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Nalrl is an Xndo-aryan language spoken mainly in

8«Ten districts of Viestern , v iz., Katlam (area 3>910 sq.kms., population 10, 23, 1^0), Mandsaur (area 9,726 aq.kms., population 9,61,5 22), Indore (area 3,910 tq. kms,, population 10,25,150), U.j.lain (area 6,081 eq.kms., population 8 ,62,5 16), Dewaa (area 7,014 sq.kms., population 5,94,336), Shajapur (area 6,201 sq.kms., population 6, 44,346), and Rajgarh (area (6,163 tq.kms., population 6, 4/^,346)

Geographically, Halwa plateau forms a great triangle based on the Vindhya Hills and bounded on the north-west by the great fatilt of the AraTallis and on the east by Betwa-

Kali-*Sind trough and sharply defined scrap overlooking

Bundelkhand. Positionally, extends from 21^50* M -

24°30* N and 74^31* E - 87°81» £. The mean elavation of the plateau isand the climate mild. It is a region of hills and dales— the hills are the Vindhyas and the valleys are those of the rivers Chambal, Kali^Sind, Parvati and Betwa. In this land the house-types reveal neither the spatial embarrassment of the hills nor the monotony of the plains; instead a rivulet flows in a trough with high banks and on the plateau a group of low huts ia a village with small fields around, the little oxen pull the pen-knife

* Area and population figures are from M.P.Census 1973-* 2

bladed ploughs, the water-table is low, the black-soil Is fertile and the society has plenty of time to create rich folk-lores, borrowed and original, when Providence is kind.*

Besides the above mentioned seven districts, five more, v iz,, Dhar, Jhabua, Sehore, Eaisen and also fall within the Malwa triangle. These five have been left out of the present study because it was found in the preliminary field-trip thst Dhar and Jhabua on the western end are predominantly Bhili speaking and on the eastern end Sehore,

Haisen and Vidisha are preponderately Bundeli speaking.

Historically, Malwa displays a curious duality t the

Deccan Lavas provide the only really extensive agricultural base in Central and so it has retained its individuality; yet as a land of passage, it has constantly changed hands.

It came under the domain of every monarch, native or barbarian, who became the ruler of Gangetic plains and wanted to extend his kingdom towards Deccan. "Malwa was one of the most notable provinces of India during the Hindu and early Muslim periods of our history and its influence on Hindu culture was of abiding cnaracter. In the expansion of the

* A popular Malvi saying goes ” ^*^eg ^^eg rotl, peg peg nir " i .e . [bread at every corner aiid water at every stepj. Empire to south, this provlnc* played a moat Important part

by reason of its position on map of India.” (Singh, Raghubir 1936}, Rajshekhara observes that Pasheaddeaha lies to the west of Devasabha (identified with present-day Dewas) and

Avanti was one of the of which the chief city was

Uj jay in i," The kingdom of denoted both ^ a r a (eastern

Malwa) and Avanti proper and roughly corresponds to

and Malwa. D.R. Bhandaiicar points out th&t the Avanti Jana-

pada was divided into two parts, the northern part had its capital at and the southern at Mahiahmtti (identified with Mandhata at Narmada).” (Chattopadhyaya S. 1973).

In peace, as in war, the Malwa trade route was one of the most significant in India. The Indus valley was always open to cultural and political influences from central and south~west Asia and whenever the invaders forced tne Delhi gateway open, the central India - North of Kanuiida, acted as

a shock absorber for the southern Indian peninsula, which has always been most resistant to the influences from Asia.

”It is noteworthy that Deccan Lava extends far north of

Narmada in Malwa* this is the great passageway to Deccan."

(Spate & Learmonth 1972). Only second in importance to the

grand highway through , was the ancient trade route

from to the Gulf of Cambay, through Ujjain, which by 500 B.C. was a cultural centre. Alike in Ptolemy»s days as in those of discoveries, it led from the Cambay sea-entry

iza (present-day Baroaeh, Gujrat) or Surat to Ujjain 4

and 80 by Bhil»a (Sanchi, Madhya Pradtah) with its important Buddhist monuments, to Patiiputra (Patna, Bihar) and on the other side to Agra and Delhi. Between the inYadere from north-west - the Sakas, Parthians and Kushans and the strong powers of Deccan, Malwa and the Ujjain trade route was always

a disputed possession. Mauryas, Scythians, Guptas, Huns,

Rajputs, Muslims and then Marathas came to Malwa one after another in wares and eventually settled down and became a part of the local population. They have, however, left their stamp on the language and culture of this region. V.ith the coming of Railways and concentration of so much of trade at Bombay, the actual line of movement has slightly shifted, but it still remains within this broad zone.

