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Tribal Settlements
The scheduled area includes
Dungarpur, Banswara and the Pratapgarh tehsil of
Chittorgarh district. The heavily concentrated tribal area comprises Kherwara,
Kotra, Gogunda, the Phalasia tehsils of Udaipur district, the Abu road tehsil of
Sirohi district and the Achnera and Arnod Panchayatsamities of Chittorgarh
district. In sparsely populated tribal area, the non-tribal population is
predominant. This area includes Tonk, Bhilwara and Alwar districts.
The tribal population in Rajasthan is concentrated in belts running from
Sirohi through the Udaipur, Dungarpur, Chittorgarh and Banswara districts to the
Bundi, Kota, Sawai, Madhopur, Tonk and Jaipur districts.
The
Bhils are not gypsies. The whole of the Bhil country which is the
south-western part of Rajasthan is mountainous, embracing the wildest area
of the Aravallis. The Bhils live in pals or clusters of detached huts among the
hills, each hut standing on a small mound in the midst of its path of cultivated
land. The settlement or pal is divided into a number of paras or phalas
which afford cover and protection in case of attack. A cluster of huts within a
single enclosure forms a typical Bhil habitation in Rajasthan.
A Garasia settlement is not a cluster of houses. The dwellings are scattered
over slopes of hills and mounds and the fields extend in front of them. These
solitary dwellings are made of bamboo and leaves and lightly plastered over with
cow-dung.
The Meenas who constitute almost half of the tribal population used to live
on rocky elevations or in thick forests and their settlements were called
Mewasas.
The cluster of their houses was also called a pal and was named after the gotra
to which most of the inhabitants belonged. The Meenas were settled in the
villages of Jaipur, Sawai- Madhopur and Tonk districts. Of their two classes,
the Purana Basi Meenas are mostly agriculturists while the Naya Basis belong to
the light-fingered fraternity which prior to independence was subjected to
daily attendance at the nearest police station under the Criminal Tribes Act.
Cultural Complexity
Cultural complexity is a mixture of many cultures and civilizations which is
fundamentally strong in its indigenous traditions. Primitive and aboriginal
customs intermingle with feudal sophistication and courtly manners. Tribal
democracy, ruthless autocracy, benevolent despotism, polytechnic skills,
business acumen and industrial enterprises have all contributed to make the
social and cultural fabric of Rajasthan.
In the days of Rajput supremacy, life centred round the courts in the capital
towns of the erstwhile states and the feudal castles and fortresses in the
countryside. The Brahmins who were the conscience-keepers of the Rajput
rulers, form a significant section of the population. They have retained
religious fervor at a high peak in this land of valour and chivalry. The Jains
too have raised some of the best specimens of religious architecture. The Jains,
Brahmins and the Vaishyas are purely vegetarian, while Rajputs, the Kayasthas,
the Gujjars, the untouchables and the tribals are all non-vegetarian.
The girls of Daroga community used to form part of the dowry of the daughters
of the Rajputs and the community on the whole lived in semi slavery. Neo-Muslims
or Kaimkhanis and the Meos retain many of their original Hindu customs. They
call both the Kazi and the Pandit to solemnize a marriage or nikah and
celebrated Hindu festivals.
Lying between the land of Krishna's birth, the Krishna cult had an intense
impact on Rajasthan but the Dadupanthis, Ram-Sanchi, Laldasi and Vishnoi sects
follow their own religious norms and ways of worship.
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