The Chāran literary tradition is an indigenous Indian orature that has been performed by masterful troubadours on stage. This tradition provides a unique perspective on the preservation and performance of oral history through the integration of orality, memory, and mobility. Orality refers to the transmission of knowledge through spoken language, while memory refers to the retention and retrieval of information over time. Mobility, on the other hand, refers to the movement of individuals or communities. In this paper, the researcher tries to examine how these three faculties are integrated in the Chāran literary tradition and how this tradition provides insights into the complex ways in which cultural memory is created, transmitted, and transformed. 

The paper tries to address questions like, what does it mean by orality, memory, and mobility? How are orality, memory, and mobility integrated? How is the Chāran literary tradition a unique one? How are dāyro, memory, mobility, and history connected? How is dāyro a form of creative expression by Chāran performers? How is Chāran literature a mnemocultural literary tradition? This research paper uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyse the integration of orality, memory, and mobility in the Chāran literary tradition. The paper also analyses how Chāran performers embody the historical narratives and cultural memories of their communities, serving as living archives of a collective past and transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. 

The interplay between orality, memory, and mobility has been a topic of interest in literature, psychology, and social anthropology. Orality has been described as a fundamental aspect of human communication and a key factor in the development of culture and society. Memory, on the other hand, has been studied from various perspectives, including cognitive psychology and neuroscience, and has been found to play a crucial role in learning and knowledge acquisition. Mobility, as a discipline, has been concerned with a wide range of topics and expertise, all aimed at creating efficient, safe, and sustainable transportation systems for societies. 

Attempts have been made by anthropologists and historians to study orality as a discourse in many cultures. Walter J. Ong, an American Jesuit priest and scholar, was known for his extensive work on the topic of orality and the transition to literacy in human history. In his seminal works Orality and Literacy and “Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word,” Ong divides human communication broadly into two categories: oral and written. He claimed that oral communication, which relies on the use of sound and memory, is fundamentally different from written communication, which relies on the use of visual symbols and a stable, permanent record. In an oral culture, information is remembered through the use of mnemonic devices such as repetition, rhyme, and alliteration. These devices help to create a sense of rhythm and structure in speech that aids in memory retention. In contrast, written communication relies on the visual perception of symbols and does not require the same degree of memory recall. 

Professor Venkat Rao, while discussing the orality, memory, and mobility, has written extensively on the concept of mnemoculture. It refers to a way of understanding the past that is rooted in the collective memory of a community. This type of memory is not just an individual recollection of past events, but a shared understanding of history that is transmitted through cultural practices and traditions. Cultural memories are composed, expressed, and disseminated through the medium of the body. The body circulates as the quintessential medium of articulation. Talking about mnemocultures, Rao observes that, “mnemocultures are cultures of memory; mnemocultures draw on the planetary and ancestral memories. As mnemocultures embody and enact/perform memories they put to work the body persistently. Mnemocultures move in musical rhythms and performative reflections. Musically and acoustically composed verbal utterances and gestural inflections articulate these reflections” (Rao, 68). 

In the Chāran community, the mobility described by sociologist John Urry (1946-2016) intertwines seamlessly with the concepts of orality, as discussed by Walter Ong, and mnemoculture, as discussed by Prof. Venkat D. Rao. Orality, being the foundation of Chāran traditions, emphasises the spoken word as a primary mode of communication, connecting the community’s history, cultural narratives, and collective memory. This oral tradition, deeply rooted in mnemoculture, relies on memory and repetition to preserve cultural heritage. Through their mobile performances, Chāran bards become living archives, bridging the realms of oral communication, cultural memory, and dynamic mobility, exemplifying how the interplay of these elements sustains and enriches the Chāran way of life. 

John Urry divides movement into numerous groups, including: physical mobility refers to the movement of people, goods, and information across geographic spaces; social mobility refers to changes in social positions, economic status, or cultural identities within society; virtual mobility refers to interactions and experiences that take place in the digital sphere; and imaginative mobility refers to the exploration of various places and cultures in the mind through imagination, frequently involving imaginary travel. Mobility has a special meaning in the Chāran community. 

Ong, Rao, and Urry shed light on the varied character of orality and its nuanced relationship to human movement. Ong’s observations regarding the shift from orality to literacy highlight the transformational impact of communication modes across human history. Rao’s emphasis on orality in Indian culture is consistent with Urry’s idea of mobility, particularly physical and social mobility, as essential components of society’s dynamics. The study of orality, as seen through the eyes of anthropologists and scholars such as Walter Ong, Professor Rao, and John Urry, not only improves our understanding of specific cultures but also provides profound insights into the broader spectrum of human communication, memory, and the ever-changing dynamics of societal change. 

