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Title: The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India
Volume II
Author: R. V. Russell
Release Date: July 6, 2007 [EBook #22010]
Language: English
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The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India
By
R.V. Russell
Of the Indian Civil Service Superintendent of Ethnography, Central
Provinces
Assisted by
Rai Bahadur Hira Lal
Extra Assistant Commissioner
Published Under the Orders of the Central Provinces Administration
In Four Volumes
Vol. II.
Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London.
1916
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II
Articles on Castes and Tribes of the Central Provinces in Alphabetical
Order
The articles which are considered to be of most general interest
are shown in capitals
Agaria (_Iron-worker_) 3
Agharia (_Cultivator_) 8
Aghori (_Religious mendicant_) 13
AHIR (_Herdsman and milkman_) 18
Andh (_Tribe, now cultivators_) 38
Arakh (_Hunter_) 40
Atari (_Scent-seller_) 42
Audhelia (_Labourer_) 45
BADHAK (_Robber_) 49
BAHNA (_Cotton-cleaner_) 69
Baiga (_Forest tribe_) 77
Bairagi (_Religious mendicants_) 93
Balahi (_Labourer and village watchman_) 105
Balija (_Cultivator_) 108
BANIA (_Merchant and moneylender_) 111
Subcastes of Bania
Agarwala.
Agrahari.
Ajudhiabasi.
Asathi.
Charnagri.
Dhusar.
Dosar.
Gahoi.
Golapurab.
Kasarwani.
Kasaundhan.
Khandelwal.
Lad.
Lingayat.
Maheshri.
Nema.
Oswal.
Parwar.
Srimali.
Umre.
BANJARA (_Pack-carrier_) 162
Barai (_Betel-vine grower and seller_) 192
Barhai (_Carpenter_) 199
Bari (_Maker of leaf-plates_) 202
Basdewa (_Cattle-dealer and religious mendicant_) 204
Basor (_Bamboo-worker_) 208
Bedar (_Soldier and public service_) 212
Beldar (_Digger and navvy_) 215
Beria (_Vagabond gipsy_) 220
Bhaina (_Forest tribe_) 225
Bhamta (_Criminal tribe and labourers_) 234
Bharbhunja (_Grain-parcher_) 238
Bharia (_Forest tribe_) 242
BHAT (_Bard and genealogist_) 251
Bhatra (_Forest tribe_) 271
BHIL (_Forest tribe_) 278
Bhilala (_Landowner and cultivator_) 293
Bhishti (_Water-man_) 298
Bhoyar (_Cultivator_) 301
Bhuiya (_Forest tribe_) 305
Bhulia (_Weaver_) 319
Bhunjia (_Forest tribe_) 322
Binjhwar (_Cultivator_) 329
Bishnoi (_Cultivator_) 337
Bohra (_Trader_) 345
BRAHMAN (_Priest_) 351
Subcastes of Brahman
Ahivasi.
Jijhotia.
Kanaujia, Kanyakubja.
Khedawal.
Maharashtra.
Maithil.
Malwi.
Nagar.
Naramdeo.
Sanadhya.
Sarwaria.
Utkal.
Chadar (_Village watchman and labourer_) 400
CHAMAR (_Tanner and labourer_) 403
Chasa (_Cultivator_) 424
Chauhan (_Village watchman and labourer_) 427
Chhipa (_Dyer and calico-printer_) 429
CHITARI (_Painter_) 432
Chitrakathi (_Picture showman_) 438
Cutchi (_Trader and shopkeeper_) 440
DAHAIT (_Village watchman and labourer_) 444
Daharia (_Cultivator_) 453
Dangi (_Landowner and cultivator_) 457
Dangri (_Vegetable-grower_) 463
DARZI (_Tailor_) 466
Dewar (_Beggar and musician_) 472
Dhakar (_Illegitimate, cultivator_) 477
Dhangar (_Shepherd_) 480
Dhanuk (_Bowman, labourer_) 484
Dhanwar (_Forest tribe_) 488
DHIMAR (_Fisherman, water-carrier, and household servant_) 502
Dhoba (_Forest tribe, cultivator_) 515
DHOBI (_Washerman_) 519
Dhuri (_Grain-parcher_) 527
Dumal (_Cultivator_) 530
Fakir (_Religious mendicant_) 537
ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME II
31. Aghori mendicant 14
32. Ahirs decorated with cowries for the Stick Dance at Diwali 18
33. Image of Krishna as Murlidhar or the flute-player, with
attendant deities 28
34. Ahir dancers in Diwali costume 32
35. Pinjara cleaning cotton 72
36. Baiga village, Balaghat District 88
37. Hindu mendicants with sect-marks 94
38. Anchorite sitting on iron nails 98
39. Pilgrims carrying water of the river Nerbudda 100
40. _Coloured Plate_: Examples of Tilaks or sect-marks worn on
the forehead 102
41. Group of Marwari Bania women 112
42. Image of the god Ganpati carried in procession 116
43. The elephant-headed god Ganpati. His conveyance is a rat,
which can be seen as a little blob between his feet 120
44. Mud images made and worshipped at the Holi festival 126
45. Bania's shop 128
46. Banjara women with the _singh_ or horn 184
47. Group of Banjara women 188
48. Basors making baskets of bamboo 210
49. Bhat with his _putla_ or doll 256
50. Group of Bhils 278
51. Tantia Bhil, a famous dacoit 282
52. Group of Bohras at Burhanpur (Nimar) 346
53. Brahman worshipping his household gods 380
54. Brahman bathing party 384
55. Brahman Pujaris or priests 390
56. Group of Maratha Brahman men 392
57. Group of Naramdeo Brahman women 396
58. Group of Naramdeo Brahman men 398
59. Chamars tanning and working in leather 416
60. Chamars cutting leather and making shoes 418
61. Chhipa or calico-printer at work 430
62. Dhimar or fisherman's hut 502
63. Fishermen in dug-outs or hollowed tree trunks 506
64. Group of Gurujwale Fakirs 538
PRONUNCIATION
_a_ has the sound of _u_ in _but_ or _murmur_.
_a_ has the sound of _a_ in _bath_ or _tar_.
_e_ has the sound of _é_ in _écarté_ or _ai_ in _maid_.
_i_ has the sound of _i_ in _bit_, or (as a final letter)
of _y_ in _sulky_
_i_ has the sound of _ee_ in _beet_.
_o_ has the sound of _o_ in _bore_ or _bowl_.
_u_ has the sound of _u_ in _put_ or _bull_.
_u_ has the sound of _oo_ in _poor_ or _boot_.
The plural of caste names and a few common Hindustani words is formed
by adding _s_ in the English manner according to ordinary usage,
though this is not, of course, the Hindustani plural.
Note.--The rupee contains 16 annas, and an anna is of the same value
as a penny. A pice is a quarter of an anna, or a farthing. Rs. 1-8
signifies one rupee and eight annas. A lakh is a hundred thousand,
and a krore ten million.
PART II
ARTICLES ON CASTES AND TRIBES
AGARIA--FAKIR
Agaria
1. Origin and subdivisions.
Agaria. [1]--A small Dravidian caste, who are an offshoot of the Gond
tribe. The Agarias have adopted the profession of iron-smelting and
form a separate caste. They numbered 9500 persons in 1911 and live
on the Maikal range in the Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur Districts.
The name probably signifies a worker with _ag_ or fire. An Agaria
subcaste of Lohars also exists, many of whom are quite probably Gonds,
but they are not included in the regular caste. Similar Dravidian
castes of Agarias are to be found in Mirzapur and Bengal. The Agarias
are quite distinct from the Agharia cultivating caste of the Uriya
country. The Raipur Agarias still intermarry with the Rawanbansi
Gonds of the District. The Agarias think that their caste has existed
from the beginning of the world, and that the first Agaria made
the ploughshare with which the first bullocks furrowed the primeval
soil. The caste has two endogamous divisions, the Patharia and the
Khuntia Agarias. The Patharias place a stone on the mouth of the
bellows to fix them in the ground for smelting, while the Khuntias
use a peg. The two subcastes do not even take water from one another.
Their exogamous sections have generally the same names as those of
the Gonds, as Sonwani, Dhurua, Tekam, Markam, Uika, Purtai, Marai,
and others. A few names of Hindi origin are also found, as Ahindwar,
Ranchirai and Rathoria, which show that some Hindus have probably been
amalgamated with the caste. Ahindwar or Aindwar and Ranchirai mean
a fish and a bird respectively in Hindi, while Rathoria is a _gotra_
both of Rajputs and Telis. The Gond names are probably also those of
animals, plants or other objects, but their meaning has now generally
been forgotten. Tekam or _teka_ is a teak tree. Sonwani is a sept
found among several of the Dravidian tribes, and the lower Hindu
castes. A person of the Sonwani sept is always chosen to perform
the ceremony of purification and readmission into caste of persons
temporarily excommunicated. His duty often consists in pouring on such
a person a little water in which gold has been placed to make it holy,
and hence the name is considered to mean Sonapani or gold-water. The
Agarias do not know the meanings of their section names and therefore
have no totemistic observances. But they consider that all persons
belonging to one _gotra_ are descended from a common ancestor, and
marriage within the _gotra_ is therefore prohibited. As among the
Gonds, first cousins are allowed to marry.
