Domba

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Domba
Total population

100,000 - 1,000,000 (est.)
Regions with significant populations
Pakistan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
Languages
Domaki, Domari, Marathi, Gujarati, Kashmiri, Hindi, Oriya, Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Mundari
Religions
Animism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Doma, Dalit

Domba or simply Dom is a Sanskritic term used in elite Indic literature for ethnic or social group or groups that is found across India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. They are usually segregated from the mainstream community as out castes. It can also be used as a synonym for the more popular term, namely Chandala.[1]

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[edit] Origin of the word Dom

It has been suggested that dombī is a word of Munda origin, that is, a pre-Vedic aboriginal Indian language. Its presumed root, dom, which is connected with drumming, is linked to damara and damaru, Sanskrit terms for drum. Further it has also been suggested that it could be derived from Tamil Itumpi for a prankster. All pointing to a pre-Indo-Aryan origin for the word and the ethnic group.

[edit] Ethnic origins

The term Dom or Domba is extensively used in Indian Hindu and Buddhist literature for a segregated and enslaved population. Domba women or Dombii played an important role in Tantric practices where they were chosen as the sexual partners because of the debased status in society.

Currently there remain several thousand people across India known depending on various regional dialects, as Domaki, Dombo, Domra, Domaka, Dombar, Dommara and Domba. In Western India, in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat they are referred to as Domba or Domari which is very similar to the named used in the Middle East (see Dom people). Place name studies indicate that they attested all over India and even in Sri Lanka.

Whether all social groups that are called with similar names today are related or derive from this ancient designation is debatable. Most likely it is a term that is applied to people with similar life styles across India and Pakistan.

Currently some are sedentary where as others exit on a nomadic mode of life along with number of other tribal people such as Banjaras and Lambanis. Some Nomadic Doms in India remain distinct from the local populace in terms of their dress. Nomadic Domba women typically wear bright blues and reds, with numerous thick bangles often covering the entire forearms and arms, a practice that can be seen across other ethnic groups from Rajasthan.

Although researchers made a connection between the name Dom and Rom of the Romani people, suggesting that they are related, however, in the context of the Romani language, Rom means "married person", "husband", while Romni means "wife". The unmarried are named Chavo/छावो ("boy") (pronounced [cʰaʋo]) or Chey/छेय ("girl"). The proper way to address a heterogeneous group is Romale thay chavale!/रोमाले थाय छावाले ("Roma and Chave!"). The internal separation between married and unmarried is employed because among Roma the marriage is the most important event in life. The origin of the word Rom/रोम is proposed as the Sanskrit word ram/रम or ramaṇ/रमण meaning "husband".

There are proposed also other origins, like the Bihari Rouma ("gentleman") or the Sanskrit ḍōma, designating low caste people [1]. The last one was preferred and upholded by many non-Roma since it justified the discrimination against Roma, although there is no evidence of a relation with the Domba. Moreover, the Dom name used in South Asia is an exonym employed by high caste people to designate some unrelated ethnic groups that use their own different ethnic names as endonyms (proving this origin as untrue).

[edit] Distribution of Doms in South Asia

[edit] Dom in Pakistan

In 1989, 500 people were counted as speaking Domaaki or Domaki in the Shina valley area. The people are called 'Bericho', 'Dom', or 'Doma'. They are Musicians and blacksmiths. All are Muslims and have a tradition of being brought over from some part of India.

[edit] Dom in Himachal Pradesh

Dom's in Himachal Pradesh exhibit the archetypical characteristics of an indigenous hunter gatherer tribe that has been incorporated as part of the caste system. Doms are agricultural workers, basket weavers and small scale agriculturalist. They are not known for their nomadic existence. They are also recognized by their neighbors as the original inhabitants of the forests lands.

[edit] Dom in Andhra Pradesh

With regard to the Dom community in Andhra Pradesh, they are known as Dommara and are a Telugu speaking caste of people found in the Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh. In the temple town of Yadagirigutta they are extensively used for the flesh trade by others. Poverty and a tradition of involvement in prostitution have rendered the community susceptible unscrupulous people trafficking young children for the flesh trade.

[edit] Dom in Orissa

With regard to the Dom community in Orissa,they speak indo-ariyan Oriya language. They live as neighbors to the Dravidian speaking Khonds tribals and play a subordinate role to them, acting as their messengers and procuring their sacrifice. According to the writer Stephen Hodge, the Khonds used to indulge in human sacrifice till the end of 19th century. Thee sacrificial victims were procured by Doms.[33]. Doms speak Dravidian Kondhi as well as Indo-Aryan Oriya language.

[edit] Dom in Tamil Nadu

Doms in Tamil Nadu are known as Dombar or Thombar and are found in villages around the city of Salem. They are mostly Tamil speakers.

[edit] Dom in Karnataka

They are also found in sizeable numbers in Karnataka. There s a major settlement on the outskirts of Belgaum city in the north of the city. They are known as jugglers and acrobats.

[edit] Dom in Uttar Pradesh

In Varanasi the holy Hindu city in Uttar Pradesh, they perform the most important task of ceremation of dead bodies.

They are also attested in ancient as well as current literature as a scheduled or Dalit caste in Bengal, Bihar and Kashmir also.

[edit] Connection with Middle East Dom people

The Dom people, an ethnic group scattered through many Middle East countries, are widely assumed to be related the Domba of India.

[edit] Entertainers

People identified as Doms have long been workers at cremation places, scavengers, or weavers of ropes and baskets. They are also traditionally well known for their musical ability. A medieval history describes the Dom community as a caste that makes its living from music. There are furthermore references to certain ragas entitled Dombakriti, Dombakriya, Dombakrī, Domb and Dombikā, and a deshī or "folk" tāla called Dombuli. Even to this day, the various Dom communities continues to provide India with skilled musicians.

Most currently some Dom earn their living by entertaining as street performers and jugglers. In a typical show, known colloquially as Dombaryacha khel (DombaraaTa in the south of India), i. e. a performance by the Domba(ri), the whole family participates. The older males usually demonstrate their expertise with a long whip, including the ability to withstand self-flagellation of a bare torso with the whip in a fairly dramatic manner.

The older womenfolk often don't actively participate in the show but stand by the sidelines as assistants. The younger members of both genders perform acrobatic feats. A typical act in the Dombaryacha khel is balancing an hour-glass shaped object on a string, which in turn is tied to a stick at each end. The sticks are flicked sharply to catapult the hourglass object 50-60 feet in the air, which then is expertly caught in the string just before it reaches ground. Adopting a mongrel dog as a pet is fairly common as is the use of the trained mongrel in their performances.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Romani words for Romanies and non-Romanies - Ian Hancock

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • 6 Swaminathan Madhuresan, ".dombii as scavenger woman," email, Archives of Indology, http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0004&L=indology&P=R7389&D=1&m=20581 (21 Apr 2000). The writer makes mention of the southern Indian Dombar/thombar community, a Dravidian caste found living in Salem and Tiruchy. He further wonders if dombī is not the itumpi in Tamil works. A Tamil Lexicon defines itumpu as "mischief" or "pranks," while the word itumpai means "affliction."

[edit] External links