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Munda in Sanskrit:-
The Sanskrit meaning of Munda is ‘Shaven head’. But
the Munda people are not seen with shaven head. From the records of the British
period, it is known that they used do grow pigtails and even tie up the long
hair into a knot {1}
They however have a custom of hair removal ceremony for the new-born baby. This
is done on the 9th day of birth, called as Narota
ceremony when the baby is named. A barber is called in and the razor is blessed
by the elders by touching it. The use of razor shows that it was not just hair
cutting ceremony but hair removal ceremony.
This is perhaps done as continuing
tradition from the time of the first ancestors who lost their men while fleeing
from the enemy. The children who were born after the death of their fleeing
fathers could have been administered the death related ceremony of hair removal
once the birth pollution period was over. This practice – without remembrance
of the cause for it– is continuing till today. Other than this, shaven head is
something that Mundas are not known for.
At Narota
ceremony.
However there is an exception to this found in a particular
clan or sept of Mundas called “Mudia” or “Mudrundia”. They say that this name means “shaven
head”! {2}. The
surprising element in this name is that “Mudi” in Mudia is the Tamil word for
hair!
The only people of the Mundari speaking tribes having shaven
head are the women of Bonda
tribes. They are also known as Remo!
Remo from Ramayana times
The Remo or Bonda women used to shave their heads regularly.
The reason for this habit is attributed to an incident that happened in
Ramayana times! Some women of these tribes happened to
see Sita taking bath in a pond and were cursed by her for having seen
her bathing. The curse was that they must have their heads shaven and be naked.
Later she rescinded the curse by allowing them wear a waist cloth. It is easy
to dismiss this as a cooked up story, but why should a people who were supposed
to have been living in seclusion in remote places for ages have their women
tonsure their heads regularly and attribute the reason for it to Ramayana
times?
Remo woman
Hair-dressing is naturally an integral feature of womanhood
in any community. There have been instances of forced tonsuring as a method of
punishment or purification. Voluntary tonsuring as a method of propitiation or
prayer to God continues among women in many communities in India even today.
But to condemn all the women-folks of a particular community for all ages, to
not grow hair on the head looks odd. If the Bonda women have had some episode
in the past, they could have retained the memory of it in some corrupted form. But
to connect that episode with Sita of Ramayana could be a real incident and not
a product of an external influence from ‘Hindu neighbours’. As Rama’s
period overlapped with Parashurama’s period, the people who accidentally got
exposed to Sita or anyone from outside would have changed their looks to avoid
detection. The name as Remo for these tribes, resembling Rama adds substance to
this story.
Munda in Tamil
Looking for other meanings for Munda, Munda could even be a
corrupt form of the Tamil word “mandai”. In
Tamil “Mandai” means head. This word fits with their frightened beginnings of
danger to head, as beheading was common mode of killing in wars. Thurston’s
recording of the castes of South India contains a name “MandapOtho”
who were found in Ganjam district and were roaming in the streets of Puri – the place where a Savara king made secret
visits!! (Puri is connected with Dakshina Kali too). Thurston records that MandapOthO man used to bury his head in sand as a way of attracting people to give
him alms. Manda in MandapOtho means ‘head’ (Tamil word), Potho means “bury”. The Manda or Munda referring to head seems to be the name
associated with a people of this region in Puri and Ganjam.
Munda also means “headless body”
in Tamil. The MandapOtho people had exhibited headless body by burying the head
in sand. All this goes to show that people with a name connected to Manda
(head) or Munda (shaven or headless) were in existence in this part of the
country.
Munda in Puranas.
The name Munda appears in Vishnu
Purana in the list of kings who ruled Magadha. While giving the names of
kings and dynasties who ruled for 1390 years after Mauryas, there comes the
mention of thirteen Mundas and
eleven Maunas as those among them. {3}. It is possible to assume these Mundas to be
different from the tribal Mundas as they were mentioned along with Maunas. The
names Munda and Mauna give an ascetic tinge to it. Mundaka Upanishad speaks of Shiro-Vratha in which the ascetic
carries the agni on his shaven head. This makes it plausible that
ascetics were known as Mundas. In the Buddhist lore too, a king by name Munda
had existed.
But a similar list of kings found in Vayu Purana skips Mundas but retains Maunas. However immediately
afterwards, it mentions 13 Marundas as those who ruled Magadha. The number of
kings is same in both Vishnu Purana and Vayu purana, but the name Marunda appears
in Vayu Purana instead of Mundas. This makes it plausible that Marundas and Mundas refer to the same clan.
