Chapter 3

‘Bhojpuri’:

Language, Cultural Region and People

The word ‘Bhojpuri’ signifies a language and the people who speak that language. People

in several districts of western Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, a few pockets of

Jharkhand and a little stretch of Nepal alongside the lower range of the Himalayas speak

Bhojpuri in their unique local flavours.

Historically, the Bhojpuri area has been spread and divided under different political

regimes. Hence one cannot find one comprehensive history of the Bhojpuri-speaking

region. For example, the history of Bhojpuri-speaking Shahabad district (now divided

into Bhojpur and Rohtas) of Bihar is different from that of Banaras district in Uttar

Pradesh. However, we can trace a common history of Bhojpuri as a language. Scholars

argue, the name Bhojpuri was derived from an ancient town of Bhojpur in old Shahabad

district in Bihar (Grierson 1903; Tiwari 2011). This town housed the migrant Rajput

rulers of Malwa region (now in Madhya Pradesh) after they defeated the local rulers, the

‘Cheros’ (Tiwari 2011).

The second point of commonality across is the cultural practices. Traditional

practices, rites and rituals are similar. They have marital ties along caste lines. For

example, a Bhojpuri-speaking Brahman from Bihar will marry off his daughter in a

Bhojpuri-speaking Brahman family of Uttar Pradesh, but will not prefer to do so with

Maithil Brahmans of his ‘own’ state.

The third common feature is the culture and practice of oral literature spread

throughout the region. The region has a rich culture of folksongs. Marital migration of

women in this patrilocal society has aided exchange of songs within the Bhojpuri

geography. Women have been movers of songs. The cultural exchange has contributed to

the unification of the cultural region.

And the fourth common feature is the culture of migration from the region. Bhojpuri

men have been migrating to far off places since ages. As early as the beginning of the

twentieth century, Sir Grierson had written that every man of Bhojpuri-speaking region is

ready to ‘carve his fortune out of any opportunity present’ to them and hence every year

47

they migrate from this region seek employment (1903: 5). People in this region have been

vividly discussing this culture of migration in the folksongs.

Having said that, the objective of this chapter is to situate my study in Bhojpuri-

speaking region which is the ‘lived in’ and analytical context of Bhojpuri folksongs. My

purpose is to develop a socio-historical backdrop to understand the epithet ‘Bhojpuri’. I

am not keen on recording the exhaustive history of this region’s geography, but I would

like to understand the epithet in socio-linguistic and socio-cultural contexts. This chapter

is about Bhojpuri language and its relations to people and places.1 Specifically, I will

explore how Bhojpuri language, society and women have been imagined and perceived.

As there is scarcity of social histories on this region, I will begin with the socio-

historical knowledge generated by colonial administrative officers namely, Grierson (a

linguistic scholar) and O’Malley. Then I will draw from the pioneering work on Bhojpuri

by scholars who are/were situated in the Bhojpuri social context: folklorist Krishna Deva

Upadhyaya and linguist Udai Narain Tiwari. I will also look at some recent scholarship

generated by situated academicians in regional colleges and universities located in Bihar

and Uttar Pradesh.

This chapter is divided into four sections. The first section gives an account of the

Bhojpuri language’s home, which is followed by a section discussing the literary status of

the language. The third section is about the images of Bhojpuri people and society in

socio-linguistic and cultural work of scholars situated in the Bhojpuri cultural region. The

last section discusses how Bhojpuri women (who are the focal analytical category of this

thesis) have been perceived in socio-linguistic and folkloristic writings.

Bhojpuri’s Home

Where does Bhojpuri physically reside? Roughly speaking, western Bihar and eastern

Uttar Pradesh is the homeland of Bhojpuri language (See Map 3.1). However, Bhojpuri

covers much more, even across the Nepal frontier up to the lower ranges of the Himalayas

in the north and up to Chhota Nagpur plateau in the South (Grierson 1903). As Bihar was

1 There are possibilities of different kinds of investigations. For example, through study of the

agrarian structure, labour history, social movements or Bhojpuri cinema and popular culture, one

can record the epithet Bhojpuri. We can have different ways of and contexts for looking at the

history of this geography. I am trying to understand the metaphor Bhojpuri in the context of

language, culture and literary traditions.

48

divided into two states,2 a small Bhojpuri-speaking region has gone to the Jharkhand

state. In present times, Bhojpuri region is spread across three political boundaries: Bihar,

Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

Map 3.1: Bhojpuri-speaking region in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhojpuri_language#/media/File:Bhojpuri_region.jpg

(accessed on 20 June 2015)

The linguistic boundary of Bhojpuri is, however, not fixed, and therefore it is

difficult to give an exhaustive list of districts where Bhojpuri is spoken. In the following

lullaby by Manoranjan Prasad Sinha, a literary figure from the area, are enlisted some of

the Bhojpuri-speaking districts spread across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh:

आरे आवा छपरा आवा बलिया मोलिहारी आवा

राांची आउर पिामू आवा, गोरखपुर, दवेररया आवा,

2 Jharkhand was carved out of southern part of Bihar on 15th November 2000

(http://www.jpsc.gov.in/ accessed on 28 June 2015).

49

लमर्ाापुर, आजमगढ़ आवा, बस्िी ओ जवनपुर आवा

लमर्ाापुर बनारस आवा, सोने की कटोररया में

दधू-भाि िे-िे आवा, बबुआ के मुुँहवा में घुटुक

[Come to Ara, come to Chhapra, come to Ballia and Motihari

Come to Ranchi and Palamu, come to Gorakhpur and Deoria

Come to Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Come to Basti and Jaunpur

Come to Mirzapur, Banaras; in a bowl of gold

Bring some rice and milk and into Babua’s3 mouth - Ghutuk!!]

(Sinha 2010: 4)

I have heard a similar lullaby from my mother which goes like this:

आरे आवा, बारे आवा,

नददया दकनारे आवा

सोने की कटोररया में दधू-भाि िे िे आवा

बबुआ के मुुँहवा में घुटुक

[Come to aarey, come to barey,

come to the river bank.

