362

CHAPTER Vll

mtBAL t.EADBRS»lP& A CASE STUDY OF MUNDAS At1D ORAOtJS IN TWO VILLAGES OF lllHM

ln this chapur • the maio emphasis 1s otl cheqos f&'Om

tra.:Si Uonal modes and pa~tems of leadership an4 on culture

cbangca. Withia this area of emphasis. an consJ.clered tl\0

effect:& of cul~w:al change on ~ad1tlons1 leaderabip

behaviour end sta~es. ehenglng leadership r:olea anc:i

senct.J.oos. leetlerah.lp char&e~erisuc:s sd the nature of

emergent 1etdersh1p. New leaders ere risin~ to focal pos1-

t.lons of power as cilfferent ClCXles of poUtlcnl organ1sacUoa

end activity emerge tb~h the development of Paachaya~1

Raj. New leadership roles are 1n tco:!hu:ed es new eonc:epts

of education. pUblic healt.h 8114 ecoaom!c aevelopmen~ take

hOld.

In CbikcnJ. Gt:ld Kad~ villages of o~ st.uay w1th a

general recept1v1 t:y to change from alicen cultures. the

situation 1s favourable tor the iDYGGtigatlon oi cul~

change in general.

aTbe ~ *1eadersh1p• designates ~le behaViOUr Of G

dominant. 1nf1ueneing and direc:t1ag character. I~ ts

provJ4ed by an JncU.v.t.<iual. who stands 1n e supero%dlnate

status position to one or more indivicSuelo Who by natt.u'G

3b3

of their int.erectioa com.priee a social group '(lfhose c:ollec­

Uve beh&vicwr is more o.- leas goa~rien~. Tbus a leader

1e ODe who staDds in a s~orcUnate r:elat.icnehJ.p to cme or

more o~er .lndJ.v14uels. By virtua of the aut.horit.y exercs-­

sed by h.l.m. he., by conaent ~UGh cohesion. exercises powers

of influence. dac:islon. o~notion or fadUutlon of action

and policy fo~etion t#ith l'eapc!Ct to other JnciJ.v1duels

in t1\o relatione hip. fila behaviour of a leeder exhib1 ilia

d1re~g. organieing and ccn~o111ng ~etts•. 1

In the Ugh• of ~se ccnsiderauona. we wiU be

1dent.t.£y1ng ~e tribal le&'iers more objecUvely. 'leday

1o both CbiJGoni ad Kedams. indl v.tduals who prov14e leadGr­

sh-1p ue mcJte broadly &"ec:J1u1t.edl titGD was true urutu the

v&di Uonel system. Leaders 81:0 DOt derived solely fa:cm

the dominant lilleages or clans as was foJrme::ly uue. ftle

present. ays~ allows access t.o pos1 d. ens of respsc~ 6Dd

power t.o more eat.egcdaa of ind.lvitiuQ!.., then earlier. -:be

bas1o change 1s f~ a closed system in which leadership

pos1 Uoas were by and large udi. tJ.onal to e t:elai;.l vely

corQpeU~.ive one in which leeder:shJ.p posiUcms may also be

echJ.eved by an enterpr.lsiDg 1na1 vidual. Leedenhlp roles

ue much mora cU.ffuse enci varied t.oaav than before. to

proporticm to the pepulaticn more persons s~ es leaden.

384

POWers widely cU.stributed end 1 ts exer:e1se .t.o 4lffus«l

with the advent. of a new leadership rolo.

social mobility is possible today. since cne may at~

social pJ:Cmlnenca even wi~out being bom into a family of

a chief or <iomlnant. elm. -nte old crl ~erie fo~ elevated

eoci.al status still operate. but new criteria have also

ecme into bemg. PerfoJ:'I'OOnCe based en special sJd.ll~ end

recognize~ co~t.ence en~lo in(llviduals from GDY otrata of

society to achieve leadershJ.p status.

