Bhumiya Culture and Society

1 MMaann aanndd SSoocciiieetttyy iiinn ttthhee TThhaarr EEccoo---SSyysssttteemm (Bhomiya Culture and Society: An Ideology of Survival in a Fragile Eco-System) Arun Kumar Panibaba 1 Describing and Interpreting Marwar society and culture in a historical perspective poses an enigmatical problem. Micro-level historical studies which might illumine the past and thereby facilitate the understanding of the present of Marwar still remain a desideratum; and most of the macro level historical studies of the region are confined to chronological accounts of rulers and sketchy observations about urban social and court life. Cultural history of any variety is yet an unknown concept in the provincial academic circles. This paper endeavours to review in retrospect the culture of rural Marwar. In the absence of adequate historical data such a review would always remain short of the desired. Even a sketchy review of Marwar's traditional culture and society or that of man in the Thar desert would have remained a dream if the excessive use of two related words - bhom and bhomiya - had not struck this author as an intriguing phenomenon in the very early stage of his encounter with the desert society and its culture. In the beginning it was rather confusing as one heard the word bhomiya being used for a large variety of subjects - from village god to local land-lord, or just the clan of Rajputs which happens to be the local jagirdar1. Etymologically derived from the single root bhumi (Sanskrit bhu) the "bhom" group of words is not merely of phonemic character: all the variations of the word are related to one another in active positive manner2. In a very general sense the word bhom means earth. The word is also used in the sense of land, fief, the Mars (planet), Tuesday (bhomvar) and fire. Bhomka is sacrificial ground (yajna bhumi), cremation ground and also a tale of martyrdom (vritant). In the traditional administrative context the word bhomichara means a land mass occupied by might and turned into private fiefdom which is inherited equally among the brothers - or a fiefdom to which the principle of primogeniture is not applicable. Bhombab is land revenue charged from a bhomiya (jagirdar). In an abstract context the term bhom refers to wisdom and expertise. However, significantly central to our theme of discussion is the context of 'folk hero' and 'martyrdom'. According to the Sabad Kos3 suffixed with ji or even without the word bhomiya means a martyr who has laid down life for the protection of cow and has been consequently deified. Similar deification is also ascribed to those who have laid down their lives for the protection of a friend, follower, Brahmin, religion, village or land. Bhomiya is worshiped as god-incarnate. 2 Thus the term bhomiya and bhom have endless variations and numerous connotations, closely linked to one another which refer to both profane chores and pious rites observed by the people in the land of Thar Desert and adjoining regions. Bhomiya, in fact, is synonym for rural Marwar culture and society. It has been so because of the singular and prolonged domination of the society by the Rajputs for whom the prevelent nomenclature in rural Marwar is bhomiya. At times the term is used in a derogatory sense, too, i.e. for native rusticity. The meaning is usually inherent in usage and the manner of utterance. It is evident from the near absence of caste Brahmins in rural Marwar that the society was never 'brahaminised' in any strict or liberal sense of the term. The laity usually follows/observes the common Hindu customs of life cycle ceremonies, without the presiding caste of Brahmins or ritual ceremony performers who otherwise occupy a revered or domineering position in the Indian society. This is also revealed from the lowly status in the caste hierarchy assigned to caste groups which perform some life cycle ceremonies and other rituals for various caste communities or provide service in institutions like temple as compared to Rajputs and Mahajans. People's contact with the Indian classical traditions - Ramayan, Mahabharat and numerous other Brahminical texts and scriptures - remained remote as the region enjoyed considerable insularity from the outside world - except the active trade route centres. But it would be incorrect to surmise from this that the 'classical tradition' made inconsequential impact on Marwar's rural culture and society. In fact the bhomiya culture and society deeply drew from the great tradition - both inspiration and content - but in its form it grew as a unique folk tradition. The dominance of this folk tradition is vividly evident even in urban areas of the region, which had active contact with the outside world and therefore a fairly vigorous communion with the Brahminical traditions, from the reverence for the five bohmiyas - Pabu, Ramdeo, Goga, Harbhu and Meha. The five gods incarnate viz., Pabu, Ramdeo, Goga, Harbhu and Meha either individually or in