Binjhia

Abstract

This photo handbook gives a short illustrative account of the Binjhia or Binjhoa - a little known tribe of Odisha. Spread over the states of Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, they identify themselves as 'Vindhyaniwasi' or 'Bindhyabasini Khyatriya'. They say that their original homeland was Kolangiri in the Vindhya Valley in the former Central Provinces from where they had gradually migrated to Chhotanagpr of Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh and Keonjhar, Sundergarh and Barasobmar estate of Bargarh districts of Odisha. They were called as 'Binjhia' in Chhotnagpur and 'Binjhawars' in Chhatisgarh. According to their popular myth they had close association with Lord Shri Ram. In Odisha, they are mostly found in Sundergarh district and sparsely distributedin the adjoining areas. They do not have a language of their own and speak a dialect that is a crude mixture of Odia and Hindi. The Binjhia are non-vegetarians and agriculture is the mainstay of their economy. They do not eat beef and pork but consume alcoholic drinks including the handia (rice beer). Since most of them are either landless or marginal farmers, they supplement their livelihood by animal husbandry, seasonal forest collections and wage earning inagriculture, construction, industrial and mining sectors. They prepare umbrella from the siali leaf and broomsticks from berna grass and sell these in the market for cash. The Binjhia is an endogamous community who are divided into several exogamous gotras (clans) ranked in a hierarchical order. In the local social hierarchy, the Binjhias consider themselves superior to other tribes and claim the status of a clean caste equal to the Rajputs. Like other tribes of north and west Odisha, they profess the Sarna (sacred grove) religion, worship their tribal deities seated in the village sacred groove (sarna). They observe the festivals like Sarna Puja, Bhai Jiuntia, Pua Jiuntia, Karma, Sarhul, Janisikar etc. with pomp and ceremony. Their traditional community leaders and council is still effective to handle their customary affairs. Development interventions by the government and non-government agencies in their areas have certainly brought noticeable changes in their life style providing them an opportunity to integrate themselves in the national mainstream. This graphic documentation on the life style of Binjhia tribe is a part of the Series on Tribes of Odisha published by SCSTRTI, Bhubaneswar. It is hoped that this book would be of enormous help as a ready reference for the tribal lovers and the tribal researchers alike.