Thanks to all who followed my photoessay documentation of my Heritige Trip on FaceBook.  I had every intention of posting on this blog, but unfortunately the strength of WiFi coverage was not so good and so there were extreme limits to what weebly could do.  Now that I am fully on line I hope to do a summary of the trip which was only partly about researching my family roots in India, partly connecting to my own connections, and discovering India as it is today.

In regards to the research I would have to say that a primary theme underscoring the whole experience was "Where are the women's voices?" It began on one of the first days in Ranchi when I was shown a very treasured book of the 50th anniversary of the Gossner Mission in what was then called Chotanagpur (today Jharkhand). I was glad to find this photo of the missionaries in 1871, soon after Doris and Ferdinand were married in Christ Church in Ranchi.  They are on the far right of the picture. Doris brother, who had not yet married is the 4th from the left man standing. And then 4th man to the right of him is Alfred Nottrott, who also may still have been single.  All these men are part of the story that i will be telling.  Note that all the men are named in the picutre, but not their wives. There were a few pictures of women clearly doing some of the mission work, but with little discription.

This discovery pointed to me early that I would be hard pressed in India to find more information about the story of the missionary women. I am hoping that I will have better luck in Germany.  It also is a matter that much is in old German and I am limited in my comprehension of what is written.

I would also discover that the story of the adivasi people, both men and women, also are hard to find.  Here the matter is primarily due to an oral tradition. Within families, I am told the stories of their family and clan are passed on. But with a generation being raised in the age of mass media those stories, are at risk of being loss. 

During our visit in Jharkhand we learned that our ancestor, Ferdinand Hahn, was well remembered in the region for his part in establishing the church and seminary, his civic engagement and advocacy for the people, and mostly for having written the grammar of Kurukh, the language of the Oraon tribe. The family spent 25 years in Lohardaga where Hahn lived so closely among the Oraon that he was able to compile the oral traditions and stoiries and begin tos translate the Bible into the native language.

However for the last 10 years of his life he lived and worked in a predominantly Santal region of Purulia, which is now in West Bengal,1901-1915. The Gossner Mission in Chotanagpur had started a tribal church, schools and Leprosy Asylum in the mid 19th century.

The work among the lepers in Purulia was started by a Heinrich Uffman and his wife Catherine. In around 1870 Purulia was a market crossroads. Where people would gather, lepers would gather. They were outcaste from society reduced to relying completely on alms for their livelihood. On market days they would be arrive from far and wide and line up along the side of the road, hoping for enough to sustain themselves. While they were a crowd of lepers, most of them sat in isolation even amongst each other. Showing their wounds aand deformaties in hopes of eliciting enough pity to be thrown a few small coins or crumbs. 

Both the Uffman and Hahn widows, Catherine and Doris continue on in Purulia after their husband's died.  To me this indicated that they were more involved in the running of the mission than anyone has ever recognized.

I wanted to share a brief description from Doris' Diary (translated By Ilse Nottrott Peetz) of where they stayed in Purulia. As I was finding the spot in the Diary i discovered that it was April 12th, 1910 that Ferdinand left Purulia and Chotanagpur for the last time.  He was ill and went to Mussoorie to recuperate, but instead died there, far from his people,  family and home in Chotanagpur. It was 106 years ago when things, not just for the Hahn family, but for the Mission started to unravel.  What would come out of the following difficult years for the Gossner Mission would eventually lead to the authonomy of the Adivasi church. In the transition there was much "forgetting" and yet the seeds of remembrance are sprouting again.  People are interested in their history. They recognize that a legacy was passed on to them through men like Ferdinand Hahn. The stories, including this one I tell, are beginning again to be told

The houses that Doris mentions below are the "big House", the "police  bangalow" may be same as the "red bangalow" (we saw the site which is now just rubble). The only problem is that there is no evidence of elevation nor a pipal tree. Perhaps there is yet another house I did not find, or in the course of history even the landscape is altered.  None of the grounds are kept today in the same fastideous manner the old missionaries kept their homes, walkways and gardens.To imagine those days in the early 20th century takes imagination.

