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In Keonjhar the Juang are found in four Pirha (maximal territorial organization) and their figure in Dhenkanal includes those living in Pallahara. The Juang of Cuttack, Koraput and Mayurbhanj as enumerated by the 1961 Census are laborers who migrated to such place for a temporary period for construction work. Out of the total population 49.64 per cent are females and 26 person live in urban areas. In education they are far behind the general mass and their percentage of illiteracy is as much as 95-48 in general which is 91.36 for males and 99.56 for females.
The Juang cover a Block of hill and forest country in south and west of Keonjhar, on the hills and plains of Pallahara to the east and in the plains villages of Dhenkanal along the southern border. Keonjhar is viewed to be the true "mati pritivi" of the Juang, where they migrated to Pallahara and Dhenkanal. Keonjhar located in northern part of the State lies between 21o-1' North and 22 o-10' North latitudes and 85 o-11' East and 86 o-22' East longitudes and has a total area of 3,216.5 sq miles or 8,330.7 sq. Kms. It is broadly divided into Upper and Lower Keonjhar, the lower area consisting of a fertile and thickly populated plain, and the hill and forest clad upper part being the abode of the Juang and Pauri Bhuinya. The Juang area of Keonjhar is divided into four pirhs, namely, Jharkhand, Sathkhand, Rebena and Kathua, which are the maximal traditional territorial units. These pirhs have a roughly north to south alignment along a range of hills to the west and south of Keonjhargarh, the dis trict headquarters. Kathua, Satkhand and Jharkhand pirhsfrom the northern spatial unit which is separated from Rebena pirh by the river Samakoi. In the centre of the Juang country lies Gonasika at the slope of Gupta-ganga pahar, which is the source of the River Baitarani.
The Juang of Jharkhand pirh consider themselves superior to the Juang of the other pirhs. They state two reasons to account for their superiority- the remote hilly tract they inhabit, and the populousness of their pirh. Next to Jharkhandias (inhabitants of Jharkhand pirh), the Satkhandias place themselves in higher status. The Satkhand pirh comprises of seven villages, six Juang and one Bhuinya, but the fact that they are the original Juang of the land and they live near source of the sacred Baitarani river enhances their superiority. the Kathua and Rebena are considered lower because the Juang of these pirhs are mostly plains dwellers and they have long since lived in the close proximity to the caste -hindus. Further more, Rebena and Kathua pirhs are inhabited mostly by Juang laborers living in multiclan villages.
Dhenkanal lies between 20 o-29' north and 21 o-41 north latitudes and between 84 o-16' east and 86 o-2' east longitude with an area of 4,226 square miles or 10,945.4 square kilometers. The Juang are found mainly in Pallahara, Kamakhyanagar and Sadar Subdivisions of the district. They are spread over a wide a wide area and live along with the neighboring caste Hindu. Homogeneous Juang villages are rarely met with in Dhenkanal. Though their number in Pallahara can be counted on one's fingers. As a result of prolonged interaction with the Oriya people the Juang of Dhenkanal have lost most of their traditional customs, and have dropped off many traits which are typical of Juang culture. They are looked down by their neighboring caste people, their customs are considered to be queer, and their dance and song nothing but open play of sex. In order to raise their social status the Juang of Dhenkanal are struggling hard to give up their traditional customs, their change dance and song, and their dress and ornaments. They are rapidly taking up Oriya customs and manner and are developing an attitude of hatred for their parental way of life. They view the primitive Juang of Keonjhar and Pallahara as most backward. Unlike the Juang of Keonjhar, they do not have pirh organization with Sadar to settle major issues. Their political organization called "Jatiana Sabha" (lit; the caste-assembly) is more or less a blue-print of the Caste Panchayat of the Teli (Oolmen) and through this organization they try to reform their society . Steps are being taken by them to prohibit liquor drinking, beef-eating, Changudance and widow remarriage, etc. They try to assimilate themselves with the Oriya way of life so much so that they are in a phase of fore-getting their language. It is really astonishing that they have for-gotten many Juang terms and have adopted Oriya words as substitutes to convey their ideas.
The Juang classified themselves into two sections, the thaniya (lit;those who dwell in their original homeland) and the Bhagudiya (lit;those who have field). The Thaniya live in Juang Pirhas of Keonjhar and all others are Bhagudiya. Keonjhar and more specifically Gonasika is viewed to be the birth-place of the Juang. The Juang of Keonjhar claim themselves to be the autochthones of the place. It is from Keonjhar that the Juang have fled to Pallahara and Dhenkanal though true reason of such migration is not known. The Juang legends give multiple reasons for such migration. It is said that in good old days the king at Keonjhargarh used to collect infants for annual sacrifice to the Goddess Durga on the occasion of Dasara. The first born child of each family was considered to be proper for such sacrifice and the Juang fell a prey to such whim of the king. Babies were collected from Juang villages, and the Juang could not protest for the fear of the king. To keep themselves away from such criminality some of the Juang secretly fled to remote forest and woods of Pallahara and Dhenkanal and settled down there for good.
It is also presumed that a good number of Juang fled to Dhenkanal and Pallahara during the Bhuinya rebellion in the year 1861. The rebellion initiated by the Bhuinya under the leadership of Dharanidhar Bhuinya, the adopted son of the then Maharani, was directed against the king. The Juang also joined their hands with the Bhuinya and many had to sacrifice their life in the battle. This created a great havoc in the peace-loving Juang of the place and out of terror some deserted Pallahara and traveled all the way to take shelter in Pallahara and Dhenkanal.
The factor of ostracism leading to the influx of Juang families to Dhenkanal and Pallahara is, how-ever, considered to be most important by the Juang of Keonjhar. The Juang of Keonjhar have a tribal assembly of their own to decide judicial matters. Their political organization enforces strict rules of Punishment for the offenders of the society. The persons violating incest taboos are immediately driven out of the village and all their belongings are sold or thrown away. The offenders are also debarred from taking shelter in the neighboring villages and they, thus travel long distances to settle down in far-off places. The Juang of Keonjhar hold the view that the migration of Juang families, on account of incest cases, has formed the bulk of Juang population in Pallahara and Dhenkanal. These Juangas, otherwise called Bhagudiya are always remembered by the Juang of Keonjhar who offer special shares of offerings to " Na sa Bhaqudi" ( lit; nine hundred Bhagudiya) in village rituals.
Minor dialectal variations are found in all these classes of Juangs, though major dialectal variation is found between Juang spoken in Keonjhar and Dhenkanal of Orissa. Dasgupta’s work gives a detailed picture of the dialectal variations.
Copyright CIIL-India Mysore