User:Premlata.s/sandbox

Savara Tribes of Culture and Traditions in Savara Community

Savara tribes are located in districts of Srikakulam, Vijayanagram, and Seetapeta districts in Andhra Pradesh and in Odisha. In the olden days, they lived together similarly to joined families. They lived like nomads, mainly in hilly areas. Their houses were made of mud and covered with long grass. Gradually they moved to villages and planes. At present, their houses form villages in various locations.

Savara Script: S.P Maghaiya was the founder of Savara script. He was from Miriyalaguda village. There are  26 letters in Savara Script and they were written on writing slate. SP Maghaiya was specialized in this language and formed letters and words in this language. Later people began to use this language mainly in speaking. Even today the English alphabet is used for the script; it has no script of its own. For example: “ How are you” (in English ) is in Savara language “ Aman Asuka po”. In reply, “I am fine” (in English) “Inhen bansa” (Savara). In the field of education, no Savara language is taught; it remains as a spoken language. In schools, children are taught Telugu and at present people talk in Telugu. As a result, Savara's language is dying out. However there is a lot of progress in this Savara language that even books are printed; for example prayers, songs for various occasions and also the Bible and few books and leaflets.

Introuduction:

Saoras are known by ouse names such as “Savara” “Saora” and “Soura”. They are contrasted in parts oSrikakulam, Viyanagaram, and Seethepeta districts. The Saoras have r own dialect. Howeverall do not follow written language Saora. They pratice shifting cultivation, with a few gradually taking up settled agriculture.Like Dongorias they belong to Proto Australoid racial stock.They are  endogenous and the clan, although absent, is related “Biranda” which is exogomous. Families are nuclear although joined or  extended families are also found. Marriages are made by bride capture elopement and by negotiations.

Instead of clan organization they have their extended families called “Birinda” which consistsof desecndants from a common ancestors of  our to five generations. Marriage by nogotiation is held ideal though expensive. The Saoras religion is very elaborated and deep- rooted.

They are ploythy and believe in large number of deities and ancestral spirits. They practice both and terraced cultivation with varieties of cereals. They also collect minor forest produce for their livelihood. They are very artistic people's land are famous for their wall painting called EDITAL. Dance music constitute part and parcel of their rich aesthetic life. The Savaras practice shifting cultivation. They are more adept or skilled in terraced cultivation where they grow varieties of cereal and pulses.

The Saora family is polygamous.The total household economy revolvers around the woman member who is hardworking and who helps her husband in ploughing and harvesting crops in addition to attending household chores exclusively. The Saoras are highly religious with each and nature phenomenon attributed to the work of same gods, deities or spirits. Therefore, the customary Law values, norms are highly respected by all members of the society for the fear of inviting personal or communal harms. The social control mechanism revolves around the religious beliefs, which are very strong.

The tribal of Srikakulam observe a string of festival, some are closed affairs relating to birth and death within the family or daughter attain puberty. Others related to sowing or harvest time involve the entire community. Mostly, a festival is an occasion of enjoyment with a good amount of “Mahua Liquor” or Hadia Liquor, a game roasted on the liquor and night of song and dance and reveling. But that is an animal sacrifice too for the deities and spirits must be appeased first, particularly the malevolent one so that they want not to face drought or sickness of the land.

The tribes spread out In different Areas:

Andhra Pradesh has the second largest scheduled Tribe [ST] population in Southern India. The 4.2 million ST populations constitute bout 6% of the total  population of the states. This population belongs to 33communities and has been categorized for development purposes as those living in:

A)  Scheduled ares and adjoining triba concentrated ares.

B)   Small pockets of concentration outside sub-plan ares.

C)   Dispersed tribal groups and

D)  Primitive tribal groups.

The district  wise scheduled tibespopulation is as follws

Project  Area

District            Population [ in 1000]        ST Population [in 1000]   % of to total

Adilabad                     2,082                                    356                                   17.1

Anantapur                    3,184                                   111                                     3.5

Chittor                          3,261                                   105                                     3.2

Mahbubnagar                3,078                                   227                                     7.4

Srikakulam                    2,322                                   134                                     5.8

Vizianagarm                  2,111                                   190                                    9.0

The  project district have a large number of  ST population living in the hilly and forest areas of  Adilabad, Vizianagarm  Srikakulam district; concentrated outside scheduled areas in Mahbunagar district and dispersed groupin Anatapur and Chittoor districts. However, their proportions in relation to the district population are small except Adilabad. There are primitive tribal group slam and Thotiin Adilabad district; Savara and Gadaba in Vizinagaram districts; Savarin Srikakulam district and Chench in Mahabhbnagar district identified by their traditional pre-agricural way of slash and burn low literacy and hunting agathering economy.

