22 Tribal Folklore and Literature

Dr. Temsumongla

1. Learning outcomes

The present module defines and illustrates the concept of folklore and its components. Its focus is on the tribal communities from the different regions of India. India with its diverse culture comprises of a huge percentage of tribal population who form an integral part of Indian civilization. They are a group of people who are socially and culturally different from their neighbours who speak different languages, beliefs, practices, etc. The tribes have very rich oral tradition that is passed on from generation to generation by the word of mouth. This module will help learn the concept of oral tradition and the artistic nature of the tribals. Folklore reflects the tribal culture that brings them solidarity and continuity among the people. It is greatly influenced by history of the people and its culture and although not necessarily accurate, it depicts the past life of the tribals. This module will therefore help in learning about the tribal history and also in analysing and identifying the different tribal cultures of India through the study of folklores, folk-art, music and dance.

2. Introduction

Folklore is the reflection of one’s culture that brings to light the traditional beliefs, myths, folktales, and practices of the people that have been passed through the generations by word of mouth. Its studies can be used to compare societies on their folk knowledge and culture that may further help in creating theories on origin, migration, diffusion, etc. The term “folklore” was first coined by William John Thomas, a British writer, in the year 1846. One of the most significant outcomes of the coining of the term folklore by Thomas led to the establishment of folkloristic academic discipline in many parts of the world. It has been derived from the German word Volklehre meaning “people’s customs”. W.J. Thomas was a British antiquarian who came up with the term to discuss certain phrases such as “popular antiquities”, “the lore of the people”, and “the manners, customs, observances, superstitions, ballads, proverbs etc, of the olden times”. Folklore is therefore an oral tradition that expresses human culture and their living style through the local narratives and linguistic conventions. Franz Boas, in fact, described oral stories as a form of native ethnography that emphasis on points and ideas that are important to the native themselves and that we can think of oral stories as a kind of culture-wide autobiography.

Oral narratives are influenced by history although they may not be historically accurate. Societies, particularly the tribal societies have an extremely rich oral tradition and they take importance in preserving and propagating this oral tradition through written literature without which, societies would have lost their oral tradition. Both material and nonmaterial culture of tribal folk-art has an oral tradition and is folk in character that has been transmitted from one generation to the other.

India is diverse in its culture and tradition with its many different ethnic groups and their distinct language and religion. It is fascinating to know that four different language families of the world are spoken in India namely, Indo-European, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic. They thus have a rich tradition of anthropological research work since time immemorial. However, anthropological work on oral tradition remained untouched for a long period of time and it was only after mid 50’s that studies on oral tradition gained its popularity. This new interest in the study of oral tradition developed when structuralism began to sweep anthropological studies and this structuralism was primarily based on Levi-Strauss’ studies of primitive mythologies and oral traditions.

Indian Literature is considered to be one of earliest literatures of the world and the first work of literature in the world is believed to be Rig Veda which was written in Sanskrit, one of the oldest Indian languages. India with its numerous folklores and mythologies that are filled with moral teachings are relevant even in today’s world. Indian folk and tribal arts have always attracted people around the globe and their simplicity and authenticity and the story behind their arts have gained momentum worldwide. The tribal populations in India are an integral part of Indian civilization. They are seen mentioned even in Indian epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata, who were referred to as Jana, who differed in their physical appearance, worshipped Gods other than the rest of the country, and lived in isolated regions. They are a group of people who are socially and culturally different from their neighbours and are being designated tribes and listed in a scheduled for special treatment by the constitution of India. According to the imperial Gazetteer, tribal people is a collection on families bearing a common name, speaking a common dialect, occupying or professing to occupy a common territory and is not usually endogamous though originally it might have been so. According to Andre Beteille, in the Indian context, a tribe is best understood not by these discrete criteria but rather by the position of a population vis-a-vis dominant ideologies and cultural patterns.