any combination of two, three, four or five constitute the presiding deity - the panch devta in rural Marwar. However, the godhead in rural Marwar is not limited to these five 'folk heroes' or five gods. Between 'kul devta' and a number of 'gram devtas' on the one hand, and the well known Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh on the other, numerous gods and goddesses are worshipped by the people in this region. The writ of these five heroes is not confined merely to rural or the whole of Marwar. Faith in the beneficence of these five gods brings 3 pilgrims to Marwar from the rest of Rajasthan as also from distant Gujarat, Sindh (now in Pakistan), Haryana and several other regions all over the country. All these five legends were made during the medieval period (12th century to 16th century A.D.) when the desert society was in the midst of a deep crisis. Besides the pressures of thin resources and an hostile environment frequented often by long dry spells, the region was also reeling under the pressure of many a people-exiles like the Rathores of Kanauj, Chauhans of Delhi and Ajmer, the Parmars, the Chandelas, the Guhilas, and others who had all been rendered homeless for a host of reasons and immigrated to the Thar desert, and the tribals and others who had inhabited the land from time immemorial - struggling for supremacy. All through this period the region was also constantly ravaged by Muslim invaders from Delhi, Sindh and Lahore. Until the establishment of Rathore samantshahi in fifteenth century and its consolidation in the sixteenth century at the head of Marwar polity the entire region was dotted with small principalities and fiefdoms that were constantly engaged in internecine quarrels. This was the time when Hinduism - encompassing various shades and strains - faced its gravest threat from an alien religion - Islam. The latter made a two pronged proselytising advance, preaching equality and universal brotherhood, and converting people by sheer dint of violence. With the caste inequalities, perhaps at their worst, Hinduism was passing through internal turmoil. Possessing few or no citizenry rights the lower castes, particularly the untouchable communities, suffered horrendous inequalities. Their colonies were set on the outskirts of the village, and they were permitted a disproportionately smaller share in the agricultural process and other community resources. For all the labour provided by the toiling communities they could, perhaps, obtain no more than mere jiwari (subsistence livelihood). They could not even draw water from the village well or pond. This was a time when Hindu women enjoyed somewhat unequal social status as is clear from the prevalence of sati, goli (bonded women), devadasis and female infanticide. It was a time when new ideological spaces and also spiritual vitality were needed to neutralise the impact of Islam and prevent a wholesale conversion of the lower caste Hindus and tribals. A rationale was also needed to somehow perpetuate the internal hierarchies of caste system. Apparently this need for ideological spaces, to rationalise a highly complex situation of internal and external conflicts and contradictions, appears to be the raison d'etre of the emergence of a folk religion based on the legends of the five pirs - as the couplet goes: "Pabu, Harbhu, Ramde, Mangalia Meha Pancho pir padhar jyo, Gogaji jehan" 4 (Pabu Rathore, Harbhu Sankhla, Meha Sankhla, and Ramdeo Tanwar thou all shalt visit and preside over the auspices occasion wherever Gogaji is already present). The processes of the making of these five legends apparently reflects the creativity of the people in providing spaces, both real and imaginative, accommodating the oppressed communities and even providing a synthesis to the dialectics of "man-man" and "man-nature" symbiosis in a fragile eco-system. The making of these legends – transforming contemporary folk heroes into gods in car note - also appear to have paved the way for amity between Hinduism and Islam. It is evident from the structures of the five legends that the birth and growth of a unique socio-ecological-organism - which was multi ethnic, multi caste, hierarchical society, but with well defined limits of the differentials of the multiple-gender, social, cultural-layers and deeply imbued with a symbiosis of strong mutualities (Svadharma and Swabhav) between 'man and man' and man and nature' - in the Thar desert was neither simple nor without pains. -2- The five legends are very sketchily and briefly narrated here to illustrate some of the salient features of the traditional society in the Thar desert: 2 (i) Goga in a purely temporal sense, is the first to appear. In the entreaty requesting Pabu, Harbhu, Ramdeo, and Meha to be present wherever Goga is, it is inherent that Goga came into existence before the others. His period and date of birth has been described variously by different historians and chroniclers of the legend.

Load more