Johar, johar Thakur Deota, Tumko lagon, Do matia ghar men dine tumhare nam. Johar, johar Konda, Tumko lagon, Do matia ghar men, etc. Johar, johar Bachar Jhakar Tumko lagon, etc. Johar, johar Budha Raja Tumko lagon, etc. Johar, johar Lafandi Mati Tumko lagon, etc. Johar, johar Anand Mati Tumko lagon, etc.
I make obeisance to thee, O Thakur Deo, I bow down to thee! In thy name have I placed two pots in my house (as a mark of respect). I make obeisance to thee, O Konda Pujari, I bow down to thee! In thy name have I placed two pots in my house. I make obeisance to thee, O Bachar Jhakar! In thy name have I placed two pots in my house. I make obeisance to thee, O Budha Raja! In thy name have I placed two pots in my house. I make obeisance to thee, O Soil of Lafandi! In thy name have I placed two pots in my house. I make obeisance to thee, O Happy Spot! In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
The song refers to the incidents in the story. Thakur Deo is the title given to the divine stone, Konda is the Halba priest, and Bachar the Gond who cast the net. Budha Raja, otherwise Singh Sei, is the Chief who was ruling in Bindranawagarh at the time, Lafandi the village where Konda Halba was found, and the Anand Mati or Happy Spot is that where the stone was taken out of the river. The majority of the sept-names returned are of Gond origin, and there seems no doubt that the Chaukhutias are, as the story says, of mixed descent from the Halbas and Gonds. It is noticeable, however, that the Bhunjias, though surrounded by Gonds on all sides, do not speak Gondi but a dialect of Hindi, which Sir G. Grierson considers to resemble that of the Halbas, and also describes as "A form of Chhattisgarhi which is practically the same as Baigani. It is a jargon spoken by Binjhwars, Bhumias and Bhunjias of Raipur, Raigarh, Sarangarh and Patna in the Central Provinces." [378] The Binjhwars also belong to the country of the Bhunjias, and one or two estates close to Bindranawagarh are held by members of this tribe. The Chinda division of the Bhunjias have a saying about themselves: '_Chinda Raja, Bhunjia Paik'_; and they say that there was originally a Kamar ruler of Bindranawagarh who was dispossessed by Chinda. The Kamars are a small and very primitive tribe of the same locality. _Paik_ means a foot-soldier, and it seems therefore that the Bhunjias formed the levies of this Chinda, who may very probably have been one of themselves. The term Bhunjia may perhaps signify one who lives on the soil, from _bhum_, the earth, and _jia_, dependent on. The word _Birjia_, a synonym for Binjhwar, is similarly a corruption of _bewar jia_, and means one who is dependent on _dahia_ or patch cultivation. Sir H. Risley gives Birjia, Binjhia and Binjhwar [379] as synonymous terms, and Bhunjia may be another corruption of the same sort. The Binjhwars are a Hinduised offshoot of the ancient Baiga tribe, who may probably have been in possession of the hills bordering the Chhattisgarh plain as well as of the Satpura range before the advent of the Gonds, as the term Baiga is employed for a village priest over a large part of this area. It thus seems not improbable that the Chinda Bhunjias may have been derived from the Binjhwars, and this would account for the fact that the tribe speaks a dialect of Hindi and not Gondi. As already seen, the Chaukhutia subcaste appear to be of mixed origin from the Gonds and Halbas, and as the Chindas are probably descended from the Baigas, the Bhunjias may be considered to be an offshoot from these three important tribes.