A huge percentage of the Indian sub-continent consists of the tribal groups belonging to Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic classification with a multiplicity of dialects. The Dravidian groups mostly belong in the Southern zone, the Austro-Asiatic in the central zone except some tribes like Oroan, the Khond and the Gond, who speak Dravidian language, the Tibeto-Burman language in the North-East zone except the Khasi tribe who speak the Mon-Khmr, Austric speech. Most of these tribal groups have their own dialect and some bilingualism and some have lost their original language. They have a long history of oral tradition and most of them lack scripts for their languages. It was only after independence that the history and folkore of these tribal groups were properly reconstructed by academicians. Because of their long history of oral tradition, this helped the researchers to built and construct the history that had been neglected for a long time. All these tribal groups scattered around the continent, mostly towards central and North-Eastern part of India, have their own language, food habits, folklore, folk art and folk dances and music that defines their unique identity. Vidyarthi and Rai (1985) in their book “the tribal culture of India” mentioned that the tribes can be described by their language, race, their level of integration with rural folk to which they are connected, their economy, their cultural pattern, and their level of education.

It is therefore important to understand the concept and importance of tribal folklore and literature especially in a multi-lingual, diverse culture like India where tribal society form a very high percentage of the total population. Folklore studies also showcase the artistic nature of the tribals and their intellect quality that can be predicted from their lifestyle and culture.

3. The beginning of folklore studies in India

The study of folklore in India underwent three major phases. Initially, it was the British administrators in India who initiated the study of the local culture with their aim to rule the people of the country. After which came the missionaries who wanted to learn the local language for their missionary purpose. In the beginning, various cultural studies including Sanskritic and ethnographic studies was an important discipline known as Indology and folklore studies was also an important part of this discipline. Brief articles on folklores were seen in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Indian Antiquary founded in 1874 as well as the Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay founded in 1886. These Christian missionaries as well as the British administrators, fascinated by the cultural diversity and complexity of the country, took interest in recording all kinds of information on the local people such as their life style, rituals, oral traditions, customs, etc. Their enter to the country stimulated many useful writings about the people and their culture that was of immense help for their own purpose in the country as well as to the study of folklore even to this day. Although the British administrators did a fair job in collecting information on the folk materials, many neglected the study on the tribal groups of India. It was Verrier Elwin who religiously studied the tribal people and their oral culture especially on the tribals of the North-East Frontier Agency. His work among these neglected people not only dug up the long history of extremely rich oral tradition but also brought the British administrators into attention for the welfare of these tribals. The last phase was the initiative by the people within the country post-independence. Ample of individual researchers and institutes started looking deeper into the study of their own culture by trying to explore their age long myths, epics, legends, art, etc. whose purpose was also to preserve their identity. The study of folklores thus started growing in the country which led to the openings of many folklore departments in institutes and universities. The study of folklore was further strengthened by Finnish folklorist Lauri Honko and Peter J. Claus of American folklore who conducted their field work on Epic of Siri which influenced the Indian folklorists to the study of folklore with refinement.

4.  Components of folklore

4.1 Folk literature:

The tribals are artistic by nature that can be seen from the tribal folk literature. They express their artistic nature in them through their thoughts, merry-making, dancing, hunting, frustrations, emotions, etc. that are included in folktales, myths, legends, riddles, proverbs, folksongs, prose and verse narratives, etc. Most of these types of folk literature are in spoken language, although some have been recorded in written form. The folktales, myths and legends are in prosaic order while the folksongs, riddles, proverbs are in folk poetry form. Folktales are regarded as an unwritten record of tribal history and are different from myths and legends. The tribal myths include stories about the origin of the universe, Gods, man and even animals. They also dwellon extraordinary natural phenomena such as spirits, magic, life after dead, etc. The tribals bring out their intellectual thoughts in the form of myths and can be classified into functional and cosmogonic myths. Functional myths are those that talks about happenings from normal everyday life such as social activities, customs and traditions, rituals, etc. On the other hand, cosmogonic myths are those that are related to cosmic phenomena such as creation of universe, earth, sun, moon, stars, thunder, etc. Legends, on the other hand, are considered to be historically true. They tell stories that involve heroic figures, historic places, events, etc. As mentioned in Russel and Hiralal (1916), among the Gonds in central India, mention is made on the Gondvana land popularly known to be the abode of Gond kings who gained his popularity because of the long oral history and folklore on their supremacy over central India who challenged the Mughals and the Britishers in different times and places.

The tribal folklore studies in the north-eastern Himalayan region were started by the British administrators such as Hougton, Damant and Anderson during the 19th century. Verrier Elwin (1902-1964) collected stories about the tribes from Arunachal Pradesh which he later published in the form of two books. Also, scholars like Goswami, Rangamathu, Brahma, later took up the study on myths of Abor and Naga tales, tales on Garos, Bodo folk songs respectively during the 1950’s and 1960’s. Since then, various other tribal studies, both foreign and native scholars, have been taken up from this part of the region.

