Saharia

Last updated

Sehariya
Villageois, Bathpura, district Gwalior.jpg
A Sahariya couple
Regions with significant populations
Flag of India.svg  India
Madhya Pradesh 614,958
Rajasthan 111,377
Religion
Animism and Hinduism

The Saharia, Sehariya, or Sahariya are an ethnic group in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. The Saharias are mainly found in the districts of Morena, Sheopur, Bhind, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Vidisha and Guna districts of Madhya Pradesh and Baran district of Rajasthan.They are classified as Particularly vulnerable tribal group.

Contents

Swang Dance of Saharia Tribe Swang Dance of Saharia Tribe.jpg
Swang Dance of Saharia Tribe

History

Folks dance by Saharia tribe of Rajasthan in Kaleshwari Art Fair - 2017 held at Kaleshwari Folks dance by Saharia tribe of Rajasthan1.jpg
Folks dance by Saharia tribe of Rajasthan in Kaleshwari Art Fair - 2017 held at Kaleshwari

The history of the Saharia tribe is spotty and in many places completely lost. The older generations of the Saharia tribespeople fail to give any account of their history, and written records of ancestry are virtually nonexistent. Traditionally, they trace their beginnings to the days of the Ramayana and beyond. They trace their origin from Shabari of the Ramayan. Another theory suggests that Brahma, the creator was busy casting the Universe. He made out a place to seat all persons. In the centre of that place he put a Sahariya who was a simpleton. Others came to join him sitting but they pushed him further from the square centre to an extreme corner or khoont. The story goes that an annoyed Brahma chided the Sahariya for his inability to cope with the pressure and decreed that he would henceforth live in forests and such other out of the way places.

Dwelling

They inhabit clusters of houses in areas called saharana outside the main villages. The housing is generally characterized by prehistoric standards made of stone boulders and roofing of stone slabs that locally are called patore. In some villages mud structures are also constructed. Brick and concrete are very rare. They live in small joint families. The elder sons live separately after marriage and younger son bear the responsibilities of the parents and unmarried brothers-sisters.[ citation needed ]

Religion

The tribe members believe in Animism Folk Hinduism's gods and goddess that they worship and celebrate in major festivals: Veer Teja, thakar Baba, Durga, Hanuman, Lalbai, Bejasan, Savni Amavasya, Janmashtami, Raksha Bandhan, Deepavali, Holi and Teja Dashmi.[ citation needed ]

Marriage

They consider everyone in an endogamous group to be brother and sister; marriages have to be arranged from other clans. During the marriage ceremony, totems are drawn on paper and the floor that they hold in reverence. Child marriage is not favored, although there are some arranged marriages, and any marriage is performed after attaining the age of 15 years. Widow marriage called not is permitted but only to a fellow widower or a divorcee. Polygamy is reserved only for males.[ citation needed ]

Social life

The Sahariya community considers every adult member part of a governing council which is headed by a patel. A patel's appointment is based on heredity criteria but found to be unfit or unsuitable is basis for removal. The council decides disputes by a consensus. It imposes fines and ostracism on guilty offenders committing rape, elopement or adultery. An inter-village dispute is referred to as a Chokla Panchayat. Since they may be surrounded by speakers of other languages and dialects they may speak various Hindi dialects.

Economy

The Sahariyas are expert woodsmen and forest product gatherers. They are particularly skilled in making catechu from Khair trees. The main business is gathering & selling of forest wood, gum, tendu leaf, honey, mahua and medicinal herbs. Their traditional occupations also include making baskets, mining and quarrying, and breaking stones. They also hunt and fish.

Some Sahariyas are settled cultivators. Wheat, pearl millet and maize are the main cereal crops. Gram and arhar are the main pulses. Agriculture is largely rain-dependent with merely 2% of the total land area being irrigated. The main sources of irrigation are wells and rivulets, which are seasonal. Others are landless labourers who were earlier bonded labourers.

Health

The general health conditions of the tribe are very poor. There is prevalence of malnutrition and pulmonary tuberculosis. RNTCP-DOTS programme is working effectively to change this condition. The Centre for Genomics at Jiwaji University, Gwalior is carrying out active clinical and genetic research in order to identify the genetic and non-genetic underlying causes for their ailments.