Bring some milk and rice in a bowl of gold

to feed my baby boy].

I assume that Sinha’s lullaby was inspired by this folk lullaby. He has included names of

many Bhojpuri districts giving us a political map of Bhojpuri.

Broadly, in Bihar, Bhojpuri is spoken in Bhojpur, Rohtas, Buxar, Bhabhua, Chhapra,

Siwan, Gopalganj, Motihari, Bettiah, Hajipur districts. In Uttar Pradesh, it is spoken in

Ballia, Banaras, Gorakhpur, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Azamgrah, Mau, Deoaria districts and

some central-eastern districts like Faizabad, Jaunpur, Basti, Bahraich and Gonda. In

Jharkhand, Bhojpuri is spoken in Palamu region. Besides, Bhojpuri has a vast diasporic

existence. It is found in urban centres of India like Kolkata, Delhi, and Mumbai where

Bhojpuri migrant workers go and reside in large numbers. It is found in varying extent

overseas in countries like Trinidad, Fiji, Surinam, and Mauritius because of the indenture

labour migration from Bhojpuri speaking region in the 19th

century (Jayaram 2000).

However, I will be focusing on the homeland of Bhojpuri, as the folksongs I have

analysed have been collected from the homeland region. Grierson has termed Bhojpuri-

speaking area as ‘Bhojpur country’ (1903: 40). In his Linguistic Survey of India,

conducted in the late 19th

century, he has given a vast and interesting picture of the

language boundaries of Bhojpuri:

3 Babua is term of address for a male child/young boy.

50

North of Ganges, it lies to the west of Maithili of Muzaffarpur, and, south of that river, it lies

to the west of the Magahi of Gaya and Hazaribagh. It then takes south-easterly course, to the

south of the Magahi of Hazaribagh, till it has covered the entire Ranchi Plateau, including the

greater part of district of Palamu and of Ranchi. Here, it is bounded on the east by the

Magahi spoken in the sub-plateau parganas of Ranchi and by Bengali of Manubhum. On the

south it is here bounded by Oriya of Singhbhum and the native state of Gangpur. The

boundary then turns to the north, through the heart of Jashpur state, to the western border of

Palamu, the boundary reaches to southern border of Mirzapur. It follows the southern and

western border of that district up to the river Ganges. Here it turns to the east, along the

course of that stream, which it crosses near Benares, so as to take in only a small portion of

the north Gangetic portion of Mirzapur. South of Mirzapur, it has still had Chhatisgarhi for

its neighbour, but not on turning to the north, along the western confines of that district, it

has been bounded on the west first by the Bagheli of Baghelkhand, and then by Awadhi.

Having crossed the Ganges, its boundary line lies nearly due north to Tanda [a city in Uttar

Pradesh] and Gogra [now Ghaghara river], in the district of Fyzabad [now Faizabad]. It has

run along the western boundary of Benares District, across Jaunpur, along the west of

Azamgarh, and across Fyzabad. At Tanda, it course turn west along the Gogra and then north

up to lower range of Himalayas, so as to include the district of Basti. (ibid. 1903: 41)

This description depicts Bhojpuri as a river which flows from the lower ranges of the

Himalayas and covers the entire area, converging with other languages on the way.

As mentioned earlier, scholars have traced the name ‘Bhojpuri’ to an old town,

Bhojpur, in Shahabad. Bhojpur, it is believed, was the capital of Dumraon Raj, a princely

state. The battle of Buxar was also fought nearby (Tiwari 2011). The language which

people of Bhojpur spoke was termed as Bhojpuri and, because it was a dominant dynasty,

the language of most of the nearby regions was also referred to as Bhojpuri (Grierson

1903). Obviously, we should bear in mind the fact that the texture and character of

Bhojpuri changes with its location. For example, the Bhojpuri of Bhojpur is different

from the Bhojpuri of Banaras. Scholars give a linguistic explanation to this diversity.

Languages spoken in the region are descendants of a single old form of speech called

Magadhi (Grierson 1903; Tiwari 2011). According to the linguist Suniti Kumar

Chatterjee, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili, Bengali, Assamese and Oriya, are all descendants

of Magadhi. Bhojpuri belongs to the western Magadhi group, Magahi and Maithili belong

to central group, and Bengali, Assamese and Oriya are in eastern Magadhi group (Tiwari

2011). Hence, spatially Bhojpuri is situated to the extreme west of this group. To

differentiate the three Bihari languages, namely, Maithili, Magahi and Bhojpuri, the

following couplet serves as a good example:

51

कस कस कसमर, दकना मगलहया

का भोजपुररया की लिरहुलिया

(Tiwari 2011: 234).

The interrogative pronoun ‘what’ is pronounced differently in these languages. It is दकना

(kina) in Magahi, की (kee) in Maithili and का (kaa) in Bhojpuri. Among the three

languages, Bhojpuri is the most populous (Grierson 1903; Upadhyaya 1990; Tiwari

2011). Presently, 33 million people in India speak Bhojpuri (Census 2001).

Grierson (1903) has further classified Bhojpuri into three groups, namely, ‘standard’,

‘western’ and ‘nagpuria’.4 This classification has general acceptance among other

linguists as well. The ‘standard’ Bhojpuri is further divided into Southern and Northern.

The Southern ‘standard’5 is spoken in Shahabad region in Bihar (where the old Bhojpur

town is located), Ballia of Uttar Pradesh and eastern side of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh.

On the other hand the Saran region of Bihar comes under the northern ‘standard’

Bhojpuri. ‘Western’ Bhojpuri is spoken in Faizabad, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Banaras,

Mirzapur and western side of Ghazipur districts of Uttar Pradesh. ‘Nagpuria’ is spoken in

Chhota Nagpur region, which presenty lies in Jharkhand. Apart from these categories,

there are two other types, namely, Madeshi and Tharu. Madeshi is spoken in Champaran

region of Bihar and Tharu is spoken in Nepal frontier.

