History Of Banjara-Lamani And Their Economic Organization:
( HISTORICAL BACKGROUND )
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Since the Banjara(Lamani)are an immigrant group to this region in Karnataka, a brief history of this region as well as the history of the Lamani community and their movements would be enough and useful in understanding the complexities of their socio-economic life. Historically, Dharwad is one of the important tracts of the wider cultural and political territory known as Karnataka which has been inhabited since prehistoric times. However, it is the medieval history of the area which is relevant to the present study, since the Lamani are said to have come to South India along with the Muslim invaders, as transporters of supplies to their armies. After the fall of the Vijayanagar empire, Dharwad passed under the following rulers Muslims (Adilshahi of Bijapur, 1565-1685); Moghuls (1685-1720): Marathas (1720-1818); and British (1818-1947). It is under the Pax-Britannica that the area came to experience stable law and order and general development (Palande, 1959: 53-106 ).
History of the Lamani and Their Traditional Economic Organization Since the Lamani have been a people on the move till the seventies of the last century, the historical account has to encompass the pan-Indian canvas, which can provide us a perspective of the past of the Lamani of this region. Traditionally, the Lamani, or Banjara, have been carriers of supplies and drivers of pack-bullocks. They are known variously in different parts of the country, in the jungle), Lambada, Lamani and Labhan. All these words except the first are derived from the Sanskrit word lavana, meaning salt, which was one of their principal items of trade (Nanjundayya and Iyer, 1928 135-36). The word Banjara is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word Vanaj and Chara-wanderers of the jungle.
Most nomadic communities believe that they are descended from Rajput ancestry. They say that there are in all thirty six nomadic and semi-nomadic groups. Incidentally this number 36 coincides with the Rajput dynasties, referred to as Royal races' by Lt. Col. Tod (1829) and also mentioned in Hindu scriptures, Communities which are similar to Banjara (Lamani) are Kanjar Bhat, the Habura, the Nat, the Sansi, the Beriya, the Moghul, the Bauria, the Dosadhs, the Gadulia Lohar etc. All these groups who claim Rajput ancestry state that during the reign of terror of Allauddin Khilji (1296-1316) and the defeat of Maharana Pratap Singh of Chittur (1568-69) at the hands of Mughal Emperor Akbar, they retreated to the forests and took an oath to return to their mother country only when Mewar was free from alien domination. The attempt of such communities to link themselves through myths and folklore to the Rajputs (who belong to Kshatriya Varna) is called as a process of Kshatriyaization (not Brahminization) by writers like Gautam (1983 16-17). The Lamani seem to have been one of the ancient tribes of India, since the Sanskrit writer Dandin (about the 6th century AD) mentions them (though not by name) in the fifth canto.
The Lamani existed and practiced the avocation of grain carriers with the help of pack-bullocks since ancient times. In view of their occupation the Lamani of yore may be referred to as non-pastoral nomads or "service nomads" (Gunda 1981 287-300). It is rather difficult to locate the exact place in India from where the Banjara spread to other parts of the country, since there is no unanimity among scholars on this point. Mythological and historical accounts suggest that their homeland was somewhere in north-central India, and more likely in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, from where they spread, in the historical past, in all directions to Kashmir in the north, Deccan and beyond in the south, and in the east to Eastern Uttar Pradesh (Nanjundayya and Iyer, 1928 128-136). It