An Archaeological as well as Social Anthropological Expedition at Bandha-II, ,

Sachin Kr. Tiwary1

1. Department of Ancient Indian History Culture and Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi - 221005, , (Email: [email protected])

Received: 01 September 2016; Accepted: 30 September 2016; Revised: 28 October 2016 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4 (2016): 793-805

Abstract: The paper is based on the recent expedition on the border of Kaimur and Ghadhawa districts. While expedition author stayed at the village Bandha-II which is inhabited by the tribe. Paper is specially focused on the sites which are abundantly found near that village. The main purpose of the paper is to highlight the rich wealth of the rock art site on the left bank of river Son near Bandha-II. Meanwhile the paper is focusing the rituals and traditional games among the tribes on special occasion.

Keywords: Bandha II, Kaimur Range, Archaeology, Anthropology, Expedition, Rock Art, Dance

Introduction Between 7th-10th December of 2013 author explored the Bandha-II. The range of the Kaimur as well as the entire area of the south of the Middle Ganga seems to be in the state of terra-incognita that is seeking help of the massive efforts of archaeologists, historians, anthropologists, geologists and other relative discipline. And the present attempt to make an archaeological as well as social anthropological study (Tiwary 2013:1-16) of the Kaimurian (those tribes and live person who evolved and developed in this region only, also they did artistic work in the caves and shelter, which is still live) rock art reveals great potentialities in respect from the prehistoric times to the present times. No systematic research has been made so far regarding the entire Kaimur region as well as the plain area, so here archaeological and social anthropological field work will pay a rich dividend.

Location and Approach The village Bandha-II (24 35’09.62”N. 8339’25.32”E) is located about 19 kms east of the Adhaura block (Tiwary 2013:1-16) headquarter of the in Bihar on the boarder of the Rohtas and Kaimur districts at an elevation of 92 mts MSL (Fig.1). The nearest river of this region is Son about 500 m south of the Bandha-II. The site is easily approachable by car and motor bike from the Bhabhua city.

ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016

Figure 1: Map of the surveyed area, Bandha-II, Adhaura block, Kaimur, Bihar

Rock Art Sites The rock art of Kaimur is already known to the publication (Tiwary 2013; 2011-12:201- 212; 2015:8-9; 2010:38-44; 2012:64-69; 2013:99-102) and academic forum. But this research is not even earlier noticed nor even hinted by author or any prior rock art researcher of this region. Rock art of Kaimur (Tiwary 2015:275-286) is well known from Chand (Tiwary 2015:535-538), Rampur, Bhagwanpur (Tiwary 2014:810‐829), Chainpur and Adhuara blocks (Tiwary 2013:9-23; 2014: 144-146) of the Kaimur district and (Tiwary 2013:86-91). But the most important and the old pictographs are mainly reported from Adhaura range which is close to Mesolithic and having its geographical distinction from rest of the blocks. The region Adhaura is close to and the chain of rock shelters along the river Son is unique. The landscape of this particular region is quite different. The rock art of this region and the other regional rock art are very much similar in landscape context whereas the content of the rock art varied (Tiwary 2012-13:181-191).

As cited in the abstract the paper is mainly focused on the rock art discovery of Bandha-II region. The group of shelter viz. Bandha-II (BND), Chanain-Manain (CMN), Daldaliya Pahadi (DLP), Banshi Khoh (BSK), Karam Chabutara (KCB) and Sarodaag (BSD) at Barohi village. These shelters and caves are located on or near seasonal streams and perennial river channels. The shelters are situated at different level with the minimum and maximum height varying between 100 ft. to 1490 ft. The shelters are generally in clusters but sometimes even single. The facades of these shelters vary as per their landscape (Fig.2) and physiognomic setting.