Notable People

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madhya Pradesh</span> State in central India

Madhya Pradesh is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Dewas, Sagar, Satna, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second largest Indian state by area and the fifth largest state by population with over 72 million residents. It borders the states of Uttar Pradesh to the northeast, Chhattisgarh to the east, Maharashtra to the south, Gujarat to the west, and Rajasthan to the northwest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhil</span> Adivashi group in india

Bhil or Bheel is an ethnic group in western India. They speak the Bhil languages, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages. Bhils are members of a tribal group outside the fold of Hinduism and the caste system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheopur district</span> District of Madhya Pradesh in India

Sheopur District is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The district is located in the north of the state and forms part of Chambal division. It is situated on the periphery of Rajasthan, which shows in the influence of Rajasthani culture in this district.

Solanki also known as Chaulukya is a clan name originally associated with the Rajputs in Northern India but which has also been borrowed by other communities such as the Saharias as a means of advancement by the process of sanskritisation. Other groups that use the name include the Bhils of Rajasthan, Koḷis, Ghān̄cīs, Kumbhārs, Bāroṭs, Kaḍiyās, Darjīs, Mocīs, Ḍheḍhs, and Bhangīs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morena district</span> District of Madhya Pradesh in India

Morena district is one of the 52 districts of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, located in the Chambal division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheopur</span> City in Madhya Pradesh, India

Sheopur is a city in Madhya Pradesh state of central India. It is the administrative headquarters of Sheopur District. Sheopur is linked by narrow gauge rail to Gwalior(No longer in operation). The town is traditionally famous for its wood carving. Chambal River is just 25 km, which forms the boundary between Rajasthan and MP states.

Vijaypur also known as Bijeypur is a Town located in district Sheopur, Madhya Pradesh, India. This town is a part of the Vijaypur constituency and Morena constituency. It is located on the bank of the Kwari River. The town is one of the gateways to the Kuno National Park, the site selected as a second home to the Asiatic Lion and also for cheetah reintroduction in India.

Maan Singh (1890—1955), better known as Daaku Maan Singh, was a notorious Indian dacoit.

Kuno National Park is a national park and Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, India. It derives its name from Kuno River. It was established in 1981 as a wildlife sanctuary with an initial area of 344.686 km2 (133.084 sq mi) in the Sheopur and Morena districts. In 2018, it was given the status of a national park. It is part of the Khathiar-Gir dry deciduous forests ecoregion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Verrier Elwin</span> British-born Indian anthropologist, ethnologist and tribal activist

Harry Verrier Holman Elwin was a British-born Indian anthropologist, ethnologist and tribal activist, who began his career in India as a Christian missionary. He first abandoned the clergy, to work with Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, then converted to Hinduism in 1935 after staying in a Gandhian ashram, and split with the nationalists over what he felt was an overhasty process of transformation and assimilation for the tribals. Verrier Elwin is best known for his early work with the Baigas and Gonds of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh in central India, and he married a 13 year old member of one of the communities he studied. He later also worked on the tribals of several North East Indian states especially North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and settled in Shillong, the hill capital of Meghalaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Madhya Pradesh</span> Overview of tourism in Madhya Pradesh, India

Tourism in Madhya Pradesh has been an attraction of India because of its location in the centre of the country. Madhya Pradesh has won Best Tourism State National award for 3 consecutive years i.e. 2017, 2016 and 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flora and fauna of Madhya Pradesh</span>

Madhya Pradesh, often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal. Madhya Pradesh was originally the largest state in India until November 1, 2000 when the state of Chhattisgarh was carved out. It borders the states Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tribals in Madhya Pradesh</span> Major tribes of the state of Madhya Pradesh and their population

There are 46 recognized Scheduled Tribes in Madhya Pradesh, India, three of which have been identified as "Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups" or "PTGs". The population of Scheduled Tribals (ST) is 21.1 per cent of the state population, according to the 2011 census. Bounded by the Narmada River to the north and the Godavari River to the southeast, tribal peoples occupy the slopes of the region's mountains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheetah reintroduction in India</span> Introduction of southeast African cheetahs in India

More than 70 years after India's native subspecies of the cheetah—the Asiatic cheetah —became extinct there, small numbers of Southeast African cheetah have been flown in from Namibia and South Africa to a national park in India. The experiment has been permitted by India's supreme court on a short-term basis to test long-term adaptation. The Asiatic subspecies is now found only in Iran in critically endangered numbers.

