Chapter 3

Ravidasis in Bhojpur: Social Structures and Movements

3.1 Introduction

Our study of the making of the Ravidasi Christian community considers its experience

within the larger universe of interactions among various other caste/jati communities

in village Ganj, our chosen micro-locale. 1 This chapter begins with an overview of the

village and the caste components of the village community. An overview of the

regional history of former Shahabad district, ofwhich Ganj is part of, is made in order

to locate the cultural and political history in general, and the subaltern history of the

Ravidasis, in particular. In a closer look, we explore the social and economic

structures2 of the Ravidasis, besides the network of traditional social relationships

which are considered 'given' in the agrarian milieu of Ganj. Locating the social and

cultural milieu of the Ravidasis, we also study the name, identity and the subalternity

of the Ravidasis, besides the process of legitimization of their lowliness through

myths. We also study the history and founding of the Catholic Mission at Shahpur,

where the Mission centre is located, the evangelization work of the missionaries and

the conversion of the Ravidasis ofGanj.

3.2 Bhojpur Village Ganj

Village Osain-Ganl is located in Bhojpur4 district, west central Bihar, which was

carved out of the parent district of Shahabad in 1972 (Map No. 3.1 ). The district has

19 community development blocks (hereinafter 'blocks') and has its headquarters at

Arah,5 a municipal town with 1.57lakh population.6 The district is bordered by the

1 Field study of the village was done in two phases: one, during a month-long stay in December-January 1994, which was part of my M. Phil dissertation. During the second phase (April and Jlllle in 1997), I updated the data at hand and was able to explore several themes considered in this study.

2 Systems of patron-client relations in society, such as jajmani, janouri, mahajani, bataidari, grihasthi-parmi, and so on: see discussion, below.

3 'The two-part name of the village indicates the bifurcation of a geographically contiguous single village area into Osain and Ganj by the Calcutta-Delhi railway track, laid between c.1854 and 1862. For administrative purposes, the two parts constitute one village by the name Osain-Ganj (SL. No: 72, Thana No: 205): See Census of India 1981, Series-4 Bihar, District Census Handbook, Bhojpur District, Part XIII -A & B, 1984.

4 Bhojpur district seems to have got its name from a medieval Raja Bhoj of Ujjaini Rajput rulers of Shahabad who subjugated the local tribal chieftains ofRohtasgarh. See discussion below.

5 'Arab' has been spelt variously: 'Arrab', 'Arab' and of recent usage, 'Ara'. We shall use 'Arab', as used by Francis Buchanan who surveyed the district ofShahabad in 1812-1813 and most later records. See Francis Buchanan, An Accormt of the District of Shahabad in 1812~13, Bihar and Orissa Research Society, 1934. 'Arab' is referred to as Aram Nagar (city ofrest) in an inscription on an image found at village Masar ten kilometres west of the present Arab town.

6 Census of India 1991, Bihar State District Profile 1991, Registrar General of India, 1998, p218.

95

Map-3.1

Sketch Map of Ganj Showing Shahpur Church Complex (Inset: Bhojpur District and Bihar State)

Nlnaata Sdmal

BIHAR

= Q .. ... c .. a:

Not to scale

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6 Key to Residences (caste-wise) .,.;

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Source: Own survey, assisted by Tej Kumar, Ganj

96

Ganga and its tributary Karamnasa on the northwest and its another tributary Sone (or

Son) on the east. Across the Ganga are the districts of Saran in north Bihar, Balia and

Ghazipur ofUttar Pradesh State. To the east are Patna and Jahanabad districts, to the

south is Rohtas and district and on the west lie Buxar district.7

Osain-Ganj is one of the 76 inhabited villages ofBehea (also 'Bihiya') block in

Bhojpur district. For over a hundred years now Osain and Ganj have had separate

identities, because of the railway line . between them, although both have a single

village panchayat. Since the converted Ravidasis of the village belong to the Ganj8

section, our study shall limit itself to that section (hereinafter Ganj or village Ganj)9,

located eight kilometers west ofBehea, an industrial and market town.

A one-and-a-half kilometre long kutcha road connects the village (Ganj) to a

five-kilometre main pucca road between Banahi, the nearest railway station and

Shahpur-patti (hereinafter Shahpur), the nearest market and town. The kutcha road10

leading to Ganj being uneven, an uninitiated traveller on an ekka (horse-drawn cart,

the common means of transport) might hurt oneself as the cart negotiates bumpy

ground to reach the destination. However most travellers prefer walking along the dry,

firm, slender edges of the road. The road, meandering along cultivable fields, enters a

mango grove adjacent to the residential area of Ganj.

The first building that catches one's attention is a small temple, bordered by

brick walls on four sides, looked at least half-a-century old and was then managed by

a mahanl (Hindu abbot) Kamal Das of the Teli caste. The mahant also did priestly

work, besides offered prasad (temple offering) to the daily visitors and made

occasional pravachans (religious discourse ). 11

Next to the temple is the government primary school, in a pucca

concrete-brick building overlooking a dilapidated, mud-walled, thatched building, the

school's former housing. A freshly painted signboard about a privately managed high

school and technical (typing) institute, housed in an old residential building a few

yards away, indicated recent educational enterprise of a villager.

7 This district was carved out of Bhojpur in 1995. However, our study of the district pertains to the tmdivided Bhojpur.

8 The Ganj section is separated from the main section by fields and is at a distance of one and a half kilometres from the railway line. 'Ganj', my informants say, could be derived from 'ganja', meaning bare land. The present area, a little elevated from the rest of the plains, could have been a bare patch of land. Hence the nan1e.

9 Census figures quoted here pertain to the entire village. 10 The kutcha road I had observed in 1994 was brick-covered, but not tarred in 1997. 11 Field study observation during summer 1997.

97

The road leads into the upper caste section of the village, which can be

identified by its numerous pucca residential houses, even two-storied ones. A narrow

lane branches off southwards, and anybody acquainted with village India would know

where it leads: to the Harijan tola (hamlet). 12

Most of the Barka jat (literally, 'big people' or high castes, in local parlance)

people live in pucca, concrete or tiled buildings, whereas the Harijan live in huts, but

a few own concrete houses, which seem to have been built in recent times. The

largest segment of the village jati/community (see Table 3.1), the Bania caste13

(trading class), owns the largest number of pucca houses in the village and owns a

few well-stocked shops, a luxury for an agriculture-oriented small village.

Most Harijan houses were kutcha, with mud walls or a combination of brick

and mud walls, and thatched roofs. Thirty houses in the Harijan colony were made of

brick and cement of which 18 were built by the government for the Harijans and 12

by Ravidasis on their own. Ten, better off and the more mobile among the Ravidasis,

had bought some land adjacent to their tola, expanding the otherwise congested,

narrow, Harijan tola. 14 Some signs of "mode~nization" such as television sets, electric

fans, radio, electric irons, etc., could also be seen in some of the Harijan houses.

According to the Census of India, 1991,15 Osain-Ganj had a total area of 480.36

hectares of land with a population of 5234 persons in 722 households. Of these, the Ganj

section of the village had 420 households (58 percent): 11 households were Brahmins, 223

households were landowning intermediate castes, the majority of whom were Bani as, 178

were Scheduled Castes, and 8 Muslims. Of the J 78 Scheduled. Caste households, .147

(82.58 percent) were Chamars (Ravidasis) (see Table 3.1).

The Ravidasis of Ganj belonged to the general category of leatherworkers

found all over India under the name 'Chamar', 'mochi', 'muchi' or under different

12 Harijan colony in a village is generally on the south side so that the northerly winds do not carry the stench, particularly due to hide work from the Chamar tola within the Harijan tola, to the upper caste system: see discussion below.

13 In Bihar llJ.e Bania castes are categorised as intermediate castes by Government Order of November, 1978; see Government of India Report of the Backward Classes Commission, Second Part, Volumes ill-VII, 1980, Chapter4,pp 155-158.

14 Until some 20 years ago, no Harijan in Ganj owned land or a pucca house. Some houses are newly built in the expanded area.

15 The data given above are based on Census of India, 1991, Village Directory, Bhojpur District, and my own enumeration during the field study in 1994 and again in 1997. My data for the Ganj section of the village, is calculated from the Census data of the entire village, for the year 1991. It may be noted that data based on Census of India 1991 on villages (District Census Handbooks) of Bihar was not available in print even in 1997. However, data in computer floppies from Government of India Census Commissioner's Office, (Pushp Bhawan, New Delhi), was available and have been made use of whenever applicable, in this study.

98

names. 16 Studies on Chamars in recent years have revealed that there are more than

1000 sub-castes (up-jati) among them. The Ravidasis of our village belonged to the

·Jhusia!Dhusiya11 sub-caste and did not marry outside their sub-caste.

Table 3. 1 Communit v and Caste Representation of Ganj Hindus Caste No: of Percentage to Caste Caste group

l~roup

Caste group Name Households Total Totals Percentage households

Upper Caste Brahmin 11 2.61 11 2.61

Intermediate Caste Bania 150 35.71 223 53.09

Yadav 55 13.09 Koiri 18 4.28

Lower Caste Chamar 5 1.19 31 7.38

Dusadh 2 0.47

Mehtar/Mestar 3 0.71

Bauri 3 0.71

Turi 12 2.85

Dhobi 6 1.43

Muslims Muslim 8 1.90 8 1.90

Christians (Chamar) 142 33.80 147 35

(Dusadh) 5 1.19

Total 420 99.95 420 99.98 Sources: (1) Estimated from Census of Indw, 1981, Senes 4 Bllwr, Dzstrzct Census Handbook, Bhojpur,

Part XIII A & B. (2) Census of India, 1991, District Census Handbook, Bhojpur District, Series- 4 Bihar, Part XIII A&B, 1998. (2) Also based on Church Sources: Village Family Register, GanJ: Shah pur Jl;fission. (3) Field Study interviews, April 1-3, 1997, Shah pur.

I have used the term 'Ravidasi community' to refer to this group or sub-caste

among the Chamars. 18 Ethnographic studies in India, first undertaken by the British

for colonial governance, categorized people into castes and tribes. 19 There were also

communities, which did not consider themselves then--and which do not do so now-­

as either castes or tribes. Therefore the concept of 'community,' which is a generic

term for people groups has been brought in recently by anthropologists. The term

16 See 0. P. Sharma, Scheduled Castes; Population and Literates, for area-wise concentration of Chamar castes in various parts of India. See also, J. N. Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects, (1896), 1968, pp 212-13.

17 Jhusia/Dizusiya is the local name from Jhusi, near Allahabad. That the Dhusias or Jhusias my have originally proceeded from this area is probable. However, Sherring says this clan of Chamars originally belonged to the east of Saidpur, in Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh. The Chamars (majority of them) belong to this sub-group. See George W. Briggs, The Chamars, pp. 17, 25. See also J. Kananaikil, Reaching Inward from the Periphery: The Experience of the Scheduled Castes in India, 1981, p 361.

18 For details on the social position of Chamars vis a vis other Harijans, see Stephen Fuchs, At the Bottom of Indian Society: The Harijan and Other Low Castes, 1981.

19 Various communities or peoples in India were first classified into catt!gories in 1901 by H. H. Risley, the then Census Commissioner of India. Risley's classification was rather broad. In 1911, an enquiry was held to ascertain which of the castes and tribes were discriminated against on religious and social grounds. See for discussion H. H. Risley, People of India, (Collection of Papers), 1915. In 1921, for the first tinte, these castes were called 'Depressed Classes'. These were systematically categorised in the 1931 Census by the then Census Commissioner, Hutton.

99

'community'20 is more dynamic, encompassing and does away with the pejorative

associations of caste names.

The Christians in Ganj had 147 households (35 percent) who were of

Scheduled Caste origin, and had converted since 1939.21 That is to say, among the

178 Scheduled Caste households, 147 (82.58 percent) were Christians, the majority of

whom were Ravidasi Christians (142 Christian Ravidasi households: 96.59 percent)

and 5 Dusadh Christian households, Thus, the eight Muslim households and the 14 7

Christian households apart, all the rest were Hindus.

The general rate of literacy of Osain-Ganj was 28.72 percent; the rate of

literacy among the Scheduled Castes in Ganj was not available but in Behea block, it

was 13.63 (Census of India, 1981). This may be on underestimate for the Scheduled

Castes, which include the Christians, in Ganj. A Church survey on the Christian

Ravidasis in central Bihar puts the rate at 60 percent.22 Since a majority of Christian

converts in Ganj have been educated over a period of 50 years, the rate of literacy

among the Ravidasis in Ganj could be at least 60 percent (see Chapter 5, for

discussion on education). According to local informants, of those villagers employed

in jobs outside the village (some 25 percent of the adult working population), nearly

20 percent were in blue or white-collar jobs. In this category, it was estimated that

nearly 50 percent were Ravidasis, mostly Christians. Again, among the Harijans other

than Ravidasis, a majority was engaged in agricultural labour in the same village or

outside. So also except the more educated Harijan Christians, most other Harijans

(Hindus and Christians) continued to engage in their respective traditional,

caste-based occupations (see discussion below).

The majority (80 percent) of the intermediate castes was engaged in business

and trade mostly outside the village, even in cities far away. Almost all Brahmins and

a majority of the intermediate castes seemed to be economically well off, living on

agriculture in their own land or doing business or both. Almost the entire cultivable

land was owned by the upper and intermediate castes, whereas a few among the lower

castes had small plots, which had been acquired in the 1980s.

The village had two primary schools: one run by the Government, and the

other, by the Catholic Mission. It also had a post office, electric supply, tube-wells,

handpumps, wells and so on. Among the staple foods grown in the village were rice

20 See People of India Project, K S. Singh (ed), Anthropological Survey of India, The use of the tenn community (not caste or tribe) is emphasised here (see Chapter 1 ).

21 The data on the number of Christians are of 1997 22 Jose Kananaikil, op. cit, 1981, pp 399-400.

100

and wheat, besides pulses, grams and cereals. The village did not have a primary

health centre, not dispensaries.

3.3 Village History

Ganj, over a 100 years ago, was an uninhabited, upland thicket, surrounded by

cultivable lands. According to local legends, Ganj came to be occupied when a

sanyasi baba (elderly mendicant) set up a small hut in a corner of the land. Soon some

petty Bania traders came there to sell their wares, mainly household items, besides

religious articles to the devotees who flocked to the baba. The preponderance of

Bania households, they said, was because of this. 23 It is not sure whether the present

incumbent (the mahant) of the local temple is a successor to the oid baba. Another

local legend says that the village was occupied by people who were uprooted when

the railway line was laid, through their lands, sometime after 1860.

Still another legend says that the land, being upland (ganja) could not be

brought under cultivation through irrigation. Hence, it was given over by the local

zamindar for occupation. 24 In fact, the caste composition of Ganj shows that it does

not have a wide representation ofthe castes generally found in ordinary villages. The

two large communities are the Banias and Chamars, who comprise over 300 of the

420 households (see Table 3.1).

Legends apart, the history of the village, like most villages in India, has not

been written. In this section, therefore, we shall weave these legends and oral history

narratives from the older informants, into the particular histories of the local

Ravidasis, and the general history of the region, the former Shahabad districe5. We

shall briefly review the political, economic, social and religious histories of Shahabad

as a whole, focussing at the same time, on the Ravidasi community as it participated

in shaping its own histories during the period ofthis study.

3.4 Shahabad in History

Shahabad has a colourful history, linked to its geography. The three natural divisions

have been the background ofpowerful invading rulers and local resisting chiefs, the

last ofwhom was Kunwar Singh who raised the banner of revolt against the British in

1857. Roy Chaudhary says, "It is the geography ofthe area that has made a Shahabadi

23 Interview with Dularchand Chaudhury, April3, 1997, Ganj. 24 Interview with Kisun Prasad, April 3, 1997, ~j. 25 Shahabad district: formed in 1685, consisted of Shahabad and Rohtas parganas and pmts of the tenitory of

King Balwant Singh of Banares. Rohtas was separated in 1784, again to be reconstituted in 1787, by the British government of India. The name 'Shahabad' (city of emperor) seems to be associated with Emperor Babur who pitched his camp at Arah in 1529 atler his victory over the Afghan rulers of the province. The second last District Gazetteer of Shahabad written by J. f'. W. Jailles in ·1924 mentions that Babur named tllis place, 'Shahabad' in commemoration of tllis event: quoted in P.C. Roy Chaudhary, Bihar District Gazetteers (BDG), Shahabad, 1966, p 1.

