Distribution:

According to the last census of 2011, India's Bhil population is roughly 10.6 million people. In Madhya Pradesh, the Bhils form the tribe with the highest population density. (1) They form around 37.7% of the total Scheduled Tribal population of the State. According to the 2001 Census, The Bhil population is concentrated chiefly in the Jhabua district, followed by the Dhar, Barwani, and West Nimar districts (2). Gujrat is the second state, where the Bhils is the dominant ST community among the total tribal population. The Bhils, primarily concentrated in the districts of Dang, Panchmahal, Bharuch, Sabarkantha, and Banaskantha of Gujrat, form almost 47.89% of the total tribal population. (3) Meanwhile, in Maharashtra, with 2.5 million, the Bhil tribe is large, constituting 21.2% of the state's ST population. They are primarily concentrated in Nashik, Nandurbar Dhule and Jalgaon districts. (4) The Nirdhi Bhils reside in the Jalgaon District of Maharashtra, India, while the Tadvi Bhils inhabit the border areas of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. These Bhil sub-groups have customs like those of other Muslim communities.

Language:

While writing about their language, Grierson writes, "Whatever their original speech may have been, there can be no doubt that, at the present day, they speak an Aryan dialect, closely related to Gujarati and Rajasthani.” (5) He further adds that the territory occupied by the Bhil tribes is extensive; hence, there will be a noticeable difference in the forms of dialects. Towards the north and east, the dialects of the Bhils gradually merge into the various forms of Rajasthani. In the west and south, the influence of Marathi gradually increases. Thus, the southern form of Konkani is almost Marathi and merges progressively into some broken dialects of the Northern Konkan, such as Var’li, Phud’gi, Samve’di and Vad’val, which have now become authentic Marathi dialects. However, their original base must have agreed with Bhili. More towards the east, the Bhil dialects gradually approach Khandesi, and at the Kkandesh frontier, in Northern Nasik and the Dangs, they are almost pure Khandesi. (6) The Bhil dialects, therefore, form a continuous chain between Rajasthani, Gujarati Khandesi, and Marathi. The best-known among all Bhil dialects is that of ‘Mahikantha.’ It is the primary basis of the Rev. Ch. Thompson’s Bhil grammar. ‘Mahikantha’ is also a convenient starting point if we desire to follow the various ramifications of the Bhil dialects, and the form of Bhili spoken there has accordingly been dealt with as Standard Bhili. It is closely related to Gujarati. To the north-east of Mahikantha lie the hilly tracts of the Mewar State, where Bhili is the principal language. The dialect is almost the same as in Mahikantha. There are, however, traces of the influence of the neighbouring Marwari. The influence of Marwari increases as we proceed northwards along the Aravalli hills, where we find the so-called Girasia or Nyar. Still farther to the north, in the southern portion of the Merwara State, we see the dialect Mag’ri, which is almost pure Marwari. Grierson adds that the Bhils have sometimes been considered initially a Dravidian race and sometimes as belonging to the Munda stock. We are not yet able to settle the question. The various Bhil dialects contain several words which do not appear to be of Aryan origin, and some of them seem to be Munda.

Social Structure:

The Bhils divide the Bhil world into two significant sections— the haga and the hagawadia. The hagas include brothers, cousins, clansmen, and the still wider circle of the hagas of hagas on the paternal side. Marriage between two hagas is not allowed. The other division, the hagwadia, comprises the “marriageable" relatives, relatives-in-law, and their hagas. In settling a marriage, the Bhils first determine whether the prospective relation is a hago or a hagawadio: they ask him about his relationship with somebody whom both parties know, either in his village or elsewhere. From this, they settle the kinship position with each other and see whether the alliance is permissible.