Jo this perspective with a view to icicantify the td.bl.\1

leaders more objectively s special schedule (s1m11~ to

r,.p. Vidyert:bi•o) was applied 1D the two villages of MUruios

on4 Oreons nspect1vely. It e.laaed at. tden~1fyill9 vadous

t.ypes of leader& by pu~t.ing quesUone t:c the common 'ft.lla­

gers ragw:'albg the p"sans tmc> help 01: g\l1tie them in various

walks of their activities. sesldes. varied a1tuat1ons wer0

put befo.re t.hem Gn4 they were required to oame the penoas

with r~levant det&J.ls to whom they go for help or eay ~

o£ c:cmsultnt1cn, under the c1R:umstanc:es. The ~sons Whose

names were repeated f~"um~ly 1n ~is connection, were

t:aken as leade~G of ~e villages uhile other clet&lls of

such leaders. vl..e., their personeUty traits oft qu.all~es.

age. deSlignaUon, edueat.lon, kJ.nsh.ip afflli.ation and t.be

385 lUte ue enalyeed ~ gJ.w us further msigl'\t for the study

of power eajoye:i by them. 2

S9D1;!Xtt of tra41Uona& 1ea4ersh~J!•

As alcoeady zre~ur:ed to previous chapters after t.he

U1bels mlg.rate4 to CI\Ot.anagplU"• they c.tevcaloped a network

of village end intervlllage leaders who goveme4 their

soc1o-J:"e11g1oua aDd po11Uc:a1 life. These tradl Ucmel

lea:lere have been operating .1ft the traditional social

suuct"" and stand for the ola valueo ead !nst..l~uUons.

They Detlsfy the trad1Ucmol neds of their people as be1ag

~mpo~tiint funot1oner1es of cn<1 assoeiat.<ad dth the vUlaga

.tnst.ituticns. They eao be brcaaly cateqorieed under t.vo

he~ namely (a) rel.lg1o~ wadi ticnal leadeJrs. and

(b) $ecular trad1Uonal leaders. TM first cat.eqory

inclu.:ies the leaderG l.l.ko pabaD Coraon) atld 9a1ga (Munela).

~ey are basically religious heads of their ~espective

villages and mni·ntaie ·a bat:menlous celat:ionship be~

the v11legerG on the cme nand end the ot,lp0motura1 world

em the othe~. by propj,d.at.!Ag the various ae1U.es and gods

on e ped.oUc basis. offering pra.c~icea and proper worahlp.

%~ may. however. be ment.lone4 that in spite of being the

reUglous heaas. they are in some measure ccmc:emed with

secu1w:> effalrs of the vll.lage and no tnwortant decision

386

can be talleR .in the village w1 thout. theia:- appz:oval as tth.ey

alao constitute impo~~t members of village panchayat

Cvillac;e councils). :xa course of fleldt~rk. Whenever ths

lftfomants were asked to Dame ~e leetle.rs of ti\eJ.r village.

they would most freq\lentl.y nam0 these leaders aayiAg ~hat

thev weZ'e the Malik CMSGwr or loJXl) of ~e village and

were consult:ed at guidance ~ken from ~em 1a almost all

~feirs whether re1~1oua or othe~1se. 'lhe po:5t of ~

religious he$i botb 1n M\mda and oraon. J.o herecU t.m:y1 but

eomet.imas* if the person cioes not come ~ t.o the e:cpecta~ion

he may be relleved of his past. and another p$rsca f~ other

fwnlly is e1ect.ec1. AmOng these t.a:J.bes. the rel1g1oua

priests get small plots of ren~f.ree cultivable land whict\

is hereditary an~ belongs to the person acting as p~J.eet.

x e is knOWD by such names as Dal~Katar1 and ahut-Khsta

respectively.

The religious heads are assisted by several other

subordinates lJ.ke Pcj ar or Murg.l Jbola Coraon) and Panvarwe

(Kunde) in religious ac~1v1U.cs of Chikcml cr Ko4iiml&•

sest.dne• Jrel.~g1ous priest an4 hJ.s ess.istents. there is

a tb1.~ ~pe of Uad1 Uonal a:el1g1ous leaden. Thev SJre

4Uferen~ types o~ magiclone with spec:1al.1zed £\metLcns ~z.

the Oj ha of on on and Hot1 of Mua~a who help to dJ.agnose a

disease. uac:e out the w.lU:hGS .respons.1ble for the troul)le_

387 and mQke e magic:al owre o£ d£GeaQeo. WJ.tcnes are the

other t.ype of magielens. the black ones which are f0~

by the vUlaqera as ~ey are bellavea too cause harm both

to men ana pRperty. They o1so commend eone son o£ lea:isr­

sbip over tbe villagers. they elso enjoy some kind of power

over the villages. Medicine men coast.ltutJSt still ano'th~

typm of relluious leader Jn Vibel Villaqe of l<e:iama er.ul

Chi'koni. Apparen~y~ they apply •medictnoo• to e okk but

invariably o~ Ja almost. all the cases they have a backg&'cunti

of meg1c. and evan if they prescribe medicinal he~s or

~~. thei#' diagnosis of thCD disease 1s of llla\J1ca1 1mpor­

t.ance. Gener-ally Ojha end Mati oleo possess some JmowladGa

of me"ic.t.nes.

