Purty Killi
Munda
At a glance
- Called a
- Killi
- Community
- Munda
- Found in
- Jharkhand
About
Purty, written Purthi by Roy, is a killi (totemic clan) of the Munda of Chota Nagpur, and Purty is also the largest killi of the Ho of Kolhan, who have a page of their own (purty-ho). Roy (1912) counts Purthi among the twenty-one original Munda killis and records that it later divided into several branches. Risley's list of 1891, as quoted by Roy and Roy (1937), gives its totem as the crocodile. A killi is not a gotra and names no rishi.
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 story of the Purthi totem. The crocodile comes from Risley's clan list of 1891, which Roy and Roy quote and identify as a Munda name (1937, p. 132). In the Munda migration legend Roy took down, the patriarch Chutu or Chutia Haram, head of the Chutu Purthi killi, founded the village of Chutia, now part of Ranchi, from which, it is sometimes said, Chota Nagpur takes its name (Roy 1912, p. 72; Appendix I, p. 330). Modern popular sources tell stories of how the Huni Purthi and Sarukad Purthi branches began; those stories are not in Roy's book and are left out here.
Historical Journey
Roy lists Purthi among the twenty-one killis that Munda tradition says came onto the Ranchi plateau with Risa Munda, and notes that it has since divided into the Enga Purthi, Hasa Purthi and Chutu Purthi (1912, pp. 71-72 n.); elsewhere he adds the Huni Purthi, Sarukad Purthi and Sandi Purthi (p. 235). He also records Purthi men founding villages. Gaasi Munda of the Purthi killi, then living at Hasa near Khunti, moved south-east into hill and forest country rather than lose his land, and his descendants founded villages around them where the khuntkatti system, land held by the founding lineage, was still in force in Roy's day (p. 96). At Goa near Murhu the Mundhu and Chutia Purthi killis cleared separate blocks of land and kept separate burial grounds, and at Khatanga in Khunti thana one tola was founded by men of the Sarukad Purthi killi (p. 222 n.).
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 does not say whether the Purthi branches may marry each other; among the Ho, Majumdar (1937, pp. 55-56) found that the seven Purty divisions do not. In a Munda village each killi kept its own sasan or burial ground, and at Goa near Murhu the Chutia Purthi kept theirs apart from the Mundhu killi's (p. 222 n.). No family deity is tied to the Munda Purthi killi in the sources checked.
Presence Across Regions
Khunti, Jharkhand
Tribal - Munda
Roy (1912, pp. 96, 222 n.) records Purthi men founding villages around Hasa, Murhu and Khatanga in the Khunti area.
Ranchi, Jharkhand
Tribal - Munda
In a legend Roy recorded, Chutu Haram of the Chutu Purthi killi founded Chutia, now part of Ranchi.
Kolhan, West Singhbhum, Jharkhand
Tribal - Ho
Purty is the largest Ho killi in Kolhan, with seven or more exogamous divisions (Majumdar 1937); see the page purty-ho.
Stories and Legends
Chutu Haram founds Chutia
In the Munda migration legend Roy heard, after the Mundas had settled around Sutiambe and Korambe, a third patriarch, Chutu or Chutia Haram, head of the Chutu Purthi killi, founded the village of Chutia, now a suburb of Ranchi. The legend adds that the country of Chota Nagpur is sometimes said to owe its name to this Munda village.