The crucial name in the list of Vishnu Purana is “Brihadratha” and his
dynasty as the early kings of Magadha. Brihadratha finds mention in Rig Veda
also. Jarasandha of Krishna’s times was a descendant of Brihadratha. Mundas or
Marundas came long after Mauryas in the list of kings. The surprising
connection with Brihadratha is that a king by name Brihadratha fled for fear of Parashurama!
This king Brihadratha, who was the son
of Deviratha and grandson of Dadhivahana went into hiding in Gridhrakuta.
{4}. It is possible
that he belonged to the Brihadratha dynasty or it was from him the Brihadratha
dynasty was started. Their area of control was Bihar
where the Munda tribes are living. Mahabharata lists out other kings too
who had escaped from Parashurama and were living in secrecy. At that time, they were engaged in tending the cattle or working as artisans and goldsmiths or doing odd jobs. After the period of Parashurama, these people
returned to their original places and started new life, mostly as kshatriyas. They were
{1} Haihayas.
{2} Viduratha’s son of Puru’s race (protected by “bear” like
people)
{3} Sarvakarman, son of Saudasa
{4} Gopathy, from Sibi’s dynasty
{5} Vatsa, son of Pratadana
{6} Brihadratha, son of Diviratha
{7} Maruttas.
The last name mentioned in the list was Maruttas, the descendants of a powerful king, Marutta.
They went to live in the sea shores to keep away from Parashurama. All of them
returned to their original regions after Parashurama’s times.
The Brihadrathas had obviously restored their sovereignty in
Magadha. There is no news on Maruttas after that but the name Marundas
appearing in Vayu Purana in the place of Mundas in Magadha raise a question
whether they were descendants of Marutta. The cross reference for this comes
from Ptolemy’s reference to a tribe by name Moroundai in the western
border of ‘Gangaridai’. This covers the region of Bihar. Further cross
reference is taken from Pliny’s narration on “Moredes” tribes along with Surari
or Savaras. {5}
But today there is no clan by this name or resembling this name living along
with Savaras in the tribal regions of Bihar or Jharkhand. The only closest name
is Mundas or Marundas (of Vayu purana)! The phonetic resemblance of Marundas
with Maruttas who were also at the receiving end of Parashurama’s fury makes Mundas the possible descendants of
Maruttas.
Marutta and Asurs
Even the mythical stories on Asur tribes of smelting iron
have a parallel with King Marutta. Fire is the main component needed for iron
smelting. The invention of smelting iron must have been considered as a
break-through idea for it opened up the possibilities of making various weapons
and also agricultural implements. In the narrations about King Marutta, it
is said that he discovered the wealth found buried inside the earth. {6}. The wealth seems
to be the extraction of iron from iron
ores buried under the earth.
Though it is not told openly in the story of Marutta, there
are indications to this effect in the story. {7} Desiring to get wealth, Marutta approached Brihaspati, the
preceptor of Devas to do a sacrifice to get wealth. Brihaspati refused to
officiate the sacrifice citing the reason that he was the priest of Indra of
Devas. Therefore Marutta approached sage Samvarta,
brother of Brihaspati and the son of the sage Angiras. [Angiras was
connected with Atharva Veda and also Agni]. Samvarta is
known as Brihat Jyothi and said to be wandering naked. This symbolises agni
that can be ignited in Nature. The name Samvarta also means some kind of
destruction or a dense mass. He agreed to officiate the sacrifice which was
refused by Brihaspati. Being opposed to Brihaspati, their sacrifice seems to
indicate something not done by Devas. As if to indicate that this sacrifice had
some fierce nature of agni or fire that is not Daivik but asuric, the story
goes on to narrate an interesting episode.
Upon knowing that the sacrifice by Marutta was going to be a
grand one to bring out the wealth buried under the earth, Brihaspati wished
that he could have agreed to officiate. Indra decided to fulfil this wish of
Brihaspati and summoned Agni Deva to go and stop
the sacrifice by Marutta done under the supervision of Samvarta.
Agni went and blew up all along the way burning the forests
and everything on the way. This shows that some severe fire raged at that time.
