CHAPTER V

taNSHIP AND POWER STRt:ICi'URB AMONG THE MDNJlAS OV KA»AMA VJ:LLAQ 8

254

This chapter is primarily ctevot«t to tbe powc

stru.ct.ure iD the NUnda soclety and Jd.nshJ.p' e role .lD

shaping that power. Hare ve w.lll also mention the varJ.ous

Hind\l castes only 1ft passing. Umiting ourselves only to

the po.t.nts ~ ~ngement betweon the MUndae on the one

hand an~ the Klndu ca~es on the other.

Muncla is dividecS into two principal groupe Cs.ab­

tzoibes) - l<hangar M\lnda and KOmpot MUncta. Although noth1n~

is available as to h.ow the other sub-tribes of ~a MWlc!a

tad ortgiaat«'l~ eacb of theae groups may be viewect as a

dietinc~ sOCial entity. The 41atingu1sh1ng features~

pal:ticule'rrly among the lazver end more well knOVD of the

aab-Vibea • KOmpat ana KbaDgar- are endogamy, occupation

o~ a conmon tcritory and tthe 41f£e.rencas ill the #el.igloue

belte£a ana pncticea. % ao not know to what. extent they

41ffeJ:' in langWlge. but pe'bape the 'rWntldea apeak of

M&mdar.l moM mixed w.l ~ BadaDi aoCI Benwali words.

B\lt. tho peeple do not abow aDy Obaenable eonactoua­

neas about. thei~r sub-tribe. ERx:ept a v~ ~ew old persODs

others co~d not ~el.l me the name of their sub-trl.be.

Though roa.da and ccmmunic:ations have 1mprovecS ccmsJ.derably

255 1D racen~ yecura. for most. of tha villages the social ~orld

is confined to a f• neighbouring vUlages- say within a

distance of 15-20 miles. As almost ell tbe MW'ldae res.l4lng

in the area belong to the Kompat gro~. there is har<Uy

any oc:c:oslc:m to remind t.he people of t.be.lr pantculer

gcoup. There is no festival or opportunity fOJ:' the entire

sub-tJ:'.lbe to come together. Por most of ~be vi11agezro•

1Ue ~re~~olves around the village wi.th occasional t.rips

t.o neighbouring Villages either on bualness or on eodal

v J.s.lt. f.\' en about three decades ago a 1\CU.Dtla was born in

the v.tllage, Uved most pan, of his lUe there and even­

tually was buJ.e4 1n ~he clan ~J.al ground ~hich may not.

be in the village of hls residence.

t'hls, however, does not necesan&:'1ly ~ly that tbe

villagers have e str:ona setWe of soUderity v.l~b .-e~

= their village. The v111ago being of heterogeneous ethnic

co~sit1~ the sense of cohos1veness 1a more 1D widence

among the ~rs of each o~ the cas~o ana ~.lbal groups.

The forces Of varying straDgth c~cross the village

so114ar1ty. The MUD4a society. as we shall shortly •••

1s basad on a Jd.nshtp bandage end as such they do have a

atronq eanse a£ belonging to their own coawuni~y. Bxcept

J.n ma~tU'S of eccmom.lc relat.lons EU'l4 a £e~ supeu:£1c:Hl

relaUonah.lp they vi.:tua11y Uve by ~hemselvea.

256

Sl~n and, sW>-M~aa Next to tile sW>-tribe. ~he most £unctional.l.y Jmpo~t

structural unit in the M\mda society is the t<111 or Clan.

KUnda claDe are patrilineal, exogamous descent groups.

E.Very MWda. ~ether he is Cbr'1st1an or non-christian. must

bolong to the clan of b1s or her father. Each clan bas a

name - animal. plant or en obj ec~ - but th.ve are a number

ol c:lsns whlch do not have any definite meaning. 'l'he

nwmere of clana are believeS to have 4esc:entied from a

common ancestor end they a-efer to one another by a kinship

terms - 'Haga• ~rother) or •Mist• (Sistwr).

R1 sley has mentioned the presence of 340 clans antODg

the M\mdaa. 1 a.a this probably represents the total n\lfnbor

of claaa among the entire ~tribes. Hl)ffman. on the

other hantl• names 106 clans among the MUndas of which 60

bave a Jcnown meaDlng. 13 have a do~ful meaning ana the

nat 33 clans do not even have a fancied meaning. 2 The

estimate of Ko~fma.D ·aeems to be a10re co"ect. Tho names

of the follow~ may be mentioned for illustration a

(1) Bhenga - horse1

(2) 80(Ua - The ancestors o~ tbi a sept did not waab their mout.hs a£e:er eatingl

(3) Partl - crocodilel

(4) Hnnsa - swan,

(S) trandru - I?iehl

(6) A1lld - A Jd.nd of eel1

(7) JUh\Jl - a flower.-'

ce) M\lnt.lrt - qua ill

(9 > NimaJc - salt'

(10) Amba • Mango,

(11) aalum- salt,

(12) Gon4U - a ld.nd of gJra.tn. 3

257

'l'he view of s.c. Roy that tbo MWlda clans are totem1s­

t.J.c4 bas been strongly dJ.scoun~ed by Koffman. He bo~da

that. though same clans are name:! after some animal. plant

or object. tbe people do not have a sense of brother~

w.lt.b the ~otem nor do they obscve any religious ceremony

ccmnec:t.eti wJ.~h tha •toteo•. Apart fl:"orn obse.rving some

taboos tbe people do not have any mark of ~esp~ or

l'eVerenc:e for the ·~em•. 5 The taboos appear tn the farm

Of mi~d sanc:t.lon against certain kinde of aft1oas. A

person taay n~ Jdll. or hana his ~ote:n or eat it. ~

there are exceptions to this ~le. Hoffman states that

members or HUDipurt.i clan eat their totero animal - the

ra~. 6 L1kcaw1se some of the names. aeha. Remna. Jo;o et:c.

refer to daily necossJ.ties of life and tba taboo agaiftst.

t.hese items is namtnel. For instenc0. a p~son of Baba

(paddy). or Ramna (a Jdnd of pulse) can ebRaiD £rem eating

tbe raw grain but he has no nstz:'1ct.1on about eating f:be

cooked gRin.

258 It 1s n<* neceaaaJ:y to dwell fuctbel:" on tbe po1Dt.

Wh•hor the KUnda olens are t~aalst1o or not is an open

q'lesUODI b~ the fact. ceDP1ns ~at •totemtsm• bas given

a name to a gro~ of people wbo ar:e bel.lwed to be agnatt.­

cally relata:l.

~is anotbGJr s1gDJ.£1cant atvibu~e of a KUnda

clan. t4anyJ.ng vJ.thin a clan is considered to be tbe

great.eat offence a Kunda can commit. It amounts ~o be

incestous union between a brOther ana siator. such a

relationship is referred to by a epecial Mwldari teJ:m

1 Mago•. Normally. an J.nt.J.mate relatl.onship between boy

and a girl Oi the same clan 1s .lgnorecl uoless •he girl

))ecomoa ~egnant. Then bc*h the boy aD! g1Jr1 have caamittecS

•Hago• am the prese&"ibetl punishment for such an offence

i8 el(COIDn\lDlc:atiOJl fr:om the CGIIQUDity• The puniabmfmt

is awarded by the Parblt•PaDCbayat - the inter•V 11lage

council. In such a situatlOft the parents o£ the gil'l ·~

bOy w.l ~h th&U jlom11y menbera alfSO edfer a~ficleat

indignities. They become poll"tecl - the turn for polllltton

being •aotra•. Tbey can only be •taken £n• U they &U14ergo

the app1:0pri.ate pollution l:'e!UOVing cerenony (Nlyar) an4

gJ.ve a £eaa~ to the members of ~be commUDi~y. The only

redeam:aing featux-e 1s tha~ ow:b cases os clan .f.neest. occur

veq rarel.y. .e.ven my 1nfor.nBnts Jn tbe vUla9e could recall

only one case of tbia natw:e .,itb.lo their 11Y111Q memoq.

259 ~undo c:lans also have a so~ of t.en-1torial integrity. %D

the former times the villages were mostly UD.lclan exc:ej)t

for the in-marrying spouses. Tbls was practJ.cally true

fo~ Khunt-!CattJ. village - the village of the or1g.t.nal

sRtlers. ln co~se of time, as the population increased

and one village prcnce4 insufficient for the resid611ee and

cultivation of all. the me~ers, other vtlla~es ...;ere founded

in the neighbow:-hood by d.Ufennt members of t.ne same 1 Jd.li•.

In the beginning, thev appear ~o have buried their: dea4 .in

the c~'nlUOn • sa san • in t»he par:ent village.. joined in certaiD

pUblic pujas (worship) iD the • sama • of ttl~ parent village,

and othexw!SG maintained ttte1r: former asmoctaUon in

almost all J:'espect.s excep~ ~"Gsiaenco mnct cultivation. But

1n cow:se of t;ime they t.oo came to have their O"An public

worship at. t.he •sam.as• of theizr new villages, an" e.otab­

llshe:i theJ.r sepants graveyards in t.h0ir: respeetive

v.lllages. aut in social and admi.ni~t.ive matters, they

continued to ect. as one body. 7 Tho.agh in the to.uant-I<att1

villages. ~lso the membal:'s of otbezo cl.ans ware allowed to

settle as 'niyat• (tenaot). tt\o Wliclen chan~or o~

Munda•villa~;;:.:; was rapidly l.ost td.th tha breakdown~

lCbunt-10.\tU system. The allen londl.orde also brought in

members of other clans and settled them 1D their villages.

XD t:he conteuporary sltuBt.ton. there are s~a

• 1.dencos which &QPpOrt the aboVe h1 stonosl contenuou.

260

In f'iNery vUlage there is one dam1nsnt-c1an wtach also has

its owo gx-aveyard. If the clan ia diviCleci into eubclens

1t may have one graveyard each for the oW>-clans. 'l'h.a

'*hor minor clans have the.lr gc-aveyaa:tls in their parGDt

villages from where they had migrated. Almost t;Nery clan

has i.t.s om inter-village council. refured to aboVe as

• Partm-Panchayat •. 'l'bi.s c::ouncil is nothing but an organ1•

ssat.ion to look after the affairs Of the cJ.ans resident

within an az-ea. In the former days 1t also look~ after

inter-village disputes bu~ now its fun~ions are clel!a:d.ted

exclusively to the internal matters of the clan. we shall

move about the 'Perha•Panchayat' 1n tha later pages.

:tn the v.tllege# ~cia:ua~ the MWld.ao# except for the

persons who had co.'Zle in by way of marriage, oro diV1<1ed

into 11 clans of varying strength. The clist.r1but1on of the

clans tlith the number of families under eac:h clan £s as

follo~s•

~ABLB I

CLAN ORGANXZAT%0N IN THE KUNDA VZLLAG e I E I I

No. 10l 3 I •

Jtam&l&~~. Popul&t!CA

• I 1 I •• 1. sw:.&n 56 234 a. Batting 12 86 3. ManJd. 2 11 4. aarJ1 a 5 s. SG&:'J.a 3 1 6. Kon.;Jari a 6 7. Kandt.tlna 1 3 a. BUZ' 1 3 g. Topno 1 4 10. Lug an 1 3 &la. HOEO ' 3

261

This exeluctes 3 families belonging to Tamaria MUnaao.

By far ~e mos~ predo:ninant clan ill tbe v111aqe is

the S\U'in. It accounts for about 12 per c:ent of the total

popula~ton of the MUnda COIDIDUD1t.y. There are two grave­

yarcis in the non-Chl'1st1an sec:t.ion of the M\mc!a communi t;y

and bQth belong to tt<~O of the s&lb-clans of t.he sur1n.

Membe~s og other olaas b~.l thei~t dead in their parent

v.tllages.

'i'he vUlage is one of t.ba 14 villages in tbe neigb­

bourbood under tnca social eontrol of the GW:'in Padla

Panchayat m tb its beac.iquarters at saJ.tto. In ell those

villaqes the predominant clan is sw.-.tn. If tte ort)J.~

150 as the app.wroxtraately average population of surtn clan

.in each village. the total popuAat.ton of t.hls cl.Gn .tn aU

villages comes ~o 150x14•2,100.

Though thera is no •eponte clao cotmc.ll in ~he

villeg~ but 1n a village wi.tb a preclom1aant elan pop\llation.

~e village c:ouacil bec:omes e~ensive witb ~e clen

cou.ncil. K~ .1 wn ~alJd.ng about. the village eoamcil ee

.f.~ existtecl be.fore tbe ~tl:'odu.ct.i.lon o£ 8Ututozy penchayat.

xn J.Cadama. t.he t&'adit.lonal Mt.mde Pancbayat .ls heaeled by

I.UQtQbere wtt su.i.n clell# all the tN:'ee ~f.f.e.lals are drawn

262 from ~his claD. In this S81lse and in the senso that it

has a larger socio-political entity 1n tha form of Parha

PGnchayat# the clan. at time, funcUona Uke s corporate

body. li'~er proof of the co:rporateness of clan is ett1dent

by ~ha fact that in old days the land was held 1D COIUmOD

by the members o~ the clan. h."Ven no--.r in Khunt-Ka~ti.

villages# the clan co1DmUD1ty o£ t.he original sett.l.ua enJov

the J:'oeidua~ r.i.g~ over t.he land held by its mcml)ers. 8

That. means if no successor 1n th.e agnatic 11nes .ts available

the land will go back to the clan-brothers. This principle"

to some extent, now operaHs within the Uneage group.

