Kumaon and Kumaoni
Achlanand Jakhmola
Two Regions of
Uttarakhand. From the administrative and linguistic point of view,
Uttarakhand broadly consists of two regions – Garhwal in the west and Kumaon in
the east. Geographically, Kumaon region is bounded by Nepal from east,
Tibet from north, Garhwal from west and Bareilly, Rampur and Moradabad
districts of Uttar Pradesh from south. Administratively, it comprises six
districts viz. – Almora, Nainital, Udhamsinghnagar, Champawat, Bageshwar
and Pithoragarh with 19 tehsils and 41 blocks. Situated in
the south of central Himalayas between 28o 14‘N to 30o
50’ N latitude and 17o 6’ E to 80o 58’ E longitudes, it is
spread over 21,035 kms and the population is 35, 65,383. The altitude is from
900 meters to 1800 meters.
The Term Kumaon : In
Legends and Scriptures. According to Pt. B.D. Pandey (Kumaun ka Itihas), a hearsay is
prevalent among the people of Kumaun that Koorm (tortoise),
the second incarnation of Lord Vishnu,
stood for three years on the Koorm in Kumu (Kanadeva, Kranteshwar) mountain in
the east of Champawat. Marks of feet of tortoise are said to exist there still
now. The root word for Kumaon is, therefore, ‘Koorm’(tortoise) or ‘Kumu’,(
the area around Champawat as known in past). Accordingly, the derivation of
Kumaon is said to be – Koorm/Kurmu > Kummu > kumu > Kuma >
Kumayun > Kumaon. George A. Grierson, (Linguistic Survey of India, IX.
IV. P 108) has corroborated the postulation of the legendary Koorm incarnation.
The famous historian Dr. Madan Chandra Bhatt, however, connects Koorm, not to
the legendary incarnation of Vishnu, but to Rishi Kashyap who had
established his ashram there near mountain Kumu, later became a deity and then
a tortoise = Kahyap > Kachhap (kachhap is another name of tortoise) an
incarnation of Lord Vishnu. However, most of historians do not seem to be in
agreement with this view.
Other popular derivation
of the word ‘koorm’ is - Koorm + Anchal (anchal = tract) > Koormanchal.
The earliest written record of the term Koormanchal is available
in the Nagmandir inscription near Champawat. In the Manaskhand of
Skandpuran, Koormanchal is included among the five Khandas
of the Himalayas. Here it has also been stated that the Manaskhand extends
from Nandaparvat to Kalagiri (Kauwalekh in Nepal). Its boundaries
have been determined as Mansarovar in the north, Moteshwar (Kashipur) in
the south, Chhatreshwar (Doti- Nepal) in the east and Nandgiri (Nandaparvat)
in the west.
Shri Y.D. Vaishnav however, opines that the
term ‘Kumu’ is of Assyrian origin. According to him Asurs were of
Assyrian origin and their ruler Asur-Ban-Pal (768-726 B.C.), when forced to
quit Babylon, came to India by sea route and founded many principalities in
northern India including the one near Kali Kumaun (Champawat). Satpath
Brahman of the Yajurved also gives an indication to this version.
Lohavati (river of blood) and Lohaghat (valley of blood) town around
Kali Kumaun assert that Kumu should have been the colony of one of those
Assyrian immigrants. Some of place-names adjoining Kali Kumaun, such as Sor,
Sira, Elam are also found in the ancient geography of Assyria. This view
has also not found much acceptability and, therefore, needs further research.
