Verrier Elwin
Verrier Elwin (1902-1964) was a self-trained anthropologist and tribal activist, who began his career in India as a missionary. He was a controversial figure who first abandoned the clergy to work with Mohandas Gandhi and the Indian National Congress, then later split with the nationalists over what he felt was an overhasty process of transformation and assimilation for the tribals. Elwin is best known for his early work with the Baigas and Gonds of central India, and he famously married a member of one of the communities he studied there.
Verrier Elwin was the son of Edmund Henry Elwin, Bishop of Sierra Leone. He was educated at Dean Close School and Merton College, Oxford (BA First Class in English Language and Literature, MA, DSc).
In 1926 he was appointed Vice-Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and in the following year he became a lecturer at Merton College, Oxford. He went to India in 1927 as a missionary. He first joined Christian Service Society in Pune. The first time he visited the central India, current states of Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, and parts of eastern Maharashtra was with another Indian from Pune Shamrao Hivale. Their studies are on the tribes are some of the earliest anthropological studies in the country. Over the years he was influenced by the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. He came out with numerous works on various tribal groups in India, the best acclaimed being those on Maria and Baigas.
After India attained independence in 1947 he was asked by Jawaharlal Nehru to find solutions to the problems that emerged among the tribal peoples living in the far northeastern corner of India, the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA). NEFA is now the State of Arunachal Pradesh, just north of Assam.
Most recently, Ramachandra Guha's biography Savaging the Civilized: Verrier Elwin, His Tribals, and India brought attention to Elwin's life and career.
On Ghotul
Verrier Elwin wrote - "The message of the ghotul -- that youth must be served, that freedom and happiness are more to be treasured than any material gain, that friendliness and sympathy, hospitality and unity are of the first importance, and above all that human love - and its physical expression - is beautiful, clean and precious, is typically Indian." [1]
Verrier's treatment of his wife Kosi
Verrier married a tribal girl who was a student at his school. The girl Kosi was 13 and Verrier 40 at the time of marriage in 1939-40. Verrier first made his wife Kosi the subject of his anthropological studies including publishing intimate sexual details in what is called participant observation. They had two sons the elder Jawahar and the younger Vijay. After finishing his work in Central India Verrier abandoned Kosi after eight - nine years of marriage, to the mercy of his friend Shamrao Hivale, had an ex-parte divorce, which Kosi does not remember and married another woman Lela. The elder son Jawahar was in Verrier's custody and the younger in Kosi's. A monthly alimony of Rs. 25 and a house in Jabalpur was given to Kosi. After Verrier's death in 1964, Shamrao Hivale mistreated Kosi and allegedly sold off 60 acres of land Kosi inherited from Verrier and the rest of the inheritance was taken by Lela, leaving a life of poverty for Kosi and her children.[2]
References
- ^ http://www.cgnet.in/FT/ghotul
- ^ How a tribal girl's life became a book on sex Raman Kirpal http://www.indianexpress.com/ie/daily/19990305/ige05051.html
External links and further sources
- The Muria and Their Ghotul by Verrier Elwin
- Warren E. Roberts, 'Verrier Elwin (1902-1964)', Asian Folklore Studies 23:2 (1964), 212-14
- Beating a dead horse Verrier Elwin