Mal Paharia people

Mal Paharia
Total population
	182,560 (2011 census)
Regions with significant populations
	India
Jharkhand	135,797
West Bengal	44,538
Bihar	2,225
Assam	6,389 (1951 est.)
Languages
	Malto • Mal Paharia • Bengali •Hindi
Religion
	Hinduism • Christianity
Related ethnic groups
	Sauria Paharia • Kurukh • Dravidian People

Last updated August 08, 2024

The Mal Paharia people are a people of India, mainly living in the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal.^[3]^[4] They are the original inhabitants of the Rajmahal Hills, known today as the Santal Parganas division of Jharkhand. They are listed as a Scheduled Tribe by the governments of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.^[3]^[5] They speak the Malto language, a Dravidian language, as well as a poorly-documented Indo-Aryan Mal Paharia language.^{[ citation needed ]}

History

During Muslim rule in Bengal, the Mal Paharias were brave warriors who maintained their independence from government control but developed a relationship with local landlords. Under this agreement, Mal Paharia lands were divided into tappa headed by sardars, who in turn had authority over the manjhi: village head. The sardars acted as a lawkeeping force among the Mal Paharia in return for which they were given a certain amount of land by the plains people. Passes leading to the hills were guarded by Mal Paharia outposts as well as forts of the plains people. This system ensured relatively friendly relationships between the hill and plains people. Once a year, this arrangement was renewed with a feast in the plains between the landlords and sardars.

However, when the Mal Paharias tried to assert their independence again, they were betrayed by the Zamindars who killed many of their headmen. From then, they became raiders of the plains. This problem was worsened during the Bengal Famine of 1770, which the Mal Paharias were not affected due to their reliance on forest products, and so were able to raid without much resistance. Travel on the south bank of the Ganga near Rajmahal Hills became almost impossible, and even British messengers were robbed and murdered. Despite many British attempts to suppress them, the Mal Paharias fought back by luring British forces into the jungle, where the British rifles were useless and Paharia's poisoned arrows were ideal. Finally, in 1778, the British proposed a "pacification" scheme were money and lands were restored to the sardars, and the forts of the landlords were taken over by EIC officials. Many Mal Paharias were recruited into a new British force which proved extremely effective: first using traditional bows and arrows, and eventually using British weaponry. This Paharia regiment, the Bhagalpur Hill Rangers, continued until the 1857 revolt and the reorganization of British forces there.^[6]

The government also tried to settle the Mal Paharias in the plains as settled agriculturalists to make the land productive, but this did not work. Instead, the British brought in Santal cultivators from the southeastern part of the Chota Nagpur Plateau, who settled in the wasteland in large numbers starting in the 1830s. The Mal Paharias fiercely resisted the entry of the Santals into their lands, a struggle that would continue until the 1850s when Santal numbers became overwhelming. The entry of the Santals generally cut the Mal Paharias off from significant contact with those in the plains. Eventually, their territory became known as Santal Parganas. Santal Parganas would continue to be a division of various administrative units, most recently the state of Jharkhand created in 2000.^[6]

Today, the Paharias have become an insignificant minority in their own lands. Their literacy rate is an abysmal 1%, despite the many government schemes that have tried to uplift them. Most villages of the tribe lack basic facilities such as drinking water or sanitation, very few have government jobs and none have become involved in politics. The Paharias have formed several associations to fight for the restoration of their lands and the upliftment of their socio economic condition.^[7]

Society

The Mal Paharias who live in the southern hills of Damin-i-koh and in the south and east of Santhal Parganas have been Hinduised. Among themselves they speak a variety of Bengali, but with others they speak Bengali and Hindi. The Bengali and Devenagari scripts are used by them. The Mal Paharias survive on agriculture and forest produce. Rice is their staple food. Pulses like moong, masur, Kulthi and lar are consumed. They are non-vegetarians, but do not eat beef. Both men and women drink liquor, which may be home-made or bought from the market. They smoke indigenous cheroots, and chew tobacco mixed with lime (khaini) and betel.^[8]^[9]^[10]

Religion

The Mal Paharias follow a solar deity called Dharmer Gosain like their Sauria Paharia counterparts.^[6]

Related Research Articles

Santhal Pargana division constitutes six district administration units known as the divisions of Jharkhand state in eastern India.

