Multiple Languages and Communication: A form of

Relationship for Trade and Exchange among Tribals of

Adilabad

Rajesh Patnaik* and BVR Prasad**

ABSTRACT
The authors say that the learning a non-traditional language is an indicator for the initial step of

the globalization process. They present a study which illustrates the increased learning of non-

traditional combination of languages. A case study of tribals of erstwhile Marlvai Circle of

Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh (India) is presented to show this process.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Conferen

ce Paper presented to:

National Seminar on ‘Economic Development and Socio – Cultural Change in the Era of
Globalisation’.In Honour of Dr.T.Scarlett Epstein, OBE
At 10.00 AM on Thursday, 25th March, 2010#

Conducted by
Society for Indian Medical Anthropology, Mysore. Department of Studies in Anthropology,
Kannada University, Hampi, Department of Studies in Anthropology, University of Mysore.
Karnataka Sangha (R), Mandya Cauvery Agricultural and Rural Development Society (R), Mandya. &
Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore.
INDIA

_____________________________________________________________________________________
*Exploration and Research Group, Vizag. **Anthropological Survey of India. Mysuru

# Revised December 2018

1
 Multiple Languages and Communication: A form of Relationship for
Trade and Exchange among Tribals of Adilabad

Rajesh Patnaik* and BVR Prasad**

They present a study which illustrates the increased learning of non-traditional combination of
languages as an indicator for the initial step of the globalization process of learning a non-traditional
language. A case study of tribals of erstwhile Marlvai Circle of Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh
(India) is presented to show this process. The term Globalization has gained currency and has been often
used since the 1980s. The reason for such usage goes with the political changes which had occurred in
the decade of 1980-1990. Significant changes had occurred in the balance of power and economic
relationships between the nations during this period. The leaders of major powers often spoke of
removing barriers of trade and migration. Much of these changes had occurred in Europe and the
erstwhile Soviet Union. Trade was now being thought of as having no barriers and the free market
would dominate the new economic order. Academics belonging to various social sciences started to use
this term. It is possible to understand this usage in the academic literature as an outcome of political
discourse at that time.

Globalization as such can be thought of as pertaining to trade and moment of human beings in form
of migration/immigration. In other words, it can also be thought that globalization means the transfer of
certain resources from one place to another dictated by purely market forces. This can be thought of in
other terms as resources from very obscure and far-flung areas get transferred to major markets of the
world. Like for example, Banana crops from the interior of Africa is sold in hypermarkets/supermarkets
in the United States. It means there is a linkage between the poor Banana growers and the rich and
affordable group of middle-class Americans situated about 6000 miles away. For a social Anthropologist
deconstructing globalization could be on similar lines. In the present study, we wanted to understand
the adjutant process which accompanies such transfer of resources. Further, we would like to state that
the transfer of resources does not take place as a single step but it involves a complex logistic chain of
institutions links with the each other in the delivery of a resource from a small African garden to the
display racks of a well-appointed hypermarket outlet in the United States.

Globalization for a social anthropologist does not mean bartering of certain commodities between
communities. This barter system has been well documented in most of the earlier Anthropological

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 1
literature . Besides barter, there could also be another form of exchange of resource or means of
production between communities an interesting example could be found in Barth’s study of ecologic
2
relationships in the Swat region of North Pakistan . Here the exchange does not occur between the
resources but there is a bifurcation of using resources in a given geographical region leading to a
concept of ecological niche. A similar situation was also well described by Mandelbaum for the Nilgiri
3
region in South India where the relationships are symbiotic among the four tribal groups which are
bound in a geographical region. A similar phenomenon has also been described by Raghavarao for the
4
Visakhapatnam Agency where a number of tribal groups coexist and have mutual economic
relationships governed by social sanction. These examples we have cited are not to describe
globalization but are anti-thesis to globalization phenomena as understood at present. Therefore
globalization would mean to develop newer forms of relationships of exchange of resources mostly not
“face to face” from a little community to a large community dictated by market forces where the
sociological relationships in the chain of transfer of goods or resources diminishes with increasing
distance between the two ends that is the Producer and consumer.

Keeping the above discussion in perspective we would like to point out that newer relationships are
concomitant with the development of globalization. (If not at the first stages of logistics--But, would
likely to occur at some higher level in the chain of these transfers of resources.) We can envisage that
the old and well-established networks of peasant-trader could be the first step and would need the least
amount of other changes in form of developing verbal communications are learning new languages
would be necessary. But it is also possible that one would need new entrance very early in this network
that is a new trader or a middleman arrives at the marketplace of the peasants to buy and act as a
conduit for the process of globalization. When this occurs we may need a newer language to be learnt to
complete a smooth transaction. The newer relationships which are developed by these little
communities would need a common means of communication and interaction in our opinion a common
language is a fairly good means of such communication. But a step further would be learning each
other's languages. That means X learns Y’s language while Y learns X’s language. Doing this is vastly
different to learn a lingua franca or common language which is usually neither X’s language nor Y’s
language. For us, globalization starts occurring in rural/tribal communities which could be demonstrated
adequately if there is a trend to learn each other's language which was not the tradition originally. This

3
would not occur just for the sake of language but as a necessity for exchange of some resource or the
other: while the communities maintain their identity.

