Background- Verrier Elwin was an English self-trained anthropologist,

ethnologist and tribal activist, who began his career as christian

missionary. He came to India in September 1927 to puna where he
became a camp follower of Indian National Congress. he soon became a
gandhian and a social worker. in 1932 he went to live in the forest of the
central provinces among the gond tribe. He spent there around 20 years.
he became the first foreigner to become an Indian citizen and later on, he
was even appointed as the anthropological adviser to the Indian
government. His creative side in writing was impressive which was shaped
at his time in Oxford. one of his earlier works explore the parallels
between Christian and Hindu mystical traditions. he also wrote eulogies of
the Indian freedom movement thus he was a man poised between two
worlds who was well placed to interpret one to the other. healso
attempted to make him cognizant of the other side of Christianity and
also wish to make his fellow Englishmen recognise the illegitimacy of their
rule in India. Later, in his life he bacame disenchanted with Gandhi which
is revealed from his diary leaves from the jungle.

His major works- The Baiga was First in the series of ethnography is an
essays through which he fought for the poor and voiceless tribal people.
The Agaria 1942 is a tale About the decline of community of charcoal iron
smelters ruined by taxation , iron factory and official apathy. Maria murder
and suicide 1946 explored the cause of homicide among tribes . Sex
Bondo Highlander 1952 studied personality if highland orissa tribe and
their tension btw individualism and cooperation. Muria and the ghotul
1946 described the amorous life of tribe. The religion of an Indian
tribe( 1955) explored all aspects of Saora rituals and beliefs. It is praised
as the most detailed account of Indian tribal religion among many others
including some folklore collections.

Issues addressed-
He addressed the crucial matters pertaining to the impoverishment of the
tribals. The material concerns of tribals were always a priority. The loss of
land, restrictions on their forest rights and their exploitation by
moneylenders and officials always received his attention. His book THE
ABORIGINALS emphasised the economic measures to safeguard the
integrity of tribals. His work THE TRIBAL WORLD OF VERRIER ELWIN
received the Sahitya Akademi award for portraying how western and
Indian idealism are uniquely blended.

Not just this, He even shed light on some of the topics which were
otherwise not covered by the scholars because of their puritan
conventions. He remarked that ancient India was rich in sexological
literature. He found Baiga to have full phallic knowledge . Even his book
on Muria is an evocative account on pre marital sex. He argued that the
concept of virginity was not given much significance and concluded that
Muria domestic life should be a model for the whole world.
He wrote mostly for restricted circulation and almost all focused on policy.
He wrote mainly on what state could or might do to protect the interest of
the tribes

The critique of his work- he was accused of separating Tribals from

Hindu society. But According to him the tribals were marked out by the
Hindus themselves from the community because of the absence of cast,
their closeness to nature and the equality among their sexes.

The Second debate was on the issue of prohibition of tribal dances. the
social reformers wanted to
Bring an end to this activity . However, Elvin attacked them by saying that
this attitude lacked any appreciation for the culture other than their own.

Thirdly, He was also against the Christian missionaries who thought that a
change of religion would bring tribals into the modern world. But for elvin
the Christian reformers were as aggressive as Hindu ones as they were
intolerant of tribal art, culture and dance.

His methodology-

Just like Malinowski who made intensive fieldwork popular in social anthropology and took
it beyond the casual inquiries of colonial official and library based speculations , Verrier
Elwin was also a firm believer in fieldwork. According to him there was no substitute to
study the life of people in the village. Elwin lived for long periods among the people he
wrote about. For him anthropology was not just fieldwork what is whole life. his method
was to settle down among the people, live with them, share their life as far as an outsider
could And do several books together.

He can be distinguished from his professional peers in two ways: 1 st although Malinowski
and many other anthropologists laid stress on speaking like a native, Elwin dispensed it with
an interpreter. For example while doing his research in Orissa he had to use two sets of
interpreters: one to translate from the tribal language to Oriya and the second to render
Oriya into English or Hindi. This process led to loss of meaning in translation. It is to
acknowledge that he was a poor linguist as compared to his contemporaries. Secondly,
Unlike others who would spend years on single site carrying out continuous fieldwork, he
would rather spread out several years making numerous visits to numerous villages.

Since he had a degree in English and was trained under English professor, his monographs
had sharp characteristics of a novelist evident in evocative life histories and the abundance
of songs, riddles and poems. His use of literary allusions was as frequent as his citation of
anthropological studies. For example he called Bhimsen , the mighty warrior of legend as “
the flagstaff of Baiga mythology”.