101

(person belonging to Shahabad) what he is, a tough specimen of the human kind,

brave, liberal and chivalrous but rather impetuous and often rash in character. "26

The first natural division consists of the alluvial plains near the Ganga where

Ganj is located. The second division is a flat country consisting of tertiary rocks and

alluvium and the third is the Kaimur plateau. The physical features of the latter

division were utilized in a series of small garhs (forts) by petty chieftains, monarchs,

and feudal barons, to resist the overlordship of powerful invading emperors. A

number oftribals and semi-tribals have lived here for centuries. Rohtasgarh, said to be

the bastion of tribes such as the Oraons, Cheros, Kharias and Bhuiyas, has been the

target of many ambitious rulers. The location of the garhs, with the plateau on one

side and the Ganga on the other, created a natural constriction because of which all

the armies of invaders, marching further eastwards, had but one way: Shahabad. In the

words ofRoy Chaudhary, It is this area that had given shelter to the peoples, races, tribes and dynasties when they had their political battles in the plains. It is these fundamental characteristics of Shahabad district that have given a lasting impact on her people. Since time immemorial, Shahabadis have loved freedom in spite of the fact that they have often lost it. 27

When we delve deep into Shahabad's past,28 we see an accumulation of various

traditions, resulting from one invasion after another. This area was known as the land

of karushas, a troubled area consisting of autonomous non-Aryan tribes. Very little

information about Shahabad's pre-historic periods is available.

The evidence of a Minor Rock Edict of Emperor Asoka in a rock on Chandan

Sahid's hill29 indicates that Shahabad, within the region of Karusha, was a part of the

Buddhist kingdom of Magadha at least by 400 BC. However, the general absence of

Buddhist monuments in the district suggests that Buddhist influences were either

absent or were erased by the later Brahmanic order. The Chinese pilgrim Hieun­

Tsiang in the seventh century AD paid a visit to Mo-Ho-Solo in Shahabad, identified

as village Masar, near Arah. 30 It is said that he did not proceed to any other place in

Shahabad because he found the Brahmin inhabitants opposed to law of the Buddha.31

26 Roy Chaudhary, BDG, op. cit., p 44. 27 Ibid., p 45. 28 The periodisation of history here is purely conventional. 29 RR Diwarkar, Bihar Through the Ages, p 52. 30 Quoted in Roy Chaudhary, BOO, op. cit., p 51; for a study of the description of Buddhist India, see Kanai Lal

Hazra, Buddhism in India as Described by the Chinese Pilgrims, AD 399 -689, 1983. 31 A more convincing reason for the general absence of Buddhist monuments is that the region being under the

control of the tribal kings, Buddhism might not have got a stronghold over the tribal people who had their own strong tribal religions. Legends in vogue among the Oraon tribals in Chotanagpur point to a certain ritual,Jani shikar (women going hunting in men's attire), which is said to be commemorative of the event of their fight against the Mughals and the subsequent defeat at the latter's hands in 1610 (Jahangir's reign). The ritual is repeated every 12 years, and the last time it was in 1994. There are many other legends connected with Rohtasgarh, among the Oraons as well as the Kharia tribes, and they tend to refer to Rohtasgarh as their original country. Interview with tribal teachers Prabhat Tirkey and James Dung Dung, January \4, 1997, Patna.

102

The history of Shahabadis becomes part of the histories of various kingdoms

that arose and fell, such as the Sungas, the Kanvas, the Ailas of Orissa, the Kushanas

and later, the Guptas. The Guptas were defeated by the Maukharis of Kanauj whose

sway ended as the Pala dynasty (of Bengal) took control of Bihar. The extension of

the Gahadvala dominions over Shahabad in mid 12th century led to the exit of the

Pala dominion.

The medieval period, which witnessed several Muslim invasions of Shahabad,

culminated in the decimation of the tribal chiefs of Rohtasgarh, a process completed

under the Mughals. There was resistance to the Muslim invasion from tribal chiefs as

well as the Ujjaini and Kharwar Rajput chiefs of the plains of Shahabad. In 1743 the

Mahrata inroads into Bihar under Peshwa Balaji Baji Rao, however, left Shahabad

unharmed. 32

In the modern times, Shahabad, a province under the Mughal Governor Mir

Qasim of Bengal, passed on to the British, following the defeat of the Mughal forces

at Buxar in 1764. Thenceforward, until 1857, Shahabad had a politically uneventful

history. In 1857 Babu Kunwar Singh, his brother Babu Amar Singh and the Raja of

Dumraon offered stiff resistance to the British, but were ultimately suppressed by the

latter. A policy of 'reconciliation' and 'consolidation' of the administration followed

the suppression by the British. Both the loyal petty chiefs and the insurrectionists fell

to the subtle appeasement policy of the British rulers who granted them huge

zamindaris. For smooth communication, large tracts of jungles, for which Shahabad

had been known, were cut down and roads and railway tracks were laid. 33

Shahabad also has a great share in the freedom movement in Bihar. Mahatma

Gandhi, Pandit Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad and many such national leaders visited

various parts of Shahabad in the 1920s and 1930s, to invigorate the freedom

movement.

The district is also known for its multi-religious traditions. 34 The Jain

inscriptions near Arah indicate a living Jain community, in the past.35 The Brahmo

32 Roy Chaudhary, BDG, op. cit., p. 60. 33 Recapitulating the prominent events of the British Raj, many of my infom1ants recalled stories in oral

tradition, how the "gora sahib'" (British supervisor) cleared the thick jtmgles in Behea and its vicinity and first attempted to lay the railway track along the side of the Mahatin Dai Temple. Since the tracks were almost brushing the temple, the people objected to it. With due consideration for the religious feeling of the people the British made the necessary curve in an otherwise straitt track to bypass the Temple.

34 For a study on communal sense in Bhojpur in late 19 century, see Gyanendra Pandey, CoiiStruction of Communalism in Colonial Nmth India, 1997, pp x, 13, 66

35 There are a few Jains at Arah at present.

103

Samaj had set up a number of units in the district in the 1880s. 36 Hindu, Muslim and

of late Christian religious traditions have made their own impact on the people of

Shahabad (see the multi-layered structure of the religious tradition of the Ravidasis in

Chapter 5).

3.4.1 Subaltern Histories

Unearthed antiquity is Shahabad's tradition today .. Of the distant past are the Chero,

Bhuiya, 37 Oraon and Kharia tribal kingdoms, which were decimated by succeeding

invaders. 38 The district has been neglected by historians, anthropologists and

archivists. Nevertheless, their past experience has continued in the memories of their

displaced descendants, the tribals of Chotanagpur.

Secondly, the history of the district has been a struggle to retain its distinct

identity and independence. While there seems to have been no history of subjugation

of non-Shahabadis by the Shahabadis, 39 the latter have not thrown up any great

conquerors after the Rohtas chiefs, who carved out a kingdom of note in west central

Bihar. However, the history of the 'lesser' peoples of Shahabad, though unwritten, is

replete with events of subjugation and decimation by the more 'powerful' peoples. The

attempts of these latter to establish and perpetuate their hegemony over the 'lesser'

ones is another facet of the ever sidelined histories of the subaltern peoples of

Shahabad. 40

The history of the Ravidasis of Shahabad is one such sidelined history.

Practically nothing having been recorded in black and white, we must, once again,

rely on the memories of the buzurgs (old people) in order to reconstruct their past.

Two major events in their history during the period from the 1930s are the Naxalite

movement and conversion to Christianity. We shall review both these movements in

order to understand the participation of the Ravidasis in these movements.

3.4.2 Ravidasis and Naxalite Movement

Returning from work one evening a group of five Harijans had collected at a wayside

tea shop (dhaba) talking excitedly to one another, apparently about the sensational

36 Roy Chaudhary, BDG, op. cit, p 46. · 37 On the history of the decimation of the Bhuiyas [Bhuinyas] of Shahabad who subsequently became the kamias

of central south Bihar, see Gyan Prakash, Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitllde in Colonial India, 1990, pp 79-81.

38 On Shahabad's changing political scene tmder the Ujjaini invaders, see Gyan Prakash, op. cit., pp 94-95. 39 This category includes even those outsiders or emigre (Ujjaini Rajputs) who made Shahabad their home. See

Roy Chaudhary, BDG, op. cit, p 59. · 40 On the subaltern community of Bhuinyas, see Gyan Prakash, Bonded Histories: Genealogies of Labor Servitude

in Colonia/India, 1990, 79-81.

104

murder of a Harijan activist in a village in Sahar block. After initial queries about the

killing, I asked them:

(JK) "What is the recent change that has been taking place in your society?" "Chhodiye saheb, Harijan ko kaun poochhta hein'? (Let it be, Sir, Who cares about Harijans?)"

Said an old man in response. Then one person who seemed to be more articulate than

the others, a certain Shiv Prasad, the local secretary of the Communist Party of India

(Marxist-Leninist: CPI-ML), said:

(SP) Little change and much bloodshed. We have been begar and banihar for centuries. But what is our condition even now? When we ask for more (just) wages we are thrashed The Naxalites only have supported us. We too have

(JK) (SP)

(JK) (SP)

some rights, to better wages, to land, to dignity. So the Harijans have taken to Naxalism? The situation in Bhojpur is such that sheer survival is our major concem. We don't understand any big ideology. But of one thing, we are convinced. Latheith ka hukum lathi hein to hamra jawab bhi lathi hoga (If the [landlord's] lathi (big stick)-\\ielding musclemen impose their rule with lathi our answer will also be lathi). What about the govemment and the police? Don't they ever protect you? H'm! the sarkar (govemment) and the police. Have they ever rescued us? All that the sarkar does is to brand any outspoken Harijan as 'naslait' [Naxalite] and shoot him down. All in the name of 'law and order'. The landlords are in collusion with them, you know. Chor chor mausera hhai (a thief is cousin (brother) to his own kind).41

The study of the Naxalite Movement in Bhojpur42 is a study of reaction against

agrarian violence against the poor in that district. It also gives us an idea about how

new power-equations are being shaped between various castes and classes. 43 Since the

focus of this study is Ravidasis in Ganj, we shall briefly review the agrarian social

scene of the area as it has affected them.

The oniy movement in which some Harijans seem to have found confidence

was the Naxalite Movement44, which started in 1967 in Bihar. Charu Mazumdar, the

Naxalite leader from West Bengal, visited Bhojpur in that year and started the first

Kisan Sammelan (peasant convention) there. 45 The movement, now spread into other

41 Interview with Shiv Prasad and group members, January 10, 1994, Shahpur. 42 For a well doctm1ented study of the Naxalite movement in Bihar, see Kalyan Mukcrjee and Rajcndra Singh

Yadav, Bhojpur: Naxalism in the Plains of Bihar, 1980; also (Hindi) Bhojpur: Bihar mein Na.xalwadi Andolan (Bhojpur: Naxalite Movement in Bihar) 1980. (Quotations in this study are trom the English version).

43 In Bihar, if people were to be categorised into classes in terms of possession of political and economic power, class and caste are interwoven. By and large the upper castes belong to the upper class and the lower castes belong to the lower class. Beteille's study of caste, class and power relations confirms this reality in Bihur. He says today class position has acquired a certain measure of autonomy 1md it has detached itself from the caste structure. However, it is not entirely caste-free. See Andre' Beteille, Caste, Class and Power: Changing Pattern ofStratification in a Tanjore Village, (1965), 1998, p.223.

44 It is a radical outgrowth of the Communist movement in India (Marxist) which began from a group of some 60 tribal village in Siliguri district in West Bengal in 1967. Also K. MukeJjee & R. S. Yadav, op. cit. pp 41-45.

45 On the history of the movement and spread of the Naxalite Movement see Document, Towards a New Phase of Spring Thunder, Central Reorganization Committee, Cmrmllmist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), 1982.

105

districts of Bihar, particularly in the south central districts where it is very active, got

the initial fillip from Bhojpur. The local leaders of the movement came from different

Harijan and poor peasant classes. The first prominent leader, Jagdish Mahto, belonged

to Ekwari village, Sahar block in Bhojpur. About 90 percent of the Harijans m

Bhojpur were sympathizers of the Naxalite Movement.46

The Naxalite Movement in Bhojpur seems to have unleashed a chain of

organized armed encounters between Harijans and poor peasants on the one hand, and

the rich upper caste landlords and the neo-rich intermediate castes, on the other. Fifty

four major armed encounters in which hundreds of Harijans and a few landlords were

killed were reported from seven southern blocks in Bhojpur district in a period of 12

years (1967-1979).47 One such incident, in which a close relative of my informant

Shiv Prasad was killed, took place in Behea hazar (market) in 1972. However, Behea

and Shahpur blocks have been relatively free of such violent incidents.

One Biswanath Yadhav, the CPI sarpanch (member of the local village

administrative body, a panchayat) of Raghunathpur, a village in Brahmpur block,

nearby said:

Men can tolerate all. But when women and daughters are assaulted, it becomes intolerable. Anyone who revolts is called a Naxalite. Like in Bhadwar, a village in Brahmpur, the labourers demanded more wages so the landlords harassed them. The police are the same caste-types. Harijan women have been raped, their houses looted and they were arrested--all in the name ofNaxalites.

48

Violence against Harijans in the recent past has been by not only the high castes but

also the nouveau riche among the intermediate castes. A study of ten major events of

agrarian killings in Bihar from 1977-1980 reveals that class interest is interwoven

with caste interest.49 While there have been clashes between high castes and

intermediate castes, the latter seem to have been subjecting the lower castes to severe

oppression. The intermediate castes, particularly three most numerous, prominent and

powerful ones--Ahir, Koiri, Kurmi--seem to have been suspicious of Harijans. This

was because when these three castes formed an association called the Triveni Sangh50

46 J. Kananaikil, op. cit., pp 430, 432. ' 47 K. Mukeijee & Yadav, op. cit., on the Naxalite encounters in Bhojpur, Chapter III, and pp 43-121. 48 Quoted inK. Mukheijee & Yadav, op. cit., p 162. In 1970, the Bihar State administration set up special police

cells to protect the 'law abiding' landlords. In 1975, the state ministry decided to provide "every able-bodied person" in the families of landlords with a gun for protection against "anti-social" elements, especially in Patna and Bhojpur districts: see J. Kananaikil, op. cit, p 433.

49 For a detailed analysis on agrarian killings in Bihar, see John Mathew, Class and Caste Dimensioi!S of Rural Atrocities in Bihar, 1977-/980, Dissertation, Sociology Department, Pune Univen;ity, 1981.

50 The Sangh's declared objectives: to foster solidarity among the three castes, to participate in democratic politics, to oppose and retaliate upper-caste tyranny like em-vee, begar, rape and social ostmcism. Also K Mukeijee & Yadav, op. cit., pp 27-28.

106

m 1934, and began to challenge the high caste dominated Indian National Congress,

the Harijans seem to have supported the Congress. 51 Under the leadership of its

Chamar leader Jagjivan Ram, the Congress tried to secure the votes of the Harijan

castes. 52

Moreover, during the first half of this century a number of caste associations

had been founded by their respective castes in order to protect their own interests.

Practically all the high caste groups had their own respective caste associations.

Among the intermediate castes were associations such as the Kurmi Kshatriya

Hitaishi (1908), the Gopi Jatiya Sabha (1912), the Ahir (Goa/a) Movement (1914),

the Triveni Sangh and so on. Among the Scheduled Castes were the All -India

Depressed Classes Conference, the Pasi Sudhar Sammelan, the Dusadh Mahasabha,

the Bihar Provincial Khet Mazdoor Sabha, etc.

One of the 23 Scheduled Caste communities in Bihar, the Ravidasis form 29.5

percent of the 12.5 million (14.5 percent of the state population) Scheduled Caste

population in the state. 53 Placed at the lower rungs of the social and ritual ladder, they

have largely remained backward in social, political and economic life despite their

own, Government efforts and of other non-Governmental agencies54 at raising their

standard of life. 55 Unlike some Scheduled Caste communities elsewhere in India

which have made substantial economic development/6 the relatively large Ravidasi

community in Bihar has remained economically poor and illiterate community. 57

51 K. Mukerjee & Yadav, op. cit., p 31. 52 Though a Harijan himself, Jagjivan Ram was apparently against the Patua Meet of the All-India Depressed

Classes Conference: see The Searchlight, March 27, 1937, and April 13, 1937. See also Depressed Classes Documentation, Vol. I, pp 362, 367, 376. The Depressed Classes Documentation (DCD), in two volumes, is a veritable documentation work containing newspaper and journal reports on the Depressed Classes in these years: 1931-1938. This was published St. Mary's College, Kurseong, in the late 1930s.

53 Data based on the Census of India 1981, District Census Handbook, Bhojpur District, Series- 4 Bihar, Part Xlll A & B; Census of India 1981, Household Tables, Scheduled Castes, Series- 4 Bihar, Part VHI- A & B (v); 23'd to 26th Reports of the Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Government of India, 1974 to 1979.

