Birjiya [Birjia] is the language spoken by Asur tribe/ethnic group, just as Kurukh is spoken by Oraon group, Santali by Santal group, Mundari by Munda group, Ho by Ho group and Kharia by Kharia group. These are broadly identified by sociolinguists and anthropologists as belonging to two distinct linguistic and ethnic families:
a. Mundari (Santal, Munda, Ho and Birjiya) b. Adi-Dravidian (Oraon, Kharia).
Santali is very similar to Mundari, Ho and Birjiya (i.e. mutually comprehensible) but different from Kurukh and Kharia.
The Chotanagpur region of Jharkhand has many tribal groups living close to each other. A unique phenomenon of this region is the emergence of a hybrid language called “Nagpuri” or “Sadri”, which is used as lingua franca. It is a mix of many tribal languages and Hindi. It’s a bit like the Creole used among migrants in some areas of the world. Purists dislike the Nagpuri/ Sadri language and are trying to revive their mother-tongue.
In Santal Parganas (Dumka) region, there are two main tribal groups – the Santal and the Paharia. Paharias are considered backward and live on hills while Santals are considered more advanced and live on the plains. The Santals see themselves as dominant and do not intermarry with Paharias, though they do intermarry with Oraon and Munda groups (which are the most advanced among Chotanagpur tribes).
There are other small groups also in Chotanagpur like the Birhor of Netarhat and the Chik Baraik. The Birhor and Paharia communities are among the “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups” (PVTGs) identified by the government, entitiling them to special welfare schemes.
Even among different tribal groups, there is some friction and some sense of animosity. The Santals and Mundas are supposed to be most “martial” because the two great tribal rebellions occurred among them – the Santal Hul of 1855-56 (led by two brothers named Sido and Kanu Murmu) and the Munda Ulgulan of 1872-1901 (led by Birsa Bhagwan).
Courtesy: Dr. Ivy Hansdak, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Jamia Millia Islamia University New Delhi (email 17 March 2017)
Ivy Imogene Hansdak on the state of Santal culture and Santali in modern India
Excerpts from a conversation between Dr. Ivy Imogene Hansdak: Poet, Translator and Assistant Professor Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India with Audun Nedrelid: Freelance Norwegian writer, artist, musician and filmmaker | Read the full interview >>
“I think the Santals have a very characteristic culture. Although we do not have our own script yet we have our own language that has been there for centuries. It is a complex language where you can be very expressive. We also have music and dance, and we have our own customs.”
Asked whether she is afraid that the Santali language will disappear: “I don’t think so, but you never know. When you look at schools and universities in urban areas, children do not learn Santali. They are told that they must learn English and Hindi because these are the languages that will give them success in life. When I talk to friends about this, we usually agree that it is the poor villagers who will keep the Santali language alive. They are the ones who speak the language. It is not the script that keeps a language alive – it is the act of speaking. I am a person who knows several languages and use them all in different contexts, but for the villagers, Santali is the only language they can speak.”
On interest in folklore in Santal society: “There is probably some interest, but now we live in a world of rapid development in the media. We cannot let our culture and society stop. Folklore was what we had, but we have also evolved. We live in a world where we all use mobile phones and Facebook. We are spread across much of India like Assam, Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha as well as Bangladesh and Nepal. Everyone has different influences from where they live and change in different directions. The Santals in Assam are very different from, for example, me and the Santals in Odisha are struggling to use a new form of writing while others use the Latin alphabet. We are all also influenced by different politicians, and with political influence we go in many different directions.”