The abOve ~~1g1ou.s ua1Jidonal les:iera are baalcally

vJ.llage level leaders as different villages may have diffe­

rents~ of such leaders tau~ in some cases when they achieve

fame. they nre also invited o.- visJ.~ by i:he people of

other villages.

Tbe secular leaden constitute t.he seccnd type o£

t.r~J.t.lonal leaders mut this category includes tbe leaders

1lke Mahato (Or:con) aa(1 MUftda (Hunda). It may be oo~

that bO~ J<ademG anc! Chl.konl are pol..itlcal unite in them­

eel ves and have their own panchaysts separatel.y t4 d\ a set:.

388 of vlllaga officials of which the above nameCl letlde.:s ac~

as le&aers en4 the chief in their psp~cu ve village penche­

yats. They look af~r the sec:\llar affairs ana odmiD1stra~ion oi the village. 'l'h.e heedtnan tlfho 1s en Em~.lment. of pOb10lr

ana suthori ~J' in ~e village rep~Dent. the village bOth 1n

extomol anti J.nte~oal celaUons and Ls the head of tl\0

execut.l ve ana j ud1c1uy of the Uadi ticrnal village pcmchaya~.

under hia leadership tbe v11leqe paachayat pwotecta the right

of the v11lsge..:s end punishes those who infringe upon othar•o

right. He also t4kes intsres~ in the welfare act.lvltt.es of

the village and directs collective enterprises and celebra­

tions in the village. aea1dea tht:a hesiman r:umt.icne:i above~

there are seva~al other leedEll:'G who act as their ass is tents.

aeaides tnose villoge loaders Who actively participate 1ft

village panehayate. there ue a set. of peneh councillors wllO

could also puttcipa~e therein ana play i~~tmt role in

<lecJ.a1cm-meld.ng of the village. In Chil«mi ve have the

loaders like Dhangsr or .Jonkh Kotwar, Pello ~arar or Barko

Dhengarin (Uemale) who look efte~ the behaviour. moral

d~scipl.tne GB4 orgcmlaaUcn of the J.nmat.es of the youth

do~ tor.les in puUculor allC1 v.Ulege boys and gil' lsi £A

general.

'.l'hese t:rad1Ucnal secular henae operate specially at

the v£-llege level (in Cb.lkcnl Sl'\4 Kede.mo) t'.heir 1nfluet.lCe

389 is coaflne4 to their cespecUve v111aves. However. there

1s enothSK set of tre4! Ucnal eecW.ar leaders wbo opera~e

on J.nter-vi11a;e level and hew 1meir aphe~ of influence

an:l foll~1ng spJread over a group of villages. Pal'ha Raja

of the oracn m1d Mwada is t:.'\en tAoned in thJ.s ccnnecti.cm who

J.s the eblef heaa ol such 1nter-vllloge ri.nqs end a&"e

eas.lst.eel by a host. of GuboJrtl!nat:.e officials like Dewm

(Sacretuvl. Kotwu (Body-General). P~ (cl~k)., Kos~a

(cne who purif.les)., Khajanc:hi (cash1&r). Pah&$iar (GuaJ:d).

