THE ASTRONOMY OF TWO INDIAN TRIBES: THE BANJARAS AND THE KOLAMS

Abstract

We report field studies of the astronomical beliefs of two Indian tribes - the Banjaras and the Kolams. The Banjaras are an ancient tribe connected with the gypsies of Europe while the Kolams have been foragers until recently. They share their landscape with each other and also with the Gonds whose astronomy was reported previously (Vahia and Halkare, 2013). The primary profession of the Banjaras was trade, based on the large-scale movement of goods over long distances, but their services were taken over by the railways about one hundred years ago. Since then the Banjaras have begun the long journey to a sedentary lifestyle. Meanwhile, the Kolams were foragers until about fifty years ago when the Government of India began to help them lead a settled life. Here, we compare their astronomical beliefs of the Banjaras and the Kolams, which indicate the strong sense of identity that each community possesses. Our study also highlights their perspective about the sky and its relation to their daily lives. We show that apart from the absolute importance of the data on human perception of the sky, the data also reveal subtle aspects of interactions between physically co-located but otherwise isolated communities as well as their own lifestyles. We also show that there is a strong relationship between profession and perspective of the sky.