As mentioned before, the ancient name of the country now called Malwa^is Avanti. It has been mentiuued as one of the most prominant Janapadaa in the Mahabharat^i. Haihayas - a non-axyan tribe - was the ruler of Avanti in post-Maha- period, and were defeated by the Aryans under Parashur^a. It was one of the great sixteen states of in the sixth century B.C. and one of the four

Buddhist Kingdoms later. Avanti continued to be an important part of the Mauryan Lmpire and served as a sub-capital

during Ashoka’ s regime.

The chief city of Ujjaylnl is still remembered by

the villagers as the capital of the legendary King 5

who rescued the sacred town from the alien Sakas and to

commemorate this event founded the Vikram Era in 58 B .C .,

which is still used in India. Under his rule the region is

said to have enjoyed a golden age of prosperity, a culture whose celebrated representative was Kalidasa, author of the famour works like Meghdoot and Sakuntala* though modern

historians believe that this great poet was contemporary of another king by the same name - Chandragupta Vikramaditya

of the Gupta Dynasty, in 4th century A.D.

The term Malwa for Avanti seems to have been derived from the tribe Malavas who formerly lived in South Punjab and North Kajasthan and are mentioned as remaxicable fighters during the invasions by . Roughly, in the middle of the first century A .D ., the H^avas seem to have migrated southwards, probably defeating the then ruling powers. According to Dr.D.C.Sircar the janapadas of Avanti and Akaf^a were renamed Malwa after the Malvas who conc^uered and ruled them. In the middle of the fourth century A .D ., during the Gupta dynasty, Malwa had reached the pinnacle of its glory, by using this peaceful time constructively. Later Ujjain flourished again under the kings of Farmara dynasty. The most famous of these kings was Bhoja (1010 - 55-

A .D .) under whom Malwa again enjoyed a period of artistic and

* A dialect called Malawai is still spoken in the east of Sutluj, in Firoapur and Ludhiana districts of Punjab. (Linguistic Survey of India, Vol. IX, Part I). 6

scholarly fame.

After this time Malva became the scene of war and

shifting alliances between the chiefs of Malwa and Muslim and

Hindu invaders. The capital v«as shifted to Dhar by Vikrama-

ditya the eleventh, and to Mandu by the Muslims. Iltutimish

invaded in 1234 A.D. After a gap of about half-a-

century the Muslim king Ala-ud-din Khil.jl sent troops to

conquer Malwa, Though the princes of Fermar Dynasty and

other Hindu chiefs kept opposing the Muslim invaders for a

long time yet Malwa finally came under the rule of Firoz Shah

in the later half of the 14th century.

The 15th centuz*y saw the height of commercial importance

of Halwa~-which then was an independent Muslim kingdom as were Gujrat on the west and Khandesh on the south. During

this century the Khiljl kings of Malwa were continuously at

war with the Hindu princes of Hajasthan and Muslim kingdoms

of Gujrat. Finally in 1531» Mahmud II, the last king of

Khilji dynasty was defeated by Bahadur Shah of Gujrat and

his army settled in the capital Mandu and other important

cities of the province. In the next few years Malwa changed

hands from Uumayun to ^adir Shah to Sher Shah Suri to Akbar.

Malwa was comparatively peaceful during the rule of the

Mughals, which followed Akbar*s conquest, though many of the

Kajput chiefs were never entirely pacified, especially during

,the reign of Aurangzeb and sometime in the last years of this

century ortKeNi®ginning of the next. Malwa again became a 7

.cene of war. Thi. time the .ttack c m trom th Quth, when the first band of the Maratha. 1nnd,d th oountry.

