Kshatriyaisation of the Tribal Chieftains and Aryanisation of the Tribal Deities
Another factor that helped the Aryanisation/Hinduisation of the tribal deities was the Kshatraiyisation and Sanskritisation of the tribal chieftains and feudatories by emulating Kshatriya status.
Some important ruling dynasties of Odisha are alleged to have tribal ancestry. In case of the Kadamba ruling family of Bonai, colonial administrator cum historians like Osley and Dalton observed that “there can be no doubt that the Raja of Bonai was originally nothing more than the tribal head of Bhuiyan clan” (ODG 2012:62). This hypothesis is further strengthened by the fact that Kadambavamsi rulers of Boani have accepted Kanta Kuanri15, a ring shaped tribal goddess having abode in the Khandadhara hill and worshipped by the Paudi Bhuyans as their Ishta Devi. During Durga Puja festival this tribal deity starts her journey to the palace receiving animal sacrifice on the way and after getting her final worship in the palace returns to her original place. The Rajput origin of the Bhanja kings has also been denied by historians (Dash 1997:848). There are several historical accounts, legends, and other socio-cultural facts, on the basis of which tribal origin of some kings in Odisha cannot be ruled out and along with Kshatriyaisation of the tribal chieftain the tribal deities also became Hinduised.Even when tribal chieftains were dislodged from their chiefdom and replaced by Kshatriya Rajas, tribal deities too came to be patronised by the so called Suryavamsi16 or Chandravamsi rajas. Hermann Kulke (1992) has discussed in detail about the patronisation of tribal deities by the Garhjat rajas. To him, up to the early 19th century the legitimacy of suzerainty of most of the Garhjat rajas over the tribal hinterland was mainly based on their position in the culture of the tribal gods or goddesses who became the presiding deity or Rashtra devatas of their states. In this connection, the example of Bhattarik in Baramba, the ring shaped Kanta Devi of Khandadhar hill in Bonai, or Maninageswari in Ranapur may be cited.
These tribal deities therefore were a direct link between these chiefs and the tribes.The patronage of these powerful gods or goddesses helped the kings in securing the support of the tribes and ensuring the safety of their states. In this process many tribal deities came to be worshiped both by the tribal and non-tribal inhabitants. In this process many tribal deities have either become tutelary deities of the state or presiding deities of the village. The village tutelary deities named Kalapat and Bolanipat in Bonai subdivision of Sundargarh district; and Karlapat, Dokari (old lady) and Danteswari of Kalahandi district of Odisha are some of the tribal goddesses who are worshipped both by the Hindus and tribes. Similar examples are to be found in the case of the tutelary deity of the Barhiha ruling family of Borasambar Zamindary in undivided Sambalpur district. The Barhiha Zamindar belongs to the Binjhal community and the tutelary deity of this family is Vindhya Vasini (the resident of Vindhya Mountain), which points to the tribal origin of the deity. She is worshipped both by the tribal and non-tribal subjects of this erstwhile Zamindary and the people of the neighbouring areas around it. In these many ways tribal deities have been Hindisued and entered the Brahminical pantheon.
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