54 For instance, the Bihar Dalit Vikas Samiti, since the 1980s, Samanwaya Ashram, and so on. 55 For a study on the Scheduled Castes after independence, Yogeshwar Paswan, Economic Development qf

Scheduled Cases in Bihar: During the Plan Period, Vol. I, 1995. Also, on works among Ravidasis, see Annual Reports of Bihar Dalit Vikas Samiti, 1988-98, Patna.

56 For a comparison, see studies on Scheduled Castes in Tamil Nadu: S. Selvanathan, Status of Scheduled Castes, 1989; in Andhra Pradesh: K. Rathnaiah, Social Change among Malas: Ex-Untouchable Casle in South India, 1991; in Karnataka: Mumtaz Ali Khan, Scheduled Castes and Their Status in India, 1980; in Haryana: Sat ish Kumar Sharma, The Chamar Artisans: Industrialisation, Skills and Social Mobility, 1986; in Delhi: G. G. Wankhede, Social Mobility and Scheduled Castes, 1999; in Punjab, Satish Sa.berwal, A1obile Jlen: Limits to Social Change in Urban Punjab, ( 1976), 1990, etc.

57 Literacy rate of Scheduled Castes in Bhojpur district in 1991 was 39.88% for male and 8.65% for female (total 25.28%). For a study on literacy of Scheduled Castes in Bihar, see 0. P. Sharma, op. cit., pp 77-83. Also, Sanjeeb K. Behera, (compiled), Data Base on Scheduled Castes Literacy in India: Based on Census Data 1991,1999.

107

What has been the position of the Harijans in the agranan structure of

Bhojpur? In a district with a population of 2.4 million (Census 1971) people, the

Harijans constituted 14.52 percent of whom nearly 77 percent were landless

agriculturallabourers.58 Of the Harijans the Ravidasis constituted over 29.37 percent,

the largest category, followed by Dusadhs and Musahars. This indicates that the

Ravidasis constituted a very large proportion of the landless agricultural labourers in

the district. Day after day, year after year, they toiled in somebody's lands, often

forced into begari and banihari (systems of labour: begari is semi bonded work, also

worker, attached to any landlord; banihari is time-bound contract labour to any

landlord). Yet, their economic condition has not improved much.

The reason for this pathetic condition of the Ravidasi community in the overall

agrarian structure can be traced to several centuries of social discrimination based on

caste, social distancing and economic oppression. 59 During the 1920s and 1930s, the

system of begari and abwab (illegal exactions and formal rent) were major sources of

tension between zamindars, poor peasants and landless labourers. The bakasht lands

(lands taken over by landlords in lieu of arrears in rent) gave rise to numerous

landlord-peasant confrontations.60 In the 1930s the .Kisan Sabha (Farmers'

Association),61 tried to reduce the rift between landlords and poor peasants.

Despite Shahabad being the main arena of Sahajanand's operation and the

Kisan Sabha's declared resolution to obtain kisans' rights, the vast majority of landless

agricultural labourers (Harijans) in Shahabad, seem to have benefitted little, whereas

the already landed class (particularly the Bhumihars)62 who seem.to have dominated

the Kisan Sabha stood to gain much. 63 Oppressed by upper caste landlords and

threatened by the intermediate castes on the one hand, and largely neglected by the

government on the other, the Harijans, beyond a point, seem to have had only one

58 The Census of India figures say over the years the proportion of landless agricultural labourers has only increased despite much scope for non-agricultural category jobs in recent years. 'This reflects increased rural poverty. Census of India, 1971 (1975) Series I, Paper I, pp. x-xi.

59 A detailed study on the agrarian history related to the Ravidasis is beyond the scope of this thesis. 60 A. N. Das,Agrarian and Socio-Economic Change in Bihar, 1900-1980, p 132. 61 Kisan Sabha was fmmded by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (originally Naurang Rai, a Bhwnihar born in

1889(?) in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh, took to sanyasa in 1907). In 1936, the Bihar Kisan Sabha became provincial (state) unit of the All india Kisan Sabha. See W. Hauser, ( ed) Sahajanand on Agricullllral!.Abour and the Rural Poor, pp xv, 46, 68.

62 One of the dominant castes in Bihar who have much control over cultivable land in the state: see more details in Chapter 4.

63 The Kisan Sabha had several meetings in Behea. The Swami toured the district e:x1:ensively. See Indian Annual Register, 1936, Vol. I, p 491; Notes from Bihar and Orissa Administration Report for the year 1935. See also K Muketjee & Yadav, op. cit., p 19, quoting W. Hauser, The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha, 1929-1942, pp 77-78.

108

alternative to starvation or slavery, namely armed resistance. This, apparently, was the

background of most Ravidasis of Bhojpur, particularly of the south blocks, who

joined the Naxalite movement.

3.5 Social Institutions and Structures

Village in India has been the subject of study for over one and half centuries. Begun

for administrative considerations by the colonial rulers, the understanding of village

community subsequently became important for "historical insights and ideas. "64 Early

'village studies' focussed on the understanding of village structure, whereas the later

ones attempted to understand its social reality in terms of kinship and caste. The

emphasis on the latter perspective was given by Dumont and Pocock,65 which

continued until the early 1960s. 66

Social scientists and civil administrators67 have described Indian village

society in various ways. Some have described it as the 'little republic', 'a body of

co-owners of the soil', and 'an emblem of traditional economy and policy'. ·still others

have described it as a 'village and community'.68 It was Ramakrishna Mukherjee who

examined the dynamics of rural society historically and said that the village remained

the most important institution of Indian society untill the modem times when the

structure and institutions of the village were affected by the colonial rule. 69 Two

concepts are included in the latter definition: village and community. They imply a

geographical entity and a body of social institutions pertaining to a group of people.

This study being a review of the transformation that seems to have occurred in the

Ravidasi community of Ganj, a brief overview of their social institutions and

structures is in order.

The inhabited space in the village consists of several to/as (neighbourhoods).

Each to/a is inhabited by a distinct social group Uat!jati), which will not inter-marry

or inter-dine with other groups. Brahmins, Rajputs, Bhumihars and Kayasthas--upper

64 Hetukar Jha, Social Strnctures of Indian Villages: A Stuidy of Rural Bihar, 1991, p 17. 65 For a discussion on this, see Dumont and D. Pocock, "For a Sociology of h1dia," in Contributions to Indian

Sociology, No. 1, 1957b. 66 See T. K Oommen, Survey of Research in Sociology and Social Anthropology, Vol. 1, 1985. 67 See several works of British Administrator-scholars on fudian village, community, and ethnography. 68 It seems it was Thomas Munro who first formulated the concept of village community. However, its meaning

varied a great deal as colonial writers perceived fudian reality. L. Thmlont, " The Village Community from Munro to Maine" in Contributions to Indian Sociology, No.9, December 1966, p 67.

69 H Jha, op. cit, p 18, quoting R Mukherjee, The Dynamics of a Rural Society, Berlin, Akademie­Verlag.1957a, p 71.

109

castes--live in separate tolas, as do the Harijans. Within the Harijan tola each caste

group lives in a separate tola such as Chamar tola, Musahar tola and so on?0

The geographical location of the Harijan tola indicates the low status of the

Harijans in a village. Within the Harijan tola, the Chamar tola is to the south. The

location comes partially from the tradition of separation because of untouchability.

Secondly, due to the stench from hide work, the traditional occupation of the

Ravidasis, they were allotted the south side of the village living space.71 The physical

separation of different caste groups into distinct geographical units within the same

compact village, is compounded by a hierarchy of social status.72

With the upper castes on the top of the hierarchy, the 'outcastes' at its bottom,

and a number of stratified groups in the middle makes the village society in Ganj (see

Table 3.1). This also coincides with the social, political and economic power position

of the three caste categories in the village. Each caste group is continually contesting

for power with the others. In Ganj, though there are Brahmins who are traditionally

and ritually 73 considered at the top of the Hindu social ladder, yet the Bani as

dominate owing to economic power. Among the intermediate castes the Yadavas

claim the highest power position, whereas among the Harijan castes, the Ravidasis,

being numerically and economically better off, are stronger.

The real power struggle now is between the feudal-type landlord upper castes

and the newly rich intermediate castes?4 However, if the challenge ever comes from

the lower caste category, both the above categories combine to oppose them, as seen

in their response to the Naxalite Movement in Bhojpur. 75 This, in turn, has led to a .

mobilisation across caste lines among the lower castes. This was partly because of the

growing violence against the lower castes by the upper and middle castes together.

The Naxalite Movement seems to have created a context for such unity and

cohesiveness among the lower castes. Examples are aplenty where, in upper

7° For a study on caste, lineage and neighbourhood, see Louis Dumont, A South Indian Subcaste: Social Organization and Religion of the Pramalai Kallar, 1986, pp 37-64.

71 We have seen elsewhere that the geographical location of the south allotted to the Chan1ar in ancient times was to avoid the northerly winds carrying the stench from hide work trom the Chamar hamlet.

72 J. Kananaikil op. cit., p 373. 73 The position of the Brahmin at the top of the hierarchy is due to his being the 'purest' ritually and hence claim

the maximum social distance from the 'least pure' or the 'unclean' castes (Harijans). Harold A. Gould says necessity to keep the Brahmin ritually pure is built into the varna religious system of the Hindus. Thus, the Chamars who defile themselves to remove defilement in a village, are "contra-priests": see Harold A. Gould, The Sacralization of a Social Order: The Hindu Caste System, Vol. 1, (1987), 1990, p 20.

74 Susanne Hoeber Rodolph and Lloyd I. Rodolph, Detemzinants .and Varieties of Agrarian Mobilization, University of Chicago, 1980: quoted in J. Kananaikil, op. cit., p 373.

75 .T. Kananaikil, op. cit, p 373.

110

caste-Harijan encounters, the latter group, in spite of their caste differences, have

joined together to oppose the upper castes. The situation seems to be creating

horizontally polarized mega-caste communities in the lower castes.

There are several social institutions, in a village, which are structural76 in

nature. These are the body of social, economic, cultural, religious and political

relationships between caste groups and within individual castes. As we have seen

already (Chapter 1), the structure of a society can be seen as comprised of three

levels: primary, intermediate and secondary. The primary structures are there at birth

and relatively unchangeable such as, family, regional identity, and in some cases,

caste, 77 and religious identity too.78

The social relationship of a Ravidasi with other members of the village

community is guided by a package of 'given' roles. These relationships being

institutionalized, in course of their long duration in tradition, are what may be called

basic social structures of a village community. Hetukar Jha says,

The role of a person indicates how that person holding a particular status relates to other role-players in the role-set; this corresponds to the status held by that person

because role represents society's demands on him as an incumbent of that role. 79

Similarly, Dahrendorf suggests that these roles are prescriptions of conduct and are

independent of the individual's choice. These roles are 'given' or, in other words,

institutionalized. 80

In Ganj the primary level structures were constituted by such institutions as

caste/jati, family, (a joint family of one or more households), khandan (households

.. from- a common ancestry), jati-panchayati (caste panchayat),. tola (hamlet: has an

identity of its own as social space for different caste groups such as Ravidasi Tola,

Musahar Tola, Koiri Tola and so on), etc. The intermediate level structures which

operated in Ganj were81 jajmani-purohiti (patron (jajman)-client (purohit)

76 'Structure' refers here to the stability of relationship as in an edifice. 77 The primary ones are seen as relatively unchangeable mainly because these are inherited. For instance, those

born into a caste cease to have caste when they convert to casteless socio-religious systems. 78 One is born into Hinduism, which can be considered a primary structure. In most religious communities

children are born into the religion of their parents/guardians though initiation rites confer S)'mbolic membership in religion: such as in Christianity. ·Our fmding is that although arrangements I call 'intermediate' are also inherited, these had been changed by conscious and purposive action. see Chapter 1, for discussion.

79 Hetldcar Jha, op. cit., 1991, pp 24; also Hetukar Jha, J. B. P. Sinha, S. Gopal, K. M. Tiwary, Social Strnctures and Alignments: A Study of Rural Bihar, 1985, for a different but similar interpretation on leveL-; of social structures, p 79. Hetukar Jha's study of rural Bihar was done in three village in three cultural divisions of Bihar namely, central north Bihar, east and west central Bihar.

80 RalfDahrendorf, Essays in the The01y of Society, Routledge & Kegan Paul, p.37. 81 I have borrowed a term used by Jha, to underscore the unchangeable nature of these institutions. However,

we shall elucidate in our study that the so-called 'crystallised structures' tend to get changed over time, especially due to the intervention of secondary level structures.

Ill

socio-religious relationship), mahajani (money-lending), bataidari (share-cropping),

janouri (patron-client, semi-bonded labour relationship), grihasthi-pawani (hereditary

patron-client relationship) and so on. These are social, religious, economic or agrarian

systems, which have certain force and legitimacy of tradition, and have become

institutionalized. These dictate the core of "everyday life" in the village,82 and the

non-compliance to these structures generally invited sanctions from community's

traditional authorities.

Although these were accepted as 'given' and had the characteristics of primary

level structures, as Jha has asserted,83 I argue that these can only be considered

'intermediate', because rational and communicative action can effect improvements in

them, worsen them, recast them in new moulds, introduce alternative systems and so

on, through purposive action.

The secondary level structures on the other hand, are. the external,

"instrumentalist" forces, such as associations, government or other activist institutions

and agencies, missionary organizations and so on which are formed for certain goals

and purposes. 84 Studying innovation as a basis of cultural change, Barnett points out

that Mission and Church authorities use "instrumental and authority factors" to

facilitate social change. There are promotional organizations, schemes, such as

professional societies, political parties, fraternal associations, etc, which advocate

change in a persuasive ways using strategic means. 85 The mediation of these external

forces were found to be transformative as several intermediate level structures are

changed through their "communicative nature of action",86 resulting in structural

change in the Ravidasi society.

Analyzing the change of structures in the Ravidasi Christian community of

Ganj, ohe can say that the external agencies, through ideas, education, awareness

building, religious motivation, and so on, generally could not and did not change

82 Berger and Luckman have called the primary level structures as "social reality par excellence". See F. Brandel, Afterthoughts on Material Civilization and Capitalism (tr) Patricia M. Ranum, The Jolm Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1977, p. 6-7, where he uses the concept of 'everyday life' of society. Also Hetukar Jha, op. cit., p 27.

83 Jha developed this categorization based on the concepts of "symbolic interaction" and "systems of purposive rational action" suggested by Hebermas in Toward a Rational Society, Beacon Press, 1970, pp 91-94. See H. Jha, op. cit., pp 24-27.

84 H. Jha, et al., op. cit., p 15. 85 H. G. Barnett, Innovation: The Basis of Cultural Change, 1953, pp 294, 297. 86 Explaining purposive action, Jurgen Habermas elucidates the therapeutic relationship between a psychoanalyst

·and his/her client. Although the language used by the former is ordinary, its purposive emplo~mcnt can etlect psychological changes in the latter. Michael Pusey, Jurgen Habemws, 1987, p 70, 80-85.

112

primary level structures, whereas they did change many intermediate level structures,

which we shall see below.

At the secondary level structure, the inter-group relationships are more

"instrumental" and "strategic." Examples of secondary level structures which impinge

upon the primary level structures in more strategic and goal-oriented ways are

voluntary organizations, government programs for specific development, formal

organizations such as missionary organizations, religious sects, associations, etc.

These are institutional in nature but are capable of inducing change in society,

due to their goal-orientation and strategic means of implementation of such goals, by

generally motivated persons. Although members of a society may also be members of

such organizations, the latter's character can make it a distinct agent in relation to the

member. Conceptually, therefore, the organization can be acting on the very persons

who are its members. Thus, these external agencies which interact with these primary

level structures, by their very nature and avowed objectives, tend to induce change in

the already structured inter-relations in society, whereby the existing primary level

structures get more stabilized, or loosened. When the existing primary level structures

get loosened, alternative primary level structures may be adopted by the society,

possibly owing to influence of external agencies and institutions.

It is presumed that change in society does not occur by mere influence or

strategic intervention of external agencies, but due to the change in the consciousness

of the members of the society, acted upon. It can happen through a heightened

concientization87 of the members of the society, particularly its lead~rs or elite. The.

strategic, goal-oriented force of the Shahpur Catholic Mission with its patrons,

benefactors, spiritual gurus, institutions with tremendous potential for socio-religious

control and so on, seems to have had immensely transformative influences upon the

Ravidasis of Ganj. 88

We shall study some of the main intermediate level structures of Ganj, with a

view to understanding how, under the impact of some secondary level structures, the

Catholic Mission for one, the former ones apparently got weakened or de-structured

as new, parallel, alternative structures emerged.

87 Conscientization, a term popularized by Paulo Friere, in his famous work, Pedagogy of !he Oppressed: it means making the ignorant educated, through various means not necessarily by teaching the three R's.