As mentioned above comuon klnoh1p tems use4 for

brother. an<l stater. Kaga ancJ Nisi. ant also applied to

ono•s own clan mat.ea. This means tbat at. least. ideally.

he can e:q;»ec:t. ~he same help and co-opuat.lon as are due

from bis own b~otbar anci sister. 'lhe day-to-dey behaviour.

this spirit of co-operaticm and mutuel help ls not cU.ace.:­

n1b1~ but on the occasion of bi&'th_. mantage.. de&~b.t

pUbl~c won hip at. the Sazona etc. • the paz:tic1paUcm o£

tbe clan or lineage memt»ua vitbJ.n the viUage becomes

obUgato~. Tbe public places of worship ac:twally belong

to tbe dominant clan end the v.t.llago p&"ieat.. Pabsn• p&-esides

wer the r~~uele bel4 i.n these places. 'l'be extent o~

paJ:t.loipat.lan might vary acc:or41ng to ~he nature of . tbe

263 occasion and tbe economic pos1 tion of the person conc:ernGd.

Por instance~ during marriage and death a larger number of

persons might. attend. Before bolaing a ritual the Patlan

41scusses the date~ time etc. for tbe ritual with the senior

member of the clan. In same cases compulso~ contri})ut1cn

t.o meet the expenses j.e also made. In tbe economic sphere.

this principle of reciproc.t.ty is not opemt1ve. In times

of need a person does not depend exclusively OD hls clao­

mGtes. Me may ask for help from anyone of his comm\lDity

with whom he has frlen.dly relat.iono. sometimes. even a non­

M\lnda•s help may be sought.

All t.be clans have the same eocla1 status. There 1s

no hierarchy among then. A dcmiDBnt. clan• tbougb it enjoys

some soc:io-po11Uca1 privilege td.thin a v£11age does not

bava Gny s~cari.or social poa1Uon. There ia no restriction

about accepting food and drink from members of other claD••

Thue 1s also no occupational spee1a11sat1on omong the olene.

No~Uy a person cannot change bls clan. flit 1a bon

into 1 t an<! dies in 1 t. aut s. c. Roy mentions .t.nst.ances

o£ some fettd.lies adop~ing names of c:1an other than their

ovn. 9 x have no mat.er.t.a1 t.o comment on ~his point. The

pos£t1on o£ married womon 1n regal:'d to their clen is same­

what anoma1ouo. After marriage a voma.n •adopts • t.he clan

o£ her husbands. 9&.\t. if a <U.v~e taJces p1aae. she retunls

264 to her paternal clan and she can marry. if she desires into

any other clan including her divorced husband•s clan. so

it. appears that the adoption of the husband's clan by a

woman is temporary. valj.d only for the duratj.on of her

roor1tal life with the persan.

sometimes a cleo may bs &Uv.lded into several sub­

clans. Tbls 1.s especially ~e in cases of larger clans.

There is no M\.Ul&u-1 term far suD-clan. Both a~:e zoeferred

to by the same term • 1<111' • For instanc~ Roy meDtions

Gix aub-dj.vio.tons of Pw:th1 clan- Cbut~ ~ sarikad•

K:lsa, Qlga• Sallcll Purtb.l. 10 The principle of sub-cleu

organ.t.zaticm appears to be the same as that of the cla~

except, pe~bape t.he fact. that the members of a sub-clan

have a greater sense of Jd.nsh1p sol1Clarity than that charao­

ter1Bing the larger clan 1t•e1f. Th.e f.lssion of a clen

was b~ought abo\lt when some menbers mewed out of the village

to open ne~ lend end found village. In COl.U'SO of time

they bQ!lt their own village graveyard anci performecl the

public ceremonies in t.he • &uma •, gradually with years, ~be

social ties with tbe parent. villege looaenea exception in

the larger matt0J:'s ~ intez>.village poliUcal o.cgantzatj.on.

A now name waa taken end i.t became the clan for all practical

purposes.

The distinction between clan and a s&m-clan is more

historical than social. aut like a clan it also regulates

265 the ma&'riage. .tt is not OD.ly an ~amous unit but marriages

among sub-clans of a alan cannot be contra=ed• The only

distinguisblng feat~ .ls that a sub-clan bas its OWD

grav~tl aeparated fJ:O:D graveyards of otb~ sub-clans of

the claD. In bOth clan andl sub-alan the members believe to

))e descended fC"Om a CO!mUOI.I ancestor. but. a sub-clan within

a clan appears to be a mo~ cohesive social unl~ than the

clan a~ laroe.

In «adama. the Su.c-1n clan 1s div 1dad into thraa sub­

clans - Bu.d~1 sw:J.n. Sandi surta, and Jhora sur1n. Literally

it means femal.e ourin, mnle e1.1rin and bOat.man sw:-J.a. zn Rnda.Ena, the more numerous of the aboVe thJ:<:te sub-clans a~

sudi, s~ln end BW!cil sw:-.tn~ sunat &u:'in .t.s tho oldest

1n the v 11lage. The othar two scm-clans came nnd sottleci

later.

lD sum:n1ng ~. we may now v1et1 the MWlda cl.&n o cUGtinct

exogamoas, patz.11ineal 4esccmt gr~. .tt may aleC) tie atvtdled

into a sub-clen having tbe same principle of descent and

exogamy. ID the olden <lays, it was probably aoeiallzed but:

n~ it is spatlclly interspersed wl~h other clans. There is

claar t'!Y1denee to s~port ~his opinion. f..\ten zao.,. as

ra.ent.lonect ear1.1er, all ths 14 vJ.llages o£ sur.to Parha

~c:h.nyat ore distribated aZ'OW'ltJ the village Kadome withln

s radills of 10..15 m1les. At one time, al.ong with to::r1torial

co:nt1gu1ty. J.t was also a corporate g~. Bt1t no--4 the

266 corporate character has lost much of 1 ts s1gn1f1cance.

Bssentielly J.t nov regulates the mazorlage. A clan is

extendecJhbef'ODd the limits of a village and operates. OD

11lter-v111age baals, like caste council. :r~ con~o1s tbe

social Cl1sgraasions ena fixes the social norm. Xts

pol.f.ttcal. functJ.on has pract.J.c:ally been lost. 2xcept 1n

lChunt-Katt! v.Ulages the clan does not have any absol'lte

ownership of their t.G.I'ritory of occupation. In ~his form

a M\mda clan is quite ccmpaJ:able with the Bbll clan abo\&

wh.lch we have suff1c:.t.ent knowle:lge. 11 Perhaps it will also

be comparable with the clan organimatton of other tdbes -

santal. Ho, Kbar.la, etc. - living in the area.

?.!he Lineage

Each Munda clan or sW>-clan is dtv i<led into t~o or

three localized~ sectional. patrt-11ncsages. Tha M\Uldar.t.

tem for lineage, •Kbant• Utorally means post. It is

ew:prising that. veey scanty attent10ft has been pa16 so far

on the organteaticmal aspects of MUnCla lineage system.

~b Roy and H0ffman mention t:bQ presence of Kbunt organj,.

cat1cm among the MUnctoe bat do not elCP10re 1te full tmpu,..

c:atiOD. Roy refers to it as nzoipes into \1hlch the aboJtJ.,..

qinal village ccmmunJ.ty is c.1lvidecS. 12 Ho£fmao, em tbe

othor hand, consldere it as either branches of the villa~e

~amlly# which are purely local ana have nothing to do with

c~an syat.em.13

267 'l'he sphere of J.nt.enst an4 activity of c1an ana

lineage are somewhat different.. The clan operates primarily

as a marriage ~egQlator. but the lineage is more inclusive

end ~ortent fo.r the 4a11y 11v1ng within the village

c:cmnnmity. In tbls sense. the lineage la more J:eal than

~e clan. In the present social sl~uaUon, the clan. though

it embraces a number of adjoining villages, co-exists with

ether clans. Residentially. it therefore does not font a

compact homogenous cluster. Except on very rare occaalons

ell the members of a cl.an do not have an opportunity to

meet their c1an brothers. The lineage. on the other hand.

being locaUzEd within one or o few adjolDin\1 villages.

for:ms a more compact st~ctwral entity. MEi!ml:»ershlp ~ and

the sense of belonging to a clan appear to be more spon.­

taneous whereas the conscJ.ouSJlass o.f the lineage is the

result o£ more pragmatic cons1dera~1ons.14

If a clan J.s 41et.c-1buted rNer: a ~Lumber of villages

each of t.be consUtuetlt v Ulages shall have its own Uneagu

someUmes geneolog1ca1ly traceable with aimilal' lineages of

t.he same clan in other v Ulagea. This meana tbat U a clan

is c!iistributed ewer 20 villages. the number o~ 11neagea

has a 4e£1n1te name aasociated ~th tbe v.i.Uage. ~~ 1a

eithe~ Paban I<bunt or MWlda Kbwlt. Sometimes.a .. tht&"d

!£neage. Mabato Kbwlt• .ts elso a44ecS. BOth Roy and Ho£~man

weste&"red to aboVe) contend that the !Qlhato l<hWlt eJd.eta

268 only 1n tthe westem pan of the MUnds coWltry. Roy f\ll'ther

holds that the MAhato Khwlt was orea.tet!l aut of ~he MU.nda

10u.mt with the inU'oclLLct.lon of zamlndar.l system to safegua~

the landlorcis iat.e.I'Sst in the village.

ln ~dama. the three suD-c1ans o£ tho sw:-ill clan an

sub-d1Vide4 into a number of lineages as shown 1D the

£o1lo~1nq cha~a

• sancU .sw:-.t.n

: t--------r-------: PahaD M\mda ~batr.o t<hunt Khwrt. lChunt

r PhallSft Khwtt

sl.ldn ~Clan • • I • BW141 suin

: • I : • • • I a I .,

Su.b-CJall 3hora surm

i Lineage

i MSlbato I<bunt

The sut>-clan a£f.lliatJ.ons of the sJ.x famllles of the sar.Ln

Clan 1a not Jcnown. hence they have been excluded £rom the

above figuu. ~he ~n conc:entrauon of .:#bOra sur.t.n 1a

iD saiko. a -v 11lage adjoining Kadama ana its two chief

lineages ar:e l.ocated there.

Theoreti.c:ally the members of a lineage grouP Cleseena

£rom a ccmtJJCD ancestor. aut 1n pract1co it. .f.a not t.bat

all tbe members o£ a group caA easily coc:ol.lect tbe nome

of the founding ancestor. There 1s no official geneologlst

269

amoDg ~e M\lndas an<i people nonnally do not live up to

a ripe ol4 age. Tbe old man do remember t.be nama of the

foWldlng ances•or better t.han the younger members of the

lineage. HOwtlfet'• the system of plant.lng mC!JilOrial stones

in the name of dead ancestors helps to perpetuate the

name of the ancestor ana his s&.tccesaive descendants. It

is only JJl .:ecent years with the ~eaci of literacy among

the Mu.n&l that a tendenc:y ma grolftl to recoX'd in writing

the geneolog1c:al bist.ory of a clan of a pa.cticular v ill.age.

l was fonuuate to get hold of aucb a record which gJ.ves

the fall geneology o£ BW:'in clan of Kactama.

W1 th the fiasioning of the clon into 8\Jb-c:l.ane and

ow1cg to the local1raat1cm of the lineages, the MWlda

Uneagea can never be very large. There ore othu factors

too which help to keep clOWD the aize o£ t.he lJ.Jleage. onten

a person aettlea in aoothel" village he gzad~lly severe

bi&t t.iea with his lineage anti subsequently Starts hie OVD

lineage. In case of irrigaUon to indWJtrial centres es

to t• plantad.one in Msam Gild Nolrtb Bengal, the person

losea bl.a med:»el.'ship in the lineage unless he renewa the

t.iea by maJdng f.-.quent. vielt.a. marly death of acme

members alao contrib\ltea t.o th.ta loss of 11DJc. Theoretically,

adopt.ion botb wJ.~hiD and outsJ.de th.e lineage helps to

r~t. new members ill the lineage. %f a parson £a chil.d-

1ees. be may be allowed to adopt w1tb1a hie l.ineage. aut

270

U the persOD bae only daughters. ho may br1Dg in one son­

in-law and adopt h1m in the family. The ch.Uda:'8D in tmt

caae retaJ.n the clan name of the mother. But such c::aa•

an very nn. Within the last. 50 years bloto%7 of tbe

village, th~ seems to !»0 cmly one case where sambal'a

father we adop~ea in the MWlda Khunt of sandl su.lD sub­

clan. samb&l had, therefore. taken to clan name of the

suin.

There .is no ~ogDizable hierarchy WZ10Jlg the ~ or

tbl'ee conatJ.tuet lineages o! a clan or a sub-clan. Though

at timu it is possible to trace the anc:estoq ~ Paban

Kh\Jilt. f~ the Paban Kbunt from the scmiomost member ill

a given qonerati.on (shown abcwe). it does not necessarily

get. P'et:edence aver M\mCia or Mabato Khunt. It is only 1D

the matter of village administnUon, both religious and

sec\ller, that the off1c.ta1s, Pahan, MUnda aDd Hehsto, are

cb:avn frcm the respective lineages. ODly the lineages of

the tst eettlwa in the village pr<Wlcle such officials who

look after the a~faire of the entue CCIDmunlq>. The other

lineages bearing the same rmme b\lt belongJ.Dg w otbU' sub­

clans, do n= provi.de aJJy of these offi.ces. 'l'boggh this

anang41'lleDt gi.ves some at~tbority to the lineage of first

•et.tlera in the v 11l.ege. i.t does not grant them afty s~erior

social etat.ua.

271 The lineage is also a corporate body. or at least it

ects like a corporate body. The eorporoteness of th.e

lineage is derived from bfO sources. Pirst. it baa a

zoecogniaed senior house. the senior-most male membw of

wt\lch ls the tmaeclared head of the lineage. IUs advice

ana gulctance ls sought in aU serlo1.1s matters conceroing

the lineage. 9\lt'. he is by no means an authoritari&D

autocrat. He eeeke the help of other me!tDen in "solving

en isslle. Tbe second attribute is that once eve~ year all

the houses of the lln•ge contzJ.bute to ana worship the

tutelal'Y cieity of lineage. The worship takes place in the

aenlo~most house atld the senior-most male member a=a as

the priest.. Chi.ckene or altemat.1ve yea&'a sheepa offeree!

to tba Kbunt Rank&r aonga - the presl.&ng deity of the

lineage. Membero of othu lineages az:e excluded and ~ey

are not all01fed to eha~:e the ~:iuml offuings. fOOd 0%'

dtr.lnk. lt 1s believed that prop.ltiaUon of this aeity

will a esure prosperity and coctinuaa.ce of the lineage.

