12 
W. H. P. Driver— The Birhors. 
[No. 1, 
arms are burnt, but girls are not tattooed like Mundas and Khariyas. 
Every village has a Bhamkuriyd ’ or bachelors’ hall for the bigger 
boys. 
Customs concerning the dead. —Birijiyas can either burn or bury their 
dead. They bury them deep and cover the surface with thorns and 
large stones in order to keep off jackals and hyenas. (Perhaps this was 
the real origin of monumental stones in other countries.) 
Food. —Birijiyas are allowed to eat buffaloes, cows, and the dhaman 
snake, but they are forbidden to eat monkeys, frogs and ordinary snakes. 
They effect cures by charms, mesmerism, and sacrifices. Disputes 
are settled by panchdyats or consultation by elders. 
The Birhors. 
Habitat. —The Birhors, a small tribe speaking a dialect of the Ko- 
larian language, chiefly lead a wild nomadic life among the hills and 
jungles of Chutiya Nagpur. They travel about in small communities, 
earning a precarious living by making string from the chop (Bauhinia 
scandens ) bark. A few of their number have, however, settled down 
in different parts of the district amongst their more civilised neighbours 
and taken to cultivation. Those living in the jungles are usually very 
poor, their huts being made of leaves and branches, and measuring 
8 or 10 feet in length by 6 feet in breadth by 6 feet in height, the 
doors being only 2 feet in height by lij feet in breadth. These huts are 
placed in a circular form, with the doors facing towards the inside 
of the circle, of which the open space in the centre is kept clean and 
used for dancing. In appearance the Birhors are amongst the most 
degraded looking of Kolarian tribes. They are usually very short, 
black, and dirty-looking, some of the men wearing the hair matted. 
They do not use bows and arrows, and their only weapons are small 
axes. 
Food. —The jungle Birhors keep neither cattle, goats, nor pigs, 
but buy them when required for a feast or sacrifice. They eat cows, 
buffaloes, goats, pigs, fowls, rats, and monkeys, but not bears, tigers, 
jackals, dogs, snakes, lizards, &c. For vegetables they are dependent 
mostly on the jungles and the following is a list of the commonest 
kinds, viz.: 
Leaves. —Koinar, Kana, Matha, Katai, Sari, Sarubera, Sil’wer, 
Pich’ki, Cliatom, Mucliuri, Haru, Singh, Bong. Boots. —Haser, Dura, 
Piska, Kulu, Kund’ri, Gethi, Bir, Semar, Karil, Chakond. Fruits .— 
Lariya, Kuda, Podho, Kanduwer, Bel, Dumar, Bar, Pipar, Sarai, Pithor, 
Dau, Tiril, Kat’kar’ji, Sir’ka. Their women help them to make the 
chop string, and also carry this and the monkey skins to the small 