88 For a study on the impact of external forces, see Shirly Berry Isenberg, "The Bene Israel Villagers ofKolaba District: Genemtions, Culture Change, Changing Identities," in Nathan Katz (ed), Studies of Indian Je~vish Identity, 1995, pp 94-99, 103; also, Joan G. Roland, "Indian-Jewish Identity of the Bene Israel during the British Raj," in Nathan Katz, (ed), op. cit., pp 3-4.

113

3. 5.1 Mahajani

It puzzled me, greatly, to learn that Ram Kisun Chamar, the Ravidasi whom I met (see

interview below) at the house of Vinay Chaudhary, a zamindar of Ganj, was a

'bonded' person. Caught in a whirlpool of debt and suffering from abject poverty in

spite of him and his family being employed in his malik's (Chaudhary) house for two

generations, Ram Kisun Chamar seemed to be a true representative of the victims of

mahajani. Ram Kisun Chamar was an enigma to me. I pursued his trail home.

Out in a corner of the Chamar hamlet ( Chamtoli) was he, in his house one

evening, with his smoking an Indian smoking pipe (hukka) alone and in deep thought,

sitting on the ground. He recognized and welcomed me in the typical warm Ravidasi

manner and brought out the best of his sitting furniture, the multipurpose woven

wooden cot (khattiya). 89 After the initial exchange of news, particularly reviewing the

changes in the village, in recent weeks, Ram Kisun replied to my question how he

became a debtor (karzdarlkaduka):

(RKC) We had a patch of land, my father used to tell us. But had to lease it out to the mahajan (moneylender) following my father's failure to repay an earlier loan obtained to marry off his elder sister, my aunt. Then again, my father borrowed money on various occasions especially during the 'great' famine (1966). It was a terrible time, you know. All our cattle were dead All the while we had been working as begar in lieu of the debt. And we are still working to repay the debt. We are five in the family: three sons, one daughter and my wife.

(JK) Don't you keep an account of how much you have paid back and how much you have yet to pay, and so on?

(RKC) Ka karen sabeb? Garib logon ki nasib. Hamra ke koi parhe-likhe nahin ke (What to do, sir. The fate of poor people. Nobody in the family is literate).

(JK) Why did you not send your children to school since schooling was free? (RKC) Kaise (how?) My malik told me; 'Re, Kisunwa, !ora layikwa parhe a.!Jsar

bani?' karz kaun chukayega (You, Kisun, your son will study and become an officer? Who will pay back the debt?)'

90

Ram Kisun Chamar, a Hindu poor begar (semi-bonded labourer) of Ganj was not an

isolated case of debt-victim thanks .to the practice of mahajani. There were several

other debtor-forced labourers (karzdaar-begars) in the village. The poorest ones are

of the Musahar caste.

One of the social structures of the village, mahajani is an institutionalized

traditional monetary or economic relationship between a borrower and mahajan

(literally, the great/big people).

89 For a description of the hospitality during field study in a Harijan Family in Hajipur, Bihar, see Sophie Baker, Caste: At Home in Hindu India, 1990, pp 138-164. ·

90 Interview with Ram Kisun Chamar, April2, 1997, Ganj. I had interviewed hin1 on January 2, 1994, during an earlier study on Ganj.

114

Moneylenders generally belonged to the Bania caste but there were some who

belonged to other castes, particularly in other villages.91 The mahajans make

advances to the needy, in either money or grain, and are repaid entirely in grain at

harvest. Part of their grain they sell wholesale and part they keep to lend out to other

borrowers. The rate of interest was always very high in relation to the value of the

grain at harvest time. Hans-Dieter Roth says:

Though the institutional credit system, in the form of credit co-operatives, was started in India as early as the 1930s this has had no significant impact on the exorbitant interest rates of traditional lenders. Even legislative measures, such as the Moneylender's Act introduced in Bihar in 1938, were totally ineffective. 92

Mahajani as a viliage structure was more than just a monetary institution. The

dependence of the poor on the mahajans grew due to the exorbitant rates of interest,

which accumulated for the increasingly abject poor. On the other hand, rarely did a

mahajan suffer losses in his business of lending. Exploring the pattern of relationships

between the mahajans and the karzdaars, Jha says that the mahajani relationship with

low income groups implied caste-based social discrimination, exercise of power,

reiteration of submissiveness and so on.93 The motive behind private moneylending,

says Roth, is primarily to create social obligations rather than to gain direct profits

from interest payments which is achieved by exploiting agricultural labourers-cum­

debtors who are underpaid or even unpaid. 94

The Ravidasis in our village had to borrow from mahajans either to meet the

expenses of daily life or of marriages. Once a debtor, always a debtor. They borrowed

again to repay the earlier debts, which, then, multiplied, and the borrower mortgaged

.. his properties and finally feilinto the vicious circle of karz-begari (begari was forced

upon them in lieu ofrepayrnent).95

Studying various categories of moneylenders in a village in south Bihar, Roth

says that, "since a positive correlation exists between social status and ownership of

land, it is consequently the castes with the highest social prestige which are active in

91 Buchana~ op. cit. p 430: calls them Grihastha Bepari (trader-farmers). 92 Hans-Dieter Roth, Indian Moneylenders at Work, Case Studies of the Traditional Rural Credit A1arket in

Dhanbad District, Bihar, 1983, p SO. 93 H. Tha, op. cit., p 115. 94 On the situation of tribal villages, Roth points out that "this applies particularly to villages where the tribal

social structure was displaced and superseded by a Hindu social order which imposed social subordination." See Roth, op. cit., p 84.

95 Roth says in the tribal regions, the pocr landed tribals mortgaged their land tor the money borrowed. "If the primary motive of the moneylender is to possess the land, this type of mortgage enables him to compel the borrower to sell the land far below the actual market value." Implied is the manner in which several tribals in south Bihar lost their land due to their transaction with the moneylenders. Roth, op. cit., p 74.

115

moneylending. "96 Similarly, moneylending m village contexts had deeper

implications in social relations, depending on the caste or social status of the debtor.

Roth says:

All the more important is the moneylenders' management of debts. Because of their ovenvhelmingly powerful position in the villages and their intimate local and private influence, they are not only in a position to seize whatever exists above the debtor's subsistence level, but also to force him into bondage.97

In a village characterised by traditiopal forms of feudal labour, the interest

rates are of only minor relevance and play at best a symbolic part in moneylending

business. To illustrate further, the mahajans did not treat a debtor merely as a person

in business relationship say; in a city, but as a 'low' class person. They were insulted,

abused and addressed with disparaging terms such as re and be. The debtors had to sit

on the ground whereas the mahajans would sit on a chair, and the latter were

addressed as malik, sarkar, babu, huzur, etc. The mahajans would enforce the

repayment of loans with labour and would resort to courts of law. Several Ravidasi

families in Ganj had been bonded as mahajani-begars98 in the early 1930s and 1940s,

and had been entangled in court cases and litigations by their creditor mahajans. The

latter used to retain some debtors in bondage, often by increasing the debt amount by

false accounts.

Thus the mahajani system in Ganj was characterized on the one hand, by the

mahajans' exercise of power using their monetary resources, exclusive control over

and capacity to manipulate accounts, along with caste-based status differentiation

which accorded certain advantages to them. On the other hand, were the mahajani­

debtors who, apparently, had to suffer due to their ignorance of accounts, lack of

alternative monetary resources and certain caste-based disabilities.

3. 5.2 Bataidari

A second component of social structures in our village was share-cropping

(bataidari). A common agrarian relationship between the landed and the landless,

bataidari system strengthened during the British period. Near the Ganga, Buchanan

noted, all the land was let by regular lease (patta) and each tenant gave an agreement

to pay a rent (kabuliat) which they paid in money rent or in kind (nukadi). Sometimes

the tenants took an advance (tukadi) for their cultivation, which tended to enmesh

96 The social status is detennined by caste, ownership of land, educational level, income, honorarv functions and holding of key positions in the village administration. See Roth, op. cit.. p 26.

97 Roth, op. cit, p 84. 98 This type of debtor-begar.s are to be distinguished from the fans (attached labourers) to a traditional landlord

even though the latter might be a moneylender (mahajan ): see Chapter 5, for details on mahajcmi debtors.

116

them in continued tenantry, dependence, 99 and often oppression by landlords. The

bataidars being powerless did not apparently challenge the oppression. But there were

some who did challenge, as we know from the remarks ofBuchanan about the tenants

in north Bhojpur: the tenantry there was "too high spirited to submit to the most

trifling abuse" and were "willing to fight with anyone for a cowrie." 100

The "spirited tenants" of his times (1810s) seem to be the intermediate

cultivating castes who subsequently became owners of the tenant-lease-land, thanks to

government legislation101 and their own assertion of power supported by such

associations as the Kisan . Movement, 102 and subsequently became the

ascendant/upwardly mobile class of Bihar during the first half of this century.

However, the condition of the lower caste bataidars, seems to have remained the

same all through. This was the background in which agrarian social reformer Swami

Sahajanand began to organize kisans (farmers). 103

My informants in village Ganj said that the vast majority of the bataidars were

either landlesss, belonging to the 'low castes' or small landholders. The economic

disparity between these and the landed class only increased as the former became

increasingly impoverished due to debts. Allowing bataidars to cultivate small plots of

land (not more than one acre), for a limited period of time (two-to-three years), and

forcing them to support the maliks (landlords) in court cases, or work as banihars and

so forth, was common. It was also noted in our village that most Ravidasis being

landless, several of the able ones took to bataidari whereas, several others were mere

semi-bonded labourers, without any share-cropping (bataidari) relationships with the

landlords. 104

Bataidari relationship was long-standing and hence was an intermediate level

structure of Ganj. Examining the pattern of relationship between bataidars and their

maliks, in Bihar's villages, Jha says that the relationship invariably worked in favour

of the latter and increasingly impoverished the former. 105

99 Buchanan, op. cit., p 340. 100 Ibid. A cowrie is the smallest unit of monetary coin. 101 This refers to the abolition of zamiru.lari syst~m in Bihar in 1950, and distribution of surplus land acquired by

the govenunent. 102 The tenant cultivators in Bhojpur were backed by the peasant or~..ation led by Swami Sahajanand

Saraswati, The Kisan Sabha. For a study of the Kisan Sabhas, see Rakesh Gupta, Bihar Peasant1)' and the Kisan Sabha, 1982, andM. A Rasul, A History of the All india Kisan Sabha, 1989.

103 On the Kisan Sabha movement in Shahabad, see W. Hauser, op. cit. 104 For a study of the agrarian situation in Bihar after the zamindari system was abolished, see F. Tomasson

Jannuzi, Agrarian Crisis in India: 71le Case of Bihar, 1974. 105 But Jha has asserted that bataidari is a primary level structure. H. Jha, op. cit., p 137.

117

3.5.3 Janouri

A third significant village institution is janouri (relationship between a malik

(traditional landlord) and his traditional attached labourer,jan: or attached ploughman

(halwahalharwahi) 106. There were two categories of janouri: one, a system where the

labourers attached to a particular malik were free to sell their labour to others when

their own maliks did not need it; and another, where the labourers did not have this

option and hence generally unfree. 107

Buchanan reporting on Shahabad in the 1810s says a plough servant (then

known as kamiya or karaya) did not seem to be held bound for advances made to his

debtor-father, although part of the debt was often, no doubt, incurred in the son's • to& H marriage. e says,

Advances at the rate of rupees one to two were given in many places-a sum given to bind the ploughmen throughout the season.... Many persons, instead of giving money, allotted a small field which is cultivated by the servant with their stock, and he takes one-half of the produce. 109

The jans also had to give occasional service to the maliks (such as massaging and

other domestic chores) and had to "leave his women to his [malik's] embrace. "110

In a survey conducted in the early 1980s, it was found that 81 percent of the

Harijan (mostly Ravidasi) families worked as harwahis.lll In the early 1930s and

1940s, most Ravidasi families in our village were jans to one landlord or another. 112

Of late, the number of Ravidasis in janouri has considerably reduced. Some of my

informants, formerly jans, recalled the times when they struggled under the system.

In a study on village Chougain in Dumraon block of Buxar district, (formerly

a part ofBhojpur district), Jha notes that the maliks use pejorative language to address

the jans during not only economic activity but also in social interactions. For instance,

jans were not to sit on the same level as the maliks, had to settle in the malik's land

(mostjans being landless), had to work for the maliks according to the. wishes of the

106 Plouglunen are specialists in north Indian village. Ploughing a field was considered a mean job, and the high caste farmers would get their vast fields ploughed with the help of their begars and banilwrs.

107 Semi-bonded or bonded labourers in other parts of India were known by ditTerent names. See Jan Breman, Patronage and Exploitation, Changing Agrarian. Relations in South Gujarat, p 7.

108 The kamiya, being financially dependent on his malik, borrowed money for domestic and social purposes, such as marriage.

109 Paying a jan or harwalza in terms of allowing land for cultivation to the latter often 'reserving' them \vith part of the payment in advance is still prevalent in the village of our study. Buchanan, op. cit., p 341.

110 Buchanan, op. cit., p 210. 111 J Kananaikil, op. cit., p 378. 112 The landlords in Ganj largely belonged to the Bania caste, which is categorised as 'upper backward caste': a

politically set category. This group constitutes 19.3 percent of the population of Bihar. "In Bihar, their [Banias1 position, social status \vise is low and most of them have been classified as backward according to the Government Order, of November 1978": see Report of the Backward Classes Commission, Government of India, Second Part, Volumes ID-Vll, 1980, p 155.

118

maliks and so forth. 113 The very identity of the jans as individual human persons was

removed by their being identified as the jans of a particular malik. The ma/iks abused

jailS when addressing them. It was in the interest of the maliks, however, to help the

jans in crisis or defend them when assaulted. In short, janouri was a system of

patronage and exploitation.

3. 5. 4 Grihasthi-pawani

Another significant social institution which has continued to exist for centuries m

villages is the jajmani system, 114 locally known as the grihasthi-pawani system

(literally, grihasth means householder, it means patron; pawani or pawni literally

means one who receives, implying a traditional service-client relationship). The

variations ofthe system in Bihar, namely pal, hart and so on, were noted by Grierson

in the 1880s. 115, Beginning with W. H. Wiser, who made "the first sociological study

of this system," 116 several scholars have studied it and awakened a great deal of new

interest and a spate of discussions on it in recent times. 117

In Ganj, the system functioned in this way: every service caste [for instance,

dhobi (washerman), nai (barber), chamar-chamayin (leather worker and midwife)],

etc., had their own grihasths in the viliage or in many villages. Thus a pauni may

serve several jajmans, making traditionally bound economic interconnections, which

according to Harold A. Gould, is "local culture": in which affinal connections (born

from village exogamy) and caste ties are capillary systems. 118 In case there were

fewer members in a service caste, the grihasths in the village were proportionately

distributed among those service caste members. 119 The purohit, who also performed a

religious service, was similarly attached to several jajmans (patrons) who, in our

village, belonged to all castes including the Ravidasis. 120

113 H. Jha., op. cit., pp 164-165. 1 14 This system is identified as jajmani system. Ja_imani has come to be the generic tenn used for a variety of

patron-client relationships in a traditional village. For instance, agriculture-baSl..--d service as plough labour, other domestic services of barber, dbobi, etc., are part of the general jajmani system: clarification of idea being obtained from discussion with Professor Satish Saberwal. In Bihar, other tenus used are pauniya, pawani-pasari, etc.

115 George Grierson, Bihar Peasant Life, (1885), reprint 1975, pp 315-316. 116 Gould, op. cit., p 149. Also W.ll. Wiser; The Hindu Jajmani System, (1933), 1999. 117 lbid., quoting, Pauline Kolenda, Towards a Model oftheJajmani System, 1963. 118 Gould, op. cit., pp 146-147. 119 For instance five dhobis in a village divide among themselves say, 100 grihastlzs of the village and serve only

the ones to whom they are attached. 120 In some regions Bralunin priests did not oblige the 'low' castes, which generally had priests from their own

castes. However, Shyamlal on a study on the Bhangis of Jodhpur says, the Bralunin priests did offer the former, priestly service. See Shyarnlal, The Bhangis in Transition, p 76.

119

At the same time, these grihasths, wanting to get a specific service done, could

not obtain it from pawnis other than those traditionally attached to their families.

Thus, the grihasthi-pawani being hereditary, a traditional worker could not change a

grihasth without the permission of the latter and of his own castemates. The grihasths

(patrons), being landlords, received specific services from the lower castes and

service castes. The latter category, in tum, were paid, generally in kind, for their

services, particularly on occasions· of rituals and festivals besides, providing social

protection by the former.

