In 1906, the Kotra bhumat was reported to have a population of 17,641, including 903 persons classified as "urban" (presumably living in Kotra cantonment?).
Erskine, Keith David, 1863-1914, and C. C. (Charles Cuningham) Watson. Rajputana Gazetteers. Ajmer: Scottish Mission Industries, 19041909, p 14. Available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012155477/Home.
In 1922, the population of Kotra cantonment was reported to be 857.
India Census Commissioner (1922). Census of India, 1921. Calcutta, p.4. Link.
By 1941, administrative reforms had taken place in Mewar State and Kherwara was organized as a district, of which the thikana of Juda was a sub-division. Presumably, some or all of present-day Kotra lay in the Juda thikana. The population of Juda in 1941 was 27,433.
Dashora, Yamunalal (1942). Mewar in 1941 or A Summary of Census Statistics. Alwar: R.C. Sharma.
Language
"There are a considerable number of words in common use among the Gujaratis and Bhils which are not found in any dictionaries. The question is: Did the Bhils borrow any or all of these words from the Gujaratis, or did the Gujaratis borrow them from the Bhils, or did the Gujaratis and Bhils each add special words of their own to the common vocabulary?"
Thompson, C.S., Rudiments of the Bhili Language, United Printing Press, Ahmedabad, 1895, p.II. Link.
Sharma states that "the dialect...that Grierson has classed as Bhili is Vagadi."
Sharma, G.N. (1960). Social Life in Medieval Rajasthan [1500-1800 A.D.]. Agra: Lakshmi Narayan Agarwal.
However, GS Ojha reports that whereas Mewari is the primary language of the Mewar region, the language spoken in the southern and western parts of Mewar (which includes Kotra) is Vagdi. He describes Vagdi as being related to Gujarati.
Gaurishankar Hirachand Ojha, Udaipur Rajya ka Itihas, Vol 1, Rajasthan Granthaghar, Jodhpur, 1999, p 14. (Link)
As per the 2001 Census of India, 90% of the population of Kotra tehsil speaks Mewari.
Census of India, Table C-16: Population by Mother Tongue, 2001. Available at http://www.censusindia.gov.in/DigitalLibrary/MFTableSeries.aspx
About Bhils
"Although possessing only bows and arrows as their national weapons of warfare, .[the Bhils] have never been entirely conquered. As a people, they have no national aspirations, and, so long as they are left alone, are indifferent to who their rulers may be."
"The Bhils are quite a distinct race from any other Indian tribe, yet few among the latter have higher pretensions to antiquity." (quoting Malcolm's Centrap India p. 517)
"Although possessing only bows and arrows as their national weapons of warfare, .[the Bhils] have never been entirely conquered. As a people, they have no national aspirations, and, so long as they are left alone, are indifferent to who their rulers may be."
"The Bhils are quite a distinct race from any other Indian tribe, yet few among the latter have higher pretensions to antiquity." (quoting Malcolm's Centrap India p. 517)
Thompson, C. S. (1895). Rudiments of the Bhili language ... Ahmedabad [India]: United Printing Press, pg x. Available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007930198
"The space west of Oodipur to the Sirohi frontier is inhabited by communities of the aboriginal races, living in a state of primeval and almost savage independence, owing no paramount power, paying no tribute, but with all the simplicity of republics; their leaders, with the title of Rawut, being hereditary."
Geography of Rajasthan or Rajputana, p. 11. Available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/012456805
"The Bheel tribes are numerous, and it is much regretted that so little is known respecting them." "The writers of works on Rajputana seen never to realize the interest connected with the individual tribes, and contend themselves with mere generalities and compendious statements."
Sherring, M., The Tribes and Castes of Rajasthan, Cosmo Publications, New Delhi, 1975 (first published 1881), p. 82. Link.
Thushara Hewage, a visiting scholar at Seva Mandir, did an excellent study of the politics of tribal identity in Kotra, in Jura (Juda) panchayat in particular in 1999-00. A bad-quality PDF is at this [permalink]. The report was posted in its entirety on the Jagruk Yuva Sangathan blog (without credits to the author, unfortunately) and is available here.
The paper is a classic. It makes great reading today and will be a useful historic document in the future.
