Mundas – Jharkhand

. . INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES. IN INDIA MUNDAS TRIBE.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . MUNDAS – JHARKHAND.  The Munda Tribe has its main habitat in Jharkhand but their presence can be seen in other nearby states such as West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, and Chhattisgarh. Mundas are also found in some parts of Bangladesh. This tribal community is known to be one of the oldest to have lived in South Asian countries..

. . . Mundas Tribe in Jharkhand India. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . HISTORY.  Many historians believe that about 4000 to 3500 years ago, Munda languages arrived on the coast of Odisha from Southeast Asia. The Munda people initially spread from Southeast Asia, but mixed extensively with local Indian populations..

. . . . . . . . . . MUNDAS DURING COLONIAL RULE.  Mundas were the unprivileged and oppressed community during the British rule. They were forced to pay rents and work as bonded labourers to the zamindars. The Mundas’ leader Birsa Munda started the struggle against inhuman policies of colonist British Rule, Moneylender and landlords. He started the one of earliest tribal movements in India against the payment of rents and remission of forest dues..

. . . Birsa Munda and his struggle in colonial India.

. . . . OCCUPATION. RELIGION.  In ancient time, Mundas were Nomadic hunters but later, switched their occupation to wood cutting and farming. Since, most of them don’t have their own land so they work as labourers (sajhedar) or crop shares. Herding, weaving and basketwork also make their occupation..

. . . . . . Occupation of Munda Tribe.

. . . . . . . . . . ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.  A 2016 research paper on subsistence strategies of Mundas in a village of Sunderbans in West Bengal says that poor economic conditions and landlessness made many to migrate out of their residences..