Kurmali or Kudmali (
ISO
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Is ...
: Kuṛmāli) is an
Indo-Aryan language
The Indo-Aryan languages (or sometimes Indic languages) are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of the early 21st century, they have more than 800 million speakers, primarily concentrated in India, Pa ...
classified as belonging to the
Bihari group of languages spoken in eastern India. As a trade dialect, it is also known as Panchpargania (
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
: পঞ্চপরগনিয়া), for the "five
parganas" of the region it covers in Jharkhand. Kurmali language is spoken by around 5.5
lakh
A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2,2,3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. For ...
people mainly in fringe regions of
Jharkhand,
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...
and
West Bengal, also a sizable population speak Kurmali in
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur t ...
tea valleys.
Intellectuals claim that Kurmali may be the nearest form of language used in ''
Charyapada
The Charyapada (IAST: Caryapāda, Assamese/ Bengali: চর্যাপদ) is a collection of mystical poems, songs of realization in the Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism from the tantric tradition in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
It was ...
''.
Kurmali is one of the demanded languages for enlisting in
Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.
Geographical distribution
Kurmali language is mainly spoken in three eastern states of India, that is, in southeastern district
Seraikela Kharswan,
East Singhbhum
East Singhbhum is one of the 24 districts of Jharkhand, India. It was created on 16 January 1990. More than 50% of the district is covered by dense forests and mountains, where wild animals once roamed freely. It is known for being a centre of ind ...
,
West Singhbhum
West Singhbhum or Pashchimi Singhbhum is one of the 24 districts of Jharkhand state, India. It came into existence on 16 January 1990, when the old Singhbhum district (then in Bihar) was bifurcated. Chaibasa is the district headquarters.
The d ...
,
Bokaro and
Ranchi districts of
Jharkhand; in northern district
Mayurbhanj
Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-pop ...
,
Balasore
Balasore or Baleswara is a city in the state of Odisha, about north of the state capital Bhubaneswar and from Kolkata, in eastern India. It is the largest town of northern Odisha and the administrative headquarters of Balasore district. It i ...
,
Kendujhar
Kendujhar is a town with municipality in Kendujhar District in the Indian state of Odisha. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kendujhar district, and it is one of the fifth scheduled areas of Odisha.
Climate
Politics
Mohan char ...
,
Jajpur
Jajpur (also known as Jajapur) is a town and a municipality in Jajpur district in the Indian state of Odisha. It was the capital of the Kesari dynasty, later supplanted by Cuttack. Now, it is the headquarter of Jajpur district.
Etymology an ...
and
Sundargarh
Sundergarh is a town in Sundergarh district of the Indian state of Odisha. As of 2011 census, the municipality had a population of 45,036. Sundargarh is recognized as an industrial district in Odisha. Steel, fertilizer, cement, ferrovanadium, ...
of
Odisha
Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of Sc ...
; and in south western district
Paschim Medinipur
Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district (also known as Midnapore West) is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the Partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur and Purba ...
,
Jhargram
Jhargram is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jhargram district. It is a popular tourist destination known for its forests, ancient temples and royal palaces.
Geography
Location
Jharg ...
,
Bankura
Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district.
Etymology
In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced ...
,
Purulia
Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River.
Geography
Location
Purulia is located at . It has an average elev ...
and northern districts
Maldah
Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. T ...
,
Uttar Dinajpur
Uttar Dinajpur () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur.
History
Undivided Dinajpur district ...
,
Dakhin Dinajpur,
Jalpaiguri
Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is locat ...
of
West Bengal. Apart from the core area of the language, the language is also spoken in
Udalguri
Odalguri (; also spelt Udalguri) is a town and the headquarters of Udalguri district under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council which controls the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts in the state of Assam.
Geography
Odalguri is l ...
and a few speakers are also found in
Cachar
Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cachar district alongside ...
,
Santipur,
Nagaon
Nagaon (previously Nowgong; Assamese নগাঁও), is a town and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated east of Guwahati.
History
This division was organised on the both banks of Kalang river by ...
of Assam; the eastern districts of
Chandrapur
Chandrapur (earlier known as ''Chanda'', the official name until 1964) is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra state, India. It is the district headquarters of Chandrapur district. Chandrapur is a fort city ...
and
Gadchiroli
Gadchiroli ( �əɖt͡ʃiɾoliː is a city and a municipal council in Gadchiroli district in the state of Maharashtra, central India. It is located on eastern side of Maharashtra, and is the administrative headquarters of the district. Gadchi ...
in
Maharashtra. Apart from this, a few speakers are also found in the states of
Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...
and in neighbour country
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
and
Nepal.
During the
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
, the Kurmali language was known as Panchpargania (meaning "five regions") for present-day
Bundu
Bundu may refer to:
* Bundu (state), a former state in what is now Senegal
* Also known as the place where Aditya Kumar (BE/10023/12) was born and brought up
* Bundu, India, a town in Jharkhand, India
** Bundu block, the larger administrative ...
, Barenda, Sonahatu (split into
Sonahatu
Sonahatu is a village in the Sonahatu CD block in the Bundu subdivision of the Ranchi district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Geography
Location
Sonahatu is located at .
