Tribes of India: The Struggle for Survival by Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf

Author:Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Social Science, Asia, General, Anthropology, c1982 1982, Berkeley: University of California Press, History
ISBN: 9780195624854
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 1991-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

Unlike Gonds, who seem to have lost the ability to cooperate for their mutual protection, most of the immigrant communities have set up networks of members in economically and politically influential positions, and through these networks exert a power which the Gonds can no longer match. A few examples of clusters of influential non-tribals will demonstrate the composition of such networks.

Utnur has been a centre of influential Muslims ever since the days of the Nizam's government, and even today, when Muslims are no longer a privileged community, a network of locally powerful Muslims remains. The doyen of one of these networks is Tajuddin, sarpanch of Utnur. He served at one time as revenue inspector, and his father was head constable in the Utnur police station. He has large landholdings in Utnur, Dantanpalli, and Birsaipat, and he also operates as a moneylender. Among his close kinsmen are Abdul Rahim, who at one time held the position of patwari for Jainur, Daboli, Jendeguda, Ragapur, Pithaguda, and Burnur, having replaced the Gond patwari of these villages. Abdul Rahim's younger brother, Khalil Ahmed, is patwari of the important village of Hasnapur. The mother's

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sister's son of Abdul Rahim is Mohamed Ali, patwari of Dubbaguda, Daboli, and Jamni.

Another Muslim family, remotely related to Tajuddin, consists of Hasham, patwari of Salevada and Shampur, his brother-in-law Ismail, patwari of Tosham, and Sheik Husain, son-in-law of Ismail, who is patwari of Kando and Rampur. The latter is also secretary of an informal association of patwari , and maintains close contact with the so-called asaldar patwari , who are all Brahmins and were hereditary watandar whose consent had to be obtained—and often bought—when anyone was to be appointed as patwari .

There is also a network of Reddis (a Telugu Hindu caste different from the Konda Reddis), and the leading figure of this cluster is Linga Reddi, a landowner with holdings in Utnur and Darmasagar, who also owns a liquor shop at Indraveli, while his wife runs a moneylending business. He is closely related to Hanmanth Reddi, who in 1978 was deputy forest ranger at Janaram and who owns a liquor shop in Utnur. His wife lives in Utnur and also lends money.

Another cluster is made up of Mahars, members of a Maratha caste of low status but considerable business skill. This cluster centers around the village of Narnur. There Lokhandya Soma owns a great deal of land and in 1977 had 200 head of cattle. He is a great moneylender, lending money at an interest rate of 25 percent per annum on the security of mortgages of land. He is considered the richest man in Utnur Taluk. His son Baba Rao is patwari of Tadi Harapnur and five other villages, and Lokhandya Soma's two mother's brother's sons are Raja Ram, patwari of Chorgaon, Sungapur, Doranda, and Pipri, and Linga Rao, who is patwari of Malangi, Umri, Sangwi, Rumankhassa, and Ganeshpur. Finally there is Nam Deo, the classificatory brother's son of Baba Rao, who lives in Tadi Harapnur but is patwari of Babijheri, Bopapur, and Khairdatwa.

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