About the Book

The book is based on extensive field work among the forest dwelling Rabhas of North Bengal conducted in 1982 and 1983 during the collection of their traditional cultural artifacts (ethnographic object) as the museum specimens. Among the collected specimens, masks are considered as one of the significant cultural elements of the forest dwelling Rabhas. But there is hardly any written record about them. Therefore, the study on the Rabha masks and the masked dance was taken up from anthropological perspective to carry out further research on them in future. For the convenience of study, the historiography of the Rabha masked dance divided into three phases –Pre –British, British and Post –British. The attempt has been made here to ascertain the status of the dance in each phase for bringing out a clear picture as to how the physical environment, government forest policy, acculturation processes and economic activities in particular and exerted their influence on this particular cultural aspect of the forest dwelling community over space and time. The idea behind this proposition was to trace out the rise, gradual propagation and downfall of this performing art in different phases of time since its very inception.

About the Author

Dr. Sabita Ranjan Sarkar has obtained M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Anthropology from the Calcutta University. He has specialized himself both in social anthropology and museological anthropology. He has put up 35 years of service in different anthropology museums of the country both in government and private sectors. He rendered his services in different museums such as Anthropology Museum of the Cultural Research Institute, Govt. of West Bengal, Kolkata; Indian Museum, Meghalaya State Museum, Shillong, Don Bosco Ethnographic Museum of Centre for Indigenous Cultures, Shillong; Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, Bhopal, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi. He undertook field research and published books on the output of such researches. At the same time he brought out scholastic papers on anthropology and museology both in Indian and foreign journals. Dr. Sarkar visited foreign museums of the western countries such as American Museum of Natural History (Washington); field Museum of Natural History (Chicago) and Milwankee Public Museum (Milwankee) to acquire knowledge on the current trend of museology in western countries. The study was made under the aegis of the committee of Indo-US sub-commission on Education and Culture.

Table of Contents:
Foreword 9 Acknowledgements 11 Preface 13 List of Figures 19 1. Introduction 21 Music • Music and human culture • Functional role of music • Music in tribal world • Rabha dance and music • Distribution of Rabha population • Rabha migration • Regional factors influencing the tribal cultures • Salient features of Duars - the forest clad tribal belt of district Jalpaiguri 2. The Glimpses of Western Duars 39 The Glimpses of Western Duars • Size of the forest villages • Setting up of a forest village • Nature of work of the forest labourers • Advantages and disadvantages of life in the forest villages • General impact of colonial administration on the tribes of Western Duars • Impact on tribal distribution 3. The Context of Acculturation 57 Background of acculturation • Acculturation between the Rajbanshis and the Rabhas • Cultural transmission between the Village Rabhas and the Jungle Rabhas • Acculturation in the religious front • Reason for the acceptance of the concept of Goddess Kali • Steps taken up by the Jungle Rabhas to overcome their limitations • Possible origin of the conception of mask and masked dance 4. Structural Features of Masks 73 Introduction • Descriptive Account • Modelling • Aesthetics • Identity • Functional role • Wooden mask • Aesthetics • Functional role • Gourd- shell mask • Salient features of Jungle Rabha masks 5. Some Aspects of Masked Dance 103 6. Organisation and Performance of Masked Dance 129 Organised Char-Khilainee dance linking neighbouring bastees • Plans and programmes • Composition of the party • Selection of masked dancer • Preparation for the journey 7. The Functional Role of Masked Dance 141 Char-Khilainee dance during the British Period 8. Ecology, Economy and Masked Dance of Western Duars in the Context of Space and Time 155 • Introduction • Organised masked dance and its essential pre-requisites • Physical features of Western Duars • Salient physical features and environmental condition of Western Duars • Economy of the Jungle Rabhas of Western Duars during the pre-British period • Tribal life in Western Duars during the pre-British period • Common features of tribal socio-economic life • Physical environment • Administration • Acculturation • Cultivation 9. Epilogue 193 References 201 Index 203