Ravidasis as a service caste had four specialized services to offer to the village

community: 1) removing dead animals (that is, removing a source of pollution, if

any), for the village; 2) work on hide and leather which are used for various

implements and furniture; 3) play dhogar (a special drum played at childbirth,

marriages, etc.); and 4) the service of chamayinlgamayati (mid-wifery, a job in which

Chamar women learned to specialize and were obliged to do, and no other caste

women would do). These tasks, all of them defiling in the Hindu mind, but essential

in village life, were the pawni (service) rendered by the Ravidasis and as such were

considered their dharma ascribed to their caste by birth (see discussion in Chapter 5).

Thus, Grihasthi-pawani system has to do with caste differentiation and

occupational inter-relationship among castes, through the system corresponding to the

prestations and counter-prestations by which the castes in a village are bound

together. 121 On caste and occupational relationship S. C. Dube says:

Based on an ascriptive system of status evaluation, caste results in a very distinctive type of segmentary division of society ... the different segments are brought together into one organic whole by inter-actional norms defining and detennining their inter­dependence. 122

As a social institution, the caste system123 seems to have sustained the Hindu society

for thousands of years, through its functional network and complementary inter­

dependency among ritual and occupational specialists in society. Gould says:

Varna provided the ideologically legitimised moral matrix within which the ritual requirements of the Hindu belief system could be elaborated in social terms. The sacralized division of labour provided a permanent inventory of occupational

121 H. Jha, op. cit., p 167. 122 S. C. Dube, "Forward" inK S. Mathur, Caste and Ritual in a A1alwa Village, 1964, p vi. 123 Klass in his recent study has analysed the divergent views of scholars on linkage between caste and

occupation: 1) the "traditionalist" view (those who would derive caste from vamas. 2) the "occupationalist" view of John Nesfield and Denzil Charles lbbetson, which holds that caste came from occupational exclusiveness, 3) the racialist" view of scholars like R R Risley who see caste as deriving from instituted laws of endogamy, and 4) the "Brhamanist" view of Emile Senart which, Klass says is same as occupationalist view. Morton Klass, Caste: The Emergence of the South Asian Social System, 1998, p 77. See Klass, op. cit., p 80

specialists who could simultaneously keep the economy running and provided the various ritual specialists needed to keep the religious order intact." 124

120

In other words, apart from economic activities such as labour, specialized service,

allocation of power and prestige, etc., there are implications of religious duty

(dharma). 125

The Ravidasis constitute an important category of specialist in a Hindu

community because they traditionally absorb the impurities associated with the

removal of dead animals, working with leather products, childbirth, etc. 126 Thus the

question "Who is your Chamar," may imply a particular maliks cobbler, his midwife,

or his pauni who is supposed to dispose of the carcass of a dead animal. In all the

three services, though cash payment is made, these roles have their principal meaning

in the ritual context, particularly in the chamayin's job. 127

This indicates the "attributional" character of these jobs, for a "chamar" is

what a "Chamar" does, says Gould. Always a menial-impure category occupation, the

chamar's job might be done by, say a Koiri, who deems himself ritually superior to the

Chamar, whose name connotes unclean status in the community. 128 What is termed

"Chamarization" of a caste, that is, a caste has been progressively forced by necessity

to perform the most defiling occupations. 129

This also implies "functional interchangeability" in the jajmani system where

a specialist caste is absent, the caste's function is often provided by some other caste:

a Chamar's jobs have to be done, by anybody. It does not matter for the jajman who

does the "Chamar" works for him so long as these are performed. Gould says that

functional interchangeability is a necessary attribute of the jajmani system,

particularly with respect to impure occupations, because:

... A clean household cannot by definition retain its clean status unless certain kinds of work and ritual procedures with impure implications are transferred to others. If the traditional absorber of a specific form of impurity is not available then the power and persuasion of the clean household must be emplo.ved to uncover someone else who will function as a substitute (emphasis added).130

124 Gould, op. cit., p 20. 125 See for instance a study of the relationship betweenjajman and paunilpurohit: Dwnont, Homo Hiemrchicus, . . 1972, p 144. Also H. Jha, op. cit, pp 168-176. 126 Ibid. pp 161-162. 127 Ibid. Gould sees chamayin's job more in the ritual conte)l."t than the jobs which arc seen as related to the

production context in Hindu society. 128 Gould, op. cit., p 162. Also Mckim Marriott, "Interactional and Attributional Theories of Caste Ranking," in

Aian in India, Vol. 59, 1959. pp 92-107, 129 The small numbers of actual Chamar households in the village and its vicinity has doubtless contributed to this

process. Most of the scavengers in the two villages he studied (Sherupur and Naktipur) were Koiris. Gould, op. cit., pp 161-162.

130 Gould gives instance of Koiris, Nais (barbar), Thako.rrs (Kshatriya) and Brahmins, not following their traditional occupations and adopting altemative ones: Gould, op. cit., pp 153-154.

121

Though scholars have noted the relative openness of the system, 131 they have

not highlighted the ritual necessary of the Chamar's jobs. Besides, Adrian C. Mayer

says that flexibility in occupation was available to or appropriated by 'nearby' castes

only, that is castes with adjoining ranks in the hierarchy, not between 'distant' castes

such as the 'touchable' and 'untouchable' categories. "Overt and covert means" such as

seating together or, accepting and rejecting food from a particular caste, etc. was used

by these castes for improving one's rank. However, the 'untouchable' group could not

upgrade itself to become ··touchable' by these means. 132 That is to say, traditional rules

governing caste occupation relationship are not restrictive for higher castes: not so for

the low castes who are bound by jajmani system to pollution-related jobs, although

they could adopt certain alternative occupations like agriculture, business, etc.

The Ravidasis in Ganj, for instance, had not given up the ritually bound

occupations, because of the non-availability of material resources and dharma-­

religious duty, the ritual necessity. The limited occupational mobility of the Ravidasis,

therefore, is not accidental: it is built into the traditional grihasthilpauni system, and

its "dimensions of ascriptivism, exclusivism and hierarchicalism," lead to

"discriminatory distinction in public life, both secular as well as sacred. "133

Given the pollution attached to these jobs, empirical data shows that the only

course for those who wanted to gain dignity and social status was to discard such jobs

and adopt alternative jobs. Instances elsewhere have shown that Harijans gave up the

polluting job of scavenging but continued to practice shoemaking and midwifery

under .the influence of the Raidas movement, 134 the Tamil Buddhist Movem~nt, 135 etc.

The Ravidasis of Ganj, as we shall see below, began to give up ritually polluting jobs

and adopt alternative occupations since the 1950s: under the influence of a variety of

forces, both internal and external, such as modernisation, political forces, ideological

and institutional intervention of the Catholic Mission of Shahpur, etc.

131 For instance, K. S. Mathur, in a study of a village in Madhya Pradesh says that members of a caste are e:-..-pected to hold to their traditional calling, ideally. However, such factors as the economic unsuitability of the occupation or personal inclination lead to deviations. The occupational structure is not so rigid: there are some 'open' occupations, the pursuit of which is permitted to all castes. He gives instances of castes giving up their traditional callings due to economic disadvantages (caste study of Potlad village in Malwa district, 195 5 ): Mathur, op. cit, p 151.

132 See Adrian C. Mayer, Caste and Kinship in Central India (A Village and its Region), 1986, pp 47-50. 133 G. Aloysius, Religion as Emancipatory Identity: A Buddhist Movement among the Tamils Umler Colonialism,

1998, p 153. 134 "TI1e Raidas Movement, he says, "endeavours to improve the lot of Chamar everywhere within the Hindu

cosmos by adhering to the doctrines ofRavidas:" Gould, op. cit., p 162. 135 Led by Jyothee Thass, the Depressed Classes of Tamil Nadu, attempted to construct an alternative vision tor

the emancipation of the entire society says, G. Aloysius: op. cit., p 153.

122

The impact of the above forces and the extent of changes among the convert

Ravidasis in Ganj can be inferred from this narrative. Moti Chand, an old Ravidasi

convert from Ganj said:

(MC) My grihastha used to scold me and say, "What is happening? If the Chamars give up chamda work [leatherwork] who will do it? These days the dharma is being neglected."

(JK) Do you do chamda work now-a-days? (MC) I left hide and leather work some 25 years ago. Why should I do it if that is

the one which makes us polluted? (JK) However, you do some other type of pauni? (MC) Yes, dhogar bajaana padta hein [I have to play the drum]. Once my malik

came and told me, 'My daughter is getting married. Remember, for generations your family used to play the dhogar in my khandan (family). Aren't you coming to play?' To which I agreed. \-Yny? Because it is our special talent. And part of our sanskriti (culture). Except the dhogar we don't do any other pauni now-a-days. Even my wife does not do chamayin work.I36

While the educated, well-employed and more mobile Ravidasi converts have give up

pauni services, field survey has revealed that many poor and illiterate Ravidasis

continue to perform the polluting elements in pauni service for their respective

grihastha-maliks. We shall discuss later (Chapter 5) this restructuring of their society,

under the impact of alternative institutions.

3.6 The Ignominy of Name

'What is in a name?' asked Shakespeare. There is a great deal in a name and

naming. Names define identities and accord dignity to persons. 137 For the Ravidasis,

the term 'Chamar' became, in the course of time, a pejorative one due to their

association with dead animals, work on hide and leather and midwifery, which are

seen to be--'polluting'. Hence they were attributed to be of 'low status'. 138 The self­

introduction of my informant Ram Kisun Chamar using the elusive, non-precise

expression "hum log har-jan hein" (we belong to Harijan caste) betrayed the aby.smal

depth oflowliness ofhis person. 139

136 Interview \Vith Moti Chand, April 3, 1997, Ganj. 137 For a discussion on name and identity, see Chapter 6. 138 The pollution of the person is essentially due to physical contact with 'unclean' materials. hnplied here is the

consequent distance of the Chamar from the Brahmin for whom it is necessary to avoid contact '"ith such materials and labour. See Partha Chatterjee, Nation and its Fragments: Colonial and Post-colonial Histories, 1994, p 194.

139 I did not need to ask further to which caste among the general category 'Harijans' my infom1ant belonged, for it is generally known that only a Chamar avoids using the tem1 'chamar' for introducing himselt~ because of the pejorative connotation of 'chamar', whereas a Musahar does not hesitate in identifying his jati. Interview with Ram Kisun Chan1ar, January 24, 1994; also discussion \\ith the Reverend Dinesh Kumar, Patna, April 12, 1997.

123

A survey conducted in 1980 of 80 families in 80 village revealed that 50

percent of the Chamar respondents disliked the term 'chamar'. 140 It is significant to

note that education makes the members of the community increasingly sensitive to the

pejorative associations of the old caste name. While caste Hindus used the term

'Harijan',141 most of our illiterate respondents also preferred to use that term which

indicates their assimilation of and resignation to the subaltern identity and tended to

readily identify themselves saying, 'hum-log har-jan hein. '142 Studying social

differentiation Kaare Svalastoga says that in the caste model the caste name

emphasizes consciousness of one's caste membership, identification with one's caste,

conformity to the peculiar customs of caste, and subjection to the government of one's

caste. 143

Consequently there seemed to be a sort of ambivalence among the more

educated among them while they introduced themselves to others, whereas the

illiterate among them (Ram Kisun for instance), did not have any. 144 However, some

elderly convert Ravidasis said: "Why 'Harijan'"? We are Christians!" quite mindful of

the pejorative connotation attached to the term. Occasionally one comes across also

the bureaucratically imposed identity the 'Scheduled Caste', which tends to be

unwieldly even for the educated members. At the same time, the term Scheduled

Caste has not been in common use: people in rural areas still identify others by their

caste or community. 145 For instance, one respondent said, "Hum sedoold cast ka hein"

(I belong to Scheduled Caste). 146 As seen elsewhere, some Ravidasis in Ganj have adopted

the higher caste sumames. 147

While conversing with my interviewee, Raghu Ram Robert, an elderly convert

of Ganj, we heard an young man shouting to another, apparently in a quarrel between

140 J. Kananaikil, op. cit., p 380. Also see Harold R Isaacs, "The Ex-Untouchables," in J. Michael Mahar (ed), The Untouchables in Contemporary India, 1972, p 388.

141 Harold R. Isaacs, op. cit., p 387. Also the government, the uneducated, and Gandhian Indians continue, to call the Untouchable "Harijan", since it appears to them either the "least otT ending" or the "most illuminating" new name for the h1dian Untouchable, say R. S. Khare: Khare, The Untouchable as Himself Ideologv, Identity, and Pragmatism among the Lucknow Chamars, 1984, pp 119, 120.

142 A study on self-image ofRavidasi women in Bhojpur district says that the level of self-image does not seem to correlate with the level of literacy. SeeM D. Lizzy, A Study on Chamar Women in Bhojpur District of Bihar, Part III, Self-image, p.86. .

143 Kaare Svalastoga, Social Differentiation, McKay Social Science Series, 1965, pp 12-13. 144 'Harijan' literally means 'people of God'; a term given by Gandhi to the Depressed Classes in the mid 1930s

(see discussion below). SeeM. K. Gandhi (ed.)HmiJan, Feb. 11, 1933, p 7. 145 H Isaacs, op. cit., p 384, 146 See Chapter 5 for discussion on the categorisation of the Ravidasis in the Scheduled Castes list by Presidential

Order 1950. The converts among the Ravidasis were left out of the category but they continued to assert that they belonged to Scheduled Castes as is also evident in the response of this informant.

147 Such as Prasad, Singh, etc. See Isaacs, op. cit., pp 390-391. on adopted surnames of Chamars in other states: such as Prasad, Shinde, Gaikward, Lincoln, Kennedy, etc.

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the two, "H'm, chori-chamari karta hein!" (You are doing stealing). It seems that the

term stealing is co-terminous with the name Chamar. A cross-section of my non­

Ravidasi informants, while being engaged in conversation with this researcher, were

heard using, inadvertently though, some such phrases and proverbs in the local tongue

(Bhojpuri) which seemed pejorative to the honour ofRavidasis. 148

At the same time some others said, "Whatever be the achievement, a Chamar

is always a Chamar." 149 Citing similar examples such as "They [Chamars] are, after

all, Chamars," and "Chamars are people with dirty habits," R. S. Khare calls these

comments as "bias-accentuating." 150 Though the Chamars cope with and have begun

to assert their dignity in recent times through political participation/ 51 they are

generally at the receiving end particularly in rural situations. We have seen how social

relationships and interactions between the high caste maliks vis a vis the Ravidasis,

are coloured by the former's cultural archetypes on the one hand, and drive the latter

to underestimate themselves and rank their deprivation in different social contexts. 152

The name-calling, in the above instance, was done by none other than a

Chamar himself whose name was kudwa (man from dust): indicating the

internalization of such pejorative phrases due to constant usage in reference to them.

But I was puzzled by 'kudv,;a': why such a name? "Formerly we were not permitted to

keep names associated with great gods," Robert told me. 153 However, they have begun

to use 'Kumar' or 'Kumari' to their children in recent times. Subsequent inquiry

fetched me a few Ravidasi names such as gobar (cowdung), dhoda (man with big

navel), bilkoduwa (one who clears weed), dukhan (man of sorrow), mangroo (born of

Tuesday, bad omen), gajara (carrot), etc., for males and, phoolpathiya (woman like a

leaf), chhinti (woman of worry), dukhiya (woman of sorrow), loukhi (a vegitable),

dhanuwatiya (a type of gram), etc., for females.

148 For instance, 'Chamar ki beti naam rafmniva' (name is of a queen, but daughter is of a Chamar); 'chandan pada chamar ghar, nit uthi kute kaam' (even if a Chamar gets sandalwood what will he do but use it to pound leather?), etc.

149 Interview with Devendra Dubey and group, Ganj. Also compare with the proverbs on Chamars: stated above. 150 Khare, op. cit., p 121. 151 For a study on Scheduled Caste in elections and politics, see Lelah Dushkin, "Scheduled Caste Politics," in J.

Michael Mahar (ed), op. cit., pp 165-226; on political participation for social status, see Owen M. Lynch, Tire Politics of Untouchability (Social Mobility and Social Change in a City in India). 1969; S. K. Gupta, 1J1e Scheduled Castes in Modem Indian Politics: Their Emergence as a Political Power, 1985; on political participation for democratic ritghts, see John C. B. Webester, T11e Dalit Christians: A History. 1992, chapter 3, pp 77-125.

