Folk as an Emerging Canon in India: A Case Study of Dogri Folk.

Folklore is an echo of the past, but at the same time it is also the vigorous
voice of the present.

Y.M Sokolov . 28

Folklore is one of the most potential medium of history as a feeder as well as a link
in the missing events and facts. It creates images of the historical aspects like wars,
battles and of course the individual performances of great warriors, saints and
commoners. The historic renderings of the folklorists have not only become the
part of literature but also, they have to some extent, assisted the historian to
ascertain the fact which were lost in the vast parabola of time.

Folklorist considered folklore as history because folklore is as old as the human

existence and its society. Primitive and most ancient society of humans has not
been excluding from the knowledge, beliefs, customs, etc.; which has been handed
down from generation to generation. The study of folklore has come in existence
of around 200 years old whereas, the folklore has always been the part of human
culture since the very beginning of human society. Folklore is still present because
it is present in the memory of man, handed down from generation to generation by
words of mouth and through imitation but not by the printed page. The term
folklore- a good Saxon compound – was first proposed by the William John
Thomas in the English antiquary in a letter to the editor of Athenaeum in 22nd
August of 1846. But in Indian context this term was firstly used by V.S Agrawala
in 1920 as lokvarta.

The meaning of folk in other countries is totally different with special surroundings
of Indian society. Charan poets of Rajasthan, Dresas of Duggar and Hurikas of
Kumoun and Gharwal have contributed much in this field. People of Duggar
region have folklore as their means of expressions. Their festivals, rituals, social
gatherings and religious congregations start with the folk renderings and culminate
with the folk songs filling in the gaps with folk dramas, tales and ballads. The
elements of folklore in Jammu region comprising of folk songs, folk tales, sayings,
customs and ceremonies, folk dramas, folk dances, games and sports,
enchantments and witch craft.

A ballad is a simple, straight forward narrative poem in short stanzas

or any popular song which is often scurrilous as according to Chambers Twentieth
Century Dictionary. But folk ballad in dogri cannot be measured with same
yardstick as English. Nomenclature and the definition of particular format of ballad
depend upon the subject it treats. Generally dogri ballads are categorized into two
formats; one is a simple narrative poem and is narrated or sung without caring for
proper composition, while the second one can be treated in the form of a lyric. In
fact two dogri ballads belong to the first category. They are as follows: -

Karaks: - These are the ballads which depicts the deed of some saintly, eulogize
gods and goddesses and the praise of the person who sacrificed their lives for some
social cause.

Baars: - These ballads sung in the praise as well as to highlight the valour of the
great warriors.

Ballads of gods and goddesses: - These are some formats of ballads that are
attributed to deities and great gods.

Yog gathas: - Ballads attributed to yogis fall in this category which praises the
super natural forces.
Love ballads: - Love ballads are very popular among the dogras on both sides of
the Ravi. Love ballads exploit the emotions of one and all.

Legendary ballads: - In this category characters are not pure historical nor they
have anything in common with folk but are treated as legends.

Ballads of chivalry: - These ballads are very popular which sings in the praise of
individuals but not of his valour or spirituality instead he is popular for his
notorious deeds due to his rebellion against the regime for his own cause.

Folk lore and community literature suggest the way in which human mind
apprehends various relationship within and outside the social function. A part from
these, the study of orality and community literature sheds light on the creation and
evolution in life and also present an alternative to the main stream discourse. The
occurrence of historical evidences is a necessary condition to reconstruct the
history of a particular place, person or period.

The local heroes of Jammu hills are struggling for the protection of the interest of
the common people from shahukar. The main reason behind the immense
popularity was their selfless struggle that inspired the local people to fight for their
socio-economic rights. The local hero inspired the common people to raise their
voice against an oppressive state and tax-collector’s exploitative method. The
struggle of these local heroes is preserved in local oral traditions. Some local
heroes, such as Baba Jitto and Mian Dido, have acquired an iconic status in the oral
tradition of the Jammu region.

The Baran or ballads of Mian Dido present him as the folk hero of the Jammu
region. It is known that succeeded in mobilizing the local peasants and zamindars
against Ranjeet Singh’s rule and attacked his army at a number of places. A large
number of oral traditions are available that describes the nature of resistance put up
by Mian Dido and his followers. One ballad mentions that he began his resistance
in the form of plundering certain areas under the control of Ranjeet Singh.
According to this ballad

Jahara Singh Mian de ghar Dido jammeya

Jammeya oh bara gai puara

Wo pahli satta Dido Damana lutya

Dui bari lutya mian jai frora

Ram Nath Shastri

The above lines may be translated as follows: ‘In the house of Jahara(Hazara)
Singh Mian Dido was born. At the time of his birth a huge ceremony held. He first
ravaged Damana and then plundered Jai Flore’.

Mian Dido’s violent resistance against Ranjeet Singh government was viewed by
the common people of Jammu as a fight for their dignity and pride. The common
man regarded Mian Dido as his savior against the despotism of the State. He
became so popular among the common people that when any person failed to get
justice from the state officials, he approached Mian Dido. One of the ballads of
Mian Dido narrates the struggle between Mian Dido and the Lahore Darbar in the
following words:

Woi diyan khabran geyan takht Lahore

Mian Dido diya khabran geyan takht Lahore

Ye ralmal faujan beriyan diyan

Hath ni aunda Dido Jamwal.

These above lines may be translated thus: ‘the Lahore government came to know
about the activities of Mian Dido. It sent a huge force against him. But the Lahore
army failed to capture Mian Dido’.

Various ballads of Jammu region sing Mian Dido’s praises for displaying extra
ordinary courage and bravery against the forces of Gulab Singh. Besides, the oral
tradition highlights the efforts of Mian Dido to save the poor from exploitation at
the hands of money-lenders (sahukars).

He is also projected as the eliminator of evil practices like dowry

system. He is said to have saved people from the clutches of money
lenders and punished the propagandists and practitioners of the
dowry system.

Ashok Jerath.183-184.

Thus, oral traditions of Jammu region describe the heroic struggle of peasant leader
Mian Dido. His role in the history of Jammu region has not been recorded by either
the local chronicles or by the travel accounts, because of the prevalence of the
feudal mentality. The oral tradition enables the historian to reconstruct the life and
work of these people who devotes their life for the protection of the rights of under
privileged and oppressed. It is true that the oral traditions are constructed,
preserved and transmitted by the people of a particular social background. The oral
tradition of Jammu region revolving around leaders and are immensely popular
among the rural population, they are particularly useful in understanding the
history of the non elite sections of the society.