His ethnographies revealed an uncommon interest in material culture. It contained

description of dresses, housing, agricultural implements, food and food materials. add
hunting and fishing techniques. He even drew extended parallels between the institution he
studied and similar institutions that were studied elsewhere by the ethnographers. For
example : in his book on Muria he surveyed village dormitories from all over the world.
However, this exercise was bereft of any systematic or sustained comparison.

Though he drew vivid comparisons from all parts of the world , he liked to highlight only
one key trait or institution which for him defined the essence of culture. This was unlike
The other anthropologist who emphasised on the functional into relatedness of all parts of
the social system.

Elvin was a devoted disciple of Malinowski school of functionalism . In a sense he was an

intensive fieldworker. But his own applications of theoretical approach betrayed the
inclinations of the novelist inside him. He was a published Novelist before he turned to
anthropology and returned to literature after he had finished with anthropology. Indian
newspaper described him “not an anthropologist in the academic sense of the term but a
man of letters who was interested in human beings.” Similarly, British weekly observed
that “ he was an anthropologist by grace rather than by profession .”

His philosophy primarily for tribes-

Verier Elwin was aware of the ubiquitous ways in which Money lenders, shopkeeper's,
forest contractors and government officials were insensitive to the special needs of the
tribe. He had deep respect and appreciation for the tribal society and culture and expressed
his deep anguish over what he considered an assault on the tribal institutions beliefs
practises and their whole way of life by external forces.

It was the colonial policy and the aggressive Christian and Hindu reformism that was
responsible for the disruption of the tribal society . He documented the changes and
whenever he was in a position he made recommendations for developing a policy for the
administration of tribes.

He was fascinated by their way of life. he found them beautiful skilled creative full of
dignity , Pride and the spirit of freedom and independence which reflected in their dress
dance myths songs and sexual behaviour. He found them loving and caring. He felt that the
tribesmen did not cheat and exploit the poor. Thus, Elwin had a very romantic idea of the
noble savage.

Elwin’s work was far more merely academic. His work with tribals had a purpose. He
wanted to become a part of the whole human condition. He even fought many battles
with police, forest officials , merchants and others on their behalf and even taught them
to fight for themselves. Secondly, he wanted to make the tribal people known. He felt it
was essential for the rest of the country to know them and treat them properly and regard
them with affection and respect.

As pointed out by N.K Bose and Surajit Sinha, Elwin downplayed the interaction btw tribes
and non tribes. KS singh suggested that he kept the company Of colonial administrators an
anthropologist and voiced their dominant view that was prevailed among them that the
tribes are a people apart from the rest and they need special care. however Elwin’s position
changed which was evident in his writings after 1940s.
His shortcomings in tribal study
Indira Munshi pointed out that he failed to notice the ability of tribes to absorb external
influences and combine them creatively with their own. For example christian Warlis
combined elements of christian religion with tribal elements . The christian symbol of cross
along with the train and bicycle have been incorporated into their ritual painting. Aling with
Christmas they also celebrate holi ,Diwali and Gaon Dev . Similarly they have also
incorporated Hindu gods like Ganpati, Laksmi and others along with their own pantheon of
gods and spirits. Even Brahmins officiate their weddings. Thus , they make their own choices
what to give up and what to retain and the process is certainly complex. Hence, Elwin was
extra preoccupied with other matters and did not appreciate their subtle dynamism.

Secondly and very important one he failed to recognise the inequalities that were built
into the structure and the relationships of tribes. For example : the tribes of Thane district
in Maharashtra are characterised by Gender inequality and discrimination. A women may
have freedom of movement but she is prevented from participating in the cycle of magical
religious ceremonies. She can only attend the propitiation ceremony of household gods.
Women are considered Impure and menstruation is seen to be a result of her sins. The
women are not allowed to handle images of gods. They Are also excluded from participating
in political social affairs of the village. only the senior men of the village are considered as
authorities on senior matters concerning the rest of the tribe women are simply neglected.
The rules of morality are also stricter for woman. Usually on divorce, she is looked down
upon.

An extreme form of operation which is reflection of the communities attitude towards

women is the practise of witch hunting. Almost all women were considered which
untrustworthy and dangerous.there Has always been a struggle between the Bhagat and the
witch ,the curer of disease and the evil or the cause of ill health.This is a clear reflection of
the gender struggle for power. Hence, it can be said that Elwin was more committed to
protect the tribes from external forces and paid very less attention to the existence of
power relations, inequalities and undemocratic aspects that existed within the tribe itself.

