They are different from the revivalistic
religious group bearing the same name among
the Santals. According to Prasad
(1961) the Kharwar once resided in the
Sone valley. Their legend states that
they came to Palamau from Khari Jhar, and hence came to be known as Kharwar
(Sunder, 1989). In Bihar, they are
distributed in the hilly and forest regions as well as in the plains of the
Ranchi, Gumla, Lohardaga, Palamau and Hazaribag districts. Their population in Bihar is 222,758 (1981
census). Sadri, an Indo-Aryan language
is spoken at home and Hindi with others.
The Devanagari script is used by them.
According to Sarkar (1942), ABO blood group data from Palamau, indicates
a very high incidence of gene B (39 per cent) even exceeding that of gene O (38
per cent) among them. They are non-vegetarians and relish pork but
abstain from eating beef. However, pork
is taboo for the Daulatbandi Chhatri section.
Their staple diet comprises rice and wheat and is supplemented by
various lacally available pulses, vegetables, roots and tubers. They use sarguja and mustard oil as cooking
media. Among the alcoholic drinks, rice
beer (haria) is the most popular. They
also drink distilled liquor.
The Kharwar have six endogamous groups, which are Surajbansi,
Daulatbandi, Parbandi, Kheri (Cherokharwar),
Bhogti or Ganju and Manjhia.
These groups are again divided into a number of exogamous totemic
clans (kili) like Nag, Aiyen , Karketta,
etc. They use Singh and Karketta as
surnames. Crooke (1896) reports
Surajbandhi, Patbandhi, Benbansi and Khairaha subdivisions among the Kharwar of
Mirzapur and Allahabad. Their exogamous
subdivisions are Dualbandhi, Patbandhi,
Surajbansi, Bhogta/Bhugta, Kharcurwa,
Chik-chikwa and Pradhan. Risley
(1891) records Bania, Bar
(totemic), Bahera, Bair Bamnia, Bandhia and a few more septs among the
Kharwar of Chota Nagpur. He reports that
in Palamau, the Kharwar have Patbandh, Daulbandh and Khairi subtries, whereas
in southern Lohardaga, the community has
Deshwari-Kharwar, Bhogta, Rout and
Munjhia subtribes. They consider
themselves as Kshatriya, often identify
themselves as Attarah Hazari and claim
descent from the Surajbansi Rajput.
Monogamy is the general form of marriage and the earlier practice of
polygyny is now being discouraged. Adult
marriage has replaced child marriage.
They acquire spouses through negotiation, ex-change, courtship and intrusion. Vermilion and glass bangles are the symbols
for a married women. Customarily, they have to pay bride price (dalipaisa). Post-marital residence is patrilocal. Divorce is allowed with social approval and
compensation is paid to the aggrieved party.
Remarriage is allowed for both men and women. A widower may marry his
late wife’s younger sister and a widow is allowed to marry her late husband’s
younger brother. The Kharwar live in
both nuclear and extended families.
Parental property is divided among the sons equally, with the exception
that the eldest son gets an extra
share. The women carry
out various domestic chores as well as other socio-economic pursuits and
contribute towards family income. In a
Kharwar household, birth pollution lasts for six days. Brahman priests conduct
their marriage rituals. They cremate or
bury the dead and observe death pollution for ten days. On the twelfth day, a community feast is
hosted.
Settled cultivation is the primary occupation of the Kharwar, being
supplemented by hunting, gathering, wage
labour, business and service. According
to the 1981 census, 37.74 per cent among them are returned as workers. (61.93 per cent males and 12.63 per
centfemales). Of them, 56.67 per cent are cultivators, 25.46 per
cent agricultural labourers, 1.05 per
cent are engaged in livestock, forestry, hunting, etc. and the remaining 16.82
per cent in various other occupations.
They have their own village council,
baithki, and inter-village council, chata, to deal with the
intracommunity socio-economic disputes.
Their priest (baiga), is either from the Munda or from their own
community. He officiates over Sarhul and Karma rituals, and
protects the people from evil spirits.
For officiating over the rest of
their rituals, they are dependent on the
Brahman priests. The 1981 census
returns 99.45 per cent of the Kharwar as followers of Hinduism, 0.12 per cent as Christians, 0.06 per cent as Muslims, 0.03 per cent as
Jains, 0.31 per cent profess other
religions and 0.03 per cent have not stated their religion. The 1971 census returns show that during the
period the percentage of the Hindus was 98.37 and that of those who followed
the traditional tribal religio was 1.38.
The Kharwar oral tradition suggests that they were a militant
group. Both men and women participate in
their dance performances to the accompaniment of percussion instruments.