appears to be a mixed ethnic group and owes its origin and organization to the wars in southern India of the Delhi emperors (both Afghan and Mughal), when the Banjara carried the commissariat of the imperial armies (Grier- son, 1968: 256). They helped the imperial army, fighting in an exhausted country far from their supply base, by conducting a fearless and reliable transport service. At the time, they were unsettled nomads (Craufurd, 1742 90; Ferishta 1612 as quoted by Briggs 1819; Ibbetson, 1883 547) According to Briggs (1819), the earliest dated reference to the Lamani is in the Tarikh-e-Khan Jahan Lodi-e-Niamatullah, written in Persian about 1612 AD by Mohd. Kashim Ferishta of the Bijapur court, and the reference is to the events of 1417 and of 1504 relating to the Mohamedan monarchs of the Deccan. The former account truns like this ... in the year 1417, a large convoy of Banjara bullocks was seized by the brother of Feroze Shah Bahamani when the former rebelled and made an attempt on the throne of Gulbarga, and Deccan capital" (Nanjundayya and Iyer, 1928 138). The latter reads: "As scarcity was felt in his (the Sultan's) camp in consequence of the non-arrival of the Banjaras,. he despatched Azam Humayun for the purpose of bringing in supplies" (Grierson, 1968: 256). When the Moghul army invaded the South, the Banjara, with their magnificent system of speedy transportation through the difficult and trackless terrain, earned the goodwill and esteem of the Moghul emperors and generals, and were granted many immunities and privileges for their
16 services. The two Lamani leaders, Bhangi and Jangi, together had with them 180,000 bullocks, while their rival Bhagavandas had only 50,000. As the Moghul emperors conquered southern India and strengthened their position up to the end of the 17th century. Some Banjara remained in different parts of the Deccan and southern India. Later, in the 18th century, they took up- service under the Maratha rulers of Satara, and subsequently under the Peshwas of Poona and the Nizam of Hyderabad. They also played a significant role as carriers of luggage and provisions for the British in their Mysore wars (1792 and 1799) and the wars with the Marathas (1800-1818) (Nanjundayya and Iyer, 1928 139-142; Craufurd 1747 Vol. II: 90) There is no unanimity on the past identity of the Lamani Because of their wandering habits, they were classed among the gypsies of India (Narasimhaiyengar 1893 228).
The Banjara are supposed to be descendants of the original Aryan gypsies of North-West India, whose descendants are also to be found in various parts of central and southern Europe and the Americas (Aiyer, 1962 vii-ix; Sher Singh Sher, 1966 1 -5). As. against this, Chamanlal says : My thesis is the gypsies were mostly taken as slaves to carry loot by the invaders like Mohammud of Ghazni. They were mostly army men and others (connected with the army) and not wanderers" (personal communication, dated 20-7-1971). He considers the appellation 'gypsies' itself is a misnomer, as the word is supposed to.. This could be known from the orders of Asaf Jan, Wazeer of Shah Jahan, who used the services of the Lamani during his raid into the Deccan (against Bijapur, circa 1630). When the Lamani leaders put forward the difficulty of obtaining grass and water for their pack bullocks, Asaf Jan issued the following order engraved in gold letters on a copper plate.
Ranjan Ka Pani Chapper Ke Ghas
Din Ke Teen Khün Maff
Aur Jahan Asaf Jan Knan ke Ghode
Wahan Bangi Jangi Ke Bail khade
The meaning of the plate seems to be: "If you cannot find water elsewhere, you may even take it from the ranjans (pots) of my followers; grass you may take from the roof of their huts; and if you commit three murders a day, I will pardon even this, provided that where I find my cavalry, there I should find always Bhangi-Jangi's (leaders of the Banjaras) bullocks" (Nanjundayya and Iyer 1928: 139).
