The Munda people are an Austroasiatic speaking ethnic group of India. They predominantly speak the Mundari language as their native language, which belongs to the Munda subgroup of Austroasiatic languages. The Munda are found mainly concentrated in the Chhotanagpur Plateau region, which covers most of Jharkhand, as well as in neighboring regions of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and West Bengal. The Munda also reside in adjacent areas of Madhya Pradesh as well as in portions of Bangladesh and the state of Tripura. They are one of India's largest scheduled tribes. Munda people in Tripura are also known as Mura, and in Madhya Pradesh they are often called Mudas.

Etymology

Robert Parkin notes that the term "Munda" did not belong to the Austroasiatic lexis and is of Sanskrit origin. According to R. R. Prasad, the name "Munda" is a Sanskrit word means "headman". It is an honorific name given by Hindus and hence became a tribal name.

History

According to linguist Paul Sidwell, Munda languages arrived on the coast of Odisha from Southeast Asia about 4000–3500 years ago. The Munda people initially spread from Southeast Asia, but mixed extensively with local Indian populations.

According to historian R. S. Sharma, tribals who spoke the Munda language occupied the eastern region of ancient India. Many Munda terms occur in Vedic texts that were written between 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. Their presence in texts compiled in the upper Gangetic basin late in that period suggests that Munda speakers were there at the time. According to Barbara A. West, the Mundas claim origin in Uttar Pradesh, and a steady flow eastward in history as other groups moved into their original homeland. They inhabited a much larger territory in ancient India.

In the late 1800s, during the British Raj, the Mundas were forced to pay rents and work as bonded labourers to the zamindars. Munda freedom fighter Birsa Munda began the first protest marches calling for non-payment of rents and remission of forest dues. He led guerrilla warfare to uproot British Raj and establish Munda Raj. He is still revered in Jharkhand.

Culture and Tradition

Nomadic hunters in the India tribal belt, they became farmers who were employed in basketwork and weaving. With the listing of the Munda people as Scheduled Tribes, many are employed in various governmental organisations (particularly Indian Railways).

Clans among Mundas are known as Killi which is similar to Sanskrit word Kula. Munda are patrilineal and clan name descends father to son. According to tradition, people of same clan are descendant of same forefather. Clan among Mundas are of totemic origin.

Some clans are:

• Baa (a fish)
• Baba (rice)
• Bodra
• Balamchu (fish net)
• Barla
• Bhengra
• Bulung (salt)
• Dang, Dungdung (a fish)
• Gudia, Hans (swan)
• Hemrom/Hembram (a tree)
• Herenz (a Specific Bird)
• Horo (turtle)
• Hundar (hyena)
• Jojo (tamarind)
• Kauwa (crow)
• Kerketta (a bird)
• Kula (tiger)
• Nil (bull)
• Mus (mouse)
• Nag (cobra)
• Oreya (Bammboo Basket)
• Pandu (cobra)
• Sandil (a bird)
• Purty
• Runda (wild cat)
• Sanga (a type of root)
• Surin/Soren/Soreng (a bird)
• Tiru (a bird)
• Tuti (a type of grain)
• Kongari (a rare specie of bird: white crow)

Involved in agriculture, the Munda people celebrate the seasonal festivals of Mage Parab, Phagu, Karam (festival), Baha parab, Sarhul and Sohrai. Some seasonal festivals have coincided with religious festivals, but their original meaning remains.

They have many folk songs, dances, tales and traditional musical instruments. Both sexes participate in dances at social events and festivals. The naqareh is a principal musical instrument. Munda refer to their dance and song as durang and susun respectively. Some folk dances of the Munda are Jadur, Karam Susun and Mage Susun.

The Munda people have elaborate rituals to celebrate birth, death, engagement and marriage. The birth of a boy is celebrated as an earner for the family, and the birth of a girl is celebrated as a family caretaker. Cham utarna is the ceremony for children's welfare & life longevity performed by Pahan for twins pair of brother and sister. Lota-pani is the engagement ceremony. Dali Takka, a monetary gift to paternal guardians, is generally paid before the marriage. Marriage, considered one of the main rituals of life, is a week-long festivity.

An ointment of scented oil and turmeric is applied to the face and body after death. Widow marriage is common. The Munda people are patrilineal, patrilocal and patriarchal.

Munda people of Jharkhand also follow the old age tradition of Patthalgari i.e. stone erection in which the tribal community residing in the village buries a large inverted U-shaped dressed headstone on the head side of grave or entrance of village in which is inscribed the family tree of the dead persons.

There are some other types of patthalgari also:-

• Horadiri - It is the stone in which family tree is written.
• Chalpadiri or Saasandiri - It is the stone in remarking boundary of any village and its limits.
• Magodiri - This is the headstone of a social criminal who committed polygamy or unsocial marriage.
• Ziddiri - This is the stone placed over burial of placenta and dried naval part of a newborn.

Economic Condition

In Sunderbans, West Bengal

In a 2016 research paper on subsistence strategies of Mundas in a village of Sunderbans in West Bengal, it was found that many people migrate out of their residences because of poor economic conditions and landlessness. This rural to urban migration has followed a greater trend within India. Men and women engage in forest product collection, cultivation, small business and agricultural as well as non-agricultural jobs. A person or a family may be engaged in multiple occupations, often undertaking risky visits to the forests and rivers. It was also found that younger generation preferred to engage as migrant workers outside the village and often outside the district and the state.

Literature and Studies

Jesuit priest John-Baptist Hoffmann (1857–1928) studied the language, customs, religion and life of the Munda people, publishing the first Mundari language grammar in 1903. With the help of Menas Orea, Hoffmann published the 15-volume Encyclopaedia Mundarica. The first edition was published posthumously in 1937, and a third edition was published in 1976. The Mundas and Their Country, by S. C. Roy, was published in 1912. Adidharam (Hindi:आदि धर्म) by Ram Dayal Munda and Ratan Singh Manki, in Mundari with a Hindi translation, describes Munda rituals and customs.

Notable Mundas

• Dayamani Barla (active 2004–2013), journalist
• Amrit Lugun (born 1962), Ambassador to Greece, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation director
• Anuj Lugun (born 1986), poet who received the 2011 Bharat Bhushan Agarwal Award
• Arjun Munda (born 1968), politician
• Birsa Munda (1875-1900), freedom fighter, religious leader
• Jaipal Singh Munda (1903-1970), politician, hockey player
• Kariya Munda (born 1936), politician
• Nilkanth Singh Munda (born 1968), politician
• Ram Dayal Munda (1939-2011), scholar in languages & folklore
• Sukra Munda (active 2016 to 2020), politician
• Tulasi Munda (born 1947), social activist
• Rohidas Singh Nag (1934-2012), creator of "Mundari Bani" script