Kokna, a Scheduled Tribe in Dadra and Nagar Haveli
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KOKNA A.. S(;HEDULED TRIBE IN DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI F,etc( £nvestigation and IJraji : M. L. SAff Edi~ing : N. G. NAG A&~ INDIA ~ J\FP#4Il.S Delhi CONTENTS PAGES FOREWORD iii-v PREFACE vii-xii CHAPTER I. Name, Identity and Origin 1-3 II. Population and Distribution 5-14 III. Physical Characteristics 15-16 IV. Family, Clan and other Analogous Divisions 17-21 V. Settlement and Dwellings ... 23-430 VI. Dress and Ornaments ... 31-35 VII. Food and Drinks 37-39 VIII. Environmental Sanitation, Hygienic Habits, Disease and Treatment 41-45 IX. Language and Literacy 47-55 X. Occupation and Economic Life 57-78 XI. Life Cycle 79-95 XII. Religion and Festivals 97-109 XllI. Leadership, Traditional Council and Settlements of Disputes 111-124 XIV. Inter-community Relationship and Social Status ... ... 125-128 XV. Social Reforms ... 129-130 References Cited and Other Bibliography 131-132 Annexure-Framework of Ethnographic Study ... 133-137 FOREWORD The tradition of providing ethnographic notes on castes and tribes by the Indian Census goes back to the nineteenth century when it started its operation in the country. These notes, in many cases, provide for the first time an introduction to the customs and manners of various castes and communities as well as throw light on the life of the most backward ethnic groups living in inaccessible areas in the remote parts of the country. After independence, in pursuance of the national government's policy of discouraging commu nity distinctions based on caste, creed and race, the generation of separate data on castes and tribes was discontinued along with the ethnographic studies. After a lapse of a few years the compilation and tabulation of socio-economic data and ethnographic studies were resumed in 1961 at All India level. But these were confined to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with a new orientation to meet the requirements of the Constitution, which inter alia provides, "the State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and in particular of the Scheduled Castes and Sche duled Tribes and shall protect them from social in justice and all forms of exploitations". 2. Accordingly, the ethnographic studies by the Indian Census now not only project the cultural profile of the relevant community by providing information on its customs, manners and cultural traditions but lay equal emphasis on the socia-economic aspects relating to the level of education, traditional occupation and the occupational and social mobility. The ethnogra phic monographs brought out from 1961 onwards also pay e'lual attention to the Scheduled Castes. These, (iii) (iv) however, appropriately focus on their special charac teristics like the social status, the present state of untouchability or social disabilities from which they suffer and their social mobility within the common framework adopted for the ethnographic studies. An attempt is also made to cover information on the impact of social legislation and welfare and develop ment measures undertaken during the Five-Year Plans on the Scheduled Castes or Tribes. 3. This orientation was possible as the Census organisation compiled special series of tables on social and economic characteristics of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The analysis of these data helps in understanding the socio-economic trends among the Scheduled Castes or Tribes taken up for study. 4. The other important feature of the ethno graphic studies undertaken by the Census organisation is the focus on the social structure of the community in relation to its segments, like sub-castes or sub-tribes and synonyms, local and generic names, etc. This information is helpful in establishing the ethnic identity of the community by way of identification of its synonymous or sub-castel sub-tribe names by which it is known in different areas. This is also helpful to the government in the matter of verification of the claims to Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe status on such consideration. 5. For providing the necessary base to the~e studies a number of supporting measures, like compI lation and documentation of materials such as prepara tion of index-cards and bibliographies on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have been taken up. 6. The ethnographic studies are being conducted at two levels-Central level and the State level-with the cooperation of the Social Studies Division of the Registrar General's Office and the Directorates of (v) Census Operations. Shri N. G. Nag, Assistant Regis trar General (Social Studies Division) is providing the overall guidance for this project. He is coordinating the studies with the assistance of Shri N. K. Bane,rjee, Research Officer at the Central level. 