SKYLINES OF ANTHROPOLOGY

Vol. 2, No. 1, 2022, pp. 1-13

© ARF India. All Right Reserved
URL: www.arfjournals.com

Barman Tribes Culture and their Interactions with

Forest Resources
Rajdeep Dutta1 & Joyashri Dey2
1
Faculty, Department of Community Medicine, Tezpur Medical College and Hospital, Tezpur, Assam.
E-mail: [email protected]
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Assam (Central) University, Silchar, Assam.
E-mail: [email protected]

Received : 28 December 2021

Abstract: Socio-economic and cultural practices are unique
Revised : 20 January 2022
among the different ethnic groups, especially in the tribal
community. The Barman tribes are one of the major tribal Accepted : 30 January 2022
groups in Assam. Most prominently, they live as scheduled Published : 15 June 2022
tribes in lower Assam and the Barak Valley. Dimasa Barman
people are dispersed throughout the Cachar district,
TO CITE THIS ARTICLE:
inhabiting in small groups in several villages. The Joynagar
Forest village is one of the largest Barman living forest Dutta, R., & Dey, J. 2022.
villages in the Cachar district. The Barman is distinct from Barman Tribes Culture
and their Interactions with
the other ethnic groups in Assam’s forest settlement because
Forest Resources. Skylines of
of his own socioeconomic practices, cultural practices, and Anthropology, 2: 1,
traditions. They engage in a variety of productive activities pp. 1-13.
while living in the forest and rely on forest resources for
their family’s survival and earnings. Additionally, they
encounter a variety of life-threatening issues as a result of
their way of life. The article primarily outlines the Barman
culture and their interaction with forest resources among
Barman tribes residing in a forest village, namely Joynagar
forest village in Assam’s Cachar district. Furthermore,
the study explores the socioeconomic factors, the cultural
backdrop, and the features of the forest that support the life
and family income of the tribe. For this study, authors have
relied on primary sources and data has been collected from
50 respondents who are actively engaged in forest resources
in Joynagar forest village with the help of an interview
schedule. Apart from this, insights on cultural practices
and forest resource uses were gathered through Focused
Group Discussions (FGDs) with key individuals from the
Joynagar forest community, including the Mother group,
Youth Club, Bandhan Group, Anganwari worker, Helper,
ANM, ASHA, Head Teacher, and Goan Bura. In light of
2 Rajdeep Dutta and Joyashri Dey

this context, the article also discusses the implications for

future research and practice.
Keywords: Barman tribe, culture, forest village, forest
resources, socio-economic life.

Introduction
The Barman tribes are one of the prominent tribal groups in Assam’s Cachar
district of Barak Valley. In general, the Barman tribes are a peace-loving
community of straight, polite, and soft-spoken people who live in Cachar’s
rural-urban region with the non-tribal community. Within the Kachari kings
of Khaspurthe, the cultural shift among the Barman community happened
very rapidly. The Barman people celebrate nearly all Hindu festivals, and their
lives are in some ways inaccessible to non-tribal people such as Hindus. They
observe festivals such as Duga puja, Laxmi puja, Saraswati puja, Kalipuja,
Manasa puja, Doljatra, and Basanti Puja, among others, in honour of their tribal
gods and goddesses. In general, Barman tribe villages located near land used
for shifting cultivation, agriculture, and especially rural areas, play a critical
role in women’s economic life (Tiwari, 2013; Barman 2014). According to the
2011 census, the total population of Assam is 3,12,05,576. Among them, 12.45
percent of people are from Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the state. However, among
the Schedule Tribe (ST) of the Barman Kacharis are 24,237 persons as per census
2017. Out of total people, 12,555 are male and 11,503 are females. The male
literacy rate is 2.5%, while the female literacy rate is 1.5%. Four percent of the
total population is estimated to be literate. Nonetheless, the Barman in the plain
and hills of Cachar have a distinct identity in terms of social-cultural practices
and forest resource utilization when compared to the other scheduled tribes in
the Barak valley. There are a number of Barman villages in different legislative
assembly constituencies of the Cachar district. Joynagar forest village is one of
them, located in Assam’s Dholai Lok Sabha Constituency. In terms of linguistic
minorities, the speaking of Dimasa’s identity is complicated and distressing in
Cachar among the Bengali speaking majority and as of the Assamese state’s
official languages. It was crucial for the gap that existed between other ethnic
groups’ identity and cultures, in particular with the Dimasas (Barman, 2014;
Daulagajau, 2015).
In the forested areas of Assam, the local forest resources serve multiple
purposes for people, particularly with regard to their earnings and subsistence.
They have access to all of these facilities, including fuel wood, food, medicines,
construction materials, and shelter, which are all harvested from forests. They
Barman Tribes Culture and their Interactions with Forest Resources 3