Historical Nomenclatures
of Kumaon. Historical evidence shows that this region, in parts, was known by
various names in different periods in the past. At one time it was known as ‘Parvatakar
Rajya’. The Allahabad pillar inscription of Skandgupta includes ‘Kartrirpur’,
said to be the capital of the Katuri kings which was initially
established at Joshimath (near Badrinath) and later shifted to
Bageshwar in Almora district of Kumaon. In the Shakti-Sangam-Tantra
this area is named ‘Kurmaprasth’. During the early medieval period it
was called ‘Kamadesh’. Historically, the word ‘Kumaun’ is not older than
the beginning of the second millennium of the Christian era. The first
occurrence of this name is found in the ‘Prithwiraj Raso’ of Poet Laureate Chandvardai who calls this
region as ‘Kumaongarh’. While
describing the campaign of Mohammaad Tughlaq to Tibet, Dr. Ishwari Prasad, the
doyen among medieval historians, says that the word ‘Karachal’ occurring
en route to Tibet is none other than the present Kumaon region. The term
‘Kumaun’ or ‘Kumayun’ for this hilly kingdom is perhaps available for the first
time in the authentic work ‘Tarikh-e Daudi’ of Abdulla while referring
to rebel Khawas Khan, who had taken shelter in the court of Raja Kalyan chand
(1542-1552 A.D.). It may be remembered that earlier till 16th
century, Kumaon region was confined only to Champawat and its adjacent area
then known as ‘Kali Kumaun’. It was named Kumaun only after the Chand rulers
shifted the capital the capital of Kali Kumaun to Almora and extended its
domain to the whole region presently known as Kumaon.
Kumaun, Kumayun or Kumaon? There has also been a
controversy as to which of these two terms are appropriate to refer to this
region. Turner, in his famous ‘Nepali-English dictionary’ had long back spelled
this word as KUMAON. The KUMAON REGIMENT (with these spellings), was
established at Ranikhet on 23 Oct. 1927. Notwithstanding this, it is not known
why and when the spelling KUMAYUN started. Probably it was done on the basis of
phonological similarity with words like “Humayun”, “Badayun” etc. Some well
known writers such as E. T. Atkinson, M.L. Apte, George Grierson, Pt. Ganga
Datt Upreti, Pt. Badri Datt Pandey, D.D. Sharma etc. have been using this word
as Kumaun or Kumayun. Accordingly, the language of this region was also written
as Kumauni or Kumayuni. Now, however, the previous spelling KUMAON has come in
vogue.
The Term Kumaoni. The term Kumaoni is
constructed by suffixing the morpheme - ‘I’ to the stem ‘Kumaon’, meaning ‘the
language of the land’. It may be mentioned that in addition to
Kumauni, Kumayuni and Kumaoni, the
terms Koormanchali, Kumaiyya and Kumayee have also
been used in ancient literature and the folk lore of this area. Besides the major part of Kumaon region,
Kumaoni is also spoken by the people who were originally from this area but
have moved outside and settled all over the country or abroad. The languages
spoken around the Kumaoni speaking area are - Tibetan in the north, Nepali in
the east, Garhwali in the west and Hindi in the south.
Origin
and Developement of Kumaoni Language. The
sociological and anthropological evidence shows that in the hoary past the
present Kumaon region was inhabited by the Negrito-Austroloid, Dasyus,
Mangoloid-Burmese and Dravidian ethnic groups. According to Dr. D. N. Majumdar
the Doms of Munda ethnic group, whose descendants are the present day Shilpkars
of Kumaon-Garhwal were the original inhabitants of this region. Gradually
these groups were conquered by non-Vedic Aryan groups of Kirats, Tanganas or
Patanganas, Kulindas or Kunidas, Nagas, Kinnars, Gandhavas, Yakshas, Shakas,
Pishachas and Darads, coming generally from the north west. Last to
arrive were the most powerful tribe of the non-Vedic Aryans - the Khashas.
Whatever language these tribes were using must have influenced the vocabulary
and initial formation of Kumaoni. Nevertheless, the impact of the Khshas
was more prominent. Dr. Grierson, Dr. S.K. Chatterjee and Prof. D. D. Sharma
however, hold the opinion that Kumaoni originated from Darad-Khas. In
this context there is another postulation which maintains that in view of a
large number of Sanskrit words in Kumaoni, Sanskrit is its main source of
origin.
Kumaoni
language in oral form has been coming down from generations to generations as
folk lore and legends of ancient heroes, fairy tales, stories of ghosts and
demons, maxims, idioms, witty sayings, ballads, jagars and folk songs.
