Bhil
Encyclopedia
Bhils are primarily an Adivasi
people of Central India. Bhils are also settled in the Tharparkar District
of Sindh
, Pakistan
. They speak the Bhil languages
, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages
.
Bhils are listed as Adivasi residents of the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh
, Chhattisgarh
, Maharashtra
,and Rajasthan
in western and central India as well as in Tripura
in far-eastern India on the border with Bangladesh
. Bhils are divided into a number of endogamous
territorial divisions, which in turn have a number of clans and lineages. Most Bhils now speak the language of the region they reside in, such as Marathi
and Gujarati
.
The Ghoomar
dance is one well-known aspect of Bhil culture.
In feudal and colonial times, many Bhils were employed by the ruling Rajput
s in various capacities, e.g. as Shikari
s because of their knowledge of the terrain. Many had even become warriors in armies. They were in the Mewar
army of Maharana Pratap Singh
and like Chhatrapati
Shivaji, were experts in guerilla warfare which the Mughal Empire
had so much trouble handling. Today, there is a Mewar Bhil Corps.'
Khadem (tribe) The Khadem (Rajasthani: ख़ादिम, Urdu: خادم)
The name "Khadem" comes from the Arabic khadem for service or care. The Khadem of Ajmer are converted Muslims from the Bheel religion[3]
In the case the court hold as under "that Laikha and his brohther Taikha became muslim in samvat 1175 (samvat chandra bhat), It was samvat (vikrami) 1265 then Khadem are the descended of Laikha and Taikha, were bhil. Laikha's islamic name was Fakharuddin , Taikha's name was Mohammad Yadgaar... Khadem of Ajmer Are Converted Muslim Form The Bheel Religion ( From The Book - "The Shrine And Cult Of Mu'in al- din Chishti of Ajmer" By P. M. Currie (Author)Oxford University Press) Page. 146-147
In Hindu mythology
, popular Bhil figures are Shabari
, who offered Rama
and Lakshmana
half-eaten jujubes
when they were searching for Sita
in the forest. Matanga was a Bhil sage who became a Brahmana.
According to a Brahman parohit of the Ahirias at Hodal, the Baurias and Ahirias are descended from Goha, a Bhil who married a Thakur, and the children were Baurias and Ahirias where the Ahirias are very mixed and the pure unmixed Bhils are the Baurias.
In the Mahabharata
also there is a popular story of Ekalavya
, a Bhil, who developed his archery skill as equal to Arjuna
. Drona
asked his thumb in Guru-Dakshina.
Rama appears in a Bhil myth where there has been a flood that wiped out humanity; he suggests how it can be repopulated. Bhils also believe in Bholo Iswor
. In Central India, their religion is called Sarna.
of settled farmers, with a significant minority who are landless agricultural labourers. A significant subsidiary occupation remains hunting and gathering. The Bhil are now largely Hindu
, with Nidhi
and Tadvi Bhil
following Islam
, and few sub-groups in the Dangs following Christainity. They continue to worship tribal deities such as Mogra Deo and Sitla Matta.
, Bhil Dungri Garasia
and Bhil Vasava
. While in Maharashtra
, the Bhil Mavchi
and Kotwal are their main sub-groups. In Rajasthan
, their main divisions are the Bhil Gametia
and the Bhil Kataria.
Bheels of Bilag are considered as Hada Chauhan
and are also known as Aahaari, while those of Kagdar are known as Rathore
. Langotia Bhils wear a lion on waist which is known as Khoyatu. Their ladies wear ghaghara reaching up to the knee known as Kachhawa.the bhil are divided into a no. of endogamous territorial.
Adivasi
Adivasi is an umbrella term for a heterogeneous set of ethnic and tribal groups claimed to be the aboriginal population of India. They comprise a substantial indigenous minority of the population of India...
people of Central India. Bhils are also settled in the Tharparkar District
Tharparkar District
Tharparkar District is one of twenty three districts of Sindh province in Pakistan. It is headquarters is at Mithi. It has the lowest Human Development Index of all districts in Sindh.-Demography:...
of Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
. They speak the Bhil languages
Bhil languages
The Bhil languages are a group of Western Indo-Aryan languages spoken by some 6 million Bhils in western, central, and by small numbers, even in far eastern, India...
, a subgroup of the Western Zone of the Indo-Aryan languages
Indo-Aryan languages
The Indo-Aryan languages constitutes a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, itself a branch of the Indo-European language family...
.
Bhils are listed as Adivasi residents of the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
, Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in Central India, formed when the 16 Chhattisgarhi-speaking South-Eastern districts of Madhya Pradesh gained separate statehood on 1 November 2000....
, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
,and Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
in western and central India as well as in Tripura
Tripura
Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
in far-eastern India on the border with Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. Bhils are divided into a number of endogamous
Endogamy
Endogamy is the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such basis as being unsuitable for marriage or other close personal relationships. A Greek Orthodox Christian endogamist, for example, would require that a marriage be only with another...
territorial divisions, which in turn have a number of clans and lineages. Most Bhils now speak the language of the region they reside in, such as Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
and Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
.
The Ghoomar
Ghoomar
Ghoomar is a traditional women's folk dance of Rajasthan, India which was developed by the Bhil tribe and was adopted by other Rajasthani communities...
dance is one well-known aspect of Bhil culture.
Origin
Historically, the Bhil were tribals, residing in deep forests and experts in hunting: a fearsome tribe.In feudal and colonial times, many Bhils were employed by the ruling Rajput
Rajput
A Rajput is a member of one of the patrilineal clans of western, central, northern India and in some parts of Pakistan. Rajputs are descendants of one of the major ruling warrior classes in the Indian subcontinent, particularly North India...
s in various capacities, e.g. as Shikari
Shikari
A Shikari is a big game hunter, especially in India, a native hunter who serves as a guide. The word is derived from Persian Shikar + Persian suffix i...
s because of their knowledge of the terrain. Many had even become warriors in armies. They were in the Mewar
Mewar
Mewar is a region of south-central Rajasthan state in western India. It includes the present-day districts of Pratapgarh, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara and some of the part of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The region was for centuries a Rajput kingdom that later...
army of Maharana Pratap Singh
Singh
Also see SinhaSingh is a common title, middle name, or surname in Northern India and South India used by sikhs warriors and kings. eg. Man Singh I, Maharana Pratap Singh. It is derived from the Sanskrit word Siṃha meaning "lion and used by Ahir kings of Nepal". It is also used in Sri Lanka by...
and like Chhatrapati
Chhatrapati
Chhatrapati is the Indian honorific title equivalent to the European Emperor. It is more formally written as Kshetrapati, from the Sanskrit kshetra- and -pati...
Shivaji, were experts in guerilla warfare which the Mughal Empire
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
had so much trouble handling. Today, there is a Mewar Bhil Corps.'
Khadem (tribe) The Khadem (Rajasthani: ख़ादिम, Urdu: خادم)
The name "Khadem" comes from the Arabic khadem for service or care. The Khadem of Ajmer are converted Muslims from the Bheel religion[3]
In the case the court hold as under "that Laikha and his brohther Taikha became muslim in samvat 1175 (samvat chandra bhat), It was samvat (vikrami) 1265 then Khadem are the descended of Laikha and Taikha, were bhil. Laikha's islamic name was Fakharuddin , Taikha's name was Mohammad Yadgaar... Khadem of Ajmer Are Converted Muslim Form The Bheel Religion ( From The Book - "The Shrine And Cult Of Mu'in al- din Chishti of Ajmer" By P. M. Currie (Author)Oxford University Press) Page. 146-147
In Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
, popular Bhil figures are Shabari
Shabari
Shabari is an elderly woman ascetic in the Hindu epic Ramayana. According to the Ramayana, she was an ardently devoted woman who received Rama's darshan and blessing due to her Bhakti to Him.- Story :...
, who offered Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and Lakshmana
Lakshmana
Lakshmana was the brother and close companion of Rama, and himself a hero in the famous epic Ramayana...
half-eaten jujubes
Ziziphus mauritiana
Ziziphus mauritiana, also known as Jujube, Chinee Apple, Indian plum, and permseret , is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae....
when they were searching for Sita
SITA
SITA is a multinational information technology company specialising in providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry...
in the forest. Matanga was a Bhil sage who became a Brahmana.
According to a Brahman parohit of the Ahirias at Hodal, the Baurias and Ahirias are descended from Goha, a Bhil who married a Thakur, and the children were Baurias and Ahirias where the Ahirias are very mixed and the pure unmixed Bhils are the Baurias.
In the Mahabharata
Mahabharata
The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
also there is a popular story of Ekalavya
Ekalavya
In the Hindu epic Mahābhārata, Ekalavya is a young prince of the Nishadha tribes, and a member of a low caste, who aspires to study archery in the gurukul of Dronacharya. After being rejected by Drona due to his low caste, Eklavya embarks upon a program of self-study in the presence of a clay...
, a Bhil, who developed his archery skill as equal to Arjuna
Arjuna
Arjuna in Indian mythology is the greatest warrior on earth and is one of the Pandavas, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahābhārata. Arjuna, whose name means 'bright', 'shining', 'white' or 'silver' Arjuna (Devanagari: अर्जुन, Thai: อรชุน, Orachun, Tamil: Arjunan, Indonesian and Javanese: Harjuna,...