Of the Bhil sub-divisions, Sir J. Malcolm wrote in 1824: ‘In every province, I found the names of tribes or rather of families increase in the ratio the inquiry was pursued. The slightest circumstances, the name of an ancestor, a dispute in the tribe, a favourite spot of residence gives rise to a name and forms a tie of brotherhood.' Mr Forbes often references ten tribes among the Gujarati Bhils. Mr Prescott gives twenty-seven dub divisions of the Ponch Mahals Bhils; Mr Nandshankar gives references to forty-two Bhili clans from Rewakantha; Major Le Geyt gives reference to one clan from Mahikantha; Mr Fakir Bhai, twelve for Southern Gujrat; and Dr Khanapurkar gave references of forty for the Dangs Bhils. And Mr Vanikar gives as many as one hundred and sixty-two divisions or exogamous got for the Panch Mahals Bhils. Still, nobody has given a satisfactory account of the exogamous of the Rajpipla Bhils.

The Bhil clans are paternal. They call it jat or varnas, i.e. tribal clan or family. These are the divisions:

Ambuda, Arthi, Chnpadsa, Dedria, Dendia, Dogarla, Godsa, Hembolkhodya, Denglya, Hogaisap Jamansap JangLu, Kathisap Khorgyap, Koanjip Kotin,Malsa, Mathwadin, MaakhyB. Mokbdya, Nalwasa, Olnibar, Padvi, Ponkholya, Rajbarya, Rawot, Soksa, Tankhodya Tanvasa, Tirya, Vadsa, Vavsa, Vamdariwdala, Vegusa,Vodgamia and Volvi. (7)

Out of these 36 Bhil clans, the list may not be complete—some are territorial clans named after a particular village or place to which the group initially belonged, though today, the Bhils do not know how the name was acquired. Today, the sacredness of these clans and the totem(s) significance have gone; the ‘jaats’ are purely secular, and these words are remembered only as names for clan reference, just as the Hindus remember their gotras and others their surnames. Interestingly, in the Panch Mahals and Sabarkantha, the Bhils are organised into sizeable patrilineal descent groups known as ‘atak.’ An ‘atak’ is a clan consisting of several lineages, each bearing the same name and claiming descent from the same mythical ancestor, hence assuming kinship. This kinship group includes all those women who marry into the lineages of the clan. The clan is an exogamous group (8).

Family Life:

The Bhils call their family ‘vasilu’, a unilaterally related group of persons connected through the father only. Ordinarily, the Bhil vasilu is a small group consisting of a Bhil, his wife, and their children. Grown-up sons may or may not separate. But if a married sister or daughter of a Bhil dies, leaving children behind, they are looked after and brought up at his place till they reach the age of eight or ten. The father is the master of the household. Whatever income the family members have is pooled with him, and he directs the expenditure, though with the advice of his wife and grown-up sons (if any.) The ‘old man in the house,’ or the ‘koowalu dohu’ is the sole authority over the other members in social duties and religious ceremonies. The mother also has great importance. She is the soul and backbone of the family. Though not holding the keys of power, she can, by her tact, wisdom, and experience, get things done according to usage and custom or control expenditure as thrift demands. Property is divided among the brothers in the house (if there are no uncles) not equally, but in increasing proportion according to seniority. Brothers also divide the father's debts, the eldest shouldering the largest share. Until they get married, the house's daughter stays under the shadow of the potential family roof, doing odd jobs in the cow shed or the field, helping the mother cook or fetching water from the well with her sister-in-law.

Profession and the outlook of their economy:

Every Bhil is a landholder, big or small. The Bhils' main economic activity is agriculture. Like the Gonds and the Baigas, they have a tradition of ash cultivation. As late as 1854 A.D. in Rewakantha and Rajpipla: “The plough was used only in the lowlands. Trees and brushwood were cut and burnt on the hillside in April and May. In the ashes, seeds were sown, and crops were left till ready for the sickle. After twenty-five years, only a few were said to wander among the woods and live by wood-ash cultivation.”

The Bhils say they have a mythological precedent for this ash cultivation: Their High God, Kaja Pantha, once burned and cultivated forests in this way. However, this process is not encouraged now as there are strict forest laws and more strict forest guards. The present-day cultivation method is followed throughout agricultural India, with the help of plough and bullock. The main crops that the Bhils raise are cereals rice, wheat (mainly in Sagbara), ‘kodra’, ‘nagli’, ‘juwar’ and ‘banti’; of pulses ‘tur’, ‘mug’, ‘adad’ and ‘val’; and vegetable chillies, brinjals, papayas and at times certain leafy vegetables.