Source: “Santal and Professor: A Conversation with Dr. Ivy Imogene Hansdak” by Freelance Norwegian writer, artist, musician and filmmaker Audun Nedrelid (The Johar Journal, Vol. II, January-June 2021, first published in the Norwegian magazine, Agenda 3:16, 9/2018)
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[*] Some clarifications on caste-related issues by reputed scholars
Understanding “caste” in the context of Indian democracy: The “Poona Pact of 1932” “Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar differed over how to address caste inequities through the electoral system. Their exchanges led to the Poona Pact of 1932, which shaped the reservation system in India’s electoral politics. […] Two prominent figures who have significantly contributed to this discourse are Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, and Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Father of the Constitution. The two stalwarts of Indian politics, while revered equally by the public, had contrasting views on the caste system. Their subsequent debates have shaped the course of Indian society and politics. While Gandhi denounced untouchability, he did not condemn the varna system, a social hierarchy based on occupation, for most of his life. He believed in reforming the caste system through the abolition of untouchability and by giving equal status to each occupation. On the other hand, BR Ambedkar, a Dalit himself, argued that the caste system disorganised and ‘demoralised Hindu society, reducing it to a collection of castes’. […] And yet, despite their differences, they developed an understanding to work for the betterment of the marginalised.” – Rishabh Sharma in “How Ambedkar and Gandhi’s contrasting views paved way for caste reservation” (India Today, 6 October 2023) URL: https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/ambedkar-gandhi-caste-system-poona-pact-1932-reservation-2445208-2023-10-06
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“That upper caste groups should declare themselves to be OBCs [Other Backward Castes] and want to avail of the reservation policy is a pandering to caste politics of course, as also are caste vote-banks. It is partially a reflection of the insecurity that the neo-liberal market economy has created among the middle-class. Opportunities are limited, jobs are scarce and so far ‘development’ remains a slogan. There’s a lot that is being done to keep caste going in spite of saying that we are trying to erode caste. We are, of course, dodging the real issue. It’s true that there has been a great deal of exploitation of Dalit groups and OBC’s in past history; making amends or even just claiming that we are a democracy based on social justice demands far more than just reservations. The solution lies in changing the quality of life of half the Indian population by giving them their right to food, water, education, health care, employment, and social justice. This, no government so far has been willing to do, because it means a radical change in governance and its priorities.” – Romila Thapar (Emeritus Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University) interviewed by Nikhil Pandhi (Caravan Magazine, 7 October 2015) URL: https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/discipline-notion-particular-government-interview-romila-thapar
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“Casteism is the investment in keeping the hierarchy as it is in order to maintain your own ranking, advantage, privilege, or to elevate yourself above others or keep others beneath you …. For this reason, many people—including those we might see as good and kind people—could be casteist, meaning invested in keeping the hierarchy as it is or content to do nothing to change it, but not racist in the classical sense, not active and openly hateful of this or that group.” – Book review by Dilip Mandal for Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (The Print, 23 August 2020) URL: https://theprint.in/opinion/oprah-winfrey-wilkerson-caste-100-us-ceos-indians-wont-talk-about-it/487143/
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“The theoretical debate on caste among social scientists has receded into the background in recent years. [However] caste is in no sense disappearing: indeed, the present wave of neo-liberal policies in India, with privatisation of enterprises and education, has strengthened the importance of caste ties, as selection to posts and educational institutions is less based on merit through examinations, and increasingly on social contact as also on corruption. There is a tendency to assume that caste is as old as Indian civilization itself, but this assumption does not fit our historical knowledge. To be precise, however, we must distinguish between social stratification in general and caste as a specific form. […] From the early modern period till today, then, caste has been an intrinsic feature of Indian society. It has been common to refer to this as the ‘caste system’. But it is debatable whether the term ‘system’ is appropriate here, unless we simply take for granted that any society is a ‘social system’. First, and this is quite clear when we look at the history of distinct castes, the ‘system’ and the place various groups occupy within it have been constantly changing. Second, no hierarchical order of castes has ever been universally accepted […] but what is certain is that there is no consensus on a single hierarchical order.” – Harald Tambs-Lyche (Professor Emeritus, Université de Picardie, Amiens) in “Caste: History and the Present” (Academia Letters, Article 1311, 2021), pp. 1-2 URL: https://www.academia.edu/49963457
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“There is a need for intercultural education. We all need to work together to bridge these divides not only between religions and castes but also regions. It is not correct to think that one part is better than the other. Some of the limitations of India as a whole are due to our common heritage, say the one that has restricted women from having a flourishing life for themselves.” – Prof. V. Santhakumar (Azim Premji University) in “On the so called North-South Divide in India” (personal blog post in Economics in Action, 13 April 2024) URL: https://vsanthakumar.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/on-the-so-called-north-south-divide-in-india/