Ptmbhtttva (one who offers water). J'-ltbohva (cme who Caft'ies

shoes of tugbew off.lctals). unobi (cme who washes the

ClOth of pollut.t:d p~SOAS) roraon end MIJ.n!jV• All 1:bese

officials come from ~a v.Ulagas under the j ur1sct1ct1on oi

a r:cg4.onal. beaamen or chief and tbe posts ot the chief end

the subo.tdinate offlc1ala QJ:'e n~ally bered1toq~ '.d\e

regional headman used to be like ~ J<J.ogs {Rej as) of t.beltr

comm\mi tiea ~ powerfu.l a~t.hor1Ues. All the village he~

men un.;ter them Wled to pay thoJ.c alleg1ence to their c:h1ef

and obeye<l theJ.r: oJ:dera. Their. c:ow:t.s used co be the Mghes~

cauru of avveal. 'l'hm J:e9icr.ol chief usually dec14e4 the

C:OSI29 Of 41B~Utes be~sen tho two vJ.llages UDdeJ:' his jw:i.s­

c1.1ct1on# or the c:aseo of the b~:each of tr.\bal ~toms 8.D4

u~iUcnal laws and lnterc:omcnun.i.ty aex rel.atJ.oRs. He is

olso ~a..Jered t.o ex-c:amrm.m1ca~ a mmnber 01 t.he U'ibe GD~

330 ~te-mlmS. t him after 1ay1ng ce~.ln con&U Uoco. Ha oleo sees

that ti\e religious an4 seculu village heatiman do their Job

propGrly. The #'eglcnal chief alcng with his off1c1als

tneDt.1one4 abOve consUtut.e the .lotarv111ap panc:hayat eaa thes0 off1c1als hova specJ.allaed nles to play J.n the 1nter­

v111ago pol\chayat meedngs as ine11cate4 above against ~ell"

nemao. f!bey eomman.4 ioflwanc:e over. and ~1ence fJ:"Om

their people.

Etne£aenc:e gf Jiew l0!4ez;sbiea

The factor \1hich gave &etback to the U>od1tlonal powar­

evuc:ture Jn the villages un<ler s~y speelally dwriag the

last. few <lecades. was the lnclependenc:e of the countcy. Wi~

iftdepenclenae# a new ccnat.i.tuticn woa uawn up td\J.cb aimed w •uglift. • Gad bJrlog the hither~o backWax'A section of tho

.tn:!.lan populat.ton including the U1bsls- into the maio s~eam

oJf the In41eft life 8114 society by bd.ngJ.ag them under the

countzyw1de eo~al, polJ.Ucal ana adminiotraUve notwoft.

coasequenuy. it had to be done by promod.ng in4ucea c:ult.w:e

chenue among the ~.tb&ls through a aumber of auenc1es ~h

ultlmaaly gave J:>J.se to various types of emergent tnbal

lettiers umter the changed c:oo~x~ some of them beiog

tribala themselves while t.he others coming £.em non-Uibal

communi tS.es.

xn 1952. wo important 't:hJ.ngf) hoppee.e4., 'lbe oper&Ucm

· of the BS.haJ: Gs"om Ponchayat Act vas extended to bO~ o£

331

the ts'ibal Villages. By this eel.f-govemment reached the

village levels. The idea of t;he village panchayat was

quite new to tha Villagers. 9tough early .1ft the year some

of them had cas~ their •tea 1n the flrst general elecuon.

they did not. uncters~aDa the !mpl.tcadcns ma4 itnpo~ttmce of

these votes. 'fllat happsn«t in parliamtmt at DelhJ. or the

Legtslstlve A&Dembly at Patna 4£d not seem to affect thmt.

1ftae Panchaya~ elections. hoarover • stined them. ·They came

t.o J:ealloe tha~ they c:ould elect t.he Mukbla ancS t:hs Pancbes

ecco:di!lg to their own aveet)-will. Ttte 14co of unrestricted

e1ec1t1on was novel to thenu un~11 then they ba4 their

uad1Uonel leade~a 1n Whose circle they had 11~tle say,

in nos~ cues leaderohlp was asca-.lbed rather than achieved.

~hatover little choice wae exerc1sd 1n the elect.lcm of

PahGD or Baiga was more an interpntatton of div!ne will

than &oytb~lae.

The same yes sQv the btlglrm!Dg of OOt«uunl"Y Develop..

tneat Peo;ranme in the counUy. Kodama was included in ona

of ~e prcjeota of Khunt1 in RQI\chi 4t.at.nc:t.

Ull 1951 the~Ro%e the main exogamous factor for

culture change was ~e Panchsyct. ae.tng local Jn natu.I'Q•

J.ts tztu,act-. was pro£ouna. It shoo); people's way of 1Ue.

~sre was scope now £or talent ~ obow itself. Persons

with abUi t;y in o~ganizaUon., pursuasiva power. some

392 e4ucat1cn oncl klnowledge of man end affairs iD the worlci

outs1.4e could become leaders. TAme was ripen for "'e

emergen~ o~ new leadeJrehip.