. Drona
Drona
In the epic Mahābhārata, Drona or Dronacharya was the royal guru to Kauravas and Pandavas. He was a master of advanced military arts, including the Devastras. Arjuna was his favorite student. Dronas love for Arjuna was second only to his love for his son Ashwatthama...
asked his thumb in Guru-Dakshina.
Rama appears in a Bhil myth where there has been a flood that wiped out humanity; he suggests how it can be repopulated. Bhils also believe in Bholo Iswor
Ishvara
Ishvara is a philosophical concept in Hinduism, meaning controller or the Supreme controller in a theistic school of thought or the Supreme Being, or as an Ishta-deva of monistic thought.-Etymology:...
. In Central India, their religion is called Sarna.
Present Circumstances
The Bhil are now mainly a communityCommunity
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
of settled farmers, with a significant minority who are landless agricultural labourers. A significant subsidiary occupation remains hunting and gathering. The Bhil are now largely Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
, with Nidhi
Nirdhi Bhil
Nirdhi Bhil or sometimes pronounced as Nilde Bhil are a Muslim community found mainly at the base of the Satmalas hills in the Jamner and Pachora subdivisions of Jalgaon District in Maharashtra, India. They are one of the main sub-groups within the larger Bhil tribe...
and Tadvi Bhil
Tadvi Bhil
The Tadvi Bhil are a Muslim community found in the states of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in India and Sindh in Pakistan. They are Muslim converts from the larger Bhil ethnic group. Tadvi Bhils are descendents of Muslim men and local Bhil women...
following Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, and few sub-groups in the Dangs following Christainity. They continue to worship tribal deities such as Mogra Deo and Sitla Matta.
Sub-Division
The Bhil are divided into a number of endogamous territorial divisions, which in turn have a number of clans and lineages. The main divisions in Gujarat are the BardaBarda (tribe)
The Barda are a Hindu tribal community found in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in India. They have scheduled tribe status. The community is also known as Adibashi or Khandeshi Bhil.- Origin :...
, Bhil Dungri Garasia
Bhil Dungri Garasia
The Dungri Garasia are a sub-group of the Bhil ethnic community found in the state of Gujarat in India. They have scheduled tribe status.- Origin :The word Dungri literally hills and Garasia means a clearer of forest in the Rajasthani dialect...
and Bhil Vasava
Bhil Vasava
The Vasava are a sub-group of the Bhil ethnic community found in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra in India. They have scheduled tribe status. In Maharashtra, they are known as Vasave.- Origin :...
. While in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
, the Bhil Mavchi
Bhil Mavchi
The Mavchi are one of the sub-groups of the Bhil community found in the state of Maharashtra in India. They are also known as Gavith.-Origin:The Mavchi are found mainly in the district of Dhule. Dhule District is located in the north western Maharashtra...
and Kotwal are their main sub-groups. In Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
, their main divisions are the Bhil Gametia
Bhil Gametia
The Gametia are a sub-division of the Bhil community found in the state of Rajasthan in India. They are known variously as Gamet or Gametia. The word Gametia literally means a village dweller in Rajasthani. They are said to have acquired the name on account of the fact that they gave their original...
and the Bhil Kataria.
Bheels of Bilag are considered as Hada Chauhan
Chauhan
Chauhan, Chouhan or Chohan , , - is a clan who ruled parts of northern India in the Middle Ages. The clan is most famous for Rajput King Maharaja Prithviraj Chauhan...
and are also known as Aahaari, while those of Kagdar are known as Rathore
Rathore
The Rathore is a Suryavanshi Rajput clan same caste as Lohana. Their Kuldevi is Nagnechiya Mata and "Karani Mata". Rathores are originally from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh. Rathores are historically considered the samurais of India...
. Langotia Bhils wear a lion on waist which is known as Khoyatu. Their ladies wear ghaghara reaching up to the knee known as Kachhawa.the bhil are divided into a no. of endogamous territorial.
See also
- Laika taika Bhil
- Laikha Bheel
- BadwaBadwaBadwa is one of the names given to male spiritual leaders among the Bhil tribes of the Indian state of Maharashtra.The religious sphere of Bhils is represented by variety of spirits, ghosts, gods, goddess, and deities. The Deovera is a popular religious centre and commands full respect and...
- Ahoms
- Christoph von Fürer-HaimendorfChristoph von Fürer-HaimendorfChristoph von Fürer-Haimendorf or Christopher von Fürer-Haimendorf was an Austrian ethnologist. He spent about forty years of his life doing fieldwork in Northeast India and in the central region of what is now the state of Andhra Pradesh and in Nepal.-Biography:Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf was...