Though the ancient trade rout. h d lo.t 10m of it illportance, with the con.truction 01 the Gr nd 'l'rum. "0 d from Bengal to Indu., both uran&z. b .n d til~ 1on - t trm nt1t!& Hindu revi valiam in the M.r.tha., wtll underetood tht i.portanc. of the po •••••ion of thil tr nlition 1 .r d tbe route. The Mughall tried to •• cur. their cOOlll,unic tion. to aoutb iain.t the Mar thai, and the 1 tter ill th 11" turn apr.ad northwards with th.ir ev.r-incrtalini forct, b,ini attracted by the n ••d of 1I0ney, guod 1 nd I' w.ll •• by the de.ire of dominion. Chi.f allong th••• Mar th •• w.re HolkDr" and Seindiaa, who earY.d the .tat•• of Indore and Qwalior • • re.pecti.ely tor th.... h •• and became rul.rl of Malwa. The Mualiaa and Karatbaa .irtually canc.lled .ach other out and Milw. loat all it. glory and importance durin the Hritilh re 1IIe. In independent Indian. it h • up till now, lack.d ory worthy of it. pa.t, beo.u.e it i. only a ch acter and a part of a .tate and aillplification i. • lar e .le. nt in the chanain .ituat10n••

I ba.e &1.en t i. brief hiltorical .ketch tor two to eho that M wa b d an realon'. rirltly be.auae I want 'Ih 1r hiat ry of biob people ar .ery con.eiou • o.enttW. ad. nture of 11n folk-lore i. full of accountl an U ja1n 1 1n lkr..a41tya and hoJ for tn rit 1 and cultural entre. In Ihort, t ,y a • con.cloul or

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beinL inhabitants of an once specific province of India, which they consider to be sup.rior to all others in climate, oulture and resources.

Secondly the account emphasizes the political and , ••ocraphic movements which have taken place throughout the

~1., rJ or Malwa. Villagers in Malwa is well aware of the fact th_ eir land has such good soil and climate that people never leave it, but on the contrary outsiders from all quarters try to .ettle there. The foreign origins of many subcaate. i. kept alive in the books of geneologists and in the Bub-caate namea themselves, e.g., a GUjrat1 luhar (black-smith) community i_ different in the dialect it apeaks, customs it followa and i8 exogamous, from the Milv! • • • luhar community. So are the Purviya Brahmins from the Nagar (Gujrati) Brahmin.. This is discussed in detail in a later part of this chapter.

No strictly acientific study of Malvi has been made ao far. Apart from the work done by Grierson, not much h&. b.en whatever little haa been don. ia not scientifioally approache.. The previous studies wire puraued with certain preconceived notion.. My attention wa. 4rawR to this laDlUA,8 bee au.' of the remarks mad. by Grilr.on in volume IX, part 2 of the survey. To quote, "Aa .Iwa,r r.pre.ent. R8Ja.th&ni merging into Braj Bhakha and

~abl ••0 Malvi repre.ent. Rajasthani merging into Bundeli p.S)) "Malvi, it•• lf, ia certainly a characteristic ••

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Rajasthani dialect, although it now and then showa a tendency to shade off into Bxindeli or Gujrati.” (p .54).

For Grierson MalTi is a dialect of Rajasthani, but the structure, sprawl and history of the present-day Malvi does not admit it, Malvi*s transitional character is obvious even on the surface, the surrounding languages and dialects being Bagdl, Mewatl and HadautI of R ajasth^I on the west;

Brij of Western and Bundeli and Bagheli of Jiiastern

Hindi on the north and north-east respectively; Nimari and

Marathi on the south and Gujrati on the south-west. The impact of these neighbouring languages is also a point of consideration, since Malvi is surrounded by a maximum number of languages.

It is qiiite natural that a language spoken in such a vast geographical area by the peoples of different sociological strata shows dialect variations of considerable magnitude and these are attributable to spatial locations as well as to socio-economic groupings. The area^people and the language are divisible into four clear-cut groups - historically, linguistically, socially and last but not the least, geographically. Malvi is essentially a transitional language and though this statement keeps the problem of classification of Malvi dangling in the air, yet at the same time it shows how the language undergoes a gradual change from the border of Gujrat to the border of to that of () or how it retains some tribal characteristics. 10

Central Malvi (CM hereafter and Malvi for natives)

though spoken maiiay in the three south-central districts, namely, Indore, Ujjain and Dewas, is so named due to the

prestige it enjoys. Whatever little literature is available in Malvi, is in this dialect and efforts for resurrecting the language, from the clutches of ever-dominating Hindi, by history-and-culture conscious people, is also centralised on this dialect only. It is mainly spoken by non-kajput high castes, usually under the sub-caste Gujrati.

