Bhilori, Mathwadi and Barutiya

1.3 Dungra Bhils

The word dungar means “those who stay in the hills.” Thus the Bhils who live on the slope of the Vindhya Satpuda mountain ranges in Gujarat are called Dungra Bhils by outsiders. This portion of the report is largely taken from the works of Sunil Mathew among Dungra Bhils. Dungra Bhils live in Kawant and Naswadi tahsils of Vadodara district in Gujarat and Alirajpur tahsil of Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh. Their estimated population is more than 100,000. Most of them find their livelihood through agriculture. They cultivate the slopes of the hills and depend completely on rain for water. Like Noiras, Dungra Bhils also cultivate maize, cotton, millet and pulses. The produce of the land is often badly affected by the shortage of water. Women like to adorn themselves with ornaments made of lead and other metals. They tattoo their heads and foreheads, lower lips and cheeks to add to their beauty. They also tattoo their name on their forearms and believe that it will give them heavenly blessing after death. The men wear turbans, a white upper garment and dhoti. Brewing liquor is very widespread among Dungra Bhils; young and old are equally fond of liquor and tobacco. Child marriage is still common among them. They maintain a nuclear family system where the father is the head of the family. A man never utters his wife’s name because they believe it will cause evil to befall him, possibly even leading to death. Polygamy is considered a mark of higher social and economic status. 7 A man is not supposed to choose his mate from his father’s and mother’s clan. The wedding ceremony consists of traditional elements involving both men and women. The wedding takes place at the bride’s natal house and is officiated by priests. After the wedding the bride is handed over to the bridegroom. After seven days the bride’s parents and relatives come and take her back to her house; then after seven more days the bridegroom takes her back. Dungra Bhils speak a language very different from the respective state languages, Gujarati 8 and Hindi. 9 Based on the dialectical study, Maggard et al grouped Dungra Bhili, Noiri and Bhilori together in one cluster that ranges from 71 to 87 percent of lexical similarity. 10 They go on to say that Dungra Bhili is distinct from Rathawi of Gujarat, and that one variety of Vasavi is on the periphery of adequate comprehension among the Dungra Bhils.

1.4 Bhilori, Mathwadi and Barutiya

As stated above, the multiplicity of names for the languages spoken by different Bhil groups causes confusion. The situation becomes complex when those names overlap in their scope of usage. Bhilori, Mathwadi and Barutiya are three terms identified in this survey causing such ambiguity. Watters 2013:6 identifies Bhilori as the language variety of a small group who live predominantly around Dhadgaon and which is closely related to Noiri Bhili. During this survey it was observed that Bhilori is used as a general name by Vasavas, Noiras and other Bhils in Dhadgaon, Akkalkua and Nandurbar tahsils in Nandurbar district of Maharashtra to refer to their own Bhili varieties. Based on these findings it would seem plausible that Bhilori is principally a cover title for Bhili varieties at least in the western part of the survey area. Mathwadi Bhil 11 is a general term denoting any of the Bhils larger sense living in the Satpuda hills, and is used chiefly by Bhils larger sense living on the plains Watters 2013:5. In Dhadgaon and 7 In order to marry a girl, the boy has to pay a bride price, which is currently around Rs. 12,000. 8 According to the survey done by Sunil Mathew, Dungra Bhili spoken in Gujarat shows 32 to 33 percent of lexical similarity with Gujarati. 9 The lexical similarity between Hindi and Dungra Bhili is 40 to 41 percent, based on the present survey. 10 The cluster includes four wordlists: two Dungra Bhili, one Noiri and one Bhilori. 11 The word matha in some of the Bhili varieties denotes head, so those who are staying in the mountains are called Mathwadi Bhils. Akkalkua tahsils, Mathwadi is also used by outsiders as well as insiders in a restricted sense to denote the Barutiya language as a specific name. And it was noticed that Noiras who are staying more towards the top of hills use Mathwadi Bhil in an exclusive sense to refer to the Bhils in and around Dhadgaon and Akkalkua who may be closer to the plains than the former. Both insiders and outsiders use Mathwadi, but Barutiya is completely an outsider name used by at least Noiras and Vasavas as an alternate name for the variety spoken by a group of Bhils in and around Dhadgaon, a group which may number up to 100,000 people. Considerable cultural difference was not observed between Barutiya and Noiri speaking people in this survey, and no restriction for marriage relationships between these groups was reported. The above information is summarised in table 2. Table 2. Different language names, nature of use, way of using and its summary Language name: Insider and or Outsider name: Nature of use: Used by: For the language spoken by: Barutiya Outsider Specific name Noiras and Vasavas A group of Bhils in and around Dhadgaon and Akkalkua. Noiri Insider and Outsider name Specific name Themselves and by Vasavi and Barutiya speakers Another group of Bhils spread throughout Akkalkua, Dhadgaon and Shirpur tahsils in Maharashtra and Pansemal tahsil of Madhya Pradesh. Vasavi Insider and Outsider name Specific name Themselves and by Noiri, Barutiya and others in the area Another group of Bhils who identify themselves as Vasava in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Mathwadi Insider and Outsider name General name Bhils living in the plains Bhils living in Satpuda hills, especially Noiri and Barutiya speakers. Specific name Themselves and by those Noiras who stay more towards top of hills Barutiya speakers in and around Dhadgaon and Akkalkua. Bhilori Insider name Outsider name General name Themselves and by others in the area Vasavi, Noiri and Barutiya speakers. Specific name Themselves Barutiya speakers in and around Dhadgaon and Akkalkua. In short, Bhilori can mean Vasavi, Noiri and BarutiyaMathwadi specific usage varieties, whereas when Mathwadi is used by Bhils in a larger sense in the plains, it includes Noiri and Barutiya.

1.5 Other groups