Bhojpuri has local names as well. Western Bhojpuri is loosely termed as purbi.

Purab means east and hence purbi means ‘of east’. People of northern India refer to the

language of their east as purbi. People from the Hindi-speaking western Uttar Pradesh

call everyone to their east (Awadh, Banaras, Bihar, etc.) as purbi or purabiya. The term is

used very loosely, so it includes non-Bhojpuri languages like Awadhi as well. In Bengal’s

colonial army, sepoys from this region were called purabiya (Tiwari 2011). Tiwari points

out that the Bhojpuri migrants in Bengal refer to their language as deswali. Eminent

literary figure from this region Rahul Sankrityayan terms the Bhojpuri of Banaras as

Kashika (of Kashi, another name for Banaras); Bhojpuri of Chhapra is also referred to

4 Though the classification helps in analysing the local flavours, the term ‘standard’ creates an

unnecessary hierarchy in the language.

5 I have collected songs from Ara (Arrah) Shahabad, which comes under the southern ‘standard’

classification. The folk songs in Krishna Deva Upadhyaya and Grierson’s anthologies also come

under the same classification.

52

Chhaprahiya and Bhojpuri in the east of Ballia and west of Azamgarh is referred to as

Bangahi (a land without floods).

Tiwari (2011) further argues that ‘southern’ standard Bhojpuri is sweeter as it has

French and Persian kind of melody because the last syllable is pronounced in elongated

fashion. For example बच्च,े कहाुँ जा रह े हो (in Hindi, which means: Kid, where are you

going?) will be pronounced as बबुआ हो… ओ … ओ,…कहाुँ जािार.... अ.… अ? ‘You’, the

second-person personal pronoun has three words in Hindi, namely, tu, tum and aap. Tu

and tum are informal forms used for younger or close kin/friends, whereas aap is used for

elder and respectful ones. ‘You’ pronoun varies in different types of Bhojpuri. For

example, in ‘standard’ Bhojpuri, respectful ‘you’ is referred to as राउर (pronounced as

raur) and, in ‘western’, it is referred to as िुहुुँ (pronounced as tuhun).6 Verb which

signifies ‘doing’ has a nasal sound in ‘standard’ Bhojpuri, whereas there is no nasal sound

in ‘western’, for example, ‘I did’ will be कईिीं (pronounced as kainleen) in ‘standard’ and

कईिी (pronounced as kailee) in ‘western’ (Tiwari 2011).

The diasporic existence of Bhojpuri has a different story. In the 19th

century, the

Bhojpuri-speaking indentured labourers carried this language to plantation colonies like

Mauritius, British Guiana and Trinidad. In Trinidad, for example Bhojpuri with different

local flavour went through a process of homogenization and a lingua franca evolved

which is called as Plantation Hindustani or Trinidad Bhojpuri. Although this language has

almost died now, it has survived in folksongs, kitchen lexicon and kinship terminology

(Jayaram 2000). What has happened to the Bhojpuri in urban centres of India would

require further enquiry.

Despite Bhojpuri having a large canvas in terms of geographical coverage and the

number of speakers, there is hardly any written literature in Bhojpuri (Grierson 1903;

Upadhyaya 1990; Sinha 2010; Tiwari 2011). The lack of written literature in Bhojpuri has

been lamented by many regional scholars. However, they highlight the existence of rich

oral literary tradition in the region. In the next section, I will elaborate on how scholars

have explained this lack of written literature in Bhojpuri and the consequences thereof.

6 Baldev Upadhyaya gives this information in the preface to Krishna Deva Upadhyaya’s

anthology of Bhojpuri folksongs: Bhojpuri Lok-Geet Bhaag 1 (1990).

53

The Orality of Bhojpuri

Bhojpuri is not written and read; but it is spoken, sung and heard. Literary traditions

contribute in creating and circulating images, adjectives and metaphors for a society.

Most of the regional scholars argue that Bhojpuri is backward in comparison to its sister

language Maithili, because Maithili, in addition to the oral literature, has written

literature. Eminent Hindi and Sanskrit scholar of Kashi, Baldev Upadhyaya has written

that, in spite of its geographical spread, Bhojpuri is still oral because no ruler gave this

language a shelter.7 He argues that, unlike Vidyapati in Maithili and Surdas in Braj,

Bhojpuri never had literary figures or poets who created epics. Thus, Bhojpuri remained

the language of uncouth illiterate villagers.8

Linguist Tiwari (2011) adds another reason for the backwardness of Bhojpuri. He

argues that Brahmins of Bhojpuri belt neglected Bhojpuri; Kashi (Banaras), which was a

centre for knowledge, comes under Bhojpuri region, but Kashi pundits were just involved

in learning and teaching Sanskrit.

While scholars are right in highlighting the absence of ‘great’ literary figures in

Bhojpuri, it is important to recognise the material reality of Bhojpuri society. Bhojpuri

society is largely a peasant society constituted of labouring castes. Writing activity

requires time and leisure. During the process of labour, this society was creating a handy,

pragmatic language with its own share of simple and emotive oral literary forms. Thus,

Bhojpuri is not deprived of literature.9 Kali Kinkar Dutta and Jatashankar Jha (1976)

7 Some of the recent academic practitioners disagree with this point. For example Puneet Bisariya,

a professor of Hindi in Nehru Snatkottar Mahavidyalaya, Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh in his article

Bhojpuri Bhashik evam loksanskritik Vaibhav (2010) says that Awadhi language of the adjacent

region has bloomed without any king’s shelter. However, he partially agrees with the argument

that Brahmins and the other so called writing castes of this region ignored the language.

