Bastar
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
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Bastar
Feudatory State in the Central Provinces, lying between 17° 46' and 20° 14 N. and 80° 15' and 82° 15' E., with an area of 13,062 square miles. It is situated in the south-eastern corner of the Province, and is bounded north by the Kanker State, south by the Godavari District of Madras, west by Chanda District, Hyderabad State, and the Godavari river, and east by the Jeypore estate in Vizagapatam. The chief town is Jagdalpur (population, 4,762), situated on the Indravati river, 136 miles south of Dhamtari. The town is well laid out, with many handsome buildings and two fine tanks. The central and north-western portions of the State are very moun- tainous. To the east, for two-thirds of the total length from north to south, extends a plateau with an elevation of about 2,000 feet above sea-level, broken by small isolated ranges. The old and new capitals, Bastar and Jagdalpur, are situated towards the south of the plateau. The Indravati river, rising in the Kalahandi State, enters Bastar on the plateau near Jagdalpur, and flows across the centre of the State from east to west, dividing it into two portions. On reaching the border it turns to the south, and forms the boundary of Bastar until it joins the Godavari below Sironcha. At Chitrakot, where the Indravati leaves the Jagdalpur plateau, is a fine waterfall, 94 feet high, while the course of the river through the western hills exhibits some extremely picturesque scenery. The rivers next in importance are the Sabari, which divides Bastar from Jeypore on the east, and the Tel, which rises in the State and flows south-west to the Godavari. The north-western portion of the State is covered by a mass of rugged hills known locally as the Abujmar, or country of the Maria Gonds. South of the Indravati the Bailadila (' bullock's hump ') range runs through the centre of Bastar from north to south, its highest peaks being over 4,000 feet above sea-level, while smaller ranges extend in an easterly direction to the south of the plateau. The south-western tracts are low-lying, but are broken by ranges of sandstone hills, all of which run from north-west to south-east, each range ending in a steep declivity, a few miles south of which another parallel chain commences. Great boulders of vitrified sandstone strew the surface of these hills and gleam pink in the sun. The rock formation belongs partly to the gneissic and transition series, but is mainly the Lower Vindhyan, consisting of sandstones, shales, and limestones. The forests in the south-west contain a considerable quantity of teak, with which is mixed Injasdl (Pterocarpus Marsupium). Towards the north-east the teak rapidly disappears, and is replaced by sal (Shorea robusta), which then becomes the principal timber tree, though much of the forest is of the nature of scrub. Frequently the undergrowth is replaced by patches of dense high grass, with scattered trees of Diospyros or ebony. The Caryota urens and the palmyra palm are found, the latter in the south and the former in the west and north. Cane brakes also occur by the hill streams. Bamboos, of which three species occur, are restricted entirely to the hills. The average annual rainfall exceeds 50 inches, and the climate on the plateau is pleasantly cool, 102° being the highest recorded.
The family of the Raja is a very ancient one. It is stated to belong to the Rajputs of the Lunar race, and to have come originally from Warangal about the commencement of the fourteenth century, driven thence by the encroachments of the Muhammadan power. The tra- ditional founder of the family, Annam Deo, is said to have established himself in Bastar under the protection of the goddess Danteshwarl, still the tutelary deity of the family and the State, who presented him with a sword which is held in veneration to the present day. The temple of the goddess at Dantewara, at the confluence of the Sankani and Dankani rivers, was formerly the scene of an annual human sacrifice similar to that of the Khonds ; and for many years after 1842 a guard was placed over the temple, and the Raja held personally responsible for its discontinuance. Up to the time of the Marathas Bastar occupied an almost independent position, but a tribute was imposed on it by the Nagpur government in the eighteenth century. At this period the constant feuds between Bastar and the neighbouring State of Jeypore in Madras kept the country for many years in a state of anarchy. The chief object of contention was the Kotapad tract, which had originally belonged to Bastar, but had been ceded in return for assistance given by Jeypore to one of the Bastar chiefs during some family dissensions.
The Central Provinces Administration finally made this over to Jeypore in 1863, on condition of payment of tribute of Rs. 3,000, two- thirds of which sum was remitted from the amount payable by Bastar. By virtue of this arrangement the tribute of Bastar was, until recently, reduced to a nominal amount. The late Raja, Bhairon Deo, died in 1891 at the age of 52. In consequence of the continued mis- government under which the State had suffered for some years, an ofiicer selected by the Local Administration had been appointed as Diwan in 1886. The late Raja's infant son, Rudra Pratap Deo, was recognized as his successor, and during his minority the State is being managed by Government. For six years two European officers held the office of Administrator, but this post was abolished in 1904 and a native officer was appointed as Superintendent. The young chief, who was twenty years old in 1905, has been educated at the Rajkumar College, Raipur.