Chāran is a community currently living in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan states of India and in some provinces of Pakistan. The members of the community are known for their high literary taste, ingenuity, and loyalty and are believed to have always been ready to be martyred in the war. Bards of this caste were mostly court poets who used to compose poetry about the heroic deeds of their patron king. With the passage of time, they dispersed and settled in places like Rajasthan and Gujarat. Talking about the early accounts of the mobility of Chārans, Madhu Sethiya observes that Chārans were “pastoralist and in some cases also horse-breeders. They very often travelled up to the sea-coast in this process. They provided war-horses to the Rajput warriors expecting protection for their animal herds in return (Sethiya 16).

The Chārans, originally shepherds, engaged in poetic composition and singing as a pastime. Possessing not only sheep and cows but also horses, their migration from northern Indian territories to the princely state of Rajasthan provided a significant opportunity. Initially, they sold their horses to local princes in Rajasthan and some also became caretakers of the horses belonging to different kings. This interaction established a symbiotic relationship between the Chārans and the royalty of Rajasthan. As Sethiya asserts, “It has also been noted that the Chārans were very close associates of the Rajputs and were familiar with their ways and style of function… they provided war-horses to the Rajput warriors expecting protection for their animal herds in return” (Sethiya 15). 

Chārans, renowned for their eloquence, found ample opportunities as court poets in the royal courts, particularly serving the local princes in various princely states of Rajasthan. Their primary responsibility was to craft heroic poems extolling the valorous deeds of their patron kings. During the pre-1947 era, marked by political turbulence and frequent invasions in Rajasthan, local princes from the Rajput clan often engaged in battles. In addition to safeguarding their territories, Chārans played a crucial role in immortalizing the heroic exploits of their patron kings through their poetic compositions. This rich tradition resulted in an abundance of heroic poetry composed by Chārans, exemplified by poets like Dursa Arha (1535–1655). Dursa Arha, sponsored by rulers such as Mirza Raja Man Singh, Man Singh I, Maharana Amar Singh I, the eldest son of Maharana Pratap of Mewar, and Maharana Gaj Singh Rathore, authored significant works including Birud Chhihatari, Doha Solanki Viramdevji ra, and Jhulana Rav Surtan ra. These compositions stand as testament to the Chārans’ literary prowess and their integral role in preserving the valor and legacy of their patron kings.

However, it is important to note that the poetry recited by Chārans is composed in a mediaeval old Rajasthani language called Dingal. The poetry is usually written with high pitch and end rhymes. The art of composing poems in the high pitch of Dingal was passed down from generation to generation. As Sethiya observes, “Chārans received their intellectual training and knowledge about their profession within the family. An elderly Chāran instructed the young boys in the basics of poetry and prose, besides familiarising them with the skills of narration and recitation” (Sethiya 16–17). A similar observation has been made by Norman Ziegler, wherein he asserts that,

The Cāran specialists who functioned as the bards and poets of Rajput society received training for their hereditary profession both from learned members of their own community (who accepted students from a number of different families) and within their own families. Young boys would be taught the basics of poetic composition and narration as well as the specialized language they would need for their trade. Most of this learning was by precept and example, with emphasis on memorization and oral recitation (Ziegler 129). 

But unlike the other contemporary works outside the court culture, which are written in Braj or Hindi, they travelled to various parts of India. But the court poetry written in Dingal remained in the courts only during that time. Once the monarchy was over, the large-scale impact was explicit on the Chāran court poets and their social mobility. As Gordon Thompson puts it, 

The decline of feudalism, an increase in geographic mobility, and the availability of information reproduction in Western India has had a substantial impact on patronage for Barots. They still realize some income from the practice of keeping genealogies, but to do so is no longer as financially rewarding as it once was, nor is it as respectable (Thompson 3). 

Probably it was the medium of dāyro, a public gathering for cultural programs in Gujarat, that facilitated the dissemination of poems composed by Chāran Court poets to rural populations. Dāyro serves as a vital platform for performing oral history, embodying the essence of Chāran culture and identity. During dāyro, performers recite oral histories brimming with heroic tales, shaping historical events into cultural identity markers. Basu notes that dāyro participants recount narratives of patron kings, capturing battlefield heroism (Basu, 83). These performances not only convey history but also integrate it into the Chāran identity, underscoring the tradition’s role as a cultural preserver. Performers like Bhikhudan Gadhavi and Rajbha Gadhavi serve as oral historians, intertwining entertainment with heritage preservation. Through dāyro, Chāran literature converges with oral history, preserving regional kings’ mnemocultural legacy. This tradition, evolving through generations, becomes a living archive of the community’s past, demonstrating how oral performances ensure the mobility of cultural memory and heritage within the Chāran society.