2. Marriage.
Marriage is usually adult. When the father of a boy wishes to arrange a
marriage he sends emissaries to the father of the girl. They open the
proceedings by saying, 'So-and-so has come to partake of your stale
food.' [2] If the father of the girl approves he gives his consent by
saying, 'He has come on foot, I receive him on my head.' The boy's
father then repairs to the girl's house, where he is respectfully
received and his feet are washed. He is then asked to take a drink of
plain water, which is a humble method of offering him a meal. After
this, presents for the girl are sent by a party accompanied by tomtom
players, and a date is fixed for the marriage, which, contrary to the
usual Hindu rule, may take place in the rains. The reason is perhaps
because iron-smelting is not carried on during the rains and the
Agarias therefore have no work to do. A few days before the wedding
the bride-price is paid, which consists of 5 seers each of _urad_
and til and a sum of Rs. 4 to Rs. 12. The marriage is held on any
Monday, Tuesday or Friday, no further trouble being taken to select
an auspicious day. In order that they may not forget the date fixed,
the fathers of the parties each take a piece of thread in which
they tie a knot for every day intervening between the date when the
marriage day is settled and the day itself, and they then untie one
knot for every day. Previous to the marriage all the village gods
are propitiated by being anointed with oil by the Baiga or village
priest. The first clod of earth for the ovens is also dug by the
Baiga, and received in her cloth by the bride's mother as a mark
of respect. The usual procedure is adopted in the marriage. After
the bridegroom's arrival his teeth are cleaned with tooth-sticks,
and the bride's sister tries to push _saj_ leaves into his mouth,
a proceeding which he prevents by holding his fan in front of his
face. For doing this the girl is given a small present. A _paili_
[3] measure of rice is filled alternately by the bride and bridegroom
twelve times, the other upsetting it each time after it is filled. At
the marriage feast, in addition to rice and pulse, mutton curry and
cakes of _urad_ pulse fried in oil are provided. _Urad_ is held in
great respect, and is always given as a food at ceremonial feasts
and to honoured guests. The greater part of the marriage ceremony
is performed a second time at the bridegroom's house. Finally, the
decorations of the marriage-shed and the palm-leaf crowns of the bride
and bridegroom are thrown into a tank. The bride and bridegroom go
into the water, and each in turn hides a jar under water, which the
other must find. They then bathe, change their clothes, and go back
to the bridegroom's house, the bride carrying the jar filled with
water on her head. The boy is furnished with a bow and arrows and
has to shoot at a stuffed deer over the girl's shoulder. After each
shot she gives him a little sugar, and if he does not hit the deer
in three shots he must pay 4 annas to the _sawasa_ or page. After
the marriage the bridegroom does not visit his wife for a month in
order to ascertain whether she is already pregnant. They then live
together. The marriage expenses usually amount to Rs. 15 for the
bridegroom's father and Rs. 40 for the bride's father. Sometimes the
bridegroom serves his father-in-law for his wife, and he is then not
required to pay anything for the marriage, the period of service being
three years. If the couple anticipate the ceremony, however, they
must leave the house, and then are recalled by the bride's parents,
and readmitted into caste on giving a feast, which is in lieu of the
marriage ceremony. If they do not comply with the first summons of
the parents, the latter finally sever connection with them. Widow
marriage is freely permitted, and the widow is expected to marry her
late husband's younger brother, especially if he is a bachelor. If
she marries another man with his consent, the new husband gives him
a turban and shoulder-cloth. The children by the first husband are
made over to his relatives if there are any. Divorce is permitted for
adultery or extravagance or ill-treatment by either party. A divorced
wife can marry again, but if she absconds with another man without
being divorced the latter has to pay Rs. 12 to the husband.
3. Birth and death ceremonies.
When a woman becomes pregnant for the first time, her mother goes to
her taking a new cloth and cakes and a preparation of milk, which
is looked on as a luxurious food, and which, it is supposed, will
strengthen the child in the womb. After birth the mother is impure
for five days. The dead are usually burnt, but children under six
whose ears have not been pierced, and persons dying a violent death
or from cholera or smallpox are buried. When the principal man of
the family dies, the caste-fellows at the mourning feast tie a cloth
round the head of his successor to show that they acknowledge his
new position. They offer water to the dead in the month of Kunwar
(September-October).
4. Religion and social customs.
They have a vague belief in a supreme God but do not pay much attention
to him. Their family god is Dulha Deo, to whom they offer goats,
fowls, cocoanuts and cakes. In the forest tracts they also worship
Bura Deo, the chief god of the Gonds. The deity who presides over
their profession is Loha-Sur, the Iron demon, who is supposed to live
in the smelting-kilns, and to whom they offer a black hen. Formerly,
it is said, they were accustomed to offer a black cow. They worship
their smelting implements on the day of Dasahra and during Phagun,
and offer fowls to them. They have little faith in medicine, and in
cases of sickness requisition the aid of the village sorcerer, who
ascertains what deity is displeased with them by moving grain to and
fro in a winnowing-fan and naming the village gods in turn. He goes
on repeating the names until his hand slackens or stops at some name,
and the offended god is thus indicated. He is then summoned and enters
into the body of one of the persons present, and explains his reason
for being offended with the sick person, as that he has passed by
the god's shrine without taking off his shoes, or omitted to make the
triennial offering of a fowl or the like. Atonement is then promised
and the offering made, while the sick person on recovery notes the
deity in question as one of a vindictive temper, whose worship must
on no account be neglected. The Agarias say that they do not admit
outsiders into the caste, but Gonds, Kawars and Ahirs are occasionally
allowed to enter it. They refuse to eat monkeys, jackals, crocodiles,
lizards, beef and the leavings of others. They eat pork and fowls
and drink liquor copiously. They take food from the higher castes
and from Gonds and Baigas. Only Bahelias and other impure castes will
take food from them. Temporary excommunication from caste is imposed
for conviction of a criminal offence, getting maggots in a wound, and
killing a cow, a dog or a cat. Permanent excommunication is imposed
for adultery or eating with a very low caste. Readmission to caste
after temporary exclusion entails a feast, but if the offender is
very poor he simply gives a little liquor or even water. The Agarias
are usually sunk in poverty, and their personal belongings are of
the scantiest description, consisting of a waist-cloth, and perhaps
another wisp of cloth for the head, a brass _lota_ or cup and a few
earthen vessels. Their women dress like Gond women, and have a few
pewter ornaments. They are profusely tattooed with representations of
flowers, scorpions and other objects. This is done merely for ornament.
5. Occupation.
The caste still follow their traditional occupation of iron-smelting
and also make a few agricultural implements. They get their ore from
the Maikal range, selecting stones of a dark reddish colour. They
mix 16 lbs. of ore with 15 lbs. of charcoal in the furnace, the blast
being produced by a pair of bellows worked by the feet and conveyed
to the furnace through bamboo tubes; it is kept up steadily for four
hours. The clay coating of the kiln is then broken down and the ball of
molten slag and charcoal is taken out and hammered, and about 3 lbs. of
good iron are obtained. With this they make ploughshares, mattocks,
axes and sickles. They also move about from village to village with an
anvil, a hammer and tongs, and building a small furnace under a tree,
make and repair iron implements for the villagers.
Agharia
1. Origin.
_Agharia_ [4] (a corruption of Agaria, meaning one who came from
Agra).--A cultivating caste belonging to the Sambalpur District [5]
and adjoining States. They number 27,000 persons in the Raigarh and
Sarangarh States and Bilaspur District of the Central Provinces,
and are found also in some of the Chota Nagpur States transferred
from Bengal. According to the traditions of the Agharias their
forefathers were Rajputs who lived near Agra. They were accustomed
to salute the king of Delhi with one hand only and without bending
the head. The king after suffering this for a long time determined
to punish them for their contumacy, and summoned all the Agharias to
appear before him. At the door through which they were to pass to his
presence he fixed a sword at the height of a man's neck. The haughty
Agharias came to the door, holding their heads high and not seeing
the sword, and as a natural consequence they were all decapitated as
they passed through. But there was one Agharia who had heard about the
fixing of the sword and who thought it better to stay at home, saying
that he had some ceremony to perform. When the king heard that there
was one Agharia who had not passed through the door, he sent again,
commanding him to come. The Agharia did not wish to go but felt it
impossible to decline. He therefore sent for a Chamar of his village
and besought him to go instead, saying that he would become a Rajput
in his death and that he would ever be held in remembrance by the
Agharia's descendants. The Chamar consented to sacrifice himself for
his master, and going before the king was beheaded at the door. But
the Agharia fled south, taking his whole village with him, and came
to Chhattisgarh, where each of the families in the village founded a
clan of the Agharia caste. And in memory of this, whenever an Agharia
makes a libation to his ancestors, he first pours a little water on
the ground in honour of the dead Chamar. According to another version
of the story three brothers of different families escaped and first
went to Orissa, where they asked the Gajpati king to employ them
as soldiers. The king caused two sheaths of swords to be placed
before them, and telling them that one contained a sword and the
other a bullock-goad, asked them to select one and by their choice
to determine whether they would be soldiers or husbandmen. From one
sheath a haft of gold projected and from the other one of silver. The
Agharias pulled out the golden haft and found that they had chosen the
goad. The point of the golden and silver handles is obvious, and the
story is of some interest for the distant resemblance which it bears
to the choice of the caskets in _The Merchant of Venice_. Condemned,
as they considered, to drive the plough, the Agharias took off their
sacred threads, which they could no longer wear, and gave them to
the youngest member of the caste, saying that he should keep them
and be their Bhat, and they would support him with contributions
of a tenth of the produce of their fields. He assented, and his
descendants are the genealogists of the Agharias and are termed
Dashanshi. The Agharias claim to be Somvansi Rajputs, a claim which
Colonel Dalton says their appearance favours. "Tall, well-made, with
high Aryan features and tawny complexions, they look like Rajputs,
though they are more industrious and intelligent than the generality
of the fighting tribe." [6]