The Subarnarekha River forms the b ...
and
Rahe),
Silli
Silli is a village in the Silli CD block in the Ranchi Sadar subdivision of the Ranchi district in the Indian state of Jharkhand.
Geography
Location
Silli is located at .
The Subarnarekha River forms the boundary with Purulia district in Wes ...
,
Tamar blocks of
Ranchi district of Jharkhand state as a
trade language between two linguistic region. Now the Sonahatu and Rahe make the core region of Panchpargania.
As per the
Census of 2011, there are 3,11,175 Kurmali Thar speakers in India (hailing mostly from West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Maharashtra) and 2,44,290 Panch Pargania speakers (mostly from Jharkhand), making a total of 555,465 Kurmali speakers in India.
They are grouped under the umbrella of "Hindi languages".
Note that both, Kurmali Thar and Panch Pargania are dialects of the Kurmali language.
Language variation
The speakers of Kurmali are spread over a vast region of East India, especially in fringe areas of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha. These states are mostly dominated by
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
,
Nagpuri and
Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
speakers. And hence, local dialectal change and
language shift can be noticed in these areas. As the Kurmi of West Bengal identifies themselves as the speaker of Kurmali but due to age-long settlement in the Bengali region their language shifting towards
Manbhum dialect of Bengali. As did in northern Odisha with Bengali and Odia admixture.
In Manbhum this urmalilanguage (a kind of mixed dialect essentially Bihari in its nature, but with a curious Bengali colouring) is principally spoken by people of the KuRmi caste, who are numerous in the district of chotanagpur, and in the Orissa Tributary state of Mayurbhanja.
The Kurmali language bears 61%–86% lexical similarity with Panchpargania, 58%–72% with
Khortha, 51%–73% with
Nagpuri (
Sadri
Sadri is a municipality in the Pali district of Rajasthan, India. It is considered the gateway to Marwar from Mewar. Sadri is one of the main places of worship for the Jain community. Ranakpur Temple and Shri Parshuram Mahadev Mandir are locate ...
), 46%–53% with
Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
, 41%–55% with
Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
, 44%–58% with
Hindi.
Hence the Panchpargania is considered as a major variety of the Kurmali language, while sometime it's opined as a distinct language. Similarly due to great influence of Bengali language in Kurmali language (as the speaker of this language are in the process of
shifting to regional
dominant language), many linguistic label it as
Jharkhandi Bangla and sometime it is clustered as
Manbhumi dialect
Manbhumi ( bn, মানভূমী, Mānbhūmī, ) is the local Bengali dialect spoken in the district of Purulia, and adjacent area of other districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand, previously Manbhum, in Eastern India. It is one of the Benga ...
. It's also fact that the language closely resembles the
Khortha language
Khortha (also romanized as Kortha or Khotta) or alternatively classified as Eastern Magahi is a language which is considered dialect of Magahi language spoken in the Indian state of Jharkhand, mainly in 16 districts of two divisions: North C ...
and has some good number
loanwords
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...
from
Munda language
The Munda languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by about nine million people in India and Bangladesh. Historically, they have been called the Kolarian languages. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language famil ...
family, specifically from
Santali language
Santali (, Ol Chiki: ), Bengali: , Odia: , Devanagari: , also known as Santal, is the most widely spoken language of the Munda subfamily of the Austroasiatic languages, related to Ho and Mundari, spoken mainly in the Indian states of Assa ...
. Although not as much as Khortha language.
It is believed that the early form of the Kurmali language was spoken in Jharkhand, the original homeland of the
Kudmi Mahato
The Kudmi are a community in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar of India. They were primarily agriculturalist. .
Classification
Kudmi were classified as a Notified Tribe by the British Raj under the terms of the Indian Succ ...
. But now it is also influenced by
Nagpuri (Sadri) language in Jharkhand.
Although the language is now Indo-Aryan in nature, it has some distinctive feature like
lexical items,
grammatical markers and
categories
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
* ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
* Category (Kant)
*Categories (Peirce)
* ...
that are neither available in
Indo-Aryan nor in
Dravidian or even in the
Munda language
The Munda languages are a group of closely related languages spoken by about nine million people in India and Bangladesh. Historically, they have been called the Kolarian languages. They constitute a branch of the Austroasiatic language famil ...
family. Thus it is believed that the language was at once a separate language. But because of its long settlement in the Aryan belt, the native speaker gradually abandoned the original structure and switched to the Aryan form of the language, bearing substrate of old.
The language currently falls in 6b (threatened) and 7 (
shifting) level of
EGIDS, which are corresponding to the
UNESCO language endangerment category level "
Vulnerable" and "
Definitely Endangered".
But
Ethnologue scaled Kurmali language in 6a (vigorous) level and its variety Panchpargania (widely used in Jharkhand) in 3 (
trade) level of EGIDS, and both are corresponding to "Safe" status of UNESCO language endangerment category level.