She wrote:
"All together, we celebrated a very happy Christmas (1908) in the large house in Purulia. Soon after New Years, Wagners moved into the red bungalow which the Wenzlaffs had vacated in order to move to Lobardaga. Sister Marie lived in the small house at the lake where Beckmann’s had lived earlier."
And,
"At the end of May(1909) Paul (son-in-law) let us know by chance that the physician in Purulia had declared that Mariechen’s lungs were affected. Even then, we did not understand it as the beginning of the consumption. Only when we returned to Purulia in July and witnessed her breakdown, her deep suffering became clear to us, and also that something radical had to be done for her health. First we managed the move. We moved into the so-called Police Bungalow which had been renovated recently and stood at the quiet, separate south corner of the Mission compound, and Wagners moved into the large house close to the church. So it was convenient for our respective work. Paul was close to school and church, and father, who had given up congregational work and wanted to concentrate on his Secretarial (for Gossner Mission) and Asylum work, had it quieter. How pleasant and homey it was for us in this dear “senior home”, which seemed to be a better place to be in its elevated position under the large, glorious pipal trees and more healthful than those of the other missionaries in Purulia. Father recovered here more and more from his cough and was rather well, even into the cold season."

One of the biggest surprises for me, was to find in Jharkhand a keen interest in Ferdinand Hahn, my great great grandfather. Initially I thought it was an interest only among a few scholars of the Gossner Evangelical Luther (GEL) church and the Northwest GEL as a founding missionary of the church. However, when I went to Lohardaga (45 miles from Ranchi) I further discovered that he was remembered for his civic and advocacy leadership. He had layed a legacy of civil participation in the Church that continues on till today. Anyone studying the Jharkhand Adivasi history, language and culture would come across the name of Ferdinand Hahn. The fact is that they share a historical connection as part of their heritage with my family through our ancestor, Ferdinand Hahn. 

It was encouraging and humbling to find the recognition of Hahn's significant contribution in preserving Adivasi (tribal) language, culture, and identity. With the Jharkhand movement and the creation of the state in 2000 there is a growing awareness and interest in the unique history. While visiting several colleges and Universities in Ranchi of extensive efforts to promote tribal languages. The Central government had just passed a law permitting students to take exams in their mother tongue.

​Two of the missionaries recognized among Adivasis for their work in preserving language are my anscestors. In addition to Ferdinand Hahn's work among the Oraon (language Kurukh),  Alfred Nottrott worked among the Munda. He is a great great uncle.  His brother Ludwig Nottrott, my great great grandfather, also did some writing from Germany on the history of the Adivasi in this region.

Along with my father and cousin everywhere we went we were received with overwhelming hospitality. The fact that the descendents of these important figures in Adivasi history had come to visit was a great honor. Mutually we shared a common interest in the contributions of these anscestors. Together we share a rich heritage that these anscestors passed on to this generation.

Despite the fact that I am not researching this heritage as an academition I was greatly honored that they asked me to Give a lecture on Ferdinand Hahn at the First Public Lecture on Adivasi culture and language.

As you know the reason for my visit to Jharkhand was to learn more about my great great grandparents and the legacy they left. It was a remarkable trip to connect with the people who were also interested in learning more about this missionary that had contributed so much to the preservation of their language, for establishing education systems, and strengthening their church.

On one of the first days there was a celebration for the 150 years of the Seminary where Ferdiand Hahn had been ordained and also taught there. At the service was one of my first opportunities to speak to a large group of people.  I shared that I felt that we shared a common legacy through this man, here in this church where he had been married in 1871.

The dedication ceremony was followed by a cultural event where seminary students from both GTC and NDTC shared Adivasi dance.

I came to fully appreciate this event later in my stay as I learned more about the reasons for the split of the Gossner Evangelical Lutheran church into GEL and Northwest GEL.  The split had occured in the 1970s however in recent years a reconciliation process is underway.