The Sahariya are a community found in the Bundelkhand region of North India, which is administered by the states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. They are also known as Rawat, Banrawat, Banrakha and Soarain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koraga people</span> Tribal community in Karnataka

The Koraga are a tribal community or indigenous community found mainly in the Dakshina Kannada, Udupi districts of Karnataka and the Kasaragod district of Kerala, south India. These areas in Karnataka, are altogether often referred to as Tulunaad, which roughly corresponds to the boundaries of the erstwhile South Canara district. They are also found in small numbers in adjoining districts of Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and Kodagu. The Koraga are classified by the Government of India as a particularly vulnerable tribal group.

The Kuno River is a prominent river that flows through the heart of the Kuno National Park from South to north in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The river, which originates from the Vindhya mountain range, is a lifeline for the sanctuary's diverse flora and fauna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarat Chandra Roy</span> Indian scholar of anthropology

Sarat Chandra Roy was an Indian scholar of anthropology. He is sometimes regarded as the 'father of Indian ethnography', the 'first Indian ethnographer', and as the 'first Indian anthropologist'.

Shyama Charan Dube (S.C.Dube) was an Indian anthropologist, sociologist, and former president of the Indian Sociological Society from 1975 to 1976.

Atal Progress-Way, also known as Chambal Expressway, is an approved 404 km (251 mi) long, six-lane access-controlled greenfield expressway, which will connect the city of Kota in Rajasthan with the city of Etawah in Uttar Pradesh, through the famous city of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. It will pass through three states–Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The expressway is a part of Bharatmala Pariyojana. The government's aim is to develop the economically backward regions of Chambal division and Gwalior division of Madhya Pradesh through the expressway. The expressway will reduce both travel time and distance, from 10-11 hours at present, to only 6-7 hours, and from 490 km (300 mi) to 404 km (251 mi). It will be built at a cost of approximately ₹ 23,700 crore, which was earlier slated at ₹ 20,000 crore. The expressway has been named as Atal Progress-Way after the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and also because he was born in Gwalior, nearby which the expressway will pass.

References

Ethnological study of the Saharia tribe of Morena District, Madhya Pradesh

Joshi, Vibha 1987 'A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh: Social Organization and Religion of the Sahariya'. M.Phil Dissertation. Department of Anthropology, Delhi University.

V.J.Patel(Vibha Joshi) 1993. 35 minute ethnographic film 'The Sahariya of Madhya Pradesh' filmed in 1992-3 in Sheopur kala division (now a district), in Palpur village in Palpur-Kuno forest, and in Agra, Ameth Parond and other villages of Morena, M.P. (includes an interview of surrendered dacoit, Ramesh Singh Sikarwar) . Anthropological Survey of India.Kolkatta Also see:

Srivastava, Vinay Kumar 2016 'Speaking of Caste: Merit of the Principle of Segmentation', Sociological Bulletin.

Further reading

Joshi, Vibha 1987 'A Primitive Tribe of Madhya Pradesh: Social Organization and Religion of the Sahariya'. M.Phil Thesis. Department of Anthropology, Delhi University.supervision by Vinay Kumar Srivastava.

V.J.Patel (name used then by Vibha Joshi) 1993. 35 minute ethnographic film 'The Sahariya of Madhya Pradesh' filmed in 1992-3 in Sheopur kala division (now a district), in Palpur village in Palpur-Kuno forest, and in Agra, Ameth and other villages of Morena, M.P. (includes an interview of surrendered dacoit, Ramesh Singh Sikarwar) . Anthropological Survey of India.Kolkatta

Also see: Srivastava, Vinay Kumar 2016 'Speaking of Caste: Merit of the Principle of Segmentation', Sociological Bulletin.