8 Atul Kumar Tiwari, a government officer, with Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission,

Allahabad in his article Bhojpuri aur Hindi Virodh ka sahcharya (2010) expressed his sorrow

thus: भोजपुरी लोककंठ सार बनी रही लेककन शिक्षित जनता इससे बबदकती रही. हहदंी किल्मों में नौकर चाकर आहद ही क्यों इस्तेमाल करते हैं जजससे भोजपुरी के प्रतत वंचचत, तनरीह एवं सहानुभूतत पूर्ण रवैया ही ववकशसत हो सका? Which translates as-Bhojpuri remained a language of rural folks and educated people have always been averse to it; even in Hindi movies, only servants are shown as Bhojpuri

speakers. This has created a poor and pitiable attitude towards Bhojpuri.

9 Chandrama Singh, a teacher at Shankar Mahavidyalaya, Sasaram, Bihar, in his article ‘Bhojpuri

par Hindi Sahitya ka Prabhav’ (2010) highlights that from 1976 till now almost three dozen

54

highlight the names of Bhojpuri saints like Gharnidas to make a case for ancient Bhojpuri

literature. In modern literature (late-19th

to mid-20th

century), they underline the

contribution of folk poets like Mahendar Misir and Bhikhari Thakur. They also attempt to

reclaim Bhojpuri literary figures like Principal Manoranjan and Babu Raghubir Narayan,

as ‘nationalist’, since they wrote poems with anti-colonial themes: the former wrote a

poem titled Firangiya, while the latter wrote, the Batohiya. Thus, scholars assert that,

even if there is a dearth of written literature in Bhojpuri, the oral literature is equally

powerful with its literary charm and nationalist consciousness.10

It can be seen that most of the scholars expect and aspire for a written Bhojpuri

literature which can be read by an ‘educated’ class and hence achieve respectability.

Obviously, the ‘orality’ of Bhojpuri cannot command the same respect. However,

Grierson (1903) thinks differently. He points out that Maithili has a literary history and

tradition hence it has retarded the ‘corruption of that language’. He adds that Bhojpuri has

hardly any indigenous literature, thus making ‘it a handy article for current use and not

too much encumbered by grammatical subtleties’ (ibid.: 05).

Nevertheless, most of the indigenous scholars have highlighted and lamented the lack

of patronage for Bhojpuri from kings and landlords. There is a now a movement to

recognise and enlist Bhojpuri as a scheduled language. Such efforts are aimed at

standardizing and institutionalizing Bhojpuri. Notwithstanding the fact that such

institutionalization may benefit people like me (as it may improve my employment and

career prospects), I am sceptical of such a move. It should be noted that ’lower-caste’

Bhojpuri speakers have not entered the field of higher education in large numbers. They

do not form our academic class and intelligentsia. Hence, there is a real threat that

Bhojpuri will be codified by privileged and writing castes and the kind of thick and

coarse Bhojpuri, which Lakhpati Devi speaks, will die an unsung death.

novels have been published in Bhojpuri language; the first Bhojpuri novel ‘Bindiya’ by Ramnath

Pandey was written in 1956. 10 Alok Rai from Allahabad in his article Bhojpuri Lokgeeton mein Sanskritik tatva (2010) writes

that Bhojpuri oral literature has रूदन, the pain of the society; has माधुयण, melody and has राष्ट्रवादी चेतना, the nationalist consciousness.

55

The Bhojpuri People

To produce a singular account of Bhojpuri people and society is a daunting task. As I

have already stated, there has been no attempt to write a unified social history11

of

Bhojpuri-speaking society. Therefore, I am creating this narrative by chronologically

arranging the insights about Bhojpuri people and society from the work of colonial

scholars, early regional scholars and some present-day academics. George Grierson’s

(1903) work on Bhojpuri speaking region is considered seminal. It has produced a festive

account of this region and its people. Through his writing, Grierson constructed a

Bhojpuri nation. In the Linguistic Survey of India conducted by him in the late 19th

century, he wrote that this region is inhabited by an ‘alert and active nationality’ (ibid.: 5).

He termed Bhojpuri people, a ‘fighting nation’ who have been sepoys of Hindustani army

(ibid.). Grierson also highlighted the role of Bhojpuri people in the 1857 mutiny. He has

presented Bhojpuri area in a better light than Mithila and Magadh region of Bihar. He

terms Maithil: as slug who still followed age-old traditions. Such an account came to me

as a surprise, as I have heard Maithil pundits speaking highly of Mithila because of its

rich literary and cultural traditions. On the other hand, Grierson characterises Bhojpuri

people as diligent who do not hesitate to migrate to British colonies to carve out their

fortune. This image definitely has colonial overtones as Bhojpuri people migrated as

indentured labourers to become the replacement of African slaves after abolition of

Slavery in British colonies (Tinker 1993). Grierson adds that every year Bhojpuri people

go to Bengal to work as either palki bearers or darwans to Bengal Zamindars to straighten

the ‘less heroic’ tenets. Grierson writes: ‘as fond as an Irishman of a stick, the long

boned, stalwart, Bhojpuri, with his staff in his hand, is a familiar object striding over

fields far from his home’(1903: 05). He adds that there are two civilizing races of this

country: Bengali and Bhojpuri, the previous with pen and the latter with cudgel. Grierson

creates a historical Bhojpuria image of muscular aggression and adventure. This over-

glorified image has been reproduced in present-day scholarship as well.

11

Social history has been understood in different ways: history of poor classes or social

movements; history of various human activities which are difficult to classify like everyday life;

economic history in combination with social (Hobsbawm 1971). Social history is history of the

society with narrative line different from political history; with different narrative subjects [not

kings but commoners; not male but female subjects] (Scott 1983). I was looking for history of

common men and women and their activities.

56

L.S.S. O’Malley (2005), who prepared the Bihar district gazetteers in the early 20th

century, draws from Grierson’s work to describe the characteristics of the people of

Bhojpuri-speaking region of Bihar, namely, Shahabad and Saran. O’ Malley has

documented about Afghan, Mughal and Rajpur rulers of this region. He has written about

the mutiny and famous battles of Buxar. As far as the history of common masses is

concerned, one can find an account of how many people died in wars or due to epidemics.

