Manjunath has disagreed with me on bantu > bant′ derivation. I wrote an explanation to him on the comment box but due to my distraction with a phone call, I could not properly save it in time in the blog. Instead of rewriting the whole response again, on second thoughts, I decided to post additional explanation on the aspect.
Bant′ (Tulu), banta (Kannada) and bantu (Telugu) all these words basically imply the same meaning that is a reliable assistant and/or bodyguard. The Telugu meaning of Bantu, a suicide squad, is only expansion of the basic meaning. In early days, Bantu meant a professional bodyguard who can be relied upon. Possibly, this profession was practiced by some Bantu persons who migrated from their original homeland due to adverse living conditions. Subsequently, the word Bantu meant any reliable bodyguard. Thus the word Bantu became an indicator of a profession.(This is something like our practice to call any Jeep- like rugged field vehicle as jeep , often forgetting that Jeep is a specific brand name and not a type of vehicle.)
Manjunath feels that the Tulu/Kannada word banta came through Prakrit from the Sanskrit term bhata. We have tacitly assumed since school days that many of our words are derived from Sanskrit, the tatbhavas. However, my inferences suggest that Prakrit was one of the languages of the people of Pirak during early Vedic times of ca. 1700 BC. The words Prak and Prakrit appear to have been derived from the place name Pirak (cf. my posting 3.Pirak). Pirak was a multicultural, polylingual society where proto-Tulu, proto-Dravida and early Vedic societies coexisted. The term Sanskrit itself means refined and cultured language; it was refined from the preexisting prakrit and related languages.
So the Sanskrit word bhata could have been derived from the word bantu/ bant. The Sanskrit bhata means a soldier or guard; without connotation of any of the reliability, bodyguard tags implied in the said South Indian languages.
Presence of random African tribes in
It is said that the Nadava are mentioned in a 13th century inscription for the first time in Tulunad area. It was the period when Tulunad was under the suzerainty of Vijayanagar kingdom. Possibly, Vijayanagar administrators referred to local cultivating community as as nadava to distinguish from the soldiers brought along with them from Vijayanagar mainland. Presently, Nadava are a Kannada speaking community widespread in Uttara Kannada. According to the Nadava sources, about five centuries ago, five Nadava families migrated from Kundapur area and settled around Ankola and Gokarna in Uttara Kannada district. This probably serves as an example for the number of population/tribes that migrated in the history.
I put a question to Indo-Eurasian_research forum at yahoo groups about the etymology of 'bhaTa'. It looks like the word appears in the later Sanskrit and is derived from 'bhRta' meaning the same. Considering the root of the word is something other than Dravidian or African 'bant', the chances of African bantu tribe being part of South Indian bunts is remote. Also, I don't think bantu is the self-designation of those African communities. This word was used by an European linguist to represent the linguistic family they speak.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that that bhRta is quite remote from bantu!
ReplyDeleteWell, I deduced bant from bantu after I read about African bantu migration studies in the net.
My deduction may be right or may be wrong, only time has to tell.
But the intersting conclusion is that many south Indian languages ( at least (TuLu,Kannada and Telugu) have this word bant/banta/bantu in them that mean the same or have similar shades of meaning.
Your discussions with Srikanth on the word also focussed that Telugu word bantu now also means 'servant'.I felt that this is quite akin to its(banta/bante) present (rather in contemptuous vein) meaning, 'personal assistant'in Tulu and Kannada.
As quoted in wikipedia" "Bantu" means "people" in many Bantu languages. Dr. Wilhelm Bleek first used the term "Bantu" in its current sense in his 1862 book A Comparative Grammar of South African Languages, in which he hypothesized that a vast number of languages located across central, southern, eastern, and western Africa shared so many characteristics that they must be part of a single language group.The Bantu expansion was not so much a physical migration as it was a natural spread of language and knowledge throughout different populations, and societal groups (usually through inter-marriage or by small groups moving to new areas)."
ReplyDeleteIf the tulu Bunts were somehow linked to the African "Bantu",then there should be a great influence of Bantu language on tulu language.Or atleast there should be a seperate variation of tulu spoken by the Bunts related to bantu.(bantus,wherever they migrated imposed their language and the mixing of their language gave birth to new languages).
Secondly,the bunts donot have any resemblance to the African Bantus in their appearence.
Third Similar to the mogavera baris the bunts also follow the bari system which represent their place of origin
Prajwal,Thank you for the informative comments.Some clarifications:
ReplyDelete1. I am not implying that our 'Bunts' are directly derived from the African 'Bantu'. The African word now means 'people' in their language.I am essentially discussing the origin of the word 'bant/banta' in southern Indian languages including Tulu and Kannada.
2.The word 'Bant/u' must be quite ancient,having older roots in several African and Mediterranean languages,like Sumerian and Akkadian etc, that seem to have influenced in the remote past many Dravidian languages including Tulu.
3.I believe that at least a sect of Tulu people originated in north African-Mediterranean region migrated (later, ca 2000BC) to Pirak NW Indian subcontinent,lived their for some 1500 years, then migrated (ca 500 BC) to their present homeland.(Read my early postings).There are several words /roots which Tulu tribes picked up since Sumerian days( Ca 4000-2000 BC),most famous among them is the word "Oor"(=habitation/village). The 'Ur' was a famous city of Sumerian times.The word 'Tulu' itself still exists in several countries of the region especially in Ethiopia and Afghanistan.
Tulu language has grown or evolved independantly of African languages during the last 6000 years.But some fossil root words may exist still!
4.In the similar style we picked up the original word 'bant' which meant originally 'person' (in general)or later people of specific African tribe.
5.Tulu people used the word 'bant' or 'bante' initially for trusted person specifically a body guard who can be trusted.
6.Initially it ('bant')was a profession of trusted security guards especially for kings and chieftains before becoming a caste indicator.
7.Koti Chennayya from billava caste were professional bants (=body guards) for Ballala chieftains according to Pad-danas.
8.Since a large number of Tulu farmers, (okkaliga/nadava) were professional bants during the Tulu history, the word was subsequently attached to them as a caste indicator.
A very nice blog to read indeed. Quite interesting! Apart from the Tulu, Kannada word Bant, Bante-in Malayalam there is a word "Bandhu" which means a relative or a person who can be trusted as a relative. Is there any relation between the Tulu or Kannada word Bant, Bante with Malayalam word Bandhu or Bandham(means relation)?
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Prashob
Thank you Prashob for the nice words!
ReplyDeleteTulu and Malayalam shared (and continue to share) many common cultural and lingual features during the evolution.
Bante- Bandhu affiliation in Malayalam is quite natural because even in Tulu and Kannada Banta/Bante stands for a reliable/trusted assistant/relative.