are also getting some facilities indirectly, like fresh air, control of climate
and rainfall, restraint of drought, and receiving greenery. Furthermore, the
population that lives in the forest has distinct cultural practices and lifestyles
from non-forest inhabitants (Dutta, 2011). Thus, from the above, it is understood
that the Barman tribe’s social-cultural way of life is entirely different from the
rest of mankind. Their isolation is encouraged by a number of factors, including
their proximity to water, rivers and streams, and forests. The most common
issues that Barmanians face are identity crisis, language, cultural conflict, and
Bangla influences (Longmailai, 2017). It is noted that the majority of studies are
undertaken outside of India and Assam. It is unknown if there is any existing
research on the Barman tribe in the Cachar region of Assam with regard to the
Joynagar forest settlement in particular. In this study, the authors would like to
close this existing gap.

Objectives of the Study

• To explore how socio-economic conditions vary amongst the Joynagar
Barman tribes in the forest community.
• To gain an understanding of the cultural practices of the forest Barman
tribes.
• To understand the nature of interaction with forest resources by the forest
tribes dwellers for their livelihood.

Methods and Procedures

The study described the Barman culture and its interconnections with forest
resources using a range of approaches. The study took place in a forest village,
Joynagar forest village, in the Dholai Lok Sabha Constituency of Assam’s
Cachar district. The study is exploratory in nature. Joynagar forest village
has a population of approximately 500 people and 62 families. A total of 50
respondents from 50 families were interviewed using an interview schedule.
Additionally, the researcher participated in group meetings to collect information
about cultural practices and forest resources by conducting Focused Group
Discussions (FGD) with key individuals such as Youth Club, Bandhan Group,
Anganwari worker, Helper, Auxiliary Nursing Midwife (ANM), Accredited
Social Health Activists (ASHA), School Head Teacher, Goan Bura or Village
Headman of the Joynagar forest village and through direct observation Besides
that, a brief review of the secondary literature is undertaken to offer insight
into the findings. Finally, a thematic analysis (Braun et al., 2018) procedure
4 Rajdeep Dutta and Joyashri Dey

was used to distribute themes reflecting the tribes’ cultural practices and their
interactions with forest resources in forest villages.