Elwin changed his ideas of tribal development in the context of India's independence. He
realised that the development of tribes by support from the state was necessary but at the
same time it shouldNot come at the expense of their culture and traditions. he found Nehru
to be extremely sensitive and sympathetic to the tribal question. He was impressed with his
policy for tribes.It respected the idea that tribal people should grow according to their own
genius and tradition without any imposition from outside. NEFA - North East frontier agency
was a great satisfaction for Elwin. It introduced new legislations with respect to land and
forest. rapid improvements were made in communication, healthcare, cottage industries
and in education. According to Elwin, the administration handled the problems with lot of
care and caution. However all the symbols of development only resulted in alienating the
tribal people from the resources on which their livelihood dependent and displaced them
from their domain. The tenancy act was a powerful progressive legislation but somehow the
powerful Lords managed to evict the tribal tenants who had cultivated their land for
generations. It was thus the tribes that paid the price for the agenda of so called
development of Indian leadership. However, there is not much evidence If Elwin had
dissatisfaction with these changes unleashed by the govt.
The tribal development still remains a contested issue among the activist policymakers and
the concerned academics but the question today is not whether they should enter the
mainstream Indian society but whether if they enter the mainstream society will they be
ensured enhanced quality of life?
The change is inevitable but whether that change will bring quality to life is to be pondered
upon. The irony is many of them who benefitted from these policies became the elites and
left the same community of which they were a part for such long period of time.

Over the years a large number of tribal areas have been the proliferation of political
organisations and activities . Many of them witnessed struggles for land, regularisation of so
called encroached forestlands, for wages as well as against industries, power plants, dams
and highways.

The field of anthropological research played its own role by bridging the gap between the
scholar and the activist and for that matter elvin's contribution has been the most enduring.
This scholar gypsy not only produced valuable documentation of the life of several tribes but
also fought along with them on their behalf for their rights and succeeded in bringing about
relief to them in many concrete ways.

Criticism of his methodology-

As pointed out by John Murray his work was a curious mixture. on one hand it had very
valuable piece of information and reliable research. on the other hand it contained
collection of weird amusing and bawdy stories. It had the element off technical jargons of
science and almost cheerful English.

A critic wrote on the religion of an Indian tribe that his work fell short of the standards of
professional social anthropology. the texture of tribal life was conveyed with sympathy but
his analysis lacked a more objective understanding of the fundamental facts of saora
society.

Others pointed out that his work lacked proper analysis of the social and political structure
like the rules of property and and inheritance as well as the rights and obligations of
different segments of saora society. FG Bailey also pointed out that that he was less in
interested in the sociological aspects of religion. He accused him off his style being
discursive and sentimental. Even his work on Bondo Highlander is casually done with myths
and legends not relating to culture. The account of love and marriage in it was commented
upon as a personal interpretation which is an example of good journalism but not adequate
ethnography.

Turner pointed out that Elwin’s study on saora village lacked Careful delineation of the
modes of succession and inheritance,, social composition of households and Hamlets,
magnitude and mobility of villages and finally the links between kinship residents and
marriage. According to Turner, Elvin had provided only morsels of sociological information
which are interpolated in descriptions of religious customs. It lacks systematic collection of
data. Elwin had an eye for interesting problem but did not have the nerve to work towards
its successful resolution .

When Elwin moved from description to analysis , he worked like an encylopaedist rather
than a theorist by compiling facts upon facts rather than uncovering relations btw different
social phenomena.
Along with that he also had a very haphazard field method he relied on visits of few weeks
which were often interspersed with other commitments.

As remarked by MN Srinivas once there are three births of an anthropologist. Once , when
he visits the field for first time. Second birth when he lives there for some time with the
community and sees things from their perspective and develops buddha like consciousness.
Third birth is when he returns the university and the fieldwork is completed. It is the time of
critical reflection of the whole material. However, it seems like Elwin was stuck in the stage
of second birth.

However, SC dube praised him for drawing attention to important issues. His work made
women visible for the first time in Indian anthropology. His alertness to nature and place of
natural world in tribal life distinguished him from other anthropologists who were so
indifferent to their ecological contexts . He helped to focus attention on crime, disease and
art which was otherwise neglected. This makes him special as a scholar and cannot be easily
slotted into prehistory of Discipline.