BOOK REVIEWS 313
UPRETMI,O HAN. Malushahi: the Ballad of Kumaon. New Delhi: Sangeet
Natak Akademi, n.d. 73 pp., illustrations, Hindi and Kumaoni texts. Rs
301-.
Malushahi: the Ballad of Kumaon is at the same time a charming and stimulating volume
and a most frustrating one. Its considerable virtues derive from the author's intentto
record and make available in English a popular and complex regional epic, and
through this to convey the flavor and vitality of Kumaoni folk culture--and from several
striking aspects of the epic he documents. That it is such an interesting piece of folk
literature also leads to frustration, as there is so much more the reader would like to
learn, both about Malushahi itself and about Kumaoni culture.
Kumaon is the northernmost section of Uttar Pradesh, bordered on the east by
Nepal and on the west by Tibet. It stretches from the edge of the Gangetic plain to
the Himalayan ridgeline; most of the population lives in the foothills and river valleys.
Kumaon is quite diverse culturally. The bulk of the population speaks Kumaoni,
an Indo-European language, and practices Hinduism. Kumaoni-speakers include,
however, three major sub-groups: the " aborigines " (p. 2), who now occupy the lower
end of the local caste structure and include professional musicians who most frequently
perform Malushahi; the khasa, upper caste Hindus claiming Aryan origins in central
Asia; and more recent Rajput immigrants who began to enter Kumaon in the tenth
century. Kumaoni-speakers come into frequent contact with Tibetan-speaking pastoralists
and traders known locally as shauka, and all these groups are familiar through
trading and raiding with inhabitants of the trans-Himalayan Tibetan plateau itself.
Kumaon is a border region; its history reflects the importance of trade and the constant
interaction among these varied groups.
The story of Malushahi is lengthy and complex; it better fits the usual generic
criteria for epic than those of a ballad. Its central plot concerns the love of Malushahi,
usually a prince of the Katyuria dynasty, and Rajula, the beautiful daughter of a shauka
couple. Despite the early love of Rajula and Malushahi, and in some versions despite
their parents' pledge that they would be married, Rajula's parents insist on her betrothal
to a wealthy huniya (the local name for Tibetan). Much of the epic focuses upon her
escape from the huniya and her successful flight to Malushahi. Her reunion with
Malushahi does not end the story, however, as she insists that she will return to the
huniya and that Malushahi must rescue her to prove his devotion as she had hers.
Malushahi is somewhat less competent and controlled than she and is poisoned, either
by her parents or by the huniya. He is magically resurrected and the lovers reunite
for good. There is a large supporting cast of gurus, magicians, soldiers and magical
animals. Although Malushahi is a Hindu prince, the epic is not religious in character;
it is a secular romance with a great deal of magical practice tossed in for good measure.
Upreti does not provide a full text of the epic but rather records detailed outlines
of three performers' versions. Two of the performers are low caste musicians, while
the third is a high status Rajput. Upreti's outlines appear to represent a number of
performances by each of the men, so it is difficult to assess individual consistency, but
the differences among the three performers' versions are interesting and well explored.
Upreti's comparisons extend beyond the texts themselves to include musical features
as well.
We are given only the most general sense of what a performance of Malushahi
is like. Upreti notes that the epic is performed at weddings, fairs, musical gatherings
and on long winter evenings and that it does not require any sacred justification or
314 BOOK REVIEWS
ritual preface. Most of the epic is sung; particularly dramatic passages may be reiterated
in spoken prose for emphasis. The lead singer accompanies himself on the hurka,
an adjustable tension hourglass drum. When he is improvising melodically, two male
drone singers also join in.
Two aspects of the text itself are particularly interesting. First, the multiethnic
character of life in Kumaon is central to the story. Malushahi is from a khasa family;
his beloved is a shauka. Her parents wrongly betroth her to a Tibetan for economic
and political gain. The playing out of notions of ethnic characteristics and practices
is fascinating. The more striking feature, however, is the central and very active role
which Rajula plays. She is an exceptionally intelligent and courageous heroine, a
woman of considerable independence and initiative. Rajula is in fact much more
competent than her lover. She stands in marked contrast to the human heroines of
most plains Hindu epics, both sacred and secular, whose virtues are defined more by
what they do not do than by their accomplishments. Potential relationships between
such active notions of female heroism and the relatively less constrained roles of women
in the Kumaon region would be well worth pursuing.
My principal criticisms of the volume are tied to the questions which it does not
ask. The most significant gaps are in its descriptions of performers and the contexts
in which they operate. How are singers trained? How do they decide to become
performers? Are they paid? Do they perform only in their immediate neighborhood,
or are they itinerant? Upreti notes that, despite the secular nature of the epic itself,
members of the audience frequently go into trance. How do the Kumaonis interpret
this? To what extent might it be a manifestation of regional beliefs-associated with
the magical motifs of the story-in distinction to pan-Indian Hinduism? The photographs
and drawings accompanying the text are interesting and often very attractive;
nowhere, however, are captions provided.
On the whole Malushahi: the Ballad of Kumaon is a worthy book. It clearly meets
the author's goal of helping to maintain and make available a central piece of Kumaoni
oral tradition. Upreti never really strays very far from the narrative itself and does
not reflect the broader range of concerns a more analytical folklorist would have. I
would recommend the volume particularly to those interested in hill communities not
only in Kumaon but in Garhwal and Nepal as well and to scholars concerned with
questions of gender ideology in south Asia more generally; it is a provocative document.
Donald Brenneis
Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
Fuc~s,S TEPHENA. t the Bottom of Indian Society, The Harijan and Other
Low Castes. New Delhi : Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 1981.
viii+325 pp. Bibliography, indexes. Hardbound Rs 105.
There are nearly eighty million " Scheduled Caste " people and at least one hundred
million " Untouchables " in India. Little attention, however, has been paid to them
by anthropologists. The Rev. Stephen Fuchs has made a special study of the tribes,
the Untouchables and the low castes since 1934, when he first came to India. He has
published several important monographs concerning these groups based on his longterm
field research. The Children of Hari (1951), on the Nimar Balahis of Madhya
Pradesh, and Rebellious Prophets (1965), concerning the messianic (reform) movement,
are the most important of these works.