It is replete with various genres of folk literature – some of which has now
been published. But the earliest examples and elementary form of written
Kumaoni is found in rock and copper inscriptions, vansavalis, danpatras
and sanads (gift deeds) only from eleventh century onward. Dr. M. P.
Joshi refers to a tamra patras which dates back to 1105 A.D. during the
Katyuri kingdom. The authentic form of Kumaoni is however, found in the copper
plates of the Chand kings of Kumaon who ruled this area from the latter half
of thirteenth century. The ancient
specimens of Kumaoni in these copper plates show the tendency of short vowel
sounds at the end, the use of corrupted Sanskrit words and some influence of
Nepali. By the eighteenth century, Kumaoni in its present form started
evolving. The first documented proof of the present day Kumaoni is the
commentary on Vriddha Chanakya written
by Ram Bhadra Tripathi in 1728. Dr. Dhirendra Verma is of the opinion that
based on its similarity and commonality in the phonology, morphology and
vocabulary with corrupted Shaurseni, Kumaoni should have evolved from
the Shaurseni prakrit. Dr. Udainarayan Tiwari and Dr. Keshav Datt Ruwali
also corroborate this above view.
Vocabulary
of Kumaoni.
During the medieval period, many groups from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan
and Uttar Pradesh came and settled in Kumaon. Accordingly, the languages of
these places enriched the Kumaoni vocabulary. Besides, Arabic, Persian,
Turkish, some European languages like Portuguese, and mainly English, also
contributed in making it wealthier. Above all, Hindi being the medium of
instruction since long influenced Kumaoni not only in augmenting the vocabulary
but also in shaping its syntax and grammar. The prefixes and suffixes of Hindi,
Arabic and Persian are therefore found in Kumaoni. Conversely, some idioms, maxims and words of
Kumaoni have also been used in Hindi fiction, especially by the writers, such
as ‘Shivani’, Shailesh Matiyani etc.
hailing from Kumaon region.
It is
important to note that considerable numbers of Sanskrit loan words are very
prominent in Kumaoni. Nevertheless, it should be kept in mind that about one
third of its vocabulary is of native origin. A few examples of such local words
are as follows: ijaa (mother),
chyal (son), cheli (daughter), bubuu (grandfather), khor (head), TaaD (away), khaap (mouth), nako (not good), gaTo
(bad), khuT (feet),
khushyaNi (chillies), DaaR (Stomach),
bhiner (fire), boT (tree), dhinaali (milk and milk
products), baig (male/man),
syaÞiÞNi (woman)
etc. It may also be borne in mind that there are many typical words in Kumaoni
which denote special odour or smell and sound. Such words are difficult to find
in other languages. Some examples of these words are - suusaaT gaugaat (the sound of fast flow of water), hantraini (the smell of burning cloth), kiRãĩni (the
smell of burning hair), Churaini (the
smell of urine) etc. etc.
Linguistic Characteristics. It is pertinent to mention that in
Kumaoni vowel system, there is a short front unrounded low vowel appearing in
between the short a and long a; and short
o and long o. These phonemes are also given the name of
‘long a’ or ‘short aa’ and ‘long o’
and ‘short oo’ respectively and have an independent phonetic
status and a different semantic value in Kumaoni. Different meanings, but
identical spellings of such two words are required to be indicated by a
suitable symbol. Some examples of such identical words with semantic
variations, are as follows: aag- (with symbol) = fire, Aag =
jealousy; aam(with symbol) = grandmother, aam = mango fruit; kaat(with symbol) = slander), kaat
= he buffalo; raat (with smbol) = red; raat- night; gol
(with symbol) = coconut, gol = round. A proper symbol for indicating
this peculiarity by a suitable phonetic transcription has however, not yet been
unanimously adopted and followed. Dr.Gunanand Juyal (Madhya Pahari Bhasha:Garhwali-Kumaoni,
1967), Dr. Trilochan Pandeya (Kumaoni Bhasha aur Uska Sahitya, 1977),
Dr. Sher Singh Bisht (Kumaoni Bhasha aur Sahitya ka Udbhav evam Vikash 2006)
and a number of other litterateurs
of Kumaon have used different
symbols for indicating these variations. Some have used a small circle above
the affected word’s last line; some have made the last line half whereas others
have preferred to show the semantic difference by putting a hal (plough)
symbol under the last line of the affected word. It seems a consensus is now
evolving to adopt hal symbol to differentiate this vexed situation.