But Marutta planned to pacify Agni by offering a seat and offerings. Agni
wanted Samvarta to stop officiating the sacrifice and make Brihaspati to take
his seat instead. This infuriated Samvarta who said
that he would burn Agni with his fierce evil eyes. Agni got scared that he
would be destroyed by the fire of Samvarta! This is a strange idea, but
if we assume that the sacrifice to get wealth buried under the earth was in
fact cutting out iron ores and smelting them in furnaces, this predicament of
Agni would not sound strange. Agni as used in sacrifices is Daivik as it does not hurt or scorch others.
But the heat of the furnaces does hurt others, besides scorching the surrounding area and this makes it Asuric. That is how the basic difference exists in Agni as a Deva and Agni as an Asura. It is no wonder that those who live by this agni (of Samvarta) as though they are doing it as a sacrifice came to be called as Asur.
But the heat of the furnaces does hurt others, besides scorching the surrounding area and this makes it Asuric. That is how the basic difference exists in Agni as a Deva and Agni as an Asura. It is no wonder that those who live by this agni (of Samvarta) as though they are doing it as a sacrifice came to be called as Asur.
In this connection the narration in Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad throwing light on what makes a Deva, or a Manushya (human) or an Asura
is worth relating. All the three (Deva, Manushya and Asura) received an advice
from Prajapati as ‘da’.
The word “da” has several meanings, but each of them understood the meaning of ‘da’
in a way that is applicable to their nature and attitude. Each one was aware of
their area of deficiency and as such understood the meaning of “da” as the
thing needed by them to overcome their respective deficiencies. In this way, Asura
understood the meaning of “da” as ‘being merciful’ because the innate tendency
of Asura that makes him Asuric is the tendency to harm others ruthlessly. {8} Applying this rationale
in the above episode, the
Asura-agni can harm others indiscriminately while the Deva-agni does not;
it only burns for the sake of carrying oblations to respective
destinations / Gods. (In the Rig Vedas, wherever a Deva entity is
signified with an Asuric connotation, it can be deduced that it refers to the
furious or destructive side of the entity).
There exists a connection between Agni and Marutta too. Marut or Marutta means wind or gale. When Maruts and
Agni come together the fire is stoked well. There is a hymn in Rig Veda that calls Agni to come with Maruts, the wind
{9}. In the story
of Marutta and Samvarta, Samvarta threatens Agni that he would burn it! One of
the meanings of Samvarta is destruction. Perhaps this warning by Samvarta is
allegorical to the destruction potential of the sacrifice of Marutta (wind) when
Agni is allowed to be present near the furnace.
In Marutta’s story, Agni got
frightened by the prospect of getting burned by Samvarta and went back
to Indra. The infuriated Indra decided to stop Samvarta by bringing thunder
bolts and rains to douse the sacrificial fire of Samvarta. This is also
allegorical to a situation where smelting furnaces had to be closed due to
rains. But then again Marutta decided to give a seat and honour Indra and other
Devas in the sacrifice. Once given a seat, Indra became calm and accepted the
offerings. He was joined by other Devas too. Two bulls, one of red colour for
agni and another of blue colour for Viswadevas were sacrificed and the yajna
was successfully done. It resulted in Marutta getting huge wealth that was
buried under the earth. No one else could come to possess the kind of wealth
that Marutta possessed. {10}
The place of Marutta
There is a cross-reference to this episode from Uttara khanda of Ramayana. {11} While Ravana was roaming in his
Pushpaka vimana, he happened to come to a place called “Usheerabeeja” (उशीरबीज)where he found Marutta doing a sacrifice with
Samvarta as the priest. Ravana called Marutta for a fight but Samvarta stopped
Marutta from taking up arms for the reason that he must not deviate from the
sacrifice that he had started doing. Samvarta said that if Marutta left the
sacrifice midway, Maheswara would burn up his dynasty. This is also allusive of
giving up kshatriya-hood which the Maruttas did when they fled for life from
Parashurama’s fury. Perhaps they didn’t become warriors after the self
exile but diverted their attention to producing iron.
Ravana’s period comes closely after Parashurama’ period and Maruttas are mentioned in Mahabharata as people who had fled from the fury of Parashurama. This Marutta doing the sacrifice with Samvarta must have the one who started new life after Parashurama's time. The meeting with Ravana justifies this time period after Parashurama.
Ravana’s period comes closely after Parashurama’ period and Maruttas are mentioned in Mahabharata as people who had fled from the fury of Parashurama. This Marutta doing the sacrifice with Samvarta must have the one who started new life after Parashurama's time. The meeting with Ravana justifies this time period after Parashurama.
