The Nachni tradition emerged as a direct outcome of the influence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism that occurred in the sixteenth century, across the vast tract of eastern India. In the Chhotanagpur plateau (Manbhum) and the Rarh plains of West Bengal, the land of the Jhumur, this Vaishnavite cult profoundly transformed the different ethnic groups of the region. Local kings, feudal lords and landed peasantry became initiated into Vaisnavism and began to patronize oral and written literature on the eternal love of Radha and Krishna which developed in Kudmali, Nagpuria/Sadri, Mundari and other languages of this region. These compositions subtly blended in the melodies (raginis) of the various forms of the local Jhumur with the padabali kirtan style of the Vaishnavs and with time, also some ragas and talas of classical music.
The new Jhumur compositions were based on the Radha-Krishna theme, with the focus on earthly love, rather than celestial love. Since these compositions were presented in the courts (darbar) of kings and the estates of rich landlords , this form and style of Jhumur came to be known as Darbari or Nachnishalia or Zamindari Jhumur.
While the Bhumij chiefs were eager to overstep the boundaries of tribal practices and rise favourably in the eyes of local feudal chiefs and ‘genteel’ society (through a process of Rajputisation/Brahminisation) , the wave of Vaishnavism attracted the larger rural masses as well, transcending barriers of caste and creed. For rural communities of Manbhum, who were practitioners of the traditional folk Jhumur of yore, that depicted the joys and sorrows of daily life, the incorporation of kirtan elements into Jhumur symbolized their desire to be a part of mainstream Hinduism. This was true of the Bhumij in particular.
The Jhumur songs were artistic expressions of this craze for assimilation with the Hindu people. The Radha-Krishna devotion and the padabali kirtan found their way into the existing songs, reflective of rural life and ethos. The Vaishnav-inspired Jhumur however was not a practice of Vaishnavism. It represented the deification of Krishna, Radha and the Gopis to suit the tribal worldview. These songs represented the formation of a sub-culture outside the urban kirtan traditions. The songs focus on the physical love of Radha and Krishna and in its extempore form, the Jhumur offers the best medium of expression of the repressed desires and emotions of all men and women, especially peasants in open fields without inhibitions. For the village audience, the Jhumur became both celebratory and devotional. The rhythmic beats of the percussive instruments and the unique, catchy lyrics make the song performance as enjoyable as a jatra or a dhop.
On the other hand, the Darbari Jhumur composers, the poets of the royal courts, taking stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the Harivamsa and of course, the Geetagovinda, fused the rhythmic flavours of their lands, i.e. the Khemta, Arkhemta, Patia-Mendha, Rijha-matha, Domkoch, Jhinga Pulia, Bagalia and Bhaduriya with the ragas and raginis of classical music to create a unique vocal narrative. These songs were considered to be more polished than its pastoral counterpart, the Bhaduriya Jhumur (a broad umbrella for the remaining tunes).
By the 1800s, feudal lords, local zamindars and kings of the region, recently Hinduized and all now connoisseurs of the form, had begun patronizing groups of these Jhumur performers– consisting of the Rasik or the lead male performer and his Nachni, as a more affordable option than patronizing Baijis (the trained courtesans performers from the mainstream royal court traditions). The singers of Jhumur or Jhumurias were often the Rasik or teacher/trainer. The role of the Rasik, who was a skilled musician, gifted singer, poet and dancer himself, was to compose, sing and train the Nachni, the female performer.
The Nachnis were usually young women or even girls (generally gifted with beauty and talent), who would be lured or procured from poor families and brought to a Rasik for training. Sadly, this would immediately render her persona non grata among her relatives who would even go as far as to perform her funeral rites, as if she were dead. Apart from kings and big landowners, many rich peasants too would “keep” such Nachnis; keeping a Nachni was considered a status symbol among the feudal landlords.
This patronage of the form continued till the middle of the twentieth century, with land often being donated to the composers and performers. Sili, Panchkot, Mayurbhanj and Jhargram emerged as some of the most well-known courts of Jhumur performances. Eminent poets included Binandiya Sing, Gauranga Singha and Bhapritananda Ojha. Often kings and chieftains too became composers and performers. Nilmani Singh Deo, the renowned zamindar turned Raja of Panchkot, who died at the turn of the nineteenth century, is one such example. To this day, the Jhumur composed by past kings and feudal lords are referred to as Rajar-Jora.
At the royal court, during a nachni programme, the Rasik /jhumuria would be seated next to the king and would be invited to sing before the Nachni took centre stage. However, many times, the Rasik dressed as Krishna, and accompanied by his colourfully and richly attired Nachni, would present both song and dance, to the tune of the Darbari Jhumur. The Rasik would first offer his salutations to the audience (Asanghura) and to the performance space in the name of Ganesh and Saraswati (Asan Banda); the Nachni would then offer hers and the music and dancing would begin, presenting a variety of postures and steps. The Nachni dance principally is based on two rhythmic structures, that of mota tala, or the slow rhythmic part which generally starts each of the presentations, often acting as the introduction to them and the tin tala, or the faster sixteen beat rhythm structure. The whole performance would be replete with sensuality and ecstasy, that is, primarily, sringara rasa. They would be accompanied by musicians on the dhol, dhamsa and madol, flute and shehnai.
But with the disappearance of the traditional patronage of rich landlords and kings, the ethos of this tradition changed. Today, nachnis and rasiks are found mainly in Purulia. Nachnis, generally supported by their rasik or other patrons, are obliged to perform at public arenas and private functions - different fairs and rural festivals and so on, sometimes organized by the government. As a result, the musical instruments too have changed. The large and heavy dhamsha is no longer used since it is difficult to carry it around and has been replaced by smaller instruments like the tabla.