Results and Discussion

A Glimpse of the Barman Tribes of Joynagar Forest Village

There are forest settlements in the Cachar district of Assam located underneath
the inner line reserve. Joynagar is a forest village in Assam’s Dholai Lok
Sabha Constituency. It is located on the border side of Assam-Mizoram. The
settlement of Joynagar is located under the Shewrarthal Goan panchayat. The
village is located approximately 46 kilometers away from Silchar town. In
2017, the Shewrarthal forest dwellers celebrated the Golden Jubilee for the 100
years running of their village. Mrs. Pramila Barmah, Assam’s forest minister,
was the chief guest at the golden jubilee event. Joynagar forest village is home
to around 62 families and 500 inhabitants. The village is composed of people
from the Dimasa, Khasia, and Bengali ethnic groups. Forest poverty is one of
the most severe among Inner Line reserve’s forest dwellers due to inadequate
infrastructure, low agricultural output, poor communication, and a lack of
basic amenities such as education, health, income, and safe drinking water,
among others.
In Assam’s Cachar district, the Dimasa Barman are a Scheduled Tribe.
They are a group of people who are spread over the area but still remain a
micro village in various interior locations. Dimasa Kachoris is a significant
tribal community in Assam. They established a sizable ethnic group in North
Eastern India. Today, Assam is inhabited by a large number of Kachari tribes,
including the Bodo Kacharis in the Kumrup, Barpeta, Dhubri, Goalpara,
Darrang, and Sonitpur Districts, the Sonowal and Thengal Kacharis in upper
Assam, the Dimasa Barman in Cachar District, the Mech Kacharis who live in
small groups throughout the plains Districts, and the Dimasa Kacharis in the
Autonom (Daulagajau, 2015). The Barman is a vibrant tribe with a long history,
a rich cultural heritage, a distinct language, and an indigenous way of life that
includes food habits, dress, weaving, and handicrafts. Culture is expressed
through action and interaction, as well as material and non-material products
and practices, and it varies across societies. Housing, family structure, village
system, clans/lineage, customs, religious system, marriage system, dress and
ornaments, dance and music, food and drink, festivals, and language are all
practiced by Barman people. As we all know, the forest is a critical resource for
sustaining livelihoods, particularly for forest villagers. Tribal peoples living
Barman Tribes Culture and their Interactions with Forest Resources 5

in forest villages gathered to collect their food and other necessities, as well
as clothing and shelter for everything they rely on from their forest (Dutta,
2011). Even today, they rely on the forest for a variety of purposes, including
fuelwood, fencing, windbreaks and shelterbelts, fodder, soil erosion control,
and soil improvement. Furthermore, they use forest products such as timber,
cane, fruit, fiber, bamboo, grasses, medicinal applications, floss, and essential
oils, which have a significant impact on their socioeconomic life.

Socioeconomic Circumstances of the Barman Tribes

Socio-economic conditions are important indicators for a community’s well-
being. This is an overarching representation of the whole community and is the
social setting. Socioeconomic factors such as age, sex, family size, occupation,
and education all have a significant impact on the individual and his or her
family life.

Table 1: Distribution of Respondents by Gender

Gender No of Respondents Percentage

Male 20 40
Female 30 60
Total 50 100
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher

According to Table 1, 60% of respondents who actively employed forest

resources for the Barman tribe are female, whereas 40% are male. Additionally,
the majority of respondents (65%) are in the age range of 20 to 39, while 25%
are in the age group of 40 to 59, and only 10% are in the age group of 60 and
beyond. Furthermore, it was discovered that the vast majority (85%) of them
are married couples involved in forest activities for a livelihood, with only 15%
of respondents being unmarried.

Table 2: Educational Status

Education No of Respondents Percentages

Illiterate 20 40
Lower primary 28 56
Upper primary & above 2 4
Total 50 100
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher
6 Rajdeep Dutta and Joyashri Dey

Referring to Table 2, the majority of respondents have only a primary level

of schooling. Whereas 40% are illiterate and only 4% have completed the upper
primary level of schooling and beyond.

Table 3: Distribution of Respondents by Family Types

Type of Family No of Family Percentages
Nuclear family 40 80
Joint family 10 20
Total 50 100
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher
The above data demonstrates that the majority of the Barman tribes are
from a nuclear family that is 80 percent, while 20 percent are from the joint
family system. Additionally, it has been discovered that 65% of the Barman
tribes have a small family size of 1 to 4 members, 15% have a medium family
size of 5 to 8 people, and 20% have a large family size of 8 or more individuals.

Table 4: Distribution of Respondents by Housing Pattern

Houses Types No of Respondents Percentages
Assam type with full brick wall 18 36
Assam type with half brick wall 25 50
Bamboo with Tin 7 14
Total 50 100
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher

Thus, according to table 4, a substantial proportion of respondents’

residences are Assam type with a half wall (50%), Assam type with a whole
brick wall (36%), and bamboo with tin (14%).

