Condition of the Major Migrant Tribes of Jalpaiguri District: a Historical Survey Over the Last Hundred Years (1901-2000 A.D.)
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International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development www.allsubjectjournal.com Online ISSN: 2349-4182, Print ISSN: 2349-5979, Impact Factor: RJIF 5.72 Received: 04-02-2021, Accepted: 27-02-2021, Published: 31-03-2021 Volume 8, Issue 3, 2021, Page No. 119-124 Condition of the major migrant tribes of Jalpaiguri District: A historical survey over the last hundred years (1901-2000 A.D.) Manadev Roy Assistant Professor of History, Kurseong College (Affiliated to North Bengal University) Darjeeling, West Bengal, India Abstract After the formation of Jalpaiguri district in 1869 the British Government selected the district as a centre of Tea Industry in India. Many migrant tribes namely the Santhals, Mundas, Oraons, Malpahari, Chikboraik etc., came to the district following by the tea industry. But at the beginning of their settlement the tribal workers could not come out from the boundary of the tea gardens. These gardens were seemed like isolated islands. They were physically and mentally tortured by various authorities of tea gardens, money lenders, and land lords etc. In the tea gardens tribal labourers lost their lives affected with black water fever, malaria, dengue, cholera etc. as medical facility was not good. The tribal children did not have the choice to study in their mother tongue. In school they had to study either in Bengali, Hindi or Nepali medium. In Jalpaiguri district, the subsistence economy forced the tribal men and women and their children into manual work. In the post-colonial period the migrant tribes were fully divided into two groups e.g., the Christian and non-Christian. Christianity ensured spread of education among the converted section of the major tribes and in this way helped these people to break through the age-old practices in various respect. Since the last decade of the twentieth century closure and lock-out of tea gardens were everyday news. As a result the tribal workers were compelled to work elsewhere as daily wage labourers. Being deprived in every sphere the tribals alienated themselves from the main-steam political parties and the tribes of Jalpaiguri district came towards ethnic based associations such as Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Bikash Parishad. Keywords: migrant tribe, tea garden, captive life, land alienation, identity crisis, separatist movement Introduction Santhal, Munda and Oraon were major among the migrant Jalpaiguri district is one of the districts of West Bengal. It is tribes. Though most of the migrant tribals came to the situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, also known as the district as tea garden coolies, few of them involved in Duars region. Some say that the word ‘Duars’ came from agricultural belts. However their life-style over the last the Sanskrit word ‘Dwar’ which means ‘the gateway’ as century was not good. indeed it is to the hills of Darjeeling, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. National Highway No. 31 runs across the district Methodology towards the North-Eastern States of India and thus the For this paper I have collected both Primary and Secondary district serves as a lifeline for the eight sisters in North- sources from the Central Library of Visva- Bharati Eastern India. From the geographical point of view, the University, West Bengal State Archives in Kolkata, district lies between 26◦16′ and 27˚00′ north latitudes and National Library of Kolkata, National Library of Siliguri, 88˚25′ and 89˚53′ east longitudes. The district is bounded by Central Library of North Bengal University, Jalpaiguri Darjeeling district and Bhutan in the North, Cooch Behar District Library and numerous village libraries of Jalpaiguri district and Bangladesh in the South, the state of Assam on district. A handful of resources have been collected from the the east and on the west by the district of Darjeeling and Digital Repositories. Governmental publications such as Bangladesh [1]. Statistical Hand Books, Reports on Five Years’ Plans, After the formation of Jalpaiguri district in 1869 the British sources such as Census Reports, District Gazetteers, Government selected the district as a centre of Tea Industry Journals, Periodicals, Weeklies, Newspapers and various in India. Thereafter the Government began to sanction lands other sources have been consulted for the present work. To by lease to various companies or persons for the collect both primary and secondary sources I have done establishment of tea gardens in this district. Many Indians some field survey in various tea gardens, Christian became involved in this industry and started planting tea. churches, and tribal villages of the district. Special emphasis The number of tea-gardens increased day after day. In this was given to oral history. In this regard interviews and connection a big problem arose before the tea planters, that interfaces with elderly people and eminent personalities who was labour crisis, as the indigenous people of Jalpaiguri like were active or close witnesses to the social, cultural, the Rajbansis, the Meches, the Garos etc. did not like to political and economic life of the tribes of Jalpaiguri district work as labourers in these gardens. Consequently the during this period have been conducted. planters of Jalpaiguri district brought in many tribals from different tribes such as the Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Kheria, Captive life Malpahari, Chikbaraik etc., from other states like Bihar, Before migration to Duars of Jalpaiguri district, Orissa, and Central Province. As per mass-permutation the geographical territory was main aspect to the migrant tribes. 