Languages Data
Name/Link of Resource
M. Phil./ Ph.D.
- The Bhumij in Bengal in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: a socio-cultural transformation
- Anthropometric assessment of nutritional status of pre-school children in Santal and Bhumij tribes of Paschim Medinipur: a cross-sectional study
- Religion and socio economic profile of the Bhumij in Keonjhar district of Orissa
- Genetic Epidemiology Of Blood Pressure: A Study On The Bhumij Tribe Of Odisha
- Evaluation and Impact of Government Plans and Programs for the Development of Kolha and Bhumij Tribes of Mayurbhanj District, Odisha
- Health condition and disease prevalence of the aged a study on Bhumij and Santal of West Bengal
- Ethnographic Study of Bhumij Tribe: A Case study of Mayurbhanj District of Odisha
Research Paper
- Life In A Bhumij Village During Lockdown: An Explorative Study
- Trends of Change in Livelihood in Two Bhumij Villages of Purulia,West Bengal
- Revitalizing Tribal Linguistic Heritage: Preserving The Bhumij And Mundari Languages In Mayurbhanj
- Physical growth pattern and nutritional status among adolescent Bhumij boys of Khatra Block, Bankura District, West Bengal, India
- Body mass index and chronic energy deficiency among adult male Lodhas and Bhumijs: A comparison with other tribal populations of West Bengal, India
- A note on Linguistic changes in Bhumiji and Juang
- Assessment of undernutrition among male Bhumijs of West Bengal
- The Tribal Theology: A Brief Case Study on Bhumij of South-Western Bengal
- Socio-political Empowerment Of Bhumij Tribal Community In West Bengal: An Ethnographic Study
- Prevalence of under-nutrition measured by composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) among the Bhumij children of northern Odisha, India
- Dietary intake & calorific value among the Bhumijas of Nilagiri, Baleswar, Orissa
- Reproductive health care practices of a Bhumija village of Nilagiri, Baleswar, Orissa
- Nutritional status of the Bhumija of Baleswar, Orissa
- Spirituality and traditional beliefs among the Bhumij of West Bengal, India
- An Ethnographic Study on Traditional Marietal Rituals & Practices among Bhumij Tribe of Bankura District, West Bengal, India
- Ethno-Medical Practices among the Bhumij of Jharkhand, India
- Bhumij
- Mundari and the speech of Bhumij- a study in bilingualism
- Some aspects of change in Bhumij religion in south Manbhum, Bihar
- Bhumij
Project
Book
- Village survey monograph on Bhumij Dhan Sol
- Land and People of Indian States and Union Territories: West Bengal
- Bhūmija paramparā
- Dictionary of Languages: The definitive reference to more than 400 languages
- The Bhumijas of Seraikella ; The wild Kharias of Dhalbhum
- People’s Linguistic Survey of India : The Languages of Jharkhand
- The Bhumij of Chota Nagpur
- Women and children nutritional status of the Bhumij tribe of Northern Odisha
- Linguistic Survey of India
- A Bibliographic Index of the Lesser Known Languages and Dialects of India and Nepal
- Language Shifts Among the Scheduled Tribes in India: A Geographical Study
- The Bhumij Revolt (1832-33)
- Kashmiri Vocabulary : Some Aspects
- Linguistic Survey of India- Special Studies : Orrisa
- Religion and socio-economic profile of the Bhumij in Keonjhar District of Orissa
- A Short Dictionary of Languages
- Bibliography of Marginal Indian Languages
- Bhumij Grammar
- The Hill Bhuiyas of Orissa with comparative notes on the plains Bhuiyas
- Indias Communities
- The media and nature of Hindu-Bhumij interactions
- The acculturation of the Bhumij of Manbhum: a study in ethnic integration and social class formation
- Bhumija
- Expressive Morphology in the Languages of South Asia
- भूमिज
- भारतीय भाषा लोक सर्वेक्षण : झारखंड की भाषाएँ
- भूमिज वार्तालाप निर्देशिका
- भूमिज
- भूमिज
Book Chapter
- Following Other s Religion and the Problem of Liminal Identity: An Eco-Religious Study of the Bhumij Tribe of Bengal
- Seasonal migration among Bhumij tribe of Purulia district: A socio economic study of Gobindadih Village
- The Scheduled Tribes and their languages
Dictionary
Occasional Paper/Brochure
- Atlas of the Worlds Languages Danger
Journal/Seminar Proceedings/Souvenir
Web Resource
- Bhumij
- India
Bhumij is a language belongs from Austro-Asiatic language family, mainly spoken in West Bengal, Odisa, Assam and Jharkhand district of India. The word ‘bhumij’ means ‘the people who found themselves in the possession of the soil or one who born from soil’. Bhumij people are known in the history for their active participation in various revolutions against the oppression of the ruler and existing societal discriminations.