While, as before, the girls (not necessarily possessed of performance skills) are usually from the lowest economic strata of the society who have been sold to (against a meagre payment) or lured into the profession, many are from hereditary musical families as well. Most nachni women are usually from the scheduled caste groups such as Kurmi, Mahato or tribes like the Bhumij, Munda and Oraon. Following tradition, she is considered dead by her family and suitable rites performed.
The Nachni today observes all norms of a married woman and wears sindur or the vermillion powder on her head, although she has no position in her rasik’s family. She has to live the life of a concubine in an outhouse provided by the rasik and cannot enter the main house of the rasik. She and her children do not have any right to the rasik’s property and the children cannot use the father’s name. Yet she has to observe all the rituals of a widow once the rasik dies. The ‘upgradation’ of the tribal peoples of Jungle Mahal into Hindu traditions had clearly brought with it several social evils.
While rasiks continue to be regarded as connoisseurs of the art, nowadays, a rasik may not even be a performer. He acts more like a manager, hiring a group of musicians and accompanists for the Nachni, and is not even present on stage during performance. A nachni often performs alone and is the main crowd puller at fairs and local festivals. But still the income from the performance is principally his, and for him to distribute and spend. Rasiks have ‘legal’ families who treat the nachni like an outcast, but readily live off her earnings. The “traditional” rasik however performs on stage, usually on percussion and sometimes, vocals and dance as well. The more well-known of the Nachni- Rasik performance duos, are invited to perform in local fairs and festivities during the ‘season’.
But the art of the nachni has debased and there are very few nachnis who belong to the traditional order. Many nachnis today do not know Darbari Jhumur but sing and dance because it staves off poverty and destitution. Costumes have changed : whereas the traditional nachni would always wear ‘chust” (tight) pajamas under her skirts and robes or sari , and not reveal any skin, the modern day ‘look’ is georgette saris, fitted, contour-outlining blouses, glittering waistbands, sans chust pajamas. Heavily made up, they come on stage, and to the accompaniment of harmoniums, trumpets, clarinets and tablas swing and gyrate to a frenzy. The Nachni Shaliya Jhumur songs are known for their varied themes of devotion, love, sensuousness, latent or blatant eroticism and most often innuendo ridden lyrics.
There are no patterned grammatical movements to her dance – the nachni expresses the narrative of the song and shapes her performance according to the taste of the audience. The nachni performance, much sought after by the masses in the region, is considered to be seductive and titillating, bordering on the vulgar. In fact as a dance form, the Nachni Nach does not even approach other Jhumur based dances of the region – the Chho and the Natua and unlike locally famous performers of Chhau and Baul traditions of Purulia, the Nachni tradition exists in the margins. Often times, the younger nachnis give in to audience demands for renditions of popular Bollywood songs, after performing the introductory song.
After the performance, a nachni often ends up with men who have paid her rasik for her ‘services’. And till recently, she was shunned by the very audience she enthralled. The higher castes, in particular were afraid to cross her shadow for fear of becoming polluted. Thus, at the end of her life, the ostracized nachni lived in penury in the shadows of the society she has served for her entire life. She was even denied her the right to be cremated as a member of the society. Till about a decade ago, when a nachni died, her body would be dragged by a rope tied around her feet and flung into a garbage pit.
However, in recent times, some nachnis of Bengal have begun to receive a modicum of respect and recognition. The late Sindhubala Devi in particular was a regular artist with All India Radio since 1975 and was awarded the “Lalan Puraskar” by the Folk Tribal Cultural Centre of the Department of Information & Cultural affairs, Government of West Bengal in 1993 for her contribution in “Jhumur” folk music of Purulia. Kidnapped by girl runners from her village at the age of 12, Sindhubala was eventually abandoned by her captors after they failed to find a buyer for her because of a tattoo on her forehead. She was then taken in by a zamindar, who became her rasik for 26 years. After he died, she continued to be the nachni of the zamindar`s nephew, a good 26 years younger her. He remained her rasik, even two decades after she had stopped dancing, possibly for the monthly dole of Rs 1,500 that she received from the Central Government.
It took twenty-five years for another nachni, Postobala Devi, to receive the award, in 2018. A daughter of a nachni herself, Postobala has been working for the rehabilitation and social recognition of the nachnis. She is the secretary of a Nachni welfare centre, Manbhum Lokosanskriti o Nachni Unnayan Samity set up by Kolkata-based NGO Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, set up in 2004 in Purulia town to help nachnis fight for their rights and recognition. Postobala was also invited to conduct a workshop on Jhumur at the Rabindra Bharati University. Another senior performer, Bimala Devi, a senior nachni too has received a special awards from the government. Postobala, Bimala and Charubala are all senior nachnis who had made a name for themselves. They no longer perform.
Locals in Purulia agree that attitudes in recent years have been changing and the stigma is reducing, marginally. Many nachnis live with or are married to their rasiks, live reasonably normal lives and that when they die, they are not discriminated against and are cremated like any other member of society. With aid and performance opportunities from the West Bengal government, including a monthly stipend/pension opening out to them, their children too are getting an education. But the small monthly allowance that these artists (and that too artist ID card holders only) receive is insufficient and the women are compelled to take on odd jobs or work as daily wage earners even.
There are only five nachnis in Purulia today who perform in the traditional manner, Jyotsana Debi, a nachni says. But that being said, there are numerous other dancers, managed by "manager-rasiks", who continue to provide "cheap" entertainment.