A~ Q\)Out the same time youth clubs. Mah11a Manciels,

co-oper aU ve eoc1eties, school c:ommi ~t.ees. and various

p#Ogrammas of social, ana economic development were .Ia~

<luc:cd which eur 1e4 new values en<i modem .l.deas through

community Development. or special 'a-1bol Development Blocko

even to 1n&Cceasiblo uibal Villages. The execuUcm of

these welfaa:e prog.raromes was Clone through a aumber of Bleak

officials or thsiJ:' personnel like the s.n.o. • P.o. • uelfare

inopectoll'S• school 1ns~ton. agricul t::ural supervlsoJ:&.

several ~pes of Ex~sion worke~. v.L.w•s etc. These

officials worked in close ossoc1aUcm of ~e t.l:'1ba1s to w1ft

~1r auppoJ:t in implemenUog aiUi ac:eep•mg the various

p~grammes ana in due cowrse. t.hey also began to bG counte4

~ as some time o£ l.eader:s as found in the J:espcnses of

some vibals of both Cb1'koo1 an-4 Kodama. seve1ral schools

wwe also openea by the Government. or ncm.-Govemment. welfare

agencies like Adimjotl seva MaBdol. •santbol Pahorla seve

Mandel• where the teachers at.toched t.o t.hesa insti tuticna

fU11ther fulfJ.l~ed the newl.y created oee4a of e::sucat.lcn among

the tr ibalo under ~e changed eon te.x~. end we¥e thus beg on

to be r:egmrc1ed as oae of the emerven t. leaders.

393 IndepeDdence of the c:ounuv also bzough~ AD ita wake

a aemocrauc form of ooveJ:nment en.ci sense of equalitY among

the Indian citizens £or which pertodicel elect.icn cf the

representatives of the people was considered necessary.

Such system of elections end ~e pre-election propaganda

of the cODtesUng poll t.i.cal pe&"Ua on tba one hand made tile

people more politically eonec.lous of acquainting ~em w1Ul

im,port.ant. poll tical developments of dte counUy. em tho

other hand eneble4 1:hem t.o c:hcose their representaU ves in

the shape of MLAs and MPs b1ho represent the views of t;tte

people to t.he S~te Legislotu.&"es aa<l Parlitlment.ary ASDemb­

lles. It. .la sJ.gn1f1cant that these electe~ tribal leaders

not only work as representatives of the people iD ttbe

Government. but. en the other also e.cquaiftt their people

w1 th the modem poll tical and oth.er dcvelopnum t.e taking

place en the state or coun~de level. Again, it. is

through tbese elected leaders that. the local ta:lbal leader­

ship gets 1Dtagrat.ed within the wider ~glonal# st.a~e or

national network of leadership.

Nov we come to analyse the data collec~ from the

achedule3 for id.ent.lfying 1:he U'1bal leaders. end discuss

their sign.1£J.cant charecteri.stics. It will a.lso tell us

as to how some of the facts zoegoniillg leadersh.lp vt\J.ch

emerge from previous d.isc:ussion. support. that emerglng

394

from t.he cnalya1o of the schedule.

:the TribaJ. leaden .1dentr.Uie4

A st\14y of the t.vo Uibel villages (namely Kadama and

ChlkoD1) populate~ by MUndas enci orscms "spect.ively. give

us tbe following details of tribal leaders. There wsa e

general t.en4ency on thea part of informants to repeat the

name of the same set of leeCIC!trs Whleh they had naced od.gl.­

nelly ln .. espcmse to the fh"st. question.

Thus, this trGlpatiUcn or frequency of news was taken

as essential "1tor1a 1o J.dentify.lng the leaders.

Lable!

lUJMllE!l CP LEAUBRS Xt>~N'l'IPIBD IN VILLAGES

TiiSat Village No. of·~ Jdenil-K$B f1e4 leaden

I

oracm cnikcnl 11 Mundo Kedama 13

Amcmg the ci te4 leadflrs, some belonged to the zr.espec­

U.ve village of the informants while the othe:s were kom

ouatde tile village. 'l'be leaders we&-e also divi<ied Anto

~ age-grOQpa, wbJ.ch can be shovn in the t.able given

below a

395

!£able a RESIOEt~CB ~D AGR-OROUP OF THB XDENTIBISD LEADERS

Tribal jiliJ~:t~ea•Tom §~~ ~vii~f diana· ~co 3 iii :uifiQ'na TO l To tell

below abova below abovs

Ketlama 3 e 11 - 2 2 ll Chlkcn1 4 6 so - l 1 ll

so the ~le shows tha~ (1) majority of ~e leaders.

whether a~ Y...odam.a or Ch1kon1 came from the villages of the

inforrnantsl (3) Anothe&- G.l911Uicen~ thing is regaded ~

the age-g.:oup. 1s tha~ the leaders 1n majodty oi the caoes

belonged to the age-group 3S years and above.