Egyptian connection, while most people called 'gypsies trace Indian origin. They continue to use Indian words (Chamanlal, 1962: xi) British travelers and officers have referred to the honesty and praiseworthy character of the Lamani as transporters of goods (Campbell, 1884a 122; Thurston 1909:122) in both peace and war. The Lamani also traded with the general population in grain, salt, coconut, spices, cotton and woolen clothes, etc. during peace time, and became a useful means of transport between North and South and between the coastal regions and the upghat regions in the South itself (Buchanan, 1807: Vol. II 144-187 ff; Craufurd, 1747 Vol. I90) The 1891 Census has revealed the heavy concentration of Banjara in the then Hyderabad, Bombay Presidency and Berar in a descending order. They were also found in thirteen other provinces and princely states of India. Thus, their main con centration was in the Deccan and South India by the close of the last century, and it was here that they retained most of their traditional manners, customs and dialect than elsewhere (Grierson 19688 255-56). They lost their traditional calling of transporting merchandise on the back of pack-bullocks along country tracks after the introduction of mechanized transport and opening of railways and roads by the British Government in the early period of their direct rule in India. The increased use of carts because of roads and safety, deprived the Lamani of whatever little transport work they had in the interior regions. So, they turned to the forests for their livelihood by cutting wood and gathering other forest produce. But they could not earn enough from the jungles to live by. Being illiterate, economically back ward and lacking technical skills that would have allowed them to adopt other honest avocation, they became "brutal robbers" and bandits by the middle of the last century (Dubois, 1936 69-70; Buchanan, 1807: Vol. II 44-190 .). Their settlements were located mostly on high ground, affording points of vantage for reconnaissance in their predatory excursions upon the multi caste hamlets of the peasants The Lamani were not favorably disposed towards education of their children (Campbel, 1883 340, 1884a 122). To reform them through persuasion and education was consider by the British administration, Therefore, to control their criminal activities, they were brought under street police supervision and severe sentences were passed by the courts for their crimes. Finally, the Lamani, along with other crime- oriented communities, were brought under the purview of the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 As a result of the breakdown of their traditional economy and the checking of banditry, the Lamani were forced to supplement their earnings from the forest by working as casual labourers in the peasants' fields and by other types of wage labour, quite against their will, as they had no tradition of working as servants. Although they had been settling down as law-abiding citizens since the seventies of the last century, by the first quarter of present century, in north Karnataka, the wandering Lamani were still under police surveillance and were often accused (as in the past) of stealing cattle, kidnapping women and children, passing or making counterfeit coins and of robberies (Enthoven, 1922: 333-42). But eventually they had to settle down to agriculture, although it had never been their occupation at any time of their history (Thurston, 1909 215; Government of Bombay 1889 45, 50, 53; Palande, 1959 194; Row 1903 554; Mead and MacGregor, 1912: 282) The same kind of chequered history and ultimate setting down to agriculture between 1901-1921 is noted for Central Indian Tribes like Bhils, Bhilala, Soharia, Gonds, and Korku by Saxena (1964 69) In the Dharwad district, the Lamani settled down mostly in the Malnad region, in the seventies of the last century. It is only later that the Dharwad district Lamani moved to the plains from the Malnad region for the sake of cultivation after they lost their traditional occupation, concentrated in the hilly regions (Government of Bombay, 1889: 46) After 1947, the Indian government changed the earlier government's policy, and, because of this change of attitude, the Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1949, and these communities were given equal status along with others in the polity. For ameliorative and for purposes of advancement they were declared as 'denotified', or 'ex-Criminal' tribes, a separate category of 'other backward classes.
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This article is written with the help the following references (historical books) and recently published in international journal
References -
1.. LAMANI ECONOMY AND SOCIETY IN CHANGE
(Socio-Cultural Aspects of Economic Change Among the Lamani of North Karnetaka)
By- B.G.Halbar
(Professor Of Anthrapology)
Universtty of Windsor. (Canada) -1986
2. Royal races' by Lt. Col. Tod (1829)
3. Grier- son, 1968:
4. Craufurd, 1742 90; Ferishta 1612 as quoted by Briggs 1819; Ibbetson, 1883 547) According to Briggs (1819),
5.Lamani as transporters of goods (Campbell, 1884a 122; Thurston 1909:122)
6.Thurston, 1909 215; Government of Bombay 1889 45, 50, 53;
7.Palande, 1959 194; Row 1903 554; Mead and MacGregor, 1912: 282)
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Compiled By - Dinesh S. Rathod
(Prof. in English)
