Baiga Tribes: An Uneasy Journey
Extremely poor, untouched by education or development, the Baigas not only live a hand-to-mouth existence, but also experience a deep sense of alienation from the larger mainstream society
BAIGAS: AN INTRODUCTION
T he Baigas are semi-nomadic tribes that reside in the jungles and its fringes around the Madhya Pradesh (MP) and Chhattisgarh border in central India. They belong to the Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs); the politically correct term, however, that has been used in recent times is Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)-one of the 75 remaining vulnerable tribes in India. The Baigas speak in the dehati (local) language, having long lost their original language. The British first came in touch with this tribe in Dindori district, where the Baigas were found living in dense jungles and inhospitable terrain, far away from ‘civilized’ human contact. Their journey from a reclusive tribe inside the forest to living on the fringes of villages in the last 200-odd years has been a story of great loss and apathy.
One visit to the village or any Baiga hamlet, gives a clear indication of why the community has been placed under the PVTG category. Extremely poor, untouched by education or development, the Baigas not only live a hand-to-mouth existence, but also experience a deep sense of alienation from the larger mainstream society. Part of the alienation is due to the loss of the old way of life. When first discovered by the British, and subsequently heavily reported by the anthropologist Verrier Elwin (who wrote a poignantly beautiful anthropological book called Baiga), the Baigas were living in the forests and had very little interaction with the world outside.
Ploughing the earth was prohibited in their tradition—being equated with ploughing the breast of one’s own mother. So, in the olden days, along with hunting and gathering, bewar (slash and burn) was extensively practised. Elwin notes that a similar belief prevailed in one of the Native Indian tribes of Northern America, where ploughing was prohibited in the community. Also of interest is the fact that a recent study by the Anthropological Survey of India concluded that the Baigas share genetic similarities with the aborigines of Australia.