Srikakulam presents picturesque but varied landscape. The sun drenched  sea coast is followed ba vast expanse of  land interpersed  with densely populated  river – valley. The less plains abruptly end with the  commencement  of the confused  hill ranges the Eastern  Ghats running  from Mandasa in the North-East  through Pathapatnam  Palakonda and Parvathipuram  to Salur  in the South –West. The vardent hill rangaes of the Eastern Ghats from the source of number perennial and seasonal streams.The main rivers that rise in the Easten Ghats are Vamsdhara, Nagavalli, Mahendratanaya, Champavathi, and Gosthani. It is this hily and wooded tract traversed by hese perennial and seasonal strems that constitutes the habitat of about 2lakh aboriginals who sought refuge in this hit the to inaccessible tract from time immemorial. The major tribes inhabiting this belt are Savara, Jatapu, Konda Dora, Gadaba, Khond, Mame Dora, and Muhka, Dora of which Savara are the most preponderant.

The Main Scheduled Triin Tribal Talukas in Sriakakulam district

Savara tribe occupies a prominent place in the culture matrix of this ribal belt due its unique and rich cultural heritage, distinct lingui tradition and great. There is evidence believe that the Savaras reigned this part of the cin the past. According Korni copperplate, the ruler Srikakulam, Sabaitya was defeaand killed at Dantuby Kamamava, the fouof the Kalinga Savara king. The Savara image  the on the facade of the Srikakulam temple at Srikakulam is indicative of the past glory of the Savara. However, the glory of Savaras did not last long .They retired to their hill habitat and fell into the historical oblivion.

Then came Konda Doras and Mukha Doras into prominence. They got themselves established as a tribal chiefs  claiming loyalties  of the tribes inhabiting their territories. Thus emerged China Merangi, Kurupam,Andhra and Panchipanta  estates.The first three were the seat ruled by Konda Doras, while the last was held by Mukha Dora. They ultimately became tributaries to the Maharaja of Jeypore or Vizianagaram. The territories of these tribal estates covered the present day Pravatipuram and Salur taluks of Srikakulam district. Tribal who belonged to Jatapu, Khond, Gadaba, Manne Dora and Savara tribes thenn almost exclusively inhabited these territories.

Even though all these ethnic groups lived in the same geoethnic environment,each of the,m fashioned art, craft on town lines so as to perverse its separate, social- cultural identity.

WHO ARE THE SAVARAS

The savaras are a fragment of a great tribe called by that name. Work of ancient Indian literature, like Aitareya Brahmana ,Ramayana and Mahabharata, Kadabari and Kathasaritsaga,Greek travelers like ptlolemy and epigraphic records of things belonging to Choda Ganga, western and pallava dynastyies contain references to the Savaras. Today they are widely distributed in groups called by the same name,but having different  customs and traditions. Velwin thinks that word was used in ancient time the same sence we today use  the word “Adivasis or Aboriginals. The persistent usage of the term suggest that the Savaras werean important  and widely scattered tribe. From the earliest times the tribe must have been broken up into different sections. Today most of them have lost their original language and have assimilated the culture and traditions of their neighbours. But,the hill Savaras of the old Viskakhapatnam Agency that extends into the present into the Srikakulam district and those living in the agency tracts of Ganjam and koraput District Orissa continue to maintain their own religion.

Those Savaras who have been assimilated in the surrounding population are called  Kampu Savaras, Sudda Savaras Bimma Savaras too are callled by different name which indicate a variety of sections. The  most important of them calls itself Jati, or pure in blood, custom and religion. Another group is called Arsi, which means monkey. The reason for its being called so seems to be a curious affinity, which many Savaras have for monkey; perhaps their ltailed loincloth, which hangs behind the man, gives that appearance. Besides these main divisions, are a few occupational group,but their members members live together with  ther other savaras as part and parcel of the tribe.

Savaras are the largestand most colourfof all tribesin this river basin. They constitute a distinct group ethnically, socially, linguistically and economically. In physical some Savaras exhibit Mongo starin. They are of medium height and muscular in build. The skin varies from light yellowish to dark brown. The faces are small anf heart shaped with straight narrow noses or flat noses. The Savaras live in settlements of their own which are either perched on hills slopes or tucked in the  valleys or jungle clearings.construst houses in rows thare partitioned into  a number of compartments and each of these compartments is occupied family.

