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 The jungle dwellers The Sahariyas possibly derive their name from sher or jungle in Persian. Although they are believed to be an off shoot of the Bhils, they supposedly earned this name form the Muslim Ruler of Shahbad, since they had chosen to make their home in the jungle hide outs of the Shahbad district of the Princely State of Kota and in the neighboring regions of Jhalawar, Sawai Madhopur, Dungarpur and Udaipur. They have also spread to the districts of Jaipur and Bharatpur. The Sahariyas have much in common with Hindu rituals and barring a few exception their food habits are very similar too. Since they consider everyone in an endogamous group to be brother and sister, marriages have to be arranged from other clans. Totems drawn on paper as also made from floor are worshipped for the marriage ceremony. The Sahariyas live in a joint family and do not favor child marriage. Widow marriage called Nat is permitted but only to a widower or a divorcee, polygamy is permitted to a man but a woman can not take more than one husband. Every adult member of the Sahariya community is part of a committee, which decides disputes by a consensus. The inter-village dispute is referred to a Chokla Panchayat. The Sahariyas worship Hindu gods and Goddesses. Although they are jungle people, it is curious that sometimes they put jungles on fire to propitiate their deities. |