The corporate cbanct.er of tbe lineage was more

apparent a few decades ago than it ~e t.oclay. Before ~e

zsmlnc:tal.".l system took 1ts aoot fi&'mly in the Muada c:OUiltzy

the land belonged ~o the lirlaave oe e whole. _ _, memb~

bad tbe right to c:t!l~ivate his ponion of land end eDJoy £ts cltop but he haci no right:. ~o ~Dsfer i:.be lend to any

peJJ'$0n outside hlB Uneage wi\mou~ the consent of Uneage

272

brothers.15 The ilrst setUement map o£ Kadama dated 1973

shows all the ctalt.tvable land as belong!n9' b) t.he zamin~

and the t.Wo principal llneage.e of the &~rill clan- M\Ulda

1ChWlt al14 Pahan khllDt.. ~pal'ently. the Mahat.o l<bunt. had

not. come into ex.t.atenc:e# nor t.he suriD clan had sp11t. into

its tzllb-clans. This map 4oes not show any rec:ord of

J.ndiv.t..Clual ~ezrshlp of lana. In ~= htandra! years• t.Jme

the s.tt.uat.i<m cbanged cons14erably. NCTll ~a land is O'Alled

.lndlv14ually. but l was told it cannot be a11snated from

the lineage w.l~hout the consent of its me:nbers. Xf e person

cites wit.bol.lt any male .lsau.(Q the right of ownership of land.

ot least. thaoretlcD.lly., rests with the l.lneaqe. But Aft

~ct.tce# the da\1\lhter•a husband# so long au be stays w.ltb

his w1£e in bar oatal villl:l..:t~ .le all=ted to cultivate the

land till his vite• a motber• o de&t.h. After hi. a mother-JD­

law•s death he must. go back to hls natal vi.llage with hUt

famUy. Thtare is one sucbccaae .in the vUloge \:lblcb% shall

disc:uas la~.

some v~iges Of tbe old lineage ownerehlp o£ let'ld

are still reflected in the present. system of lend hold1Dg

eanong ~be MUnc2as. XD most of tho casas. a f~ agnat£ca1ly

rela~ed persons w1t.hin the lineage group combine together

anc2 pay t:he r-Gnt \Ulder the name of the san1.0%"1Jlost. m~ 1D

the 11.ne whose Dame appears lo the GoVernment J:'eCO&-d ae ~be

owner of t.he la~. Actually. he acts Qnly &fl the heacl oi

273 ._he g~:oup only for the pU&"pOse of payment of rent. Tbta

poJ.nt will become clearer from the follotd.nq cU.agrama

+ ' ,. ; • I

: (2):

(1~ (3)f

4 : :

1 ·=t·· +: +

• I ., • I ! ~

(4) I (S) f t

4 r • ci> C7> 1

},.

(8)

! • indicates dead persons.

• I • ~

(9)

b = indicates living person of the family.

:

t

All tbe above ten living heilds of families though they

lJ.ve separately subscribe their portion of rent: to Jal<ano

(no.1) who pays it. to the Goveftlment. As far as the official

records are concerne:J the entire land balangs to these

persons stantl in the name of Ja'kano.

Xt will not be out of place if % mention en interesting

ep.tsode connected ~ith this social phenomenon. In 1968•

the government served notJ.c:e £or paddy levy. Those who

had cultivule land in exc~.Js of S acres had to sell a certain

portion of theiJ:' produce to the Government at a prescribed

274 rate. Jokano also 9~ a notice though in actuality he 0\!lftai

less than five ocres of land. The.re was considerable

ccmmotton aJKl discontent among ~he villagers. Thoy bad

several infolm?ll meetings and they decided to approach the

govwnment for tnco.rporattng the names as ~ero to guaft!

against such notices in the future. Xn this 1nstanca, all

the ten haads of families pal<i their ahara of l~y to

Ja.Jcano who mentaally sold it to the qc:nemm.ent. It was

not a ooUtary ease .tn the v111age. All the larger rent­

paying groups e.&-e affect.e=!. The overall eff6!et on tho soc:.tal

system was qt.a.lte obVious. It promoted tne b.&-eak up of the

ktn-gc-oup into smaller unit and ancouraqec:l ind1v1dual1zaUoD.

A sensa of solidarity eharacteri12es the behaviour

pattern of the members of a lineage among themselves. There

is no separate kinship to donoto the pUEView of a 11neag~

The same t.ems. Haga end Nishi, used to Nfer clan brothars

anei alst.ers are also appUed here. U'-lt there is a qualita•

ttve Ciifferenee. A person feels himself ~e close to hls

lineage members ~~ to hie clsn-ma~es. somat.tmee the Hindi

terms~ •mellf!A• ls used to denote the 11neaqe application

with a person. A~ t..tmes of need a pernon may look forwaftl

to the assistance enci quldanc:e of his lineage brothers. Tbl.s.

o£ coU&"se. sho!.lld be the .tdeel situation. BUit in prsc:t~c~

t~.sre is some difference. aut: that they did heva e history

275 of co-operation is impliEd in the lamentation of some old

men, •the people have changed so much now-e-4aya they have

become ael£1ab and clevu1 1n our yoWtge.r days, we wee

simple ana co-operated with our brothers whenever we 'ilere

called up to do eo ...

Despite the ClhantJes that have taken plaee 1n the

behav iou&"" pattern, co-opuation among lineage members is

an enc9uring aspect of ree.Uty o! the aocial life of t:he

v lllaqe. %t operat.es 1D two forms. When a bir~h~ mard.age

or death occwrs 1n a family lineagta members must co-operate

and p:u:tJ.eipate 1n the app1l'OPJ:!ate rituals for the occasion.

'rhis type of cooperation may be formed obligatory co­

oparation. MOtheJr type of co-opm:-atJ.on is concerned

with ~be overy&ly U£e and a~1V1t1es in a bousehola. we

may temm 1t habitual cooper-ation. NoW, I will di~ss in

det&U t.he nature end ext.mt of co-operation in these two

forms among tbe membe~s of a lineage.

On the eighth day. after a biRh, has taken ploee in

a family WbeD the period of poll.QUon 1a CNer. Unomge

members bd.ag in c:ookec! iood fOJ: ~be t'I\Ott\or and father of

the ch11d. 'i'hls ie done. perhaps# &s a sign o£ weleoma t.o

the nev member oi the 11neage. On ~he 9~h day of birth.

t.he father of the ch11Ci offeJ:"s food and ric: .. beer t.o t;he

ancestral spirits and these are later sharer! only by the

276

l.tneage members. AS a ma~ter of fact the •tamu'!:Jl!Bf!.' -

the ric:e-beer offered to anc~t.r:al spirit on any cccasJ..on -

can never be taken by any non-11neago member.

At the ttm\t of marrSage in a family. the whole lineage.

it. is sa1<2. acta like a family unit. Ric:e for brewing t.he

rice-beer is distributed among the various const1 t.uent

families of the Uneago. YOunger boys and qlrls go to

the forest. t.o collect leaves a.M wood. 'itomen j o.tn together

and make leaf cups end leaf plates. BOyS set ~ the marriage

canopy. They also cook t.he food for general feast. E.Very

bousehold 1n the lineage must Blso bring in rice and pulses

as gifts. %n this way. st:al!'ting from the negotiation

stage to the £1nal cccw:rance of the maa:riage. the linGlge

members help and co-operate w1 th the eoneeme4 family 1n

many other small ways.

In ~he case o£ death. befalling e family the lineage

members m.ve some obllgatJ.ons. They do come to carry the

body t.o ~e Village burial groun4 and the boys <iig the grave.

No one of a different clan may to~ch the cor.pse. The

lineage membws also obse%Ve a period of pollution for a

period of fo\U" or five da.,is dopen41ng on the t1me taken

for brOtdll{J t:.be r1ee-beer. At the end of this period they

shave the be3red and ~ke a bath. SpriM11ng {'f a mixture

of oil ancl •nanu• (the yeast tablets used lor br:a· .. ting

277 rice-beer) on ~he head of ind.lviduel an:S touching a fish

renove the polluUon. Pitanld o! Pabon l<h~ Csand1 sur1D)

die<i in ths month of November 1915. His lineage members

observed pollution for S days at the end af which they

underwent the purificatory rites as mentiooeci above. Lineage

members also have a role to play at the time of erecting

a memorial stone. They must not only be present but. they

also help tc fetch the stone and asaiat in the various

actiVities connected ~.t.th this ~itual. ~~an m~s of

the house \<laSh t.h~ feat. of all ths senior lineage members

at the foot of the memorial stone. DW:'ing the period of

pqllution~ pa::t1c1pnt1on in dance ana songs is proh1b1tetl.

'l'his restriction extends to all the olano cuG'!n):)ors also

Xn the daily life of t.he village mutual co-operation

anti help during the vai."J.ous lineage houses is also dls­

c:ern1ble. Xt has grown ~ of habitual Uvinq together.

nut co-operation Jn this form is mostly acatermlned by the

pr.tnciple of nP..,ighbourhood. if the lineage members live

close to each other~ which ~hey c.to 1n most. cases. there 1s

au£ficient 1nt~ct1on e.mong ~hem. one may eeel .free to

enter the house o£ another lineage brother ana ask for: his

favour. Cb!ldren spend a gOOd part of tinte together. 'rhey

play toqother ana when they g&"Ow ~ n Ut.tle. they go

together to the forest to collect leaves ana fire fllood.

278

The guls aance together and if they are to go o&~t of the

village to atten4 a fair. several girls qo in a qEOup. so

is the case with the boys. A woma.n freely goes t.o another

hol.lse of the same lineage ona makes use of the husking

machine. oil press and milling stone. she may also ~w

daily water frGm the well located in any house of her

lineage. The general rW.e is that if a eervJ.c:e facility

is available 1D a nearby Unaage-house it may be usea

without any fomal pemiasJ.on. I have ~ee:n boys an4 girls

o£ a lineage 01'0\19 freely plu.cklng et.Uble leaves from their

lineage houses without any formal perm.t.ssloo of t:te owner

of the bouse. OD such small occasions permission is not

sought aoa wtum X pointed out thte fa~ they simply laughed.

8\lt 1n weig~er ~~eonomJ.c matters a formal pel'mlssiOD

is necessaq. ~r instaDC~ if a person Wishes to bOft'OW

the plough or eat.tle fON a few daye he will first try to get

J.t from bla U'tleage-brother failing wb.leh he may approach

any member of his c:J.Gn. AS a last resort. be mny go to GDY

member of his c:cmm.\1Dlt:y or village. At the time of hwse­

))uil41ng his approach would be eimller. When Naro- the

pahan of the v&llage- built his house his lineage brother

be1ped b1m to bring the posts from t.he fforest but the main

work of construction waa clone by the members of his bouse.

xn retwrn.. be tr:eatea them wJ.tb J:"J.ca-beer. rn agricultural

work. namely transplantatJ.on aDd harvesting. the G)q)ecta!

279

gJrOups of helper-s are f&"Q'D ona• e own 1U1eage. aut. in

P"&c$1ce. whoever can spare som~ime. wt\ether he is a

lineage member or the member of t:he cammunity at large.

offers a bolpiog hand 1f aak«l £ox-. This £owa of help

is locaUy known as 'Mactant• dert.vetl f~ ~e Hln4l

word 1Madad • meaning help. There are many ia.staru:es o£

such help. SOftar of Pahan lchunt (SanCiU. surin) borr:owst

to 1972• a pair of a bullock from s.trsi of the same Uaeege

to plough bJ.s field. ID return he ploughed 1\er field.

sanarea o£ the same lineage sought the help of acme of

his 11neoge b~thers to bawest his crop in 1972. ~her

MQD4as tlelped bim. He treated than with fOOd and rte ..

beer on tbe days they workect. There is form of a loaD

p~:evalont Gtlly wlthial' the HWida coamunity. Xt le tcnom

as '&tis~•. If a person is short of foacl or •en ca•h

ho may go to o mon a~flu.eat. Jd.n&man of hla village 6Dd

ask for a lean. The loan u ~ble without. tn~aren

a~ the end Of the next hawest. Though thle fom of wanac­

tlon is mosUy co~1nal vit.btn close-kin ~Qp of a person

1n -.he village. it may also be extended to any other member

of tho vUla~e KUnda eammmJ.t.y. Rowever. on a1l these

occasJ.ono the help J.s Aot obl1gatoq. One may as well

refuse a call for help w1th~t any loss of face. securJag

help from a person_. llllhetber he is a 1J.neage brother or o

member o£ the comm\UlJty. depends largely OD the cor<u.al1ty

of relaUons existing between tho two persons. B'lt the

280

genez:oal praCt.lC(! ls that a person while seeking help from

another pex-sgn gives preference to hie lineag~a members te

other memtters of his CGal'llWlity.

so far I have not mentJ.eneci anything on inter-lineage

relaUonship within the village. There is nothing signl£J.c:ant

re report on this aspect of lineage s)'stem. The role anc

functions of a lineage ore confined t~ itself. In a situation

of conflict between two persons of two difforent lineages

neither of the."' act es a gro~ t.o protect its members. If

an amicable settlement fails the case may be referre4 to

t.be village panchayat or tbe counc11 of eldars. Here again.

tbe lineage os Sllch <loes not have any political function.

so. conclusively. H\mda clan1 s\lb-clan aD! 11neagos

an, structwrally similar. Yet the lineage £oms a more

COI11PSC~ residential unit with a kitown generational depth

in most cnSGe. I have calle<l it as being a paJ:t of the

sectional lineage system for two reasons- (1) i~ is 1ocal4.,.

aca. confined within one or a fet4 acSjolning vlllagea'

(2) aec:oncUy. all the Unenges vith1n a clan neither have

any know genec>log1ca1 relationGhip among themselves nor any

relation of e~eriority w1tb reference to one another.

unlike tbe segm.entaxy lineages of some African tribes#

M\m.C1a lineages do not have t.raCiit.l on to c:Ol'Ql)ine and c:ontroat

a sJ.tuation of crises. In this respect. they operate

281

independently w~tmiD the f~ef#ork of a elan of which they

an a part.