He has written that almost 75 per cent of people were engaged in agricultural and pastoral

pursuits. I could find certain relevant facts on migration in his work. For example, a lot of

people from this region migrated to tea gardens of Assam due to cholera epidemics in the

early 20th

century.12

O’ Malley highlights the poor economic condition of the agricultural

class which was the cause for active emigration of people, especially males from this

region toward the east. Money order economy sustained the families of the labour classes

and castes. In Shahabad district gazetteer, O’Malley has briefed about the caste

composition: Brahmans, Rajputs, Babhan or Bhumihar Brahman and Ahirs constitute

nearly half of the population. Brahmans served the religious clients as priests. Rajputs, the

descendants of earlier conquerors of Shahabad were mutineers and sepoys; in Bhojpuri

region they are landowners and cultivators and as migrants in Bengal they served as

peons, policemen and darwans. Babhan or Bhuinhaar [Bhumihar] Brahman are also

called as Zamindar Brahmans who are landowners with agricultural pursuit. Koiris are

skillful cultivators; this purely agricultural caste is market gardeners. Ahir’s hereditary

occupation was cattle rearing, but they also took up cultivation as their primary

occupation; they are infamous as ‘cattle-lifters’. As we can see, each caste mentioned

above, beside their specific caste occupations took up agricultural pursuit as well.

After these colonial scholars, two prominent scholars from this region took up the

study of Bhojpuri simultaneously: Krishna Deva Upadhyaya, the folklorist, and Udai

Narain Tiwari, the linguist. Both of them started their work in the 1930s and pursued it

for several decades. Udai Narain Tiwari’s in his comprehensive work Bhojpuri Bhasha

aur Sahitya (2011)13

has highlighted that Bhojpur was a prominent town in Shahabad

12 In Bhabhua (Bihar), due to cholera in 1919, people emigrated to Assam tea garden (O’ Malley

2005).

13 A book based on his thesis in which he claims that he started working in 1930s and submitted in

1945. It was first published in 1950s . In English it was first published in 1960 titled ‘Origin and

Development of Bhojpuri’ published as a Monograph Series by Royal Asiatic Society, 1 Park

Street, Kolkata.

57

region of Bihar in the 18th

century and it was ruled by Rajputs who came from Malwa

region of central India. This region was called Bhojpur and the language of this region

and many other surrounding districts was called Bhojpuri. Tiwari highlights that Bhojpuri

became an adjective for the region and its people.

Similar to other scholars mentioned above, Tiwari underlines the ‘masculine nature’

of Bhojpuri people as well. He states that they ‘fight for fighting sake’. A folk saying

aptly describes this fighting nature of Bhojpuri people:

भागिपुर का भगेिुआ

कहिगाुँव का ठग

सुनी पवै 'भोजपुररया'

ि िुरे दनुों का रग्ग

[Bhagelua of Bhagalpur

Thug of Kahalgaon

If a ‘Bhojpuria’ catches them

He breaks their bones]

(Tiwari 2011: 234).

The folk saying means that if a Bhojpuria gets hold of a notorious person from Bhagalpur

(a district in Bihar) and Kahalgaon (a block in Bhagalpur), he ‘straightens’ them. Tiwari

further adds that, because of their fighting nature, they actively joined the army and

participated in the mutiny. He writes that, in the 17th

and 18th

century Bhojpur and Buxar

of Bihar were the main centres for recruitment of sepoys. They served the Mughal army

and later the British army.

Tiwari has reflected upon the religious-cultural composition of people as well. He

writes that there are very few Muslims in Bhojpuri region and hence one can hardly find

Islamic culture. This observation is surely debatable. A contemporary of Tiwari and

famous Urdu poet Rahi Masoom Raza,14

from Bhojpuri-speaking region in his novel

Aadha Gaon based on his village Gangauli in Gazipur, Uttar Pradesh has presented a

more complex reality of the same period. He describes how in Muslim-dominated areas in

Bhojpuri region, people speak an interesting mix of Bhojpuri and Urdu language. His

narrative depicts a colourful mixed culture of Bhojpuri region, which was described as

Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb in Hindustani.15

14 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahi_Masoom_Raza (accessed on 28 June 2015).

15 Also my understanding about Muslim culture in Bhojpuri region is informed by my

conversations with two students of Tata Institute of Social Sciences: Waqar Usmani from

58

Before looking into the work of the most significant scholar of Bhojpuri culture,

Krishna Deva Upadhyaya, I would briefly state what his elder brother, a renowned

Sanskrit and Hindi scholar, Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya16

(1899–1999)

has to say about Bhojpuri society. Born to Pandit Ram Suchit Upadhyaya, a Bhagvad

Purana Scholar, in Bhojpuri-speaking Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh, the Upadhyaya

brothers were/are established in Banaras. Baldev Upadhyaya in his detailed essay on

Bhojpuri language, society and culture, which was published as a preface to Krishna

Deva Upadhyaya’s anthology Bhojpuri Lok-Geet Bhag -117

has constructed a nationalist

and masculine image of Bhojpuri people:

यह बोिी उन िोगों की माि ृबोिी ह ैलजनकी नस-नस में वीर रस का सांचार होिा ह.ै [… ] लवदशेों में भी

अपने प्रबि प्रिाप की पिाका फहरािे हैं, जो कूपमण्डूकत्व का बलहष्कार कर स्विांत्रिा की पलवत्र वायु का

सेवन करने वािे हैं. भोजपुर मांडि, शाहाबाद, बलिया और ग़ार्ीपुर लजिों की भूलम वीरिा के लिए उसी

प्रकार लवख्याि ह,ै स्विांत्रिा के नाम पर मर लमटने वािे अपने सपूिों की वीर गाथाओं से उसी प्रकार पलवत्र

ह,ै लजस प्रकार भारि के भाि को ऊुँ चा करने वािा वीर पुरु राजस्थान।

[This language [Bhojpuri] is the mother tongue of those people who have bravery in their

blood. They were unwilling to be content like a ‘frog in a pond’ and thus they travelled

overseas and displayed their magnificent glory overseas; they are the ones who breathe in the

pure air of independence. The land of Bhojpur mandal, Shahabad, Balia and Gazipur is

known for bravery, people who can die for independence, just like the brave warrior

Rajasthan, who has made Bharat [India] proud.] (Krishna Deva Upadhyaya 1991: 12)

The above account depicts Bhojpuri migration as an ‘act of adventure’ of a brave people.

