as the country was opened up, the Mundas by preference retired to the wilder forest tracts, just as in the Central Provinces the Korkus and Baigas gave way to the Gonds, and the Gonds themselves relinquished the open country to the Hindus. None of the writers quoted notice the name Munda as applied to the headman of an Oraon village, but it can hardly be doubted that it is connected with that of the tribe ; and it would be interesting also to know whether the Pahan or village priest takes his name from the Pans or Gandas. Dalton says that the Pans are domesticated as essential constituents of every Ho or Kol village community, but does not allude to their presence among the Oraons.
The custom in the Central Provinces, by which in Gond villages the village priest is always known as Baiga, because in some localities members of the Baiga tribe are commonly employed in the office, suggests the hypothesis of a similar usage here. In villages first settled by Oraons, the population. Father Dehon states, is divided into three khunts or branches, named after the Munda, Pahan and Mahto, the founders of the three branches being held to have been sons of the first settler. Members of each branch belong therefore to the same sept or got. Each khiint has a share of the village lands.
3. Sub- The Oraons have no proper subcastes in the Central divisions. Provinces, but the Kudas and Kisans, having a distinctive name and occupation, sometimes regard themselves as separate bodies and decline intermarriage with other Oraons. In Bengal Sir H. Risley gives five divisions, Barga, Dhanka, Kharia, Khendro and Munda ; of these Kharia and Munda are the names of other tribes, and Dhanka may be a variant for Dhangar. The names show that as usual with the tribes of this part of the country the law of endogamy is by no means strict.
The tribe have also a large number of exogamous septs of the totemistic type, named after plants and animals. Members of any sept commonly abstain from killing or eating their sept totem. A man must not marry a member of his own sept nor a first cousin on the mother's side.
Marriage is adult and prc-nuptial unchastity appears to 4. prcbc tacitly recognised. Oraon villages have the institution ""^'^^ _ licence.
of the Dhumkuria or Bachelors' dormitory, which Dalton describes as follows:^ "In all the older Oraon villages when there is any conservation of ancient customs, there is a house called the Dhumkuria in which all the bachelors of the village must sleep under penalty of a fine. The huts of the Oraons have insufficient accommodation for a family, so that separate quarters for the young men are a necessity. The same remark applies to the young unmarried women, and it is a fact that they do not sleep in the house with their parents.
They are generally frank enough when questioned about their habits, but on this subject there is always a certain amount of reticence, and I have seen girls quietly withdraw when it was mooted. I am told that in some villages a separate building is provided for them like the Dhumkuria, in which they consort under the guardianship of an elderly duenna, but I believe the more common practice is to distribute them among the houses of the widows, and this is what the girls themselves assert, if they answer at all when the question is asked ; but however billeted, it is well known that they often find their way to the bachelors' hall, and in some villages actually sleep there.
I not long ago saw a Dhumkuria in a Sarguja village in which the boys and girls all slept every night." Colonel Dalton considered it uncertain that the practice led to actual immorality, but the fact can hardly be doubted. Sexual intercourse before marriage. Sir H. Risley says, is tacitly recognised, and is so generally practised that in the opinion of the best observers no Oraon girl is a virgin at the time of her marriage. " To call this state of things immoral is to apply a modern conception to primitive habits of life. Within the tribe, indeed, the idea of sexual morality seems hardly to exist, and the unmarried Oraons are not far removed from the condition of modified promiscuity which prevails among many of the Australian tribes. Provided that the exogamous circle defined by the totem is respected, an unmarried woman may bestow her favours on whom she will. If, however, she becomes pregnant, arrangements are made to get her married without delay, ^ Ethnography, p. 248.
Betrothal. and she is then expected to lead a virtuous life." ^ According to Dalton, however, liaisons between boys and girls of the same village seldom end in marriage, as it is considered more respectable to bring home a bride from a distance. This appears to arise from the primitive rule of exogamy that marriage should not be allowed between those who have been brought up together.
The young men can choose for themselves, and at dances, festivals and other social gatherings they freely woo their sweethearts, giving them flowers for the hair and presents of grilled field-mice, which the Oraons consider to be the most delicate of food. Father Dehon, however, states that matches are arranged by the parents, and the bride and bridegroom have nothing to say in the matter. Boys are usually married at sixteen and girls at fourteen or fifteen. The girls thus have only about two years of preliminary flirtation or Dhiimkuria life before they are settled. 5- ^ The first ceremony for a marriage is known as pan bandhi or the settling of the price ; for which the boy's father, accompanied by some men of his village to represent ihepanch or elders, goes to the girl's house. Father Dehon states that the bride-price is five rupees and four maunds of grain. When this has been settled the rejoicings begin. " All the people of the village are invited ; two boys come and anoint the visitors with oil. From every house of the village that can afford it a handia or pot of rice-beer is brought, and they drink together and make merry. All this time the girl has been kept inside, but now she suddenly sallies forth carrying a handia on her head. A murmur of admiration greets her when stepping through the crowd she comes and stands in front of her future father-in-law, who at once takes the handia from her head, embraces her, and gives her one rupee. From that time during the whole of the feast the girl remains sitting at the feet of her father-in-law.