Table 5: Distribution of Respondents by Source of Family Income

Occupation No of Respondents Percentages
Daily wage laborer 15 30
Handicraft/weaving 35 70
Total 50 100
Source: Fieldwork by the researcher

It has been observed that 70% of the respondents were involved in

handicraft/weaving or forest resource collecting, while 30% were daily wage
laborers. Apart from that, they engaged in job card work, agricultural labour,
Barman Tribes Culture and their Interactions with Forest Resources 7

and sold cattle such as pigs, goats, and cattle. Therefore, the forest tribes and
their socioeconomic activities have profoundly influences on their livelihood
and cultural existence.

Understanding the Barman Tribe’s Culture

Culture is, at its most fundamental level, a way of life. Society has different
cultural systems and structures from one place to another. It is the combination
of man’s activity and interactions as well as the consequences of such conduct
and interaction. The Barman tribes have their own cultural practices; current
changes in the system and shape of culture, such as the family system, village
system, food and drink habits, marriage system, dress and ornaments, dance
and music, and so on, are influenced by other cultures. Therefore, a few
contributing aspects that influence of tribal culture are highlighted-

Diagram 1: Some aspects of tribes’ cultural influences

Family Structure
The Barman tribe generally adheres to a nuclear family system, with married
couples cohabiting with their unmarried offspring. Among Barman tribe
communities, they are more involved in Jhum cultivation and forest resource
allocation. Male members serve as the family’s leaders, such as husbands or
fathers. However, Barman women have the same social standing as their male
counterparts. Both women and men labour to support their families and provide
8 Rajdeep Dutta and Joyashri Dey

for their livelihoods. Among the Barman Tribes, the joint family arrangement
consists of two or more couples and their unmarried children sharing a home
under one roof. Though, the joint family system is becoming increasingly rare
nowadays. Jaynagar’s Barman tribes are rapidly shifting away from traditional
Jhum Practicing livelihoods and toward agricultural cultivation and trading.
Recent changes in the Barman Tribes’ family structure and economics are a
result of non-tribal neighbors’ influences.

Village System
The Joynagar community in a large village system is affected by environmental
factors and woodland of the Barman tribe’s immediate surroundings. They
adhere to the traditional village method of appointing a ‘headman’ named ‘Goan
Bura’. The headman wields supreme administrative authority inside the village
structure. In Barman, the village system is comprised of clusters of dwellings,
and its inhabitants are referred to as’ Khunang’. The Barman of Cachar districts
are plain tribes’ people who inhabit the plains. They constructed the dwellings
in two parallel rows. However, they now have a contemporary system of
Assam-style buildings and have constructed separate cowsheds, duck sheds,
goat sheds, and piggery, which are widely found in villages.

Religious Identity
The Barman tribes of Jaynagar are similarly devout in their devotion to
Hindu religious activities such as Duga puja, Laxmi puja, Kali puja, Saraswati
puja, Ganga puja, Jhulan Jatra, Savtratri, Janmashtami, and Bipodnashini, among
others. However, the Joynagar Barman tribes believe in Brahma, Vishnu, and
Siva. They emphasised Siva and Goddess Durga over the other two. Barman
tribes also worship three goddesses, named Ranachandi, Kachakanti, and
Kamakya, who are all manifestations of Goddess Durga in their religion. Each
year on January 27th, Barman of Jaynagar celebrates the event known as “Basu
Dima.” Apart from that, they perform birth rites (hegochujaba), the annaprasana
ceremony of offering the first rice to their child, and death rituals. However,
changes are occurring in the religious system today as a result of the impact of
urban contracts, modern facilities, education, and the influence of non-tribal
ceremonies, among other factors.