The population in 1901 was 306,501 persons, having decreased by 1 per cent, during the previous decade. The State contains 2,525 inhabited villages, and the density of population is only 23 persons per square mile. About two-thirds of the inhabitants are Gonds, and there are also a number of Halbas. The Gonds of Bastar are perhaps the wildest tribe in the Province. In some localities they still wear no clothing beyond a string of beads round the waist, while the approach of a stranger is frequently a signal for the whole village to take to the jungle. The language principally spoken is Halbi, a mixed dialect of Hindi, Oriya, and Marathi. Bhatri, a dialect of Oriya, is the speech of about 6 per cent, of the population, while the Maria Gonds have a language peculiar to themselves. More than 7 per cent, of the population speak Telugu. The Methodist Episcopal Church has a station at Jagdalpur.
The soil throughout the greater part of Bastar consists of a light clay with an admixture of sand, well adapted to the raising of rice, but requiring a good supply of water. There has been no cadastral survey except in 647 villages of the open country on the plateau, of which 486 have been regularly settled. No statistics of cultivation for the State as a whole are therefore available. The cultivation is, however, extremely sparse, as even in the regularly settled tract, which is the most advanced and populous portion of the State, only 25 per cent, of the total area available has been brought under the plough. Rice is by far the most important crop, but various small millets, pulses, and gram are also grown. There are a few irrigation tanks in the open country. About 9,800 square miles, or three-fourths of the whole area of the State, are forest or grass land, but only about 5,000 square miles contain regular forest. The remainder either has been wholly denuded of forest growth by the system of shifting cultivation, or is covered only by valueless low scrub. The moist or sal forests occur in the tract south of the Indravati and east of the Bailadila range, principally occupying the valleys and lower hills and the eastern plateau. The dry forests, in which the principal tree is teak, are distributed over the south, west, and north- west of the State, and also cover the higher slopes of the hills in the moist forest belt. The commercial value of the forests is determined at present rather by their proximity to a market and the comparative facilities of transport than by the intrinsic quality of the timber. The principal products are teak and other timbers, myrabolams, lac, wax, honey, hides and horns, tanning and dyeing barks, tasar silk cocoons, and other minor articles. Rich and extensive deposits of iron ore occur, especially in association with the transition rocks. Mica has been found in several places, the largest plates discovered near Jungani from surface deposits measuring about 5 inches across, but being cloudy and cracked. Gold in insignificant quantities is obtained by washing in the Indravati and other streams in the west. The State contains 121 miles of gravelled and 191 miles of embanked roads; the principal routes are those leading from Jagdalpur to Dhamtari, to Jeypore, and to Chanda. The bulk of the trade goes to Dhamtari station.
The State is in charge of a Political Agent for the Feudatory States, under the supervision of the Commissioner, Chhattisgarh Division. For administrative purposes Bastar is divided into five tahsils, each in charge of a tahsildar. The Superintendent of the State is at present an Extra- Assistant Commissioner and has two Assistants with magisterial powers. The State also employs European Forest and Medical officers.
There are seven subordinate Zamindari estates covering 4,189 square miles, situated mainly to the south of the Indravati. The total revenue in 1904 was 2.76 lakhs, the main items being land (Rs. 1,15,000), in- cluding cesses, arrears, and miscellaneous receipts, forests (Rs. 65,000), and excise (Rs. 70,000). A revised assessment of land revenue has recently been sanctioned. The net demand for land revenue in 1904 was only Rs. 83,000, a considerable proportion being 'assigned.' A cadastral survey has been effected in 647 villages of the Jagdalpur tahsil, and in most of these a regular settlement based on soil classifica- tion has been carried out. The remaining area is summarily settled, the rates being fixed on the seed required for each holding, or on the number of ploughs in the possession of the cultivators. The incidence of the land revenue per cultivated acre in the regularly settled tract is 5 annas 1 pie. The total expenditure in 1904 was 2-52 lakhs, the principal heads being Government tribute (Rs. 15,600), allowances to the ruling family (Rs. 24,000), administration (Rs. 32,000), forests (Rs. 15,000), excise (Rs. 15,000), land revenue settlement (Rs. 7,700), and public works (Rs. 37,000). The tribute is liable to revision. Since 1893 the State has expended 5-68 lakhs on public works, under the supervision of the Engineer of the Chhattisgarh States division. The works carried out include, besides the roads already mentioned, residences for the chief and the Administrator and for the zamindar of Bhopalpatnam, office buildings at Jagdalpur and the head-quarters of tahsils, and a school, dispensary, and sa7-ai at Jagdalpur. The State maintains 51 schools, including an English middle school at Jagdalpur, 4 vernacular middle schools, and a girls' school, with a total of about 3,000 pupils. The expenditure on education in 1904 was Rs. 11,000. Only 1,997 persons were returned as able to read and write in 1901, the proportion of literate males being 1.2 per cent. Dispensaries have been established at Jagdalpur, Antagarh, Kondegaon, Bhopalpatnam, Konda, and Bijapur, at which 59,000 persons were treated in 1904, and Rs. 12,000 was expended on medical relief.