The whole party meanwhile continue drinking and talking ; and voices rise so high that they cannot hear one. another. As a diversion the old women of the village all come tumbling in, very drunk and wearing fantastic hats made of leaves, gesticulating like devils and carrying a straw manikin representing the ' Tribes and Castes, vol, ii. p. 141.
bridegroom. They all look like old witches, and in their drunken state are very mischievous." The marriage takes place after about two years, visits 6. Marbeing exchanged twice a year in the meantime. When the "^'^^^ ° . . ceremony.
day comes the bridegroom proceeds with a large party of his friends, male and female, to the bride's house. Most of the males have warlike weapons, real or sham, and as they approach the village of the bride's family the young men from thence emerge, also armed, as if to repel the invasion, and a mimic fight ensues, which like a dissolving view blends pleasantly into a dance. In this the bride and bridegroom join, each riding on the hips of one of their friends. After this they have a feast till late in the night. Next morning bread cooked by the bride's mother is taken to the dari or village spring, where all the women partake of it.
When they have finished they bring a vessel of water with some leaves of the mango tree in it. Meanwhile the bride and bridegroom are in the house, being anointed with oil and turmeric by their respective sisters. When everybody has gathered under the marriage-bower the boy and girl are brought out of the house and a heap is made of a ploughyoke, a bundle of thatching-grass and a curry-stone.
The bride and bridegroom are made to stand on the curry-stone, the boy touching the heels of the bride with his toes, and a long piece of cloth is put round them to screen them from the public. Only their heads and feet can be seen. A goblet full of vermilion is presented to the boy, who dips his finger in it and makes three lines on the forehead of the girl
and the girl does the same to the boy, but as she has to reach him over her shoulder and cannot see him, the boy gets it anywhere on his face, which never fails to provoke hearty bursts of laughter. " When this is complete," Dalton states, " a gun is fired and then by some arrangement vessels full of water, placed over the bower, are upset, and the young couple and those near them receive a drenching showerbath, the women shouting, ' The marriage is done, the marriage is done.'
They now retire into an apartment prepared for them, ostensibly to change their clothes, but they do not emerge for some time, and when they do appear they are saluted as man and wife." VOL. IV X
7. Special Meanwhile the guests sit round drinking Jiandias or customs. earthen pots full of rice-beer. The bride and bridegroom come out and retire a second time and are called out for the following rite. A vessel of beer is brought and the bride carries a cupful of it to the bridegroom's brother, but instead of giving it into his hand she deposits it on the ground in front of him.
This is to seal a kind of tacit agreement that from that time the bridegroom's brother will not touch his sister-in-law, and was probably instituted to mark the abolition of the former system of fraternal polyandry, customs of an analogous nature being found among the Khonds and Korkus. " Then," Father Dehon continues, " comes the last ceremony, which is called khiritengna Jiandia or the Jiandia of the story, and is considered by the Oraons to be the true form of marriage vvhich has been handed down to them by their forefathers. The boy and girl sit together before the people, and one of the elder men present rises and addressing the boy says : ' If your wife goes to fetch sag and falls from a tree and breaks her leg, do not say that she is disfigured or crippled. You will have to keep and feed her.'
Then turning to the girl : ' When your husband goes hunting, if his arm or leg is broken, do not say, " He is a cripple, I won't live with him." Do not say that, for you have to remain with him. If you prepare meat, give two shares to him and keep only one for yourself If you prepare vegetables, give him two parts and keep only one part for yourself If he gets sick and cannot go out, do not say that he is dirty, but clean his mat and wash him.' A feast follows, and at night the girl is brought to the boy by her mother, who says to him, ' Now this my child is yours ; I do not give her for a few days but for ever ; take care of her and love her well.' A companion of the bridegroom's then seizes the girl in his arms and carries her inside the house."
8. Widow- It is uncommon for a man to have two wives. Divorce
and^"^"^'^^^
is permitted, and is usually effected by the boy or girl
divorce. running away to the Duars or Assam. Widow-remarriage
is a regular practice. The first time a widow marries again,
Father Dehon states, the bridegroom must pay Rs. 3-8 for
her; if successive husbands die her price goes down by a
rupee on each fresh marriage, so that a fifth husband would pay only eight annas. Cases of adultery are comparatively rare. When offenders are caught a heavy fine is imposed if they are well-to-do, and if they are not, a smaller fine and a beating.