The Bhils, being devoted solely to agriculture, have learnt to recognise certain crop diseases and pests. To name only a few: ‘angar’ is a disease of ‘juwar’ which makes the plant black and reduces the yield; ‘mulkhayo’ is a root disease of the pulse plants and the paddy, and era is worms which eat away tender cotton pods which afterwards will not have any cotton at all.

Understandably, pastoral activities are a critically important aspect of the Bhils’s economic life. Each Bhil family generally owns a pair of bullocks and several cows but rarely, if at all, some buffaloes. Pastoral activity does not require the tang endeavours of routine work involved in agricultural pursuits. The heads of the village are grazed together in the area reserved for the purpose. The ‘Gori’ is the man who does this work. They have no right to graze cattle in the other regions, but they are sometimes allowed to do so by the government. Every Bhil family maintains several fowls. They are used chiefly as food: eggs are eaten in several preparations; fowls are also used on festive occasions. Moreover, eggs, chicken, and fowl are important religious offerings; almost all their gods and goddesses and ‘Badvas’ require them. It is more economical to breed chicken than to buy them from somebody else. Poultry is also valuable for destroying the insect pests in their fields. Fishing is one of the most important of the Bhil’s economic occupations. The Bhil mythology is full of stories of their revered gods catching fish. Two of the other major economic occupations of a Bhil are fruit-collecting and honey-gathering. Some of the Bhis also opt to work as farm labourers. In the fields of neighbouring plains, people or Patidar landlords in their villages. They are indentured as collectors of gum, bidi leaves, or other things for these contractors or as domestic servants in Rajpipla, Akkalkuva and Taloda but very seldom as servants of another Bhil. Wage-earning is only occasional and, even then, prevalent only in those areas where the Bhil lives in contact with other people (9).

Religion:

For centuries, the Bhils have dwelled in the heart of India, their culture and traditions shrouded in mystery. A contentious debate has long simmered among scholars: are the Bhils Hindus, or is Hinduism a superficial veneer imposed upon them? Researchers like W. G. Lacey and W. H. Shoobert posit that Bhils deliberately don the mantle of Hinduism, making offerings to specific deities to elevate their social standing. Dr. Verrier Elwin's seminal work, "Loss of Nerve," astutely observes that the distinction between tribal religions and Hinduism is, in fact, a false dichotomy. A cursory glance at the census data reveals a fascinating narrative. In 1891, all Bhils in Rajasthan were classified as tribals, but by 1901, they were bifurcated into Hindus and tribals. This dichotomy persisted until 1931, when a third category, Christian Bhils, emerged.

The census data tells a tale of shifting identities: in 1931, 69.73% of Bhils identified as Hindus, 30.12% as tribals, and a minuscule 0.15% as Christians. By 1941, the classification conundrum had reached a fever pitch, with some advocating for the Bhils to be classified solely as Hindus. Miss E. A. Maxwell of the Canadian Mission astutely countered this notion, arguing that the Bhils' unique customs and practices – from eschewing Hindu idols and temples to employing their own Bhopas priests – set them apart from mainstream Hinduism. Miss Maxwell thus felt that the term 'Animisť would be the correct nomenclature for their religion. Dr. Koppers considers that Bhagwan represents the highest type of God known to the Bhils. He is described by several adjectives: Parmeswar (great god), Nabhav-walo (supporter), Kharo Dhani (true master), Uper-walo (one who dwells above), Bap or Bapji (father), Annadata (giver of food), Moto Dharmi (the great pious one) and Bhalo Dharmi Rajo (benevolent and religious king)10. The failure to study the lower Hindu culture of contiguous areas has led Dr Koppers to a great ethnographic blunder in believing Bhagwan to be the Bhils’ supreme god, known by all Hindus by the epithets he has given. (11)