794 Tiwary 2016: 793-805

Figure 2: Landscape of the rock art site, Bandha-II

The way of execution on the rock surface of the Bandha-II can be categorised under three broad groups viz. Pictograms (human figures and the nature of their stylistic variations, weapons and other emblems), Ideograms (abstract symbols and painted dots) and Psychograms (the execution having some meaning behind it, cross in the circle (Tiwary 2013: 381-388), painted dots, association lines, lines and graphics that suggest particular modifications of human figures or scene and symbolic representation of the symbol). The rock art sites spread across the region in about 3 kms. The nomenclature of the sites are derived either from the nearest village or name of the hill or locally known landscape of the area. The description of each caves and shelters are given in tabular form (Table 1).

Festivals Performed by the Local Kharwar Tribe The Kharwar living in Bihar have matrimonial relations with the Kharwar of Jharkhand and of (Narayan 1988). Their folklore, folk art, folk tales, folk songs and folk music are very rich (Narayan 2002). Tribes of Bihar including the Kharwar generally belong to the Mongoloid racial group and have their own dialects with Devanagari as script. This is the tribe from where the living Nari-Uttana-Hastha- Pada a kind of Lajjagauri, here called Charkhopadaine (Tiwary 2011) has been noticed by the author. The observed ritual, festivals and traditional games are as such:

Karma festival and Dance This folk dance Karma is performed during the worship of the god of fate which is known as Karam Devta (Tribhuwan 2003:203, 96, 159, 145). The Karma dance is a tribal community dance performed by the Binjahal, Kharia, Kol, Kisan and specially Oraon tribe which is noticed in this part of Kaimur region during the Karma festival. With this

795 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016

796 Tiwary 2016: 793-805

797 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016

information it is important to notice some of the shelter nearby which are painted with group dance performed by the ancient inhabitants. We can not only compare the mode of dance, we can also understand the purpose behind the depiction or execution of dance scene and the way of ritual at the time of festivals in the shelter or caves. Karma dance is a tribal dance which is profusely painted (Fig.3) in all the shelters of Central and Eastern India.

Figure 3: A. & B. Group dance in front of a tree is depicted in the wall of the Raghubirgarh shelter. C & D. Oraon people are dancing in front of the Karma tree on the occasion of Karma festival, Badalgarh/Rohtas fort, Rohtas

Sarhul The local farmers pray to the deity for good harvest of their crops by worshipping their equipments. Anthropologists who have studied the culture of Kharwar in Bihar and Jharkhand have noted that the Sarhul puja was performed by collectively. “As this puja is performed for the prosperity of all the inhabitants, its expenditure was shared by all”, writes Hari Mohan in his book-The : A study of Acculturation. The priest who was called Pahan or Baiga performs the rituals. As per the personal interview with the village head man called Sarpanch, a goat is sacrificed or a red fowl is offered to the deity by the priest. In addition, flour cakes and liquor too are given to the deity by the priest.

Pidiya The name is derived from its way of execution, i.e. by making fingers together and drawn the circles and dotted design over the wall (Fig.4). This is done by a lady only.

798 Tiwary 2016: 793-805

This is used to be performed for the son, daughter and husband. The preparation and the material for making those days decoration by way of colour is very interesting. Powder of , Milk, Gud, Fruits of Sem, Vermillion and Ghee are the material for making colour by way of mixing and grinding together. The same is not prevalent among the tribes only but it is also practiced by the Brahmana families of the area in the same manner. It has great similarity with the rock art. The author is of the opinion that in all over India the pastoral people did mostly the artwork in the shelter and cave. From the data available today, over 5% of all known rock art was produced by hunting and gathering societies while less than 95% is the work of pastoralists and agriculturalists in Kaimur.