" The Oraons," Father Dehon continues, " are a very 9. Customs prolific race, and whenever they are allowed to live without ^^ "^ being too much oppressed they increase prodigiously. What strikes you when you come to an Oraon village is the number of small dirty children playing everywhere, while you can scarcely meet a woman that does not carry a baby on her back. The women seem, to a great extent, to have been exempted from the curse of our first mother :
- Thou
shalt bring forth, etc' They seem to give birth to their children with the greatest ease. There is no period of uncleanness, and the very day after giving birth to a child, you will see the mother with her baby tied up in a cloth on her back and a pitcher on her head going, as if nothing had happened, to the village spring.
" This practice, it may be remarked in parenthesis, may arise from the former observance of the Couvade, the peculiar custom prevailing among several primitive races, by which, when a child is born, the father lies in the house and pretends to be ill, while the mother gets up immediately and goes about her work. The custom has been reported as existing among the Oraons by one observer from Bilaspur,^ but so far without confirmation.
" A child is named eight or ten days after birth, and 10. on this day some men of the village and the members of the ^^/^'I'/j" family assemble at the parents' house. Two leaf-cups are brought, one full of water and the other of rice. After a preliminary formula grains of rice are let fall into the cup, first in the name of the child and then successively in those of his ancestors in the following order: paternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, father, paternal uncle, maternal grandfather, other relatives. When the grain dropped in the name of any relative meets the first one dropped to represent the child, he is given the name of that relative and is probably considered to be a reincarnation of him." 1 Panna Lai, Revenue Inspector.
II. Branding and tattooinsr. " When a boy is six or seven years old it is time for him to become a member of the Dhumkuria or common dormitory. The eldest boys catch hold of his left arm and, with burning cloth, burn out five deep marks on the lower part of his arm. This is done so that he may be recognised as an Oraon at his death when he goes into the other world." The ceremony was probably the initiation to manhood on arrival at puberty, and resembled those prevalent among the Australian tribes. With this exception men are not tattooed, but this decoration is profusely resorted to by women. They have three parallel vertical lines on the forehead which form a distinctive mark, and other patterns on the arms, chest, knees and ankles. These usually consist of lines vertical and horizontal as shown below
12. Dormitory discipline. 13. Disjjo. sal of tlio d(!ad. The marks on the knees are considered to be steps by which the wearer will ascend to heaven after her death. If a baby cries much it is also tattooed on the nose and chin.
The Dhumkuria fraternity, Colonel Dalton remarks, are, under the severest penalties, bound down to secrecy in regard to all that takes place in their dormitory ; and even girls are punished if they dare to tell tales. They are not allowed to join in the dances till the offence is condoned. They have a regular system of fagging in this curious institution. The small boys serve those of larger growth, shampoo their limbs, comb their hair, and so on, and they are sometimes subjected to severe discipline to make men of them.
The Oraons either bury or burn the dead. As the corpse is carried to the grave, beginning from the first crossroads, they sprinkle a line of rice as far as the grave or pyre.
This is done so that the soul of the deceased may find its way back to the house. Before the burial or cremation cooked food and some small pieces of money arc placed in the mouth of the corpse. They are subsequently, however, removed or recovered from the ashes and taken by the musicians as their fee. Some clothes belonging to the deceased and a vessel with some rice are either burnt with the corpse or placed in the grave. As the grave is being filled in they place a stalk oiorai^ grass vertically on the head of the corpse and gradually draw it upwards as the earth is piled on the grave.
They say that this is done in order to leave a passage for the air to pass to the nostrils of the deceased. This is the grass from which reed pens are made, and the stalk is hard and hollow. Afterwards they plant a root of the same grass where the stalk is standing over the head of the corpse. On the tenth day they sacrifice a pig and fowl and bury the legs, tail, ears and nose of the pig in a hole with seven balls of iron dross. They then proceed to the grave scattering a little parched rice all the way along the path.
Cooked rice is offered at the grave. If the corpse has been burnt they pick up the bones and place them in a pot, which is brought home and hung up behind the dead man's house. At night-time a relative sits inside the house watching a burning lamp, while some friends go outside the village and make a miniature hut with sticks and grass and set fire to it. They then call out to the dead man, ' Come, your house is being burnt,' and walk home striking a mattock and sickle together. On coming to the house they kick down the matting which covers the doorway ; the man inside says, ' Who are you ? ' and they answer, ' It is we.'