Marriage Practices
Marriage exists in every human society. The Barman tribes have a traditional
system of marriage. In Barman tribes, village adult females are regarded to
Barman Tribes Culture and their Interactions with Forest Resources 9

be of marriageable age. In Barman tribes, the marriage process begins with

the boy, never with the female. According to the Barman’s rules, husband
and wife cannot be of the same patricians, and boys and girls cannot be
of the same matriclan in the marital system. Today, many marriages occur
out of love, elopement, or mutual acceptance of village girls and boys, and
later on, society accepts cases where all prescriptive laws are maintained by
Barman tribes, albeit they prefer negotiated marriages within Barman tribe
villagers.

Dress and Ornaments

Among Barman tribes in the Joynagar forest community, ladies wear ‘Righu’
and ‘Chador’ named ‘Rijhampaibu’ while men wear ‘Dutti’ and ‘Risa’. They
employed traditional weaving machines to weave these garments at home.
Young Barman ladies also employed sari in their everyday life. In terms of
ornaments, while they have traditional ornaments such as ‘Poal’ or silver coins
and costly sea-shells made necklaces, ‘Eansidam’ or silver made nose ring,
‘Rongborsa’ or silver coins made necklaces, and so on, Barman tribe women
prefer to wear contemporary gold and silver jewelry that non-tribe women
wear. A somewhat similar example of a non-tribal cultural impact may be
found in the ladies of the Joynagar Barman tribe.

Music and Dance

The Barman tribes’ traditional dances include Baidima, Baurunjla, and
Jaubani. The Barman tribes’ dance is quite complicated. They rely entirely on
instrumental music. The traditional musical instruments of the Barman tribes
are named ‘Kharam’ or drum, ‘Muriwasthisa’ or bugle as flute, ‘Supin’ or flute,
etc. This traditional Barman dance and musical instrument is almost unutilized
nowadays by the Barman tribe, who instead use instruments like Khol, Flute,
and Cymbal, etc., but they still tried to maintain their traditional dance, music,
rituals, culture, and believes it in their level.

Food and Drinking Habits

Rice is the staple food. They simply eat three times a day rice and vegetable curry
with little oil and largely boiled vegetables, regardless of their age or gender
variations. ‘Dried fish’ (Nagrain) and ‘sidol’ (Napham) are frequently included
in the meals of Barman tribes. Barman Tribes of all ages and sexes commonly
consume their traditional ‘Rice beer’ or ‘Judima’, ‘milk’ and ‘sugarless tea’. Bidi
and cigarette smoking are two new practices that have emerged among the
10 Rajdeep Dutta and Joyashri Dey

Barman tribe’s younger generations. They’re ‘fishing’ rivers and streams and
‘hunting’ forest ‘animals’. These are the most delicious foods for them.

Language
Their mother tongue is Dimasa and they know the Bengali language to manage
their daily interaction with their surroundings. Despite the fact that Dimasa
is their native tongue, they enroll their children in a nearby Bengali medium
school. Due to schooling, employment, and a lack of exposure to traditional
arts and music, among other factors, they utilized Dimasa language exclusively
at home. For example, the barman tribe families sometimes train their little
children in the home to speak Bengali or other languages to make them eligible
for Non-Dimasa Medium School in their locality. Thus, the environment itself
constrains their ability to communicate in their mother tongue.
Therefore, the lack of development and exposure within social, cultural
and personal constraints and practices resulted in an even closer relationship
between the native forest for their survival and earnings and the next segments
to be described.

