Bathudi Adivasi
The Bathudi is a minor scheduled tribes found in the state of Jharkhand. They are found in the district of Singhbhum. Although they have been given scheduled tribe status by government but, they prefer to call themselves as Kashatriya Hindu caste. They get irritated when any one calls them as tribe or Adivasi. They are sufficiently under the influence of Hinduism. They utilise the services of Hindu priests.
Culture
Their villages are surrounded by hill ranges covered with thick forest. Their villages are situated on the bank of river Swarnarekha. They do fishing on the bank of the river. In the village their houses are scattered. They erect houses with the help of wooden pole, bamboo, mud, tiles etc. The houses consist of more than one room. The cattleshed is at the back of the house. They have a permanent door. The door is locked when they go out for work. There is portico for entertaining the visitors. The room does not have windows. In side the room, there are wooden racks.
The Bathudi purchase clothes from the weekly local Haat. Male wears dhoti, Kamij and a ganji. They have a Gamachha on their shoulders. In the village, they wear only dhoti and have gamachha. They wear full dress when they go out of the village for marketing or meeting relatives. Woman wears Sari, Jhula, Saya. The children wear modern dresses purchased from the weekly Haat. They wear plastic shoes and slipper occasionally. Most of time, they remain bare-footed.
The Bathudi women are fond of ornaments. They wear ornaments made up of brass, steel, thread, glass, seeds etc.
They have earthen pots, cots, mats, baskets of different types prepared from the local forest produce, few utensils of brass, bronze and aluminium. They have iron implements like knife, sickle, kudal, khanti, Khurpi, bhala etc.
Family
The society of the Bathudi is patriarchal. It includes patrilateral families and lineages. Family is the smallest form of society. It is nuclear in structure. The family consists of husband, wife and unmarried children. As soon as a son gets married, he establishes a new house. The daughters leave the house of father for ever to live with their husbands. As property of the father is shared by only sons, it becomes the duty of the sons to look after the aged parents during old hood.
The husband-wife relation is generally very cordial. Both respect each other and take care of each other. Cooking, serving well and rearing of children are done by the wife, but the husband also offers services for those purposes whenever is required. The husband performs work out-side the house, but the wife also cooperates him in the performance of works. She also works as labour to get wages for maintaining the family expenditure.
The parent children relation is also very sweet. The children co-operate their parents in the performance of work either in the house or in the field. Generally daughters assist their mother in the performance of household chores and sons assist their father in the performance of work in the field. The children also assist their parents in the collection of forest produce.
The relation between siblings is found very sweet. During the childhood, they eat together, play together and sleep together. They co-operate their parents collectively. But during young hood, they get married and establish separate family. The sisters go to live with their husbands. They give up the property of father for the families of their bothers. The families of brothers live together in the same village. The property of father is shared by only sons. The families or married brothers and sisters maintain kinship relationship through the reciprocal exchange of invitation, gift, presentation and visits on different ceremonial occasions.
The inter-family relation between lineage and clan groups is maintained on the occasions of birth, marriage, death, festivals etc. by reciprocal exchange of visits, service, gift, invitation, presentation etc.
The Bathudi have good relation with the families of other tribes and castes. As they live together in the same village with other tribes and castes, they maintain good relation with them. They participate enjoys and sorrows of each other. They also exchange services on different occasions.
The Bathudi also maintain good relation with the castes and the tribes of the neighbouring villages. They work as casual or contract-labour. They do marketing together in the same weekly Haat. They also do the exchange of labour on different occasions.
From the above account, it is clear that the Bathudi believe in good relationship with the family members and the families of same tribes, different tribes and castes. But this does not mean that there is no conflict in the society of the Bathudi. One finds the existence of husband- wife conflict, brother-brother conflict, and sister-brother conflict, inter family conflict, inter tribal conflict etc. The relation between husband and wife becomes tensile when any one develops extra marital relation. Extra marital relation, negligence of duty and cruel behaviour, become the cause of divorce in the society of the Bathudi. Pre-marital relation, extra marital relation and division of property are the main causes of conflict between two families of same tribe. Adultering, theft of goats, hens and chicks and destruction of crops are the main causes of conflict between two families of different tribes and castes.