152 Khare, op. cit., p 123. 153 Interview with Raghu Ram Robert, January 12, 1994, Ganj

125

An analysis of these and other names seems to indicate three attributes of

Ravidasi nature, namely low calibre or intellect, low mental disposition and their

precarious existence here and now. In the first attribute, the acceptance of an imposed

non-literate culture and low social status through a process of constant 'outcasting' is

evident as in 'bilkoduwa' and 'gobar'. In the second one, it seems that through names

such as 'dukhan' and 'dukhiya' the Ravidasis continue to transfer their experience of

bitterness or sorrow through their progeny, and the third attribute points to their

precariousness in day-to-day struggles, (evident in the names 'mangroo', 'loukhi', etc.)

which do not seem to allow them to think ofthe morrow. 154

In a study of the Chamars of Lucknow, Khare says that the Chamars

repeatedly encounter and recognize in their everyday life, the "language of social bias

but they do make efforts to cope with it which he calls "social coping. "155 Analysing

the subtle language which he calls "metalanguage" embedded within the ordinary

language, he has classified it into four theme clusters, in order to ascertain the social

basis directed for or against the Chamars: 156 1) Guilt-raising cluster: achchuta

(untouchable), atisudra (lowest sudra), chandala (progeny of sudra father and

Brahmin mother), Harijan, etc; 2) reforming cluster: adi-Hindu (original Hindu),

Harijan (under Gandhian usage), etc; 3) secularizing cluster: babu, saheb, bare admi,

malik (officers, administrators, rich people, and boss), "weaker segment of society,"

Scheduled Castes, etc.; and 4) politicizing cluster: dalita (depressed, sosita

(exploited), laghu varga (minority). 157

The four. category clusters empirically illustrate the conditions of the Lucknow

Chamar: they are "polysemous" and also show how expressions of bias identification

are structured and utilized by the Chamars to pursue their own goals within as well as

outside the arenas of organized politics. For example, the Chamars have used the first

cluster to raise protest before the caste Hindu and to charge that the Hindus openly

employed the first cluster to discriminate against and put them down: it was used to

raise the guilt ofthose socially "higher". Further, he says:

154 Edward Mendonca, (Hindi) "Bha<>ha our Shoshan" (Language and Exploitation) in Jose Kalapura (ed), Violence in Bihar, (Document), 1989, pp 125-127.

155 Khare, op. cit., p 119. 156 lbid., based on his field perception. I 57 Ibid.

"Harijan" in this context, is a clearly double-faced cultural category: Proposed by Gandhi for social "uplifting" of the Untouchable, it has rebound on the caste Hindu's conscience, argue the Chamar refonuers. 158

126

The remaining three theme clusters similarly highlight the reformist, secular, and

political themes of identification. The government's affirmative action for the

"Scheduled Castes" (which include the Untouchables) certain rights protected by

legal, political, and economic measures. The "scheduling" and descheduling"

provisions of the government have been employed by secular and political reformers

too. The secular and political clusters are manipulated by politically sophisticated

Chamar leaders: instead of calling themselves what they are, they use what they were­

-a depressed (dalita) and exploited (soshita) group, depressed (pirita), minority

(alpasankhyaka), etc. 159

While the illiterate Ravidasis of Ganj found nothing special about the modern

group-identity name 'Dalit' (trampled upon), the educated ones had not become so

aware of the greater import of this term in contemporary politics. When Kisun Dayal,

one of my educated informants, heard about the all-India adoption of 'Dalit' name by

the Harijans, he remarked: "Is mein barhi baat kya hein? Dalit to hum heien hein"

(What is new about it? We already know we are dalits meaning, oppressed. However,

in recent years they have begun to identify themselves as "Ravidasis" 160 and have

begun to celebrate Ravidas Jayanti (birthday) at the panchayat level, wherein the

younger among the converts of Ganj had apparently joined in the Ravidas festival.

3. 7 Legitimisation by Myths

The identity of the Chamars is poignantly expressed in certain myths and

legends centered about them and which tended to legitimize their relatively low status

in society. One of the oft-repeated myths I heard in the village was the legend of the

four brothers, the youngest ofwhom was the Chamar (see Appendix 3.1). The legend

says that the four brothers, of Brahmin origin, were equal in the beginning but the

fourth one became 'defiled' when he removed the carcass of a cow under pressure

158 Khare says that the term 'Chamar', though coined to refer to the necessity of forming a new cultural identity for the Indian Untouchable, this construct has largely remained, a guilt-ridden Hindu euphemism for the Chamar. "It was a superficial way for Gandhi to resolve his guilt ( chobha). "Ibid., pp 119-120.

159 1bid., p 120. 160 The educated Ravidasis of our village seem to be aware of these cultural movements and referred to a few

Ravidas movements in Patna. On gum Ravidas, the medieval preceptor, see K. N. Upadyaya, (Hindi) Gum Ravidas, 1983. Also see Bharti Ktmwel, (Hindi) Sant Raidas Ke Bishleshan, 1985.

127

from and obedience to his brothers who later rejected him and treated him as an

'outcaste'. 161

There are other legends on the 'supposedly high birth and the subsequent fall

in social status' within the caste system, due to their work on 'polluted' materials, and

the ostracization of the 'polluted' members by the non-polluted ones. Thus the

perceived degradation seems to have been legitimized by tradition, myths, legends

and so on, so that the status attributed to them stuck for ever thereby giving it an

ascriptive character. 162 This is evident from the way the Ravidasis continue to be

considered low within the Hindu system in spite of their abandoning the polluting

hide work and taking to say, agricuiture and more high ranking occupations. An

young, educated (graduate) and employed informant said,

Though my parents did leather work, I have never done it. I am employed as an officer. Still they [higher castes] tauntingly refer to my caste, indirectly, if not directly. 163

The statement indicates the pattern of interaction between the upwardly

mobile Ravidasis and the members ofthe ambient community. At my asking how he

estimated the converts in Ganj, the headman of the village, Chaudhary said, "They

have done well. There are many educated members among them [Ravidasis]." On the

type of interaction among the Banias and the Ravidasis, he added, "We don't anymore

consider them as 'untouchables'; and there is no master-servant relationship between

us and them." 164

Social prejudices against the Ravidasis seem to have crystallized into certain

stereo types about them. An informant from Ganj Bahan Prasad, employed in a

blue-collar job in Calcutta, was once asked by his colleagues to state his caste, to

which he said he belonged to the Chamar caste. Then they said, "No, you can't be a

Chamar! You are capable, smart and well-mannered." 165 This is also evident in the

manner in which non-Ravidasis seem to acknowledge the greatness of the sixteenth

century preceptor Ravidas, a member of the Chamar caste, as a sant (saint) and at the

same time deny greatness to the contemporary Chamars: a certain Brahmin said,

161 For legends on Chamar;, see G. W. Briggs, op. cit. 162 For a hi&torical study of the 1egitimisation of the vama system through scriptures and the segregation of the

avamas since ancient times, see Prabati Mukherjee, Boyond the Four Vamas: the Umouchables in India, 1988, chapters 2 and 3, pp 17-63.

163 Interview with Ani1 Pmsad, January 17, 1994, Gauj. See alsoP. Garg and J. Kmmwlkal, The Journey in Search of Untouchability, n. d., (Document) pp 87, 88, 94.

164 Interview with Vinay KU1Uar Chaudhary, January 20, 1994, Ganj.

165 Inteniew with Baban Prasad, January 25, 1994, Ganj.

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"Ravidas was a great saint and social reformer. He must have been a Brahmin in his

previous birth." 166 The near impossibility of the Chamars to attain virtue as Chamars,

Ravidas being an exception due to his Brahmin lineage, is evident here: holiness tends

to be appropriated, whereas defilement tends to be associated with chamar.

The identity, position and status of a person in Indian society (read Hindu

society of Ganj) are generally inherited or ascribed by birth. In the caste-based,

hierarchically ordered society, each person had an ascribed position and roles. 167

He/she is both related to and distanced from others depending on the extent of purity

inherited by birth. 168 He/she is in a way both included and excluded: included within

his own caste and the Hindu system, excluded from other castes but within the Hindu

system. 169 Ram Kisun Chamar of the former 'untouchable' Ravidasi community,

seemed to be one who was excluded to the periphery of society, the consequence of

which was his poor self-image, the subalternity, which was evident in his words, "the

cursed" caste. 170 The Ravidasis also seem to have internalized this imposed and

inherited subalternity. 171

Instances are galore elsewhere m India where the 'low' caste communities,

having achieved a certain extent of upward mobility by way of change of occupation,

industrial and educational achievement and so on, seem to have invented myths of

higher status origin or counter-myths and simultaneously attempted to wipe away

their low status origin myths, apparently in a bid to rise up in society. 172 These

166 Talk with Gajanan Mislrra of Sahjauli village, January 26, 1994, Shahpur. 167 For a study of the seg.'Ilentation in Hindu society, see Samarendra Saraf, Hindu Caste System and the Ritual

Idiom, 1986. · 168 For a critique of the purity-impurity debate by Dumont, see Declan Quigley, The Interpretaion of Caste, 1993,

pp 54-86; Gloria Godwin Raheja, The Poison in the Gift: Ritual, Prestation, and the Dominant Caste in a North Indian Village, 1988, pp 32, 46, 147.

169 On the principle of inclusion-exclusion Chatterjee quotes Dumm1t saying the "ground" of caste or what makes caste a system, is the "unity of identity and difference". See Partha Chatterjee, op. cit., 1994, pp 176-1.76. He also adds that it is a "contradictory unity" because whenever there was Brahmanical domination over the subordinate people using doctrines of dharma, purity-pollution and so on, there were incipient protests and defiance by the subordinated class, Ibid., p.l84.

170 Interview with Rmn Kisun Chmnar, Apri13, 1997. I owe the tem1 'periphery' (used as opposed as to' centre') to J. Kananaikil, op. cit.

171 For a study of subalternity of ex-untouc]lables, see Pulin Garg and Josey Kunnunkal, op. cit., pp 94-95.

172 For instance the Chanlafs of Agra (Jatavs) who invented higher status origin myths. See Owen M. Lynch, op. cit., 1969, pp 70-16. Similarly, the Mahars ofMaharashtra and Satnarnis of Chhatisgarh who also attempted to create myths to lay claim on higher status origin. See Rosalind 0' Hanlon, Caste, Corrflict and Ideology: Mahatma Jotirao Phule and Low Caste Protest in Nineteenth Cemury Westem India, 1985, pp 137-149. See also Stephen Fuchs, Rebellious Prophets: A Study ofA1essianic .Movements in Indian Religions, pp. 97-106. Also Stephen Fuchs, T11e Children of Hari, 1950. I owe tlris point to Satish Saberwal in reference to Iris comments on tlris thesis.

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attempts, termed as "sanskritization" attempts have been, apparently, unsuccessful in

societies where social status of persons are graded by birth and religious dicta seem to

give legitimacy to such a tradition of gradation. 173 Substantiating the view of Srinivas,

Svalastoga says:

A caste may hope to increase in status by gaining acceptance for a higher ranking associated occupation. It seems clear from Srinivas's description that vegetarianism alone was insufficient as a means of changing the status of a caste ... A man of low rank can become powerful and rich by ... mobile occupations, if not through membership in a higher rank. 174

Examples are aplenty in recent times, where persons of low rank have risen to

higher economic status and social status by rejecting the caste-based ranking system.

P. C. Jain, studying on the Bhagat Movement among the Bhils in Rajasthan, says that

the so-called 'sanskritized' Bhils "accepted only the secular symbols of the higher

castes and not the whole religious complex of the Hindus:" the Bhils were accepting

only symbols of power and not the religious values of caste. 175

The Ravidasis of Ganj seem to have opted out of such a system apparently

because of this reason. At the same time, they opted to adopt an alternative

socio-religious system - the Christianity of the Catholic Mission of Shahpur - which

might have been perceived.as a liberative system, to rise up in society. 176 On the other

hand, the Mission specialists, persuasive evangelizers they were, tended to

demythologize the 'low' origin myths which legitimized their 'low' status, by

catechizing them in biblical myths and indoctrinating them in Christian egalitarian

doctrines. To what extent have the aspirations of the Ravidasis been fulfilled and the

.. - goal-oriented .actions of the missionaries been effective in the. life of the Ravidasis

shall be our concern in the coming section and Chapter 5.

3.8 Christian Mission at Work

We. have already seen (see chapters 1 and 2) that missionaries of the Capuchin Order

had been working, as part of the Tibet-Hindustan Mission, in several parts of north

India and in Bihar region, since early 1700s. In 1921, a decade before the period of

173 On sanskritization, see discussion in Chapter 1. Criticizing Srinivas, Lynch says this process had never been successful with regard to the untouchables. See Lynch, op. cit., p.5. Also A Kanjamala, Religion and Modernization of India: A Case Study of Nonhem Orissa, 1981, pp 332-33. SeeM. N. Srinivas, Social Change in Modem India, 1982.

174 Kaare Svalastoga, op. cit., p 46 175 P. C. Jain, Christianity, Ideology and Social Change among Tribals, 1995, pp 24, 168-170. 176 For a study of the reasons for conversions among the Scdeduled Castes, see Jozef Boel, Christian .Mission in

India, n. d., J. Waskom Pickett, Christian Mass Alovements i11 bulia, 1933; Also C. Parvathanm1a, Scheduled Castes atthe Cross Roads, 1989, pp 55-58, 63-91.

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Ravidasi study, the Catholic Mission in central and north Bihar was reorganized

under another Mission organization, the American Jesuit Mission of the Missouri

Province177 under the ecclesiastical administration of the Patna Catholic diocese.

In the early years of its work the Jesuit-run Patna Mission, 178 like its

predecessor, the Capuchin Mission, generally limited itself to pastoral works in the

established Mission centres in various cities, 179 besides catering to the two original

settlements of the Bettiah Christians and few village Mission centres in north

Bihar. However, by the middle of the 1930s the organisation's work, it seems, had

increased in extent and depth, for not only Mission functionaries had adequately

staffed the existing Mission centres, but also several new ones were opened,

particularly in the Santal Parganas.

In fact, the decade of the 1930s seems to be another watershed in the

history of Christian missionary activity in Bihar. 18° For instance, with some 190

Religious personnel and lay Christian workers, catering to over 6400 Catholics

spread in 21 Mission centres, the Patna Mission in this period, was mainly

responsible for the founding of two ethnic Christian communities in Bihar,

namely, the Santal Christians and the 'Depressed Classes Christians', to which the

Ravidasi Christians belong. In the discussion below, we shall explore this aspect

of the Mission organization with a view to understanding its role in the making of

the two Christian communities, which were directly under its jurisdiction,

patronage and control.

177The handing over of the Capuchin Mission was necessitated when the Austrian Capuchins, managing the Mission were interned as enemy subjects during World War I, by the British government of India. The American Jesuits volunteered to manage the Mission: see Chapters 1 and 2, tor details.

178 Patna Mission, a Jesuit missionary organisation began functioning in 1921. Along with other missionaries, this missionary society was entrusted with the administration of the Bettiah and Chuhari Mission zamindaris.

179 In a general sense, the Catholic Mission work in the early 1920s was characterised by pastoral care to the urban Christian communities which largely consisted of Eurasians (Anglo-Indians), Europeans, some "native Christians" who were largely Bettiah Christian migrants.

180 In terms of founding vibrant Christian communities in Bihar, the founding of the toll owing can be considered watersheds: the Bettiah Christian community, Chotanagpur tribal Christian commm1ity, the Sm1tal Christian community, and the Ravidasi Christian community.

131

Although it is beyond the purview of this study to understand the context of

the Santal "mass movement" 181 and the process of making of the Santal Christian

Community of Bihar, we shall refer, in passing, to the Santal Mission as it was also

part of the Patna Mission. It was the Protestant missionary bodies, 182 which first

began to work among the Santal tribals. However, the decade after the arrival of the

Catholic missionaries in Santal Parganas in 1928,183 saw what may be called a 'mass

movement', in Bihar. Church Records 184ofthe period show that there was an increase

of 15,133 converts in the decade from 1927-37.185 The Santal Catholic Mission, was

subsequently handed over to another missionary body, the Franciscan Mission of the

Third Order Regular, 186 apparently due to lack of personnel to match the increased

demand for missionaries and other administrative expediencies.

The other major missionary project of the Patna Mission--work among the

Depressed Classes of Bihar--began in mid 1930s. In this section, we shall study the

contexts under which these latter groups187 came into contact with the missionaries on

the one hand, and the Mission's general policies and its particular activities in respect

of its work among the Ravidasis ofGanj.

3. 8.1 Mission to the Depressed Classes

Contrary to the general assumptions, mission work to the Depressed Classes was

never high on the agenda of the missionaries of the Patna Mission in the first decade

of their work in Bihar, although missionaries elsewhere were actively involved among

the Depressed Classes, since late nineteenth century. Mission priorities set forth in the

181 Mass movement', a term coined by Protestant missionaries to mean mass conversion to Christianity which began in the 1870s and lasted until the 1930s. Webster interprets this as a movement of the Dalits (most of the converts being from the Scheduled Caste commtmities), initiated largely by the Dalits, and not by missionaries. See John C. B. Webster, The Dalit Christians: A Histo1y, 1992, pp 33-34, 39-40, 71.

