Bhoksa tribe

Bhoksa
It is an important tribe of northern India. Their inhabitation place is the districts of
Nainital, Pauri-Garhwal, and Dehradun of Uttaranchal State and Bijnore district of Uttar
Pradesh. They are mainly concentrated in the Nainital district. Their living place is
known as “Bhoksar”. Their total population is 42,027 and their sex ratio is 1:1.5 (1991
census).
Bhoksa are migrated people, who came to the tarai belt of the Himalaya region, where
they settled in “Bunbasa” (a place covered with dense forest).
Family
Bhoksa belong to a patriarchal society. They are patrilocal and patrilineal also.
The male chief heads family. Property in inherited from father to son. The maximum
number of families is joint in nature. All family members engage in agriculture, which is
the main source of their livelihood. Generally the chief of the joint family is the oldest
person of the family, who has unlimited rights and every member follows his order in any
discipline.
Women are not highly literate but their suggestions are not over looked. They hold a
good position in the family. They do not follow the veil system.
Kinship
Kinship relations are very momentous in their lives. Avoidance is frequent. The
women can see neither the elder brother of her husband or her father-in-law. Joking
relation is in practice. Levirate marriage is permissible.
Marriage
Purchase marriage is very frequent among them. Bride wealth is in practice,
because sex ratio is very far from equivalency. Girls play a vital role in the domestic
work. So bride wealth has taken place. Among the Bhoksa it is known as “Malgati”.
A Bhoksa male can marry only in a situation, when he has an agricultural land because it
proves his capability to look after his family. Marriage is performed in the late age. They
are exogamous at the level of gotra. Cross cousin and parallel cousin marriage is a social
taboo in their cultural life. Separation is permitted. It is minimal due to the high bride
wealth, which is not possible for a Bhoksa male to arrange from time to time. Widow
marriage can see in this tribal group but widower marriage is very difficult due to the
imbalance of the sex ratio (male number is high in this tribe). If married woman wants
separation, she returns the bride wealth (Malgati) to her previous husband.
Death ceremony - they burn the dead body. Death is not the matter of sorrow for only
the concerned family but also the matter of the community. This ceremony continues till
the thirteenth day (tehrahvi) of the occurrence of the death.
Religion
Bhoksa follow the Hindu religion. They have faith in the Hindu gods and
goddess. They worship to Shankar (Mahadev) – the main Hindu god, Kali, Durga,
Lakshmi, Ram, Krishna. Chamunda devi is the main goddess (a form goddess Durga-
Hindu deity), who is known as “Badi devi”.
Holi, Deepavali, Dushara, Krishna Janmashtmi are their main festivals. It is only a matter
of acculturation that they celebrate 25th December (Christmas) but it is very significant
that they do not follow the Christian religion.
The influence of Pandit (Brahmin - who do sacred work for god and goddess) is strong.
They have faith in witchcraft and in evil spirits. If a person fells ill, firstly they go to
”syane”(also known as – Bhandare). He carries out magic spells for the betterment of the
ill person. They also offer sacrifice of he-hen or goat to their gods and goddesses.
They worship the ghosts and the spirits and offer the sacrifice of the goat and keep it in a
nook place, from where they believe that spirits will come to take it.
They are worshippers of goddess Shakti (power) in the symbolic form of the Banyan tree.
Economy
Their economy is totally based on agriculture. So they are also engaged in the
labor for their livelihood. Total income of the family is given to this chief, who spends it
according to the requirement of the family
They are very fond of liquor, which is the root cause of their poor economy and poor
living. They use local alcohol and Sulfa (a type of the alcohol).
Political organization
Their political organization is in the form of traditional panchayat. It hears all the
disputes. Main panchayat based matters are separation, divorce, land dispute etc. the head
of the panchayat is known as “Tarvat”. His subordinates are Daroga, Munsif and Sipahi.
All these are administrative people, who give full cooperation to the chief. Chief of the
panchayat decides the date and day of the hearing and gives his decision being unbiased.
Investigation is concerned with the Munsif. To punish a culprit is the matter of the
Daroga. Sipahi is a messenger, who gives the information regarding date and time of the
proposed panchayat to the chiefs of the villages. A biradari panchayat is existed among
the ten to twenty villages but now the significance of this traditional panchayat is loosing
its identity due to the influence of Panchayati raj- a programme of Indian government for
the decentralization of power. A Bhoksa Parishad has been established and it is doing its
work very efficiently.
Education - they are obtaining education but they prefer to live their traditional life. Now
a majority of Bhoksa is familiar with reading and writing Hindi and Kumaoni language.
They are facing a transition phase of life due to the effect of education in urban areas.
Educational institutions like junior high schools and inter colleges are near them. The
effect of these institutions is visible among them and they are taking education in these
institutions.
Bhoksa are victim of the transition phase. Due to the process of urbanization and
acculturation, they are leaving their traditional lives. Today they are suffering from land
disputes, indebtedness, water problem, transportation, and health and sanitation problems.
Government of India and as well as the state government is introducing new policies in
the light of constitutional rights of the Indian. They are approaching a modern and urban
life. In this regard many developmental anti-poverty programmes are going in their areas
which will uplift their lives.