All types of conflicts are settled in the village Panchayat by the traditional head of the village with the help of council of elders.
Marriage
The usual form of marriage in the marriage in the Bathudi is monogamy in which one male marries with one woman. But in case of barrenness, bigamy is also practiced.
They practice the rule of endogamy strictly because they select marriage, mates from their own community. The selection of marriage mate forms the other communities - tribal or non-tribal is strictly forbidden. The person, who dares to break this taboo, is ousted from the community for ever. The children born out of such unions’ are treated as mongrel. They do no share in the property of ancestors. Their children are not recognised in the society and abused frequently as admixture.
The Bathudi also follow the rule of Clan exogamy. The Bathudi community is divided into several totemic clans named after local plants, birds, animals and other natural things. Intra clan marriages are strictly tabooed. But inter clan marriages are allowed.
Widow re-marriages are allowed. But cousin marriages in the cross or parallel are not allowed in any case. They treat cousins as blood relatives, not as marriage relatives.
The marriage is held when the boy attains the age between 15 to 25 years and the girl attains the age between 15 to 20 years.
The popular way of acquiring marriage mate is by bride-price. The bride price is very nominal. It varies in cash and rice, pulse, clothes etc. in kind. They have to pay clothes for bride, bride's parents, bride's brother and sisters.
They have to pay rice, pulse, vegetable and goat for the hospitality of the Barat and Sarat party. The father or guardian of the groom approaches the father or guardian of the bride. They settle the bride price. When the bride-price is settled, the news of marriage settlement is communicated in the community. Now, the date marriage is fixed with the help of the Pahan, Baiga or priest. On the date of marriage, all male Kin of the groom along with the groom forms a party called as Barat party. The female kin of the groom performs white magic by spraying sun fried rice, sakhua leaves, flowers and Dub grasses. This is done to neutralise the effect of evil spirits and witches on the groom and the Barat party. Kajal is applied in the eyes of the groom. The groom wears red Kurta, yellow Dhoti, red Gamachha and shoes and shocks. The members of Barat party wear Dhoti, Kamij and Gamachha. Clothes are purchased form from the local markets. The groom is carried on Palki, rickshaw of bicycle. Other members of the Barat party make journey on foot.
When the groom and the Barat party reaches in the village of the bride the male kin of the bride accord grand welcome to them. They embrace the members of Barat party and offer beads of forest flowers in their neck and hand. They are brought at a suitable place for the stay. They are asked to wash hands, feet and mouth. Then Lakatho sweets, fried grams and Handia are offered to them as hospitality. They enjoy the hospitality provided by the male kin of the bride. After hospitality, the members of Barat party and the groom are brought at the gate of the bride's house.
The female kin of the bride sing varieties of songs. The members of both sides the groom and the bride perform dance, When the dance is over they are again served Lakatho, fried gram and Handia. Now the groom is brought at marriage place which is well decorated by leaves, flowers and coloured papers. The groom is asked to put vermillion in the forehead of the bride. After this ritual the bride and the groom move seven times around a fire tank. This marks the end of the marriage ritual. After the end of the marriage ritual, all kin of the bride and the groom share the marriage feast. In the morning, breakfast is served top the members of the Barat party. The vidai ritual of the bride and the groom is done amidst tearful scene. All members of Barat party are also offered vidai. The bride and the groom are brought on Palaki. When the groom reaches in the house with the bride, the female-kin welcome them amidst the scene of singing and dancing. Exchange of gift and presentation takes place on this occasion. The principle of reciprocity can be seen in the exchange of gifts. After a month or two or a year, the bride and the groom establish a separate house and start leading a family life.