2. Subdivisions.
Owing to the fact that with the transfer of the Sambalpur District,
a considerable portion of the Agharias have ceased to be residents
of the Central Provinces, it is unnecessary to give the details
of their caste organisation at length. They have two subdivisions,
the Bad or superior Agharias and the Chhote, Sarolia or Sarwaria,
the inferior or mixed Agharias. The latter are a cross between an
Agharia and a Gaur (Ahir) woman. The Bad Agharias will not eat with or
even take water from the others. Further local subdivisions are now
in course of formation, as the Ratanpuria, Phuljharia and Raigarhia
or those living round Ratanpur, Phuljhar and Raigarh. The caste is
said to have 84 _gotras_ or exogamous sections, of which 60 bear
the title of Patel, 18 that of Naik, and 6 of Chaudhri. The section
names are very mixed, some being those of eponymous Brahman _gotras_,
as Sandilya, Kaushik and Bharadwaj; others those of Rajput septs, as
Karchhul; while others are the names of animals and plants, as Barah
(pig), Baram (the pipal tree), Nag (cobra), Kachhapa (tortoise),
and a number of other local terms the meaning of which has been
forgotten. Each of these sections, however, uses a different mark
for branding cows, which it is the religious duty of an Agharia to
rear, and though the marks now convey no meaning, they were probably
originally the representations of material objects. In the case of
names whose meaning is understood, traces of totemism survive in the
respect paid to the animal or plant by members of the sept which bears
its name. This analysis of the structure of the caste shows that it
was a very mixed one. Originally consisting perhaps of a nucleus
of immigrant Rajputs, the offspring of connections with inferior
classes have been assimilated; while the story already quoted is
probably intended to signify, after the usual Brahmanical fashion,
that the pedigree of the Agharias at some period included a Chamar.
3. Marriage customs.
Marriage within the exogamous section and also with first cousins is
forbidden, though in some places the union of a sister's son with
a brother's daughter is permitted. Child marriage is usual, and
censure visits a man who allows an unmarried daughter to arrive at
adolescence. The bridegroom should always be older than the bride,
at any rate by a day. When a betrothal is arranged some ornaments
and a cloth bearing the _swastik_ or lucky mark are sent to the
girl. Marriages are always celebrated during the months of Magh
and Phagun, and they are held only once in five or six years,
when all children whose matches can be arranged for are married
off. This custom is economical, as it saves expenditure on marriage
feasts. Colonel Dalton also states that the Agharias always employ
Hindustani Brahmans for their ceremonies, and as very few of these
are available, they make circuits over large areas, and conduct all
the weddings of a locality at the same period. Before the marriage a
kid is sacrificed at the bride's house to celebrate the removal of her
status of maidenhood. When the bridegroom arrives at the bride's house
he touches with his dagger the string of mango-leaves suspended from
the marriage-shed and presents a rupee and a hundred betel-leaves
to the bride's _sawasin_ or attendant. Next day the bridegroom's
father sends a present of a bracelet and seven small earthen cups to
the bride. She is seated in the open, and seven women hold the cups
over her head one above the other. Water is then poured from above
from one cup into the other, each being filled in turn and the whole
finally falling on the bride's head. This probably symbolises the
fertilising action of rain. The bride is then bathed and carried
in a basket seven times round the marriage-post, after which she
is seated in a chair and seven women place their heads together
round her while a male relative winds a thread seven times round
the heads of the women. The meaning of this ceremony is obscure. The
bridegroom makes his appearance alone and is seated with the bride,
both being dressed in clothes coloured yellow with turmeric. The
bridegroom's party follows, and the feet of the couple are washed
with milk. The bride's brother embraces the bridegroom and changes
cloths with him. Water is poured over the hands of the couple,
the girl's forehead is daubed with vermilion, and a red silk cloth
is presented to her and the couple go round the marriage-post. The
bride is taken for four days to the husband's house and then returns,
and is again sent with the usual _gauna_ ceremony, when she is fit
for conjugal relations. No price is usually paid for the bride, and
each party spends about Rs. 100 on the marriage ceremony. Polygamy
and widow marriage are generally allowed, the widow being disposed
of by her parents. The ceremony at the marriage of a widow consists
in putting vermilion on the parting of her hair and bangles on her
wrists. Divorce is allowed on pain of a fine of Rs. 50 if the divorce
is sought by the husband, and of Rs. 25 if the wife asks for it. In
some localities divorce and also polygamy are said to be forbidden,
and in such cases a woman who commits adultery is finally expelled
from the caste, and a funeral feast is given to symbolise her death.
4. Religious and social customs.
The family god of the Agharias is Dulha Deo, who exists in every
household. On the Haraiti day or the commencement of the agricultural
year they worship the implements of cultivation, and at Dasahra
the sword if they have one. They have a great reverence for cows
and feed them sumptuously at festivals. Every Agharia has a _guru_
or spiritual guide who whispers the _mantra_ or sacred verse into
his ear and is occasionally consulted. The dead are usually burnt,
but children and persons dying of cholera or smallpox are buried,
males being placed on the pyre or in the grave on their faces and
females on their backs, with the feet pointing to the south. On
the third day the ashes are thrown into a river and the bones of
each part of the body are collected and placed under the pipal
tree, while a pot is slung over them, through which water trickles
continually for a week, and a lighted lamp, cooked food, a leaf-cup
and a tooth-stick are placed beside them daily for the use of the
deceased during the same period. Mourning ends on the tenth day,
and the usual purification ceremonies are then performed. Children
are mourned for a shorter period. Well-to-do members of the caste
feed a Brahman daily for a year after a death, believing that food
so given passes to the spirit of the deceased. On the anniversary of
the death the caste-fellows are feasted, and after that the deceased
becomes a _purkha_ or ancestor and participates in devotions paid
at the _shradhh_ ceremony. When the head of a joint family dies,
his successor is given a turban and betel-leaves, and his forehead
is marked by the priest and other relations with sandalwood. After a
birth the mother is impure for twenty-one days. A feast is given on
the twelfth day, and sometimes the child is named then, but often
children are not named until they are six years old. The names of
men usually end in _Ram_, _Nath_ or _Singh_, and those of women in
_Kunwar_. Women do not name their husbands, their elderly relations,
nor the sons of their husband's eldest brother. A man does not name
his wife, as he thinks that to do so would tend to shorten his life
in accordance with the Sanskrit saying, 'He who is desirous of long
life should not name himself, his _guru_, a miser, his eldest son,
or his wife.' The Agharias do not admit outsiders into the caste. They
will not take cooked food from any caste, and water only from a Gaur
or Rawat. They refuse to take water from an Uriya Brahman, probably
in retaliation for the refusal of Uriya Brahmans to accept water from
an Agharia, though taking it from a Kolta. Both the Uriya Brahmans
and Agharias are of somewhat doubtful origin, and both are therefore
probably the more concerned to maintain the social position to which
they lay claim. But Kewats, Rawats, Telis and other castes eat cooked
food from Agharias, and the caste therefore is admitted to a fairly
high rank in the Uriya country. The Agharias do not drink liquor or
eat any food which a Rajput would refuse.
5. Occupation.
As cultivators they are considered to be proficient. In the census of
1901 nearly a quarter of the whole caste were shown as malguzars or
village proprietors and lessees. They wear a coarse cloth of homespun
yarn which they get woven for them by Gandas; probably in consequence
of this the Agharias do not consider the touch of the Ganda to pollute
them, as other castes do. They will not grow turmeric, onions, garlic,
_san_-hemp or tomatoes, nor will they rear tasar silk-cocoons. Colonel
Dalton says that their women do no outdoor work, and this is true in
the Central Provinces as regards the better classes, but poor women
work in the fields.