Their
life cycle rituals are performed with the help of the Brahman, Nai, Thakur and Ghasi or Lohar. They have commensal relationship with the
Munda and Oraon, but not with the Ghasi or Lohar. The Kharwar share sources of drinking water
and other public places with their neighbous.
Patron-client relations are maintained with the Brahman, Dhobi and Thakur. The Kharwar have made moderate progress in
the field of education. Their literacy rate in Bihar is 17.22 per cent
(1981 census). The males have achieved a
literacy rate of 28.70 per cent while the females are lagging behind at 5.31
per cent. Boys usually study upto the
secondary school level and the girls only upto the primary school level. They use both indigenous and modern systems
of medicine. A few among them have been
granted loans by governmental agencies to strengthen their economy. Some have received old age pensions. Their children are served midday-meals at
schools. They are served by the public
distribution system, but not very regularly.
In times of monetary crises, the
people depend on local money lenders. In
the 1930s, the Kharwar of Bihar joined
the Forest Satyagraha Movement for the restoration of tribal customary rights
to extract timber and collect forest produce for consumption. However, after Independence, the forest was vested in the government. Under the leadership of Fetal Singh, a Kharwar, the same demands were raised
again. In the 1950s the Bhagat party was
formed and an independent government was reportedly established for the
purpose.
In West Bengal, the Kharwar are distributed in the Malda district. Risley writes that the Kharwar of Bengal have
the titles of Bhakat, Bhogta, Das, Gaunju,
Kapri, Mahto, Mandar,
Manjhi, Ohdar, Panjiara and Pradhan. He recorded many septs among them.* Their total population is 11,726 (1981
census). Khotta, an Indo-Aryan language,
is said to be their mother tongue and they are conversant with the regional
language Bengali. These people use the
Bengali script for written communication.
Some of them are employed in government and other organized sectors.
According to the 1981 census, out of their total population, workers are 33.11
per cent (49.32 per cent males and 16.46 per cent females). Of them,
36.18 per cent are returned as agricultural labourers, 26.29 per cent as cultivatiors and 25.88 per
cnet are engaged rearing livestock, forestry, hunting, etc. The remaining 11.65 per cent workers are
engaged in other services. They have
their traditional community council headed by a morol, which is a hereditary
post. The morol also functions as an
ex-officio member in the heterogenous village council. They records 97.45 per cent of the Kharwar as
followers of Hinduism, 1.85 per cent as Christians, 0.12 per cent as Sikhs, 0.03 per cent as
Muslims and 0.55 per cent follow ‘other religions’. The 1961 and 1971 census returns recorded 100
per cent of them as followers of Hinduism.
According to the 1981 census,
literacy rate among them is 18.40 per cnet. The male and female literacy rates arfe 28.66
per cent and 7.85 per cnet,
respectively.
In Orissa, the Kharwar are
also known as Lulukidihi, who number 1429 persons (1681 census), and are concentrated in the
Sundergarh district. Apart from their
mother tongue, Sadri, they also
converse in the regional language Oriya
and use the Oriya script for writing.
Some of their clan names are Nag, Kachchap, P)arasai, etc. Majhi,
Khandohar and Roy are their
surnames. An important ceremony
related to marriage is panbhanga, when the bride price is fixed upon. They observe pollution for twenty-one days
after childbirth. Their present primary
occupation is agriculture. Cattle
rearing and labour are their other occupations.
According to the 1981 census,
36.92 per cent of them (55.24 per
cent males and 19.12 per cnet females ) are returned as workers. Of them,
40.08 per cent are cultivators and 19.09 per cent are agricultural
labourers. The remaining 12.29 per cent
are engaged in the household industry,
11.34 per cent in mining and
quarrying and 2.65 per cent in rearing liovestock, collection of forest produce, community
council is headed by a sabhapti, to whom the intracommunitydisputes arfe
referred. The 1981 census records 82.98
per cent of the Kharwar as followers of Hinduism and 17.02 per cent as Christians. The 1971 census returns 99.91 per cent of them as Hindus and 0.09 per cent as
Christians. This shows that the Hindu
population among them is on the decline and that of Christians is on the increase. Their literacy rate, according to the 1981 census, is 24.21 per
cent (the male literacy is 36.54 per cnet and the female literacy rate is 12.17 per cent). Their attitude towards family plan-ning
programmes is favourable. They draw
drinking water from tubewells. Some of
them have received economic assistance under the Integrated Rural Development
Programme.
-sanjeev
kumar(research scholar)patna university
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