119 International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development www.allsubjectjournal.com Water, forest, and land were important factors in Governmental restriction in forest ascertaining and defining their identity. Their whole The British government adopted the policy of reservation of existence and livelihood was centered with these factors. forest, such as Gorumara National Park, Jaldapara National But at the beginning of their settlement the tribal workers Park etc., in colonial period. Therefore the tribes could not could not come out from the boundary of the tea gardens. easily enter these forests for collecting herbal medicine. These gardens were seemed like isolated islands. The tribal Likewise many forests of the district came under control of workers got only one holiday for marketing. Not only this British administration and offices of forest department were but also in the ‘hat’ (market) they were under control of constructed. Therefore the tribes lost their freedom in ‘Choukidars’ (guard men for the tribal workers). They could collecting forests’ productions. In 1918 one acre not get opportunity to interact with other communities. The Government Khas land situated in Taluk Kharibari Tahail, relatives of the tribal labourers could not stay in their small Falakata of Jalpaiguri district was transferred to the Forest hut without permission of the authority e.g., the Managers Department for the construction of a Forest Office [5]. Thus of the tea gardens. Even the female workers were physically many forest offices were constructed in many forests from or mentally disgraced by the Managers, ‘Choukidars’ (guard where the officers easily preserved the forest’s resources in men), Dafadars (supervisors) or other officials of the tea colonial period. In 1921 few lands of Western Duars of gardens. The tribal workers had to take permission from the Jalpaiguri district were reserved for grazing and supply of managers of tea gardens for their marriage ceremony. And timber and fuel etc [6]. As a consequence the tribals lost their the parents of the bride and bride groom were bound to right for collecting herbal medicine from jungle or forest. submit a list to the higher authority of the concerned Besides, the emerging of middle class businessmen played a gardens about the numbers of invitees in this ceremony. vital role for changing the economic condition of the Apart from tea gardens, in tribal villages the tribal men and district. women were deprived by the landlords, money-lenders [2] or any local non-tribal headman. The authorities of the tea Crisis in Language gardens also employed tribal children as workers in the Language is one of the main identity markers. It clearly gardens. So the tribal children could not take avail distinguishes one from the other because language is not just educational opportunities. Sometimes the labourers had to a means of communication but an important aspect of face unequal contests with leopards. Many tribal children culture and identity. Through language and words stories of lost their lives by sudden attacks of leopards. human values, practices, songs, idioms are stored or conveyed. These tribes were of the oral tradition unlike Insulted by others other cultural groups who followed the written tradition. So, The neighbouring Rajbansis identified the tribal labourers language became very important for the tribals because it (the Santhals, the Mundas, the Oraons etc.) by the term was the only means through which they passed on their ‘Jhangar’ or ‘Maydeshi’ that means very low category or traditional knowledge from one generation to another generation. If their language got lost, it was not a mere loss inhabitants of middle desh that means Central Provinces. of language but a loss of history, traditional thought-pattern, The Rajbansis did not even drink a glass of water from the oral literature and rich indigenous knowledge which had hand of a ‘Jhangar’. They were physically and mentally been collected over the centuries. At the time of migration tortured by various authorities such as Managers, different tribal groups had different mother tongues. The ‘Choukidars’ (guard men), Dafadars (supervisors) or other Oraons spoke Kurukh, a language of the Dravidian family officials of tea gardens, money lenders, and land lords etc. which was totally different from other dialects of the other tribes. The Mundas spoke their own language known as Unhealthy environment Mundari, while other tribes like the Santhals spoke Santhali. As a result of spraying medicine in tea gardens the tribal Since the beginning of the twentieth century Sadri which workers were affected by various diseases.