Figure 4: General view of the pidiya ritual festival celebration and its drawing on the wall prepared by a Kharwar woman

Play and Festivals Kathail Kathail is the local name of a wood. This is traditional game performed by the young boys of the Kharwar in every month of the year in suitable climate. The number of members in this game is not fixed. It does all depend upon the availability of person. The three things are important in this game i.e. a circular thick disc with hole at centre,

799 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016

one long tough wooden stick about human leg size long and a long pointed stick attached on the ground, all are made of wood which is locally available. The way of playing this game is quite interesting. A player strikes or hits the single wooden post pegged on the ground at a calculated distance by the circular disc by way of leg force hit to the stick attached in the hole of the wooden circular disc (Fig.5). If it is traditional and very old as the local area said, it is possible that the many post holes which are noticed inside and just outskirt of the immediate shelters and caves are used for the game if that is not fit or suitable for the pounding of grains.

Figure 5: Sketch of the Kathail game usually played among the boys of the Kharwar

Gaddi The word gaddi is actually based on the local word derived from the circular shaped flat piece of a stone. Many pieces of this shape are used for this game, and some time with one piece also.

Kancha or Gotti This word is widely in use at every place of north India. But the significance of this game in this region is quite interesting i.e. while playing this game sometime 5 to 6 and sometime 2 to 4 players are necessary. For playing this game players should have the pieces of dressed small stone or similar any tough objects. The children carve several cupules on the floor of the bed rock if the home is on the bed rock, if not then on the

800 Tiwary 2016: 793-805 soil ground (Fig.6). These small cupules are very interesting and quite famous. In the field of rock art study it is very enigmatic that the purpose and way of execution are still creating big hurdle to decode the meaning of this art or execution. The cupules or cup marks (shallow/deep) are still prepared by the kids on the ground only.

Figure 6: Gaddi game playing by the Kharwar boy

Sheseruka This is a local festival performed on the next morning of Makar Sankranti in the month of January usually on 15th. Before celebration of the festival a group of young boys collect the wooden stick of locally available small tree Sheseruka. They paint the sticks in four colours green, black, red and yellow, these colours are locally home made by the house women. The four sticks in four different colours have to be given to the boys. They start singing and dancing with the hitting of sticks each other like Garaba. After full enjoyment a leader of the group collects all the sticks and put to burn. The fire started by these painted sticks will be added with additional dried wooden pieces which symbolically represent the killing of all harmful things of their house and village. It is believed that after performing this, the boys can decide their way to choose their life style, or their field of interests.

Conclusion In the foregoing pages we have analyzed the data to get a coherent picture about the newly discovered rock art sites and the inhabitants’ ritual and traditional games. The present study though preliminary in nature, however, attempted to investigate

801 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016

Figure 7: Close view of the family scene, in which one can see three women with three men, CMN

Figure 8: General view of the microliths scattered on the floor of the CMN shelter

802 Tiwary 2016: 793-805

Figure 9: A hunting scene from the shelter of BSK

Figure 10: General view of the shelter II of KCB an author with the local inhabitants

803 ISSN 2347 – 5463 Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 4: 2016

the rock art heritage of a site during the early times to till. In the present paper the details of newly discovered rock art sites were given in tabular form. The themes of decorations revolve around diverse forms of nature, flora and fauna, hunting scene, war scene and abstract geometric patterns. The traditional art work and rituals among the inhabitants of this region has some differences with rest of the part of the region. Apparently these received local living tradition, which are still continued since early time and these are also reported from the nearby region. Another interesting thing is that very close to the sites in a village Bandha-II, author documented Kharwar life style with special focus on traditional games and rituals which are more or less early in their practices and are still in their society. The present site and the surrounding region need further intensive exploration, documentation and an excavation for the reconstruction of the history of this particular segment of the region. During this short exploration author also reported many microlithic sites along with the factory site near the site or near the hill and river, which needs further intensive study.

Acknowledgement The present work in its current form has been completed with the help and support by Shri Mahip Shekhar, Shri Jhari Singh, a school teacher who is actually Kharwar tribe. Without their constant guidance in fieldwork and discussions on various issues relating to the topics, my exploration would not been accomplished.

