Endangered Tribe 'Asur'

Endangered Tribe 'Asur'

      Asur is an ancient tribal community living in India. The density of Asur population is mainly in Jharkhand and partly in West Bengal and Orissa. Asur in Jharkhand mainly reside in Gumla, Lohardaga, Palamu and Latehar districts. The Asur tribe has three subclasses – Bir Asur, Virjia Asur and Agariya Asur. Bir sub-caste has various names like Solka, Yuthra, Kol, etc.

      People of Asur caste consider themselves descendants of Mahishasura. According to historians, during the Mahabharata period, Jharkhand came under Magadha and was under the control of Bahubali Jarasandha. It is estimated that the descendants of Jarasandha ruled Magadha monotonously for about a thousand years. Jarasandha was Shaivite and Asura was his caste. The present Asuras living in Jharkhand are the descendants of the Asuras of the Mahabharata period.

History:

  

Asuras have been living in Jharkhand for thousands of years. There is mention of demons in the folk tale ‘Sosobonga’ of the Munda tribal community when the Mundas lived in 600 BC. Came to Jharkhand. The Asur tribe comes under the Proto-Australoid group. The word Asura has been mentioned at many places in the texts like Rigveda and Brahmana, Aranyaka, Upanishad, Mahabharata etc. The Asuras were revered as a very powerful community from the pre-Vedic period to the Vedic period. The Asur Empire ended in conflict with the Aryans. Asuras are known as the founders of Indus Valley Civilization in India. At the same time, the Asur community is considered to be a traveler of the Copper, Bronze and Iron Ages.

social system:

       Asur society is divided into 12 gotras. The gotras of Asura are named after different types of animals, birds and grains. After Gotra, family is the most important. Father is the head of the family. Asur society is governed by Asur Panchayat. The officers of Asur Panchayat are Mahato, Baiga and Pujar.

Marriage: 

     

      Asuras are going to endogamy. Among them, marriage within the same gotra is prohibited. Since now these people have forgotten the names of their gotras, hence generally the gotra is determined at the time of marriage. Marriage among blood relatives is prohibited among Asuras. The practice of dowry has been prevalent among the Asuras since early times. The amount of dowry is fixed between 5 to 7 rupees. An asura can have more than one wife. But the second wife is usually brought in only when there is no child from the first wife. Generally, marriages are decided by the head of the family, but some cases have also been seen in which boys and girls run away and get married.

Business:

       

Asur is one of the rare metallurgical tribal communities in the world engaged in iron smelting. Historians and researchers believe that apart from the Asuras in India, this ancient art has survived only in some tribal communities in Africa. Asuras were not originally agriculturists but with time they have also adopted agriculture. Since ancient times, people of Asur tribe have been famous as iron workers. Their main occupation has been smelting iron through iron ores. Traditionally the economic system of the Asur tribe was completely dependent on iron smelting and shifting agriculture, three types of iron ores were identified by the Asur in the Netarhat plateau region. First yellow, (magnetite), second Bichhi (hematite), third Goa (hematite obtained from laterite). Based on their experiences, the demons used to identify these ores just by looking at them and mark those places. Asura's entire family was involved in the entire process of iron smelting.

Language and literature:

         The language of the primitive tribe Asur belongs to the Mundari group which belongs to the Austro-Asiatic language family. But the Asur tribe has called their language Asuri language. Apart from their own language, they also use Nagpuri language and Hindi.

        Recently, the Asur tribe of Jharkhand has been in the news for its efforts to revive the Asuri language. At present only 7000-8000 Asur people speak this language. To revive the language, these people are broadcasting local news in Asuri language through mobile radio. It is noteworthy that Asuri language is included in the list of UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages ​​in Danger.

• Asur tribe has been classified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) by the Ministry of Home Affairs. In fact, PVTGs are tribal communities with low development index.
• UNESCO's Atlas of the World's Languages ​​in Danger is a global effort to preserve linguistic diversity around the world, monitor and revitalize endangered languages.

Religion and festivals:

       

    Asuras are nature worshippers. ‘Singbonga’ is their main deity. ‘Sadsi Kutasi’ is their main festival, in which they worship their tools and iron smelting furnaces. Asuras consider Mahishasura as their ancestors. In Hinduism, Mahishasura is depicted as a demon (asura) who was killed by Durga. 

Mourning on Dussehra:

       The people of Asur caste living in the forests and mountain foothills in the remote plateau area of ​​Gumla district of Jharkhand mourn on the occasion of Dussehra. On the occasion of Navratri and Vijayadashami, when the whole country is immersed in joy and happiness, then the people of the Asur caste, who live in an unbreakable relationship with the forests and mountains of Jharkhand, mourn the killing of their adored god Mahishasura. On this day they neither extend hospitality to each other nor wear new clothes. They also do not prepare special dishes on this day in mourning of Mahishasura. They feel helpless when their favorite god is killed by Durga. Some of the youth of this caste, who have gone to cities after getting higher education, have started forgetting their traditions after coming in contact with outsiders, but the Asur people living in the villages still consider it their religion to preserve the traditions of their ancestors.