Kinship
The kinship system of the Bathudi is based on the concept of parentage and marriage. Parentage and marriage play significant role in the establishment of kinship. It is believed that the blood of the parents flows in the body of children generation after generation. Thus, blood establishes kinship relation between the ascendants and descendants. The family, lineage and clan are the groups of kin based on the concept of blood relation.
The marriages between blood relatives are strictly prohibited. The family is patrilineal, lineage is also patrilineal and the clan is patriclan, the inheritance and the succession are also patrilineal. The residence rule is patrilocal.
After blood, it is marriage which plays significant role in the determination kin, The marriage binds not only the two individuals of opposite sex as husband and wife or couple, but all kin of the husband and all kind of the wife also got tied with one another through kinship bond. They are called by kinship terminologies like Sasur, Sas, Sala, Sala, Sali, Devar, Bhabhi, Nanad, Sarhaj etc. There are the relatives which are formed by marriage bond.
Thus blood establishes kinship bond between an individual and his ascendants, descendants and collateral kin. The marriage, establishes kinship bond between bride and groom and their kin. So, marriage establishes relationship between several families related through the bride and the groom.
In the society of the Bathudi, two or more kin behave following the rules of kinship usages. The rules of kinship usages like avoidance, Joking are followed strictly at the time of behaviour between two kin.
The Bathudi use both types of kinship terminology - classificatory and descriptive.
The classificatory kinship terminology is used for a group of relatives, while descriptive terminology is used to designate a particular relative.
Exchange of gifts and presentations takes place between different kins on the occasion of birth, marriage, death and festivals.
Birth
Birth brings the occasion of happiness in the family. It washes the stain of barrenness from a couple. It transmits the linearity of the family. The birth produces new blood relations and marriage relations in each generation. Birth is the producer of linearity and colaterality. The birth brings the production of individuals of both sexes. The place of both sexes - male and female is valuable in the society of the Bathudi. The Bathudi celebrate the birth of boy and girl equally. They do not make any distinction in rearing and caring them. The birth of a child brings pollution in the family for five days. On 6th day, purificatory bath is held for the mother and courtyards of the house are washed properly by mud, cowdung and water. Generally delivery takes place in the house. The experience women of the community attends the delivery. After purificatory bath the mother and the child appear before the family deity, village deity and community and members to seek blessings.
Death
The Bathudi are aware of the reality of death. They know well that whosoever has born, will die one day. That is why mature death is not taken as bad. Bu immature death is taken bad.
They believe that immature death is caused by malevolent spirits. They offer sacrifices in the name of malevolent spirits to prevent immature death and miseries in the family. They burn as well as burry their dead depending upon the availability of fuel wood. The death brings pollution for 9 days in the lineage and clan groups. On the 10th day, the male members of the lineage and clan gave shaving of hairs, moustache and beard. A feast is given to the community members to become pure. The entire house washed properly. They believe that the death feat purifies the members of the lineage and the clan.
Economy
The Bathudi economy presents a mixed picture of collection of forest produce, fishing, hunting o birds, agriculture and wages as casual contract labour. They also sell few forest produce in the local Haat. They have fishing implements in their houses and do fishing in the ponds and river banks. They prepare mat, baskets, tray, broom etc. for household use. They also prepare rope from the grasses available ion their forest environment. They prepare col, machia, sikia etc. from the rope. The Bathudi have some agriculture land besides homestead land. Just adhered to the homestead land, they have Bari land in which they cultivate vegetables, maize, marua, arhar etc. during rainy season. The agricultural land is of two types - (i) Don and (ii) Tanr. In Tanr land, Arahar, Mung, Kodo, Marua, Maize etc. are cultivated. The seeds of paddy are put in the month of June as soon as the monsoon starts. The seedlings become ready for transplantation in nearly three to four weeks. They have agricultural implements like plough, kudal, khanti, khurpi, axe, baskets, sickle etc. They have oxen for the purpose of cultivation.