It is
also to be kept in mind that Kumaoni is predominated by short vowels. Other
important characteristic is the tendency of using voiced unaspirated consonants
in place of voiced aspirated consonants. The use of voiceless unaspirated
consonants in place of voiceless aspirated consonants is also prevalent,
e.g.duud in
place of duudh (milk)
and haat in
place of haath (hand). In
some variations of Kumaoni, va is
used in place of la, e.g.,
baav for baal (hair) and kaav for kaal (tense relating to time). Also, there is interchaeability
in N and n, e.g.
paaNii in
place of paanii (water),
syaNii in
place of sayanii (smart).
In
Kumaoni, some special prepositions, affixes and suffixes are used to denote
relations. More prominent of these are -- la, le, kaNi, keÞ,ka, sa, theÞ,liji, huNi, bai, baTi, huÞ, huNi, ka, ki,
ra, ri, meÞ, muNi, maji,and ma. It is
to be noted that cha is
used as auxiliary verbs, for example uu jaach (he goes), tvill kaÞaÞ jaaNachuÞ (where
have you to go?). la, li, laa etc.
are used as future tense markers. There is a vast regional difference in the
verb form e.g., ‘He is going’ is expressed in different forms, like uu jaaNauch, uu jaaNau, uu jaanarau, uu jaNaaryo, uu jaanaryoch, uu
jaanarchya, uu jaanamarthya etc.It may be noted that in Kumaoni there
are a number of vocative denoting syllables such as halaa, halii, laa, lii, haÞve,haÞho, haÞiÞ are expressed by the use of syallables like bal, pai, haÞDi, da etc.
The
Dialects of Kumaoni. Like most major languages of the world
including Hindi, Kumaoni is also an assimilation of various dialects and sub-
dialects. Pt. Ganga Datt Upreti was the first person who embarked
on the delineating the dialects of Kumaon. His pioneering work ‘The Dialects
of Kumaon Divison’ contained thirteen dialects which included the dialects
of the then British Garhwal. It may be remembered that for administrative
purposes ‘Kumaon Division’ of that period, after 1815 A.D. included British
Garhwal also which comprised from east of the Alaknanda river, leaving the region
west of Alaknanda river to the Raja of Tehri. Thereafter, George
Grierson took over the monumental ‘Linguistic Survey of India’. Grierson
records that Kumaon is “........a mountainous country where intercommunication
is difficult (which) have led to a multiplicity of dialects – not less than
twelve...” For providing the examples of
each dialect with a view to further analysis , Grierson selected a small
portion from the story of ‘The Prodigal Son’ of the Bible, gave it to his
subordinate local revenue official and asked them to furnish translation of
that portion in their respective dialect. The 12 dialects of Kumaoni as
enumerated in the ‘survey’ of Grierson are as follows: Khasparjia,
Phaldakotiya, Pachhai, Kumauni of Nainital, Bhabari of Ramppur, Kumaiya,
Chaugarkhiya, Gangli, Danpuria, Soryali, Asskoti, and Sirali.
‘Kumaon
Himalaya ki Bolion ka Sarvekshan’ (2005), by Dr.
Sher Singh Bisht, strenuously carried out by the author, under the aegis of
U.G.C., is a praiseworthy contribution in this field. After due analysis, he
has grouped the Kumaoni dialects in two parts viz. Eastern and Western.
Under Eastern, four dialects are grouped i.e. 1. Kumayya, 2.