Migration can surely be adventurous. However, such depictions romanticise migration.

People migrate in the hope of a better livelihood. The migration destination for the

migrants has not always been a welcoming or comforting place, but a place for struggle to

survive. Thus, migration can be more aptly described as an ‘act of survival’.

Krishna Deva Upadhyaya published several anthologies on Bhojpuri folksongs

before his detailed analytical book on the Bhojpuri culture, Bhojpuri Lok-Sanskriti was

published in 1991. He carries ahead the already established nationalist Bhojpuri image. In

his book he traces the important milestones in the ‘history’ of Bhojpuri region. Beginning

Azamgarh, a Bhojpuri speaking district of Uttar Pradesh who wrote his Master dissertation on this

district and Khursheed Akbar who is writing his MPhil dissertation on Muslims of Gazipur, again

a Bhojpuri speaking district of Uttar Pradesh.

16 See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldev_Upadhyaya (accessed on 28 Jun. 15)

17 I am quoting from the third edition Published in 1990, but the songs and narratives of this book

were collected in 1960s.

59

with Ramayana, he argues, lord Rama’s guru (teacher) Vishwamitra‘s spiritual seat was

Bhojpuri region. In addition to this claim, Upadhyaya highlights the myth that Rama

killed Taadka, the woman ‘demon’ in Buxar (a Bhojpuri speaking district in Bihar). Then

he moves on to the Buddha period and states that, among the sixteen mahajanpads

[kingdoms or republics] of that period, the most important ones were Kashi, Koshal and

Magadh, the first two were a part of Bhojpuri region. He argues, the great rulers,

Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka were born in Bhojpuri Janpad. Krishna Deva

Upadhyaya then underlines the dynasty of Shershah Suri, a king of Sasaram, Bihar who

defeated the Mughal king Humayun. He also makes a mention of Kunwar Singh, a much

celebrated figure in Bhojpuri-speaking regions as an ‘anti-colonial hero’; he was one of

the leaders of the 1857 mutiny who belonged to the royal Ujjaini house of Jagdishpur

(now Bhojpur district, Bihar). However, a very different story about Kunwar Singh

circulates among the ‘lower’ castes. For example, my father who was born and brought

up in the same district portrays Kunwar Singh as a selfish ruler. In his story, Kunwar

Singh was in favour of British till his family requirements were fulfilled and his

zamindari was unaffected, but he became rebellious after British sepoys asked for his

daughter. It is difficult to ascertain the veracity of these stories. However, we need to

recognise the fact that there exist alternative (often subversive) versions of upper-caste

narratives.

As mentioned already, Krishna Deva Upadhaya’s book builds a nationalist-patriotic

image of the Bhojpuri region. This construction should be read along with the following

generic description of Bhojpuri society:

भोजपुरी क्षेत्र में सभी जालियों िथा धमों का लनवास पाया जािा ह.ै यहाुँ ब्राह्मण, क्षलत्रय, वैश्य और शूद्र

सभी समान भाव से सुखपूवाक रहिे हैं. हररजनों के साथ समान रूप से व्यवहार दकया जािा ह ैिथा वे भी

समान रूप से लशक्षा प्राप्त कर नौकरी करिे हैं. […] प्राचीन रूदढ़याुँ और परांपराएां धीरे-धीरे नष्ट हो रही ह.ै

स्पशाास्पशा की भावनाएां अब नष्ट-सी हो गई हैं. […] इस प्रकार भोजपुरी प्रदशे में सभी जालियों के िोग

सद्भावपूवाक रहिे हैं और दकसी से ईष्याा और द्वषे की भावना नहीं रखिे।

[People from all castes and religion are found in Bhojpuri region. Brahman, Kshatriya,

Vaishya and Shudra, all live together happily and peacefully. Harijans [dalits] are treated

equally and they get education and jobs. […] Old orthodox traditions are getting destroyed.

Untouchability has almost been eradicated. […] Thus people of all castes in Bhojpuri land

co-exist peacefully and they do not keep the feeling of jealousy form each other.]

(Upadhyaya 1991: 24–25)

60

It is important to bear in mind that this book was written and published when caste

senas (caste-based militias) were being formed in Bihar: Kuer Sena, Kunwar Sena,

Bhoomi Sena, Lorik Sena, Brahmarshi Sena, Kisan Sangh, Sunlight Sena, Savarna

Liberation Front, Kisan Sangha, Kisan Morcha, Ganga Sena and Ranbeer Sena [the most

powerful] (Sahay 2008). The 1990s saw the rise and growth of Ranbeer Sena, a landlord

militia in Bhojpur district, which later spread its activities to several other districts of

Bihar; the Ranbeer Sena executed planned violence against ‘lower’ caste people specially

dalits (Bhatia 2013)18

. Thus, the preceding account raises questions about its credibility.

Surprisingly, the present-day scholarship produced in the Hindi language by regional

writers reproduces the same image of Bhojpuri-speaking region. D.N. Sinha of B.N

College, Patna University writes:

यह व्यवस्था वणा एवम जालि आधाररि ह.ै […] ब्राह्मण को बहुि सम्मान प्राप्त ह,ै क्षलत्रय जमींदार माने जािे

हैं. वैश्य व्यापारी वगा होने से सम्मालनि ह.ै कुछ अन्य जालियों में प्रमुख हैं-अहीर-लबरहा इनका प्रमुख गान ह.ै

कुम्हार लमट्टी के बिान बनाने का काम करिा ह.ै िेिी-कोल्हू में सरसों का िेि पेरिा ह.ै धोबी-कपड़ा धोने का

काम करिा ह.ै […] सभी जालियाुँ एक दसूरी जालि का सहायक काया करिे हैं.