Aghori
1. General accounts of the caste.
_Aghori, Aghorpanthi._ [7]--The most disreputable class of Saiva
mendicants who feed on human corpses and excrement, and in past
times practised cannibalism. The sect is apparently an ancient one, a
supposed reference to it being contained in the Sanskrit drama _Malati
Madhava_, the hero of which rescues his mistress from being offered
as a sacrifice by one named Aghori Ghanta. [8] According to Lassen,
quoted by Sir H. Risley, the Aghoris of the present day are closely
connected with the Kapalika sect of the Middle Ages, who wore crowns
and necklaces of skulls and offered human sacrifices to Chamunda,
a form of Devi. The Aghoris now represent their filthy habits as
merely giving practical expression to the abstract doctrine that the
whole universe is full of Brahma, and consequently that one thing is
as pure as another. By eating the most horrible food they utterly
subdue their natural appetites, and hence acquire great power over
themselves and over the forces of nature. It is believed that an
Aghori can at will assume the shapes of a bird, an animal or a fish,
and that he can bring back to life a corpse of which he has eaten a
part. The principal resort of the Aghoris appears to be at Benares and
at Girnar near Mount Abu, and they wander about the country as solitary
mendicants. A few reside in Saugor, and they are occasionally met with
in other places. They are much feared and disliked by the people owing
to their practice of extorting alms by the threat to carry out their
horrible practices before the eyes of their victims, and by throwing
filth into their houses. Similarly they gash and cut their limbs so
that the crime of blood may rest on those who refuse to give. "For the
most part," Mr. Barrow states, [9] "the Aghorpanthis lead a wandering
life, are without homes, and prefer to dwell in holes, clefts of rocks
and burning-_ghats_. They do not cook, but eat the fragments given
them in charity as received, which they put as far as may be into the
cavity of the skull used as a begging-bowl. The bodies of _chelas_
(disciples) who die in Benares are thrown into the Ganges, but the
dead who die well off are placed in coffins. As a rule, Aghoris do not
care what becomes of their bodies, but when buried they are placed in
the grave sitting cross-legged. The Aghori _gurus_ keep dogs, which
may be of any colour, and are said to be maintained for purposes of
protection. The dogs are not all pariahs of the streets, although some
_gurus_ are followed by three or four when on pilgrimage. Occasionally
the dogs seem to be regarded with real affection by their strange
masters. The Aghori is believed to hold converse with all the evil
spirits frequenting the burning-_ghats_, and funeral parties must
be very badly off who refuse to pay him something. In former days he
claimed five pieces of wood at each funeral in Benares; but the Doms
interfere with his perquisites, and in some cases only let him carry
off the remains of the unburned wood from each pyre. When angered
and excited, Aghoris invoke Kali and threaten to spread devastation
around them. Even among the educated classes, who should know better,
they are dreaded, and as an instance of the terror which they create
among the ignorant, it may be mentioned that in the Lucknow District
it is believed that if alms are refused them the Aghoris will cause
those who refuse to be attacked with fever.
"On the other hand, their good offices may secure benefits, as in the
case of a zamindar of Muzaffarnagar, who at Allahabad refused to eat a
piece of human flesh offered to him by an Aghori; the latter thereupon
threw the flesh at the zamindar's head, on which it stuck. The zamindar
afterwards became so exceedingly wealthy that he had difficulty in
storing his wealth."
2. Instances of cannibalism.
In former times it is believed that the Aghoris used to kidnap
strangers, sacrifice them to the goddess and eat the bodies, and
Mr. Barrow relates the following incident of the murder of a boy: [10]
"Another horrible case, unconnected with magic and apparently arising
from mere blood-thirst, occurred at Neirad in June 1878. An Aghori
mendicant of Dwarka staying at the temple of Sitaram Laldas seized a
boy of twelve, named Shankar Ramdas, who was playing with two other
boys, threw him down on the _oatla_ of the temple, ripped open his
abdomen, tore out part of his entrails, and, according to the poor
little victim's dying declaration, began to eat them. The other boys
having raised an alarm, the monster was seized. When interrogated by
the magistrate as to whether he had committed the crime in order to
perform Aghorbidya, the prisoner said that as the boy was Bhakshan
he had eaten his flesh. He added that if he had not been interrupted
he would have eaten all the entrails. He was convicted, but only
sentenced to transportation for life. The High Court, however,
altered the sentence and ordered the prisoner to be hanged."
The following instance, quoted by Mr. Barrow from Rewah, shows how an
Aghori was hoist with his own petard: "Some years ago, when Maharaja
Bishnath Singh was Chief of Rewah, a man of the Aghori caste went
to Rewah and sat _dharna_ on the steps of the palace; having made
ineffectual demands for alms, he requested to be supplied with human
flesh, and for five days abstained from food. The Maharaja was much
troubled, and at last, in order to get rid of his unwelcome visitor,
sent for Ghansiam Das, another Aghori, a Fakir, who had for some
years lived in Rewah. Ghansiam Das went up to the other Aghori and
asked him if it was true that he had asked to be supplied with human
flesh. On receiving a reply in the affirmative, Ghansiam Das said:
'Very well, I too am extremely partial to this form of food; here is
my hand, eat it and I will eat you'; and at the same time he seized
hold of the other's hand and began to gnaw at it. The Aghori on this
became much alarmed and begged to be excused. He shortly afterwards
left Rewah and was not heard of again, while Ghansiam Das was rewarded
for his services."
The following recent instance of an Aghori devouring human corpses
is reported from the Punjab: [11] "The loathsome story of a human
ghoul from Patiala shows that the influence of the Aghorpanthi has
not yet completely died out in this country. It is said that for some
time past human graves have been found robbed of their contents, and
the mystery could not be solved until the other day, when the police
succeeded in arresting a man in the act of desecrating a child's grave,
some forty miles distant from the capital (Patiala). The ghoul not only
did not conceal the undevoured portion of the corpse he had with him,
but told his captors the whole story of his gruesome career. He is
a low-caste Hindu named Ram Nath, and is, according to a gentleman
who saw him, 'a singularly mild and respectful-looking man, instead
of a red-eyed and ravenous savage,' as he had expected to find him
from the accounts of his disgusting propensities. He became an orphan
at five and fell into the hands of two Sadhus of his own caste, who
were evidently Aghorpanthis. They taught him to eat human flesh,
which formed the staple of their food. The meat was procured from
the graves in the villages they passed through. When Ram Nath was
thoroughly educated in this rank the Sadhus deserted him. Since then
he had been living on human carrion only, roaming about the country
like a hungry vulture. He cannot eat cooked food, and therefore gets
two seers of raw meat from the State every day. It is also reported
that the Maharaja has now prohibited his being given anything but
cooked food with a view to reforming him."
Sir J. B. Fuller relates the following incident of the employment
of an Aghori as a servant: [12] "There are actually ten thousand
persons who at census time classed themselves as Aghoris. All of them
do not practise cannibalism and some of them attempt to rise in the
world. One of them secured service as a cook with a British officer
of my acquaintance. My friend was in camp in the jungle with his
wife and children, when his other servants came to him in a body and
refused to remain in service unless the cook was dismissed, since they
had discovered, they declared, that during the night-time he visited
cemeteries and dug up the bodies of freshly buried children. The cook
was absent, but they pointed to a box of his that emitted a sickening
smell. The man was incontinently expelled, but for long afterwards the
family were haunted by reminiscences of the curries they had eaten."
Ahir
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice._
2. _Former dominance of the Abhiras._
3. _Ahir dialects._
4. _The Yadavas and Krishna._
5. _The modern Ahirs an occupational caste._
6. _Subcastes._
7. _The Dauwa or wet-nurse Ahirs. Fosterage._
8. _Exogamy._
9. _Marriage customs._
10. _Birth customs._
11. _Funeral rites. Bringing back the soul._
12. _Religion. Krishna and other deified cowherds._
13. _Caste deities._
14. _Other deities._
15. _The Diwali festival._
16. _Omens._
17. _Social customs._
18. _Ornaments._
19. _Occupation._
20. _Preparations of milk._
1. General notice.
_Ahir, [13] Gaoli, Guala, Golkar, Gaolan, Rawat, Gahra, Mahakul._--The
caste, of cowherds, milkmen and cattle-breeders. In 1911 the Ahirs
numbered nearly 750,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar,
being the sixth caste in point of numbers. This figure, however,
excludes 150,000 Gowaris or graziers of the Maratha Districts,
and if these were added the Ahirs would outnumber the Telis and
rank fifth. The name Ahir is derived from Abhira, a tribe mentioned
several times in inscriptions and the Hindu sacred books. Goala,
a cowherd, from Gopala, [14] a protector of cows, is the Bengali
name for the caste, and Gaoli, with the same signification, is now
used in the Central Provinces to signify a dairyman as opposed to
a grazier. The Gaolans appear to be an inferior class of Gaolis in
Berar. The Golkars of Chanda may be derived from the Telugu Golars or
graziers, with a probable admixture of Gond blood. They are described
as wild-looking people scattered about in the most thickly forested
tracts of the District, where they graze and tend cattle. Rawat, a
corruption of Rajputra or a princeling, is the name borne by the Ahir
caste in Chhattisgarh; while Gahra is their designation in the Uriya
country. The Mahakul Ahirs are a small group found in the Jashpur
State, and said to belong to the Nandvansi division. The name means
'Great family.'