7. The present monograph on the Kokna of the hitherto isolated Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, which until two decades ago has been under the occupation of the Portuguese, is one of the mono graphs on Scheduled Tribes taken up by the Social Studies Division under the Central series on ethno graphic studies. Shri.tV!. L. Sah of the Registrar General's Office conducted field investigations under the supervision of Shri N. G. Nag and prepared the first draft. In the light of the guidelines provided by Shri Nag on the basis of his personal visit to the area Shri Sah collected more detailed information and drafted a comprehensive report. While editing, the draft prepared by Shri Sah was revised by Shri Nag. I avail of this opportunity to extend my warm thanks to them for their contribution in the preparation of this monograph. P. PADMANABHA January, 1979 Registrar General, India PREFACE . ~he Ce.ns~s organisation is one of ~e pi,?neering organisa- tions ill IndIa In the field of ethnogwplllc studIes throwing light on economic, social and cultural a"pecls of the people, comprislncr a spectrum of ethnic groups. 'lile ..:Umographic accounts o~ castes and tribes contained in the e~rli\:r census reports have been regardec\ as some of the most readable and enduring contributions to the study of the people of our country. The raison d' etre of undertaking etlwographic studies by the Indian census is found in the then government's conviction that for the proper administration .of the country it was necessary 1.0 have information on the social structure of tile peop;e, their religious b~liefs and their customs and manners, besides their ethnic affiliation. The census reports accordingly gave a comprehensive coverage to such information on caste" and tribes. The Cemus of 1901 under Risley and Gait by all accounts is the first organised attempt to provide ethnographic data on castes and tribes embracing all the important aspects. This pattern was followed with full vigour in the 1911 Census with Gait in charge of the operations. In fact, the 1901 and 1911 Census reports \"tre considered largely anthropological and their chapters on caste:; and tribes came to be ;egarded as 'anthro pological classics'. The Census of 1921 seems to hav(; pamcd for breath and laid stress on economic aspects, But the Census of 1931 under the scholarship of Hutton made a lasting contri bution in the field of Indian anthropology in general and Indian ethnography in particular. It brought out a specl.al ethnographic volume in two parts-Part B of the volume con taining interesting material on important castes and tribes by way of. contribution from scholars and Census Superintendents, besides data on physical anthropology. In the 1941 Census the ethnographic investigations did not receive much attention as it was felt by the then Census Commissioner, Mr. Yeatts, that in the then prevailing circumstances the scope of enquiries on castes and tribes could be dissociated from the census. In fact. even the demographic data on castes and tribes were presented on a somewhat modest scale since their compilation was T~S tricteo due to World War II. After independence the orientation of census data underwent considerable change to meet the (vii) (v iii) new requirements of social planning and development. It was also considered by the national Government that it was not desirable to produce data with focu~ on castes, tribes and rac~s. Accvrdingly, the 1951 Census gave up the questions on these aspects. Only some demographic data on the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categones as a whole was provided. It was. however, subsequendy appreciated by the planners, administrators and social scien~l~ts that economic develvpment was not an isolated phenomenon as it could not be viewed as merely ~conomic inv~stment but. had ramifications which necessitated an understanding of the social struc,ure of the concerned ethnic groups. The constiturional obligation in relation to weaker sections, pari icularly in respect of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, required separate socio-economic data ba",~d on survey research for under,aking development measures. Accordingly, the 1961 Census attempted, in a com prehensive manner, generation of demosraphic data on Sche duled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and resumed ethnographic studies on castes and tribes. These were, however, confined to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes with focus on such socia-economic data as would be helpful for meeting the needs of administration for the welfare and planned development of the~e groups. Accordingly, the ethnographic notes prepared by the Census organisation not only project the cultural profile of the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe but also present data on it~ traditional occupation, occupational mobility. improve ments in the levels of education, social reform movements, welfare measures and the development programmes undertaken during the five-year plans and their impact on the community. The Census organisation iB particularly in an advantageous position to consider the question of occupational mobility and improvements in the levels of education in the ethnographic studies on Schedule Caste" and S:::heduled Tribes in view of the statistical data generated during the 1961 and 1971 Censuses on industrial classification of workers and levels of education, age and marital status, religion.