Nagaland consists of 16 major tribes and each tribe differ in their culture and tradition. Songs and folklores are an integral part of these people’s life and form a major component of their traditional society. Naga society consists of an array of folktales, each having their distinctive meanings and are morally oriented that are taken as examples in their daily lives till date. Their folktales have their own philosophical meanings like the other tribal groups in India. Among the Naga tribals, an institution of youth dormitory called morung, was a place where young people gathered in the evening to share stories, sing and dance. It was an important institution for the people that helped in the origin, development and transmission of tribal folklore. Figure (1) shows a typical morung belonging to a tribal group from Peren village in Nagaland, North-East India. On the front are skulls of animals hung around that were butchered by the village folks. Also, carving and painting of human form and structure are seen on the wooden door.

Fig 1: A morung(youth dormitory) located inPeren village, Nagaland

A popular myth on the creation of the earth is well-known among the Ao tribal group from Nagaland, North-East India. According to the myth, Lichaba was the only creator of earth and everything therein. In the beginning, as he was creating and designing the Naga area, a sea beetle reported the God that enemies were approaching to destroy the area. After hearing this, Lichaba hurriedly moulded the place and left to defend the place, and that is why, Nagaland is today hilly and mountainous, for which Lichaba God is held responsible. Also, among the Khasis of Meghalaya, a popular myth is told about why the moon shines in the darkness of the night, as a result of the ash flung at the moon by the sun.

The existence of lycanthrope is an important phenomenon in many tribal societies. Again, among the Nagas, this existence has been known since time immemorial and rumour has it that, even in the recent days, there is existence of the so called “tiger-man”. Its existence in the society is more common among the Yimchunger tribe in Tuensang District of Nagaland. The existence of tiger-man in Naga society was first reported by Davis in1891 that was later supported by many other researchers such as Hutton in 1919 and Mills in 1926.Tiger-man is known to possess some supernatural powers and their spirit is believed to be in the form of a tiger. Sometimes, they disappear and return after attaining certain powers. This tiger-man can be either a male or a female and live a normal life. A detailed description on the tiger-man can be read in the book written by Jamir and Lanunungsang in 2005.

Many tribal communities also believe in supernatural existence amidst them and that most of their folktales are based on this being. Khasis, a tribal group from Meghalaya, North-East India, has a storytelling tradition that goes back to the time of their creation of myths. Most of these myths and folktales have philosophical thoughts and are invested with symbolic significance and moral lessons. The myth of Ren and the River Nymph among the Khasis talks about how man and beast spoke the same language, and God and fairies still frequented the human world. Many other similar stories can be found in a book “Khasi Legends” written by Nongkynrih (2007). One common supernatural myth among the tribals from Arunachal Pradesh is that, the earth rests on the head of a great creature. The tribes in Arunachal Pradesh like the Apatanis have an extremely rich oral tradition that lived for a very long time without any permanent religious structure, a script, or written records. A recent book written by Blackburn in 2008 on the tribes of Apatani valley is a comparative book that gives detailed information on the oral tradition and culture of this tribal book.

One important characteristic of folklore is that, the forms may remain the same while the functions differ. Likewise, in some other kinds of folklore, the function may remain the same, if not identical, and the forms differ. Among the Oraon and Munda tribal groups, a work-song sung during paddy plantation may help them work better and synchronize their efforts at the field. This same song may have a different function, where, the children at Dhumkuria sing for entertainment. Therefore, as Vidyarthi and Rai (1985) have mentioned, it is not possible to predict the associated contextual function of folklore from the form alone. Some tribal groups also bear the meaning of man behind the name of the tribe ie., Munda and Ho both means man. Much tribal folklore is seen to be affected to a large extend by nature and hence, many of their folktales and folksongs are based on their habitation in the forest and their relationship with the deities and forest. One such illustration is that of the Ho tribal group where, a tribal man who was possessed by a spirit runs to a spot in a jungle nearby along with villagers, which is considered as the haunt of the spirit, singing a song welcoming the spirit to take up the abode on the tree. Similar stories are seen among the tribal groups of Mundari, Oraons, and so on.