Variety
The language is transferred orally from generation to generation and the Kurmali language remains unstandardized due to influence of other
Indo Aryan
Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of Indo-European peoples speaking Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent. Historically, Aryan were the Indo-European pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia and intro ...
languages. Thus the speaker uses different variety and accent. However, language can be classified on the basis of the speakers territorial region.
Singhbhum
Singhbhum was a district of India during the British Raj, part of the Chota Nagpur Division of the Bengal Presidency. It was located in the present-day Indian state of Jharkhand. Chaibasa was the district headquarters. Located in the southern l ...
Kudmali,
Dhalbhum
Dhalbhum was the name given to parganas Supur and Ambikanagar in the Khatra area of present Bankura district in the Indian state of West Bengal.O’Malley, L.S.S., ICS, ''Bankura'', ''Bengal District Gazetteers'', pp. 194-195, 1995 reprint, fir ...
Kudmali,
Ranchi Kudmali (Panchpargania),
Manbhum
Manbhum District was one of the districts of the East India during the British Raj. After India's independence, the district became a part of Bihar State. Upon re-organisation of the Indian states in the mid-1950s, present Purulia district was c ...
Kudmali,
Mayurbhanj
Mayurbhanj district is one of the 30 districts in Odisha state in eastern India. It is the largest district of Odisha by area. Its headquarters are at Baripada. Other major towns are Rairangpur, Karanjia and Udala. , it is the third-most-pop ...
Kudmali etc. are the major regional varieties.
And all those varieties bear 58%–89% lexical similarity with each other.
;
Number
The basic Kurmali cardinal numbers are:
Uses of Language
The language Kurmali (Kudmali) is spoken by 555,465 people as a native language in India.
Mainly by the Kurmi (
Kudmi Mahato
The Kudmi are a community in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar of India. They were primarily agriculturalist. .
Classification
Kudmi were classified as a Notified Tribe by the British Raj under the terms of the Indian Succ ...
), the native user of the language. As per
The People of India, the language is spoken by 10 communities as
mother tongue, including two
Scheduled Tribe and three
Scheduled Caste
The Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are design ...
communities. Those ten community include
Bagal, Dharua,
Dom, Jolha,
Kamar,
Kumhar,
Tanti
The Tanti (also anglicised as Tanty, Tantee, Tantubay, Tantubai, Tati, Tatin) are a Hindu vaishya weaving and cloth merchant community in India. The greatest concentration is believed to be in the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Jharkhand, Bi ...
,
Nai,
Ghasi, Karga, and
Rautia
The Rautia is a caste found in the states of Jharkhand, Chhatishgarh and Odisha in India. They were agriculturalist, estate holder and militia under Nagvanshi kings of Chotanagpur.
History and origin
According to their traditions, the comm ...
.
And bilingually spoken by tribals like
Bhumij Bhumij may refer to:
*Bhumij people, tribal ethnic group of India
*Bhumij language, the language of Bhumij people
*Bhumija
Bhumija is a variety of north Indian temple architecture marked by how the rotating square-circle principle is applied to c ...
,
Ho,
Kharia, Lohara/Lohar,
Mahli,
Munda,
Oraon,
Santal,
Savar and
Bathudi communities.
The language created an identity in festival like
Bandna
Bandna (spelt as Bāndnā, Hindi: बांदना) is a agriculture-oriented festival of the Kurmali ethnolinguistic and other related communities, in which domestic cattle and agriculture appliances are worshiped. The festival mostly observ ...
,
Tusu,
Karam and
Jhumair
Jhumair or Jhumar is an Indian folk dance from the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and West Bengal. It is folk dance of Sadan, the Indo-Aryan ethnic groups of Chotanagpur. It is mainly performed during harvest season.
T ...
with the
Jhumar song
Jhumur or Jhumar or Jhumair is a folk music of Sadanic language spoken by people of Chota Nagpur plateau, primarily in Jharkhand, southwestern region of West Bengal and northern part of Odisha. Also in the Tea State of Assam due to emigration. J ...
. In which the songs are formatted in Kurmali.
Education
There are some institutions, where the Kurmali language is a higher education core subject.
*
Ranchi University
Ranchi University is a public state university in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India. It was established in 1960 by an Act of the Bihar legislature. Ranchi University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate, M.Phil. and doctorate programs.
Histo ...
, Ranchi
*
Kolhan University
Kolhan University is a university located at Chaibasa in West Singhbhum district in the state of Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh ...
, Chaibasa
*
Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, Dhanbad
*
Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, Ranchi
*
Sidho Kanho Birsha University
Sidho Kanho Birsha University (SKBU) is a public state university located in Purulia district of West Bengal, India. It was established under an Act of the West Bengal Legislature on April, 2010. It offers different undergraduate and postgraduat ...
, Purulia
*
Jhargram University, Jhargram
*
Vinoba Bhave University
Vinoba Bhave University is a state university located at Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, India, about 100 km from Ranchi, the state capital. The university offers courses at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels, manages and maintains 12 cons ...
, Hazaribag
*
Chitta Mahato Memorial College, Purulia
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Bihari languages
Languages of Bihar
Languages of Jharkhand
Languages of West Bengal
Languages of Odisha
Languages of Assam