Sanjeet Kumar
sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com
sanjeet.biotech@gmail.com
The extensive and densely
forested hilly tracts of Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) are the home of many
tribes such as Ho, Kolha, Santhal, Bathudi, Bhumija, Mahali, Saunti, Munda,
Gonda and Pauri Bhuiyan including two primitive groups Erenga Khadias and
Mankirdias. There are 61 villages inside the core and buffer zone and about
1,200 villages in the transitional zone having a total population of about 4.5
lakh out of which the scheduled tribes constitute 73.44 % of total population
of Similipal. These poor tribals practice primitive culture, traditions and
rituals and have no or little acquired skills. Their main occupation is food
gathering, hunting, collection of forest products and traditional farming or
agriculture.
The
“Ho” is a Kolarian belonging to the same stock of Munda and Kol. They mainly
inhibit the interiors of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar district of Odisha. The name
“Ho” is derived from the word “horo” which, in their language, means “man”.
They are the descendants of Munda family. Other neighboring communities address
them by the term “kola”, but they identify themselves as “Ho”. Some of the
anthropologists are of opinion that the Ho, Kol, Kolha etc. are offshoots of a
common tribal origin. Ho are mainly inhabited keonjhar and Mayurbhanj district
of Odisha. But they claim that Chhotanagpur is their place of origin from where
they migrates subsequently to Singhbhum, Saraikalla, Kharsuan, mayurbhanj and
Keonjhar. The “Ho” are renowned for their simple, amiable and other
philanthropic qualities. Most of the “Ho” villages are surrounded by mountains
and forests. The hos usually live in multi-ethnic villages amidst other
Schedule tribes and scheduled caste. Each Ho village is composed of 2 or 3
hamlets which are known as Tola. They
being settled agriculturists, agriculture is the main-stay of their livelihood.
They mainly cultivated rice (baba), maize and millets (Kadez). In addition to
this they also grow different types of vegetables like pumpkin (kakaru),
brinjal (benga), pea (simbali), onion (piaja), chilli (malchi), green leaves
(aa). Their main meal is rice (mandi) and watered rice (daa mandi). They also
eat fish (haku), red ant (hau), termites (nidri), crabs (kattah), meat (jilu)
of different birds and animals. They also collect the different types of wild
plants from forest and stored them. They usually collect tuber and rhizome
including Dioscorea species. They use tubers as food and medicine. They are
very habitual to collect the Dioscorea
puber during rainy seasons.
Mankirdia
is a primitive tribe constitutes a semi-nomadic section of the Birhor tribe.
They are primarily a hunting and food gathering community. For their
traditional skill of rope making, trapping and eating monkey. Their neighbors
call them “Mankidia “or Mankidi. They catch and kill monkeys from the forest
and eat monkeys’ meat. When these monkeys create havoc in the rural areas and
destroy crops, fruits and vegetables, the local people employ the Mankirdia to
catch them. They are one of the most primitive and little known forest dwelling
and wandering communities of the state as well as the country. They wander
inside forest in small bands and stay at Tandas, the temporary make shift
settlement, comprising of temporary dome shaped leaf huts, known as Kumbhas.
The typical physical characteristic features of Mankirdia are short stature,
dark complexion with long head. They are simple and shy in nature. The nomadic
hunter-gathered exemplifies the past life of men in the forest in archaic
conditions. The scenic Chotanagpur plateau is said to be their place of origin.
From there they might have migrated to different parts of Odisha and ultimately
chosen temporary habitations around the hill tracts. Besides Orissa, they are
found in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra. In Odisha,
small wandering bands of Mankirdia are largely found in Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar,
Balasore, Jajpur, Deogarh, Sundergarh and Sambalpur districts. They are mostly
distributed in and around the Similipal hills. They number 1050 persons as per
2001 census. About 99 % of the Mankirdia populations are ruralities. Sometimes
they travel long distance in the jungle crossing the states and district
boundaries in search of wild food and Siali creepers. Present study observed
they wander from Similipal to Hazaribagh National Park (Jharkhand) and returned
after a year to Similipal again (Source: Token Mankirdia, interviewed near the
Kalikaparsad gate, transitional zone of SBR). The temporary settlement of
Mankirdia is small one. Called tanda, the leaf hutments. After observing the ritual
testing of suitability of the site by the Dehuri, the priest, a new tanda is set up at a place close to
forest, water source and weekly hat (market). Most often the tanda is found in the fringe of a
village. Usually we can see the tanda in the fringes of the SBR forest close to
the areas of Karanjia, Jashipur, Rairangpur and Thakurmunda. Their movement
from place to place is more frequent in summer than in other seasons. But in
rainy seasons they set up their tanda
and stay all the four months in a locality preferably near a peasant village.