Mention on the tribal groups such as Munda, Oraon, Santhal, and Ho in Bihar, in central India, on their folklores were first made by British administrators and missionaries in the 19th century. Local scholars such as Mitra (1922, 1928) and Roy (1916) were the first to conduct research work on the folklore of these groups. Elwin did exhaustive and systematic work among the tribals of Orissa (1954), Madhya Pradesh (1937-1949) and Rajasthan (1949). He studied on the myths and folktales of these tribals and published in a number of books and articles. The 62 tribal communities of Orissa have their own distinctive culture. They differ in their house types, socio-economic organizations, dress and ornaments, festivals, arts, dance and music, language and folklore. Among these tribals, there are hunting and food gathering Birhors, Bondos and Kharias; swidden cultivators like the Juangs, Lanjia Saoras and Kutia Kondhs; settled cultivators in the plains like the Gonds, Santals, Oraons, Mundas and the Kisans. The Santals, Oraons, Juangs and Gadabas are famous for their songs and dances that have become their integral part of life. A detailed study on the folklore of tribal communities in Orissa can be seen in the book authored by Patnaik (2002),

4.2 Folk art:

Another component known as folk art includes the tribal paintings, carvings, wood and metal crafts, garments with tribal prints and decorations, tattooing, ornamentations, etc. These forms of folk art could be fundamentally related to ritualistic, utilitarian and individualistic types. In fig (2) are seen some metal and brass crafts put in display for purchase. These figures depict the instruments used in folk music among the tribals from Orissa. Aside from that, we also see various jewelleries of modern designs. All these show their artistic nature and how they have invested their talent for economic purpose.

Fig 2: Folk art popularly seen in Orissa, Bhubaneswar

The tribes in South India also comprise a significant number of the total population. Tamil Nadu has two thousand years of recorded literary history, but, the first work on the tribes such as Todas and Kotas were initially done by Emaneau (1938-65) and Smith (1948) who collected folkloric materials. Todas are a fascinating tribal group in Tamil Nadu who are popular for their artistic house designs with ornate motifs. The Kotas and Irulas are also well-known for their handicrafts and agriculture. The other tribal groups in South India also vary considerably in their culture from a tea and coffee cultivator society to milk production society to societies that practice witchcraft.

Among some tribal groups from Nagaland, namely Konyaks, Yimchungers, etc. ornaments, particularly neck gear, are designed and crafted in the form of animated human head that depicts the number of enemy heads they hunted during war time. Also, skulls of animals are kept both inside and outside the houses as a token of their heroic deeds by killing the animals. Another form of art popular among the Marias of Bastar is the wood-carving that is related to religious activity. Among the Saoras, their wall painting depicts the adventures of the spirits of the unseen world. Also, among some of the tribal Indians, stones and wooden sculptures are considered as a deity and are worshipped by the tribal folks. Offerings are a common activity of the tribal people. And these offerings and sacrifices are normally practised to please the Gods and spirits. In some parts of the tribal areas, sacrifices of figures in the shape of animals such as pigs, horses, bulls, elephants, etc. are the most common. These figures are either carvings from wood and brass or made of terracotta.

Another artistic form of folk art is found in the clothes and ornaments they wear that are made locally by the tribals. Weaving is an indigenous form of making clothes and the dye they use for colours are locally prepared. Geometric shapes, popularly known as Aztec prints in today’s world, are also very popular among the tribals. These geometric representations may hold no sympathetic relation with the external form of life and some simple lines and shapes on a wooden or stone base cansimply represent a village deity. Among the Nagas, tattoos with these similar geometric designs are found popularly among the elderly people in the village that symbolises certain meanings. These markings on the body are commonly found on the leg, arms, chest, forehead and chin. Figure (3) shows a Naga woman from Anatonger village in Kiphire district with tattoo on her face in geometrical design. Figure (4) also shows a Naga man from Phuvkiu village under Kiphire district in Nagaland wearing a tattoo on the chest.