The Santal are an Austroasiatic-speaking Munda ethnic group of the Indian subcontinent. Santals are the largest tribe in the Jharkhand and West Bengal in terms of population and are also found in the states of Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Tripura. They are the largest ethnic minority in northern Bangladesh's Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. They have a sizeable population in Nepal. The Santals speak Santali, the most widely spoken Munda languages of Austroasiatic language family.

Sahebganj is a scenic town and a port city in the Sahibganj subdivision of the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand state, India. It serves as headquarters for Sahibganj District, Sahibganj subdivision and Sahibganj. It is located on the north-east of Jharkhand and situated on the banks of Ganges. 17th May is the Foundation Day of the District, when Rajmahal and Pakur subdivisions of old Santhal Pargana district were carved out to form Sahibganj district.

Dumka, the headquarters of the Dumka district and Santhal Pargana region, is a city in the state of Jharkhand, India. It was made the headquarters of the Santhal Pargana region, which was carved out of the Bhagalpur and Birbhum district after the Santal Hool of 1855. Dumka was carved out of the southern part of Bihar along with 18 other Districts on 15 November 2000 to form Jharkhand as 28th State of India. Dumka is a peaceful and green city and also sub-capital of Jharkhand. The nearest important cities are Rampurhat and Deoghar.

Rajmahal is a subdivisional town and a notified area in Rajmahal subdivision of the Sahebganj district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is situated at the banks of Ganges and was former capital of Bengal Subah under Mughal governor, Man Singh I.

Pakur district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Pakur is the administrative headquarters of this district. Pakur sub-division of Sahibganj district was carved out on 28 January 1994 to constitute Pakur District. The district, with a population of 900,422, and covering an area of 686.21 km², is situated on the north-eastern corner of Jharkhand state.

The tribes of Jharkhand consist of 32 scheduled tribes inhabiting the Jharkhand state in India. In 1872, only 18 tribes were counted among the scheduled tribes from which Banjara, Bhatudi, Chik Baraik, and Mahli were marked as semi-Hindu aboriginal and Kora as proletariat Hindu. In the 1931 census, including the above four semi-Hindu aboriginal and Kora, a proletariat Hindu, the number was raised to 26 from 18. They were Birajia, Godait, Karmali and Paharia, but Kisan was excluded from the list. In the 1941 census, Baga, Bedia and Lohra were included again taking Kisan in the annexure and the number came to 30 which prevailed till June 2003. Kanwar and Kol were added on 8 June 2003 in the annexure and the number of Schedule Tribes came to 32.

The Santhal rebellion, was a rebellion in present-day Jharkhand and West Bengal against the East India Company (EIC) and zamindari system by the Santhals. It started on June 30, 1855, and on November 10, 1855, martial law was proclaimed by the East India Company which lasted until January 3, 1856, when martial law was suspended and the rebellion was eventually suppressed by the presidency armies. The rebellion was led by the four sibling brothers - Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav and their two sisters Phoolo and Jhano, who sacrificed their lives for the cause.

The Rajmahal Hills are located in the Santhal Pargana division of Jharkhand, India. They were located on the northern margin of the Gondwana supercontinent, and its hills are today inhabited by the Sauria Paharia people whilst its valleys are dominated by the Santhal people. The hills span over an area of 2,600 km² (1,000 sq mi).

The Malto or Maler people, also known as Pahariya, are a Dravidian tribal group from the Rajmahal Hills in the northeastern Chota Nagpur Plateau. They are divided into three subgroups: Mal Paharia, Sauria Paharia and Kumarbhag Paharia. All three are listed as Scheduled Tribes in Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. They speak Malto, related to the nearby Kurukh language.

Damin-i-koh was the name given to the forested hilly areas of Rajmahal hills broadly in the area of present Sahebganj, Pakur and Godda districts in the Indian state of Jharkhand.