;table 3

ETHNIC AI'PJLIAT%0N AND Z OUC:A'l'ION OJ? 'mB LBAUERS XDEWl'IftED .. I . iiitml £!cm-TI!iiiol

Trtba1 Non• ii&w:a- To tel Non- Bauce- TOtal To till ~ee edu.ea- ted ectuca- ted

tl!d led Cbikoai 6 2 8 1 2 3 11 Kaclama 4 4 8 - 5 5 l3

Viewing the J.eaders f~om the po1nt of view of et:hn.S.C

a£f 111et1on. one finds that GniOng the lea4ers of the vUleqss~

tile perc:ent:age of til~ tribal leaders in general vas grea~

in compar.t.ecn to t:h.e non-Vibal leaders. Anothear £act to be

nota:S here 1s that p~oport:.ton of the t:&-1bal leaders at the

396

KeClsma and Chikonl was greater in comparison to thot of

the ac:eul tultate4 villages (During the field worJc. some

other vUlsgcs ue also st:udiecU. on thea other hand•

amoAg the leaders comino fC'Om outside the v111aga wheti\er

wea1 d.onal or accul turate4- e reverse Uena is evident

emcmg ~h~ the leaders belcmging to the non-trU,al ethnS.e

gJ:OUp constituted ~e mojorl~ in c:ompmrJ.son to the U1bal

leaders.

~e Uibel leslors viewed from the point of their

4esignat.ion reflect another dimensi.on. ou~ of a total

numba' of emergtng leaders. designatJ.on were given 1n

only around 78 peJ: cent. cases wh.lle the rest of the leaders

had no designat-ion e~ all. Out of these whose dea1gn3U.tmo

were given. it. vas the traditional end J.nstitut.icmal type

of des ignet.1ons which had the lergss~ percent.age of response

(59.3~). Within this catego~. the office of the village

reUg1ous priest:s Uke Pahan. Balga. PUj ar or the vill~e

seeul•\r heatl are Mahato. Munaa. magical specialists or

officials of the inter-village ecnfedera~ion. village

counc:ellors were most £r-equemt.ly given. Next J.n the social

order • came sn-ch lea4ero whose des 1gnat.ions came 1n to the

category of mo::tem institutional leaders (37.56~) and wh1eb

Jncluaes pos1 tlons 11ke Mukhia,. u,p-Mukh1a, sarpanch, Gram

sevalc, PSBC:b and the lUte. Another po~nt. of CbservaUon J.s

397

DESIGNNrlON 011 THE LEAPERS Il>h'N'ri FlED IN TICADAMA AND CHIKONJ

... IT I 9 • ftadZ:: ' MOdem Designations of tha leade~s tlonal ana ins- o~haro

ana Ut.uUo-tnst..\tu.- nal oel.

Of the village 35 yeua eibsl 5 a ana on-tribal - -below tB1 s 2

36 yeus E.t.bal 8 2 1 ana en-tribal - 3 above , ~al e 5

aranel Total 13 1 1 ~~~~-~~----~~-~~~-~-~~~~~~-~~-~~~~-~~-----

outsi<lt!il the 35 yesra r1bal village Gn4 en-tribal

below Total

36 years Tribal 1 1 end Non-tribal 1 above 'ft.) tal 1 2

Grand Total 1 2

Total of Grand Totals 14 1

Percentage 59.3 37.56 4.16

398

t.hat. the pres en~ categ-ory of ciea ignaUcma shows poople 1 s

preference ~ fasclaati.on for ~a 1nst1t.utional ~ype oi

leacien Whether in ~e tradi tlOllal or in the mcxsern context..

Tbe category covering next. .tn or:der is that of •o~ers •

(4.1$) ~ch includes J:'at.her important types of 4es1gnat1ons

Ulce teacher. BDO• vu·:. clerk. inspeetor. cs.ncUdate for

legislative Assemt>ly (cme case only). priests. catechist.s.

or m1ss1onar1es. ObViously. though the leaders falUng in

this category ue mo;ie.E'a• they c.U.ffor from t.he otiler

categories. as~ ~ey aro not. insU tut.1onal. Here. too. 1 t.

is signlfieeat. t.bat in tbis category e major! t.y of th0

leaders ccmo from the aceultuzoatsd v111eqea.

