The tribal communities of Bastar were divided by their language but united by their culture and tradition. Explain
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Answers
2. THE LINGUISTIC DYNAMICS
The tribal languages of Bastar may be divided into three basic groups: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Munda. Gadaba, the only Munda language spoken in the district, forms a group by itself. The second and the most important group includes the various dialects of Gondi and Parji (Dravidian languages). The third group consists of the Indo-Aryan languages, namely, Halbi and Bhatri. Gadaba is, unfortunately, in the process of extinction. The younger generation among the speakers of Gadaba have switched over to Hindi or Halbi for their day-to-day communication among themselves and for communication with people belonging to other ethnic groups in the district.
Gadaba is subjected to the growing influence and pressures from both the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages spoken in the district. The influence is felt not only in the lexicon of Gadaba, but also in its grammar.
The Dravidian languages of Bastar may be divided into two basic groups: Gondi group consisting of the languages/dialects of Dorli, Dandami, Maria, Abujh Maria, Muria, Jhoria, and Raj Gondi. The second group consists of Parji and its dialects.
3. THE GONDI GROUP
Over two million people speak the dialects/languages of the Gondi group. Generally speaking, the dialects of this group are mutually intelligbible, although at least two contiguous dialects are mutually unintelligble.
The Gonds are not the sole inhabitants of the large area in which they are found now. They live in close symbiosis with the communities speaking Indo-Aryan, Munda, and other Dravidian languages. Some of the Gondi speakers live in easily accessible areas of the district, while others live in remote areas, very difficut to reach.
Gonds prefer to call themselves koitor.koi and koya are local variants. There are phonetic variations and changes and marked differences in pronunciation, accent, and inflection between the dialects/languages of Gondi group. Note, however, that these speech varieties exhibit a great unity and similarity in all the linguistic levels.
The Gondi linguistic train offers a fascinating journey! If one gets into the linguistic train in Dewas and moves through Nemar, then to Betul in the north of Madhya Pradesh through the Gond tracts of Nagpur and Wardha districts into Yeotmal, and Adilabad, and from there across into Chanda, and from Chanda tehsil into the Abhujmar Hills and down to the land of the Dandami or Bison-horn Maria, one feels the vibrant, subtle and continous smooth changes taking place in the speech varieties used. Dialects merge so subtly that it is almost not perceptible. I have felt a chill down my spine, a wonderful experience, and a great challenge when trying to specify where and when one dialect ended and the other began! An experience worth pursuing and enjoying! A wonder that matches the beauty of nature! It always raised the question in my heart why politicians are so concerned or pre-occupied with maintaining linguistic identities when the people themselves have worked out the beautiful processes of merger while retaining their distinctives!
Schiffman's comment (Schiffman 1981:105) that Gondi seems to be a continuum of mutually intelligible dialects, decreasing in mutual intelligibility with distance is indeed very apt. There are many such instances of linguistic communication patterns all over India: the Nilgiris, Manipur Hills, Naga Hills, Mizo Hills, Himachali areas, tracts in Gujarat, the Karnataka-Andhra Pradesh-Tamilnadu-Kerala borders, etc. Unfortunately, our focus has been more on the distinctive identities of languages or dialects, and not on the wonderful mix of dialects and languages.
Answer:
Bastar division is an administrative division of Chhattisgarh state in central India. It includes the districts of Jagdalpur, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur, Sukma, Kondagaon and Kanker.
The tribal communities of Bastar were divided by their language but united by their culture and tradition.
Most Gonds follow folk Hinduism, which retains the animist beliefs of nature, and ancestor worship. Some Gonds also practice Sarnaism. Pola, a cattle festival, Naga panchami, and Dassera are their major festivals.
The Bastar Tribes constitute about 70% of the total population. This comes approximately to 26.76% of the total tribal population of Chhattisgarh.
The names of some of the major tribes of this region are the Gond, Bhatra, Muria, Abhuj Maria, Bison Horn Maria, Halbaa and Dhurvaa.In short, the main problems of the tribals are poverty, indebtedness, illiteracy, bondage, exploitation, disease and unemployment.
After independence, tribal problems and tribal unrest have become politicised. An articulate and effective political elite have emerged in several tribal areas.
The tribal people of Bastar ( Maria, Muria Gonds, Dhurwas, Bhatras and Halbas) started the Bastar rebellion in year 1910 AD.
The following were the outcomes of Bastar Rebellion :
(i) Bazaars were looted and grains redistributed.
(ii) Houses of officials and traders, schools and police stations were burnt and robbed.
(iii) Those who were associated with the oppressive laws of the colonial state were attacked.
(iv) Most important consequence after British suppression of the rebellion was work on reservation was temporarily suspended. The area marked for reservation was reduced to half of what was planned.