A MUndo lineage ~s also e corporato group. The

co~orate c:harac:t.er was more apparent in earlier days when

land belonged to it as a whole. B\lt nov it ~oys only

same rastchaary rights. The other diagnostic features of

corporateness area a rocor:Jnir&ed senior houso and head of

the lineage~ Joint annual worship of the presiding cleity

of ~he lineage end certain amount of exchange of services

and reci~l help emong its m~rs. Cooperation among

tbo members exists 1n two forms - obligatory aDCI habitual.

%t 1s iD t.ht:J secona c:ategoq that greatw -variation fnm

the exPected nom of betaviou.r is notic:ea. aut in spite

of the changes £11 the behaviour pattern the a~t&"lbutes

mentioned abcWe give the lineage a fom ana a binding quali~.

It becomes &n 1Clantifiable and meaningful struet~l ent1q

in tneir social system.

so for I have 4esC1'1bed tho nature and fUDction of

the tvo most s.ignif1cant. UDilineal descent gh~s among

the MU.ndas, namely the clan and ~he lineage and their

influence on ~he po~e~ atruct~. Though these are viable

Unship c:a~eg0%'1es. none of ~hem however fo~s a compact

z-esident.iel unit. The clan .is "'1dely dispersed Oflar a number

o~ villages ana the lineage• ~bough pr.1mar11y restrtct.ed

2~2

wi thift a village• does not fom a residential un1 t. The

various household units of the lineage may. hOwever. tend

to stay close to one another. Th0se two structural ent1 ties.

~he clan aft(l Uneaqe• are not therofore. visible un.t. ts in

the sense a household. of the llneaqe is. ht it does not

necessarily mQ&D that to the people these households are

more real than the lineage or clan. Here we will devot.e

ou~selvos in describing andl analysi119 the household aid its

rol~ in the socio-political life of the onon an4 hence the

power st.cucturo. ln absence of a general t~dar1 teJ:minology

to represent these household unit.s. I shall call t.hem family

uni~.. ftese o~ the smallest a:ecoqnizsble W'lits £8 the

K\mda social system. 1'1\e.re .t.a no distinct MUncleri tenn

for family. bU~ the expression •aou.hopoft1 denotes a 9a:'O\lP

comprising of pacents and cbildcen. It £oms the smallest

g~ of household unit wit:hln the patr1-11neage with father.

mother aca wvna"ted chilc:l&'eD. Xt has a ca.mnoa heazoth. a

source of fooct 8\.q)ply~ a house and the fatt\er as the accepted

bead o£ the ctomeat1o unit. we may call 1~ the ma.c:lear family.

out there ts another k.t.ntl of household uni~- l.aJ:~ge~

than the nuclear £am11y- wb.lcn .tncludes otber klrls also.

such kJ.ns are mostly agnatic and rarely affinal. sucb a

housets.o1d un1t J.s referred t.o by tbe term O.rako. ora Enko•

tha literal meeniDg of which .f.s that ~~those who actually

l.J.vo under the roo£•. "ftle term does not describe the ~

o£ klllS who live together in one househol4 but. 1t is an

GlCPAas.ion for a grO\U) of people fo.rming J:esidendal unit.

such a household may be calleti a composite family. Strv.c­

turally. however this c:QIUlOsJ.t.e family is r.oasolvable into

an extended family. fC'&tenaal joint famJ..ly or into a

cQmpOsite family of re~dual variety. In malciag ~s

cU.stJ.nc:tion :I have £o11oweci tbe principle ls.ld down by

M\Uttu.ck in d.iffe.c-ent.tadng the exten4eci family fi:'Om ~he

join~ fam.lly. ae bo~e that ~tan extended family cons1eto

of two or more nuc.lecsr families af£111ated tbro"gb an

extension of t.he parent • chief reladonshi.p rather ~ban

the busba~w.t.fe dlaticmsbip• t.a. by joining the nuclear

£amily of a marriGCl adult to t.~t. of h.ls pannts. The

joint family or rather the fraternal Joint family. he

says. occurs ~en •t.wc or rnoxn brothe~:s with their wives

es~lished a c~oD househol4•.16

TABLE II TYPE OP FAMILY

Claa N\lclear ft'a~rnal Qcteaded aes1<iual joint

Stttbl 36 2 10 10 Other clans 15 I 4 2

Total Sl 3 14 12

It is apparent fJ:'CXD the above tabJ.e tbat. ill the

dominant c:.lan tbe pe&"'centage o£ noD-clan type o~ compos£te

284 fe.ml11ee J.a blghu ~o tha~ 1ft tbe nhar clans c:QIO:)inea

together. ~hey a&-e also sligbt.ly more 1n number t.han the

two twes of j o1M £am111es 1D t.he dominant clan. Tbia

position is q'lttc c-eversed in the other minor clans. The

J:eason is not far to seek. The dominant clan own the major

pet:t. of thG land in the c~.ty and as such the members

tend to stay together as long os possible. so long as the

£ather is olive mal'ried aona ~end to stay together and do

n<* ns1st ~ the <11v.lalon of propeny. It is the land

which bolpe to hold tho family Wl1te together. Its point

will become clear Vhea X aball discuss the struct.unl

features of each type ~lies.

llQelenx_: ~a.mJ:l.Jt

The usunl pattern of this type of family consists of

a man. h!s wife an4 unmontec:t children. The father is the

bead of the unit. Only 1n two instances 1t was noticed

t.hst with the death of ~e fa~her. the mother haci assumeCI

control of the £emUy as the eh11dcen t~~ere minor. Sut as

soon as a son grows \Ul he bec:Qnes the head of the household.

Tba quest!.on natw:ally ar.tses as to how i:tla lana is cultivated

tn such casas. The £ollow.tng case will illustrate tbe ~nt.

autina of swrin clan 11vee with his mother. Hl.s father

&ec! a few years ago. Re has e £ew acres of lane!. Being

e m!nor bG is unable to cult..tvate the lend ana oa such it

285 has been given tto PUnik • e member o£ hJ.s lineage - on a

shant C&"'»Pinq bas.t.a. &&tina tolcl ma that with a year or

two wen he will be able to work all by himself be will

take baclc the l.and from Punik encJ c:ulUvate it himself.

,ms,t.eQ4e4J:!ftl!!x . Whea a person marries. the usual pnctic:e is ~bring

~he wife to live with her father-in-law. He daes not ~

a eepa~te household as long as his father is alive u.olesa

be mlgnUe to some other place. Thera was one solita_,

example in ~he village in 1969 of s bouse of scm-in-law.

Here ~he husband of the waman instead :;! t.Gk.log his wife w his nawl village had moved .tn to live w1~b hie motttex-JD­

law.

'l'be extende4 family ie ~hez:oafora an extension o£ "e

pwrental family through the father-son tie. A married

parson stays wlth hla ma"iecl brother. 1.£ any. eo long aa

the fathu 1a alive. It ia only after the latt~u.·•s 4eath

ttm household teruts to apl!t into tbe cCJUJt..ltaont units.

A family of this tYPe may be represented as follows•

l /). •0 • •

' • • •• • : \ 0

,, = 0 ~-- t

' I !:>

l ~c:sO

• • • L i • • 0

286 Ja the M\Ulda ccrmn\IDJ.ty of the village, this type of

family except. the nuclear type~ is not only more nwneJroue

but als" appears to be=~ stable than the frat.emal joint

family. At least it is so ctud.ng the Ufe-t.tme of the

£athor of the family. Economic c:onsJ.derations and t.be

inheritance rules contribute t.o the s~1Uty of an axtenc:ied

family. The father as the tlead oJ! tbe household owns the

land aM unless he consents, which is ver:y rare, ~tte

property cannot be atvicieci among the sons during his life

Ume. X haVe no case to nport. wttere a person had obtained

a division of property cl~.lng ~e life-time of hie father.

aut. ao X was told that t.hls is poasible, though iDstam:es

ar:e ~are. It is not proper to ask for a division of

pnpeny as long as one•a father .ls aUve.

The ecODomic fa~ors GlQ)loined aboVe may be the

reason for h1gber incidence of the type of family among

t.he members of swr1n clan, who hold the maJor part. of t.be

lend iD the vill.aqe. thnn 1~ is in the other clans. Only

fow: such examples of extended family occur among other

clans. In two of these cases, the father has only one

aon who will au.tomaUcally inherit him after his death.

%D the other two cases tbe £ather has more ~baD one scm

anct conaJ.derable amoUDt of landed property.

287 m~erMA,.;toJ.nit pamtl.x

Tbe.c-e are only a few such families 1n the community.

Usually after death of the father the man-J.ed sons divide

~he propeJ:ty wnongst themselves and set Up different

hOuseholds. Only racely do they sUiy together but there

l8 always a possibility of the constituent units falling

apart. DS.agnmetJ.cally the c:anposit.lon of su.c:h a £amJ.ly

wait will be as followsa

: I I • 6a 0 bCJO

: I I t l

I r ' • • 6 0 .6 0

%D two out of the thl:'ee cases nota<l by me the ~reason ff.o:r

~be brotbara to a~y togftbet' is •conven1eoee• and ~t

1there 18 ~much qu&ft'81 between the •co-wives•. XD

anothe~ caae tbe younger ~mr had Z'eeently marricct and

his wJ.fe coala get along ~11. with her aister-.ln-lawe

There is no social fttgma attaching ~o brothers mald.ng

a partition a£ter their father• s c1eotbe ~~ 1s a matter

1e£t to the cSeclol.on of the 1nd1v1Cluals concemed. Koweyer,

it appeara that this type of family .is not very st.able1

whatever atel:)11.1ty J.t bas. depends on mutual. odVante.ge ana

288

gooa..relatton Gld.et!ng between t:he co-wives. -rhere an

rather shoJ:'b-livecl 1n natw:e and seldcm give stab1li~V

for a long p~iOd.

B!•i~Ml.catsog

Then azoe alt.ogethc twe19e families iD the MWlda

community of the lQldama village ~lch cannot be str1c:t.ly

fi1:t.ea into a~ of the ~hree categoJ.-ies meottoned aboVe.

In a acmse they bring ~ a ~a1dual categoq where same

Unc.ts. mostly agnatic bave beera added to the nucleae' core

of the household. If a <touiled analysis of the k1na. who

ns14e With the nuclear cot:e. is ma4e. tbe follow.tng s.ab­

c:atego~:ies EmSJ:VCU

(l)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

Nuc1-r Families plwa the man• s fathor•s ~h~

N\lcleal" families Of t.be man • s ~b.u'•e wife (wJ.4ov) ana hu t~nmat:Tled chilCI.C'eD

NUclear family pltte the men•a motb.et" ana uamarrried aJ.b11n9s

NU.cleor £am11y plus the mao• • mother. his fat.ttu•a brothu'a wife and her UDmarried cb114nn

A woman. her ctaughtQe• her elder aaugb~a husband ancS the1.­WUDarr1ed cb114ren

No. o£ ~'!!!!&&!I

1

3

5

2

1

X£ we examine tho Jc.1Ds Who 1.1ve together 1ft tbe abcwe

8ub-types of £am111ea except the las~ one# it becomes

289 immediately apparent that these are basically variants

of e1~er of tho two co=po:Ji~e families c.iesertbeCI in the

p~:ece41ng pages. namely the fraternal joint family ancl

the extended family. WJ.tb the death of ~e father or

the brother. as ~he case may be, the residual members of

tho dlecea.sa4 family continue to liv• 1n the same household.

Struct.uoaUy. ~cay may be classified as either a f.:atemal

joint £emily or tbe extended family.

Tbere ls only one case 1n the entire community ~en

a wom3D after hear marriage has cont1cue4 to live .In her

oa~l home. Here the wcman•s husband hac.i mavecl 1ft to live

with her wife• e Jclns. SUCh i:ype of mar:riaqe is known as

•gha~ dwlji' or 'bouse son-1o-1aw•.

Now we will describe tne inter-personal ~elet1onsb1p

Tdth the net.voa of the famlly. KeJ:'e we do not. take iftto

accountt"e f:irlu va~iations of the various c$yadic a'Glatlon-­

shtps that might eld.s~ within the famUy. X£ we are to

uke into account. tbelr 1tmumerable vw:lationa~ the

c.teserlptJ.on will become too unveildy for aDY pUpos.. 110~

lnatanc:e. 1£ we say that a MUnde £ather h authori tar~

it does not meaa ~at eve.J:y father: is act:ually so. It .la

rather ~e M\.1fta&\ image of the fetbsr that tte are recording.

It is f~ th!s poJ.nt of vtew that I shall discuss tho

280 positions an4 behnvl.ou pn~tems of ~be memt~ors of a M\mda

family.

The MW1da society is pat.d.Uneel and tbe rcotdenco

patteJ:n is prec:lomlnantly patJt11oca1. In ac~u.al tbe fa~her's

role in the household is well de£1ned. In fact- tho father•

son Ue and mother-daughter ~J.e fom the model for aU

relationship within the family net'ffork. WJ.ch involves

pOJ:"aona of same sex but of unequal generation. The father's

role stands for authority. discipline. earlier plan of

soeiellzaticn ane keeping tl\e family as a c:ohesl ve, working

unit. aut he is also t.o meet certain economic obl1gatlons.