The amazing clue found in this narration is the meaning of
the place “Usheera Beeja”. Usheera is the fragrant root of the plant Vettiver (Andropogon
muricatus ) that grows in river banks and marshy soil. Bihar or the Mundari
tribal regions are not known for growing this plant. But a place bearing
another name of the same plant was there in the west coast of India. It was
known as “Sindhukalaka”. In the map of the world
called Kurma (tortoise) Chakra, Varahamihira gives the names of places that were located in
South West part of India which is actually the region of west coast of India
starting from the estuary of Indus river to peninsular west coast.
Kurma chakra
division of India.
The region in
rectangle is South west.
The line passing
from Lanka to North is the axis that passes through Ujjain and Kurukshetra.
(Not accurate,
only for illustrative purpose)
South West part of Kurma Chakra showing
the probable
location of Sindhukalaka on the estuary of River Indus.
He lists out Hemagiri, Sindhukalaka, Raivataka, Surashtra,
Baadara, Dravida and Maharnva in this stretch {12} Of these Sindhukalaka coming before Raivataka
and Surashtra places it at the estuary of Sindhu where the Kalaka plants
(vettiver / Usheera) grow well. Both Kalaka and Usheera refer to the same plant
that grows well in marshy coasts and estuaries.
The Maruttas lived incognito near the seashore to escape
from Parashurama {13)
Therefore Usheera in UsheeraBija could refer to the coastal region in west.
Once having come back to his previous place, Marutta had retained Usheera as
Usheera Bijas. It must be searched whether any place resembling Usheerabija
exists in Bihar – Jharkhand region.
Marutta in Assyria:-
It is also probable that a section of Maruttas went from
Sindhukalaka to Mesopotamia and Central Asia where they founded Assyria.
(Sindhukalaka was the place of hiding for Maruttas to escape
from Parashurama.
Once the threat was gone, they split with one group
going
back to Bihar – Jharkhand and another to Assyria)
Some of the names of Old Assyrian kings make a striking
resemblance with the characters in Marutta story and in Tamil. Among the early
list of Assyrian kings “who lived in tents”, the name of the first king was "Tudiya" . Tudiya is a
Tamil word that refers to a clan that was one of the 4 olden clans as per a
verse in a Tamil Sangam text. Tudiya was a drummer by profession. Kadamaba is
another one of this group of four. Kadamba was a dancer who was seen wearing
Kadamba flowers. {14} The 5th king after Tudiya
in the list of Assyrian kings was “Mandaru” –
Mandura is the Sanskrit name for rust of iron!
Another king in the link was "Ushpia" who founded
the temple of Ashur. Is ushpia related to Usheera or
Sindhukalaka, in the West coast of India?
Another name is Nazi Marutta of Babylon.
The Kudurru
stones of Nazi Maruttash depict the image of Scorpio that is referred to as Bica in Assamese to mean
Iron-stone ore. {15}
Maruttas’ movement through Mesopotamia reaching Assyria must
be probed. Persia as Parsuwash (in old Persian language) lends further support
to the theory of Vedic kings having moved to these parts of Middle east in the
wake of threat from Parashurama.
Asur and Munda.
Research has shown that iron technology has been indigenous
to India and iron was an important source of income in Mauryan times. {16} Asurs must have been
the unrecognised and invisible contributors for the growth of this industry in
ancient India. The Asur practices at the start of lighting the furnace bear
some resemblances to Marutta’s story. They perform SANSIKUTASI worship which is
in the nature of some magic (as though how Samvarta managed to stop Agni and
Indra from obstructing the sacrifice).Two fowls of red colour (for agni) are
sacrificed (In the sacrifice by Samvarta, 2 bulls were sacrificed of which one
was red, meant for Agni).
There is dance and merry making on this occasion. A
peculiar feature is that musical instruments which are very much essential for
dance or any festive occasion is not played only during this furnace-lighting
ceremony of these tribes {17}
. No one can give a proper reason for this. But if we relate this to Marutta’s
sacrifice, the danger or obstruction to that sacrifice came from Indra, the
wielder of the thunder bolt. The sound of thunder means
the arrival of rains that could douse the fire of the furnace. Perhaps in
memory of this, a practice came to stay not to beat any drums that could mimic
thunderbolt or arrival of rains.
Iron smelting by Asurs or the descendants or subjects of
Marutta must have continued from Marutta’s times. The Agaria
community of Asurs derive their name from agni. The name Maruttas must
have changed into Marundas in course of time.
