Being happy is the natural existence of man. From the beginning of civilization, man has been expressing his happiness in various forms. Laughing, dancing and singing may have been the first expressions of happiness. He must have learned to dance from the impact of winds, the flexibility and twisting of tree branches, plants, creepers etc. Then when he must have learned to speak, he must have learned to sing later. When musical instruments were used in association with songs, music must have developed automatically. Music cannot be imagined without instruments and music is an integral part of dance. The origin of music would have been possible only when man got freedom from physical labour. That is, he must have invented fire and agriculture and when the nomadic life ended, he got relief from the problem of food and got a lot of free time.Then he must have thought about singing and dancing. On the basis of continuous practice, he must have felt the difference between the feeling of sound and noise and must have invented swar, raag, taal, laya and vaad respectively. Not all sounds are called sound. Most of them come under the category of noise based on our likes and dislikes. Noise is not pleasant to the ears but sound is. The primitive humans must have made the difference between sound and noise in a democratic way by pleasantly classifying the feelings of their social understanding, the sensations generated in the brain. The recognition of the sweetness of sounds and the harshness of noise must have gradually become an integral part of life. Similarly, after the selection of beautiful scenes and their adaptation, various types of dances must have emerged. These pleasant to the ears sounds and graceful body movements (dance) must have become an integral part of our civilization and culture.The primitive tribes have a very rich tradition of musical instruments. These tribes are the originators of modern music and instruments, who must have discovered various types of musical instruments in the course of their physical and mental development on earth.
Musical instruments are divided into four categories - wind (Shisheer ), vitat, tat and ghan. Wind instruments are those which are made mainly of wood and in whose holes different types of sounds are produced by blowing air from the mouth: like flute, shehnai, venu, etc. These wind instruments played by blowing from the mouth may have been the first instruments of human culture. These instruments can be horns of dead animals or whistles made from leaves. The tradition of blowing horns must have been very old and these must have become easily available when man learned to hunt!
The Vitat instruments are those which are made from the skin of animals. After tightening the skin on a hollow wooden or clay pot-like shape, sound is produced when it is struck with the hand or a stick. Damru, Dafli, Dholak, Mridang, Dahki, Timki, Nagada, Mandal etc. are Vitat instruments. Tat instruments must have come after these. Tat instruments are those which have strings or strings. These strings must have been made from animal hair in the beginning, which later on started being made from metal strings. Bana, Tumra, Kindi, Kamda etc. are examples of ancient Tat instruments. Ghan instruments must have come at the end, when man must have discovered metals and learned their various uses. In which metal is essentially used. For example, Ghungroo, Chimta, Khartaal, Manjira etc.
In tribal culture, these four types of instruments are prominently used in dance and folk songs. On one hand, these instruments are a powerful medium to express happiness in dance and folk songs. On the other hand, they also became the center of faith and devotion and started being used in their religious, social, cultural and daily rituals. For example, in the Gond tribe, Bana (Kikri) is also worshipped as Bada Dev and this instrument remains a symbol of their most loved deity even today. Kikri is made of Khmer wood on which cow leather is applied and horse tail hair is used to tie the strings on it. Sambhar horn is also used in this instrument in which small ghungroos are also tied. All three types of instruments Tat, Vitat and Ghan have been used in a single instrument. Similarly, the second and most prominent instrument of the tribes is Dahaki i.e. Shiva's Damru. This instrument is made by hollowing out teak, bija or khmer wood and tightly binding leather on both its ends. It is prominently found in different forms among tribes like Korku, Ojha, Gond, Bhil etc. Mandal or Mridang is also a very popular instrument which is often found in the entire tribal life of Madhya Pradesh. Only a little difference can be found in its size and the material used.
All the above mentioned types of instruments are used not only in music and dance but also in many cultural and social rites of life. That is, in all the rites from birth to death, marriage, worship, festivals etc. All these instruments have originated from the association of life in close proximity to nature and are the medium of expressing sorrow, happiness, faith, belief and joy. But today due to changes in tribal social life, their use has started decreasing and they are almost getting extinct. Therefore, an attempt has been made to document them before they get extinct and this book is a part of this effort.
Ashok Shah
IAS
Director
Tribal Research and Development Institute
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh)
Introduction
The cultural splendor of the tribal world of Madhya Pradesh has a distinct identity in the country. In the tribal world, dance and music are integral parts of their unique but simple lifestyle. Dance is a powerful medium of expression of joy and music is the expression of the feelings of the mind with rhythm and beat. Instruments like Madal, Timki, Dhol, Nagada, Kundi Thiski, Khartal, Dholak, Algojha, Chikara, Gudumbh, Baja, Jhanj, Flute, Shehnai etc. instill joy in the hearts of tribal dancers, movement in their feet and sound in their throats.