Shershabadia, are a Bengali Muslim community found in the state of West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand in India. They belong to Shaikh community and also form a significant part of the Shaikhs of West Bengal and Bihar. Common surnames used by the community include Shekh, Sekh, Haque, Islam, Mondal. Most of them are Sunni Muslims who associate with the Ahl-i Hadith movement.

The Sauria Paharia people are a Dravidian ethnic people of Bangladesh and the Indian states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Bihar. They are found mostly in Santhal Parganas region in the Rajmahal Hills.

Sarnaism is a religious faith of the Indian subcontinent, predominantly followed by indigenous communities in the Chota Nagpur Plateau region across states like Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar, and Chhattisgarh.

Bhognadih is a village in the Barhait CD block in the Sahibganj subdivision of the Sahibganj district of the Jharkhand State, India. Bhognadih has a place in history, as the main centre of the Santhal rebellion.

Shikaripara is a community development block in India that forms an administrative division in the Dumka Sadar subdivision of the Dumka district, Jharkhand state, India.

Taljhari is a community development block that forms an administrative division in the Rajmahal subdivision of the Sahibganj district, Jharkhand state, India.

Rajmahal subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Sahibganj district in the Santhal Pargana division in the state of Jharkhand, India.

Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal is an Indian social organisation dedicated to socio education development, socio philosophy development, socio economic development and socio cultural development of the Santal community.

References

↑ "A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2017-11-18.
↑ "Estimated Population by Castes, 5. Assam – Census 1951" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General, India. 1954. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2024.
1 2 "Scheduled Tribe List Of West Bengal State". anagrasarkalyan.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2009-08-29.
↑ "Bihar Scheduled Tribe List". tribesindia.com.
↑ Jharkhand, Government of. "Scheduled tribes of Jharkhand". www.jharkhand.gov.in.
1 2 3 Hewitt, J. F. (April 1893). "Art. VII.–The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, by H. H. Risley. Vols. I. and II. Ethnographic Glossary, Vols. I. and II. Anthropometric Data". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 25 (2): 237–300. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00022395. ISSN 0035-869X. S2CID 163011123.
↑ Verma, Dinesh Narayan (2020), "Vulnerability of Autochthon Paharias of Santal Parganas: Revealing Continuity of Colonial Legacy", Tribal Studies in India, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 113–125, doi:10.1007/978-981-32-9026-6_6, ISBN 978-981-329-025-9, S2CID 211463300 , retrieved 2020-11-28
↑ Houlton, Sir John, Bihar, the Heart of India, p. 81, Orient Longmans, 1949
↑ "Mal Paharia Adivasi". tribesindia.com.
↑ "Mal Paharia Adivasi". jharkhand org.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[census-1] "A-11 Individual Scheduled Tribe Primary Census Abstract Data and its Appendix". www.censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 2017-11-18.

[1951Estimate-2] "Estimated Population by Castes, 5. Assam – Census 1951" (PDF). Office of the Registrar General, India. 1954. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 March 2024.

[anagrasarkalyan-3] 1 2 "Scheduled Tribe List Of West Bengal State". anagrasarkalyan.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2009-08-29.

[4] "Bihar Scheduled Tribe List". tribesindia.com.

[5] Jharkhand, Government of. "Scheduled tribes of Jharkhand". www.jharkhand.gov.in.

[:0-6] 1 2 3 Hewitt, J. F. (April 1893). "Art. VII.–The Tribes and Castes of Bengal, by H. H. Risley. Vols. I. and II. Ethnographic Glossary, Vols. I. and II. Anthropometric Data". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland. 25 (2): 237–300. doi:10.1017/s0035869x00022395. ISSN 0035-869X. S2CID 163011123.

[7] Verma, Dinesh Narayan (2020), "Vulnerability of Autochthon Paharias of Santal Parganas: Revealing Continuity of Colonial Legacy", Tribal Studies in India, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 113–125, doi:10.1007/978-981-32-9026-6_6, ISBN 978-981-329-025-9, S2CID 211463300 , retrieved 2020-11-28

[8] Houlton, Sir John, Bihar, the Heart of India, p. 81, Orient Longmans, 1949

[9] "Mal Paharia Adivasi". tribesindia.com.

[10] "Mal Paharia Adivasi". jharkhand org.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]