Raj wadi Malvi (fiM hereafter and iiangri or Rajwadi by natives) is a dialect spoken by all Eajputs and alien castes of Malwa, mostly concentrated in Eatlam and Major part of

Mandsaur district. This dialect has a strong tendency of leaning towards the neighbouring dialects of Rajasthani, i . e ., Mewati and Bagdi. Many phonological and grammatical peculiarities are obviously similar to those of Rajasthani.

Sondhwadi Malvi (SM hereafter) is qpoken by the sondhias, a wild-tribe in Shajapur district, has an admixture of Bhili in the vocabulary. The area of this dialect extends over a part of Rajagarh and Mandsantdistricts. The speakers of this dialect are not easily found in other dialect areas.

They said to have come from , and Ajmer between the 11th and 13th centuries. The people may have derived their name from the land - sondhwada - which in turn has

derived its name from two rivers, i>ind and Kali-Sind. They 11

often call themaelTee Rajputs, but are treated as outcastcs

by all clean castes, and thus are pushed Into the folds of

the Bhils. Sondhias claim a fabulous historical origin

from a Hajput prince with a face of a tiger and are very proud of their bravery, quite content in practising their traditional archery, away from the mores of culture. Actually they were never more than petty robbers in alliance with the Bhils. They have been either cultivators or plunderers depending on the strength or weakness of the government over them. They imitate the Rajputs in all social and ritual behaviours. There is little unity among themselves, their usual quarrel is over land and the defeating party is always ready to appeal to arms for a favourable decision.

The area of Umathwadi I!alvi (UH hereafter) corresponds roughly to the ancient kingdom of Umaiwada, i .e ., the major portion of Rajgarh district. This dialect of Malvi is a transitional dialect between CM and RM. It has borrowed from both these as well as from Bundeli.

These dialect boundaries are further strengthened by the geographical barriers like Aravallis between CM and RMj offshoots of Aravallis and River Chambal between CM-SM and

SM-RM; and river Kali-Sind between SM-UM. At the base, the river Narmada separates Nimari from Malvi. The transport facilities are m vi meagre, even in present times and people are less inclined to travel outside their own areas except for pili^rimages, for which they usually go in a group and 12

refrain from any Interaction with the people from other dialect groups.

Apart from horizontal (geographical) variations, Malri shows variations in other dimension, v iz., the social strata.

”Dilectology looks upon the differences that set one comiLunity apart from the other ...... that gives society its flavour and no small amount of its mirth.** (Bolinger

Caste-system constitutes the basic element of the social structure in Halwa. It canalises, to a large extent, the activities of the people and endures all innovations.

Language contributes to the creation or deepening of caste lines. Caste membership is quite pivotal in the social as well as linguistic system of Malwa and are mainly based on occupations. Subeastes are based on provincial distinctions; these will be Malvi, Gujrati etc. coming from the parts of

India bearing these names. Hence the speech varies from sub-caste to sub-caste even within a given caste or area.

A Brahmin living in Eatlam district speaks CM and Rajput in

Indore district speaks £lM, though such cases are not many.

The caste system and its impact on linguistic system in

Malwa may be represented heirarchically in the following table: DlTlalon Caste Sub-Caate Traditional Probable Dialect occupation migration spoken from 1 2 3 ______k ______5 _ . 6

I Brahmin Srigaud Priest or Cook W. U.p. m Nagar -do» Gujrat CM PuTTiya -do- S. U.P. UM Kanaujia -do- £. U.P. UM Sanodiya -do- W. U.P. CM

Bania Paliwal Business fi. U.P. UM Agrawal -do- Hajasthan or RM tf. U.P.