In the rich spiritual landscape of the Bhils, a diverse array of gods and goddesses hold court. This intricate pantheon is woven from many threads, featuring a vast cast of characters ranging from humble, lesser-known deities to mighty, revered figures of great importance. The most important god in their pantheon, Raja Pantha, is the son of Taria Baman of Ghani Khunt, a village in the Rajpipla State. He is a possessor of enormous strength, so much so that when he grew up and went to stay at his father-in-law’s house as a son-in-law, he did as much work as fifty persons could do. He also changed the face of the world, as narrated above. He rides a white horse, and his aide-de-camp is called Andoo. Raja Pantha has all sorts of powers; he has a magic wand, Amri-Samri, with which he can raise the dead and a rope that beats and binds anybody if he commands. He has that mysterious mantra, hoot, by which he can take any form he likes or defeat anybody in a duel or armed “fight.” Raja Pantha’s ever-present companion is Vina Deo. They married each other’s sisters and were worshipped as Benu Heja. Vina Deo is the king of Hela El. He is the son of Khotar Deo and Mata Gandev. His stepmothers are Nili Jine, Mata Nagon, and Muwa Patnu, respectable Bhil goddesses.

Nandervo is one of the most powerful Gods of the Bhils; he is the presiding deity of corn. He gets displeased if he is not worshipped, and some calamity descends on such a defaulter. He is offered a cock and a goat every alternate year. Fowls and leafy vegetables are tabooed from the day he is worshipped. Hirkulyo is a great agricultural god. After the rains come, he is worshipped at the headman’s house, all the males, females and children dancing for the whole of the following night. The ritual of his worship is elaborate and interesting. The cow-boy brings water from the nearby stream and warms it at the headman’s house; the ‘Punjaro’ is smeared with curds and is given a bath with this water. After this, the ‘Punjaro’ covers his face with paper or a white piece of cloth. Govaldev is the chief god of the cowboys. One day in the year, it is celebrated as a festival of this god. The festival begins with the worship of the sticks of the cow-boys by the Punjaro, who says, ‘O Bapji, great father, these cow-boys offer you punj, worship. Do them no harm.’ Then, the sticks are given back to the cowboys. It is a day of joy for the graziers; they eat, drink, and spend the day in the merriment. Another god, Gamandev, is believed to be the cow-boy of Pandhar Mata, and his abode is the cattle manger.

Then there are the deities of the hill and forest, like the Waghdev. He is more feared than loved; he is supposed to be very quickly displeased, and thus displeased, he lifts their cattle or hurts some of the family. One important point to note is that the Bhils do not believe the tiger is a god. Naik shares an interesting anecdote of one of his encounters with a Bhil woman: “A woman complained to me that there was a tiger that had killed many cows in her village, and it had to be killed. ‘But the tiger is your god...’ I interrupted. ‘No, no, not this tiger. It is just a tiger. (12)’ The Bhils believe that God must be something which is ‘indefinite and impersonal to start with’ and believed to take any shape or form. Here, that power, indefinite as the gaseous appearance of the Milky Way, was supposed to take the form of a tiger.

The rituals of pleasing Waghdev in Toranmal are very interesting. The villagers buy a goat and go to Waghdev’s place, which is generally a stone outside the village, and the Punjaro waves some grains over the animal, sprinkles water over it from head to tail and ties a rope around its neck, tethers it fast to a pole. Then, someone hacks its head at a single stroke. Using more than one stroke in this is considered a bad omen. Gopehohan, or Bhatidev, is the god of serpents, and generally, every village has a stone consecrated to him, with white flags flying on the tree under which the stone lies. If Bhati is pleased with somebody, he can undo the effects of a snake bite, however poisonous. Each hill is a god. It is also the residence of some god or the seat of some power. The hill deities of the Rajpipla Bhils are Dev Anjwo, Hawaj, Dev Hatrio, Irimal, Modh Eamhan, Olie Dungar, Poptyo Dungar, Rupa Mai, Ratnomal, Ronomal, Devtokario, and Udyo Dungar. Each of them has wives and children, and all of them are considered deities.