5
We did notice this to happen in a small region , which we can consider to be the core tribal area of
Adilabad District of Andhra Pradesh (India) where no less than 6 tribal groups are found. The dominant
tribal group are Gond do contribute both culturally and linguistically towards the integration of the
different communities. But in recent times we find that these communication skills are percolating to
common citizens. Previously, the heads of settlements are influential people were multilingual. But in
recent times their numbers have increased and common people are learning multiple languages.

Kolam

We examined certain important issues regarding languages known of Kolam. These two are important
issues as far as Kolam are concerned. All the Kolam are known as pujaris to Gonds, therefore they being
bilingual (knowing Kolami and Gondi) at least is not strange. At the same time, the Kolam of the plateau
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region who had links with Jannaram Shaukars (Telugu Traders) could always speak Telugu. In the last 20
to 25 years the business and markets of Jainoor have grown, as many traders speak Hindi. Some of the
Kolam also have picked up Marathi and Hindi. See In table-1, we find that 26.86 % of the Kolam speak
Kolami, Gondi and Telugu followed by people who can speak additionally Hindi and Marathi constitute
13.71%. A few of the Kolam who do not mix up much speak only Gondi in addition to their mother
tongue constitute 8.86%.

Thoti

We collected the data to understand the number of languages, which Thoti can speak. We considered
only Thoti male or female who are over 18 years of age for this see table-2. The Thoti mother tongue is
Gondi. So it would be reasonable to assume that majority of Thoti would know Telugu and Gondi. But
we found that the majority of the Thoti do know Telugu, Gondi, Marathi and Hindi. They constitute
33.33%of the people studied. The people who know Telugu and Gondi are 29% followed by the high
number of Thoti who know Gondi, Kolami and Marathi. They constitute 25.97%.

Conclusion

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We have shown adequately that while Gond, Thoti, Kolam, Pardhan, Andh and Naikpod are found in
the study of it was found originally that Gond being the dominant tribe their language was learnt by
most of the other tribe. But the other tribes did not try to learn the language of each other. In the last
one and half decades, there have been vast changes in the economic relationships in the study region.
The newer type of traders and some of the local tribals themselves have become middleman to facilitate
purchase and sale of goods and commodities which have a wider market if not at a global level but the
process can be described as that of some incipient form of globalization---we try to define in the
opening part of this paper. Thus we feel globalization is a form of the process wherein language can play
a role.

*Exploration and Research Group, Vizag. **Anthropological Survey of India. Mysuru

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TABLE-1
COMBINATION OF LANGUAGES KNOWN AMONG KOLAM ABOVE 18 YEARS

Combination Persons Percentage

Telugu, Kolami, Marathi, Hindi 2 0.57%
Telugu,, Kolami, Hindi 3 0.86%
Kolami, Marathi 3 0.86%
Gondi, Kolami, 6 1.71%
Gondi, Kolami, Marathi, Hindi 6 1.71%
Telugu, Kolami, 8 2.29%
Gondi, Kolami, Marathi, 22 6.29%
Kolami 23 6.57%
YOUNG 27 7.71%
Telugu, Gondi, Kolami, Marathi, 30 8.57%
Gondi, Kolami, 31 8.86%
Telugu, Gondi, Kolami, Hindi 47 13.43%
Telugu, Gondi, Kolami, Marathi, Hindi 48 13.71%
Telugu, Gondi, Kolami, 94 26.86%
Total 350 100%

TABLE-2
COMBINATION OF LANGUAGES SPOKEN AMONG THOTI ABOVE 18 YEARS

Combination Persons Percentage

Telugu, Gondi, Kolami, Marathi, Hindi 1 0.43%
Telugu, Marathi, Hindi 1 0.43%
Telugu, Marathi, Hindi 1 0.43%
Gondi 2 0.87%
Gondi, Marathi 2 0.87%
Telugu 5 2.16%
YOUNG 15 6.49%
Gondi, Kolami, Marathi 60 25.97%
Telugu, Gondi, 67 29.00%
Telugu, Gondi, Marathi, Hindi 77 33.33%
Total 231 100%

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Notes and References

1 M. J. Herskovits, Economic anthropology: a study in comparative economics. Holt,

Rinehart and Winston, 1968

F. Barth, Ecologic relationships of ethnic groups in Swat, North Pakistan.pp 995–1016

2 American Anthropologist, Volume 58, Issue 6 - December 1956

3 D.G. Mandelbaum , The Nilgiris as a region, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 17,
Issue No. 36, 04 Sep, 1982

4 D.V.Raghavarao, Unpublished PhD Thesis Dept of Anthropology, Andhra University

1974

5 C. von Furer-Haimendorf, Raj Gonds of Adilabad. Macmillan;: London

6 Rajesh Patnaik, Sociocultural Anthropology and Social Exclusion: From Simplex

Description to Complex Process. pp 50-60. In Socal Exclusion, Integration and Inclusive
Policies. edited by V.Subramanyam and K.Shekar Jaipur: Rawat. 2010