2. Former dominance of the Abhiras.
The Abhiras appear to have been one of the immigrant tribes from
Central Asia who entered India shortly before or about the commencement
of the Christian era. In the Puranas and Mahabharata they are spoken
of as Dasyu or robbers, and Mlechchhas or foreigners, in the story
which says that Arjuna, after he had burned the dead bodies of
Krishna and Balaram at Dwarka, was proceeding with the widows of the
Yadava princes to Mathura through the Punjab when he was waylaid by
the Abhiras and deprived of his treasures and beautiful women. [15]
An inscription of the Saka era 102, or A.D. 180, speaks of a grant
made by the Senapati or commander-in-chief of the state, who is
called an Abhira, the locality being Sunda in Kathiawar. Another
inscription found in Nasik and assigned by Mr. Enthoven to the fourth
century speaks of an Abhira king, and the Puranas say that after the
Andhrabhrityas the Deccan was held by the Abhiras, the west coast
tract from the Tapti to Deogarh being called by their name. [16]
In the time of Samudragupta in the middle of the fourth century
the Abhiras were settled in Eastern Rajputana and Malwa. [17] When
the Kathis arrived in Gujarat in the eighth century, they found the
greater part of the country in the possession of the Ahirs. [18] In the
Mirzapur District of the United Provinces a tract known as Ahraura is
considered to be named after the tribe; and near Jhansi another piece
of country is called Ahirwar. [19] Elliot states that Ahirs were also
Rajas of Nepal about the commencement of our era. [20] In Khandesh,
Mr. Enthoven states, the settlements of the Ahirs were important. In
many castes there is a separate division of Ahirs, such as the Ahir
Sunars, Sutars, Lohars, Shimpis, Salis, Guraos and Kolis. The fort
of Asirgarh in Nimar bordering on Khandesh is supposed to have been
founded by one Asa Ahir, who lived in the beginning of the fifteenth
century. It is said that his ancestors had held land here for seven
hundred years, and he had 10,000 cattle, 20,000 sheep and 1000 mares,
with 2000 followers; but was still known to the people, to whom
his benevolence had endeared him, by the simple name of Asa. This
derivation of Asirgarh is clearly erroneous, as it was known as
Asir or Asirgarh, and held by the Tak and Chauhan Rajputs from the
eleventh century. But the story need not on that account, Mr. Grant
says, [21] be set down as wholly a fable. Firishta, who records it,
has usually a good credit, and more probably the real existence of
a line of Ahir chieftains in the Tapti valley suggested a convenient
ethnology for the fortress. Other traditions of the past domination
of the pastoral tribes remain in the Central Provinces. Deogarh on
the Chhindwara plateau was, according to the legend, the last seat
of Gaoli power prior to its subversion by the Gonds in the sixteenth
century. Jatba, the founder of the Deogarh Gond dynasty, is said to
have entered the service of the Gaoli rulers, Mansur and Gansur, and
subsequently with the aid of the goddess Devi to have slain them and
usurped their kingdom. But a Gaoli chief still retained possession of
the fort of Narnala for a few years longer, when he also was slain by
the Muhammadans. Similarly the fort of Gawilgarh on the southern crest
of the Satpuras is said to be named after a Gaoli chief who founded
it. The Saugor traditions bring down the Gaoli supremacy to a much
later date, as the tracts of Etawa and Khurai are held to have been
governed by their chieftains till the close of the seventeenth century.
3. Ahir dialects.
Certain dialects called after the Abhiras or Ahirs still remain. One,
known as Ahirwati, is spoken in the Rohtak and Gurgaon Districts of
the Punjab and round Delhi. This is akin to Mewati, one of the forms
of Rajasthani or the language of Rajputana. The Malwi dialect of
Rajasthani is also known as Ahiri; and that curious form of Gujarati,
which is half a Bhil dialect, and is generally known as Khandeshi,
also bears the name of Ahirani. [22] The above linguistic facts seem
to prove only that the Abhiras, or their occupational successors,
the Ahirs, were strongly settled in the Delhi country of the Punjab,
Malwa and Khandesh. They do not seem to throw much light on the origin
of the Abhiras or Ahirs, and necessarily refer only to a small section
of the existing Ahir caste, the great bulk of whom speak the Aryan
language current where they dwell. Another authority states, however,
that the Ahirs of Gujarat still retain a dialect of their own, and
concludes that this and the other Ahir dialects are the remains of
the distinct Abhira language.
4. The Yadavas and Krishna.
It cannot necessarily be assumed that all the above traditions relate
to the Abhira tribe proper, of which the modern Ahir caste are scarcely
more than the nominal representatives. Nevertheless, it may fairly be
concluded from them that the Abhiras were widely spread over India
and dominated considerable tracts of country. They are held to have
entered India about the same time as the Sakas, who settled in Gujarat,
among other places, and, as seen above, the earliest records of the
Abhiras show them in Nasik and Kathiawar, and afterwards widely spread
in Khandesh, that is, in the close neighbourhood of the Sakas. It has
been suggested in the article on Rajput that the Yadava and other lunar
clans of Rajputs may be the representatives of the Sakas and other
nomad tribes who invaded India shortly before and after the Christian
era. The god Krishna is held to have been the leader of the Yadavas,
and to have founded with them the sacred city of Dwarka in Gujarat. The
modern Ahirs have a subdivision called Jaduvansi or Yaduvansi, that is,
of the race of the Yadavas, and they hold that Krishna was of the Ahir
tribe. Since the Abhiras were also settled in Gujarat it is possible
that they may have been connected with the Yadavas, and that this may
be the foundation for their claim that Krishna was of their tribe. The
Dyashraya-Kavya of Hemachandra speaks of a Chordasama prince reigning
near Junagarh as an Abhira and a Yadava. But this is no doubt very
conjectural, and the simple fact that Krishna was a herdsman would be
a sufficient reason for the Ahirs to claim connection with him. It is
pointed out that the names of Abhira chieftains given in the early
inscriptions are derived from the god Siva, and this would not have
been the case if they had at that epoch derived their origin from
Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu. "If the Abhiras had really been
the descendants of the cowherds (Gopas) whose hero was Krishna, the
name of the rival god Siva would never have formed components of the
names of the Abhiras, whom we find mentioned in inscriptions. Hence
the conclusion may safely be drawn that the Abhiras were by no means
connected with Krishna and his cowherds even as late as about A.D. 300,
to which date the first of the two inscriptions mentioned above is
to be assigned. Precisely the same conclusion is pointed to by the
contents of the Harivansha and Bhagwat Purana. The upbringing of
Krishna among the cowherds and his flirtations with the milkmaids are
again and again mentioned in these works, but the word Abhira does not
occur even once in this connection. The only words we find used are
Gopa, Gopi and Vraja. This is indeed remarkable. For the descriptions
of the removal of Krishna as an infant to Nanda, the cowherd's hut,
of his childhood passed in playing with the cowherd boys, and of his
youth spent in amorous sports with the milkmaids are set forth at
great length, but the word Abhira is not once met with. From this
only one conclusion is possible, that is, that the Abhiras did not
originally represent the Gopas of Krishna. The word Abhira occurs for
the first time in connection with the Krishna legend about A.D. 550,
from which it follows that the Abhiras came to be identified with
the Gopas shortly before that date." [23]
This argument is interesting as showing that Abhira was not originally
an occupational term for a herdsman, nor a caste name, but belonged
to an immigrant tribe. Owing apparently to the fact that the Abhiras,
like the Gujars, devoted themselves to a pastoral mode of life in
India, whereas the previous Aryan immigrants had settled down to
cultivation, they gave their name to the great occupational caste
of herdsmen which was subsequently developed, and of which they may
originally have constituted the nucleus. The Gujars, who came to India
at a later period, form a parallel case; although the Gujar caste,
which is derived from them, is far less important than the Ahir,
the Gujars have also been the parents of several Rajput clans. The
reason why the early Mathura legends of Krishna make no mention of
the Ahirs may be that the deity Krishna is probably compounded of at
least two if not more distinct personalities. One is the hero chief of
the Yadavas, who fought in the battle of the Pandavas and Kauravas,
migrated to Gujarat and was killed there. As he was chief of the
Yadavas this Krishna must stand for the actual or mythical personality
of some leader of the immigrant nomad tribes. The other Krishna,
the boy cowherd, who grazed cattle and sported with the milkmaids of
Brindaban, may very probably be some hero of the indigenous non-Aryan
tribes, who, then as now, lived in the forests and were shepherds
and herdsmen. His lowly birth from a labouring cowherd, and the
fact that his name means black and he is represented in sculpture
as being of a dark colour, lend support to this view. The cult of
Krishna, Mr. Crooke points out, was comparatively late, and probably
connected with the development of the worship of the cow after the
decay of Buddhism. This latter Krishna, who is worshipped with his
mother as a child-god, was especially attractive to women, both actual
and prospective mothers. It is quite probable therefore that as his
worship became very popular in Hindustan in connection with that of
the cow, he was given a more illustrious origin by identification
with the Yadava hero, whose first home was apparently in Gujarat. In
this connection it may also be noted that the episodes connected with
Krishna in the Mahabharata have been considered late interpolations.