Ke is the chief provider of the family and he may reql.&lre

the leboU of any member of tbe family 1n agric\lltural or

other domestic tfOrk. In actual practice, th& father

appea~rs m.u.ch less &\lt.horitarien. The Klnd\l model of man

cieif1c:at.lcn of father aDd the concept of filial plety is not

pJrCsent among ~he MUnaas. Father and SOD heve a more

affectionate relatioJlSbip among t:he ~n among the Hlndws.

The fatheJ." often adekesses his eon 'by ao endear-ing ldnebip

term 'babua or bfta •. The reclprocal term ie epu. aba,

meaning fa~her. As a c:bllct of the son is not subjected

~o aev~ discipline, rather he is ~ate4 with p~ssive

tolerance. The ch1ldboo4 is spent more 1n play than 1D

Clo1Dg aaw clomeat.tc work. But as the same grows up, be

291 t.akes gweater illt.eres~ in ho\lSehold matter.-s. namely •

graz1ng cattle and goat. collecting matwa. leaves etc. •

ana 1ook1ag after his younger bi'Othel' end sisters. Witb

aaolescenc:e be takes ~ agricultural work, fJ.rst llghter.

ana t.hen heavitiJ:' works like ploughing, uanspl.anting and

tuu::ves~ing. '-ahen be is a young man. he gJ:adUBlly assumes

~he rol.e of an adviser to his father helping him to take ~

most·~'f not ell. major <iecisions. Whm the father becomes

too ~ ,tfor any eot1ve worlc, the son is vil:twally the ~~~

• •. L- ~!

heaa of:i. the family. HG thus assumau t.he ~le of the fatber.

~ symbolic natw."' o£ the au.thorU;.ac-iaD ro.\e ot

fet.bu-· becomes IDQrG apparent to fat.b.ezo-daugtlter relattcm­

sbip. Wben she ia young and a small ~~Jirl, the father

fondles end takeo cere of her as m\lch as ha does of hia

yow:ag son. But sbe gro~ u.p she ccmos under the guardian­

ship of her moeber. nere unlike the case of the scm.

the rnother J:eplac:es the £ether. The girl ' follows the

mother in houeahold ena other activities until she ~s

man.-1e4, whe she a~o \lP her own family. to the eaoe

of a giJtl b~b the mother ana father allow her more free«ora

thnn ~bOy, especially_ in ma~t.crs of economic reoponsibil£­

ties. Younq boys arus girls spend a lot. of time .112 <iencing.

sibling. vis~~g markets and fa1~a. Xn e sense a girl•s

life beg1na after ma:-riage 111hsn abe assumes her family

t:esponGib111t1es more seriously.

292

The moth_..san rela~1cmebip is that of affection

mlla &-espect for mother. The mather might a&nonish beJr

san when he is qu.ite young bu~ she seldam cloes ~bat VheD

sbe has gi'OWJl ~· she cou.lcl enta:eat end persuade her

aciult aon to accept be~: v.lew point rather than f~ce 1t

tlPOD b.lm. on tho contra&y when the mother bacomes old

she is looked after by her so.n.

Among the siblings. the role of seniority is o:bse%'Yed

to some extent. The r\Ue of an older brotnor co\Ud be

ve~ much the same aa that of tbe father if the dJ.fference

of age between the two is considerable. Similar is ~

ease of tvo sisters of conaiderably Wlequal age. out two

brothers or tuo sisters of nearly equal age behave towards

each other moN or less os equala. 'rllel'e is no .rule ~

avoidance between brother and cJ.eter. FC'Qtl the nature o£

~be residEnce pattern. ¥bare brothers live closely with

one another aU their lives 1£ not UDder tbe 8&m& •Roo••

it may be ~eel that some stain might appear among the

fC"Om time to tima. 'the qua~l may beccaa more pronoUDcad

a£~er their marrJ.a~•· B\lt so long oa the £ather is olive

they w111 bury theiJ:> quarrel anc1 ttle father wUl .Uject

them to his dec~sJ.on. With tbe death of the £athe'• tbay

m.igbt clemand the division of property and Uve separately.

The husbanct-wUe relationship 1s marked by the

acceptance o£ a acxnevbat mildly super .lor ro1e of the

293

husband. A wcman J:Gfers to her husband by the term 'qomke'

(big man). Though at times the husband mtgh~ name his

wife few nictmames~ they usually live 1n peace and earr.v

out the expected roles peacefully. Tha wife acts not only

os the mother of his cbil<lren# sbe has also to attend to

all domest.tc duties. COOking, £e~ch1ng water and f\lel

pe&'.f.odically cleaning ~e house, husking house and other

grains are some of t.be da.lly chores she has t.o at.ten4.

curing the agr1cu.altw:a1 season except ploughing she attends

all types o£ agricultural work. A good ~d.ie can have

t~~taff.f.cient con~ol over her husband. sbe may even admonish

him for drtnking too much G.Jtci not. attending to agrtcultwee.

The husband's authot.U~y J.s fuzother x-astn.ctea by t.no fa«*

that wife has the r.S.gh~ to 4ivorc:e him 1f she finds it

necessary. Io such a case her patri-kins will stand by

her. i'urtn~ore, too much malt#eatment. of the wife might

cause a person c:ons!de.c"O.ble penalty in the form of fines

and loas of £ace in his cmn community.

&.ules o& Xnt'\mt.one,s

When a person dies his sons .tnberi~ ell his property.

«the cultivabl~ land is divided equally among the sono1 ~e

ma.tn living hU~ and the cattle bvre~ J.f any, goes t.o tbe

eldest son. The othar sons may inherit other huts. if

there ia any. Xf th.ere .is no other but, they const.&"uct

~ho.lr own wJ.thin .me domicUo. Daughters noJ:mally cto not

294

inherit. BQY property. BUt as unmarried daughters and the

widow mother do g~ share of the land for their support.

This practice continues only during the 11fe-t.tme of t.he

mother or until the unmarried sister is married off. The

property then reverts to the sons. All other forms of

property, livestock and poW.try, fJ:'Uit trees, utensils,

agricultural implements are equally divided among them.

In a case a man diea without a male issue, one of the

c:iaught.ero can be married and her husband may be brought

to b1m with her. aut. this is only a temporaxy arrangement,

as eventually the land goes baclc to the lineage (alreaely

disc\lssec~U • During my stay in Kadama, l had the opportunJ.ty

of witnessing a caoa of property settlement among brothers.

upt11 now, iD the c:onten of clan, lineage and family,

I have d1scussecl the role and position of some kine falling

within the orbtt of t.bo social gro~s. Here % propose to

discuss tho role and st:atus of other ld.ns who are outside

theso gro~s. In a vory general way it may be classified

into four broad categories& respect ana rmltual obedience.

friendship anci t.erms of equality • mutual ovoictance and

j ok.lng relat~onship. Except the behavioural nona of mutual

avoidance which is restricted within the affinal relatives.

neither the agnatic nor the affinal J!lelat1ves sh0"4f any

preference for any single type of behaviour pattern. They

are present J.n both the categories of relatives.

295 The ~ole of patri•kins of an individual is generally

·defined on tbo basis of prox1mity, oge1 Gild sex of these

persons. Their roles are slao modelled after the roles of

eq\dvalent members in the jzmnediate family. Por instance.

father' a br~her is Glq)8Cted to behave like a father.

Likewise reciprocally. the brother's sen should respect

end Obey his father• s brother as he does h.t.s own father.

'l'OWarde a classificatory bJ:Cthsr of the father • the zoelation­

ahip is tbat of respect and obedience. bUt only to a milder

Clegne. Gnnd.-pal:'ents through the father are also persons

to be obeyea and lookoel after 1n their old age but the

reciprocal relationsh.t.p ia more of affe=ion and love than

diocipline and authority. A child is ~ted with love and

affecti.on by his grand-parent and woul.d aUow his things

which noft.Ull1y tbe parents of the. c:hi.lCl might forblc3.

'l'he pea:mlsswe behav1ou CODtill\l(fA3 like a let~ ~ge

when it takes the fo8l of mild j-o~no relst.ionship1

especially bettfeen qran~perent end grand-cbilclren of

o-9pos~~e sex. ~~ appears the gt:Onc1-pannt.o set as an

inet~ant for moderating ~he excessive au.thoritarian ~le

of ~he £atther. U anra s.tta.Uarly. a person looks ~

h.is <tnd ber father's brother•s wife anti fattuar•s sister

as a sort ~ mother and 91ves her moro or less the same

cons1.4erab1e as ciu.e 1:0 the rrother • The celatJ.onshlp between

~he cou.ains are also modelled on sibling relstionshtp. aut

296 two cousins of almost the same age can become good frienc:t.s.

Sometimes this intimate friendship between them may ba

further strengthened through a ritual friendship. In such

a case they a&"C mu.tUBlly obliged to help oach other if su.ch

a help ts sought for.

Ideally • the matr.t.-Jd.ns of a person stand in the same

relationships as prevails among the patri-klns o£ equivalent,

generat.lon and prox1m.lt.y. For instance# mother• s parents

should be treated J.D the same way as fa~er' s parents.

aut in actual pract.lca the patr.l-ld.ns foX"tn a close residen­

tial and descant. group and naturally the .interaction is

more frGquent. :In this sense they are 'closer• to the

individual than his mat.ri-k.tns. Let us take an example.

A person's mothar•s sicter is equated vith his father's

brother•s wife and his £at.her•s b~other with his mother's

sister• s husband. Behaviourally ho should act to.-rarde them

J.n the same way as he does to his father's brother ana his

vife. aut in actual practi.ce a woman and her husbanci treat

her sister• s children affectionately and rarely subject

thorn to discipline.. Reciprocally they are respected but

not feared. The behaviour becomes more per.missive witb

tho mother• s brother. 'l'he mother' a brother is perhaps the

most. iln,portant of the matri•Jd.ns. Ke has to be present

in oll the ~jor r£tes de passage beg!nn1ng from bLrth.

t1hJ.ch concerns hJ.s sister's children. It appears all the

297

natr£-kiD:J discussed ~e,. behavlouzoally make amend fo.r

~he strain t:hat might ari~e bet\1een a fa~tler and sOD.

Relotlonship wl~h affinal rt!ilativea shows a marked

degree o£ variatJ.cm. same an ~o be treated with deference~

others avoJ.de<l. whi.le th_.., are otha.:-s with whom jokes a~

permissible.

A man uea~s his in-lews as be ttoes hls pareslto and

the1r s1bllngs. HUsbant.t• s and wife• s eldar siblings are

also to be respectea like one•s own elder ~ibliftgs. They

are called aj lhanar or ban-honjer# depending on wbet.ber

he is $ roan or a women. Literally. if t~nslated these

terms would mean elder-sister-mot.her•ial-law and elder

brother•father-1D-law. As o matter of fact this nlet1on­

sh1p between persons of opposite sex ia that of avo.ldsnce.

llor ins~nce, a man will avoid his wi!e4 s elde~ s1ster aDd

woman her h.usband•s e1~et' brother.. eut with )'Ow:' s.f.bllnge

of the spouse a p~son mainta!nt~ 6 jold.ng rela~ic:msbJ.p

partLcul.srly if they belong tO) oppOsite s~ A _parson• •

older-sister• s buebanci io also t.0 bG mildly ~opoctaci. Btlt

hJ.s or h.er youn~er sist~• u hllabanei is o~at like son-1D-

1aw to him or he:.-6 ?.'he term i.s mtsl•an mich means sister •

son-ia-law. Sirdl.erl.y. a person behaves dth his or he

e1dar brotner•s wife J:aither informolly aca even jokes with

her. B\lt o. younger brother's rife is l~ke a dau.gh.ter-ift-

law •J<.tmin'• A man will avoid his younger broth<az·•s wife.

298 f!'hough a person respects his wJ.fe's eldex- sister, he

maintains almost a relationship of equality with her

husband. They refer to each other as Sadgia and if the

atfference of age bQtween the two is not much they may

even become peers. The behaviour between in-laws of a

coQple is very friendly but is marked by some degree of

formality particularly if the relationship is new.

Ideally, some amount of stress and straln exJ.ots

in the relationship between mother-in-law and aaugh~r­

in-law, between eo-wJ.ves and between wives of brothers.

B'1t in actual practice, if a woman is not. lazy and J.f

stands to her domestic duties properly she is not taken

to task by the mother-in-law. The mother-in-law normally,

treats her almost like a daughter, callo her by the name

of her village end shares the various' chores of t.he house­

hold with her. aut it is only with an 1mpudent. daughter­

in-law that she may be severe in her dealings. But in

such cases, '->f~ the daught.er•in•law retorts and a

quarrel follows. If the husband also joins with his

mother which he seldom does~ the woman might run away

to her parents.

"Pusik's young wife Meera ran away to her parents

with her young child because of a quarrel with her mother-

1n-1aw. Later Pusik h~ to bring her back with e promise

of good behaviour c>f h.t.s mother."

299

The chances of such domestic quarrels are greatly

minimized by two factors. With age and maturity t.he woman

assumes the control of the household from bar mother-in­

law' when the death of her father-in-law takes place

her husband becomes the head of the family which naturally

heightens her position.

The conflict. between the co-wives is quite under­

standable. But. the presence of co-wives 1n a Munda house­

hold is rare. although there is no restriction against a

man taking more than one wife et. a time. I found no case

of polygynous union 1n the v ill.age. on the other hand1

quarrel between the wives of brother is not infrequent.

It is one of the reasons for brothers to separate. It

is only in the rare cases that these women tend to stay

together even after the death of their husband's father.

so long as the father-in-law is alive, the conflict.

between these women are kept at. a low key because it

would be improper f.or their husbands to separate dUE"ing

the life-time of their father. out sometimes. though

rarely. the wives of brothers maintain congenial relation-

ship among themselves. A woman addresses her husband's

elder-brottmr•s wife 'Natiya• and treats her as elder

sister and she is reciprocally treate~ as younger sister.