Pae Devi, or Pa Janjali, is the goddess who dwells in water. Megh Raja or Kalo Waro (Black Wind) is the god of rains; Kali Badli (Dark Cloud) is his wife; and Bari Megh (Twelve Rains), Gajan Ghotho (Thunder House), Thothi Vijal (Limping Lightning) and Kali Vijal (Dark Lightning) are their offsprings. All the clouds are at their command. Any discussion on the Bhil's religion must not end without mentioning the unique, fascinating, and enigmatic Bhagoriya festival. It strongly resembles the Holi festival of the rest of India, but it is so significantly different. The first few references to this festival can be noted in an essay by William Crooke. (13) He says while discussing the Holi festival in Northern and Western India that, “it is significant, in this connection, that among the Bhils the Bhagoria, or day before the Holi, is the time when the young men and their friends abduct girls; some time after due payment of the bride-price is made, and the unions are legalised.” There was a practice among the Bhils to abduct girls at the Holi festival. This festival is still trendy among the Bhils of Madhya Pradesh, but the rites have significantly changed over time. The festival occurs in the Barwani, Dhar, Alirajpur, Khargone and Jhabua districts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It is still celebrated in colour, music, and dance. It marks the beginning of the spring season. The tribals, especially the Bhils, participate largely in this festival and celebrate it with the ‘toddy’ drink. Then there is the festival of Gal Bapsi. It is the biggest appeasement festival and ritual in the Bhils. They celebrate it the next day of Holi. Bhil men, who have taken the vow to appease Gal Devta, become part of this ritual. To thank the deity for resolving their problems, if any disease or family fatality happened, they complete their promise by performing this ritual. To perform this ritual, they placed a raised wooden platform with approximately four wooden pillars. twenty feet high. The vowed man climbs through a wooden ladder to the top of this platform and gets tied with one end of the rotating piece of bamboo. This rotating piece of bamboo is tied with a long rope drawn by two men on the ground. They rotate the man repeatedly by drawing rope. After so many rotations, the vowed man comes down after the ritual. He celebrates the success of the ritual by dancing and offering drinks to the villagers.

In Rajasthan, one of the most popular festivals among the Bhils is the Baneshwar Fair, also known as the ‘Kumbh of the tribals.’ It happens in the early months of January or February on a small Soma and Mahi rivers delta. It is primarily a religious festival but also an occasion for the Bhils of the nearby regions to assemble and pay homage to Shiva and Vishnu. It is mainly a five-day event. The pilgrimage originated with the Baneshwar Temple in Dungarpur, which houses the shiva lingam. In the morning, saffron is applied to the lingam, and then in the evening, the idol is clad with ‘bhabhut’ or ashes. Worshippers make offerings of wheat, pulses, jaggery or chillies. Before this pilgrimage, they take a holy dip in the Rivers Soma and Mahi confluence. In addition to this fair, the Vagad Festival is one of Dungarpur's most popular celebrations. This festival showcases dance forms and music from the region.

Marriage:

Theye jinhdo hop naha (No happiness like a wife)

—A Bhil proverb (14)