They watch the lamp and when the flame wavers they believe it to show that the spirit of the deceased has followed them and has also entered the house. Next day the bones are thrown into a river and the earthen pot broken against a stone. The pitras or ancestors are worshipped at every festival, 14. Worand when the new rice is reaped a hen is offered to them, f^^ces^ors They pray to their dead parents to accept the offering and then place a few grains of rice before the hen. If she eats them, it is a sign that the ancestors have accepted ' Sorghum halepense.
the offering and a man kills the hen by crushing its head
with his closed fist. This is probably, as remarked by
Father Dehon, in recollection of the method employed before
the introduction of knives, and the same explanation may
be given of the barbaric method of the Baigas of crushing a
pig to death by a beam of wood used as a see-saw across its
body, and of the Gond bride and bridegroom killing a fowl
by treading on it when they first enter their house after the
wedding.
15. Reii- The following account of the tribal religion is abridged gion. The fj-Qj^ Father Dehon's full and interesting description : supreme ° ' » deity. " The Oraons worship a supreme god who is known as Dharmes ; him they invoke in their greatest difficulties when recourse to the village priests and magicians has proved useless. Then they turn to Dharmes and say, ' Now we have tried everything, but we have still you who can help ' us.' They sacrifice to him a white cock. They think that god is too good to punish them, and that they are not answerable to him in any way for their conduct ; they believe that everybody will be treated in the same way in the other world. There is no hell for them or place of punishment, but everybody will go to mcrkJia or heaven.
The Red Indians speak of the happy hunting-grounds and the Oraons imagine something like the happy ploughing-grounds, where everybody will have plenty of land, plenty of bullocks to plough it with, and plenty of rice-beer to drink after his labour. They look on god as a big zamindar or landowner, who does nothing himself, but keeps a cJiaprdsi as an agent or debt-collector ; and they conceive the latter as having all the defects so common to his profession. Baranda, the chaprdsi, exacts tribute from them mercilessly, not exactly out of zeal for the service of his master, but out of greed for his talbdna or perquisites. When making a sacrifice to Dharmes they pray :
' O god, from to-day do not send any more your cJiaprdsi to punish us. You see we have paid our respects to you, and we are going to give him his dasiilj-i (tip).' 16. Minor " ]',ut in the concerns of this world, to obtain good crops and freedom from sickness, a host of minor deities have to be propitiated. These consist of bhilts or spirits of the godlings.
household, the sept, the villajj^c, and common deities, such as the earth and sun. Chola Pacho or the lady of the grove lives in the sarna or sacred grove, which has been left standing when the forest was cleared. She is credited with the power of giving rain and consequently good crops. Churcl is the shade of a woman who has died while pregnant or in childbirth. She hovers over her burial-place and is an object of horror and fright to every passer-by. It is her nature to look out for a companion, and she is said always to choose that member of a family whom she liked best during her lifetime.
She will then come at night and embrace him and tickle him under the arms, making him laugh till he dies. Bhula or the wanderers are the shades of persons who have died an unnatural death, either having been murdered, hanged, or killed by a tiger. ' They all keep the scars of their respective wounds and one can imagine what a weird-looking lot they are. They are always on the move, and are, as it were, the mendicant portion of the invisible community. They are not very powerful and are responsible only for small ailments, like nightmares and slight indispositions. When an Ojha or spirit-raiser discovers that a Bhula has appeared in the light of his lamp he shows a disappointed face, and says : ' Pshaw, only Bhula ! '
No sacrifice is offered to him, but the Ojha then and there takes a few grains of rice, rubs them in charcoal and throws them at the flame of his lamp, saying, * Take this, Bhula, and go away.' Murkuri is the thumping bJiiit. Europeans to show their kindness and familiarity thump people on the back. If this is followed by fever or any kind of sickness it will be ascribed to the passing of Murkuri from the body of the European into the body of the native.
" Chordeiua is a witch rather than a h/iilt. It is believed
that some women have the power to change their soul into
a black cat, who then goes about in the houses where there
are sick people. Such a cat has a peculiar way of mewing,
quite different from its brethren, and is easily recognised.
It steals quietly into the house, licks the lips of the sick man
and eats the food which has been prepared for him. The
sick man soon gets worse and dies. They say it is very
difficult to catch the cat, as it has all the nimbleness of its
sacrifice.
nature and the cleverness of a b/ult. However, they sometimes succeed, and then something wonderful happens. The woman out of whom the cat has come remains insensible, as it were in a state of temporary death, until the cat re-enters her body. Any wound inflicted on the cat will be inflicted on her ; if they cut its ears or break its legs or put out its eyes the woman will suffer the same mutilation. The Oraons say that formerly they used to burn any woman who was suspected of being a CJwrdezva.
17. Human " There is also Anna Kuari or Mahadhani, who is in our
estimation the most cruel and repulsive deity of all, as she
requires human sacrifice. Those savage people, who put good
crops above everything, look upon her in a different light. She
can give good crops and make a man rich, and this covers a
multitude of sins. People may be sceptical about it and say
that it is impossible that in any part of India under the British
Government there should still be human sacrifices.