"Karma" is the favourite dance of the Baiga tribe. Mandal is the main instrument in the dance. Bharia tribe uses instruments like Dhol, Timki, Jhanj, Flute etc. in Bhadam and Saittam dance. "Solo" Chalavani, Dodavani and Ghodi are the favourite dances of the Bhil tribe in which Dhol, Kundi, bronze plate and Bahli (flute) are their favourite instruments. Dances of the Korku tribe are more based on festivals and myths. Dhol, Dholak, Mridang, Timki, Algojha, Bhugadu, Pawai, Jhanj etc. are used in Korku, Chachari, Thapati, Dhadhal, Hororya and Dhadhya dance. Korku women use "Chitkaura" instrument in Gadli dance on marriage occasions. Gond tribe's favourite dance "Karma" and Saila Mandal , starts in the evening to the beat of dholak and tune of flute and continues till night.
The musical instruments of the tribes are also ritualistic. In order to complete and purify the rituals from birth to death, the Gond community invites the people of the village to play the "Badadev ka Bana" with rituals from their "Sangha Pradhan" on various occasions. Similarly, the Jantur instruments are also played by the Gond tribe during the worship of the deities. According to their belief, Jantur instruments are played the entire night after the death of a person to unite the soul with the deity.
The creators of musical instruments used in singing, dancing and other ceremonial rites are basically the tribals themselves. Modernization and contact with urban civilization have affected the divine cultural splendor of the tribal world. The book titled "Janjatriba Vadya" is an effort towards the written maintenance of rare tribal musical instruments in the event of their gradual change and extinction. I express my respectful gratitude to the source of inspiration for giving concrete form to this effort, Mr. Ashok Shah, Director. The guidance of Mr. Nitiraj Singh, Joint Director of the organization, in preparing the book is also noteworthy in a collaborative manner.
During the preparation of this book, great men from various tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh have played an important role in collecting information and contacting tribal families. Among them, the contribution of cultural workers of Sidhi district, Mr. Neeraj Kunder, Mr. Roshni Prasad Mishra and Mr. Rajiv Mishra, Lecturer, Mandla is noteworthy. The cordial cooperation of Mr. Brijesh Pandey, Assistant Commissioner, Mr. Satish Chandra Patidar and their colleagues during the visit to collect information related to the musical instruments of the Bhil tribe during the Bhagoria festival is unforgettable. Photography is an effective and authentic medium to preserve images tangibly. Along with the images of musical instruments shown in the book, the photographer of the organization, Mr. Keshav Thakur, is a helper in the collection of information.
The source persons and the tribal brothers and sisters of the tribal area have provided information with good intentions for preparing the book, I am grateful and thankful to them. It is hoped that the effort made towards the written maintenance of tribal musical instruments will prove useful for scholars and researchers.
Mrs. Madhu Gupta
Research Officer
Index
S.N Descriptions page No
1 Introduction
2 Tribal Culture and Musical Instruments
3 Instruments
(A) Madal
(B) Dhol
(C) Mridang
(D) Nagariya
(E) Nagada
(F) Timki
(G) Dafla
(H) Dahaki
(I) Dhank (Damaru)
(J) Dhap or Ghera
(K) Kundi
(L) Dholgi
(M) Dholak
(N) Dosuri Dholak
4 String instruments(tat vaadhya) 63-72
(A) Tamura
(B) Jantur instrument
(C) Bana (Kikri)
(D) Sarangi (Chinkara)
(E) Kinnari
(F) Kamda
(5) Instruments( Ghan vaadhya) 73-88
(A) Ghotihari
(B) Thiski
(C) Khartal
(D) Manjira (Cymbals)
(E) Chitkora
(F) Choora
(G) Jhika
(H) Ghunguru
(I) Paijna
(J) Tongs
(K) Wooden Stick
( L) Grinding Stick
(M) Saila
(O) Chutkule
(P) Brass Thali
6. Wind instruments ( Sudheer vaadhya ) 89-101
(A) Flute
(B) Pavi or Pavai
(C) Algojha
( D) Singudi (Conch blowing)
( E) Bhugadu
(F) Turra
(G) Singi Baja
(H) Shehnai
(I) Piya (Bhera)
( J) Bamboo Baja
( K) Fefre
7. Instruments and Modifications 102- 103
(8) Appendix-1
Brief Description of Tribal Instruments
Appendix-2
Source Persons Related to the Study
Appendix-3
Resident Based Tribal Population Year 2011
9. Reference List 116
10. Photographs 117-122
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