II Rajput Chandrawat Warrior or Rajasthan RM cultivators (Thakur) Chohan -do- -do- m Purviya -do- £. U .P. m KmaTat Tobacco-curer Rajasthan m Ahir cowherd Rajasthan m

Sondhla Cultivators Rajasthan SM or Warrior 1 2 3 k 5 6

Sutar Bhat Priest & carpenter Rajasthan RM Tell Oil-selling NT Da Nayi Gujrati Barber Gujrat CM MalTi -do- U .P. UM Kuoaar Gujrati Potter Gujrat CM MalTi —do- O .P. UM

III Sutar Khati Carpenter NT CM Mali Gardening NT DA Darji Tailor NT Da Dhobi Washerman NT DA Lohar Gujrati Blacksmith CM MalTi — ^ — NT UM Bagri Farming Rajasthan RM Bhanbi Wearer NT CM Bhadbhunja Parcher NT C^i Bargunda Basket ^aker NT UM

IV Bhllala Warrior or Rajasthan farmer Mina -do- .do- SM Dholi Drummer NT DA Balai Qujrati Weaver Gujrat Kalvi tfeayer Rajasthan RM/UM

Camar Gujrati Tanner Gujrat CM MalYi Tanner Rajasthan RM Desha Tanner W. U.P, UM

Bhangi ScaTanger NT DA

Note : DA » Th« sub-caste speaks the dialect of the area they liveIn. NT » Not traceable. The probable migrations are guessed from the most sacred place or the abode of their family deity. In case of people migrated from Gujrat it is usually Dwarika, for all Purviyas it is Prayag and so on.

0 7 16

Besides these castes a ”beggln£ and preaching caste-

group” (Mayer, I960), divisible hierarchically into -

Vaishnava, Gosain and Nath-Jogi are found in Malwa. They

do not fit properly into above table, because these are

•converted* occupational castes and unlike other castes in

the table are not acquired by birth. Normally, a Brahmin renuncing the world becomes a Bairagi, a person from the castes of division III becomes a Gosain and a person of unclean oaste, i .e ., from division IV and V becomes a jNath- Jogi, but this is not a hard and fast rule. These people speak the dialect of the area they live in or that of their

birth.

Thus, the apparent castes, such as Lohar, Kumar, Balai

etc, are actually ’functional or occupational castes* (Rtsley, 1915)1 i .e ., an occupation is traditionally and hereditarily pursued by the diacritic of each of these castes. Each caste is again divided into two or more sub-groups.

Further enquiries reveal that each sub-group is endogamous,

speaks a different dialect, and each has its own set of

commeBBld and dietary rules, even when they are spread over a wide area. The alliance of each sub-group with a particular

part of India from which their ancestors might have migrated and where their family deities are located have resulted in

the dialect borrowings from different sources at the times

of pilgrimage etc. A 17

Thus, when we talk of speech variation at two points,

it presupposes that our statements are restricted to a particular caste or caste-group in the region.

Besides caste, status, locality (whether the speaker

is from an urban area or from a zniral area), education

(whether literate or illiterate) are also points of conside­

rable importance. Most of the educated urban Malvi speakers

now speak Hindi at home also. Hindi is the medium of

instruction in schools and colleges snd it is also the prestige language, being a sort of a sign of urbanisation

and education. The influence of Hindi on Malvi is eve]>

present, it works imperceptibly yet certainly. The influence of Hindi on a Malvi speaker*s language is directly propor­

tionate to the degree of Hindi orientation of a speaker, especially on lexical items.

The comparative study presented in the following

pages is an attempt to point out the variations in the speech of a middle-aged (between 25 and 40 years of age), illiterate, farmer of a particular caste in each region. This data is checked from et least two other speakers of the same dialect from each region. The informants selected

are illitexate or educated below primary school level and

are essentially monolinguals. However, help is obtained

from the teachers of loc&l primary schools, who are native

speakers also. As far as possible, an effort is made to 18

stick to the speech of the principal inron&ant for analysis and use mat the speech of others only as reference^ when­ ever necessary.

The analysis is based on the data of more than 2^00

vocables, 500 sentences (unconnected) and about a dosen stories from each dialect. Three field-trips extended over

a total period of over six months betvieen December 1971

and December 1974 "wsre made. Rather than confining myself

to an interpreter, I tried to acculturate myself with the

local speakers, and learned to speak Malvi, dispensing with

my intermediary languages- Hindi and Rajasthani. The description being based on the data collected during field- trips is more data-oriented than being model-oriented.