Interaction with the Forest Resources by the Barman Tribes

The residents of Joynagar forest are primarily day laborers. Therefore, if they
are unable to find a job/work, they usually travel to the jungle and spend
an average of three/four hours a day collecting materials from the forest to
supplement their daily income. The majority of households (88 percent) earn
their living from fuel wood, fruits, nuts, honey, agriculture products, medicines,
leaves, silk, weaving, vegetables, and wood for furniture, while around (12
percent) of families earn their living from other sources.
• Forest dwellers in Jaynagar, particularly women, benefited directly
from the forest by producing goods such as Reyma Jhadu (broom),
baskets, and dala from readily available raw materials in the forest, in
addition to fuel wood, food, medicines, and shelter materials. They
also benefited indirectly by selling forest vegetables and fruits, and the
surrounding community benefited as well.
• As said in those women’s groups, the Forest enables women to give
something to the family while collaborating with their male spouses
to run the family more effectively. This enables them to address
family issues with their husband, such as child education, health, and
daughter’s marriages.
Barman Tribes Culture and their Interactions with Forest Resources 11

• Those women stated that when they go into the forest as a group, they
share their feelings and thoughts about their daily lives with their
coworkers. These all contribute to the development of women’s sense
of community, interaction, and communication for problem solving
and amusement.
• They cultivate various items in the forest such as Rayma, Banana tree,
Jhum practicing for vegetables, fruits, and so on, and they occasionally
hunt in the forest for food such as jungli chicken, jungli pig, deer, and
so on.
• They utilized forest trees such as arjun, neem, chirota, and don kolos to
make remedies for household diseases like as fever, cough, and cancer,
and these trees also expand their products’ commercial potential. The
forest community is extremely beneficial for medical purposes, and
many traditional healers, as well as forest dwellers, collect medicines.
• The difficulties encountered by forest dwellers on various levels include
mosquito bites, a lack of light, a lack of a proper road or lane, a lack of
safe drinking water, and having to walk long distances to purchase
groceries. They used the words’ ‘to live and to work in the jungle. It’s not
so easy’. Jaynagar village is located on the border of Assam and Cachar
district, which means that development has been largely neglected,
and there are no facilities for utilizing forest productive resources.
Henceforth, the benefits avail by the forest dweller is regulated or ban much
activity to preservation of the forest under the forest department. Further, they
exercise, indeed control in preservation, conservation, and management without
any absolute involvement of the forest department. The residents, on the other
hand, have historically developed a sense of ownership and belongingness to
their forest village. The researcher noticed a significant gap in that there are
currently no Self Help Groups (SHGs) or Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGOs) assisting those ladies in obtaining bank loans or developing their
abilities in order to grow more effectively and actively. Of course, they are less
developed than they should be. The lack of development is due to the lack of
GO-NGOs facilities in the forest village.

Concluding Remarks
The Barman tribes enjoy a vibrant traditional culture in the Joynagar forest
village. However, its rituals have diminished or been eliminated as a result
of naive acceptance of modern society, the influence of non-tribal indigenous
12 Rajdeep Dutta and Joyashri Dey

culture, and cultural assimilation, other factors described in the article. The
traditional family, village, religious system, marriage system, dance and
music, clothes and jewellery, food and beverages, and so on, all have their own
significance within the Barman tribe, although the majority of these practices
are disregarded by the younger tribe generation. Though, the Barman tribes
speak Dimasa as their mother tongue. However, the language’s future
preservation and maintenance are a long way off (Nair et al., 1979; Vidyarthi,
1972). All of this necessitates the emergence of a conscious mind to advocate
for the preservation of traditional culture and practices.
The empowerment of women as well as their economic well-being relies
on the engagement of forest resources. It empowers them to make decisions
about their families, children’s education, marriages, health, saving, and the
environment, so establishing their independence (Dutta, 2011). However, they
require additional efforts from both the government and non-government sectors
to flourish. There should be the formation of SHGs and NGOs to assist those
women in achieving greater development and obtaining all available benefits
from government sources in order to maximize their energy and resource use.
Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) can also take the initiative to strengthen this
group of women by participating in women’s reservation and representation
in democratic processes that enable them and others to fully flourish. NGOs
can contribute significantly to the development of forest residents’ abilities by
giving training on resource management, resource efficiency and awareness
rising. Above all, the mass media can also play a crucial role in the promotion
of cultural practices and to save the uses and interactions of natural resources.

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