The agricultural processes include putting seedling, transplanting, weeding, manuring, watching, harvesting, thrashing, winnowing and storing. The agriculture is done by the labour of family members. They also do the exchange of labour with neighbouring families for agriculture. They do not spend wages on agriculture.
The Bathudi do not expend on education, and modern treatment, They spend on sacrifice, ceremonies and drinking. They remain always in some kind of debt of the Mahajan of the local Haat and the village. They take loan for non-productive purpose.
Religion
The religion of the Bathudi presents a picture of beliefs in different Gods, Goddesses and ancestral spirits. The Bathudi village is marked by different sacred centres in the around the village. Each sacred centes is named after a God, Goddesses, spirits or ancestors. At sacred centres one finds the offering of sun fried rice, vermillion, flowers etc. Sacrifice is also made at the sacred centres. The sacred specialist is known as Dehari. The worship of God and Goddess is organised at community level for the welfare of the community members. Fund raised from each family for the purpose of worship. Items of worship and sacrificial animals or birds are purchased from the fund.
The Bathudi celebrate festivals like purnima, Asari Puja, Dhulia Puja, Shitla Puja, Makar Shankranti, Bandana Puja and Shivaratri. On these occasions, sacrifices of chicks, pigeon, ducks, goat etc. are made by the Deahri, the village priest. They also celebrate festivals like Durga Puja, Holi, Ramnawami and Diwali. The Bathudi show the impact of Hinduism. They offer worships to Hindu Gods and Goddesses like Shitla, Shiva and Hanumana.
The Bathudi also believe in the Bhut-Preta and the witchcraft. According to them, Bhuta-Preta are the spirits of those persons who had met premature death due to accident, murder, suicide, burnt, drowning etc. As they are spirits of premature death they do not get rebirth of salvation. As they are dissatisfied souls, they cause harm to children and pregnant women. They also attack on men and women when they visit alone at a lonely place. The Bhuta-Preta are driven out by Ojha or Bhuta-Preta specialist. The specialists make them to go out by offering sacrifices and reciting hymns. When they do not go out by prayer and sacrifice, the Ojha tries to make them out by beating and abusing.
The Bathudi also believe in witchcraft. A witchcraft or Dain is a woman who is possessed by the spirit of her husband or son. Through the spirit possession, she causes harm to the people who she wants to destroy. The effect of witchcraft is neutralised by the Ojha or
witch-dotcor.
On the occasion of worship and festivals, the Bathudi men, women and children assemble at Akhra to perform dance. The children learn dance on these occasions.
Political Organisations
The Bathudi have their own political system called village Panchayat. All heads of the family are members of the Panchayat. They elect one of senior members as Pradhan. The panchayat is held at Akhra or below a tree or at a sacred centre. In the panchayat cases like adultery, extra marital relat5ions, pre-marital relations, intertribal marriage, intra-clan marriage, divorce, division of property, theft of goats and chicks, and destruction of crops are decided.
The decision is taken unanimously and both parties have to obey the decision. Those who do not obey the decision of the Panchayat are ousted from the community. No one accepts food, water and girl from their families. No one talks with them. Thus, they have to obey the decision.
The Bathudi also have inter-village panchayat to solve the problem with neighbouring villages.
Now-a-day, Bathudi also participate in the election of Modern Gram Panchayat. They go to booth to cast their votes at the time of election of the Panchayat. They also cast votes to elect MLA and MP. They cast their votes as per their decision in the village Panchayat. But as they are not significant numerically, they have not been able to elect mukhia, MLA and MP of their own community. At the time of election, they also sell their votes by taking money from political parties for feast and liquor.
The Bathudi are not members of any political parties. They are also not supporters of any political parties. But they know the symbols of different political parties. They cast their votes to those parties which pay them money for meal and liquor. Otherwise they do not go to the polling station for casting their votes.
Bathudi Woman
Bathudi women are laborious by nature. Their daily work activities start at 5 a.m. and continue till 9 p.m. They do not care for their health and remain busy in cooking food, serving food, caring children and aged and working in the field and the forest.
