The word “Bant” is derived from African roots, just like the word “Tulu.” Other Dravidian languages of southern India, notably Kannada and Telugu, also contain the word “bant.” Currently, the term “bunt” designates a specific community in Tulunadu. However, the word “bant” (sometimes spelt as “bunt”) previously denoted and described a profession. It was a line of work for kings and chieftains’ closest bodyguards or warriors. According to Pad-danas, the legendary Tulu warriors Koti and Chennaya, who belonged to the baidyer/billava caste, worked as bodyguards for Ballala chieftains. Hanumantha (also known as Hanuman) was referred to be Rama’s banta in the senses of trusty and potent personal assistant.The Ramayana’s use of the word indicates how old the meaning of the word is.
My past posts on the Bantu>Bunt word origin may have given the false idea that our “Bunts” are directly descended from the African Bantu ethnic group. My earlier talks were centred on the word’s etymology rather than the same-named Tulu settlement. Let me spell the basic word “bant” and the community’s name “bunt” to avoid any misunderstandings.
The word “bant” has a very old (4000–2000 BC) origin, with its basic roots in a number of African and Mediterranean languages (such as Sumerian and Akkadian, etc.), which had an impact on the development of Dravidian languages, including Tulu. Our distinctive Tulu folk oral literature in the Pad-dana form has deeper origins in the like “oratures” (=oral+ literature) that are common in the African heritage.
In Africa, an ethnic group made up of 400 tribes and their languages is referred to as the “Bantu.” One of the most widely used Bantu languages is Swahili. These tribes were first classified as a Bantu group in 1862 by Dr. Wilhem H. I. Bleek (1827–1875). The Bantu group may have been given their current name relatively recently, but the word “bant” itself has a long history. The word “Bantu” as it is used now in Africa (ba+ ntu) denotes “people” in Bantu languages. Additionally, the word “bant,” which originally meant “persons” in proto-Tulu and related proto-Dravidian tribes that eventually migrated to southern India, has developed to mean “a dependable, strong person.”
Armed Kannada-Telugu Tulu Bants
Originally, the Tulu people used the term “bant” or “bante” to refer to a professional bodyguard who was typically trained in the “garodi” (=ancient martial arts gymnasium of Tulunadu). The word also has a similar connotation in Telugu and Kannada.
Since the time of the Kadambas, the Tulu chieftains, known as Alupas, had a sociopolitical and marital relationship with the Kannada monarchs. Between the 5th and 10th centuries, the Tulu “bants” served as warriors and bodyguards in the armies of the Chalukya Kannada and Kadamba rulers.
Bants are a subcaste of the Tamil Mutharaya and Telugu Mudiraju communities in Tamilnadu and Andhra Pradesh. At various points in history, the Mudiraju people have been farmers, fisherman, special soldiers, warriors, and members of the governing elite. According to legend, Vellala (or “Ballala”) Bants moved from Tulunad Karavali to Andhra around that time. This was due to the fact that between the seventh and eighth centuries AD, Kannada Chalukya monarchs ruled over a portion of Andhra. Chalukya monarchs established Telugu script during their rule, based on the pre-existing mediaeval Kannada script. (As a result, even now the Telugu script resembles the Kannada script)
As a community name, Bunt
The term was then adopted as a community name because many Tulu farmers (Okkaliga/Nadava/Nair) were professional bants during the Tulu and Dravidian history. The Tulu bunts have grown into a composite community group during the course of Tulunad’s history from many groups of people, including farmers known as Okkaligas, Alupas (later known as Alva), Nairs, Nadavas, and Jain converts.
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