G’BYE GOA: MUNDARIS & KHARVIS By Valmiki Faleiro Mundaris and Kharvis were the last to arrive among Goa’s ancient, pre-Aryan settlers. Both came from the Chota Nagpur region, like the Asuras and Kols before them. They were, however, the only exception to the pattern where every new tribe subjugated the earlier settlers. Goa’s original settlers, Mhars, were subjugated by Dhangars/Gonvllis. Both were subdued by latter day Asuras/Gawdas. Kols/Kunnbis who came next enslaved them all. Mundaris were subservient to Kols in their place of origin. In Goa, Mundaris worked under Kol protection, which possibly yielded the word ‘Mundkar’ (protected.) Kharvis were perhaps the last to arrive. ‘Kharvi’ is said to be Persian for ‘boatmen.’ In Goa, they settled on land’s fringes, by the sea, and were boatmen. The bulk, though, were fishermen, also known as ‘gabits.’ Goan Saraswats, unlike other Brahmins, have a special affinity to fish – and a strange custom linked to Kharvis. At a mournful Saraswat house, a tiny piece of a Kharvis’ fishing net will discreetly be kept near the dead body. No Saraswat I know is aware of the reason. The customs and traditions, both religious and social, of Mundaris and Kharvis were almost similar to those of the Asuras and Kols (remember they all hailed from Chota Nagpur.) Like sacrifice of he-goats and roosters. Community festivals – Shigmo of men and Dhalo of women – were also common, albeit celebrated with subtle differences. Like Asuras and Kols, Mundaris propitiated their deities by sacrificing red or black fowl, depending on the deity’s hierarchal importance. A white fowl was sacrificed only for the Sim-bongas (spirits of the village boundary) at the important festival of ‘Mage Porob.’ An interesting nocturnal procession it was! On a new moon night, to the beat of drums, Mundaris danced along the line of the village boundary – sprinkling ‘Charu,’ which was boiled rice mixed with fresh blood of a white rooster. Oddly, the ritual led to inter-village fights, when participants of one village strayed into the land of the adjoining village. The ‘Charu’ line reaffirmed the boundary. (Contemporary Goans don’t seem to have changed much; they still stray into their neighbour’s property.) Original tribe names gradually assumed caste connotations like Gaunkar, Gawda, Kunnbi, Sauli, Velip, Zalmi, etc. Life revolved around castes. To what extent can be gauged from the form of dress. Men across castes wore only a loincloth. But each caste had its own distinctive draping style! And while others tied it to cotton waistbands, Mhars and cobblers tied theirs to ones made of silk. Wealthy Kols wore silver ones. Female Kols dressed upto the knees. Women of other castes who could afford it, dressed in sari, the rear padded portion of which revealed one’s caste. But women of Kalavant caste were debarred from wearing a rear pad or a bodice – even if in times before, the nautch girls dressed in a skirt and bodice. Not all, though, wore anything above the waist. The Portuguese enforced a dress code barring bare breasts in public. Women’s hair styles depended on their caste. Thus, virtually from head to toe, from dress form to socio-religious customs, tribal lifestyles were dictated by one’s caste! Their lingua franca was the Mundari predecessor of Konknni, in the Mauryan Prakrit form. Indo-Aryans described it as the ‘song language’ of India, Sanskritized and enriched it and, like the lands and gods of original settlers, made it their own. If deities, rituals, festivals and customs of the Asuras, Kols, Mundaris and Kharvis of ancient Goa were common, these also often overlapped with those in the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Tribal Goa was integrally a part of South Indian culture. This was to change drastically with the arrival of racially different Indo-European Aryans, who conquered and subjugated Goa’s tribals. Tribals turned to ‘inferior’ humans. They could enter the new master’s house only by the rear door, after removing footwear and headgear, stand and talk and, if asked to sit, do so on the ground – never in a chair. There was, of course, no question of ever sitting together for a meal ... though a genetic mix-up did occur with offspring of tribal women. (ENDS.) The Valmiki Faleiro weekly column at: http://www.goanet.org/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=330 ====================================================================== The above article appeared in the May 31, 2009 edition of the Herald, Goa