Sauryali, 3. Sirali, 4. Askoti. Under western group six dialects are
enumerated i.e. 1. Khasparjia, 2. Chaugarkhiya, 3. Gangoli, 4.
Danpuriya, 5. Pachhaii, and 6.Rau-Chaubainsii. Besides, he further
mentions four tribal dialects spoken in the hilly area. These are: Raji,
Shauka, Buksha, and Tharu.
Literature. (Early Writers 1800-1900) The credit
of earliest composition in Kumaoni goes to the scholar-poet Lok-Ratna Pant, popularly known as ‘Gumani’ Pant (1790-1846). He is considered to be the
first poet of Kumaoni, who is credited to have authored 18 literary works,
mostly in Sanskrit, Kumaoni, Nepali and Hindi. Some of his prominent and popular poetic creations in Kumaoni are compiled in
‘Gumani Niti’, ‘Gumani Kavya Sangrah’ etc. After Gumani, a few other well known poets
and writers who carried forward the rich literary tradition of Kumaoni are: Krishnna
Pandey (‘Muluk Kumaon’ and ‘Kalyug Varnan’), Nayan Sukh
Pandey, Gauri Datt Pandey etc.
From about 1900 onward, the number of
writers in Kumaoni increased. More prominent among them are: Shivdutt Sati (‘Gopi
Geet’, ‘Buddhi Pravesh’, ‘Bhavar ka Geet’, ‘Ghasiyari Natak’ , ‘Rukmani Vivah’);
Diwan Singh (‘Divani Vinod); Gauri Dutt Pandey ‘Gaurda’ (‘Gauri
Gutka’,’Pratham Vatika’, ‘Gaurda ka Kavya Darshan’, ‘Chhoro Gulami Khitab’);
Shiromani Pathak (‘Shri Ram Sahasrawali’), Lalmani Upreti; Sumitranandan
Pant (‘Burunsh’); Shyamacharan Pant (‘Datulai Dhar’); Ramdutt
Pant ‘Kaviraj’ (‘Geet Mala’, ‘ Gandhi Geet’, ‘Geetvad’, ‘Kweer Kain’);
Chandralal Verma Chaudhary (‘Pyas’, ‘Dhar Main Ko Pou’, ‘Soul’) etc. Other well
known Kumaoni writers of this period are: Jeevan Chandra Joshi, Jayanti Devi
Pant, Bhola Datt Bhola, Pitambar Pandey, Taradutt
Pandey , Chintamani Paliwal, Nar Singh Bisht, Khimnand Sharma, Tara Ram Arya,
Ram Kunwar Rautela, Bache Singh Patwal, Kulanand Bhartiya, Charuchandra Pandey,
Damodhar Upadhyaya etc..
During the ‘Modern Period’ from 1950 A.D.
onward, a sharp change for betterment in the purification and embellishment in
language and style of Kumaoni is observed. There is distinct improvement in the
quality of contents and subject matter in literature also which started flourishing
in many directions. Some of the prominent writers of this period are: Charuchandra
Pandey (‘Angwal’, ‘Says Gumani’, ‘Echoes From The Hills’, ‘Chhoro
Gulami Khitab’); Brajendra Lal Shah (‘Shail Suta’, ‘Ashta Vakra’,
‘Ganganath’); Nand Kumar Joshi (‘Ram Thakur Ki Jeevani’); KIshan
Singh Bisht ‘Katyuri’ (‘Panyar’); Sher Singh ‘Sherda’ Bisht ‘Anpadh’(‘Meri
Lati Pati’, ‘Janthik Ghungur’, ‘Phachaik’); Vanshidhar Pathak (‘Sisaun’);
Ramesh Chandra Shah (‘Ukar Hular’);
Devki Mahra (‘Swati’, ‘Sapno Ki Radha’, ‘Nishas’); Gopal Dutt
Bhatt (‘Vakt Ki Pukar’, ‘Gokul Apna Ganw Re’, ‘Dhartik Pir’); Girish
Tiwari ‘Girda’ (‘Uttarakhand Kavya’, ‘Nagare Khamosh Hain’); Mahendra
Matiyani (‘Hiya Re Udas Kilai’); Mathura Dutt Mathpal; Rajendra Bora; Sher Singh Bisht (‘Bharat
Mata’, ‘Mankhi’, ‘Parkhe Hue Log’, ‘Ija’ ); Hiraballabh Gahtori (‘Bharat
Mata’); Dev Singh Pokhariya (‘Kasak’); Navin Bisht; Jagdish Joshi;
Dipak Karki and some others.