Marriage in the Bhil country is a highly complex affair. Marriage in one’s clan is prohibited. Besides the exogamous restriction, the Bhils also have certain endogamous restrictions. Like the Hindus, they do not marry outside their tribe. A Bhil boy cannot marry a Gori, a Kotwal, a Mawchi, a Tadvi girl, or a girl from any other tribe. The search for an acceptable bride is carried out by relatives or other influential Bhils who know who is who in the village. When they come to understand that somebody in a particular village has a daughter who, if he agrees, will make a suitable match for his son, the father of the boy, a nearby relative and the head-man of the village (if not busy elsewhere), go to that man's (the girl’s father) house with a small bundle, potalu of dadar or some other kind of grain, and then the primary negotiation happens. If, in the end, both the parties feel that there is nothing wrong with the two families uniting, the girl's father picks up some grain from the potalu and tells the other party to come with liquor on a specific day. The second act contains the return visit by the girl's parents to the village and home of the youth. This is called "Koho-herulo" (inspecting the house). After the marriage is finalised, they prepare two tiny threads from the bark of bhindi, tie nine knots in each, and rub it with turmeric. One is given to the boy’s father, the other to the girl, and they exchange them. Neither of them should lose his thread —a fine of sure rupees is imposed on the loser. The nine knots mean the nine days up to that on which the marriage ceremony will take place. As each day passes, one knot is untied. With it, preparations for the marriage day are made. Paddy is husked; firewood is gathered; clothes are bought; ornaments are made; relatives, who will mill turmeric, are invited. The next act is naturally the wedding and is called "voral. " The final act is "ano" (the coming). This meant the young wife came to her husband's family to stay after paying a ceremonial visit to her parent's home after the wedding. 

Food:

The Bhils primarily consist of cereals and pulses. Among cereals, their diet is confined to Maize and Jowar. Besides, they eat other grains, like Savi, Bhadi, and Kutki, which they grow in their fields. However, rich tribals eat wheat and rice comparatively more. Maise or other cereals are eaten, such as Chapatti, Gruel, or cereal porridge, locally called ‘Thuli.’ Regarding pulses, they frequently eat ‘Moong’, ‘Urd’, and ‘Tuar’. However, they eat seasonal fruits and vegetables, if available, in their vicinity. ‘Cooked Dal’ was found to be diluted with water, and it had a lot of red and green chillies. Intake of vegetables compared to pulses was low. Typically, food is eaten twice daily, around 11-12 a.m. and another in the evening before it gets dark and in total privacy. It was observed that chapattis are eaten during the day, while they only consume gruel or porridge in the evening. it is believed that the percentage of protein-rich food (meat) consumption is still higher due to the readily available animals from forests, and some of them are domesticated. “Kadaknath,” famous as Black chicken, is often domesticated and eaten.

Drinking of indigenous liquor, ‘Mahua’, was a widespread practice among Bhils in both villages. Men were found to be habitual drinkers and consumed almost daily in good measure, while the women consumed occasionally and during festivals and ceremonial days. They prepare the liquor locally in an improvised distillery. It is worth mentioning that drinking ‘Mahua’ among them is not merely a habit. It has high ritual sanctity to the extent that every rite and ritual starts from the womb to the tomb by offering liquor and ends with offering liquor to gods and goddesses and consuming it in good measure.

(1) District Wise Census Data Break Up of ST population in Madhya Pradesh, 2011: https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/43022

(2) See, for instance, https://www.samparkmp.org/demography-of-bhils#:~:text=Population%20%2DSize%20and%20Distribution,of%20the%20total%20ST%20population.

(3) https://tribal.gujarat.gov.in/demographic-fact

(4) See, for instance: https://trti.maharashtra.gov.in/homepage/images/statisticalreports/New_District_Wise_and_tribe_wise_population.pdf as per census 2011

(5) GRIERSON, G. A. 1907. Linguistic Survey of India. Part III. THE BHIL LANGUAGES, INCLUDING KHANDESl, BANJARI OR LABHANI, BAHRUPIA, &o. Calcutta: OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF GOVERNMENT; INDIA.

(6) Ibid.

(7) Naik, T. B. 1956. The Bhils a Study. Delhi: Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh. 

http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/2432493.html.

(8) Ibid.

(9) Naik, T. B. 1956. The Bhils a Study. Delhi: Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh.

(10) W. Koppers, Bhagwan, the Supreme Deity of the Bhils, a pamphlet.

(11) P. G. Shah, Man in India, Vol. XXHI, No. 1, p. 92.

(12) Naik, T. B. 1956. The Bhils a Study. Delhi: Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh.

(13) Crooke, W. “The Holi: A Vernal Festival of the Hindus.” Folklore 25, no. 1 (1914): 55–83. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1255349.

(14) Naik, T. B. 1956. The Bhils a Study. Delhi: Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sangh.