Opinion A forgotten tribe & its long walk to Karnataka

During that time, PM Modi mentioned how ancestors of this tribal community had fought alongside Maharana Pratap in the Battle of Haldighati during the 16th century. If we delve into the sources of Rajasthan’s history, it is true that Maharana Pratap was a ruler who received significant assistance from the Bhils and other tribes.

In the Battle of Haldighati (June 18, 1576) between Maharana Pratap and Mughal Emperor Akbar’s armies, the Bhils and Adivasis actively participated in Maharana’s army and were, in fact, the strongest force in this battle. The Adivasi and Bhil warriors and many other tribes remained Maharana’s fierce allies in subsequent skirmishes with the Mughals. Maharana Pratap’s slogan “Bhili Jaiyo, Rani Jaiyo Bhai-Bhai (literally translated as the son of Bhil’s mother and the son of the queen are brothers)” is a testament to their alliance. However, the connection between the Hakki-Pikki community’s journey from Mewar to Karnataka is not very clear in the eyes of historians. Perhaps one reason for this is that the term Hakki-Pikki comes from the Kannada language and it is not very clear which caste or community they belonged to during their stay in Rajasthan. Nevertheless, if we look at some historical facts from Maharana Pratap’s era, some threads connect. Scholars studying the tribes of hunters and the Bhil clans believe that people of the Vagadi tribe from Rajasthan migrated to Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Hakki means bird and Pikki means catcher. The Hakki-Pikki community also includes a group called Mevada, which has a connection with Mevad (Mewar). These people speak the Wagdi dialect of the Bhili, a language which is spoken in the tribal areas of Udaipur, Dungarpur, Banswara, Pratapgarh, and Chittorgarh, and worship Chamunda Mata. Maharana Pratap established several temples of Chamunda Mata in the tribal areas of Mewar. There are some more indications about these communities as mentioned in the Marwar Census Report, 1891 (pp. 562-563). This story is quite interesting but often goes unnoticed. To explore this further, let us delve further in the history of Mewar.

The Battle of Haldighati remained inconclusive. Maharana Pratap remained undefeated — neither could he capture Akbar’s army nor did he sacrifice himself on the battlefield. The Maharana, with great cunning, continued to launch guerrilla warfare against Akbar’s army. In 1582, Akbar sent Raja Jagannath Kachhwa, the son of Raja Bharmal of Amer, along with Jafer Khan Badakhshi, to Mewar. They stationed soldiers in various areas, including Mandalgarh, Mohi and Madariya. When Maharana Pratap was wandering from forest to forest after the Battle of Haldighati, Akbar’s troops gathered there to capture him. They cultivated crops and vegetables for food and hunted birds like partridges, quails, hares or other wild animals with the help of the locals so that they could eat well. However, Maharana Pratap spread the message throughout the region to confront the attackers, stating that neither should one be afraid of Akbar’s army, nor sow crops or hunt any kind of animals. The Maharana dealt with these circumstances with great skill and caution. No soldier of the Mughal army found a single morsel to eat. Under this strategy, the Maharana prohibited the cultivation of crops and vegetables; the availability of goats and sheep for meat, and ordered that if any farmer succumbs to the pressure of the Mughal army and does so, their heads should be severed.

Renowned historian Kaviraj Shyamaldas, in his famous historical text Veer Vinod, in the chapter titled ‘Maharana Pratap Singh’, wrote that “Anyone who provides grains or other food items to feed the Muslim attackers, their heads shall be severed. Following this order, many farmers and tribes packed their belongings, including their children, and settled in other regions”. Colonel James Tod also gives a similar example in his famous book, Annals and Antiquities (Volume 1, Chapter 10, p 389), ‘The Vow of Rana Pratap Singh’. It states, “The silence of the desert prevailed in the plains; grass had usurped the place of the waving corn; the highways were choked with the thorny babuls, and beasts of prey made their abode in the habitations of his subjects. In the midst of this desolation, a single goatherd, trusting to elude observation, disobeyed his prince’s injunction, and pastured his flock in the luxuriant meadows of Untala, on the banks of the Banas. After a few questions, he was killed and hung up in terror. By such patriotic severity Pratap rendered ‘the garden of Rajasthan’ of no value to the conqueror, and the commerce already established between the Mogul court and Europe, conveyed through Mewar from Surat and other ports, was intercepted and plundered.”

Many attempts were made by the soldiers to attack Maharana Pratap, but he did not allow even a morsel of grain to be available for Akbar’s army. Therefore, they had to rely on supplies sent from Ajmer, 300 km away, and the Mughal army was forced to leave Mewar. However, this had a significant impact on the region of Mewar, leading to prolonged periods of drought, invasion and atrocities. In such circumstances, some sections of the Bhil tribes were compelled to live a nomadic life. It is possible that during this time, they migrated towards Karnataka in search of game. These people were skilled in hunting birds like partridges and they continued the same practice in the regions of Karnataka, where the local people started calling them Hakki-Pikki.

According to the 2011 Census, their population in Bengaluru was 11,892. Today, the Hakki-Pikki communities reside in the districts of Hassan, Ballari, Davanagere, Shivamogga, Tumakuru, Bengaluru, Mandya, Chikkaballapur, and Ramanagara in Karnataka.

Professor Madhav Hada, a historian of Hindi literature, explains, “The information about Hakki-Pikki is not clear in history, but the knowledge about the Siddi community is remarkable. They are a community that came in search of diamonds from Africa and still maintain their African traditions and culture in the Dungarpur district. Their dance, Siddi Dhamal, is quite famous and is very similar to African dances.” The Siddi community also has a significant presence in Bengaluru, as it is listed as the 17th number in the 2001 Census ST list. Rajasthan has several tribal communities with names like Parhdi, Bagri, Bawari, Bawariya, Mogiya, Bagariya, Vagri, and Shikari. We can see that there are some connections between the Bhil tribes of Rajasthan and the nomadic tribal families of Karnataka that link the indigenous tribes of both regions. Today, they have crossed borders and explored markets in various countries, including Africa, with their traditional practices, providing Ayurvedic medicines. The hope should be that the state governments and the Center attempt to make the obscure histories of semi-nomadic tribal communities like Hakki-Pikki a part of our mainstream memories, so the existence of these eclectic tribes don’t only appear to us when they’re lost somewhere in a distant place like Sudan!