User:Nansks/halbic languages

The Halbic languages are a group of Indo-aryan languages, which include Bhatri, Halbi, Kamar, Nahari, and Bhunjia. These dialects are mainly spoken in the states of Chhattisgarh, Odissa (also known as Odisha or Orissa), and Madhya Pradesh of India. All the five dialects of Halbic group of languages are interconnected and share a lot of similarities due to their origins and neighboring locations.



Geographic distribution
The Bhatri dialect is spoken by the people of Bhatra tribe, who reside in the north eastern part of the Madhya Pradesh and northern part of Odissa state. Some of Bhatra dialect is derived from Oriya (official language of Odissa), Marathi (official language of Maharashtra, another state in India), and Chhattisgarhi (language of Chhattisgarh). Bhatri and Halbi are related as some of Halbi is also driven from Marathi. It is also known as Halavi, Bastari, Mehari, and Mehari.

Halbi is spoken in the southern part of the state of Chhattisgarh by Halaba tribe and also in Madhya Pradesh. The surrounding tribes of Halabas in Chhattisgarh also understand Halbi.

The third language Kamar in the Halbic languages is spoken by Kamar tribe. They reside in Odissa and Raipur, a city in Chhattisgarh. Kamar tribe is considered to be a fierce and indigenous tribe, as they live deep in the mountains and have little to no contact with the outside world.

Nahari is mainly spoken in Chhattisgarh and Odissa.

Lastly, the Bhunjia dialect is spoken by the tribal people of Bhunjia. They have two subdivisions Chinda Bhunjia and Chuktia Bhunjia (also known as Choukhutia). Bhunjia tribe is also situated deep in the forest of Chhattisgarh and is also a neighboring tribe of Kamar.

History
Bhatri language is also known as ‘Deshia’, which means country talk. As Bhatri is derived from both Marathi and Chhattisgarhi, it is sometimes referred to as a corrupt form of Oriya. Previously, this language was considered a part of Oriya but now has been considered a different dialect. Bhatri is also considered similar to Marathi but Marathi is a very widely spoken language when compared to Bhatri. This dialect of Halbic languages is also widely compared to Halbi, as the roots of both dialects are similar.

The Halbi language is also closely related to Marathi and Oriya. As Halbi is spoken by the Halaba community living in the district of Bastar. In the same district Gond is also spoken by the residents. So, the Bastar district constitutes dialects from two large families of languages, which is Indo-Aryan and Dravidian.

The Kamar dialect spoken by the Kamar tribe, which is part of Indo Aryan languages is a Dravidian tribe. This tribe is situated on the border of two states, and is the only tribe in the area but it is said that later Bhunjia tribe arrived and ruled over the Kamar tribe.

Nahari is also one of the neighboring dialects of Kamar.

One of the two subdivisions of Bhunjia, Chuktia bhunjia has originated from Halbi and Gond dialects. Bhunjia tribe is also considered a Dravidian tribe and neighbors Kamar.

Culture
Bhatri speakers are big agriculturists. It is said Bhatras came to Bastar districts 30 generations ago to serve the first Bastar king.

Raj Mureas tribe who also speak Halbi migrated to Bastar with the Bastar king. They adopted the language and culture of the Bastar district. The Halabas are known to be soldiers and bodyguards of Bastar kings. They were considered to be a dominant tribe in the area because of their positions.

Kamar tribe are good hunters. They are very good at hunting with bow and arrow. They can hunt smaller animals such as rabbits to bigger ones such as bears. Due to ban on hunting in the state, they do not get as many chances to hunt anymore. So, they look for onions to boil and eat. They are also said to be very good at fishing and have very unique ways to catch fish. Kamars are turning towards farming recently as they hunt less frequently but the land in their region is not very fertile.

Nahari tribe’s culture is not very well documented, as there are very few speakers left.

The economic life of the Chuktia Bhunjia tribe depends on hunting and gathering. Shifting agriculture is also very important for their economic life. They usually just grow local crops such as eleusine coracana, setaria italica, paspalum scrobiculatum, sorghum vulgare, horse gram and more. Both women and men in this tribe also often work as laborers. Not many people in this tribe own land, when possible they go for wage labor. They live in rich deciduous forests of Chhattisgarh and there are plenty of resources available in the forest, but the forest department has strict rules on collection of these resources. Mainly women and children go for collection whenever it is allowed. Their collection patterns depend on their cultural beliefs and norms. The main products they collect are wild fruits, wild leaves, fiber, timber, honey, medicinal plants, and such. Similar to the Kamar tribe, they also catch fish but they do not hunt as often as the Kamar tribe. They occasionally just hunt bears or different kinds of deer. Chuktia Bhunjia also do not live in joint families, the son establishes a new home after marriage and kids. There are still some cases of polygamy seen in this tribe but most of the marriages are monogamous. The decision in the family is always taken by the eldest in the family.

Speakers
Halbic branch of language include five languages which are Bhatri, Bhunjia, Halbi, Kamar, and Nahari. There are 600,000 speakers of Bhatri as of 2002. Bhunjia language is only spoken by 6,790 speakers in India (as of 2000). Halbi is spoken by 500,000 people (records till 2000). Kamar language has 40,000 speakers (2003). According to 2001 census, there are 200,000 people who speak Halbi as second language after Hindi. Lastly, there are only 108 speakers of the Nahari language. It is the most endangered out of all the five branches of Halbic languages. In some cases, members of tribe can understand more than one language within Halbic group of languages, as the tribes who speak these languages live close and have a lot of similarities in their origin and culture.

Religion
The Bhatras are divided into four clans, Amnit Bhatra, Bade Bhatra, Pita Bhatra, and San Bhatra. These clans can also be further divided into totemic, exogamous, patrilocal, and patrilineal. Bade Bhatra men are known to protect the Hindu customs but they do not necessarily follow the Hindu customs. They regularly eat meat and do not drink milk the customary way they should. Each clan also follows a different deity, which may not necessarily be a Hindu deity.

Raj bureaus tribe who also speak Halbi follow the Hindu system. The Halbi and Bhatri speakers are very closely related in their beliefs and cultures, even more so than other Halbic languages.

Kamar are highly religious. They believe the deity they follow to be their protector and that they were tasked by god to hunt with bow and arrow. When the Bhunjia tribe attacked Kamar, Bhunjia was attacked by the Gond tribe who then became the ruler of the Kamar tribe. People of the tribe believe the first Gond king to be very brave, hold him in high esteem, and believe him to be their saviour from the Bhunjia tribe.

Chuktia Bhunjia have different deities for different purposes like Bhima is the god of rain. They have various religious practitioners too. One of the religious heads is known as pujhari. He is known to worship the god and goddess in the temple regularly and provide offerings to them. The position of pujhari is hereditary. He also heads the festivals, marriages, and different traditional customs. They also believe in witchcraft, supernatural, sorcery, and annoyed spirits. They have a special priest for these situations known as magico religious practitioners. There is another religious practitioner known as shaman. He is believed to be the link between the deities and the worshippers. There are also different seasonal festivals that are mainly associated with harvesting of different crops. Their most important festivals are sunadei and dussehra. They also consider Tuesday to be religiously auspicious. On the day of sunadei, the men of different families gather in temples with offerings for god and goddesses. Chuktia bhunjia also celebrates holi.

Language
Bhatri speaking tribes are not bilingual. They are not very fluent in Hindi or Oriya. The Bhatri and Halbi are linguistically very close to each other because of their geographical location. The sentence formation pattern in Halbi is the same as English (subject + verb + object).