Certain section of Kondh tribe is also very popular for tattooing on their face. Today, these geometric designs are very popular in the fashion industry and are in vogue without holding any symbolic meanings as in the past. These tribal skills and expertise in the textile industries are helping the tribals economically. Some of the most popular tribal communities in this industry are found in the North-Eastern region and other Himalayan tribes. Also, weaving mats, baskets, etc. with dried leaves of date palm are popular among the tribals. In most cases, houses are made of thatch and the walls are prepared from weaved bamboo splits which is commonly found in the Naga villages. Bamboo is richly available in Nagaland and the products created from bamboos are popular not only among the local people but has also gained exposure worldwide. Painting, sculpturing, clay modelling is also found among the tribal communities. Sometimes, certain similar art form may have different meanings to different tribal groups. Among the Santals, wall paintings are done for decorative purpose but among the Saoras, it is done for ritual purposes.

4.3 Folk music and dance

Folk music and dance are characteristics in tribal life and culture that form a composite whole. Normally, the music and dances are accompanied by songs and the verses in the songs are short but are repeated multiple times when singing. In certain occasions, dancing to the tune of these folk songs and music is a good source of entertainment as these folk tunes are normally lively and catchy. Among the tribals, the dances are of different types and are classified according to the occasion. The most common are the war and hunt dance, sacred dance and social dance. These different folk dances are accompanied by folksongs, each carrying deep meanings that reflect the past life. There are songs of victory, war, love, honour, glory, worship, rituals, festivals such as cultivation, etc. Also, the folk songs are based on their traditional beliefs and practices incorporating numerous mythological names of places and people. This form of art is symbolic and it represents the life of their ancestors, of their feelings, thoughts, activities, etc.

The Nagas are a patrilineal form of society and each tribe has their own distinctive clans that are hereditary and can be identified from the title or surnames. Among the Ao Nagas, there are certain folksongs that can be sung only by certain clans. Likewise, traditional attire especially Mekhala, a locally weaved sarong that are colourful and decorated with designs that are symbolic, are to be worn according to one’s clan. Also, there are certain Mekhalas that are worn according to the social status among the Ao women folk. It is interesting to note that folksongs are sung in Mongsen dialect, although the common dialect for communication is Chungli. Again, there are certain folksongs and dances that are performed only among certain villages, each with their deep meanings and connotations. In the past, folk songs were the best means of communication where they could express their feelings better. Marital dances are very popular among the Nagas. The folkdance and song that well defines them are the ones that are related to headhunting. Other tribal communities that perform war dances are Garos of Meghalaya, Bhils, Oraons and other tribes of Chotanagpur. Hunter dances are popular among the Tharus of the Himalayas, the Khonds of Orissa, Jaintias of Meghalaya, the Malavetans, etc. In this type of dance, the tribals try to imitate the hunting scenario, where, they try to hunt and kill the animal and in some dances, they mimic the animal being hunted. These types of dances are fascinating as they depict the hunter and gatherer lifestyle of the tribals and also their heroic deeds by slaughtering wild animals using locally made arms.

In a popular performing art known as change dance among the Bhuinyas and the Juangs of North Orissa, boys and girls take their respective roles, where, boys sing and play the music by playing the changu and girls, on the other hand, dance to the music in front of the boys by interlocking their arms and moving about forward and backward. One common feature of the tribal folkdance is the interlocking of arms and moving sideways or back and forth. Some of the common instruments that are used for performing folk music by the tribals are flute, cymbol, gong, wooden drums, changu (a single membrane drum), etc.

Other type of dance popular among the tribal are the sacred and social dances. The sacred dances are associated with worship and rituals. This dance involves worshipping something sacred by dancing around that particular item according to the occasion they are performing their dance for. Social dances are commonly associated with seasonal festivals that are mostly agriculture and cultivation based where, people dance around a tree or crops praying to the Gods and spirits for good harvest. There are also other social dances such as marriage, seasonal festivals, funerals, etc. The social dances are still prevalent in the recent days among some tribal groups, although, it has been altered and more of an entertainment and merrymaking.