5. The modern Ahirs an occupational caste.
But though the Ahir caste takes its name and is perhaps partly
descended from the Abhira tribe, there is no doubt that it is now
and has been for centuries a purely occupational caste, largely
recruited from the indigenous tribes. Thus in Bengal Colonel Dalton
remarks that the features of the Mathuravasi Goalas are high, sharp
and delicate, and they are of light-brown complexion. Those of the
Magadha subcaste, on the other hand, are undefined and coarse. They
are dark-complexioned, and have large hands and feet. "Seeing the
latter standing in a group with some Singhbhum Kols, there is no
distinguishing one from the other. There has doubtless been much
mixture of blood." [24] Similarly in the Central Provinces the Ahirs
are largely recruited from the Gonds and other tribes. In Chanda the
Gowaris are admittedly descended from the unions of Gonds and Ahirs,
and one of their subcastes, the Gond-Gowaris, are often classed as
Gonds. Again, the Kaonra Ahirs of Mandla are descended from the unions
of Ahirs either with the Gonds or Kawars, and many of them are probably
pure Gonds. They have Gond sept-names and eat pork. Members of one
of their subdivisions, the Gond-Kaonra, will take water from Gonds,
and rank below the other Kaonras, from whom they will accept food and
water. As cattle have to go into the thick jungles to graze in the hot
weather, the graziers attending them become intimate with the forest
tribes who live there, and these latter are also often employed to
graze the cattle, and are perhaps after a time admitted to the Ahir
caste. Many Ahirs in Mandla are scarcely considered to be Hindus,
living as they do in Gond villages in sole company with the Gonds.
6. Subcastes.
The principal subcastes of the Ahirs in northern India are the
Jaduvansi, Nandvansi and Gowalvansi. The Jaduvansi claimed to be
descended from the Yadavas, who now form the Yadu and Jadon-Bhatti
clans of Rajputs. The probability of a historical connection between
the Abhiras and Yadavas has already been noticed. The Nandvansi
consider their first ancestor to have been Nand, the cowherd, the
foster-father of Krishna; while the name of the Gowalvansi is simply
Goala or Gauli, a milkman, a common synonym for the caste. The Kaonra
Ahirs of Mandla and the Kamarias of Jubbulpore are considered to belong
to the Nandvansi group. Other subcastes in the northern Districts are
the Jijhotia, who, like the Jijhotia Brahmans, take their name from
Jajhoti, the classical term for Bundelkhand; the Bharotia; and the
Narwaria from Narwar. The Rawats of Chhattisgarh are divided into the
Jhadia, Kosaria and Kanaujia groups. Of these the Jhadia or 'jungly,'
and Kosaria from Kosala, the ancient name of the Chhattisgarh country,
are the oldest settlers, while the Kanaujia are largely employed as
personal servants in Chhattisgarh, and all castes will take water
from their hands. The superior class of them, however, refuse to
clean household cooking vessels, and are hence known as Thethwar,
or exact or pure, as distinguished from the other Rawats, who will
perform this somewhat derogatory work.
7. The Dauwa or wet-nurse Ahirs. Fosterage.
The Dauwa or wet-nurse Ahirs are descended from the illegitimate
offspring of Bundela Rajput fathers by Ahir mothers who were employed
in this capacity in their families. An Ahir woman kept by a Bundela
was known as Pardwarin, or one coming from another house. This is
not considered a disgraceful origin; though the Dauwa Ahirs are not
recognised by the Ahirs proper, they form a separate section of the
caste, and Brahmans will take water from them. The children of such
mothers stood in the relation of foster-brothers to the Rajputs,
whom their mothers had nursed. The giving of milk, in accordance with
the common primitive belief in the virtue attaching to an action
in itself, was held to constitute a relation of quasi-maternity
between the nurse and infant, and hence of fraternity between her own
children and her foster-children. The former were called Dhai-bhais
or foster-brothers by the Rajputs; they were often given permanent
grants of land and employed on confidential missions, as for the
arrangement of marriages. The minister of a Raja of Karauli was
his Dauwa or foster-father, the husband of his nurse. Similarly,
Colonel Tod says that the Dhai-bhai or foster-brother of the Raja
of Boondi, commandant of the fortress of Tanagarh, was, like all
his class, devotion personified. [25] A parallel instance of the
tie of foster-kinship occurs in the case of the foster-brothers of
Conachar or Hector in _The Fair Maid of Perth_. Thus the position
of foster-brother of a Rajput was an honourable one, even though
the child might be illegitimate. Ahir women were often employed as
wet-nurses, because domestic service was a profession in which they
commonly engaged. Owing to the comparatively humble origin of a large
proportion of them they did not object to menial service, while the
purity of their caste made it possible to use them for the supply
of water and food. In Bengal the Uriya Ahirs were a common class of
servants in European houses.
The Gaolis or milkmen appear to form a distinct branch of the caste
with subcastes of their own. Among them are the Nandvans, common to
the Ahirs, the Malwi from Malwa and the Raghuvansi, called after the
Rajput clan of that name. The Ranyas take their designation from _ran_,
forest, like the Jhadia Rawats.
8. Exogamy.
The caste have exogamous sections, which are of the usual low-caste
type, with titular or totemistic names. Those of the Chhattisgarhi
Rawats are generally named after animals. A curious name among the
Mahakul Ahirs is Mathankata, or one who bit his mother's nipples. The
marriage of persons belonging to the same section and of first cousins
is prohibited. A man may marry his wife's younger sister while his
wife is living, but not her elder sister. The practice of exchanging
girls between families is permissible.
9. Marriage customs.
As a rule, girls may be married before or after puberty, but the
Golkars of Chanda insist on infant marriage, and fine the parents if
an unmarried girl becomes adolescent. On the other hand, the Kaonra
Ahirs of Mandla make a practice of not getting a girl married till
the signs of puberty have appeared. It is said that in Mandla if an
unmarried girl becomes pregnant by a man of the caste the _panchayat_
give her to him and fine him Rs. 20 or 30, which they appropriate
themselves, giving nothing to the father. If an Ahir girl is seduced
by an outsider, she is made over to him, and a fine of Rs. 40 or 50
is exacted from him if possible. This is paid to the girl's father,
who has to spend it on a penalty feast to the caste. Generally,
sexual offences within the community are leniently regarded. The
wedding ceremony is of the type prevalent in the locality. The
proposal comes from the boy's family, and a price is usually given
for the bride. The Kaonra Ahirs of Mandla and the Jharia and Kosaria
Rawats of Chhattisgarh employ a Brahman only to write the _lagun_ or
paper fixing the date of the wedding, and the ceremony is conducted
by the _sawasins_ or relatives of the parties. In Chhattisgarh the
bridegroom is dressed as a girl to be taken to the wedding. In Betul
the weddings of most Gaolis are held in Magh (January), and that of
the Ranya subcaste in the bright fortnight of Kartik (October). At
the ceremony the bride is made to stand on a small stone roller; the
bridegroom then takes hold of the roller facing the bride and goes
round in a circle seven times, turning the roller with him. Widow
remarriage is permitted, and a widow is often expected to marry
the younger brother of her deceased husband. If a bachelor wishes
to marry a widow he first goes through the ceremony with a dagger
or an earthen vessel. Divorce is freely permitted. In Hoshangabad a
strip is torn off the clothes worn by husband and wife as a sign of
their divorce. This is presumably in contrast to the knotting of the
clothes of the couple together at a wedding.
10. Birth customs.
Among the Rawats of Chhattisgarh, when a child is shortly to be born
the midwife dips her hand in oil and presses it on the wall, and it
is supposed that she can tell by the way in which the oil trickles
down whether the child will be a boy or a girl. If a woman is weak
and ill during her pregnancy it is thought that a boy will be born,
but if she is strong and healthy, a girl. A woman in advanced pregnancy
is given whatever she desires to eat, and on one occasion especially
delicate kinds of food are served to her, this rite being known as
Sidhori. The explanation of the custom is that if the mother does
not get the food she desires during pregnancy the child will long for
it all through life. If delivery is delayed, a line of men and boys
is sometimes made from the door of the house to a well, and a vessel
is then passed from hand to hand from the house, filled with water,
and back again. Thus the water, having acquired the quality of speed
during its rapid transit, will communicate this to the woman and cause
her quick delivery. Or they take some of the clay left unmoulded on
the potter's wheel and give it her to drink in water; the explanation
of this is exactly similar, the earth having acquired the quality of
swiftness by the rapid transit on the wheel. If three boys or three
girls have been born to a woman, they think that the fourth should
be of the same sex, in order to make up two pairs. A boy or girl
born after three of the opposite sex is called Titra or Titri, and is
considered very unlucky. To avert this misfortune they cover the child
with a basket, kindle a fire of grass all round it, and smash a brass
pot on the floor. Then they say that the baby is the fifth and not
the fourth child, and the evil is thus removed. When one woman gives
birth to a male and another to a female child in the same quarter of
a village on the same day and they are attended by the same midwife,
it is thought that the boy child will fall ill from the contagion
of the girl child communicated through the midwife. To avoid this,
on the following Sunday the child's maternal uncle makes a banghy,
which is carried across the shoulders like a large pair of scales,
and weighs the child in it against cowdung. He then takes the banghy
and deposits it at cross-roads outside the village. The father cannot
see either the child or its mother till after the Chathi or sixth-day
ceremony of purification, when the mother is bathed and dressed in
clean clothes, the males of the family are shaved, all their clothes
are washed, and the house is whitewashed; the child is also named on
this day. The mother cannot go out of doors until after the Barhi or
twelfth-day ceremony. If a child is born at an unlucky astrological
period its ears are pierced in the fifth month after birth as a means
of protection.
