Castes and Tribes of Southern India/Bhūmia
Bhūmia.— The Bhūmias are an Oriya caste of hill cultivators, found in the Jeypore Zamindāri. According to a tradition, they were the first to cultivate the land on the hills. In the Central Provinces they are said to be known as Baigas, concerning whom Captain Ward writes *[1] that " the decision of the Baiga in a boundary dispute is almost always accepted as final, and, from this right as children of the soil and arbiters of the land belonging to each village, they are said to have derived their title of Bhūmia, the Sanskrit bhūmi meaning the earth."
For the following note I am indebted to Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao. The Bhūmias have septs, e.g., bhāg (tiger) and nāga (cobra). A man can claim his paternal aunt's daughter in marriage. The marriage ceremonial is much the same as among the Bottadas. The jholla tonk (presents) consist of liquor, rice, a sheep or fowl, and cloths for the parents of the bride. A pandal (booth), made of poles of the sorghi tree, is erected in front of the bridegroom's house, and a Dēsāri officiates. The remarriage of widows is permitted and a younger brother usually marries his elder brother's widow. If a man divorces his wife, it is customary for him to give her a rupee and a new cloth in compensation. The dead are burned, and pollution lasts for nine days. On the tenth day a ceremonial bath is taken, and a feast, with copious supplies of liquor, is held. In parts of the Central Provinces the dead are buried, and two or three flat stones are set up over the grave.*[2]