The numerically large Savaras are divided into 26 sub-groups. Some of these sub-grouper such as Luara or Muli (Blacksmith), Agriculturists are occupational sub-groups named after their occupation, while others like Jadu, Bobblili  Savaras and Tekkali Savaras are called after the name of the locality they inhabit. However,most of Savarasof Andhra Pradesh belong to Kapu Savaras and Bhima Savaras.One interesting features of  Savara social structure is the absence of clan organisation. In olden days, their material relations are regulated by village exogamy, invariably restricted to certain natural, geographical or political divisions. But due to their increasing  contacts with the plainsmen,the  Savaras have acquired intiperulu and these exogamous  Intiperulu now governs their marital relations  and the village exogamy is now  discontinued. Their kinship organization is also unique and their kinship terminology is mainly of classificationary type with a  few descriptive terms. The family is the nucleus of the  Savara social organisation. Most of the Savara families are of nuclear type. Tradionally a married Savara establishesa separate household but never leads to apermanent separation or breakdown of relations with immediate consanguineous relatives.Inheritence residence aauthority are patrilineal patrilocal and patriarchal respectively but matririlocal families are also found as marriage by service is in vogue among Savaras.Polygynous families are not uncommon as acquiring plural wives social accepted.

Agrarian Savaras are expert terrace cultivators. They prepare platforms one over the other like steps in a stair  case on the low gradient  slopes and construct stone terraces in order  to catch  and preserve the down flowing water usually from a hill stream. They rice paddy,ginger, turmeric, bananas  and red gram, while they grow vegetables and millets on the hill and flat fields.The next important  source of their livelihood is collection sale of minor forest produce. During lean periods they subsists on a variety of edible roots,tubers,leaves and fruits collected from the forest.

Where  do they live

A Savara  village consists of long rows of houses,each built  on to its next with a common varandah,sometimes the houses stand round a square ; sometimes the streets are built one above another, up a hillside.All around the villages are little gardens where tobacco,maize and other crops are grown.Not far away are the grounds  memorial stones.In the  streets and down the paths leading to the village boundary are shrinfor god sand ancestors. Everywhere are sago and date palms, which yield liquor. There are no traces of nomadic  about these strongly built villages,well –constructed houses are rectangular shape, often double roofed.Each house is a veritable temple:most of the sacrifices being indoors,invisible ancestors use it whenever,they visit the earth;there are deities ;other spirits are attached  to the icons on the walls, drawn in honor  of  the dead,and perch themselves there,in front of the ikons are hung dedicated pots and basket containing rice and clothes so as to enable the ancestors to part take them; outside varandha a small wooden pillar is in the name oa God to keep watch over the members of the household.

Savaras build their settlements on hill slopes and  near hill streams. This helps them in easy access to Podu and terrace fields, for bringing firewood, collecting roots and tubers besides fetching water. A definite structural pattern is for by Savaras in the Construction of their village settlement. Savara settlements usually have two parallel rows of huts facing each other. These two line arrows of huts further divided into a number family compartments. Each compartment is occupied by a signal family. Some settlements many consist of one linear row only and others more than two. The parallel linear house railways extend from east to west. The entrance of these houses face south the north. This is considered necessary, as the house facing East or West cannot withstand the high   velocity wind during cyclone of northeast monsoon summer gates also. This linear pattern of housing is expected to perpetuate a ‘we’ feeling and group solidarity.

The Life Style and Agricultural  Practices

The life of the Savaras is regulated by a number of customs taboo. The custom relates to dress and ornaments, houses moral behavior, family relations and the like its violet results in a fine. But the taboo although trivial in nature ,fought with dangerous consequences. For example uttering a lie an article or modeling is the violation  of custom  where  as lying in the name of God,Steeling food offered a sacrifice and killing a dedicated animal is taboo.A layman’s adultery with an unrelated women is the violation of  custom. While it is taboo in the of a forbidden relative. Violation custom relates to man’s custom in the case of a forbidden  relative. Violation of custom relates to a man as conduct as seen by his fellow men, where as  taboo relates to his conducts as seen by his ancestors. The greatest of all taboos is incest,  that, a marriage aliens between persons of  same blood.

The Savaras have the kinds of cultivation-terrace cultivation, slash – and burn cultivation  and garden cultivation. They  terrace the steep hillsides  with great revetments  of  stone, often fitter feet delighted uo to the beds of mountain streams.These terrorist many of fe  feet from the depths of the valleys of the hilltops. They occupy every inch of ground available. The stone revetment are so carefully built and the platforms flatly laid that the water tricks froone level to another.They have devised ingenious methods of irrigation to content water overflowing the fields. Rice is  the  main crop sown the terraces. They use the plough draw by cattle,and preserve every stalk of fodder by cutting  the crops close to the ground. They collect  manure in great heaps  and spread it on the fields.Threshing  floors are made on the terraces themselves,and straw is stored on the platforms or up  trees to save it from dampness.They even build houses on old terraces, and streets raise one above the another.