Christian evangelism
The Church Missionary Society (CMS) began mission work among the tribal population of the Hilly Tracts (Thompson has an expansive definition of 'Hilly Tracts'; see image below) of Rajputana in 1880.
Thompson, C.S., Rudiments of the Bhili Language, United Printing Press, Ahmedabad, 1895, p.II. Link.
A 1890 letter from Rev CS Thompson outlines the beginnings of the Kotra mission. Thompson states that the Maharaja of Idar granted a piece of land for a mission station and Rs 1,500 for erecting a mission building in Kotra (Gujarat). Kotra (Gujarat) is described as a large Bhil village on the other side of the river from Kotra cantonment. Thompson calls a certain Nathabhai, assistant to the political agent of Mahikantha, as a "fellow-labourer." (Thomson himself is stated, in the preface to the article, as "laboring in the Bhil country since 1881"; see pg. 609. He is the author of Rudiments of the Bhili Language.)
Church Missionary Society (1890). The Church missionary review. London: Church Missionary Society, pg. 612. Available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000544643
Thompson started missionary work in Kotra in 1891 by erecting a rest house and a school in Kotra (Gujarat). Missionary work continued until 1990.
___, Battling and Building amongst the Bhils, Church Missionary Society, London, 1914, p. 64. (Link)
In August 1892, the Revs. CS Thompson and WB Collins appealed for support from fellow evangelists for their work with the Bhils in Kotra. They described the need as critical because "an Arya Samajist is trying his uttermost to undo all that we have done among these hillmen and because Bhagatism is fast taking its hold on the Bhils."
At the time, the authors reported evangelists' stations in Kherwara, Lusaria, Bilaria, and Kotra (Kherwara described as the "central station").
Church Missionary Society (1892). The Church missionary intelligencer. London: Church
Missionary Society, pg. 582. Available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100188881
The station opened by Thompson is said to have been closed in 1900 "after the great famine". "The disused school and bungalow were dismantled and the materials sold."
___, Battling and Building amongst the Bhils, Church Missionary Society, London, 1914, p. 64. (Link)
Details of Thompson's death from cholera are here.
Scott, J (1904), In famine land; observations and experiences in India during the great drought of 1899-1900, New York and London, p. 86. Link
It is reported that around 1911, Helen Bull arrived at the Bhil Mission and it appears she was able to reopen the Kotra station.
Church Missionary Society. (1916). The Church missionary review. London: Church Missionary Society, p. 115. Link.
Bull's station was in the Kotra on the Rajasthan side of Pamri River. A bungalow in the MBK cantonment that fell vacant was sold to the missionaries.
___, Battling and Building amongst the Bhils, Church Missionary Society, London, 1914, p. 65. (Link)
Bhagatism
Rev. CS Thompson derisively calls Bhagatism the "apeing of Brahminism among the Bhils."
Church Missionary Society (1890). The Church missionary review. London: Church Missionary Society, pg. 610. Available at https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000544643
Kaalapani
Among government employees from elsewhere, Kotra is known as 'kaalapani'. The expression was used during the colonial period to refer to the cellular jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India). In a similar way, Kotra served as the “punishment posting” Block for government officials in Rajasthan.
Sarbeshwar Sahoo, Thesis, The multiple faces of civil society: Development and democratization in Rajasthan, India, National University of Singapore, 2009, p.10. (Link)
A Study of Pai
Joshi, J.K., Social Structure & Cultural Change in a Bhil Village, New Heights, New Delhi, undated. Link.
History before Tod
"Very little is known about the early Bhils who inhabited Rajasthan."
Vyas, N. (1978). Rajasthan Bhils: A Contemporary View. In Rajasthan Bhils (p. 1). Udaipur: Manikyalal Verma Tribal Research & Training Institute. Retrieved from https://ia801500.us.archive.org/11/items/in.ernet.dli.2015.117493/2015.117493.Rajasthan-Bhils.pdf.
Settlements
The Bhils never live in villages; teir huts are always separate and scattered all over a valley
General Report on the Operations of the Survey of India, Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta, 1882, Appendix 'Extracts from The Narrative Reports of the Executive Officers', p 12 . Link.
Witch Swinging
An account from 1871.
No comments:
Post a Comment