Well, in spite of all the vigilance of the authorities, there are still human sacrifices in Chota Nagpur. As the vigilance of the authorities increases, so also does the carefulness of the Urkas or Otongas increase. They choose for their victims poor waifs or strangers, whose disappearance no one will notice. April and May are the months in which the Urkas are at work. Dolsa, Panari, Kukra and Sarguja have a very bad reputation. During these months no strangers will go about the country alone and during that time nowhere will boys and girls be allowed to go to the jungle and graze the cattle for fear of the Urkas.
When an Urka has found a victim he cuts his throat and carries away the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. Anna Kuari finds votaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the big zamlndars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered a sacrifice to Anna Kuari she goes and lives in his house in the form of a small child. From that time his fields yield double harvest, and when he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari and rolls her over the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless and is only pacified by new human sacrifices. At last after some years she cannot bear remaining in the same house any more and kills every one."
In Jashpur State where the Oraons number 47,000 18. Chrisabout half the total number have become Christians. The "^"'^>'- non-Christians call themselves Sansar, and the principal difference between them is that the Christians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sansar retain it. In some families the father may be a Sansar and the son a Kiristan, and they live together without any distinction. The Christians belong to the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Missions, but though they all know their Church, they naturally have little or no idea of the distinctions of doctrine. The principal festivals are the Sarhul, celebrated when 19. Festithe sal tree * flowers, the Karma or May-day when the rice Kirma^r^ is read}^ for planting out, and the Kanihari or harvest May-day. celebration.
" At the Karma festival a party of young people of both sexes," says Colonel Dalton, " proceed to the forest and cut a young karma tree {Nauclca parvifolia) or the branch of one ; they bear this home in triumph and plant it in the centre of the Akhara or wrestling ground. Next morning all may be seen at an early hour in holiday array, the elders in groups under the fine old tamarind trees that surround the Akhara, and the youth of both sexes, arm-linked in a huge circle, dancing round the karma tree, which, festooned with garlands, decorated with strips of coloured cloth and sham bracelets and necklets of plaited straw, and with the bright faces and merry laughter of the young people encircling it, reminds one of the gift-bearing tree so often introduced at our own great festival." The tree, however, probably corresponds to the English Maypole, and the festival celebrates the renewal of vegetation.
At the SarhQl festival the marriage of the sun-god and 20. The
earth-mother is celebrated, and this cannot be done till the
f|!s^ji'|.°i^'^'
sal tree gives the flowers for the ceremony. It takes place
about the beginning of April on any day when the tree is in
flower. A white cock is taken to represent the sun and a
black hen the earth ; their marriage is celebrated by marking
them with vermilion, and they are sacrificed. The villagers
then accompany the Pahan or Baiga, the village priest, to
the sarna or sacred grove, a remnant of the old sal forest in
1 Shorea robiisfa.
which is located Sarna Burhi or ' The old women of the
grove.' " To this dryad," writes Colonel Dalton, " who is
supposed to have great influence over the rain (a superstition
not improbably founded on the importance of trees as cloudcompellers),
the party offer five fowls, which are afterwards
eaten, and the remainder of the day is spent in feasting.
They return laden with the flowers of the sal tree, and next
morning with the Baiga pay a visit to every house, carrying
the flowers.
The women of the village all stand on the threshold of their houses, each holding two leaf-cups ; one empty to receive the holy water ; the other with rice-beer for the Baiga. His reverence stops at each house, and places flowers over it and in the hair of the women. He sprinkles the holy water on the seeds that have been kept for the new year and showers blessings on every house, saying, 'May your rooms and granary be filled with paddy that the Baiga's name may be great' When this is accomplished the woman throws a vessel of water over his venerable person, heartily dousing the man whom the moment before they were treating with such profound respect.
This is no doubt a rain-charm, and is a familiar process. The Baiga is prevented from catching cold by being given the cup of rice-beer and is generally gloriously drunk before he completes his round. There is now a general feast, and afterwards the youth of both sexes, gaily decked with the sal blossoms, the pale cream-white flowers of which make the most becoming of ornaments against their dusky skins and coal-black hair, proceed to the Akhara and dance all night."
21. The The Kanihari, as described by Father Dehon, is held
harvest pi-gyious to the threshing of the rice, and none is allowed to
festival, i ^ '
prepare his threshing-floor until it has been celebrated. It
can only take place on a Tuesday. A fowl is sacrificed and
its blood sprinkled on the new rice. In the evening a
common feast is held at which the Baiga presides, and when
this is over they go to the place where Mahadeo is worshipped
and the Baiga pours milk over the stone that
represents him. The people then dance.
