Jharkhand: Tribes, Culture and Languages

The tribes of Jharkhand

• Scheduled Tribes make up 26.2% of the population (Census 2011), in 32 notified tribes.
• The largest tribes: Santhal (about a third of the ST population), Oraon (Kurukh), Munda and Ho. Then come Kharwar, Lohra, Bhumij, Kharia and others.
• 8 PVTGs (Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups):
  • Asur: iron-smelters, in Gumla and Latehar;
  • Birhor: hunter-gatherers who use rope and monkey-catching skills;
  • Birjia;
  • Korwa;
  • Mal Paharia;
  • Parahiya;
  • Sauria Paharia: Rajmahal hills;
  • Savar.
• Language families:
  • Austroasiatic (Munda) languages: Santhal, Munda, Ho, Kharia, Bhumij and Asur.
  • Dravidian: Oraon (Kurukh), Mal Paharia and Sauria Paharia.
• Districts with a high ST share: Khunti, Gumla, Simdega, West Singhbhum, Latehar and Dumka. Fifth Schedule areas cover 13 districts fully and 3 in part.

Traditional self-government

Tribe	Village head	Above the village	Other roles
Santhal	Manjhi	Pargana (and Desh Manjhi)	Jog Manjhi (youth), Naike (priest), Godet (messenger)
Munda	Munda (head), Pahan (priest)	Parha (Manki in some areas)	Khuntkatti village and clan land
Ho	Munda	Manki (over a pir)	Recognised by Wilkinson's Rule (1837)
Oraon	Mahto, Pahan (priest)	Parha (Parha Raja)	Dhumkuria (youth dormitory)
Kharia	Dokolo/Kalo	Dhokla-Sohor
Paharia	Manjhi/Sardar	—	Sardari system from British times

• Youth dormitories are institutions for teaching customs, dance and work. They have different names: Dhumkuria (Oraon), Giti-ora (Munda and Ho) and Ghotul (in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, among the Gonds).
• PESA (1996) gives gram sabhas power over resources in Scheduled Areas. Jharkhand took decades to frame its own PESA rules, under pressure from the High Court; check the latest status before the exam.

Festivals

Festival	When	About
Sarhul	Chaitra (spring)	Sal flowers; the Pahan worships at the sarna (sacred grove); new year for Oraon and Munda
Karma	Bhado (Aug–Sep)	Karam tree branch; for brothers' well-being and fertility
Sohrai	Kartik (after Diwali)	Cattle festival; walls painted with Sohrai art
Tusu (Makar)	Poush–Makar Sankranti	Harvest festival of the Kurmi and Santhal areas; Tusu songs
Baha	Spring	Santhal flower festival
Jitiya, Mage Parab, Hal Punhya, Rohini	Various	Agricultural cycle
Shravani Mela	Shravan	Baba Baidyanath (Deoghar) kanwar yatra from Sultanganj

Dance, music and art

• Dances:
  • Chhau (Seraikela style), a masked dance on UNESCO's list (2010);
  • Jhumar;
  • Paika (a martial dance);
  • Domkach (at weddings);
  • Jadur and Karma dance;
  • Natua;
  • Firkal (Bhumij martial).
• Instruments: mandar, nagara, dhol, banam (a Santhal fiddle), flute, tamak and sarangi.
• Painting:
  • Sohrai and Khovar (Hazaribagh), both with GI tags (2020);
  • Paitkar (scroll painting, Amadubi in East Singhbhum);
  • Jadopatia (Santhal scroll).
• Crafts:
  • Dokra (lost-wax metal);
  • bamboo;
  • tasar silk;
  • terracotta.

Languages and literature

• Official languages: Hindi, with second state languages under the Jharkhand Official Language (Amendment) Act, 2011 and later additions.
• Second state languages: Santhali, Mundari, Ho, Kharia, Kurukh, Kurmali, Khortha, Nagpuri, Panchpargania, Urdu, Bangla, Odia and others.
• Santhali is in the Eighth Schedule (92nd Amendment, 2003). Its script is Ol Chiki, created by Pandit Raghunath Murmu (1925).
• Ho uses Warang Chiti, created by Lako Bodra.
• Writers and scholars:
  • Ram Dayal Munda, Padma Shri; "Je nachi se bachi" ("those who dance, survive");
  • Rose Kerketta (Kharia);
  • Dr Ramanika Gupta;
  • Jaipal Singh Munda, a political thinker;
  • Mahasweta Devi, who wrote Aranyer Adhikar on Birsa Munda.
• Sadani or Nagpuri has long been the common link language of the region.

Places of religious and cultural importance

• Baidyanath Dham (Deoghar): one of the 12 jyotirlingas.
• Parasnath (Sammed Shikhar), Giridih: 20 of the 24 Jain tirthankaras are believed to have attained nirvana here.
• Rajrappa (Ramgarh): the Chhinnamasta temple at the meeting of the Damodar and Bhairavi.
• Basukinath (Dumka), Itkhori (Chatra) with Hindu, Buddhist and Jain remains, Maluti (Dumka) with terracotta temples, and the Jagannath temple in Ranchi (1691).
• Sarna is the traditional nature-worship faith of many tribes. The Jharkhand Assembly passed a resolution in 2020 for a separate "Sarna code" in the Census.

Exam tip: JPSC Paper II asks about tribes, festivals and self-government. Make a table of each major tribe: language family, village head, dormitory, main festival and districts. Know the 8 PVTGs and the second state languages.