182 Christian missionary work among the Santals began in 1860 by the Protestant (Church 1\1issionary Society) missionaries. They were followed by other groups: the Scandinavian Lutheran Mission ( 1867), Wesleyan Mission (?), the American Methodist Episcopal Mission ( 1884) and the Catholic Mssionaries ( 1927). See Pascual Oiz, Blessed by the Lord, A HistoryofPatnaJesuits (1921-1981), p 79.

183 Earlier the Calcutta Jesuit Mission was engaged in mission work among the Santals. 184 These refer to the baptism registers of the Mssion centres of Gajhi, Bhagalpur, Poreyahat, etc., in the San tal

Parganas region. 185 Pascual Oiz's data on Santa! converts seem to be a misprint. The number of converts during the above period

1927-1928, he says, was 21,240. See Pascual Oiz, op. cit., pp 79-84. 186 The Santa! Mission which was within the jurisdiction of Calcutta archdiocese had been entrusted to the

Belgian Jesuits of Chotanagpur. In 1929, the Godda subdivision area was handed over to the Patna Mission. See Pascual Oiz, op. cit., pp 82, 86, 88.

187 Although the Gospel was preached to all people groups, the Ravidasis responded to the missionary call by conversion, relatively in larger numbers than others. The latter include Dusadhs. Musahars, Doms, and a few from middle and high castes.

132

early 1920s and from time to time until 1936-37, especially in the first missionary

meeting in 1933, tended to indicate other objectives: work among the Santals,

establishing the Church among caste Hindus and Muslims, and training of younger

missionaries. 188 How, then, did the missionaries come to undertake mission work

among the Depressed Classes of Bihar, or, more specifically, among the Ravidasis of

central Bihar? Was it part of their response to the already growing awakening of the

Depressed Classes all over India, in the 1930s? Were Patna missionaries a party to the

response of the Protestant missionaries elsewhere in India to the mass movement by

the Dalits?189

Neither the contemporary literature nor opinions of contemporary missionaries

alive today give any evidence ofPatna's Catholic missionaries having any connection

with the so-called 'mass movement' elsewhere in India. 190 I submit four

circumstances that seem to have led them to become involved with the Depressed

Classes ofBihar.

Apart from the insatiable 'zeal for souls' every foreign missionary of the time

was fired with, there seems to have been a demand from the Mission sponsors m

America for greater "returns". 191 Impressed by the mass conversions of tribals m

Chotanagpur both the Patna missionaries and their sponsors abroad seem to have been

concerned about the apparent "low returns" in the reports annually sent to the Mission

headquarters. 192 Thus, the 'need' to show greater 'returns' seems to have been urging

the missionaries to undertake work among the tribals and Harijans in Bihar.

Secondly, Patna Mission's involvement among the Depressed Classes m

general, and the Ravidasis in particular, was apparently guided by the general

politico-religious movement in India, characterized by the Gandhi-Ambedkar

discourse during this period. The Depressed Classes in India, under their organization,

the Depressed Classes Conference, having come to a greater understanding of the

reasons for their low status, age-old deprivation of religious rights, general economic

188 Pascual Oiz, op. cit., p 100. 189 l have used the tenns 'Depressed Classes', 'Dalits', 'Scheduled Castes', 'Harijans' and so on interchangebly to

mean the same category of people, particularly the Ravidasis. 190 It may be noted that most missionary bodies, particularly the Catholic ones, worked independently, having

specific territories assigned to each organization. 191 'Zeal for souls': the missionary's legendary zeal for winning 'pagan' (non-Christians) to Christianity by

baptism. 'Returns' is number of converts to Christianitv. 192 The 'returns' in 1924 for Chotanagpur was 208, 199: and for Patna, just 699. Hen~e the concem. See also

Pascual Oiz, op. cit., p 81. It may be noted that the Chotanagpur Mission was already 40 years old in the 1 920s whereas the Patna Mission had just begun work.

133

impoverisation, and so on, had been demanding a greater share of political power, by

way of separate electorates outside the Hindu fold.

What may be called a 'religio-political movement' of the Depressed Classes

was led by Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, the generally acknowledged leader of all Dalits. The

'Communal Award' of 1932 by the colonial administration did give separate

electorates to the Depressed Classes which was not acceptable to Gandhi and, in a bid

to get the legislation revoked, the latter took to a fast unto death. 193 Thereafter,

Ambedkar and Gandhi, representing the Dalits and the Hindus respectively, made a

pact (the Poona Pact, 1932), whereby the former were only given reservation, in

constituencies. 194 However, there was opposition to the above arrangement from caste

Hindus elsewhere. 195 "Confused and felt betrayed", the Dalits, in an All-India

Depressed Classes Conference at Yeola, Maharashtra, on October 3, 1935, passed a

resolution to leave the Hindu fold en masse and join any other religion which

promised them equal treatment. There was a flurry of invitations from leaders of

various religions to Ambedkar and his followers to convert to their respective

religions. Among these were Buddhist, Sikh and Muslim leaders. Eleanor M. Zelliot

comments that the "Christians were very cautious in their response" .196

To consider the Yeola resolution, the All India Depressed Classes Association

organized an All-Religions Conference from May 22-24, 1936, at Lucknow in which

speakers representing ten religious faiths were invited to present their respective

manifestos to the Dalits. 197 Patna's Catholic missionaries were also invited to the

Lucknow Conference. Two Patna Jesuit priests James Creane and Michael D. Lyons

attended the conference. The Dalit participants of the conference, however, postponed

the final decision on leaving Hinduism and converting to any other religion, to a

subsequent meet in Patna, the following year (1937).

193 For a detailed study, see A K. Vakil, Gandhi-Ambedkar Dispute: A11 Analytical Study, 1991, pp 12-18, 36, 181.

194 Ravinder Kumar, Gandhi, Ambedkar and the Poona Pact, p 21. See also Trilok Nath, Politics of the Depressed Classes, Chapter V, pp 142-171.

195 For instance, the All-parties Hindu Conference, Calcutta, the Bengal Council, condemned the Poona Pact. See Depressed Classes Documentation (DCD), pp. 18-19.

196 Eleanor M Zelliot, Dr. Ambedkar and the Mahar Movement, pp 20 1-202; Also Webster, Tite Dalit Christians: A History, 1992, pp 20,109. Except the Church Missionary Society (CMS), no other missionary organisation seems to have responded to the Dalits by inviting them to convert to Christianity. See Indian Annual Register (JAR), 1937, Vol. II, p 377. Also IAR, 1936, Vol. II, p 39. The All India Christian Cm!ference Calcutta, 1937, even condemned theCMS move, Ibid., 1937, Vol. II, p 377.

197 IAR, 1936, Vol. L p 20, But for complete details of the conference see DCD, Vol. L pp 76-87; DCD, Vol. ll, p.368. See Patna Mission Letter (PML), Aug-Sept. 1936. No. 8-9, p 78. The PML a monthly jolll11al of the Patna Mission, published from 1922 to the 19560s, contains reports and descriptions of missionary works, besides articles on missionary (generally Americart) views of Indian communities and society.

134

The Patna National Conference of the All-India Depressed Classes

Association was held from April 9-11, 1937. 198 The local organizing Secretary, Babu

Baldeo Pershad Jaiswar, had invited Patna's Catholic missionaries to present a

manifesto to the Dalits as to what the Catholic Church had to offer to the Dalits. In

response to this invitation, the Catholic missionaries had set up in 1936, a Committee

headed by Father Lyons. 199 The Catholic Committee did present what the Catholic

Church held forth for the spiritual and material uplift of the Depressed Classes:

a) Spiritually we spread the message of Jesus Christ, and of Him crucified, and consequently those who accept this religion of Christ must ex-pect trials and hardships on account of their religion.

b) Materially we are bound in by Christian charity to help our needy brethren and we shall comply with this obligation whoever and wherever we can. We point to the magnificent record of the Church throughout the world for so many centuries in lifting those who have become her children, teaching them to help themselves,

200 and to help one another.

The Patna Conference, however, did not move any resolution on conversion

due to caste Hindu opposition. 201 The Dalit movement apparently did not lead to the

conversion of Dalits into other religions, including Christianity. 202 The pattern of

conversions to Christianity in Bihar, does not show indicate a relation between the

general movement for conversion initiated by Ambedkar and others in several regions

of India,203 and do not seem to have had much impact on the Santal mass movement

in Bihar.204

198 Surprisingly there is no mention. of this conferenc-e. in IA_R of that year. However, see DCD, Vol. ll, pp 367-372.

199 See "A Report of the Catholic Diocesan Committee ofPatna on Its connections with the All-India Depressed Classes Movement" and the "Second Portion of the ll Report to the Patna Diocesan Committee to hnpart Religious Instruction to the Depressed Classes" by Michael D. Lyons, dated Aprill6, 1937. Both reports in Patna Jesuit Archives.

200 To the Dalit leaders' question, "What will the Catholic Church do for us?", the Patna Catholic Committee gave the following answer: see C. P. Miller, "As The Missionary Sees Them", in PML, Sept 1936, pp 87-92. Also N.J. Pollard, "Whither Outcaste India?" in PML, Aug-Sept, 1936, pp 75-76.

201 See newspaper reports on the conference: The Searchlight, Aprill3, 1937. A decade later, on March 2, 1947, the Christian convert masters (schoolteachers) of Shahpur Mission had attended a meeting of the district Depressed Classes conference, at Koilwar, west of Arah. The meeting took note of the increasing conversion of Harijans into Christianity but did not pass any negative resolution against conversion. See Daily Chronicles, Shahpur Mission, VoL I, (Jan 1947-Aprill959), March 2, 1947.

Note on Dai~v Chronicles: The Jesuit Missions kept daily record of events in the mission. Besides mention of mission work, particularly on baptisms, humanitarian works, etc., major political, social and natural calamities like floods, famine and even riots have been recorded. Three volumes were available in the Mission Office at Shahpur.

202 The records and contemporary documents of the period do not show any organized leaving of Dalits in Bihar from Hinduism and acceptance of other religions.

203 See Depressed Classes Documentation, for a documented study of the general movement of U1e Depressed Classes in India, in the 1930s.

204 There indeed, was mass movement among the Santals for a decade after 1928, but the "Santa! movement" does not seem to have had any connection with the general mass movement elsewhere in India, during late 1920s and the 1930s. We have briefly mentioned about the conversion of the Santals in Bihar.

135

. However, such religio-political fervour seems to have created among the

missionaries, somewhat favourable disposition to accept Dalits into their religion, as

was done elsewhere. The Missionary records and publications of the time do not show

much awareness of the Patna missionaries, earlier than the late 1930s, of the mass

conversiOn movements, which had occurred elsewhere in India?05 However, the

mtss10nary manifesto, prepared by a special Catholic Committee for Instruction,

widely circulated among the missionaries, might have helped enthuse them to engage

in greater evangelization work among the Depressed Classes.

There seems to have been a corresponding change of disposition among the

Dalits to embrace some other religions which, in their perception, gave more equality,

for several instances of the Dalits inviting the missionaries in Patna to come and work

in their respective villages have been recorded in Church sources. 206

Already by 1930, there were a few Ravidasi converts in Gulni Mission,207 in

Nawada district. Besides, the American Methodist Mission had apparently converted

nearly 9000 Ravidasis in Shahabad district, since the 1890s?08 Due to scarcity of

personnel and financial resources, they had neglected their on-going care of the

converts who, in tum, seem to have contacted the Catholic missionaries to baptize

their respective families in rural Shahabad. 209 In fact, a large number of the early

converts to Catholicism were formerly Protestants?10 Thus responding to the

individual requests of individual converts and availing the opportunity of 'recovering'

the Baptist converts in Shahabad district, the Catholic missionaries began to work

among the Ravidasis of central Bihar.211

At the same time, contemporary literature especially the Patna Mission Letter

reveals that some Catholic missionaries were wary of the mass conversion of Dalits

205 For instance, see Patna Mission Letter, a monthly journal of the Patna Jesuits, published from 1922: Till the middle of the 1930s Dalits did not figure as a group for evangelization in a concerted way. Patna Mission Letter, Vol. 1-15.

206 Daily Chronicles, Bankipore Parish, 1922 ff; (MSS) in Jesuit Archives, PatJ.1a. 207 K. N. Sallay, Christianity and Culture Change, 1986, pp 76-77. Paul Dent, (MSS) Patlla Mission Histm:v,

Vol. I, pp 159 ff. 208 On Christian conversions in Shallpur, see M K. Gandhi, Christian Missions, Their Place in India, pp 63-66.

The Methodist Episcopal Mission was established at Arah in 1897, but BDG, Shal1abad, 1966, says they began work in 1900, pl68.

209 D. Rasquinha, A Theological Interpretation of the Religious Quest of the Dalit Christians of the Pahw Church, Dissertation, Vidyajyoti College ofThelogoy, Delhi, 1992, p 77.

210 This has been also noted by Gandlll. Commenting on the conversion movement in Shallabad Gandlll said that the first Catholic converts were from Protestant groups, and from the "Rabidas (Chanmr) community'': SeeM. K. C:'Tandlll, op. cit., pp 63-66.

211 In early 1936, 30 Hindu and 74 Protestant Ravidasis were baptized in Shallabad district. P. Dent, op. cit., pp 160-161.

136

into Christianity, saying that it would even "cheapen" their religion. 212 However,

others argued that, although the Dalits were approaching them with mixed motives,

they needed to be "saved".213 These circumstances constituted the historical context

for the missionary involvement with the Depressed Classes in general and Ravidasis

in particular.

3. 8. 2 Christian Mission in Ganj

The village Ganj came under the influence of the Christian (Catholic) missionaries in

the late 1930s.214 The Mission is still active in the region, an area of 200 square

kilometers around Shahpur town. The Catholic Mission's first centre in Bhojpur

district was at Piro, 48 kilometers south-west of Arah, established in 1936, by Father

Henry Westropp (1876-1952), an American Jesuit missionary of the Patna Mission. In

1938 the Mission established a centre at Arab from where this pioneer missionary

began visiting villages far and near and baptized215 many people, among whom a

large majority were Ravidasis.

How this missionary happened to come to Ganj can be inferred from a Church

Record216, which mentions that a few Ravidasis of Ganj, working at Arab in the 1930s

apparently invited Father Westropp to Ganj. They had had occasions earlier to interact

with certain Baptist missionaries who ran a school at Arab, as well as in a village

named Pratap Sagar, some 10 kilometres from Ganj. The missionary visited Ganj and

other villages and instructed several people who gathered about him. After several

such visits and preaching sessions, he seems to have baptized some catechumens?17

Church records218 say that the first baptism conferred to a person from Ganj was in

January 1939 by Father Westropp. In the succeeding years, hundreds of Ravidasis

212 Tiris implies that the Patna missionaries were aware of the mass movement of Dalits to Christianity and its implication in the making of an Indian Church.

213 A Church parlance means salvation of souls through conversion entailing baptism. 214 Already since 1897, Protestant missionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church, from· their headquarters at

Arah, had been active in the region. However, we have no evidence of their influence in Ganj. On the Methodist Mission see Roy Chaudhary, (BDG), Shahabad, 1966, p.l68, and BOO, Shahabad, 1924.

215 Baptism is an initiation sacramental rite in Christianity by which a believer becomes formally a member of a particular Church or denomination. 'Conversion' and 'baptism' are normally inter-changeably used. But 'conversion' is specifically used to mean baptism of non-Christians to Christianity whereas, the child of a Christian parent, is received into the Church through 'baptism.' According to Church sources, baptism ig preceded by catechumenate (see foot note below). See Glossary of Catholic terms.

216 Parish Diary, Arah Catholic Church, Arah, 1937 tT. 217 Catechumens: persons under instruction in Christianity for a period, who may eventually receive the

sacrament of baptism. 218 Baptisms were regularly entered in a register, called Baptism Register (see Notes on Church

Sources, Bibliography). Initial recordings of baptisms were done in Patna's Church. Since 1937, the records for the area were kept at Catholic Mission, Arah. See Baptism Register, Arah Catholic Mission, 1937 fl~

137

belonging to Ganj and. surrounding villages were baptized by him and his

successors.219

3.8.3 Christian Mission at Work Strategies and Methods

As commissioned religious specialists committed to certain ideologies, 220 the

missionaries of the Patna Mission who worked in Ganj seem to have had definite

objectives (see Chapter 1). They were guided by certain directives of their own

organization, the Jesuit Society, the most pertinent one was the directives of the Jesuit

Superior to the American Jesuit missionaries going to India, in the early 1920s.

Among the many instructions to the missionaries, was the one on the need to acquire

. adequate knowledge of the place, the people and languages and to have friendly

dialogue with the Indians.