Now 3rd of May is the anniversary of Ferdinand Hahn's death. I wrote an obituary as if it had been written in 1910 as a tribute in his memory

Ferdinand Hahn OBITUARY 1910
The death on the 3d of May 1910 of Rev Ferdinand P Hahn came as a heavy loss to his family, friends and colleagues. As one of the Gossner Mission’s oldest and most able missionaries Hahn served in India for 42 years living in Purulia, Lohardaga, Chaibassa and Ranchi, and influencing several other smaller towns throughout Chotanagpur and Assam. He died in Mussoorie in the Himalaya Mountains where he had gone for recuperation.

Of that day, his wife wrote:
“The funeral was set for 5 pm. A little meditation was spoken in English at the casket, on the porch where a small band of missionaries mourned along with myself and my two youngest daughters. Then began the heavy, heavy walk to the cemetery – through the bazaar, along the road called Camel’s Back, past strollers and shoppers, horses and carts, etc. – without singing, without bells ringing – only with a heart filled with pain. We walked on the same path which the dear Papa had loved to walk among the pine forests. Our sorrowful procession walked on towards the entrance of the cemetery. It is difficult to recall that only two weeks earlier he sat on that bench at its gate longing to get recover, live and return to his people in Chotanagpur. Oh, I could hardly walk, and it was good that someone offered me a dandy (bench carried by four coolies). I was carried the rest of the way. Chaplain Law, a slender man, stepped in front of the casket and guided the small procession down the sloping path, reading Psalms. Down the cascading stares, past three or four tiers where laid the graves of British soldiers, government officials, and perhaps a few missionaries. Maybe there lies also a fellow German? Down to the lowest terrace of the picturesquely arranged cemetery of Mussoorie. Looking out above, snowcapped mountains soar up in the cobalt sky. Looking down, rising from the valley, the patchwork emerald fields. But my heavy heart could now only see the four gentlemen lay the casket down into the tomb. Now there, my dear, dear husband is laid to rest until the great resurrection day. Resting from all his struggles, worries and works of this poor life. Now he sees the One in whom he has believed and whom he has loved above all. But we mourn after him and will never, never forget him.”

He was laid to rest far from family, work, and home in the northeast region of India referred to as ChotaNagpur. He served his God by pouring his life and devotion into the betterment of the indigenous people of that land. Despite minimal education his mission work included teaching at the seminary, administering schools and hospitals and equipping the ever growing German Evangelical Lutheran church of Chotanagpur and Assam. For most of his years of service he was the Secretary of the Gossner Mission. He had a reputation for keeping the grounds of all the mission stations where he lived orderly and full of beautiful flowers and gardens.

The centrality of his focus when he died was the leper asylum in Purulia. In 1884 with the help of the Mission to Lepers in India and the East he founded a leper asylum in Lohardaga. When later he and his family transferred to Purulia Bengal, the Scottish mission provided further assistance for the maintenance and expansion of a model asylum. This leper asylum, run as a community rather than an institution is unquestionably the largest in India and contained nearly 800 residents. Rev. Hahn was considered an authority on leper work.

He furthermore distinguished himself as a linguist in the investigation and publication of several of the aboriginal languages, primarily Kurukh, the language of the Oraon. The British Government, recognizing the valuable services he had rendered as a linguist and Good Samaritan, conferred upon him in the year of 1906 the golden medal of the first order of Kaiser-e-Hind. He was also recognized for assistance with relief efforts across Chotanagpur during several famines in the region. He is also remembered for his civil responsibilities, particularly in Lohardaga where he helped establish the town council, serving as its president in 1888 and 1898. His deep concern for the people was demonstrated in advocating on behalf of the community over legal matters. The fact that he was able to collect the folk tales of the people, was evidence that he lived so closely among them. In many ways he proved to be the original field worker for emergent Indian Anthropology.

