Despite the challenges of changing times, the Bhils of Maharashtra stay connected to the forest, their homeland, and their cultural traditions.

Shankar Bhil

Shankar Bhil against the background of the Satpura hills.

This story is about my people, the Bhils of Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, India. It shows how connected we are to our land. The Bhils are one of the largest Indigenous (Adivasi) communities in India, spread across the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Khandesh is a region of Maharashtra consisting of Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar, and some parts of Nashik district. This part of Maharashtra is covered with forests on the hills of the Satpura Range.

Standing atop the Satpura hills, you can see houses scattered all over the hilly land below.

A group of men riding on the roof of a moving vehicle.

In the district of Nandurbar, people of the Bhil community live in houses spread across flat areas on the hills or in scattered villages at the base of the hills. They don’t complain about the lack of amenities; instead, they walk four to five kilometers just to get groceries and food. Sometimes, they even have to trek the same distance to catch a ride to the city or when they head out for work as laborers. And due to the limited availability of transportation, people also sit atop vehicles, making it dangerous for their lives while traveling through the ghats (passes) of the Satpura hills.

Bhils in the Satpura hills depend on the forest for resources such as fuel, wood, and fruits or vegetables they cook. Livelihoods here depend on the land available for agricultural purposes and the resources collected from the forest. Bhils collect many products from the forest: daatan, which are chew sticks used for brushing teeth; flowers from the mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia) for making mahua liquor or mahuli, seeds for extracting cooking oil; leaves from the tendu tree (Diospyros melanoxylon) for making beedi (tobacco rolled up in a leaf); other leaves and fruits; roots of medicinal plants; and more. They also collect fuelwood for cooking and source timber and giant pillars (teak wood and bamboo) for house building. And the forest provides not only for the people but for their cattle and goats as well. Living in such an environment and in such strong dependence on forest resources shapes the way of life of this tribe.

Left: My uncle Jamsing collecting mahua flowers. Right: Making the traditional mahua liquor.

My aunt Sunkibai making daatan for brushing teeth

Often, my friend’s mother used to ask me, “Do you also eat these vegetables at your home?” (“Tumahi e paaji khata hi ka?”), and I would ask her with a smiling face, “What is the name of this vegetable?” My friend and his mother would reply together, “We used to cook all the tree leaves, but nowadays people are forgetting the way we lived and the fruits and other things we used to collect from the forest and eat because many of the people have been migrating to find work in Gujarat or migrating seasonally to work in the sugarcane fields. Because nothing grows in these barren fields in the summer, we grow crops in the monsoon. Most of us are dependent on rainfall for cultivating our fields.”

Bhils in the Satpura hills depend on the forest for resources. 

My friend’s father tells me there used to be so many trees on these hills that you couldn’t even dare to go there in the daytime, but now you can see very few trees. People have cut them down, and he adds, “I am not sure whether there will be these many trees left for your children to see.”

He says, “A lot of folks here own land that’s only good for farming during the rainy season, you know, when it’s all rain-fed. Only cotton, maize, toor (split pigeon peas), and jawar (sorghum) are grown. And what are they going to do here? There is no work; how can anyone survive?”

Left: Girls fetching fuelwood from the hills for daily needs. Right: Fuelwood fetched from the forest piled up near the home.

So, when Dasara and Diwali (the Hindu festivals) roll around, many head over to Gujarat to work as sugarcane laborers or to work in factories or plant nurseries for about eight months. They’ve been doing this for the last forty to fifty years. Before that, they used to sell fuelwood in nearby villages and would get a rupee for a bundle of wood, called a moli, or work as laborers to build a local village dam or the road through these hills. But now there is no option but to go elsewhere to work. From around September to April or May, the villages are pretty much empty due to everyone migrating for work until the time of the Holi festival, when people come back to the village to celebrate this auspicious occasion in the month of March. Then, again they go off to work in Gujarat.

Now there is no option but to go elsewhere to work.

Only a few families who sell liquor or have water for farming stick around. This liquor is made from mahua flowers. They either sell it or use it for celebrations, festivals, or when close friends or family visit — they offer it as a drink. Some families have their own mahua trees they take care of, and they collect the flowers from these trees in the flowering season in the early morning, as early as 5:30 am. My friend tells me that sometimes, when the flower season starts, they even collect mahua flowers at 2:00 or 3:00 am at night. As these trees are not necessarily located near the house but away in the hills or along the boundary of someone’s farm, people nearby have a good chance of gathering the flowers, as the hills make it impossible to keep an eye on the trees.

Some people also stay back to rear the cattle and goats. In many places, small village dams provide water for both the people and their cattle. These dams provide water for agriculture, and people also fish here. But water mostly dries up around the start of the summer season. In many areas in the Satpura hills, women have to collect water from streams or hand pumps located away from their homes or farms and then carry the pots on their heads.

Kesarsing Bhil and Ravindra Bhil, seasonal fishers of Jambhai village, getting ready for fishing in the local village dam.

People manage to graze their cattle because they have good relations with the person who keeps watch in the forest. Sometimes, though, goats or cattle found grazing in the forest without permission are kept in a cattle cage (kondwada) and given back when the fine is paid. But mostly people do not take their cattle into the deeper area of the forest; instead, they rear them in the outer part of the forest or on the foothills.

Despite facing many challenges, Bhils are staying connected to their homeland and lifestyle.

Cattle drinking water at the village dam on a sunny afternoon.

Depending as they do on the forest for their everyday needs such as food and materials for cooking and building homes, and despite facing many challenges, Bhils are staying connected to their homeland and lifestyle. Over time, many things have changed in the region. To support themselves, people often migrate for work, yet they still come back to the Satpura hills. The land connects them to their roots and traditions. Despite the changes, Bhils are still here. Our resilience to changing circumstances shows how important it is to care for the land that nurtures us.

My cousin Supa bringing fuelwood from the forest.

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Shankar Bhil is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Development at Azim Premji University in India. He grew up in the Bhil Indigenous community situated in the forests of the Satpura hills, Maharastra, India, and calls the Khandesh region home.