Religious beliefs
Bhanupratappur, Keshkal
As in 2022
Rashmi Drolia, Sep 25, 2022: The Times of India
At the zenith of Bastar’s Keshkal valley, the court of Goddess Bhangaram Devi sits in judgment on ‘devtas’ (tribal deities). It’s where the gods are tried and judged for not alleviating the distress of devotees or not fulfilling a wish. Tribals from around 240 villages in the region flock there carrying their family devtas, especially during the annual ‘Bhado Jatra’ festival.
The priest communicates Bhangaram Devi’s judgment, and if any god is to be ‘punished’, they are banished to the temple backyard where totems of all forms nestle in the dense foliage or are left leaning against trees. It would be wrong to judge this most unique trait of the tribals of Bastar with the eyes of an outsider. But the ‘trial of the gods’ is a fascinating ritual, so gripping that you get swept up in the fervour of the tribals for whom Bhangaram Devi’s verdict is the law.
If a god is ‘punished’, their divinity is diminished and they are to be forgotten in the jumble of totems in the temple backyard. This ancient tradition is being carried forward by the fifth or sixth generation of priest brothers at the temple. TOI visited the ‘banishment yard’ and found totems shaped like ‘dolis’, axes, boxes, drums and even stretchers. They are made of carved stone or wood, or sculpted in clay. Some are made with exquisite care, others look like they were put together in haste. Lovely or lumpy, they are all equal under the gaze of Bhangaram Devi. There’s a special corner in this land of the banished. It’s for devtas who failed to protect villagers from black magic. This space isunder a tree, next to an image of Goddess Kali – a little corner where Hindu religion blends with tribal spiritualism. Strangely, women aren’t allowed at the Bhado Jatra festival although tribal tradition gives women equal space in all other aspects of life.
“Thousands of tribal men from nine ‘parganas’ (240 villages in all) of Keshkal and neighbouring regions gather at the Bhangaram Devi temple on a Saturday of Krishnapaksha in the month of August,” chief priest Balram Gaur told TOI. “There is an ancient belief among tribals that the performance of gods they have been worshipping is judged by the Devi in a fair way, and upon her verdict they willingly give up on their gods and wait for an omen to decide the next god. This omen mostly appears in dreams. ” Sitting in a circle the priest brothers play individual roles in the functioning of the temple. A ‘Bhagat’ or ‘Sirha’ priest is one who is believed to have direct connection with the Devi and to whom people narrate the performance oftheir ‘devtas’.
“If a village suffers a natural calamity, drought or illness, and its god fails to give respite, the Devi punishes the god. A proper question-answer session takes place, just that the ‘gods’ have no say. It is also believed that after a year or so, when these banished gods show up in the dreams of their former devotees, the people go back to the Devi for ‘pratishthan’ of the same god in different forms. Also, new gods are appointed for these ‘orphaned’ villages with a vow to improve their condition,” the priest explained.
The ancient temple was established during 1700-1800 CE in the reign of king Bhairamdev. An expert on tribal culture, Professor M Ali N. Syed of the state-run KPG College in Jagdalpur, explained that the tribal villages in Bastar are diverse and they don’t worship common gods. “They create their own gods. It is seen that the tribals of Bhanupratappur and Keshkal regions often give the status of god to people who give their sincere services to society,” he said. “For instance, at the Bhangaram temple, there’s an idol of ‘Kaana doctor or Dr Khan’, who had decades ago treated the villagers during a cholera and smallpox epidemic. Though this doctor was from Nagpur, he served the tribals till his death and the tribals started worshipping him,” the professor said. ‘Kaana Doctor’ gets pride of place in the abode of Bhangaram Devi. You wouldn’t notice it unless you know where to look. Kaana Doctor’s totem is a stout stick – perhaps to iconise the people’s unbending faith in him. And that is the image that clings to you as you make your way down from the temple where tribals see divinity in humans and create their own gods.