Beware of replacing Indian customs and thinking as Americans think and act. Preserve, rather than change, religious usages, as it is proper. Impart to the people a solid formation of Christian life .... 221

The policies and strategies followed by the Catholic missionaries in the subsequent

years seem to have been greatly shaped by the above directives being "a remarkable

guide, a blueprint of the work to be done and the practical manner of doing it". 222

Various methods such as direct preaching, providing educational facilities,

financial assistance, and medical care, and so on were used by the missionaries to

'preach the gospel'. We shall study the salient ones to understand how these purposive

actions affected the Ravidasis ofGanj.

Direct preaching of the gospel seems to have been uppermost in the activities

of the Catholic missionaries· of Shahpur. From his headquarters at Arah, Shahpur

l\1ission's pioneer missionary, Father Westropp began occasional visits and. preaching

at Ganj (28 kilometers west of Arah) in 1936. This practice was continued by his first

successor and first resident missionary of Shahpur, Father Nicholas Pollard, and the

later missionaries. We have on record how a missionary preached in the 1930s.

Travelling on a bicycle laden with a bag filled with some food and the

requirements for holy Mass (Christian Puja) the 'gora padri' (the White priest) in his

cassock (priest's dress) and topi, would reach his way into a village and ask: "Where

are the low caste people? I seek them out at once because those belonging to a high

caste will seldom sacrifice their family pride for a 'cheap foreign religion'. "223

219 A total of 449 baptisms were recorded for the area Wltil 1947. See Baptism Register, St. Joseph's pro­Cathedral, Bankipore, Patna, Baptism Register, Arab Catholic .Mission, 1937 ff, and for baptisms since 1947 see Baptism Register, Shahpur Mission, Vol. I & II.

220 We have reviewed the ideologies of the missionaries in Chapter 1. 221 Instruction from Father Ledochowski, the then Jesuit Superior General: Pascual Oiz, op. cit, p 13-15. 2221bid. 223 M. D. Lyons, PML, Aug-Sept, 1936, p 79.

138

However, many of my informants said Father Pollard would stop with any passer-by

and would lead a friendly chat with him. 224 Some high caste interviewees at Ganj had

many an incident relating to Father Pollard and their association with them.225

However, my Harijan convert respondents tell another story. According to

them, Father Pollard's first experience with the high castes was nirasha

(hopelessness)?26 According to one report, one of the high caste landlords told Father

Pollard, "You are misleading the people. Don't touch the Harijans. Go away from

here." Father Pollard went over to Patna, in despair, but came back to Ganj after

consulting the Bishop who apparently told him to have patience. Further, Father

Lyons says:

The more experienced of the village intelligentsia sadly would remark to their 'less wise' neighbours that the shameless sahib [Father Pollard] was going to give the outcastes a few rupees and make them members of his foreign religion. To which Father Pollard would respond, 'of course, after baptism I do help the poor, the poorest you can imagine.Z27

Mission sources narrate the stories of missionary preaching in Shahpur villages. Let

us follow a missionary in his trail:

'Become Christians?' a missionary would ask. 'We'll become Christians,' they [the peoplej respond and add, 'And when we do become Christians you will fight our law cases for us, dig us a well, and build a school for our children, won't you?'

So many of these poor people will accept baptism for the sake of material advantages, yet continue to worship their Hindu gods and fairies and devils as before ... So I say,

'My dear brothers,228 I am not out to deceive you. I am not promising you wells or schools, although I might send one or two of your brighter children to our boarding school ... ! would like to help you, but my princiJXll work is the spiritual good of your immortal souls. So many people need spiritual ministration and sacraments, that I must not allow myself to be implicated in worldly matters .... for there are many souls to save. Far from helping you all the time I ex'])ect you to feed me as your religious teacher.'229

224 htterview with Vinay Kumar Chaudhury, January 10, 1994, Shahpur: that day many who held the priest in high esteem had come for a memorial prayer service held at the church, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Father Pollard's death.

225 futerview with Thomas Ojha and Devlal Shanna, Jar.uary 15, 1994, Shah pur. 226 futerview with Jawaharlal Baptist ofBarsaun, January 8, 1994, Shahpur. 227 M D. Lyons, op. cit., p 79. This researcher was told that in early 1940s some missionaries gave money as

reward and inducement for baptisms. Some of our aged Ravidasi convert respondents, however, denied they were given any money. Nevertheless, some of them acknowledged that they did receive a small sum (one paisa each in those times: early 1940s) and toffees as inducement to attend the Mission school, for they " were afraid of attending school:" interview with George Sakichand, Aprill2, 1997, Ganj.

228 The audience in a typical village meet would be all-male. The meeting would be tmder a tree or in a common hall. In both cases, women would only stand a little away from men's section.

229 M. D. Lyons, op. cit., p 79.

139

Though not adept at the local tongue (Bhojpuri), the missionary would get

across the message of the gospel with the help of a catechist?30 The final appeal

invariably would be to embrace Christianity by receiving baptism. If the listeners

were ready and willing, they would be baptized either in the village or in the church at

Shahpur. The visit, which generally concludes with a Mass or a prayer service, would

include a visit to the sick members of the community, for whom he would pray and

administer some medicines?31

The preaching and prayer service was open to all. Though the venue of the

discourse was the Harijan tala, occasionally some upper castes also would listen to

the missiomiry.232 Even as late as 1986, this researcher was told, many Bhumihars

used to listen to the pravachan (discourse) by the priest (in village Barsaun, where

there were many Ravidasi converts).233 Unlike some Protestant missionaries

elsewhere, the Catholic missionaries in Shahpur did not preach to market-crowds,

road-side gatherings or at melas (fairs).234

Preaching and visiting always went hand in hand. Some visits were for

pastoral needs, others were just exploratory. For instance, in a period of four years

(1934-38) Father Westropp toured one third of the district and had 200 villages in his

visiting list. 235 It could be as well to console the sick or settle disputes. In one

instance, Father Pollard mediated to settle a dispute236 between the Ravidasis and

landlords in Barsaun, a village, seven kilometers north of Shahpur.

230 A catechist in Shahpur was a paid, preacher cmn teacher in a village school nm by the Mission. He would go before the priest into a village, announce the priest's coming, prepare the people and help the priest in his pastoral visits. The first catechist who instructed and resided. at Ganj, was Mr. Blacius, a Bettiah Christian.

231 Daily Chronicles, Shahpur Mission, Shahpur, Vol. 1. On Catholic method of preaching: first the head catechist of the mission would be sent to a village, usually the Chamtoli (Chamar colony), to inform about the coming of the priest to their village for instruction on Christian religion. Then the priest along with the catechist would go to the village, meet the villagers in the evening and give them instruction on Christian religion. The priest would also tell them about the goodness of Catholicism and the benefits, both spiritual and material, which would accrue to them if they received baptism. The willing candidates would be baptized. Sometimes the priest would baptize only after several rounds of instruction during different visits by catechists. Often local catechists would be appointed to give further instruction. There would be several catechists under a Mission station. They were paid by the Mission in either cash or kind. After baptism, eligible children would be admitted to Mission school or/and hostel. See Jose Kalapura, Church's Mission in Patna, (Document), 1989, p 13.

232Historia Domus, Shahpur Mission, 1964. These as well as Litterae Annuae are annual "house histories" or reports sent from Jesuit Mission centres to their headquarters. Those baptized included both infants and adults whose age ranged from three to 60 years.

233 Interview with Jawaharlal Baptist ofBarsaun, January 8, 1994, Shahpur. 234 For instance, certain Protestant missionaries in Tamil Nadu preached in market places: S. Manickam, The

Social Setting of Christian Conversion in India, p 116. 135 Pascual Oiz, op. cit., p 122. 236 A nmnber of instances of settling disputes either between convert families or converts and non-convert

Ravidasis have been recorded in the Daily Chronicles, Shahpur Mission, Vol I, II & III. The disputes were due to litigation between Ravidasis and landlords, or, even among others.

140

Ganj had missionaries making regular visits and preaching from 1936 to 1947.

From 1947-1951, Father Pollard, residing at Ganj, had been visiting several villages

around.237 Father Pollard, a Canadian Jesuit missionary ofPatna Mission (1905-1984)

was a man on the move. From his base at Ganj, he made 105 visits to 25 villages in

one year --194 7. 238 Considering the locations of these villages at distances ranging

from two to twenty three kilometers from Shahpur and the kutcha conditions of the

village roads, Father Pollard's forays seem to have been Herculean.

An energetic missionary, Father Pollard seems to have had cordial relations

not only with the Christian converts but also with people of other religions and

government officials. A "popular figure" in Bhojpur district, the missionary was

always on the move, on his cycle and, later, on a Harley Davidson motorbike (the

vehicle which earned him the name "Father Pilot" in local parlance). He seems to

have been held in great respect by people of all castes and religions as was evident

from their gathering at Shahpur on the tenth anniversary of his death in January

1994239 and to mourn his death a decade earlier (1984)?40 The village malik

(headman) of Ganj Vinay Kumar Chaudhary, a Bania landlord, proudly claimed that

Father Pollard had stayed at his place for a brief period before he moved over to the

Harijan tola?41 After 44 years of contact with Ganj, and 78 other villages in Shahpur

Mission area (see Map 3.1), ofwhich 28 years (1947-1974) were spent as priest-in­

charge, Father Pollard was transferred to Chuhari Mission (see Chapter 2).

Responding to the missionary preaching, many Ravidasis of Ganj first

enrolled themselves as catechumen, with a view to convert. The data on the baptisms

of Ganj (see Table 3.2) shows that there were many conversions in the early two

decades. 242 Most of the conversions were of individuals, generally heads of families,

whose children and housewives seem to have been baptized gradually.

While the pattern of conversions elsewhere in Bihar, particularly among the

Santals indicate a great mass movement, the conversion of the Ravidasis both at Ganj

and elsewhere in Bihar, was less vigorous compared to the conversions elsewhere in

237 DailyChronicles, ShahpurMission, Vol. !,(1947-1959). 238 Ibid .. 239 January 10, 1994: I was also present at the occasion. The gathering, held in the premises of the Shahpur

Church, was attended by, among others, several prominent citizens of Shahpur town. 240 Daily Chronicles, Shahpur Mission, Shahpur, Vol. III. 241 Interview with Vinay Kwnar Chaudhary, April20, 1997, Ganj. 242 Data obtained from Baptism Registers, Shahpur Mission, Shahpur and Village Family Register, Ganj,

Shahpur.

141

India. 243 While there was a spurt of conversions during the period 1930-1950, the

frequency became less but steady throughout the next two decades and show

decreasing trend after the 1970s?44 What were the reasons for conversion of the

Ravidasis of Ganj? As reported from elsewhere, kinship ties and impact of charisma

of missionaries (in this case, Father Pollard) seem to have been two important motives

that led them to convert to Christianity.

T bl 3 2 B t• . G . 1930 1991 a e . ap11sms m an.t, -Decade No. of Baptisms

1931-40 139

1941-50 173

1951-60 163

1961-70 160

1971-80 104

1981-90 65

1991- 16

Total 820

Sources: ( 1) Baptism Register, Arah Cathohc Misston, 1937 With a copy of the baptisms of Shahabad district registered in the Baptism Register, St. Joseph's pro-Cathedral Bankipore, Patna. (2)Baptism Register, Shahpur Mission, Vol. I (1941-1968). (3) Baptism Register, Shahpur Mission, Vol. I (1968 fi). ( 4) Village Family Register, on Ganj, Shahpur Mission.

Most of these conversions seem to have been induced by family and kin group

affinities, for studies elsewhere have revealed that conversions, particularly mass

conversions, have always followed caste/community lines: converts generally

belonged to the same caste in a particular village.245 For instance, while Dusadhs of a

certain village converted the Ravidasis of there did not do so; similarly, in another

village where the entire community of Doms converted, no other caste group

converted?46 There were conversions from Dusadh, Mehtar, Musahar, Dom, Sonar,

Koiri, Dabgar and two high caste (Brahmin) families in Shahpur villages. A few

Dusadhs apart, in Ganj, the majority of the converts are Ravidasis (see Table 3.1 ).

It has been observed that certain special contexts such as relief works by

missionaries during famine conditions, natural calamities and so on, had induced

larger number of conversions elsewhere in India. 247 Though there have been baptisms

in a few villages in Shahpur area, resulting from the Mission's relief and rehabilitation

works, the pattern ofbaptisms in Ganj does not indicate relief-induced conversions. In

243 See Pickett, op. cit., Dllllcan Forrester, Caste and Christianity, 1979. 244 Mission records (confidential files), Patna Mission Archives, Patna. 245 See Pickett, op. cit., 1933, pp 134-136. 246 Village Family Registers, Shahpur Mission, Shahpur.

142

fact, quite a number of baptisms in Ganj had occurred before the period of relief

works, that is the late 1960s. 248

Another factor for conversion in Ganj was marriage relations: those non-

Christians marrying the converts were also baptized as the Church norms

stipulated marriage within the Church. However, in recent times, converts

marrying non-Christians has increased which shows a reverse trend.

The missionaries in Ganj and other villages in Shahpur do not seem to have

encountered much opposition to their preaching, as reported to have happened

elsewhere. However, anti-conversion work generally to counter Christian

missionary work, by certain Hindu organizations such as the Arya Samaj and All­

India Hindu Mahasabha, have been reported from Shahabad.249 Since conversions

in Shahpur was a gradual, slow movement involving individual families, these

movements do not seem to have had much effect in the village. On the

contemporary anti-conversion movement a convert respondent said,

Those days, the Arya Samajis used to come and check into the houses of Harijans and force shuddhi rite on us converts. I escaped because noticing the swastika sign on the main door of my house they inferred that my family was still Hindu and actually I overheard them from inside my hiding_250

The response of the converts elsewhere (Rudemagar, a neighbouring village, for

instance) was different as noted by an informant:

All the Harijans in Rudernagar had converted to Christianity. However, during 1940-50 all of them went back to Hinduism due to the shuddhi movement by Arya Samajists. Later some of them again came back to Christianity due to Father Pollard's efforts?51

247 For a study of conversions, see Victor E. W. Hayward, The Church as Christian Community: Three Studies of North Indian Churches, 1966.

248 See Chapter 5, for details on relief and rehabilitation works of the Mission. 249 Ihe conversion movement of the Harijru1s to Christianity in Shahabad evoked reactions not only in Gandhi,

but also in the local Hindu organisations. For instance, the Harijan Sevak Sangh made a report on Christian conversion in Shahabad district. Gandhi's visit to Shahabad (in Belauti village, 4 kilometers from Shahpur tov.11) in 1937, was to inquire about the conversion there ru1d to discourage Harijans from converting to non­Hindu religions.

Ihe anti-conversion movement, superheaded by the Arya S8lllaj, was also active in Shahabad: see IAR, Vol. I, 1936, p 316. The Biliar.Provincial Hindu Conference (March 29-30, 1936) expressed concern over the increasing conversions 8lllong the Depressed Classes of Biliar. The conference also resolved to enhance the shuddhi movement (re-conversion movement) in Biliar: see IAR, Vol. £, 1936, p 316.

To advance counter conversion of Harridruls to Hinduism, the All-India Hindu Maha Sabha in its 18th session in Lahore (October 21-23, 1936) stated that one can get converted to Hinduism as well: contenting the earlier notion that one c8llllot really get converted to Hinduism, for one is born into it. See IAR, Vol. IT, 1936, p258.

250 Interview with Ramadhar Lucas, January 8, 1997, Ganj. 251 The baptisms recorded in the Church registers and the Jill/age Family Registers on Rudernagar confirm the

report above.

143

Unlike the Capuchins who emphasized separation of the converts from their

living localities and established on Mission Compounds, the Jesuit missionaries did

not isolate the converts from their physical (geographical) and cultural ambience. The

missionary policy since the 1920s has been to form 'open Churches', meaning to

develop Christian communities without isolating them from their largely non­

Christian neighbourhoods.

3.9 Conclusion

We have reviewed the history of the local history of the Ravidasis of Ganj within the

larger political history of Shahabad. Attempting to understand the structural changes

in their history we saw that various socio-religious and socio-economic structures

have retarded their development. While the Ravidasis elsewhere in several villages of

Bhojpur had been drawn to the naxalite movement, in their struggle for appropriating

their legitimate share of power, the Ravidasis of Ganj, converted to Christianity

perhaps unconsciously seeking the same thing: greater equality in society. While the

motivations of the missionaries were definitively to "save their souls", through the

spiritual, material and institutional means of the organized Church, it remains to be

seen whether their goals were materialized vis-a-vis the Ravidasi response and

participation in the Church's enterprise at Shahpur.

Overall, two parallel processes of social change have been observed: one, the

process of adoption of Christianity by the Ravidasis and second, the process of

constructing alternative socio-religious and socio-economic structures as they

interacted with the muitiple forces and agents iri Shahpur, particularly the Catholic

Mission at Shahpur. We shall study in detail in Chapter 5, the lived religion of the

Ravidasi converts and the the making of their socio-religious identity, in Chapter 5.