The method of work is monographic (intensive) and not isoglossic (extensive), i .e ., I have worked intensively on fewer number of points. The points chosen are shown roughly

on the map given in the beginning of this chapter.

The details about the informants are given below.

The first-mentioned, in each dialect is the principal

informant and the others are used for checking only. Name Sex Age Education Occupation Caste and Resident of sub-caste Tillage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

CM

1. Nandan Bal F 32 Nil House-wife Gujrati- Khajurya Balai (Dist. UJJain)

2 . Dhulji M 45 Mil Black-amith Gujrati- Narwar Luar (Dist. Ujjain)

3* Narayan M 42 Mil Cook Nagar- Depalpur Brahmin (Dist. Indore)

1. Rameshwar M 29 Primary Milk-selling Ahir Sarsod (Dist. Mandsaur)

2. Om Prakash Singh M 32 Primary Faming Kumarat- Namli Rajput (Dist. Ratlam)

3. Gita Deri F 35 Nil Houae-wife Khati- Malhargarh Bhat (Dist. Mandsaur)

CO 1 iT 4 ~l

1* Hotllal Patel M 47 Mil Farming Sondhiya Kayra (Dist.Shajapur)

2. Moti Singh M 29 Nil Farming Mina Garoth (Diet.Mandsaur)

3. Prahlad Joshi M 36 Primary Priest Sanodiya Susner Brahmin (Dist.ShaJapiu*)

1. Kalu Singh M 35 Nil Barber Malvi- Brahmankheda Navi (Diat. Rajgarh)

2, Babu Lai Shanna M 29 Primary Prieat Purviya- Kashikhedi Brahmin (Dist .Eajgarh)

3. Om Singh M 36 Nil Farming Pnrviya- Khilcipur Thakur (Dist .Ilajgarh)

to 21

The purpose of this study is not to solve the problem of classifying Malvi with one language or another, but to

give as useful and faithful a description of Malvi phonology, grammar and syntax as possible. The approach is, therefore, synchronic* The classification of a p6rticulfc.r dialect on the border of more than one language, depends as much on the grammstical peculiarities as on the statements and feelings of the native speakers. It is a fact that nothing more throughly excludes a person from a social group than his manner of speech, that has come to be identified as expressive of a point in the hierarchy of social system. However, finer sub-dialect variations are over-looked, to simplify the description.

I have given the bibliogrsphy of this chapter separately because all the extra-linguistic factors about the language are limited to this chapter only. 'Ahat follows is purely a syncronic-coraparative analysis of the dialects.

Besides the given bibliographical references, I have borrowed ideas from many scholars in the related fields like anthro­ pology, sociology etc. and it is not possible to list them all, partly because it will make a long list ana partly because they have so much become a part of my^views, that 1 have lost tract of t;he original sources. 22

Bibliography

Bhasam, A.L., The wonder That Was India. London, 1954.

Bolinger, D ., Aspecta of Language. 1968, Cenaus of India. 1971. Chattopadhye, Sudhakar, Racial Affinities in Early Indian Tribes. New Delhi, 1973. Grierson, G,A., Linguistic Survey of India. Vol.li,Part 2, 1968.

Hutton, J .H ., Caste in India. (2nd £d.) Oxford, 1951. Karye, Irayati, Kinship Organisation in India. Poona, 1953.

Ketkar, S.V., History of Caste In India. Bombay, 1910.

Majumdar, D«N., Metrlx of Indian Culture. Lucknow, 1944.

Majumdar, D.N, and Pusalkar, A.D., (Ed.) The Vedic Age. Bombay, 1952. Mathur, K .S ., Caste and Kitual in a Malwa Village. Bombay,1964*

Mayer, A .C ., Caste and &.insfaip in Central India. I960.

Nayak, H.M., Kannada t Literary and Colloquial. 196?. Rawlinson, R ,, Indian* a short cultural History. Kew lork 1937.

Risley, Sir H.H., The People of India. London, 1915.

Singh, Raghubir, Malwa in Transition. Bombay, 1936. Spate, O.H.K. and Leannonth, A ,, India and Pakistan. London, 1957.

Tod, J ., Annals and Anticulties of Rajasthan. Ld. by W.Crooke, Oxford, 1920.