Survey Area:
In West Bengal Bhumij people are mainly concentrated in Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and 24 Parganas. CFEL field surveyor team visit three villages, namely-Chatri, Birudi and Lohameria in Raipur Block, Bankura district. The people of these villages cannot tell anything about their root and when their ancestors have migrated.
Literacy:
A school teacher from Kirtandanga village (a neighbouring village) who belongs from Bhumij community has taken the initiative of spreading the use of the language in the community. As a very preliminary step, he has established a primary school, where people from Bhumij community in Jharkhand come and teach the language to the community children.
However, literacy rate is very poor among the Bhumij people in these villages due to the following reasons:
1. Mother-tongue education is not possible. They need to learn Bangla to get access of primary education.
2.Teachers do not know Bhumij language. Thus, children cannot ask for clarification in their mother-tongue, if needed.
3.Not having access of secondary education in the village or in nearby areas.
4.Bhumijs in these villages are economically very deprived. Thus, the children need to be engaged for earning their livelihood.
Occupation:
Bhumij people earn their livelihood from agriculture and fishing.
Concluding Remark:
Speakers of the language shifted towards the dominant language of the area. However, they are conscious about the endangerment of their language and are they are willing to save their language and cultural identity.
Ethnic Culture, Religion, Rituals and Festivals:
Bhumij society is patrilineal and exogamous and follows the hereditary headship in the village. The community is divided into three clan or ‘gotras’, gulgu, hembram and patti. gulgu people use the surname ‘sardar;. They are the worshipper of ‘Sol’ fish as according to their belief, their ancestor is this fish. Their marriage system is prohibited within the same village. Widows’ remarriage is allowed in the society. The remarriage of the widow is known as ‘sanga’. However they do not follow the same marriage rituals in ‘biya’ (first time marriage) and ‘sanga’.
Like other Munda people, Bhumijs also worship the nature. The Sun or singbonga is their supreme deity. They worship jarhuburu during sarhul festival in late spring or summer. They also worship karakata, a female deity, who they believe is responsible for rain and crops. Other deities are baghut (in Kartick) who is responsible to ward off the animals and to protect the crops, gram-deota (in monsoon) to take care of sickness and irrigation during harvest, karampuja and indrapuja. They offer to the deities’ different pulses and grams and branch of sal tree, maize and flowers. Some people offer domestic cattle as well to the deities. They are also scared of the evil power and hang a piece of red cloth infront of every house to keep the evil power away.
Language:
Bhumij is the language belongs from Austro-Asiatic language family and an endangered language in India. According to UNESCO’s list of endangered languages in India, Bhumij is identified as vulnerable language. According to Rishley, Bhumij belongs from Great Mundari language group of India. However, the present days Bhumij speakers in various districts of West Bengal have borrowed many lexical items from Bangla and their language reflects a mixed of Mundari and Indo-Aryan linguistic features. The language shows SOV word order.
Script:
Recently, the Bhumij community has developed their own script, Ol Onal script. Mahendra Nath Sardar is the inventor of Ol Onal script. Ol Onal is alphabetic and does not share any of the syllabic properties of the other Indic languages (cf. Bhumij.com). He has written several books using this script.