In winter season they set the camp two or three times. Kumbha, the leaf huts in which the Mankirdia live are dome shaped,
having an opening for entrance. It is made of twigs with leaves of Sal (Shorea robusta) tree. Woven in a
framework of wooden saplings tied together with Siali fiber. During movements
in forest, they collect various types of medicinal plants to cure common
diseases. They collect tuber of Dioscorea
bulbifera and Dioscorea pentaphylla
for curing skin infections, abdominal pain and for birth control. They also
collect tubers during early winter and stored them for consuming the summer and
rainy seasons.
The
Hill Kharia, locally known as “Pahari Kharia” is a highland tribal group. They
are a semi-nomadic group. They are expert in collection of honey, resin and
arrowroot. They are a section of the “Kharia”, one of 62 Schedule tribes of
Odisha. The tribesmen are primarily a forager community in the Similipal
Biosphere Reserve. They feel proud of identifying themselves as the descendants
of the legendary Viswavasu Sabara, the first worshiper of Lord Jagannath in
hill cave. The Kharia legend of origin resembles that of the Mundas, and tends
to show that they are an elderly branch of that tribe. Similipal hill ranges
are the hearth and home of the Hill Kharias. As a forager tribal group, the
Hill-Kharias live in remote hill and forest areas. They do major seasonal
collection along with agricultural labour in agricultural season. In the forest
habitat they think hunting and food gathering are more reliable than the
agricultural pursuit. They are collecting honey since time immemorial.
Collection of saal resin (jhuna) is
done by them in SBR. They also known as arrowroot (palua) collector in SBR. The
staple food of the Hill-Kharia is rice. The rice is supplemented by mandia,
maize and other miner, millets and different seasonal edible roots and tubers,
honey, arrowroots, greens, fruits, nuts, berries, flowers etc. During the rainy
season, most of the Hill-Kharia face rice scarcity and they principally depend
on other food stuffs, like maize, edible roots and tubers of Dioscorea species and corms.
The
Santal one of the most populace tribal communities of India, are mainly found
in the districts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Balasore in the State of Odisha.
Besides, they are also found in the neighboring states like Jharkhand, West
Bengal, Bihar and Assam. The word “Santal” is derived from two words: Santa
meaning calm and peaceful and ala meaning man. In the past, the Santhal were
leading a nomadic life. Gradually they came to settle down in the Chhotanagpur
plateau. Towards the end of 18th Century they migrated to the Santal
Parganas of Bihar and then they came to Odisha. They speak Santali languages
which belong to the Munda group of Austro-Asiatic sub-family of languages. The
Santali has its own script called “Ol Chiki” invented by Pundit Raghunath
Murmu. Santal village is surrounded by agricultural fields, pastures, ponds,
graveyard and a common place of worship known as Jahar. The primary occupation
of the Santal is settled agriculture. Both men and women are engaged in this
pursuit. Seasonal forest collection is one of the important sources of
subsidiary income. They collect minor forest products like tuber, root, fruits,
green leaves, honey, mahua flower etc. that sustain them for 3-4 months in a
year. They also collect fuel wood, medicinal herbs, grass, bamboo and timber
from the forest for their day-to-day use. Rice beer (handia) is a very popular drink among the Santals. The local weekly
market or haat occupies an important
place in the socio-economic life of Santal. This is the place where they
purchase their necessities by bartering or selling their surplus agricultural
by forest products.
Bathudi is a very common tribal community in
SBR. They are very simple and shy in nature. They are very excellent in
agriculture, in gathering of forest products and medicinal plants. They have
very good skills in traditional medicines. They do agriculture in a limited
land and do not get enough cereals for a year, therefore the go to forest and
collect roots, fruits, tubers and leafy vegetables for food and some medicinal
plants for therapeutic medicine. They sell the forest products for purchase of
other daily requirements in local weekly markets. They mostly drink Rice beer
and occasionally they hunt small animals for food. They also eat domestic
animals during festivals.
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