Barla Killi
Munda
At a glance
- Called a
- Killi
- Community
- Munda
- Found in
- Jharkhand
About
Barla is a killi (totemic clan) of the Munda of Chota Nagpur. Roy (1912) counts it among the twenty-one original Munda killis, and in a Munda legend he recorded it is the killi of Sutia Pahan, the first chief of the Mundas of the plateau. Roy and Roy (1937) link the name with a clan of the Kharia, though they are not consistent about which one. A killi is not a gotra and names no rishi. It is a different name from Bara, an Oraon clan.
What “Killi” means for the Munda
A killi is a Munda clan. Roy (1912) records that its members count themselves descendants of one forefather, that it passes from father to children, and that no Munda may marry within his own killi. Many killis are named after an animal, plant or thing, their totem, which members will not eat or harm. A killi is not a gotra and names no rishi.
Every killi of the Munda, with how the clan system works: the Munda page.
Name and Origin
Roy (1912) records no totem for the Barla killi. In the legend he took down from a Munda Christian, the Mundas, led to the plateau by Risa Munda, were organised by Sutia Pahan into seven garhs and twenty-one parhas. When Sutia could find no bride for his son outside his own line, he had the heads of the twenty-one parhas each choose an animal or plant as a totem, so that the parhas became twenty-one killis for marriage, and he himself became the founder of the Barla killi (Appendix I, pp. 334-335). Roy says this version shows the influence of Bible history and of early European writing on the Mundas, though he thought its core genuine.
Historical Journey
Roy names Barla among the twenty-one killis that, by Munda tradition, came onto the Ranchi plateau with Risa Munda (1912, p. 71 n.), and again in his list of Munda killis (p. 235). In the Sutia Pahan legend the Barla is the chief's own killi: Sutia was the Rajya-Pahan, the pahan of the kingdom, who alone received instructions from Sirma-Sing, the sun god, and the heads of all the killis were under him (Appendix I, p. 335). The Kharia know the name too. Roy and Roy (1937) suggest that the Barla of Risley's 1891 list is the same as the Ba' or paddy clan of the Dudh Kharia, whose first village was Sisai (pp. 132, 139), but elsewhere they list a Barliha or Barla clan, with a fruit as its totem, among both Dudh and Dhelki Kharia (pp. 127, 143).
How the Killi Is Kept
A Munda may not marry within his own killi (Roy 1912, p. 228), and the killi passes from father to children. Roy gives no rule for the Barla killi; for other killis he records that members will not eat or harm their totem (pp. 232-233). No family deity is tied to the Barla killi in the sources checked.
Presence Across Regions
Ranchi district, Jharkhand
Tribal - Munda
One of the twenty-one original Munda killis in Roy's list (1912, p. 71 n.), and the killi of Sutia Pahan in the legend.
Sisai, Gumla district, Jharkhand
Tribal - Kharia
Roy and Roy (1937, p. 139) give Sisai as the first village of the Kharia Ba' or Barla clan.
Stories and Legends
Sutia Pahan's council
In a legend Roy (1912) took down from a Munda Christian, which he says shows the influence of Bible history, Sutia Pahan, chief of the seven garhs, could find no bride for his son outside his own line. He gathered birds and beasts inside the seven gates of Sutiambe and called the heads of the twenty-one parhas, and each chose an animal or plant for his totem, so that the parhas became twenty-one killis for marriage.