It is said that. if t.wo wives 1n a household c:un 11 ve 1n

peace# the love can prosper •

3JO

Parha and Panch

There ere two distinct political institutions which

take care of the problem of maintaining law and order, both

within and outside i:he Village c:ommunity. In the traditional

Muncia society. there i.e the vi.lleq~ Panc:t-. (council of five)

head~ by a recognized ~eadman• which controls the affairs

of the local community. Outsido the vi.llage. there is a

Parna organization. l t. has j ur Jsdict.ion over a large number

of villages and it functions like an inter-village council.

Beyond the Parha, the Mund.as do not have any other poli Ucal

organization nor do they any 1n their past. Even these two

traditional institutions have undergone significant changes

during the la.'3t hundred years or so. More recently, since

the inectmetlt of the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act, 19471

statutory Panchayet has been set. up in the villagea. This

has substantially reduced the powers and funeticms of t.he

traditional panch and parha. I shall discuss this new

foree of change after I describe th~ nature of ~he structure

of ~he two traditional bodies.

The word •Panch• is o~ fUndi origin. Though literally

.it rr.aans a council of five, in practice, all the e4ult

and mernbera of the village community can participate in

J.ts ~eliberations. Three cecognized officials. the Munda

(headman>. the Pahan (priest) and Mahato (mesaenqer), q.tve

pioneering and corporate character to the village council.

3J1

Without their presence a council cannot. mee~. The number

of o~her members attendillg a meeting varies according to

the nature of the isGue. If it affects the entire community

a larger attendance can be expected.

In Kaclama. all the three officials refer:re~ to abOve

aa:e ~eacr:u.ited from the su:-in clan - the dominant clan of

the village. In add1t.1on, there iD another official named

pujar (assistant to the priest) \1ho also comes from the

surin clan. The mode of recruitment enci the role of these

officials are as follows.

Munela

It is a hereditary position. The eldest male member

1n the senior-most house of tho Munda lineage traditionally

holds t.hia positi.on. If due to sicJmess, old age or for

any other reason he is unable to run the affairs of the

vi.llage council his son or an elderly agnate might at:t on

his behalf. At present Guna. Munde is the headman of the

village. 'l'hougb this off1ce 1s a hm:editary one the

inaividual qualities oj the person qo a long way to make

hJ.s role effective. He must. be str:ong-w1nele:t. unb1ase4,

intelligent and o goo3 orator. He should be able to take

a decision. Age and maturity also constitute to the making

of a goo:i ~ad.er.

J

3J2

Pa!!an

Next in importance is the o£fice of the Pahan. The

position J.s not. hced.ttw:y# t:tut the incUl'Dberlt 1a selected

from the Pahan lineage by a proceos of div.f.nit.lon (Pa.t.­

got.l). The present Pahon NBX"O is the second son of the

e»oPaban. He was selected tao years ago by cU.viftat.lon.

on an appo.lnteci dey# the medicineman places small mounds

of pearl rice in five little heaps. Any two persons from

the community secretly decide names on each of the rice­

piles. The medicine man ~en holdo a lfinnow.f.ng fan.

containing some pearl-rice ill his han4. He asles a parson

to hold a stick. one end of which rests on the winnowing

fen. As he begins reci t.lng incantat.J.cms the stick st.art.s

moving towar:do the piles of rice. To whichever pile i't

stops the name of the appropriate person is announced ~

the assembly. urom then onwards • he becomes the Pahen.

The duties of the Pahsn ate priroarily sacred in na~e.

He fixes ~ aate for the various festivals An consultaUon

with other elders of the community and ccmducta t.he various

rituals. He is also concerned with the welfare and good

health of tho entire community. For 1Ddiviclual illness.

unless i.t thl:'eatens tl\e entire community he i.s not <li&"e<*ly

concerned. The medicine-man takes care of it. In similar

matters, thou~h he holds a pOsition next to the MUnda• he

sets like any other member of the community.

3u3

MH Me is the ass1s~~ to the Pahan. Any male member

ft'om the Pahan lineage can be selected by the ~1v1nat1on

process described abOve. Though he is also an elo-offic1o

member o£ ~ village council his pasition is sUbordinate

1:.0 tbat of the Pahan.

Mahai:.o

'lhe incumbent t.o thi.s post is recruited. from the

Mabato lineage. Llke t1Wlc:la it. is also a hereditary pos~

The senior-most. male me~ of the sen£or-most house o~

the lineage holds this position. After hJ.s dea~, .it.

au~mat.ically passed on t.o hls eldest. sOD. Mahat.o is the

village nessengaJ:'. Ke informs the villagss about such

matters as he is aslced to convey. For e~le, ha notifies

the date of a festival, a decision of the psnch, o date

for the panc:h meet.ing, eto. He may also be askeCl to br1rlg

a person before the village council.

A Mabato is definitely sUbordinate to Munda and

Pahan. Ke carrJ.es their orders. aut. it. voul4 be wrong

t.o assume h1m to be a servant of the village community.

His speci£1.c ro.le J.s to act. as a 11a1.son between the

village council end the village community. our ing C11sc:uss1cn,

1n a meeting l.tke othero. ho also plays an active part.

I was told that. formerly eacb of the above offJ.cers

enjoyed some sarv.S.ce-lend {bhut-khet.) given by the local

304

lan41o~ 1.n return for their f~ee serviue to t.be local

eoramunlt.y. xt- ~herefore. imp1.leG that. these officials

were also recognlze<i by the land•lortl. After Independence

the Zam1n4c1 system was abol..1shad by the Government ana

since then the 1andlom'd withckew 'the concession.

Elsewhere. I have msnUoned. that. 1n a uni-clen

v111age the vJ.llage council act5 as a clan ccunc:il an4

that. it. ~ a corporate character to ~ clan-sta:uct.ure.

-;chis observation. J.n a large measw:e, applies to a villaqe

with a siunifl.cantly large clan (GD in ~e K.adama). Mere

though members oi other clans are free ~ joia the meetings,

all ~e offtcials of the council are recrui~ f~om the

dominant. sarin clan only. some of my informants of ~he

clan tola ma that as tiloy were t.he original aet.t.lers 1n

the village. eU the offj.cials are t.a1cGn from the clan.

'rhia bas been ~o t&"ad1tional practice.

H1Gt.or1co1ly1 this explanat.lon appears to be qtdt.e

roaaonable but 1n the present m~ti-clan omwxt. a vill~e

can have more then one claD C:CWlcil. For CJCilr.\Ple, in

Kaaama. the next major clan. BElding bas .lts own izlformnl

council wJ.th a hQadman. Xt decides internal ma~ters

concerning t.ha memberG of the BadJ.ng olen. aut aU other

matt0rs wich 1nvo1VQ memb0ro of other clans bes14es t.heJ.r

own oz-e token to the village council for a decision. This

3J5

aspect of village polity to ~cme extent un~ermines the

village solidarity. 1 shall a1scuss it 1n later uac:Jen• as

part of this chapter.

Besides clisc:ussing end setUing the secular issuos.

like property disputes. collec~on of rent ana subscription*

end o~her disputes cf secu.lar: nature. the pench also ~s

QP matt.ers of relJ.gious interest. During my stay in the

tcaaama. X ha:1 the occasion to see a DumlJer of communi~

f'esUvals. 'the date of thaso festivals were f 1xe-d by the

Panch. in consultation with the Pahem. Lat.or t.he Mahato

went. round the v J.llaqe flJlCl informed ~e peopls cf tho

c1ec1s1on. 1n cne case a opec:le.l sncrificca of 6 buffalo

wau maao 1n t.he sacred village grove (Sarna) • The p;mch

not only aec:ida.i ue date but s=km all the v111agero to

contribute t.ot-rards the eltpenaes. With t.he money thus

raised. tho buffalow wao purchased. The decision of the

pcnch is binding on ell tho ~tundes of the v Ulege trrespec­

Uve of their clan.

some .idea about the na~ure of cases that bave been

referred to the peneh dur1Dg the last fQW yoarD con be

ob~ahled from the following cases.

case .! • son or • son cf Chama Nunda. used to bea~ h.le

wJ.£e wbenevu he was drunk. She c:osqpla1neoi t.o the heo4man.

The psnch was ca.lled end both the parUes were heard. sonar

3J6 complained of the laziness of him wife. The mat~ was

amicably settled and sonar wGS Wm:'ned by the panch net to

bee~ hio wife. Further. both pnid a to~ fine of ~.10

with which ar.tnk 1faB pUl'cbased. The two clcfcmdents

cXIChang~ a CW) of 4r1ntt. Lat.er they serveci t.h.o ~:est

of 'the drink to others. '!he headman WOG sarveci f:irst ana

then the other officials and other villagers. ~he case

took place around 1969.

Case It# lt. took place in November 1972. A WomGD

~elated to the village Mahato camo to visit him. WhJ.l.e

going bacl; to her village she stole a cock ~hat belcnqed

tc e neighbow:' o~ Jatla. The neighbour reported the loss

t.o the pancb. He went to the village of the woman and

retzieved the cock. The pcmch asked Jat.le to bring th.e

woman and hero husband before the assembly. When t.l\ey

appeared before the ponch. they were finctl Rse50 which

they paid. Though tbe c\llpri ts lived .tn a cU.fferen~

vill.age over wb.tcb Kadama paneh ha<i no jw:1s4ict1on#

t.hey paid the fine as Jat.la was involved. I was told

that if they refuse;\ t.o pay the fine Jatla would have to

pay. The fine was disturbed among the panch members.

Ca.se XX%o sometJ..mes 1n 1971 •o•-Munda of Burin clan

eorrm1i~ted edulta:y wlth the wife of K-Munda of the oeme

clsn. G was related to K as hl.o clan brother but was

307 younger to him. ~~ was said that due to his reported

visits every night the wcman vas annoyed ana she informed

the panch Of the misdeeds of G Muncie. Both the culprits

were summoned before the pencb 6Jlcl a£ter discussions it

was concluied that 0 Munda was the reel o£f~er. Ke

had forcea bimsel£ upon her. Accorclingly. he was filled

as follows - one goat. one pig. 20 seers of rice. some

pulses, spic:es and oil. When he paid the fine the whole

panch share::l it. in G feast.. The two off~ers also joine4

the feast.

Case xva a Abir was fatally beaten by s Munda several

years ago in connection with their personal quarrel. ~he

wife of the Ahir complained to an elderly Munda of her

Tol1. He informed the panch end B Munda was asked to

appear. After hearing b1s side ~e Panch ~osea a fiDe

of one bag of paddy to be given to the Ahir. A cash fine

of as.lOO was also iq)oseti. :tt was meant =be 41sUibuted

among the pancb members. Actually a Muntia pa1d the bag

of r.lce anti as-25 t:o the Panch•

case v, G M~a of Banding clan insulted some members

o£ surin elan by saying that they were not the original

sett.lers of the v1J.lage. They were ordinary tenants (raiyat)

of t.he J.andlot:d. This was considerea an insult ~ the

entire clan. The matter was brought before the panch

3J8

anci G Munde was in~roga~Ed. He was asked to oarne the

pat.Udar (local lan<llorci) Who~ ac:cordinq to him• hacl brought

them. This he fa11e~ to do.

60 seers of paddy end a goat.

The paneh ~sed e fine of

This was shared by all the

members of the pence h. 'l'he culpr 1 ~ promise.i not t.o make

such statement. in future. This incident happened J.n ~e

year 1960 or thereabOut.

case yx' About ~xree years ago, a woman of sw:in clan

convlained to the Panch that a person by ~e nama of M

Munc'ia of Banding olen was spxreading a false rumour: that

he nad seen her ploughing a field. AS this const.i~ut.es

a ser tous bl:'eaoh of taboO she wonted the person to be

properly punished for making a false allegation. The

panch called M Munda and interrogated him and it. was found

that he was maklng false accusation. He wa~ flnetl &s.20

wbicb was distributed amcng tho pancb members.

Normally petty quarrels and clisputes are set.t.leCl

betueen the persona concernea witb ~e help of an olderly

neighbour. B\lt 1£ me::U.atJ.on falls the matter may be

referred to the panch. If a cattle eats scmaone•s barvest:.

the mat~ is mostly set~ led amicably. one rare occasions

~en the Cl~e is heavy the case is ref'erred t.o the panch.

~?rom the abov0 cases 1~ appears that the p~ch still

we11ds s\lfficient a\lthor.ity ovsr their own community. It

3J9

also has some control on a few rainozr castes like AhJ.r,.

Lohu • Ghas1. What is the source of th.ie power? uotJ.l

recently~ the local landlord. recognized the panch e.nci it

was empowererl to collect. ~ho rent and pay t.o tho landlord.

This itself gave some legal force to the pench. &ut mol."'e

~rtant than t.he legal o\1thor1 ty is that 1 t has pm.rer

to socially boycott a parDon• defyinJ its d.eclalon.. In

the former days,. ~e panch could exc:c:ntr.lunicate a parson.

from h.ts community,. Though i:.here iB no v.unear i term for

t.hJ.s fcrru of sao1s1 sanction. the expressicu Ksmiutism

t<.abtta, may be sa14 to be scmcwhat equivalen~. Itt z..aes.ns,

"we shell net go to hel~ b.tm in his wol'k• <tJVtm if hi? makes

e request"• In a village aociet..y where '~eryone O..e~JmiG

on everyone else, the aancti.on caa: .lea cor•siderable we1<;~bt.

such a sanctioned person or his family will no~ only expect

ncn•cooperntion from other villagers, but. he w.lll also b8

shunned in all socLal ona l:eligious evenw. 'l'uere is

another factor which also a:ldG to the authority of t.he

pane b.

The h~-ncgeneity of the Muruia community, at loast to

the extent that 1~ has a dominant clan (as in Kadama);

contributes to th.e powol:' of the panch. ~he paneh th. is dominated by the membelrs of t:he dominant clan. who will

natwrelly see that the o%ders o£ the:! ~ch are not v1~atea.

310 Beyond the village level. ~e Mun:la developed an

inter-village political organization known as 'Par:ha pencb•

on the baSis of clan affiliation. s.c. Roy has given a

succint. account of ho,., this 1nstJ. tut.ion came into existence

among them. 1 shall reprociuce the text. 1n full here.

