Baiga is a tribe found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand states of India. The largest number of Baigas is found in Baiga-chuk in Mandla district and Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. They have sub-castes – Bijhwar, Narotia, Bharotiya, Nahar, Rai Bhaina, and Kadh Bhaina. Their population as of Census 1981 was 248,949.
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A 2010 study by the Anthropological Survey of India and the Texas-based Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research identified seven genomes from 26 isolated "relic tribes" (sic) from the Indian mainland, Baiga being one of them, which share "two synonymous polymorphisms with the M42 haplogroup, which is specific to Australian Aborigines." These were specific mtDNA mutations that are shared exclusively by Australian aborigines and these Indian tribes, and no other known human groupings.[1]
The Baiga tribes practice shifting cultivation in forest areas. They say they never ploughed the Earth, because it would be like scratching the breast of their Mother, and how could they possibly ask Mother to produce food from the same patch of earth time and time again – she would have become weakened. That’s why Baigas used to lived a semi-nomadic life, and practiced Bewar cultivation (slash & burn) – out of respect, not aggression. Until fairly recently the Baigas practiced 'dahiya' cultivation, that is, slash and burn. Thousands of squire miles of sal forests have been clean destroyed by them in the progress of their dahiya cultivation, the ground being afterwards occupied by dense scrub of low sal species springing from the stumps. The Baigas are courageous woodsman and hunters.[2][3]
The Baiga tribe in Madhya Pradesh is known for its unique culture. They do not interact even with other tribals like the Gonds, believe in a hand-to-mouth existence, and do not try to access education, eat outside their community, or associate with others. After a death in the family, the Baigas just leave the house and build another. They are totally dependent on the jungle, they do not engage in tendu patta collection, which is a major livelihood provider in Madhya Pradesh.
One of the tribes for whom tattooing is an integral part of their lifestyle is the Baiga tribe. This tribe inhabits the dense hilly forests in the eastern part of the Satpuras, in Shahdol, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Mandla, and Balaghat districts. The Biagas are of Dravidian stock and are one of eight prime tribes of M.P.[4]
It is believed that this tribe is an offshoot of the Bhuiya tribe of Chhota Nagpur. A distinguishing feature of the Baiga tribe is that their women are famous for sporting tattoos of various kinds on almost all parts of their body. The women who work as tattooing artists belong to the Ojha, Badni and Dewar tribes of M.P., and are called Godharins. They are extremely knowledgeable about the different types of tattoos preferred by various tribes. Their mothers traditionally pass on this knowledge to them. Tattooing amongst the tribals commences with the approach of winter and continues until summer.[4]
P. H. REDDY and B. MODELL of Department of Obestrics and Gynaecology, University College London Medical School, London, UK have studied the demographic characteristics of the Baiga tribe, one of the most primitive of the aboriginal tribal groups of Central India. It is found that the Baiga population has grown steadily since the first anthropological study of the tribe in the 1930s. Age at menarche, age at marriage, breast-feeding, and time interval between marriage and first conception are natural. There are more females than males. Sub-tribe endogamy is common; consanguineous marriage is favoured (34% of marriages are between first cousins) and marital distance is low (mean 7·1 km). Though the mean menarcheal age is high (15·2 years), mean age at first marriage is low (16·6 years), giving a long reproductive period.[5]
The baiga takes coarse food and shows no extravagance in this aspect. They eat coarse grain, kodo, and kutki, drink pej, eat little flour and are normally content with what little that they get. One of the prime foods is pej that can be made from grounding macca or from the water left from boiling rice. Local people gave testimony that this food is much more better and healthier than many other food that they eat. Also, beyond doubt they eat several items from the forest that includes primarily Chirota Bhaji, Gular leaves such as Chirota, chinch, chakora, sarroota, peepal etc. They also eat BirarKand, Kadukand and other rhizomes. Mushroom is also a delicacy. Numerous fruits such as mango, char, jamun, tendu are also eaten. They hunt as well, primarily fish and small mammals.[6]
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