They perform household chores and provides sound management in the family. They know well how to store food materials and how to meet family expenditure. They are the doctors for the health of the family members. They are the first teacher and play significant role in the socialisation of children. They are the custodian of the culture and transmitter of the culture from one generation to the next. To raise the family income, they join the hands of males and go to work as Reja, Coolie and Casual labour. They remain hungry but do not like to see their children hungry. In many cases, they have to feed their drunkard husbands.
The Bathudi women have to observe a number of taboos due to being women particularly during the period of menstruation, pregnancy, delivery and nursing.
The Bathudi women play significant role in dance and singing on festive and ceremonial occasions. They transmit the art of singing and dancing to the children.
The Bathudi women work hard to earn wages and run family. They also go to market for selling and buying things. They also avail credit facilities in the local Haat. They also visit to the Mahajan for loan. The Bathudi women are exploited in the payment of wages. They do not get wages equal to their male counterparts for same kind and hours of work. As Reja and Coolie they have also to face the situation of physical exploitation
Bathudi Children
Bathudi children are asset for the family. They also go to market for selling and buying things. They assist their parents in works either in house, forest or the field. They also go to earn wages to raise the family income. Some Bathudi children are admitted in the schools situated either in the same village or in the neighbouring village. But they do not attend school. They are kept engaged in family work. For them bread is more important than the education. As a result, the numbers of literates are very few in Bathudi community. In the place of study, the Bathudi children work in the family or earn some kind of wages. When there is no work, they play games like Kabadi, Kho-kho, Goti, Bagh-Bakri, Chika, Dol-Patta, Football etc. The children are socialised in the household chores, collection of forest produce and good habits. They are also taught about social virtues. The children are neither rewarded nor punished. For pre-marital relation and committing mistake, the maximum punishment is scolding by the parents. The children learn art and archery under the experienced member of the community.
Bathudi Youth
The Bathudi youth inter into family life when they attain the age between 15 to 25 years. After marriage they establish a separate family. Both husband and wife work in the house, forest and field to run the family. They also work as casual labour to earn wages. They go out of village temporarily to earn wages as migrant labour. But as casual labour and migrant labour they do not get work regularly. They remain unemployed for many months in a year. The lack of unemployment creates frustration among the youths. They turn towards drinking habit. Some of them become involved in theft, dacoity and other kind of anti-social activities.
The Aged
The Bathudi do not treat their aged as liabilities. They treat aged as asset for the family on various decisions, the opinion of the aged is sought. Their feet are worshiped on social and ceremonial occasions. The aged do not want to become burden on the family so long as they are physically able to walk and work. They prepare ropes from the local grasses. They tell folk tales to the children. The children want to spend more time with the aged of the family.
Development
After independent our Central and State Government have launched several schemes to develop the economic, political, housing, educational and health conditions of the Bathudi. Primary level schools have been established in each village for the education of children free of cost. Indira Awas Yojna has been implemented to improve the housing condition. Employment opportunities have been provided under JRY and JRDP. In order to provide fresh drinking water, hand pumps have been installed and pucca wells have been made. For better health services, health sub centres and health centres have been established. In order to raise economic status, subsidy and loans have been provided by the national banks and cooperative societies. For political development, seats have been reserved for Mukhia, MLA and MP. Reservations in technical institutions and jobs have also been implemented. Various welfare schemes for the tribals have also been launched by Governmental and non-Governmental organisations.
But in reality, the Bathudi are far away from the benefits of development. Quite low level of literacy, visit to the Ojha for the treatment of diseases, delivery in house, malnutrition, non-availability of fresh drinking water, not availing credit facilities form the bank etc. reveal clearly that development efforts have not been successful. As they are illiterate, they do not avail benefit of reservation in technical institution, on jobs, Mukhia, MLA and MP. Their benefits are availed by other tribes who are numerically dominated and educationally well learned. There is need to do many things for the development of the Bathudi.
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