"'n course of time. as the members of each Jc.t.l.t.

.t.ncreasea. and one village proved insufficient. fo.l' t.be

residence 8D4 cultivation of all tho members• other

villages were founded in the nc1ghbow:hoo:i by different.

mel'lll:MU"s of t:he same k111. Xn the begJnn!ng they appear

to have buried ~iJ: dead m the common 'Sasan' in the

parent village. joined in certain pUblic 'p~as• (worship)

1D tbe •sU'I'la• o£ the parent village. ana otherwise

maintained their former associatJ.on in almost all J:espect.

except J:esidence ana cultivation. But. in eouroe of time.

they too. came to heu their own public worship at. the

•seu:nae• of their new villages. an4 established their

separate grave-yar:do in tbe1r respective villages. But

in social and admiDisuoUve matters. they contipued w act as one body. And. to the day, this aoooclaUon foz;

common social and etlministrative purposes have been

maintained• though not by all the v£llages bel.ong.lng to

one kill - for tha~ woul4 be impracticable - but eecb

9r:'OuP oR villages of the same ld.li that left the parent.

311 village. together and set.tlea side by side. 'rb.ls brother­

hOocl of allied and associate=! villages coneUt.utecl a 1Parha•.

The 'Parha• nov became the units of social es well as

political organization. ADd• by degrees the organization

attained almost ideal perfection•. 17

Xt is then quit.e apparent that. 1Pm:ba' 1s an extension

of clan organimat.icm. EVen to this day it functions on

~is bas.ls. During my fielti work in Ke:iama, 1 obtained

record of one Parha orgaD1zaUon CKan4ulna1 clan) written

J.n M.undar.t. The reccra deals wit.h minutes of t.he vuious

meeUngs held during the period 1953-57. They also cont.ain

information on t.~e structure end organization of this

Parha. I shall deBcribe it in det.a11 as no such detailed

account. is available in publJ..ehed form.

The Parha of the lllandulna clan

Tho h1st.ory of Kanaulna elan begins with the ancestor

named aelo who live~ 1o the village Dahu. He h&a seven

sons all of whom held position in the original Parha.

The third son named Gaga wal Lal (official position in the

Parho as an adviser). He migrat.ed to sera Irg1. His

q¥'andson Bate migrated to Pabwia. Exc:ept. in one generation#

eldest in the line oi succession succeeded to the post. of!

Lal. Gemologically this may oe represented as follows~

1" Raja

,·

,

I' Bir1al

1

312 aelo (Part aeneology of Kandulna clan)

• • • • ?'f I I ( Goga · Kunwar Dewan I ;

ftAajhinlal \ r : .

·" . • • 1

Bat:o • '

l

i i Lalu

Posts in the Parha organi­zation

.. ------~~~--------~~--------~ ' ; ""4 t ' / . / • •

' -\ • • ' i i • I ; • • ' .a L1 .I:J .A A lA \ l ! I!

Ego .. .. ' ·---- A • Dea4 persons

IJ • LJ.v1ng persona

- -· - · · • Line of succ:ess1on

'l'bis blsi:ory of ~bis Parha has• therefore, s time

span of seven genereUons. If we take 25 years i:o a

gcnerat.lon. t.he age of this Parha ~rom which i:he records

are available comes to 198 years. Dt.lring this period• the

descendant of 9~lo have spreacl over a large number of

villages. 1 have only given the line of aw:cessicn to

one pust. Though I have no geneological records of succes­

oi.on to other pusu it may bO sa£ely conclu:ied ~at the

oame principle of primogeniture has operated there also.

313

The UUe to succession officially goes to the eldest

son in ~e line but oll the other male members also claim

= own the title. l?or instance. in the abOve case. all

the sons of the first Majhinlal.. in absence of the actual

titl.e holder. anyone. preferably acco.:ding to seniority.

acts for the office. so. in a meeting usually there would

be more than cne peroon belonging to a particular cate1ory

of off icJ.al. In most ot t.ho cases these persons tliOuld

come from more than one village. we may refer t.o the

feature. as a special type of kinship affiliation. main­

tain.ed only for the purpose of official poa1Uons on the

Perba organizot.1cn.

This point. can be wall 111\lSt.rat.ed from t.he meeting

held on 9 May 1953. Tho various off lc!als from dJ.fferent

villages wno attended the meeting ware as follo~sa

TABLE III

PARKA MBFllNG PARTICIPATION

OfficJ.al

Raja aarlal DevaD Pandey Majb1nlal. KUDVW: 'rhelwr Lotedhara Cbawarbardaj Ksrtha Lalu MuSedi

No. of villages so. of persons represented attende4

6 1 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 1 1 1

45 33 12 e

33 12 28

1 4 4 1 1

314

The points are clear from ttte abOVe recorcis. First­

the~ 30 villages participated in the c.telibGrat.ions .f.n

the meeting. The c~er point 1s that. names of a few

cffices~ vJ.s. Thakur• LOt5ihara~ c:bawaroardaj. Kartha.

Musad1 appear .in t.ho abOve list Who are not m.ent.ione4 in

the geneolog1cal chart. of the Kondulnal clen. It is

likely that t.neoe pes~ were created at a later: date and

that they do not form en essential p8J:'tt of the or 1g1Dal

Parha organ1za~1on.

ln order to watch the prcceeciings of the meeting

the other neighbourJ.ng Parhas of Sur1"• Lugan. Topno. Dang

etc. aarla clans ware also tnvit.m~. Each of thQse Parbos

sent ito own re~esent.aU vea. AbOut 30 members of ottter

clans who did not hold eny official t.it.le also a~tende:l

the meetJnq.

The so:ne set of cff1o1e.lm are not. usually present.

in all. the meetings. so, at evary meeting tha fl.:st act.

is to select the vnr ious off icin.ls from among t.be persons

who are eligible ~ hold tho title to a particular post.

After they are selected they are garlanded end their feet.

washed.

l shall now give a brief resume of the va.r:ious

m9GtJ.ngs held D}l 'he Kanduln& Parha in different villages.

1. Data of the msetinqa 9.5.1053

Plac:ea f<adama

~wsiness transttctsd a

315

e) A proposal was adopte:i to reform the Kaod\llna clen

b) '1\fo banners were adopU!c\ for tho Parha.

2. Date of meetingt as.s.1961

Place • Saiko

Business transec:ted a

e) No. one ahould carry Palkl or doli (palanquin) of other coat-es

b) cov should not be oacrificed except for few major rituals - Oarpaharia and s~a puja

e> As fer as possible everyone should evo1cl <ir1ni"..lng liquor 1n wine shops.

4) BVet:yone was requ.esteti ~o attend the meeting of Jharkhentl Party scheau.led to b0 beki on 1.6.1961 wi~h Parhe »lag and dr~ O~fioia~ delegates. four Jn number• t~~ere selected to at.tatd t.he meGt.tng.

e) An appeal woa mede for conta:-1bution to ~he JharkhanCl Party.

3. Date of mcet.Jnga 22.4.1964

Pl.sce; Kadama

Business uanaect.eda

6) Tba Raja described ~a purpose of parha as t.o organine t.he pnople. Everyone should obey the offic:ia.ls.

b) llfbe Dewan presented the account.

c) A notice of the Jharkband party was reed O\lt et the meetin•.J which aolced the people t.o organize uncior the benner of t.he party.

316

The abOVe meetings are concerned with the general~~es

cf the Parha organ.lzaUon. aut one t.hing stanels out.# that

is thet. the Parha bas helped the Jharlcband party to inte­

grate the tribal people under its banner. .:Jharkhan.ci

movement. may be considered to be a tribal solidarity

movement to 11\tegrete the tribal peoples of Cho~anagpur.

'l'be traditional 1Ds~1t.utes of ~arha hOD helpe:l to some

extent to new po11Uca1 party t.o achieve thi.s entle

Thi.s refers to the tum role of t.l\e Ps:-ha. One oi

t.he princ.t.pal traditional functions of the Per:ho• whi.cb

continues even today ts to ~ecide casos of incest. anti

muri.aqe w1th persons of other caste. There ere three

such cesesa Mago (marriage with tho clan), Jatibora (a

MWlde marrying a woman of other caste). and ParjaU (a

Mundo girl marrying a rnan of o~er csst.o). There ue

definite rules laid down by the Porha in such cases.

(1) When a boy il1'ld g!l:'l commit •Mago' they must live

separately, otherwise. they lose their right on land en4

the right. t.o be bw:'!ed. in the clen barl.al gro~. They

become pollute:l. They can only be readmitted en payment

of a f.S.ne.

For t.ho bOyt Ri.2S 1n cash, l ado of rice. 12 sra of pulses. spJ.ces end oil and a he-goat.

Fer the g.t.rla ~.so 1n cesh1 hal~ t.ne qu.antity of r:1ce, pulses. etc. and o he-uoat.

317

If tho girl is pregnant a plot of land whicb needs 1)s nds

of p&a<Sy Deed i:O cultivate sho\lld be set ap~ for the

child. Xf a q.lrl is borne Ghe could cultivate the land

till her marriage. If a bOy 1s bOrn he will CJSt the land

permanently. Besides. the woman would be =3iven a saree

once every year Ull she is marriec1 again. With tbEl fine

peJ.d to the Parba a £east. is organized and a ritual t.o­

J:>estlmit tb0 offenders. 1-'.ncwn a.s 'Niyar• takes place. If

t.ha boy an:i ~he girl run away from the Village their parents

are to pay tho fine ancl ge~ themselves readmitted.

(2) If a Munda girl marriG\s a boy of other casts. the

parents of the girl become polluted. They ohotlld pay

the fine of ~.25 in cash, 3 mas of. rice and puAses ena

a he-qoat.

(3 ) WbeA a Muncie boy marr:ies e. gul of othec caste. they

can ba '"ee.d::tit:ted D-.; the oume precess. Me :should pay tbe

appropriate fine es 1n ~o above Bituet.lcn GDd t.V\dergo

the ptar1f1eatcry ri tuel along with h1a uife and cb114..-en.

Many officials of any par~ can bring up sUGh an I

issue. for such an act not only i)lOllutes the clan of the

o££cncier but also tho ~nt.J.re MUI'lda c:omnunJ.ty. so .tn a

parba meeting it 1s in incumbent ~hat the officials of

o~her c~an parhas attend the meeting and th&ir approval

318

mw;t be obta!nea before the offenders are taken back 1n

'the community.

we may now summarize the essential faat~es of MUDda

Parha orgaR!zntion.

(1) The Parha is a sufficiently old J.notitution.

Though the name of its officials has been borrowed. from

the Hindus. 1n all probability in its basic form it is

indigenous to the Mundar1 c&.&lture.

(2) 'i'be parha 1s a corporate bcxly of one clan at a

time. Its primal:y function has been to integrate the

memberG of the clan living in different villages. With

~e demographic, explanation of a clan if parha has also

progress.t.vel.y enlargett it• ccnt:rol over the villages

.1.nhob1ted by the clan.

(3) ThO msmbers of a clan owes considerable alle­

giance to their p~ha. Xt 1s the parha t'lbic:h takes a

member to task iOJt any eer J.ous breach of moral ccX!e.

(4) fl'hough each puhe funcUcns indepenaently of the

other# .in a matter affecting Cbe moral code of the enUre

community. e general consensus of parha is sought to

bG obtained. This 1s because the people have a strong

senoe of belonging to the Kunda ccmmun.t.ty as a who1e.

(5) Tbe J.ntegrat..t.on character of Perha has been

usefally uUlized by the new po11t.t.csl movement (Jbarkh.an4

319

Paa:t.y) ln Chotanagpur to organize the people. ln it. the

leaders o! the movement. found ready•made inatitut.ions to

integrate the tribal people uncier its banner.

(6) ln one sense the •puha• is cet:qparable to the

internal organimation (caste panchayat.) of a caste. If

clan is coraparable to caste, like it., it. has a hox-izontal

sprcaa beyOnd the bOUndaries of a single village. Rat~

~t J.s c:onf.tned to a region. Functionally# like a caste

panchayat. it <ieals with matters af!fecting the moral cocie

of 1ta membelrs. The only difference is tthat Wllike caste

pa.ncbayat. it decides 1flsa.eD jointly with members of sister

parba organizations.

P,ar;ha - New Feattu;e.!f

A number of new features have been ln~oduced a~ the

Parha level organization. For ~he first. time repreeente­

Uon has been given to the minor clens living in. the parba

ares. 'lbis enh&Dces the representative chal'acter of the

organization. Formerly ~e office-beare~s of the parha

held t.hei:: office em an e»-offic1o bas.i.a# each tJe1Dg the

head~an of such v.l11ages which had been o.os1gne4 epecJ.flc

duUes at. Paa:ha meets, ouch ao the Devan; Kowar • sipabi­

DbobJ. eta. Tba introduct.ion of tbe electJ.ve pr1nc1pl.e

and fixlng a tenure for the office bearers are distinct

.innovations. In the tra:U.tlonal system of the parha Raja

320

and its executives were not accoun~le to anyono. In the

new ccmstitut.lon they have been matle responsible to ~

1n~er-perha orgsn!eat~on.

The new organiaaUon is now J:mown as the parba Ha4r1.

It has the powers of superintendence. c11r:ectlon 8D4 conuol

of different psrha sabhas an<! is e~cted w work for ~

pro~ess of the Munda U.tbe as a whole. The parha Hedl:.l

will have five representatives. including the Parha Raja

f~om each parha. The office bearers of the perha Hedr1

will be sabhopaU (President). Mantri (aecretuy). kh&Janchi

(t.ceasw:er) and two members will be elected for every five

thousand Hatu. Sabba members. ~he Parha badri will meet.

t.wice annually. It will be e1ect.e4 £oJ: 5 year:s.