[This society (Bhojpuri) is based on varna and caste. Brahman is much respected caste,

Kshatriyas are landlords. Vaishyas are businessmen and hence respected people. One of the

other prominent caste is Ahir, biraha is their main folk performance. Kumhaars do the

pottery. Teli takes oil out of mustard seeds. Dhobi washes clothes. […] All castes help each

other.] (Sinha 2010: 5).

The preceding account presents an innocent, non-conflictual caste reality, favouring a

unified nationalist image. Speaking about the cultural forms of Bhojpuri region, he writes:

भोजपुरी क्षेत्र में िोकनृत्य एवां िोक नाट्य की समृद्ध परम्परा ह.ै लवलभन्न समुदायों, जालियों के लवलशष्ट

मनमोहक िोक नृत्य हैं. अहीर मैदान में 'फर' िेकर 'फरी' नृत्य करिे हैं. कहारों का नाच, धोलबयों का नाच,

चमारों का नाच, पांवररयों का नाच प्रलसद्ध ह.ै परन्िु आजकि जालियों के नृत्य करने वािे इसे अपमान

समझिे हैं, इसलिए ये नाच समाप्त हो रह ेहैं.

[There is a rich tradition of folkdance and drama in Bhojpuri region. Different communities

and castes have specific folk dance forms. Ahirs dance on the ground using phar, it is called

phari dance. Dances of Kahars, Dhobis, Chamars, Panwaris are famous. However, today

these castes consider dancing as an insult. Hence these dances are on the verge of extinction.]

(ibid.: 10–11)

18 Ranbeer Sena is known to be a ‘private army’ of the upper-caste Bhumihar landlords and other

landed gentry, which has carried out several massacres, one of them being the Bathani Tola

massacre of Dalit and Muslim women and children in July 1996 (Bhatia 2013) and Laxmanpur-

Bathe massacre of dalits in 1997 (Sahay 2008). Bihar high court has acquitted all of the accused

in 2012 (Bhatia 2013).

61

His analysis stops here. However, we need to ask why these caste groups (who are clearly

Shudras and Ati-Shudras) feel insulted in performing these dance forms. It can be argued

that such a question is beyond the purview of the author’s study. Nevertheless, it also tells

us something about the caste location of the scholar. Here, I find the historian

Collingwood’s insights quite apt. He says, ‘study the historian before you study the facts’

(quoted in Carr 1964: 23). To take into account the social locations of the scholars is

important, as the image of the society comes to us through her/his lens.

In the next section, I would engage with the metaphors and images on Bhojpuri

women in the academic world. This section is important, as women protagonists in

Bhojpuri folksongs are central to analysis in this thesis.

The Missing Women in ‘Bhojpuri’

Grierson created a stalwart image of Bhojpuri men who are brave and active, but there

was no such attempt made in relation to Bhojpuri women. Though in his encyclopaedic

work Bihar Peasant Life (1885) he has described what sort of cloths and ornaments

upper-caste and lower-caste women wore, the descriptions have been brief and partial.

Also, the linguist Udai Narain Tiwari has not made any specific remark on women.

Women are largely missing in writings about ‘Bhojpuri’.

However, Krishna Deva Upadhyaya has written about Bhojpuri women in his work

Bhojpuri Lok-Sanskriti (1991). This section discusses images and metaphors which

emerge from his accounts on Bhojpuri women:

पलिव्रिा लियों–लवशेषकर भोजपुरी लियों का प्रधान गुण उनका पालिव्रि धमा ह.ै वे मन, वचन और कमा से

पलि-परायणा होिी हैं. पलि दकिना भी कुकमी, कदाचारी, दषु्ट िथा पलिि क्यों ना हो परन्िु वे अपन ेमुांह से

उसके कुकृत्यों का दकसी से उल्हिेख िक नहीं करिीं। पलि जीलवका के लिए परदसे चिा जािा ह,ै वहाुँ दकसी

िी के माया-जाि में फुँ स जािा ह.ै वह अपने बच्चों िथा िी के लिए पािन-पोषण के लिए रूपया भेजन ेकी

बाि िो दरू रही, प्रत्युि उनकी खोज-खबर िेने के लिए लचट्ठी भी नहीं भेजिा। दफर भी जब वह दस पांद्रह

वषों के बाद घर िौटिा ह ैिब उसकी उपेलक्षिा िी उसका ह्रदय से स्वागि करिी ह.ै वह अपने कष्टों की

अनुभूलि को भुिाकर, अपनी उपेक्षा करने के लिए पलि को उिाहना िक नहीं दिेी। घर में गरीबी के कष्टों को

वह सहषा सहिी रहिी ह.ै दफर भी वह पलि सेवा को ही अपना परम धमा समझिी ह.ै इस प्रकार भोजपुरी

नारी सलहष्णुिा, सिीत्व िथा सदाचार का पूणा प्रिीक ह.ै

[Chaste wives- Bhojpuri women’s main quality is their virtuosity. They are virtuous from

heart, speech and deeds. Even if, the husband is sinful and wicked, they do not expose them

infront of others. Husband migrates for livelihood and gets lured by some other women. He

doesn’t send money for the upkeep of his wife and children nor does he sends them a letter.

After all this when he returns home, the betrayed wife welcomes him whole-heartedly. She

ignores her pangs and does not taunt him. She happily bears the poverty and in spite of this

62

she thinks that her main duty is to serve her husband. Thus, Bhojpuri women are a symbol of

tolerance, virtuosity and morality.] (ibid.: 21)

Krishna Deva Upadhyaya has presented a romantic image of a ‘left-behind’ wife of a

migrant husband. He asserts that even in the case of absentee husband Bhojpuri women

remains faithful, chaste and never complains about her sufferings. He mentions that such

images have been portrayed in Bhojpuri folk-literature.