Among the
noteworthy magazines which are also doing a yeomen service to the native
language by publishing articles, compositions and other material in Kumaoni are: Achal, Aankhar, Dudboli, Pehru etc. Some regional Hindi newspapers such as Almora Akhbar, Shakti, Kumaon
Kumud, Samta and Almora Times also frequently publish encouraging articles and other
material for the progress of Kumaoni.
Notwithstanding
these efforts it must however, be conceded that Kumaoni, like its neighbouring
sister Garhwali, is still in its infancy,
The Challenges Ahead: It is important
to note that Kumaoni language
is older than Hindi. Used by most of the inhabitants of this region for
informal conversation, a number of litterateurs from Kumaon also adopt
this language for their literary compositions. But it is also a fact that since
Hindi has been the medium of instruction and for formal communication in Kumaon
region for a long time; its dominant role cannot easily be erased. Moreover,
English is now overshadowing other languages everywhere, including the hill
regions. Nevertheless, there appears a silver lining. During the recent past,
there has been an upsurge in the awakening for the native language and
ancestral culture in Uttarakhand. Efforts are being made for retention,
preservation and fostering of Kumaoni language and to make it more acceptable
and popular. Although Kumaoni is still not taught at the primary level, it is
now being studied in higher classes. In addition, a number of scholars are also
engaged in research work pertaining to Kumaoni language and literature. Dr.
Sher Singh Bisht and a number of other eminent literary figures of Kumaoni are
endeavouring hard in the direction of ‘standardisation’ of Kumaoni language and
its spellings. In addition, there is a
persistent demand inclusion of Kumaoni in the eighth schedule of the
constitution by raising this issue in various forums and political circles.
Notwithstanding the above efforts, it is also
a frightening fact that the number of people speaking Kumoni is on the
wane. The stark reality cannot be
overlooked that this language, like many other languages of Uttarakhand, is
incapable of providing suitable and remunerative employment to its users. With
the awakening of globalisation, Information Technology and the influence of
rapid modernisation, the job opportunities with lucrative pay, perks and
facilities have increased manifold. A majority of the present youth therefore,
is now running away from the land and profession of their ancestors and taking
jobs in plains, big cities and anywhere outside in the expectation of greener
pastures leaving behind everything. The language and culture of the hills is
accordingly vanishing slowly. The spectre of emigration is looming large all
over the hilly areas of Uttarakhand. Most of the villages are deserted and
fields look barren. The populace, while leaving the land of their birth, also
forget their mother tongue and traditions. There is a widespread fear that the
language and ancient culture of Kumaon may sustain and remain alive only till
the life time of present generation. UNESCO’s ‘Atlas of world languages
in danger’ designates Kumaoni as ‘language in the unsafe category.
But there is another angle to this migration
syndrome which may not be overlooked. Will it not be improper and cruel to deny
the fruits of comfort, progress and advancement to the youth? No prudent and
well meaning person will think so. A middle path is therefore, required to be
found out and adopted to let the youth enjoy the advantages of modernisation but
simultaneously emplacing on nourishing the language and culture of the land of
our forefathers.
Although Dr. Hardeo Bahari and some other
academicians have categorised Kumaoni as a sub-language of Hindi, it should not
be forgotten that Kumaoni is older than Hindi.
It has the privilege of being the language of administration of the Chand
kings till seventeenth century A.D. Its vocabulary is very rich and so is the
literature which requires persistent and constant efforts for its protection,
conservation and fostering,.
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