Plenty of ricebeer is brought, and a scene of debauchery takes place in which all restraint is put aside. They sing the most obscene
songs and give vent to all their passions. On that clay no one is responsible for any breach of morality. Like other primitive races, and the Hindus generally, the 22. Fast Oraons observe the Lenten fast, as explained by Sir J.G. Frazcr, ^rons^ after sowing their crops. Having committed his seed with every propitiatory rite to the bosom of Mother Earth, the savage waits with anxious expectation to see whether she will once again perform on his behalf the yearly miracle of the renewal of vegetation, and the growth of the corn-plants from the seed which the Greeks typified by the descent of Proserpine into Hades for a season of the year and her triumphant re-emergence to the ui)pcr air. Meanwhile he fasts and atones for any sin or shortcoming of his which may possibly have offended the goddess and cause her to hold her hand.
From the beginning of AsdrJi (June) the Oraons cease to shave, abstain from eating turmeric, and make no leaf-plates for their food, but eat it straight from the cooking-vessel. This they now say is to prevent the field-mice from consuming the seeds of the rice. "The colour of most Oraons," Sir H. Risley states, "is 23. Physithe darkest brown approaching to black ; the hair being jet- ^^^e anT*^" black, coarse and rather inclined to be frizzy. Projecting costume jaws and teeth, thick lips, low narrow foreheads, and broad oraons flat noses are the features characteristic of the tribe. The eyes are often bright and full, and no obliquity is observable in the opening of the eyelids."
" The Oraon youths," Dalton states, " though with
features very far from being in accordance with the statutes
of beauty, are of a singularly pleasing class, their faces
beaming with animation and good humour. They are a small
race, averaging 4 feet 5 inches, but there is perfect proportion
in all parts of their form, and their supple, pliant, lithe figures
are often models of symmetr}^ There is about the young
Oraon a jaunty air and mirthful expression that distinguishes
him from the Munda or Ho, who has more of the dignified
gravity that is said to characterise the North American
Indian. The Oraon is particular about his personal appearance
only so long as he is unmarried, but he is in no hurry
to withdraw from the Dhumkuria community, and generally
his first youth is passed before he resigns his decorative propensities.
" He wears his hair long Hke a woman, gathered in a
knot behind, supporting, when he is in gala costume, a red
or white turban. In the knot are wooden combs and other
instruments useful and ornamental, with numerous ornaments
of brass.^
At the very extremity of the roll of hair gleams a small circular mirror set in brass, from which, and also from his ears, bright brass chains with spiky pendants dangle, and as he moves with the springy elastic step of youth and tosses his head like a high-mettled steed in the buoyancy of his animal spirits, he sets all his glittering ornaments in motion and displays as he laughs a row of teeth, round, white and regular, that give light and animation to his dusky features. He wears nothing in the form of a coat ; his decorated neck and chest are undraped, displaying how the latter tapers to the waist, which the young dandies compress within the smallest compass.
In addition to the cloth, there is always round the waist a girdle of cords made of tasar-silk or of cane. This is now a superfluity, but it is no doubt the remnant of a more primitive costume, perhaps the support of the antique fig-leaves.
" Out of the age of ornamentation nothing can be more
untidy or more unprepossessing than the appearance of the
Oraon; The ornaments are nearly all discarded, hair utterly
neglected, and for raiment any rags are used. This applies
both to males and females of middle age.
24. Dress " The drcss of the women consists of one cloth, six yards
long, gracefully adjusted so as to form a shawl and a petticoat.
The upper end is thrown over the left shoulder and
falls with its fringe and ornamented border prettily over the
back of the figure. Vast quantities of red beads and a
large, heavy brass ornament shaped like a torque are worn
round the neck. On the left hand are rings of copper, as
many as can be induced on each finger up to the first joint,
on the right hand a smaller quantity ; rings on the second
toe only of brass or bell-metal, and anklets and bracelets of
the same material arc also worn." The women wear only
' In Bilaspur the men have an iron and two prongs like a fork. Women
comb in the hair with a circular end do not wear this.
of women.
metal and not glass bangles, and this with the three vertical tattoo-marks on the forehead and the fact that the head and right arm are uncovered enables them to be easily recognised. " The hair is made tolerably smooth and amenable by much lubrication, and false hair or some other substance is used to give size to the mass into which it is gathered not immediately behind, but more or less on one side, so that it lies on the neck just behind and touching the right ear ; and flowers are arranged in a receptacle made for them between the roll of hair and the head." Rings are worn in the lobes of the ear, but not other ornaments. " When in dancing costume on grand occasions they add to their head-dress plumes of heron feathers, and a gay bordered scarf is tightly bound round the upper part of the body."
" The tribe I am treating of are seen to best advantage 25.
at the great national dance meetings called Jatras, which
are held once a year at convenient centres, generally
large mango groves in the vicinity of old villages. As
a signal to the country round, the flags of each village
are brought out on the day fixed and set upon the road
that leads to the place of meeting.