The Maruttas being warriors, a section of them could have worked for regaining
rulership which is indicated by Vishnu and Vayu Purana. There had been others
cut off from the mainstream. There is scope to believe that Marundas were
originally engaged in iron smelting. One of the words in Sanskrit to denote
iron is “Munda” (मुण्ड). The Munda people say that
the word “Munda” has its origins in the word “Murha”
which they say means “root of the tree”. But “Muru”
(मुरु
) is the name of a variety of iron! The rust of iron is known as “Mandura” (मण्डूर ) in Sanskrit. These words of Sanskrit
sounding like Munda and related to iron cannot be dismissed lightly.
In course of time Marundas had moved away from iron
smelting. Those who were doing it came to be called as Asurs – perhaps due to
the connection with Asura Agni. An Asur
story of the Munda version says how those Asurs greedy of making gold (alchemy?)
suffered destruction. That story also narrates how the land was scorched by the
furnaces accompanied with rain of fire. Perhaps seeing the environmental
hazards of iron smelting, the Marundas aka Mundas started turning their
attention to agriculture, but Asurs continued with iron smelting. The concept of sacred groves must have come up after
experiencing the side effects of iron smelting on the environment and the loss
of forests that were cut to supply fire-wood for the furnace.
An Asur tribe preparing the furnace.
The hazards of fire as expressed in Munda’s myths perhaps made them shun fire in any form. They even shunned the sacrificial fire in their marriage ceremonies. In Vedic marriages, the couple go round the fire to take marriage oath. But in the marriage custom of Mundas, the bride goes round the bride groom for seven times with a pot of water. Water being given an important place in all the ceremonies and customs of Mundas seem to indicate a conscious decision to move away from fire related works and adopt water related customs, obviously with an intention to preserve water and have a cool environment in the neighbourhood of iron smelting Asurs.
Axe as an indicator of Iron age in Parashurama’s times.
Parashurama was known by that name for wielding an axe. The Savara tribes of the Mundari speaking group are known for
always carrying an axe – the weapon cum implement of Parashurama. Savaras
were contemporaries of Parashurama and they took shelter in the mountains and
forests of Bihar to escape from him. {18} The main purpose of the axe was to cut trees of the forests
apparently for the purpose of clearing the land.{19} A Savara myth says that Mahadeva gave them
the axe to clear the forests and the plough to cultivate the land. In the times
of Parashurama, axe was in wider use for they needed to clear forests to build
settlements. The story of Jamadagni
itself is replete with references to how
he shifted his residence to new places by clearing forest lands. Axe being the
commonly available implement, had also come in handy in beheading Renuka and
killing kshatriyas!
Axe or Parashu has a presence in
the tribal names too. One group of Agarias of Asur clan are known as
“Parsa” and they are engaged in producing high
grade iron even today. There are caste names in Chhattisgarh as “Parsoli” – from Parsa meaning axe. It is derived from
the Sanskrit word Parashu, the axe. Among the Oriya (Uriya) tribes too, there is
a section by name “Pharsi” with the meaning axe.
{20} Without a
fused presence of Sanskrit in the country or community and without the iron technology
being present for thousands of years in the past, these tribal names or use of
axe as an integral identity of people ( as in the case of Savaras) could not
have come to stay.
(To be continued)
References:
{1} “The Tribes and Castes of the Central of India” - Volume
IV of IV, by R.V. Russell
{2} “The Tribes and Castes of the Central of India” -
Volume III of IV, by R.V. Russell
{3}Vishnu Purana 4-24
{4} Mahabharata 12-49
{5}“Tribes in ancient India” by Bimala Churn Law. http://archive.org/stream/TribesInAncientIndia/TribesInAncientIndia_djvu.txt
{6} Mahabharata 14-63
{7} Mahabharata 14-Chapters 6 to 10
{8} Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5-2- 1 to 3
{9} Rig Veda 1-19
{10}Mahabharata 14-89
{11} Ramayana 7-18
{12} Brihad Samhita 14-19
{13} Mahabharata 12-49
{14} Pura nanuru - verse 335. There were 4 clans in
existence from olden days in the Tamil society. They were PaaNan / PANa / BANa
(bard), Parayan (who plays the drum called Parai), Tudiyan (who plays the drum
called Tudi) and Kadamban (a dancer who wears Kadamba flowers)
{18} Mahabharata 14-29
{19} Rig Veda 9-96-6
{20} “The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of
India” --Volume I (of IV), by R.V. Russell