5. Summary

• Folklore is the reflection of one’s culture that brings to light the traditional beliefs, myths, folktales, and practices of the people that have been passed through the generations by word of mouth.
• It is an oral tradition that expresses human culture and their living style through the local narratives and linguistic conventions.
• Societies, particularly the tribal societies have an extremely rich oral tradition and they take importance in preserving and propagating this oral tradition through written literature without which, societies would have lost their oral tradition.
• Anthropological work on oral tradition remained untouched for a long period of time and it was only after mid 50’s that studies on oral tradition gained its popularity.
• Indian Literature is considered to be one of earliest literatures of the world and the first work of literature in the world is believed to be Rig Veda which was written in Sanskrit, one of the oldest Indian languages. India with its numerous folklores and mythologies that are filled with moral teachings are relevant even in today’s world.
• The tribal population in India are an integral part of Indian civilization and they are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of the country. They are a group of people who are socially and culturally different from their neighbours and are being designated tribes and listed in a scheduled for special treatment by the constitution of India.
• A huge percentage of the Indian sub-continent consists of the tribal groups belonging to Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Tibeto-Burman linguistic classification with a multiplicity of dialects. Most of these tribal groups have their own dialect and some bilingualism and some have lost their original language. They have a long history of oral tradition and most of them lack scripts for their languages. It was only after independence that the history and folkore of these tribal groups were properly reconstructed by academicians.
• The study of folklore in India underwent three major phases. Initially, it was the British administrators in India who initiated the study of the local culture with their aim to rule the people of the country. After which came the missionaries who wanted to learn the local language for their missionary purpose. The last phase was the initiative by the people within the country post-independence.
• There are three components of folklore: 1. the tribal folk literature where, they express their artistic nature in them through their thoughts, merry-making, dancing, hunting, frustrations, emotions, etc. that are included in folktales, myths, legends, riddles, proverbs, folksongs, prose and verse narratives, etc. Most of these types of folk literature are in spoken language, although some have been recorded in written form. Folktales are regarded as an unwritten record of tribal history and are different from myths and legends. The tribal myths include stories about the origin of the universe, Gods, man and even animals. They also dwell on extraordinary natural phenomena such as spirits, magic, life after dead, etc. Legends, on the other hand, are considered to be historically true. They tell stories that involve heroic figures, historic places, events, etc.
• Another component known as folk art includes the tribal paintings, carvings, wood and metal crafts, garments with tribal prints and decorations, tattooing, ornamentations, etc. These forms of folk art could be fundamentally related to ritualistic, utilitarian and individualistic types.
• The third is the folk music and dance that are characteristic in tribal life and culture that form a composite whole. Among the tribals, the dances are of different types and are classified according to the occasion. They based on their traditional beliefs and practices and this form of art is symbolic representing the life of their ancestors, of their feelings, thoughts, activities, etc.

    India, with its diverse culture, has always been an important subject of study from a holistic view. The tribals who constitute a large population of the Indian total population are one major attraction of the country because of their uniqueness and simple yet creative nature. With very rich oral tradition of the tribals, folklore reflects their culture to a great measure that brings solidarity and continuity among the tribal people. In the recent times, many of these folk songs and dances, rituals, ceremonies, etc are no longer in practise as a result of the impact of Christianity among some of the tribal communities especially in the North-Eastern region of the country. However, the importance of the past practices is still honoured in many tribal communities and most of these myths and folktales have philosophical thoughts that are often referred to in our daily lives because of their significant moral lessons. These past practices and culture that has been passed on from one generation to the other by the word of mouth are being reconstructed and preserved in the form of written literature. Various scholars and professionals have been studying the Indian tribal people and their culture for a long time especially after Independence to preserve the material and non-material culture of the tribal India before they slowly disappear from the people and society.

References and suggested readings

• Blackburn, S. 2008. Himalayan tribal tales: oral tradition and culture in the Apatani valley. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
• Handoo, J. 1982. Theory and the Problem of Meaning in Folklore. International Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 2 (2), pp. 7-26.
• Jamir, N.T. and Lanunungsang, A. 2005. Naga society and culture. Nagaland University, Nagaland.
• Nongkynrih, K.S. 2007. Around the hearths. Khasi Legends. Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.
• Patnaik, N. 2002. Folklore of tribal communities. Gyan Publishing house, New Delhi.
• Russel and Hiralal, R.B. 1916. The castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces of India. Macmillan and Company Limited, London.
• Vidyarthi, L.P. 1973. Folklore Researches in India. In: Vidyarthi (ed.), Essays in India Folklore. Indian Publications, Calcutta, pp. 1-107.
• Vidyarthi, L.P. and Rai, B.K. 1976. The tribal culture of India. Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi.
• Handoo, J. “Folklore an introduction” http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/folkintro/index.htm