Another kind of woman Krishna Deva Upadhyaya has spoken extensively about

widows. He has presented a picture that widows are even more virtuous and to maintain

their chastity they never remarry. To quote:

भोजपुरी प्रदशे में नारी के सिीत्व का आदशा बहुि ऊुँ चा ह.ै पर पुरुष से लववाह की कल्हपना िो दरू की बाि

ह,ै दकसी अन्य पुरुष से दकसी प्रकार के सांपका की भावना भी य ेस्वप्न में भी नहीं कर सकिीं। अांग्रेजी में एक

कहावि ह ै‘सीजर की िी सांदहे से परे ह’ै. इसी प्रकार हम लबना दकसी सांकोच के कह सकिे हैं की भोजपुरी

नारी के चररत्र के लवषय में दकसी भी प्रकार की भी आशांका करना लनिाांि लनमूाि ह.ै […] आज िाखों की

सांख्या में, इस प्रदशे में अक्षि योलन19 बाि लवधवाएां लवद्यमान हैं लजन्होंने जीवन भर अपने पलि का कभी मखु

भी नहीं दखेा। गवना होने के पलहिे ही लवधवापण के शाप से अलभलशप्त हो गयीं, परन्िु दफर भी अपने मृि

पलि की स्मृलि में, अपने अिौदकक सौंदया िथा काांचन काया को जिा-जिा कर भस्म कर रहीं हैं. ये अपने

बाि वैधव्य के दुुःखद ददनों को लिि लिि कर काट रहीं हैं परन्िु ये पुनुः 'सप्तपदी' की कल्हपना भी नहीं करिीं।

यह बाि लवधवाओं का दभुााग्य ही समझना चालहए की लवधािा ने उनके भाग्य में लचर वैधव्य के साथ ही

दीघा आयुष्य20 भी लिख ददया ह.ै

[The ideal of virtuosity is quite high in Bhojpuri State. Thinking of marrying another man is

beyond comprehension, they can’t even imagine having any extra marital relationship. There

is a saying in English, ‘Caesar’s wife is above suspicion’. Similarly, we can say without any

hesitation that one cannot doubt Bhojpuri women’s character. […] Even today, there are

thousands of ‘virgin’ child widows in Bhojpuri state, who have not even seen their husband’s

faces. The curse of widowhood fell upon them before they went to their husbands’ house

through gawana ceremony. In spite of this, these women are burning their sacred beauty and

gold-like body in memories of their dead husband. They are somehow spending the

widowhood but cannot even imagine a second marriage. This is such an unfortunate situation

that along with the widowhood these women have got a long life.] (Upadhyaya 1991: 25)

Apart from these ideal type constructs of Bhojpuri women Krishna Deva Upadhyaya

mentions some ‘deviant’ cases like कुिटा (kulta), the characterless. He writes, ‘परन्िु

समाज में कुछ लियाां ऐसी होिी हैं लजनका आचरण उलचि नहीं कहा जा सकिा [there are ‘some’

women in society whose conduct cannot be termed as proper]’ (1991: 25). Another

19 अक्षत योनि literally translates as a women whose vagina has not been penetrated; The nearest English equivalent is ‘virgin’.

20 He has exemplified this with Bhojpuri folklore: रााँड के हदन कभी ना ओराला which translates as: days of a widow are never over.

63

deviant case is िुबुकी [lubuki], the brainless talkative women. He writes, ‘भोजपुरी प्रदशे में

कुछ लियाां ऐसी पायी जािी हैं लजन्हें आसानी से 'िुबुकी' की सांज्ञा दी जा सकिी ह ै [In Bhojpuri

region, there are ‘some’ women who can be easily termed as ‘lubuki’] (1991: 38). In

appendix to the book he adds few other categories such as फूहरर [phuhari], a woman who

is dirty, who does not take bath often, who smells, who does not comb her hair properly,

who does not know how to cook, etc. He emphasises that though such women are not

many in ‘Bhojpuri society’, they do exist.

We can see that a binary ideal type of Bhojpuri women has been constructed. On the

one hand, she appears to be chaste in any situation and, on the other hand some are very

opposite. Perhaps, scholars who have been born and brought in a patriarchal society and

grown up with patriarchal values construct images which are reflective of that society and

its values.

Summary

Based on the work of situated linguists and folk scholars, in this chapter, I have tried to

sketch the nuances of Bhojpuri language, Bhojpuri as a cultural region, and the people

who inhabit this region and speak Bhojpuri. These linguists and scholars characterise

Bhojpuri as living language with permeable and vast boundaries with local textures, and

lament its poor literary status. Absence of patronage from the rulers and the indifference

of pundits of this region towards the language are advanced as the reasons for this

predicament. They assert that oral literature in Bhojpuri is as good as written literature

since it addresses important themes like nationalism and patriotism. However, they are

also demanding for scheduling of this language to achieve a written status.

Scholars have portrayed Bhojpuri society as a harmonious caste society, where men

are masculine and adventurous. Grierson called Bhojpuri men ‘fighters’; Upadhyaya

brothers gave this narrative a nationalist flavour by highlighting the anti-colonial heroes

from this region. Scholars often point out male migration as an evidence for their

adventurous nature. Such explanations of migration invisibilise the material realities and

causes of migration; they also ignore women’s experiences when men migrate.

Women hardly find any space in these writings. However, folklorist Krishna Deva

Upadhyaya provides some details about women. All his life he studied folksongs and folk

64

culture and thus engagement with women, for him, was inescapable. He presents a

savarna ideal type of Bhojpuri women as sati: embodiment of tolerance, virtuosity and

morality. He did include some deviant images of women: kulta, lubuki and

phuhari[meaning characterless, brainless and unclean women respectively]. He

emphasises that, while they do exist, they are not the norm. These images mark my point

of departure. I would take off from here and find out what a gendered analysis of

Bhojpuri folksong would yield.

In Chapter 4, I present an analysis of the woman protagonist in women’s folksong

genres, and in Chapter 5, I will look at the woman protagonist in the men’s genres of

folksongs. In Chapter 6, I will discuss the changing migration motif in Bhojpuri

folksongs.