11. Funeral rites. Bringing back the soul.
The dead are either buried or burnt. When a man is dying they put
basil leaves and boiled rice and milk in his mouth, and a little
piece of gold, or if they have not got gold they put a rupee in his
mouth and take it out again. For ten days after a death, food in
a leaf-cup and a lamp are set out in the house-yard every evening,
and every morning water and a tooth-stick. On the tenth day they are
taken away and consigned to a river. In Chhattisgarh on the third
day after death the soul is brought back. The women put a lamp on a
red earthen pot and go to a tank or stream at night. The fish are
attracted towards the light, and one of them is caught and put in
the pot, which is then filled with water. It is brought home and set
beside a small heap of flour, and the elders sit round it. The son
of the deceased or other near relative anoints himself with turmeric
and picks up a stone. This is washed with the water from the pot,
and placed on the floor, and a sacrifice of a cock or hen is made to
it according as the deceased was a man or a woman. The stone is then
enshrined in the house as a family god, and the sacrifice of a fowl
is repeated annually. It is supposed apparently that the dead man's
spirit is brought back to the house in the fish, and then transferred
to the stone by washing this with the water.
12. Religion. Krishna and other deified cowherds.
The Ahirs have a special relation to the Hindu religion, owing
to their association with the sacred cow, which is itself revered
as a goddess. When religion gets to the anthropomorphic stage the
cowherd, who partakes of the cow's sanctity, may be deified as its
representative. This was probably the case with Krishna, one of
the most popular gods of Hinduism, who was a cowherd, and, as he is
represented as being of a dark colour, may even have been held to
be of the indigenous races. Though, according to the legend, he was
really of royal birth, Krishna was brought up by Nand, a herdsman of
Gokul, and Jasoda or Dasoda his wife, and in the popular belief these
are his parents, as they probably were in the original story. The
substitution of Krishna, born as a prince, for Jasoda's daughter,
in order to protect him from destruction by the evil king Kansa of
Mathura, is perhaps a later gloss, devised when his herdsman parentage
was considered too obscure for the divine hero. Krishna's childhood in
Jasoda's house with his miraculous feats of strength and his amorous
sports with Radha and the other milkmaids of Brindawan, are among
the most favourite Hindu legends. Govind and Gopal, the protector
or guardian of cows, are names of Krishna and the commonest names of
Hindus, as are also his other epithets, Murlidhar and Bansidhar, the
flute-player; for Krishna and Balaram, like Greek and Roman shepherds,
were accustomed to divert themselves with song, to the accompaniment
of the same instrument. The child Krishna is also very popular, and
his birthday, the Janam-Ashtami on the 8th of dark Bhadon (August),
is a great festival. On this day potsful of curds are sprinkled over
the assembled worshippers. Krishna, however, is not the solitary
instance of the divine cowherd, but has several companions, humble
indeed compared to him, but perhaps owing their apotheosis to the
same reasons. Bhilat, a popular local godling of the Nerbudda Valley,
was the son of an Ahir or Gaoli woman; she was childless and prayed
to Parvati for a child, and the goddess caused her votary to have
one by her own husband, the god Mahadeo. Bhilat was stolen away from
his home by Mahadeo in the disguise of a beggar, and grew up to be
a great hero and made many conquests; but finally he returned and
lived with his herdsman parents, who were no doubt his real ones. He
performed numerous miracles, and his devotees are still possessed by
his spirit. Singaji is another godling who was a Gaoli by caste in
Indore. He became a disciple of a holy Gokulastha Gosain or ascetic,
and consequently a great observer of the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's
birthday. [26] On one occasion Singaji was late for prayers on this
day, and the _guru_ was very angry, and said to him, 'Don't show your
face to me again until you are dead.' Singaji went home and told the
other children he was going to die. Then he went and buried himself
alive. The occurrence was noised abroad and came to the ears of the
_guru_, who was much distressed, and proceeded to offer his condolences
to Singaji's family. But on the way he saw Singaji, who had been
miraculously raised from the dead on account of his virtuous act of
obedience, grazing his buffaloes as before. After asking for milk,
which Singaji drew from a male buffalo calf, the _guru_ was able
to inform the bereaved parents of their son's joyful reappearance
and his miraculous powers; of these Singaji gave further subsequent
demonstration, and since his death, said to have occurred 350 years
ago, is widely venerated. The Gaolis pray to him for the protection
of their cattle from disease, and make thank-offerings of butter if
these prayers are fulfilled. Other pilgrims to Singaji's shrine offer
unripe mangoes and sugar, and an annual fair is held at it, when it is
said that for seven days no cows, flies or ants are to be seen in the
place. In the Betul district there is a village godling called Dait,
represented by a stone under a tree. He is the spirit of any Ahir who
in his lifetime was credited in the locality with having the powers of
an exorcist. In Mandla and other Districts when any buffalo herdsman
dies at a very advanced age the people make a platform for him within
the village and call it Mahashi Deo or the buffalo god. Similarly,
when an old cattle herdsman dies they do the same, and call it Balki
Deo or the bullock god. Here we have a clear instance of the process
of substituting the spirit of the herdsman for the cow or buffalo as
an object of worship. The occupation of the Ahir also lends itself to
religious imaginations. He stays in the forest or waste grass-land,
frequently alone from morning till night, watching his herds; and
the credulous and uneducated minds of the more emotional may easily
hear the voices of spirits, or in a half-sleeping condition during
the heat and stillness of the long day may think that visions have
appeared to them. Thus they come to believe themselves selected for
communication with the unseen deities or spirits, and on occasions
of strong religious excitement work themselves into a frenzy and are
held to be possessed by a spirit or god.
13. Caste deities.
Among the special deities of the Ahirs is Kharak Deo, who is always
located at the _khirkha_, or place of assembly of the cattle, on
going to and returning from pasture. He appears to be the spirit or
god of the _khirkha_. He is represented by a platform with an image
of a horse on it, and when cattle fall ill the owners offer flour
and butter to him. These are taken by the Ahirs in charge, and it is
thought that the cattle will get well. Matar Deo is the god of the
pen or enclosure for cattle made in the jungle. Three days after the
Diwali festival the Rawats sacrifice one or more goats to him, cutting
off their heads. They throw the heads into the air, and the cattle,
smelling the blood, run together and toss them with their horns as
they do when they scent a tiger. The men then say that the animals
are possessed by Matar Deo. Guraya Deo is a deity who lives in the
cattle-stalls in the village and is worshipped once a year. A man
holds an egg in his hand, and walks round the stall pouring liquid
over the egg all the way, so as to make a line round it. The egg is
then buried beneath the shrine of the god, the rite being probably
meant to ensure his aid for the protection of the cattle from disease
in their stalls. A favourite saint of the Ahirs is Haridas Baba. He
was a Jogi, and could separate his soul from his body at pleasure. On
one occasion he had gone in spirit to Benares, leaving his body
in the house of one of his disciples, who was an Ahir. When he did
not return, and the people heard that a dead body was lying there,
they came and insisted that it should be burnt. When he came back
and found that his body was burnt, he entered into a man and spoke
through him, telling the people what had happened. In atonement for
their unfortunate mistake they promised to worship him.
14. Other deities.
The Mahakul Ahirs of Jashpur have three deities, whom they call Mahadeo
or Siva, Sahadeo, one of the five Pandava brothers, and the goddess
Lakshmi. They say that the buffalo is Mahadeo, the cow Sahadeo,
and the rice Lakshmi. This also appears to be an instance of the
personification of animals and the corn into anthropomorphic deities.