The  second method of cultivation, the slash and burn, is not very important for the Savaras, because their mains stay is the terrace cultivation; they resort to the second method for lesser harvest of pulses, millets and maize; they use the axes for this method, reserving the plough for terrace cultivation. The Savaras prefer  hilltops to slopes for the slash and burn. The areas of cultivation are very widely scattered; they may be miles away from the village, and when the crops have to be guarded they spend  all the time on hillsides, living temporary huts.

The third method, garden cultivation is more important than the second. They carefully fenced  little gardens near their houses are of great value because they yield tobacco, maize,pumpkins, cucumbers and ginger.They are carefully manured.

Forest clearings  are considered as private property, though the Savaras actually no right to them; they are bought and sold. When new plots are to be cultivated, elders decide as to how  the area is to be divided, each man having a right over a particular strip,when he wants to return after shifting elsewhere he must  return to that strip and repeat cultivation. Men, women and children participate in agricultural operation, each doing what he or she capable.

Savara Dialect            

Savara is not Oriya or any other Indian Aryan language nor is  it like Telugu or any other  Dravidian language. It is  not like English either.It belongs  to what is called  the Munda family comprising some sixteen dialects, like Santhali and Mundare, most of which are spoken in Chota Nagpur and the rest in Orissa and Ganjam and Visakhapatnam; these are related to Khasi of Assam and the  Mon- Khmer of further India .All these are said to be branches of a great family of languages,called Austric” (the existance of which was proved by Pater W.Schmidt of Austria ) “which is spread over  an area wider than that occupied  other group of tongues. Its speakers  are found  scattered over nearer and further India and  from the native population of  Indonesia,Malesia, and polynesia  including  Madagascar and New Zeland. It extends from Madagascar, off the coast  of Africa  to Easter Island, which is less the forty  degrees from the coast SouthAmerica. In the north, traces of it were discovered in Kanawar in  the  Punjab and its southern  limit including  New Zeland. West of Easter Island it covers the whole Pacific ocean, except Australia and a part of  New Guinea”.

The family set up

The Savara family is generally poor the parents do not possess any valuable assets to pass on to their progeny. At the separation, brothers and parents equally share whole property, if the latter are alive. They equally share assets as well as debts. The parents establish a separate house hold if they take a share in the property. If they do not claim a share and they prefer to live with one of their sons, the maintains, the parents is the common responsibility of all the sons. All of them contribute their share of food grains for the maintains of the aged parents. Ancestral lands and other assets are equally divided and unlike plains people, the eldest son in generally asked to choose his share of the property first. The personal assets of a woman such as gold and silver ornaments and the clothes are passed on either to the daughters or daughters –in – law. The unmarried girls and boys may either tag on their parents or to their brothers. The Savara family is mainly patriarchal. Savara women are not entitled for a share in the family property.

Belief and   Rituals         

The village goddess is the center of all religious activity of the rural  community. She is the integrating force in the society. Invariably, her installation always goes back to same  miraculous antiquity.The hereditary priest  always  performs the worship.

Savaras believe  in the existence  of innumerable spirits and deities; and diseases and death and  misforturn are generally attributed  to the work of evil spirits  and  neglected deities. The magico – religious  practices  are adopted for curing  diseases. Ancestral worship  is indispensable  on festive and ceremonial occasions. They  kept  in pots small quantities  of all the grains harvested in their field and hang them from the leaves of their houses for the consumption  by ancestors spirits. ‘Gusada Devata,’house in a conical but in every  Savara ‘Guda’, is the guardian spirit  of every Savara  settlement. Savaras do not  consume anything without offering to Gusada Devada. Liquor is one of the  important items  of their offering to the  deities.

The Savaras have different names for all the twelve months in the year, these are  named after different operations:

Ø January is e paddy harvest month.

Ø February is the red gram harvest month.

Ø March is the red  gram festival month.

Ø April is the hill clearing  month.

Ø May is the ploughing month.

Ø June is the weeding month.

Ø July is the millet harvest month.

Ø August is the mushroom gathering month.

Ø Septermber is the paddyseeding month.

Ø October is the ragi harvest month.

Ø Novermber is the paddy growing month.

Ø December is the great harvest festival month.