A$t.r.l,tn!tt}s gf U1ba1 leaders:

'Rbe ~ibuua of a utbal leoders may be of two t.ypesa

et tber a personal! tv uait. or an oc:quiced social posJ. t.J.on

on social quality. 3 An cm&l.ysie of t.he at.tributes. however.

will help us to know about their power-struc::twre. KeJ:e ve

v111 be analysing the village-wise diGt&'ibuUcm of tha

at~tbu~es es shown 1n ~1e s.

Tbe analyst:.; of Table 5 presents before us aome

interemttng facts. It points out. that ttte dist.ribut.ion

of a~~~butes is not 0ven 1n the villaqes under study.

~hi.le the at.t.rJ.butes UJ<.e •goccs character• • •s.nst.~tutJ.onal

399

Tfile-S

VJL~-WZSE lmftQlJENCY DX~'i'R%9UTl:ON OF AT:Ri9UT£U OV '.miBAL LEADERS

At.tdbutea I CbAJali ·- .. ·- .!ad¥@ .l TC' - Non- TOt&~ Ul• Non• 'n)ta bo1 ~~ ba1 ~i-

bf!l bal

£sesa!!!u ~es.ta GoG:d Chuac-~J: 2 a s 6 I 7 Hel~ - - - - - -GOCd Judge - 1 1 1 1 2

l:~tm!JEUe xnot!tuuonal AfflllaUon 4 l 5 , 2 9

~uthy or rich a 1 3 3 1 4 014 Gocxl e\.11 t1 VO'tOI:'

Educ:atcc1 l 1 1 1

oifillat.ton•. •wealthy or &-ieb• had & w!deop~ d.&fltlr1•

bUtton. the otttu att.rit:Kl~a wore comparatl vely ecm£1ned •

some Uibel areas only uttich we d.i(l not. stu:ly ~u<n U> the

paucl ~Y o~ Ums.

M!gE!ers~p p!!lSCISSG involVed ie !;be £umergl etlSUOil

t.asUy we vtll focus upon t;he actual leadership

ps:ocess involved 1n tho general e1ect1cn. not by the analysio

400

o~ the electoral figures in ~ of t.ha success. defect

o:- popular1ty of the dUfe&"'et JOlitic:al part.les 41 emcm.g

the "1ba1D but tho stuav of ths facte ·1a c:onnecUcn with

~ie Jd.nship end reltglows off111at.ioa of the w!Dn1ng

ana ccn teaUog cflft41dat.es which help as Ja untten~BDdlng

pcwElt' k1neh1p ciynamica among the KU&ldas and OJ:oons Aft Oihu.

E~tmte Mi'!!Asttsm The feW!' U"ibes of Bihar - aenthal. oraon. Muncie end

Mo - 4om1oate the poUucal scene of the ftglon in pert.iculu

and. st.at.e J.D generu. All t:he JreServed M.P. seats have gone

to them so £or. 'ft\ere are foUl' nspecuve areas of these

four respective ~ibee. They w.leld s1:.nmg 1nf1u.eaee t.beretn.

No o~er tribe hew been su:cceseful t.o oneteh an M.P. seat.

from them as y~. serzriD.g c:ert~.n sporatUc excepUens they

also dominate the Bihar t.egioletlve aeota. ThAta leeds U>

the conclus.lcn tb&t fee11ftg oft caste l.s also a U'Ong emcmg

the Uibes ..

TO matus the picture mo-re clear we c:an tt.dte. for ~le.

ParliamEmtary elecUoos of 1920. '!'here are altogether 14

perlia.-nentarv consU~uencles in Chotanagpur. 0\1~ of wbi.eh 5

&:a nsez:ved for Schedu1etl tribes. The followlng tabla

makes the pes1Uon more clear.

401 a'able-6

RESBRVSD TAIBALS CQ'JSft1't/ENCISS• SHOWING '1M& DOMI• NANCE OJ? THE RESP£CflW TUBES

DCdaance ~Inner can- itwmer up ana constltue- D1sv1ct. of the clida~Jc h1s cest.e nc1es tribe 1980 anCl hts

II I C!SU

1. Dwnka sen~el Seatbal Slbbu SOP •:- P:'ithiv.t. Chao4 Par:ganas ~en4Gan• Kiso. ssnthol

tbel

2. Red Mabel -i.io- -do- seth Herq.; s>sul Hansads,. brun..san- santhal thal

J. l<huat!. R.ancbl Mullda NaBe KOJrO~ Ke.wr J.a M\lndo, M\mda Muncla

4. Loher• -4o- oracm KarUk Kuu.e oracm. Cia go ora.cn# oreoa

oracm

s. Cha1basa Singhbhum KO Begun Sam- T. SodJrO. ral. Ko Mtomaa

source• B&aed en the Pa~lJ.ament.~ elecUcm Re$u1 ts of! 1980.

so, this ~le shows that no only the wSrm ing c:andidat.es

·in ~elr: areaa be1ong tc ~eir U'lbal groui)S bu~ J:'\11\ner ~

CJ:'e also of tho same tribal gRup. Thls 1s not the o tory

of 1980, b\.lt t..he some has been r:epeated in all the sJ.x

pw:l1ement~ el.ecUons he14 o.toce 1950 m 1900.

