THE BHIL HEROES

A great pre-historian, Hindi scholar, linguist and over all Bhil scholar Dr. Nemichand Jain mentions in his two famous books ' Bhili ka Bhasha Sahitya-Adhyayana' and 'BHILI.: Bhasha Sahitya aur Sankriti' about one of the versions of Ramayana in Gujarati called Bhilodi Ramayana. It is composed accoriding to the oral tadition of the Bhils and of the region that it was composed by one of the great Bhil heroes, called Valmiki. Valmiki from the region of Nishad Desh clearly appears to have been a Bhil poet ,not only a rogue but also a scholar who later in his conversion days, composed Valmiki Ramayana. Similarly Eklavya who was more expert that the Pandwas especially Arjuna,,in the military skill of archery in those days, to defeat and dampen him the great Guru Dronacharya in his great wisdomasked for the thumb of right hand in return of his gurudakshina (tuition fee) and ever since the Bhils do not use the thumb of the right hand for the archery. Eklavya was a local prince and a Bhil hero. In Ramayana and Mahabharata and Puranas we find many Nishad or the Bhil heroes.Tulsi Das in his Ramcharitra Manas says that the Nishad king Guha went to welcome Rama with his council of ministers near present Shrungverpur when God Rama was approaching towards forest for vanvas and Shabari was 'parangat' (expert/specialised) in shastras (sacred books). Rana Punja Bhil the right hand of Maharana Pratap, the great hero of the Rajputana when deserted totally by his fellow Rajputs was attended and supported by the Rana Punja Bhil in the great war against the Mugals in Haldighat not only during the war but later in his las days as a defeated and deserted hero by the great patriotic Bhils. When the army of Akbar attacked Agra a Bhil chief of the opposite army faced the Mogul army. And today we are fmiliar with the Great patriot and Tribal hero of India Sant Tantia Bhil. Such national heroes of the Great Bhil tribe are over a hundred in the written and the oral tradition of the Bhils of Charans, Dholis(Bhil Bards), Ravalyas(Bhil Historians) and vartaryas(story tellers). A famous tribal historian of Rajasthan, Hariram Meena has been doing a valueable research along this line. The two tribal journals 'Aravali Udghosh'and 'Mangargh Sandesh' are aslo making significant contribution in this field.

In the oral tradition of the Bhils and in the life of the Bhils heroes the innate and uncorrupt values of the Bhils is exhibited in a sacredway, against the corrupted values which are percolating in tribal areas today in the social, cultural and political encounters with other castes, The Central Government and state governments of India, must promote the innate, sublime, and sacred values of the Bhils in the Bhilanchal regions,by the written and oral tradition of India, the life and values for which these great Bhil heroes stood firmly and did not support the invading Muslims and the British like many castes and other groups did contrary in the political history of India. Not only this, India should not promote only non tribal heroes who belong to the minority population of India, but should represent 80% of the national heroes from the 80% population of India who are SC, ST & and OBC folks. It today great discrimination, injustice and damage to the human rights is being done to the Great Bhil heroes, the Bhil community and these SC, ST & OBC who are originally80% indigenous peoples of India.

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BHILS

It is believed that some 67 % of the indigenous folks of the world live in Asia and good many are in the form of Scheduled Tribes whom we can Adivasi. Adi means original and vasi meaning residents, inhabitants of this Nishad Desh. This name was given to these Deshaj or original peoples or inhabitants by no other than the 'outsiers' who came to their geographical habitats as invaders as the histry and prehistory suggests or indicates. Ever since this name has rightfully stuck to them, though due to some reasons these names are being played or under mutation.

Among these indigenous folks of Indian Subcontinent the oldest and largests among them are the autochthons , indigenous of those days are the Nishads the pre historic people of the good old or bygone days whose main remnats are the Bhils of today who are also known with many regional and local names in these states. These are actually speaking not the very people who were called Asuras, Rakshas or giants in the ancient days. They were the people of this category such as the kings, princes and community chiefs of those days who are indiscriminately narrated so, Eklavya, Shabri and many others are the remnants of them. Due to the social enounters with the invading races, castes and people their culture regressed, they were suppressed and they lost or deproved totally of their language, cultures, religion, land, states, status, dignity, identiy and illogically assimilated . This Nishad Land streched far and wide a territory beyond the comprehension of today's mind. They occupied a territory streching today Uttarpradesh, Punjab, Pakistan, Sindh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhatisgargh, Parts of Andhra, Tripura, Assam and so on. One can no longer imagine the area they ocupied in those days without having the idea of history of these Nishad Desh peoples. They are the original adivasis of this subcontinent whose physical, cultural, social hsitory needs to be revived, respected and to some or geater extent restored.

Their life, culture, society, folklore, relgion, values, world views, dignity, needs to be recognised and restoed within the Constitutional framework of India in view to their social, cultural human and other rights as 5th and 6th Schedule also supports. Today this section of the people in the Indian subcontinent are under serious threats of survival due to the oppression and negligence by the mainstream people. Similar status should be restored for more than 500 Adivasi folks of India who are seriously suffering for their basic human survival against the onslaughts of the stronger ones in India where progressive policies are being framed for the survival of competent and doom of the weaker ones.

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THE BHILS : The Largest Indigenous Population of Asia

The pre-historians of India and Europe have called the Bhils residing in the Indian subcontinent as autochthons. Their origin and history is totally concealed in the mystery and mist of timeof the remote past. One thing is certain to the pre-historians, physical anthropologists, cultural anthropologists, historians that they are different race having their own blood group, world views, values, religion and folklore ,etc. The culture of the Bhils or the Nishadas in Vedic and even pre Vedic era had reached a certain level of cultural growth. Remnants of the same we can see in Ramayan, Mahabharata in the unique charachters of Eklavya,Shabari etc. The Asuras of that time were not the real giants but the Nishada, Deshaj, Adivasi or the tribal kings and royal kings and pricnes of those bygone and glorious days of the present day Adivasi whose history, culture and society regressed after the coming of non adivasi peoples into their geographical space. The Great Nishad-Desh was stretching from Central, North(including Pakistan) Wedstern and partly Southern parts of India to many other regions. A fact that is not known to many but cannot be denied. Dr. Stephen Fuchs, Dr. S.L.Doshi, Dr. Wilhelm Koppers, Prof. Brij Raj Chauhan, L. Jungblut, Dr. T.B.Naik, Dr. Nemichand Jain. Dr. J.K. Doshi, Dr. Y.V.S.Nath and many others hold to this view. The Nishadas of those days and their major persisting social group in the form of the Bhils and their values still persist up to this day. This is because this was th different race altogether.

Today this race in the form of Bhils, known also under many regional and local names is thrieving for the physical, social and cultural survival. If we put together all these persisting groups of Bhils spread over many states of India specially Rajasthan, Punjab, Pakistan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Orissa, Chhatisgargh, West Bengal, Tripua, Assam, etc it will form the biggest or the largest indigenous proup of India. Hence it shall be able to form its own geographical space in the form of a state within the of the healthy survival to maintain thier own human and cultural and religious rights with are very much denied today.

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