This incites the young men and maidens to hurry through their morning's work and look up their jatra dresses, which are by no means ordinary attire.
Those who have some miles to go put up their finery in a bundle to keep it fresh and clean, and proceed to some tank or stream in the vicinity of the tryst grove ; and about two o'clock in the afternoon may be seen all around groups of girls laughingly making their toilets in the open air, and young men in separate parties similarly employed. When they are ready the drums are beaten, huge horns are blown, and thus summoned the group from each village forms its procession. In front are young men with swords and shields or other weapons, the village standard-bearers with their flags, and boys waving yaks' tails or bearing poles with fantastic arrangements of garlands and wreaths intended to represent umbrellas of dignity. Sometimes a man riding on a wooden horse is carried, horse and all, by his friends as the Raja, and others assume the form of or paint themselves up to represent certain beasts of prey. Behind this motley group the main body Dances.
form compactly together as a close column of dancers in alternate ranks of boys and girls, and thus they enter the grove, where the meeting is held in a cheery dashing style, wheeling and countermarching and forming lines, circles and columns with grace and precision. The dance with these movements is called kharia, and it is considered to be an Oraon rather than a Munda dance, though Munda girls join in it. When they enter the grove the different groups join and dance the kharia together, forming one vast procession and then a monstrous circle.
The drums and musical instruments are laid aside, and it is by the voices alone that the time is given ; but as many hundreds, nay, thousands, join, the effect is imposing. In serried ranks, so closed up that they appear jammed, they circle round in file, all keeping perfect step, but at regular intervals the strain is terminated by a Jmrurii, which reminds one of Paddy's ' huroosh ' as he ' welts the floor,' and at the same moment they all face inwards and simultaneously jumping up come down on the ground with a resounding stamp that makes the finale of the movements, but only for a momentary pause. One voice With a startling yell takes up the strain again, a fresh start is made, and after gyrating thus till they tire of it the ring breaks up, and separating into village groups they perform other dances independently till near sunset, and then go dancing home."
26. Social But more often they go on all night. Mr. Ball mentions customs. |-}^cir dance as follows : ^ " The Oraon dance was distinct from any I had seen by the Santals or other races. The girls, carefully arranged in lines by sizes, with the tallest at one end and the smallest at the other, firmly grasp one another's hands, and the whole movements are so perfectly in concert that they spring about with as much agility as could a single individual." Father Dehon gives the following interesting notice of their social customs : " The Oraons are very sociable beings, and like to enjoy life together. They are paying visits or paJiis to one another nearly the whole year round. In these the Jiandia (beer-jar) always plays a great part. Any man who would presume to receive visitors without offering them a handia would be ' Jungle Life in India, 77777p. 1 34.
hooted and insulted by his guests, who would find a sympathising echo from all the people of tiie village. One may say that from the time of the new rice at the end of September to the end of the marriage feast or till March there is a continual coming and going of visitors. For a marriage feast forty handtas are prepared by the groom's father, and all the people of the village who can afford it supply one also.
Each liandia gives about three gallons of rice-beer, so that in one day and a half, in a village of thirty houses, about 200 gallons of rice-beer are despatched. The Oraons are famous for their dances. They delight in spending the whole night from sunset till morning in this most exciting amusement, and in the dancing season they go from village to village.
They get, as it were; intoxicated with the music, and there is never any slackening of the pace. On the contrary, the evolutions seem to increase till very early in the morning, and it sometimes happens that one of the dancers shoots off rapidly from the gyrating group, and speeds away like a spent top, and, whirlwind-like, disappears through paddy-fields and ditches till he falls entirely exhausted. Of course it is the devil who has taken possession of him. One can well imagine in what state the dancers are at the first crow of the cock, and when ' Laurore avec ses doigts de rose entr'ouvre les portes de I'orient,' she finds the girls straggling home one by one, dishevelled, trainaiit I'aile, too tired even to enjoy the company of the boys, who remain behind in small groups, still sounding their tom-toms at intervals as if sorry that the performance was so soon over. And, wonderful to say and incredible to witness, they will go straight to the stalls, yoke their bullocks, and work the whole morning with the same spirit and cheerfulness as if they had spent the whole night in refreshing sleep. At eleven o'clock they come home, eat their meal, and stretched out in the verandah sleep like logs until two, when poked and kicked about unmercifully by the people of the house, they reluctantly get up with heavy eyes and weary limbs to resume their work."