Performers of dāyro come together on stage during numerous social and cultural occasions, particularly during the evening when the local public is free from their daily responsibilities. This timing enables community members and the local public to attend public gatherings and experience the oral performances that narrate their rich cultural history. It is important to note that the mobility of performers in dāyro plays a significant role. The performers have to go to different places in the various regions, not only Gujarat and Rajasthan, but wherever they have been invited. Since their patronage varies, they have to change and adapt according to the receptive audience and culture. So, in this way, the social mobility of dāyro performers in Chāran literary tradition plays a significant role. 

The Chāran literary tradition is a unique form of mnemocultural tradition in India. This tradition involves the oral performance of epic poems and songs by masterful troubadours known as Chārans. The Chāran performers use poetic language, music, and movement to embody the historical narratives and cultural memories of their communities (Basu, 82). They serve as living archives of a collective past, transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. The Chāran literary tradition highlights the interplay between memory, performance, and history, showing how these three faculties are intertwined. 

^{Chāran performer Bhikhudan Gadhavi performing in a dāyro organized by Gujarati Jalso, 2014.}

The Chāran tradition is connected with oral history, as the performers recite the oral historical events in their performances. When it comes to orality, the archives play an important role. Diana Taylor, an American academic and professor of performance studies, observes that the archive and the repertoire are two different but interconnected ways of preserving cultural memory. In her seminal work, The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas, she observes that cultural memory is preserved through two interconnected ways: the archive and the repertoire. The archive refers to the written and material records that are stored in institutions such as libraries, museums, and archives, while the repertoire refers to the embodied practices and traditions that are passed down through generations via performance. The external archiving is typically performed by recording instruments. On the other hand, the internal archive is about the body. The archival work done through the body brings forth inherited memories that improvise and traverse in its rhizomic rhythms. Thus, the body of individual performer would be considered as an integral part of the repertoire in Diana Taylor’s categorization of archives.

^{Dissemination and recitation of heroic poems in dāyro by Chāran performers Hareshdan Suru, Rajbha Gadhavi, Anubha Gadhavi and others at Kavi Dula Kāg Award 2020, Kagdham, Gujarat.}

They are not merely reciting historical events but are also reenacting them through their performances. This dynamic process of recitation and reenactment contributes to the preservation and transmission of cultural memory. The Chāran tradition serves as a means of preserving the collective memory of the community, as the performers use their performances to transmit knowledge from one generation to the next. The performances are not just recitations of historical events but also reenactments, which contribute to the rejuvenation of cultural memory. The Chāran performers play a crucial role in this process of cultural transmission. They are not just performers but also repositories of cultural memory. As they perform, they embody the historical narratives and cultural memories of their community. They serve as living archives of a collective past, transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next. Through their performances, they keep alive the traditions, rituals, and values of their community. 

As bards, the Chārans represent a unique fusion of social and physical mobility. They move from place to place physically while sharing their cultural history through performances and oral traditions. They successfully navigate many social environments by modifying their tales for various audiences, overcoming cultural divides, and reaffirming collective identity. The mobility of the Chārans highlights the dynamic ways in which traditions, memories, and tales continue to travel and alter cultural identities within their community and serves as a live witness to the complicated interaction between orality, mnemoculture, and the many types of mobility defined by Urry. 

Conclusion:

The Chāran literary tradition exemplifies the mobility of cultural memory in Indian society. Rooted in mnemoculture, it intertwines oral communication, memory, and storytelling. Through platforms like dāyro, Chāran literature traverses generations, weaving historical narratives into communal identity. In the context of mobility, preserving Chāran cultural memory highlights the importance of nurturing indigenous oral traditions. Research enables scholars to delve into these nuances, bridging scholarly understanding with the lived experiences of the community. This symbiosis enriches heritage by connecting the past to the present. Appreciating and perpetuating these traditions ensures the continuity of cultural mobility, enriching India’s diverse heritage for future generations. In embracing and understanding this mobile cultural force, we strengthen the intergenerational bond, facilitating a nuanced comprehension of the intricate dance between history and contemporary life. The Chāran tradition, a living legacy, becomes a beacon, illuminating the path between the past, present, and the legacy we leave for the future.