Deities and their Worship:

Through these tribal people had adopted modernism and accepted many facts of Hinduism, yet they continue to follow their traditions of worshiping nature gods and goddesses,customs  and manners.Their  language having no scripts, law of tradition firmly govern their lives. In social structure, their leader is all knowledgeable and the repository of religious and social customs.

This includes worship of countless gods and goddesses in the  village known as guardian deities.Belief  in these god always gives rises to taboose offerings sacrifices to please the gods and goddesses are important rituals of rural life. The annual or bienmial assemblage known as Jatra in Andhra Pradesh were is a unique feature community living people gather in festive moods to ward off evil effects on the villages and people.

Belief superstitious are the two rural ethos's constitute the tradition. sanctity of tradition lends strength allow the villagers tribal chief is the head. He directs, he conducts, he adjudicates, and he frames the social life. He  is the supreme and can. Thus, the punish life is knit with faith and rich like birth, marriage death etc.

HEALTH:

The saravara folks have their own medicines and methods for curing different ailment of body and mind. These peple are well informed of herbal panlts,  roots  that they use for healing purpose. The woman who normally attends  to the delivery  cases knows the herbs and leaves cure cuts and wounds. The mothers know the cure for caugh, cold, dysentery and eyesoree etc.Even cures are available  for jaundice, asthma, rabbies, scorpion sting snakebites etc.

The Authority, Rules and Regulationsof the tribe

Similar to most of the primitive  societies group cohension and intra- tribal solidarity is maintained among Savaras through social instituion  decreed by tradition.There are 3 grades in the Savara traditional leadership social precedence i.e., the “Gamang” the “Buyya” and the “Parja”. Gamang  is the civil head of the village, the ‘Buyya’ being the religious head  and ‘Parja’ is the one-man court of justice to the Savaras. But when the attention is drawn to the significance of the classification, the ‘Gamang’ and ‘Buyya’look upon each other equals  and both look down the ‘Parja’  as  inferior in social status.But according to order of precedence  observed  in the seating during community feasts  organized at the time marriages, festivals,etc.,the ‘Gamang’occupies the first place followed by ‘Buyya’ and the other village functionaries after  him. Savara considers ‘Gamang’ to be rich with lands and other property. So ‘Gamang’ being a head man plays a promient  role in various facets  of Savara life.The position  in these offices are hereditary, but the chiefs could do nothing of importance without  consulting the ‘Pajra’.He leads  and assits the parents of the boys and girls in settling their marriages. He settles the amount of the bride price(voli ) and the quantity of liquor  that has to be given.He also supervises the celebrarions of the religious  festivals settles the inter village and intra village puts  in collaboration with the ‘Gamang’ of the other village. He is in fact the one-mancourt of justice to the Savaras. The bigger Savaras settlements have ‘Gamang’  as headman the smaller settlements have ‘Buyya’ or “Desari” as headman. Their tribal council does not consist of any members, It is always  a one-man council. But  all the elderly people are invited  to attend  the deliberations of the  council and the opinion of all those present is sought and the verdict is decided   as per common council of the elders present.Under no circumstances the ‘Gamang’ imposes his opinion to the last man. Usually Gamangs are confined tolarger  Savara settlements.In the absence of the Gamang, the Buyya  acts a both secular and religious head. However, some of the  endogamous Savara groups like Bhima Savara  call their headman ,  Buyya.

Podali assists the ‘buyya’ in the administration of tribal law.The ‘Buyya’ is usually the religious  head of Savara village.His main duty is to recite hymns  and cook ‘Bonam’  during various religious  and social  ceremonies along with ‘Kundan.’He offers sacrifices to the deities and the ancestral spirits on behalf of the community. He assists and participates in arranging and celebrating  the marriages.In villages where theseis no ‘Gamang’ the ‘Buyya’ acts as a headman of the family.the peof the village annually give a little quantity of the agricultural  produce to the Buyya in return forhis services.

The Savara give much respect to the  ‘Gamang’ ,‘Buyya’,’Desari’Kudan and the kudanboi. On every ceremonial occasion they will be served first in the order of preference mentioned earlier.

 https://www.google.com/search?q=%22They%20also%20collect%20minor%20forest%20produce%20for%20their%20livelihood.%22 

 https://www.google.com/search?q=%22The%20Saora%20family%20is%20polygamous.The%20total%20household%20economy%20revolvees%20around%20the%20woman%20member%20who%20is%20hardworking%20and%20who%20helps%20her%20husband%20in%20ploughing%20and%20harvesting%20crops%20in%20addition%20to%20attending%22