The Oraons do not now admit outsiders into the tribe. 27. Social
There is no offence for which a man is permanently put '^"'"'
out of caste, but a woman living with any man other than an
Oraon is so expelled. Temporary expulsion is awarded for the usual offences. The head of the c3.?,iQ panchdyat is called Panua, and when an offender is reinstated, the Panua first drinks water from his hand, and takes upon himself the burden of the erring one's transgression. For this he usually receives a fee of five rupees, and in some States the appointment is in the hands of the Raja, who exacts a fine of a hundred rupees or more from a new candidate. The Oraons eat almost all kinds of food, including pork, fowls and crocodiles, but abstain from beef.
Their status is very low among the Hindus ; they are usually made to live in a separate corner of the village, and are sometimes not allowed to draw water from the village well. As already stated, the dress of the men consists only of a narrow wisp of cloth round the loins. Some of them say, like the Gonds, that they are descended from the subjects of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon ; this ancestry having no doubt in the first instance been imputed to them by the Hindus. And they explain that when Hanuman in the shape of a giant monkey came to the assistance of Rama, their king Rawan tried to destroy Hanuman by taking all the loin-cloths of his subjects and tying them soaked in oil to the monkey's tail with a view to setting them on fire and burning him to death.
The device was unsuccessful and Hanuman escaped, but since then the subjects of Rawan and their descendants have never had a sufficient allowance of cloth to cover them properly. 28. Char- " The Oraons," Colonel Dalton says, " if not the most acter. virtuous, are the most cheerful of the human race. Their lot is not a particularly happy one. They submit to be told that they are especially created as a labouring class, and they have had this so often dinned into their ears that they believe and admit it. I believe they relish work if the taskmaster be not over -exacting. Oraons sentenced to imprisonment without labour, as sometimes happens, for offences against the excise laws, insist on joining the working gangs, and wherever employed, if kindly treated, they work as if they felt an interest in their task. In cold weather or hot, rain or sun, they go cheerfully about it, and after some nine or ten hours of toil (seasoned with a little play and chaff among themselves) they return blithely home
in flower-decked groups holding each other by the hand or round the waist and singing." The Kurukh language, Dr. Grierson states, has no 139. Langnwritten character, but the gospels have been printed in it ^^^' in the Devanagri type. The translation is due to the Rev. F. Halm, who has also published a Biblical history, a catechism and other small books in Kurukh. More than five-sixths of the Oraons are still returned as speaking their own language.
Oraon
(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: Kurukh [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Christian Oran, Dhakad, Dhangad, Dhanka, Hindu Oraon, Kuda [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh] Kurukh [West Bengal] Dhangar, Kisan, Kuda, Kurukh, Uraon [Russell & Hiralal] Groups/subgroups: Barwa, Christian Oraon, Ekka, Hindu Oraon, Kujru, Lakda, Minz, Sadan, Tigga, Tirkey, Topo [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
- Subtribes: Behar, Berga-Oraon, Dhanka-Oraon, Khendro-Oraon, Kheria-Oraon, Munda-Oraon, in Chotanagpur
[H.H. Risley] Surnames: Bakhla, Bando, Bara, Barwa, Beck, Ekka, Kerketa, Khakha, Khalkho, Khess, Khoea, Kindo, Kispota, Kujur, Lakra, Minz, Munjni, Oraon, Pana, Runda, Tigga, Tirkey, Toppo [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Bakla, Bandra, Barala, Bekh, Gidhi. Gidhra, Kachhu, Kerketa, Khakha, Khalho, Khalkho, Khas, Kispotta, Kunjur, Lakda, Minj Panna, Tirki, Toppo [Orissa] Ekka, Kujur, Lakda, Minj, Oraon, Tirki [West Bengal] Exogamous units/clans: Bahula, Bakhla, Bakura, Bandh, Bando, Bara, Barwa, Beck, Beek, Bura, Ekka, Kerketa, Khakha, Khalkho, Khan, Khess, Khoea, Kindo, Kispota, Kujur, Lakra, Minz, Munjini, Oraon, Pana, Runda Tigga, Tirkey, Toppo [Bihar and/or Jharkhand] Bek, Bhokla, Kakra, Khalko, Khess (plant), Kujur, Lakra, Minz, Muhjni, Panra, Tikri, Tirkey, Topo [West Bengal] Amri, Bagh, Bahula, Bakura, Bandh, Bando, Chigah (jackal), Chouriamusa (field rat), Dirra (eel), Ekka (tortoise), Ergo (rat), Gari (monkey), Gidhi (vulture), Godo (crocodile), Kanda (sweet potato), Khetta (cobra), Kindi (a tree), Kujur (a fruit), Lakra (hyena), Loha (iron), Mahto (a title), Minji (eel), Putri (a tree), Rundala (a fox), Sarno Tirki (young mice), Topoar (a bird) etc in Chotanagpur and Behar, gede (duck) [H.H. Risley] Exogamous units/lineages (bans): [Madhya Pradesh and/or Chhattisgarh]
- Khunt: Mahato, Munda, Pahan [Russell & Hiralal]
