Munda people

The Munda are tribal (Adivasi) people of the Chota Nagpur Plateau region.

They are found across Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Assam states of India, and into parts of Bangladesh. Their language is Mundari, which belongs to the Munda subgroup of the Austro-Asiatic language family.

There are estimated to be two million Munda people.

Contents

History

As Austro-Asiatic speakers, the Munda people are among the indigenous peoples of the Indian subcontinent.[1]

The term Munda given to this community designates the name of the leader of the tribal community. The munda call themselves "Hodoko" which means "Human Beings".

Though nothing much exists in contemporary history, oral stories, myths, ballads and songs provide some minimal information here and there. The Munda People have been living in the same region/place for quite a long time, considering it their home from birth to death. However, many of their folk ballads and songs or festivals display traits alien to chotanagpur region.

Culture

Religion and Identity

Many Munda choose to write "Munda" in place of their surname. There are also group of Munda families who are called Sing Munda.

Notable Mundas

See also

Literature & Studies

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Pre-Aryan and Pre-Dravidian in India. By Sylvain Lévi, P. Levi, Jules Bloch, Jean Przyluski.

Further reading

External links