Serving India from 1868, Ferdinand Hahn returned to his homeland in Germany only three times (1883, 1894 and 1906). Here Hahn was successful in stimulating the organization of an auxiliary branch for medical missionary work within the Gossner society and another branch for what is known in Germany as the Schwestern Arbeit, work for female nurses. He also traveled throughout England and Scotland and America, promoting and fundraising for the work of the Gossner Mission in India.
 In addition to contributions to the Asiatic Society and various journals on Missions Hahn also wrote:

• Sagen und Märchen der Kols (Legends and Tales of the Kols)
• Einführung in das Gebiet der Kolsmission  (Introduction to the field of Kol's mission)
• Grammar of Kuruk (the language of the Oraons)
• View into the Spirit World
• Kuruk Dictionary
• Introductory to New Testament (in Kurukh and Hindi)
• Translation of some of the books of the Bible into Kurukh

While his mother and father and one daughter and son passed on before him, he left behind a large family:  beloved wife, Catherine Dorthea (Doris) Hahn (nee Voss) continues on in India with three daughters, Gushie, Dora and Lieble; their oldest daughter Louis, and her husband K.W Nottrott, are American Evangelical Missionaries in nearby Chatisghar; Marie, suffers much with lung disease, and lives mostly in Almora, but her husband Paul Wagner continues Ferdinand’s work in Purulia; Theo, Frieda, Albert and Gottried live in America; only their middle son Johannes and his sister Louise remain in Germany.

It has been over a month since I have returned from India and I am still processing all that I learned and experienced there. On the 9th of February we went to visit a small town called Lohardaga about 1.5 hours west of Ranchi. This is where Ferdiand and Doris Hahn spent 20 of their years. As was the case with everywhere we went we were met with great hospitality.

Our first visit was the old mission compound where the schools and the church still stand. Though the original church literally collapsed one day and a new one was built next to the old foundation.

We visited the small graveyard that had unmarked graves. One we knew would have been for two year old Helene who died at the age of 2 in 1891.

Ferdinand and Doris moved to Lohardaga in 1878. Primarily because it is higher elevation than Chaibassa where they had been stationed for 3-4 years.  Years that had hit the mission hard with a cholora epidemic. Ferdinand had become so ill that he almost died, so it was agreed that a milder climate would help him regain his health.

While Lohardaga had been one of the Gossner Missions earliest centers, it really had dminished over the years. There was however a congregation of about 700 souls.  The leadership of the church had been a little neglected so at that time there was a leader named ManmasihDas Birsa who was setting himself up as the new Raja of the Oraons. Lohardaga is a dominantly Oraon area and were rapidaly losing their land and power to the outsider landlords called zamindars. Some how Ferdinand Hahn, who was just learning the language of the Oraon, was able to win over the hearts of the people and the church rapidly grew during his tenure. During these years Ferdinand Hahn got to know the people well. He wrote down their language and published a dictionary and grammar book that are still used today. He came to know the people well enough that they shared with him their oral stories, which he also wrote down. This work is remembered with much gratitude and it is for this reason that we were received with such honor. What he accomplished in Lohardaga alone is an important part of the history of the original people's of the land, the Adivasi.

After visiting the schools, church, old bungalow and graveyard, we went to the Mayor's house and was told that after lunch we would go to the town hall. It was then that I learned that he had been the founder of the town council and its first president in 1888. I had seen this picture of Ferdinand Hahn sitting with the town council, but did not know he was the leader of this group.  I am curious to find out if the formation of this city council, which like most governing structures in India has not changed since India gained its Independence from the British, is unique in that it was started by a German person and may have used a different model then the British used. Or was Ferdinand simply the first to be placed in charge of this district. How it seems to be remembered is that Hahn organized the natural leaders of the region to create their own civil government. Hahn, I learned, is remembered for being a fair and just advocate for the concerns of the citizens, so that even when he was not the president the citizens of the area would turn to him for advise or request his assistance.