.,

consu tuenc1ea siectcn I v&m ana CcmtesUiig who vot.ca rejected Candidates ana % of votes ancS votes "of~ [?Ollea .1 $C!;6d

593.802 211.891

(35.68%)

• 1. Nirel £hem HOIO 2. Ker1e Kunda 3. s.IC. Bago 4. tt1111am Lvqun s. Christ Anand 'l.'opno 6. n.H. aura.t NWlCie 7. Smmlel Munda 8. ChODhas Kttall<ho 9. MOses Guria

10. Bbango Kachcbep. 11. atumga acdn 12. KeWalal Honhage 13. surajmukhie Mlns (W) 14-. Hermar Lakra

1980

-n<D JNP INC (I) .JNP(S) IND IND ---------

I 1

vot.-es polled

14.279 54.400 42.0.13 15.642

2.559 2.528 2.332

251 s.me 1.78~ 1,542

984 753 513

36.44 26.68 29.61 1.67 1.25 1.14 .. ,. 0.92 0.92 o.ee o.'Jo 0.48 0.31 0.25 ..,_,.. ........... .._. ..... _..._._ ............ , .. ________ ...,_ 1 •• ··-----········· ___ __._ _____ •

..... ...._...., _______ . ____ -· Lohardaga (S.T.) 638• 943 250.759 1. Kart.lk OJZ'aon

260.429 9.670 2. Ku:ma oraon (40. 16~) (3. '71%) l. Lalu oraCD

f. ttelesphote K~\11" s. Clemen~ ~ &. Lalu Pahan 1. Prabh" Sha~a Cft)ppo 8. Sadtmu Bbagat. 9. Kbwita oraon

to. Yatcub Khelkho 11. !!maftual T1c-keV 12. somas. creon 13. flhikbRm abagat

INC(!) 129.038 JNP 59.692 -mecs> 25.030 J'ID 1~212 nm e.se2 - 3,409 - 3,179 - 3.102 - 2.739 - 1.601 - 1,054 - 802 - 764

soureea Report en the s~venth General Elections to the House of the People 1D lAtU,a_ 1980.- vol.II (SutlsU.Cal) Elect.ion COmm.lastcn of IOCU.a. Nev Delbl.

51.46 23.8D 9.98 •• so 3.54 1.36 1.2'1 t.Jt 1.09 0.'72 ~ 0.42 0 0.32 ~ 0.30

403

Rgl~gioue af£11la~on

ln terms of religious aff11iat.1on. the percentaoe

oi tb0 nm-ehr.lsUan tlribel cuadldaus from the r:eser:ved

parliamentm:y c:onsU tuencl0s of Khunt1 and Loherdaga was

?3.9 per cent (Table G). OUt of the S s-eserve4 tribal

perl.t.ruaent.uy c:OPsUt.uene1es in the Gtat.e cnly one i.e.

Khuotl could return o Cbrl.atioo.tribal. at the polls. while

Lohardaga etc:o retu.md anly non Cbris~e.n canclJdatea.

ln 1967 the election was fought on Christten and non•

Christian lines. Numerical dom1aance of ~e oon-ctur:1st'.ian

tribals can be also four.Kl at th& level of contestants. fltl<ai.r

number for resenecl parliamect.ary c:onst1U1encies vas

62.S VO=' eent as eompared to Z'l.S of ~e <!hrisUan ~bes.

Kineht.p a£~1~ta~29

Basing on the inte~ew w1th a g:-oup of tribal peop~e

and on tracing thell." relationship with the v.t.llege level

and on repoRs of the different general elections. 1~ .t.s

clear tha~ klns~ip does play a very instgnificant ~le eo

far ao the people • s faith in the ccntastaats fort the

election is ccncemed.

2.

404

1 am J.nde'bt.e.t m Prot. L.P. vidv~ for uaing ~le tables. bu.t data are mine.