The Sahariya: Trajectory of Economy and Religion
Rajasthan is the only state in India that consists of a huge sand desert, a vast range of Aravalli hills, plains, and the plateau of Hadoti region. Rajasthan is known for its vivid culture and heritage; hence, it is divided into different cultural regions.
These regions have their own dialects and exhibit distinct socio-cultural lives of their inhabitants. As per the census report of 2011, the tribes of Rajasthan state constitute approximately 13.48 per cent of the total population. There are 12 scheduled tribes in the state. The southern part of Rajasthan is known as ‘homeland of tribes’ where Bhil and Garasia tribes are found in majority.Among tribal communities, the Sahariya is the only Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in the state predominantly found in Shahabad and Kishanganj Tehsils of Baran district of Hadoti region. The Hadoti region includes the eastern and south-eastern part of the state. Traditionally, the Sahariya are forest dwellers. Their nearly self-sufficient economy resulted in their relative isolation from neighbouring castes and communities for a long time. However, some of the forest produce which they collected were either sold to or bartered with the communities in the nearby villages whenever needed. Bhasin (2000) in her work mentioned that the Sahariya of Rajasthan had actually migrated to the Kota district around 16th century where they bartered with another caste group called Bohare (shopkeeper or money lenders) for things other than the forest products (Bhasin 2000:412). Due to strict laws of restriction on use of forest areas, their original livelihood pattern was hampered and they got trapped in the vicious cycle of starvation.
Now-a-days, the Sahariya do not reside in forests. In fact, they live in the multi-caste villages, where they have their separate clusters known as ‘Saharana’. They belong to the lowest rung of the social hierarchy except the untouchable castes such as scavengers.
The life of the Sahariya used to revolve around the forests. The traditional social and cultural life could be well described in terms of Vidyarthi’s (1963) Nature-Man-Spirit Complex approach. This approach takes into account the tribal way of life that exhibits interaction of tribal people with their habitat, social institutions, and the supernatural world. At present due to overpopulation, exploitation of the natural resources by the outsiders, and other forces of modernisation, their entire life ways have been divorced from forest dependency.It is to be noted that the Hadoti region of Rajasthan was covered with the dense forests with the variety of important flora and fauna on which the entire livelihood of the Sahariya community was dependent. Steadily, after the encroachment and the arrival of the contractors, the dense forests of this area got badly wrecked in the last 30-40 years. Due to all of these activities, the flora and fauna of the area had a major setback. The wildlife that existed earlier is now shrinking gradually. Many species such as tiger, leopard, bear, samb- har, cheetal, neelgai, fox, jackal, sloth bear, and bush rat have declined in numbers due to poaching, and many legal/illegal human activities. After independence even the government has failed to give them the required protection and economic opportunities for a longer period of time. Understandably, the Sahariya livelihood was closely associated with the collection of chironji, tendu leaves, katha (catechu), moosli, etc. But, when the contractors took over the area and its forests, the whole collection and manufacturing of the katha industry was acquired by these contractors. The Sahariya, being experts in making katha, were subjected to exploitation by these contractors. They had no other way but to work as labourers on very low wages. The dependency of the Sahariya on the forests for wild seeds, herbs, and tubers was apparently very high. The extraction of forest products from their forests by the outsiders slowly and steadily disturbed their life and sources of livelihood at a greater extent.
Thus, these increasing turbulences not only shook their economic life but also posed new challenges to their social and cultural life.Since the Sahariya’s whole livelihood was reliant on the forests and its ecosystem for food they were mainly in the habit of gathering, hunting, collecting forest produces, and fishing. They also depended on forest products for house materials. Since they believed in life in animate and inanimate objects their religious worldview comprised recognition to and worship of supernatural beings dwelling in forest, trees, hills, etc. for forest related activities. It is worth mentioning in the context that shifting cultivation was the main agricultural operation and they were heavily dependent on it. The Sahariya would put the part of forest to fire for the purpose of shifting cultivation and at that time they would propitiate their deities for good yields. But in the course of time, the shifting cultivation was abandoned. During field study it was found that knowledge about religious practices related to shifting cultivation is withering with time. Even certain restrictions (taboos) followed with regard to the use of forest land and collection of minor forest produces (MFP) have declined, with the decline in these activities.
At present their relationship with the forest is confined to the collection of minor forest produces like catechu, lac, tendu leaves, chironji, gum, honey, tubers, etc. and, that too, for a short span of the year. In a nutshell, they run from pillar to post to make ends meet. Now- a-days the Sahariya cut the grass and wood for selling in the nearby market of the Kelwara area of Baran district.
Over the length of time, their religious practices and beliefs were exposed to other communities. Lately, they have also started worshipping some folk deities like Tejaji, Gogaji, Devnarayan ji along with Hindu gods and goddesses. It is evident by their participation in the regional fairs and festivals. However, such adaptations cannot be treated as a total shift in tribal religion because their own belief system and traditional practices are also going along. Such situations can be termed as syncretism where change and continuity can be seen as a measure to respond to an emerging situation in social and cultural contexts (Behera 2000:79f).
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