I remember coming across some of them while growing up in New Malakpet (now comes under the old city of Hyderabad) in 1980s. and got enchanted by their captivating ’appearance and clothing’.
One certainly cannot miss their typically tall stature, oval face, black and brown eyes, long silky hair, straight nose and wheatish complexion and not to miss their heavy metal jewellery, armful of ivory bangles, and clothes embellished with tiny pieces of mirrors. The men and women, both equally strong, muscular and hard-working, and are blessed with a lot of endurance.
I, again, do not distinctly remember how I came across them, I mean I did not see them working at a construction site or as house-maids or in any procession during festivals. I sincerely don’t recollect but I have definitely seen them wandering in the lanes and by-lanes of the area where I lived, from time to time.
They are Lambada (aka Banjaras. Lambada is the Telugu title for Banjaras) of Hyderabad, most precisely belonging to the Telangana region now.
Their history may not be found in books, their art and culture may not be framed or described anywhere, but the Lambadas are a unique tribe that has imbibed into their tradition something from every part of the country.
Today, the Lambada tribe may live on the fringes of society, but, historically, they played a very important role everywhere they went. In a country with a diverse cultural heritage, the Banjaras are best known for their migration from one place to another in search of trade.
Usually nomadic in nature, the tribes of Rajasthan are called Banjaras, they migrated and settled in the then ‘out skirts’ of Hyderabad. Since the area was a hilly one, it became known as Banjara Hills. Although there is no evidence that these Banjaras/Lambadas served Qutb Shahi kings, however it is noteworthy that one of the gates of Golconda was given the name ‘Banjara Darwaza’. Probably to honour them. Interesting.
Again no strong evidence but “Bhagyanagar was named after a Banjaran dancing girl, Bhagmathi who belonged to the village Chichlam. When Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah was a prince, he fell in love with her. A few years later, after his accession to the throne of Gloconda, he founded a new city and named it Bhagnagar.”
Also Banjaran language known as Gor boli or Lambadi also called Banjari, is a confluence of Sanskrit, Hindi, Marwari, Gujarati, Kannada and Telugu and bears the influence of the regional language of the place where they stay. For example, members in Hyderabad obviously adopted few words from the Deccani Urdu-Telugu dialect in their speech, even if they don’t have that particular word in their language.
Saying it with clothes
Banjara women’s attire is very fancy, colourful and attractive. One can identify them from a far distance due to this. Their jewellery is made out of silver; in case they lack the funds to buy silver, they make their jewellery with coins, steel and other metals. The only gold accessory they have is the nose pin.
Their men, on the other hand, have it fairly simple in terms of clothing. They wear dhoti and a kurta with a bright-coloured turban which is designed according to the climate of the desert. But, with time, the youngsters have taken to western clothes. Now, only the older generation wears such clothes; only 20 per cent wear the traditional attire and most of them are above 60 years of age.
Maybe in another decade, one might have to check books and browse the internet to find more about their tradition, culture and of course culinary.
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