The parba H~1 has the power to allow 1t.G members

to establish or cut of£ nlaUons with other f.riendly

cormnuni.ttes. organlzat..tons and iost.ltutJ.ons in tile uea

end £or the wel.fe.r:e of Munda society. Xt. can look 1111:0

the internal a4m.ln1strotJ.on of member parba-sebba if the

latter does not conform to rules end s;oegulat.tons. %~ Caft

punish the Parha.-sabha by stopping monetary e14 or by

suppreas~cm. The parha Hedz:i w.lll hear ~peals from the

decJ.sions of tho parha oabhas. I~ will sueguard the

soc1al cw;tcms and norms cf Munds sooJ.et.y. Xt will ird:ruct

the Munc:la not to have relaUons with such paoplo whose

321

noX"mS e.n4 customs ue very cliffercmt and who may harm tho

Nunda way of l.lfe. 'l'be puba, Hadari will prepare the

fll\nua1 bu:iget end apportion 1t for each partut. It u1U

formu1ate en economic pe11cy erul take ~a r:esponslbility

of sending poor s~utlents for h.lgher educaticn, tUgging of

<k'.tnld.ng water vells, opening of cU.spenaarles etc. It

w.lll also arran.Je for the publlcaUon of bOoks abOut the

life ana culture of the Mun<la. Thus we see that the

functions of the PGI:'ba Kadl:1 ere more uelfere oriented

rather than r:egulatory and are designed to preserve and

promote NUnda culture.

The office bearer o~ the parha Hadr1 w111 be entitled

to a salary as fixed by ~at body. The heed of ~e parhc­

Mahaeabbo will preside over all meetings end oleo at tho

installation of ether officials. without h1a oignaturo

no decision will be vaUd. The Mantri will l(eap record

of all proceet.iings and also lasues notices for mcstings.

'lha Bhandari (a.ccountant) will maintain the aceotmts and

present s sta~ement at the meeting of the Na~ri. Any

officJ.nl not abiding by the rW.es ana ~:egulaUcms can l)e

suspended. by the two-thirds votes of Ute parha•Hadl:i

members

At the apwc level, thero 1s another organization

lalown aa the psrba par .S.shad. The Porha ~taheraj a. ,;;~ ,:,:

322

Mentt-i and the Treasurer of tha Parha.-Radl:'1 also funct1on

1n the same capacity 1n this organ1zeuon. Bach parba

will senc1 to ~is body one or more representative depending

on the strength of its adult population. For each s.ooo adults a party will sena one representative for 10.000 or

less. two rapresentat.1ves, above 15.000, 3 representatJ.ves.

In case a pm:ha sencas two or more representatives, t.o the

Parishad, ono of t.bem must. be the parha Raj e. This bo':iy

will meet: t.wic:e a year to ~ev1ew the working of the parha.

At the annual meetin·.J it will represent its ast.imateci

budgst for the coming year to the paarh.a Kedri. An executive

committee has also been provided for the ~ha par1shaa.

Xt. will nave 8 elected members in ad.dltJ.on to the Parha

meharnj. mantr1 en4 treasurer. This executive body will

decide urgent 11Jsueo when the bigger body is not in session.

If t.hue la a vacancy 1n the members hlp of ~e Pal" he

Parishad by death or expulsion or c:ont.lnu.ed absence, a

new member will be taken from t.ne same parha to :-eplac:e

him from 'tho unexpe~Gd period of the tenure of ~he Pari.shad.

The Puhe Par1shad has been given over-seeing ~s over

~h3 Parha Sabbaa. I~ 1s the duty of t.he Puba parishsi w see that. the Parh.a-sabhas function ac:cording to the

c:u • .r:ection of ~e PaJtha He4J:1 anti the Parha pu.tshad. xt

ean elso invest.J.Qete tho affairs of a perha.-sabha on a

323

written request £rom that bcdy. lt hae alao the power

to warn anti caution the en-ino Parha Sebha.

~le!:)orate r.aloo have been framed to regulate ~he

procedure of the meetings of t.ho Parha HmlJ::i. and the

Parha Par1Gh&:t. The aecret~y of the P811tu Ha4ri is given

the names of the representatJ.ves from t.he particular perha

by the parha Raja. He cannot make a change wi~cat the

permls s.lon of the concerned parha Raj a. '.L'he Mahmraj a who

is the need of the both tha organizations. preparec.'l the

annual. report Wh.f.c:h is discussed at t.h.e Pwha Hsdri meetings.,

Xn case thore is no unanimity on certa1n issues. tho caae

is divided bV majority vo~es in case of e tie. The rules

end J:'egulations of the parha. and tho Hadri can bO amended

only by the ~thirds ~orJ.ty of the members of these

bcd1eo.

'l:ne extsUilg pyz:emidal su-u.c~uro of Muntia policy has

been expandet:l to J.nclu:ie not only the MUDaoo living in

that region but aloo in other or:eaa of Intlia en4 outoide

it. lt may not. be pooaible for the Mundo living 1n tho

otberr regions to participate .in the nat~ly conu1v&a poli~y

on ecc:ount of the large obstacles involvEd. aut it ia a

measure of the nspira~!on of the Munda COimlunity for amb:-a­

c1ng in its formal organiz-ation all ita widely CU.eperse4

constit~en~ end its 1on~1ng for forging pan•Mundo sol~ar1ty.

324

Tbe main UiSk of the newly found organization is not

jus~ regu1ato:y or 'that of bOunda&y maintenance' it is

largely welfare orlon~ea and vra:y funcUonel to tho present.

sJ.~uat1cn. 'lt is also noteworthy that at. the lower levels

of the newly devised polity• MUDaa no~ belogning to the

dominant clanG after which t.ba Perha has been nEirDSd, have

aloo basn given som0 rGprGSSDt.at.1ons. Earlier, otnce Nunda

people l!.""GrC ragaz:dea as a1J.eno and had no voice 1ft affairs

of the parba, tho ~recan~ 1nnova.Uon adds to ~e leg1Umecy

of the parba. organiz.aucn.

1 t 1s the chwrch 6114 'the followers, utto have discovered

~e suengtb of the :"lunda poUt.ical institutions end given

them a new content wiir.bout sacrificing the old form.

The "inds of. Change

Xn e.ecordence with t.bc Bihar Panchayat. Raj Act. 19411

t.ba Government se~ ~ statutory psnohayat in entire r~al

areas of Bihar. But th.ts net did not come ln force unt.U.

1950 when the Bihar panchayst election ~es were freme4.

The notificaU.on o.f Kedama panohayat vas issued 1n 1956

end the £kat election took plac:e 1n 1960. Since then

every three years ~e panchsyat body J.a r:enewed through

fresh electJ.on o~ the MukhJ.yn.

325

Kadama Pancbayat covers seven villages all within o

distance of 4-5 miles from Kedama. Kcclama funetionB as

the headquarters of the panchayat. ~ha population of these

V l.ll.sges together; is approximately 3• 100 ot which 4lboUt

70 par cent is Munc;la. Tho rest. are Hinaus wit.h a sprin~

ling of Muslims end Christi~s. ~he nwnus om1 acme land

but t.he Muslims an4 Christ.\ens w:-e prtmar ily traders.

The Pancbayat hoe two wings - one lcnow.n as the

B.xecut1ve CCmmltt.ee wJ.th Dine mambers 1\s~ed by a Mukhiya

OJ: headmaD• Tl\e other wing ls known se t.ha Gram Cc.1tcttery

or the v 1llage court cons.1st.1ng of nine members headed by

sarpanch. the head of the panch. The MW:.hiya of Kadama

panchayat. is a lite£· ote Christian of Munda not of local

origin. KO had immigrated to Kildcma fJ:Om 51nghbh.um distrJ.~

about six years ago. He had no lan6G:1 property .lo the

village and his primary OCC\.lPQt1on 1s 1nt1nerant trading

in cloth. of the other UlGl"Dbelrs iD the executive cmmoitt.ee

six c.u-e Mu.slJ.m end two Hindus.

In the v.t.llagG cowr~. the Headman cs~paneh) is G

Hindu c-esid.lnfJ o.t. RGdama. ~e are S t~a members, two

Hindus and ons MUSlim.

Tbe £unction of the E.xec:uti.ve committee of the pancle­

ya~ ~s to look after the health of the IU'E:~I to meinta.J.n

326

the rivers, public: land end grasJ.ng ground' to consuu.ct

wells. ponds- tanks etc., to provide medical fac11~ties'

to improve J.rr1gst1on end to exaaute measures 1n regm:a

to rw:-al development schemes of ~ government.. In

praetJ.ee. houovar • tno Kadama Panchayat had r~ely traken

\15' any of the duUes presaribe;i abOve.

The village court has power to decide bOth the ciVil

end crimin.al cases 1n a limited way. For instance, ciVil

ouit not excee41ng as.lOO can be t.r1e4 in this court.

s.lmllarly theft cases where the value of the stolen p~o~

doea not exceed ~so can be refe~re::i here.

From t.be recoNs maintained by the Panohayet 1t

appeara that <lur1nq 5 years (1970.75) • three civil BD.~

twelve criminal cases were ceferreci to it for a 4ec1s1onl

the nature of these cases are as follow a

e&vil - Dispute ov~ right of cul~vation.

~1mlnela

1. ~spass of animals into cther•e lend causing damage u crop - 2

2. Petty q~relo end fight causing breach of pS.ece - 5

3. Horc.tbly harvesting of peddy - 3

- 2

An ~rtant aspect of these eases is that. thOUICJh the

M\.&Pda form the most populous gro-up in tho ueo and that

327

t.bey h.ave the mGjor representation in both the wings of

the pcmchayat.. there are only six cases in which they are

involved. A brief summary of thmae coaes 1a as follows a

~;:e Appl1c:en~ 1. Muslim

2. Munda

3. Munde

•• Lobar

s. Munda

6. MuslJ.m

TABLB lV

QUAARSLS AMONG MUNDAS

Respondent Subject.

Munda Diopute over right of cult1vaticn/civ11

Munds P6t.~ quarrel

M\mda Forcible occUpation of land

M\lada Petty quarrel

Muslim Theft

MUDd a Pe~ty quurel

All the above cases ue inner in nature and to only

two instances both the applicant. and the respondent are

Kunda. The other four canes have 1nvolve4 perscmo of

other communitlea.

:.tt agpeus t.het despite the statutoxy powero qr:ante4

to t.he pancbayat it. has not made si.gniUcant. inroads iftt:o

tile Muntla poUucal oyatem. ThJ.s bas happened beaaU&e of

two reasons' ( 1) Pirst. the tra41Ucnal Munda Pancha still

holds gooti in the society. I have mentioned. earlier ~at.

dwring the last few years preceding my enquiry a number of

328

disputes have been referred to tbis poncb and ultima~ly

settled to the satisfecUon of the disputants. All cewes

of inheritance and division of property have been c.iec14ed

by the t.J:'ibal panch. Th.ls hau been possible because sucb

cases cannot. be d.ecieiea by the ste~utoz:y panchayat. as it

u not etnpOWGJteCl to cio sot (2) secondly. t.he structure of

the st.etut.ory pancbayat. is quite different from that of

the tribal peneh and parha. 'l'be lett.er two institutions

ere organ!~ on t.he ba..qJ.s of ld.nsb.lp whereas ~e former

1s a heterogenous effoir. Spatially also. the sta't.utory

panchayat As ne1t.h<ar 11mtted to one village nor does it

incl\de all Ute villages of the ParhEh In this sense

it. is placed in tribal pnn.cb and the parha. The ~lunda

social pattcu-n being klnship orient.e:i it is difficult. £or

tile people to e.ccept an .lnsti t.ution not based on this

principle. Moreover. from tbe point. of view of ~e

trSiit.1one1 pa~t.era of tribal life the Munda may be

considered as a c:lose4 community 1n the sense that. they

have limi~Sl contact with people of non-Mumia orig.tn.

This being so. t.he people will Dhow l.lt.t.le regard for en

lnsUtutJ.on based on inter-ethnic c:o-opGraUon.

But. in spJ.te of all these facts t:hm statuto~

pcnchayat has the legal authority so recognizea by the

Government. so ~ course of time• ~ ts inf l.\tence on the

329

people ls bOund w increase. It has been mentioned that

parba. apmr~ from its new political functions. operates

1n a l1m1~ ~ay as itho guardian of trtbal nomaas. The

village panch. however • has both secular ana sacrea functJ..ons.

But a time is likely to come wbon the oecu.ler function of

the pancb will be ~letely taken over. by the statu~

panchayat. ODly the seared matters affec~n.g tha community

life shall be delegated to the Panch.

330

Ro£ergu:ell•

1. H.H. a.tsley. ~ho TrJ.bes and castes of ~enga~, vo1.2, calc~~. 1au ~ p.m.

s. 6.

1.

e.

12.

13 .•

14.

t~. Prasad~ Land and Peogle of Tribal Bihar • Bihar Research Inat.Itu~e, aovemment oi! a!Fiar, Ranchi, 1961.

s.c. Roy, The Mundo gd thei£ Count.g, Ranc:hia City Dar Library, l9la, pp.idS-&. aev. John Hoffman, op. cit., pp.412•28e

Ib.la., p.2429.

s.c. RO.V, op. cit., pp.410.13.

Xbi4•~ Appendix Ill•

%bid. 1 P•411.

Ibid., p.412.

y. v.s. Reth. f1Bh11a of Rat.anma1 - An Analysis of i:he social suuctwre of on westem I Mien community•, oeroda universi~y PUblications, sociological Moncg~"aph serieD No.x. Baroda., 1960.

s.c. noy. op. cit., p.xv. Rev. Hoffman, op. cit.., p.2380.

N.c. Chaudbuy, !fun:ia §cc::i;al §U'uctU£e. Caleu.tt.as li'£rma l(LM, 1977.

%bid.

aeorg-e Peter Murdock, sgsi.al §truc~ure, New York• vree Prcso, 1967.

m.c. Roy, OI>• cit. 1 P• 413