References Narayan, S. 1988. Tribes in Transition, Inter India Publications, New Delhi. Narayan, S. 2002. Dynamics of Tribal Development, Gyan Publication, New Delhi. Publication of Ancient History Culture & Archaeology, Center for Advanced Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, U.P., pp. 181-191. Tiwary, S.K. 2010. Management of Rock art sites, Pragya-Bharati Vol. XV: 38-44. Tiwary, S.K. 2011. South Asian arts: Continuity of Nari-Uttana-hasta-pada/Aditi- uttanapada and Charkhopadaine: An Ethno-archaeological study, A Online Journal of Cultural expression in South Asia, South Asian Arts. Tiwary, S.K. 2011-12. Rock art by Early Man: Origin, Purpose and Variety, Kala- Vaibhava, Joint Volume-XX: 201-212. Tiwary, S.K. 2012. A study of rock shelters from Nagauri hilll, , Man and Environment Vol. XXXVII (1): 64-69. Tiwary, S.K. 2012-13. Comparative Study Kaimur and Central Indian Rock Art, Bharati 37. Tiwary, S.K. 2013. A Note on the Recently Discovered Gouging Art in Kaimur Region of Utter Pradesh, District Chandauli, Quarterly Journal of the Mythic Society 104 (3): 99-102. Tiwary, S.K. 2013. Decoding death: Connotation of the Cross in the Circle in Indian Rock Art, International Rock Art Symposium, XXV Valcamonica Symposium, Italy, Europe, pp.381-388.

804 Tiwary 2016: 793-805

Tiwary, S.K. 2013. Ethnic roots of cultural tradition illustrated in Kaimur rock art, DOI:, Ancient Asia, 4 (2): 1-16. Tiwary, S.K. 2013. Newly Discovered Rock Art Heritage in the Kaimur Range of Bihar, India, (Edi.) Gori Tumi Echevarría López, Bulletin APAR Vol. 5 (17-18). Peru, South America, pp.821-827. Tiwary, S.K. 2013. Newly discovered Rock Art Sites in the Kaimur Range of Bihar, India, Ancient Planet 6: 1-16. Tiwary, S.K., 2013, Rock art discoveries in region, Rohtas district, Bihar, Man and Environment XXXVIII (2): 86-91. Tiwary, S.K. 2013. Rock Art Heritage of Adhaura block of Kaimur district, Bihar, Pragya-Bharati XVI: 9-23. Tiwary, S.K. 2014. Newly Discovered Rock Art Heritage from Bhagwanpur, Block of Kaimur District, Bihar, Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 2: 810‐829. Tiwary, S.K. 2014. Newly Discovered Rock Art Sites in Adhaura Block of Kaimur Region, Bihar, History Today 15: 144-146. Tiwary, S.K. 2014. Two Interesting Labyrinth Depiction from Bihar, Puratattva 44: 276- 280. Tiwary, S.K. 2015. Discovery of Rock Art in the Khaniya Hill of Kaimur Range, Chand Block, Kaimur, Bihar, (Edi.) Vinay Kumar & Brijesh Rawat, Mani-Sushma: Archaeology and Heritage (Dr. B.R.Mani Felicitation Volume) Vol-II, Publisher- B.R.Publishing Corporation, New Delhi, pp.535-538. Tiwary, S.K. 2015. Petroglyphs in the Kaimur Range of Eastern India, Pleistocene Coalition News 7(3): 8-9. Tiwary, S.K. 2015. Rock Art of Kaimur Region, Bihar, (Ed.) Ajit Kumar, Rock Art: Recent Researches and New Perspectives (Festschrift to Padma Shri. Dr. Yashodhar Mathpal) (Vol. I & II), New Delhi: pp.275-286. New Bharatiya Book Corporation, Tribhuwan, Robin D. 2003. Fairs and Festivals of Indian Tribes, Discovery Publishing House, New Delhi.

805