15. The Diwali festival.
The principal festival of the Ahirs is the Diwali, falling about the
beginning of November, which is also the time when the autumn crops
ripen. All classes observe this feast by illuminating their houses
with many small saucer-lamps and letting off crackers and fireworks,
and they generally gamble with money to bring them good luck during
the coming year. The Ahirs make a mound of earth, which is called
Govardhan, that is the mountain in Mathura which Krishna held upside
down on his finger for seven days and nights, so that all the people
might gather under it and be protected from the devastating storms of
rain sent by Indra. After dancing round the mound they drive their
cattle over it and make them trample it to pieces. At this time a
festival called Marhai is held, at which much liquor is drunk and
all classes disport themselves. In Damoh on this day the Ahirs go to
the standing-place for village cattle, and after worshipping the god,
frighten the cattle by waving leaves of the basil-plant at them, and
then put on fantastic dresses, decorating themselves with cowries,
and go round the village, singing and dancing. Elsewhere at the time
of the Marhai they dance round a pole with peacock feathers tied to the
top, and sometimes wear peacock feathers themselves, as well as aprons
sewn all over with cowries. It is said that Krishna and Balaram used
to wear peacock feathers when they danced in the jungles of Mathura,
but this rite has probably some connection with the worship of the
peacock. This bird might be venerated by the Ahirs as one of the
prominent denizens of the jungle. In Raipur they tie a white cock
to the top of the pole and dance round it. In Mandla, Khila Mutha,
the god of the threshing-floor, is worshipped at this time, with
offerings of a fowl and a goat. They also perform the rite of _jagana_
or waking him up. They tie branches of a small shrub to a stick and
pour milk over the stone which is his emblem, and sing, 'Wake up,
Khila Mutha, this is the night of Amawas' (the new moon). Then they
go to the cattle-shed and wake up the cattle, crying, 'Poraiya,
god of the door, watchman of the window, open the door, Nand Gowal
is coming.' Then they drive out the cattle and chase them with the
branches tied to their sticks as far as their grazing-ground. Nand
Gowal was the foster-father of Krishna, and is now said to signify a
man who has a lakh (100,000) of cows. This custom of frightening the
cattle and making them run is called _dhor jagana_ or _bichkana_, that
is, to wake up or terrify the cattle. Its meaning is obscure, but it is
said to preserve the cattle from disease during the year. In Raipur the
women make an image of a parrot in clay at the Diwali and place it on
a pole and go round to the different houses, singing and dancing round
the pole, and receiving presents of rice and money. They praise the
parrot as the bird who carries messages from a lover to his mistress,
and as living on the mountains and among the green verdure, and sing:
"Oh, parrot, where shall we sow _gondla_ grass and where shall we
sow rice?
"We will sow _gondla_ in a pond and rice in the field.
"With what shall we cut _gondla_ grass, and with what shall we
cut rice?
"We shall cut _gondla_ with an axe and rice with a sickle."
It is probable that the parrot is revered as a spirit of the forest,
and also perhaps because it is destructive to the corn. The parrot
is not, so far as is known, associated with any god, but the Hindus
do not kill it. In Bilaspur an ear of rice is put into the parrot's
mouth, and it is said there that the object of the rite is to prevent
the parrots from preying on the corn.
16. Omens.
On the night of the full moon of Jesth (May) the Ahirs stay awake
all night, and if the moon is covered with clouds they think that
the rains will be good. If a cow's horns are not firmly fixed in
the head and seem to shake slightly, it is called Maini, and such an
animal is considered to be lucky. If a bullock sits down with three
legs under him and the fourth stretched out in front it is a very
good omen, and it is thought that his master's cattle will increase
and multiply. When a buffalo-calf is born they cover it at once with
a black cloth and remove it from the mother's sight, as they think
that if she saw the calf and it then died her milk would dry up. The
calf is fed by hand. Cow-calves, on the other hand, are usually left
with the mother, and many people allow them to take all the milk,
as they think it a sin to deprive them of it.
17. Social customs.
The Ahirs will eat the flesh of goats and chickens, and most of them
consume liquor freely. The Kaonra Ahirs of Mandla eat pork, and the
Rawats of Chhattisgarh are said not to object to field-mice and rats,
even when caught in the houses. The Kaonra Ahirs are also said not to
consider a woman impure during the period of menstruation. Nevertheless
the Ahirs enjoy a good social status, owing to their relations with
the sacred cow. As remarked by Eha: "His family having been connected
for many generations with the sacred animal he enjoys a certain
consciousness of moral respectability, like a man whose uncles are
deans or canons." [27] All castes will take water from the hands of
an Ahir, and in Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country the Rawats and
Gahras, as the Ahir caste is known respectively in these localities,
are the only caste from whom Brahmans and all other Hindus will take
water. On this account, and because of their comparative purity,
they are largely employed as personal servants. In Chhattisgarh the
ordinary Rawats will clean the cooking-vessels even of Muhammadans,
but the Thethwar or pure Rawats refuse this menial work. In Mandla,
when a man is to be brought back into caste after a serious offence,
such as getting vermin in a wound, he is made to stand in the middle
of a stream, while some elderly relative pours water over him. He
then addresses the members of the caste _panchayat_ or committee,
who are standing on the bank, saying to them, 'Will you leave me in
the mud or will you take me out?' Then they tell him to come out,
and he has to give a feast. At this a member of the Meliha sept first
eats food and puts some into the offender's mouth, thus taking the
latter's sin upon himself. The offender then addresses the _panchayat_
saying, 'Rajas of the Panch, eat.' Then the _panchayat_ and all the
caste take food with him and he is readmitted. In Nandgaon State the
head of the caste _panchayat_ is known as Thethwar, the title of the
highest subcaste, and is appointed by the Raja, to whom he makes a
present. In Jashpur, among the Mahakul Ahirs, when an offender is put
out of caste he has on readmission to make an offering of Rs. 1-4 to
Balaji, the tutelary deity of the State. These Mahakuls desire to be
considered superior to ordinary Ahirs, and their social rules are hence
very strict. A man is put out of caste if a dog, fowl or pig touches
his water or cooking-pots, or if he touches a fowl. In the latter
case he is obliged to make an offering of a fowl to the local god,
and eight days are allowed for procuring it. A man is also put out of
caste for beating his father. In Mandla, Ahirs commonly have the title
of Patel or headman of a village, probably because in former times,
when the country consisted almost entirely of forest and grass land,
they were accustomed to hold large areas on contract for grazing.
18. Ornaments.
In Chhattisgarh the Rawat women are especially fond of wearing large
_churas_ or leg-ornaments of bell-metal. These consist of a long
cylinder which fits closely to the leg, being made in two halves which
lock into each other, while at each end and in the centre circular
plates project outwards horizontally. A pair of these _churas_ may
weigh 8 or 10 lbs., and cost from Rs. 3 to Rs. 9. It is probable that
some important magical advantage was expected to come from the wearing
of these heavy appendages, which must greatly impede free progression,
but its nature is not known.
19. Occupation.
Only about thirty per cent of the Ahirs are still occupied in breeding
cattle and dealing in milk and butter. About four per cent are domestic
servants, and nearly all the remainder cultivators and labourers. In
former times the Ahirs had the exclusive right of milking the cow,
so that on all occasions an Ahir must be hired for this purpose even
by the lowest castes. Any one could, however, milk the buffalo, and
also make curds and other preparations from cow's milk. [28] This
rule is interesting as showing how the caste system was maintained
and perpetuated by the custom of preserving to each caste a monopoly
of its traditional occupation. The rule probably applied also to the
bulk of the cultivating and the menial and artisan castes, and now
that it has been entirely abrogated it would appear that the gradual
decay and dissolution of the caste organisation must follow. The
village cattle are usually entrusted jointly to one or more herdsmen
for grazing purposes. The grazier is paid separately for each animal
entrusted to his care, a common rate being one anna for a cow or
bullock and two annas for a buffalo per month. When a calf is born
he gets four annas for a cow-calf and eight annas for a she-buffalo,
but except in the rice districts nothing for a male buffalo-calf, as
these animals are considered useless outside the rice area. The reason
is that buffaloes do not work steadily except in swampy or wet ground,
where they can refresh themselves by frequent drinking. In the northern
Districts male buffalo-calves are often neglected and allowed to die,
but the cow-buffaloes are extremely valuable, because their milk is
the principal source of supply of _ghi_ or boiled butter. When a cow
or buffalo is in milk the grazier often gets the milk one day out
of four or five. When a calf is born the teats of the cow are first
milked about twenty times on to the ground in the name of the local
god of the Ahirs. The remainder of the first day's milk is taken by
the grazier, and for the next few days it is given to friends. The
village grazier is often also expected to prepare the guest-house for
Government officers and others visiting the village, fetch grass for
their animals, and clean their cooking vessels. For this he sometimes
receives a small plot of land and a present of a blanket annually
from the village proprietor. Malguzars and large tenants have their
private herdsmen. The pasturage afforded by the village waste lands
and forest is, as a rule, only sufficient for the plough-bullocks and
more valuable milch-animals. The remainder are taken away sometimes
for long distances to the Government forest reserves, and here the
herdsmen make stockades in the jungle and remain there with their
animals for months together. The cattle which remain in the village are
taken by the owners in the early morning to the _khirkha_ or central
standing-ground. Here the grazier takes them over and drives them out
to pasture. He brings them back at ten or eleven, and perhaps lets them
stand in some field which the owner wants manured. Then he separates
the cows and milch-buffaloes and takes them to their masters' houses,
where he milks them all. In the afternoon all the cattle are again
collected and driven out to pasture. The cultivators are very much in
the grazier's hands, as they cannot supervise him, and if dishonest he
may sell off a cow or calf to a friend in a distant village and tell
the owner that it has been carried off by a tiger or panther. Unless
the owner succeeds by a protracted search or by accident in finding
the animal he cannot disprove the herdsman's statement, and the only
remedy is to dispense with the latter's services if such losses become
unduly frequent. On this account, according to the proverbs, the Ahir
is held to be treacherous and false to his engagements. They are also
regarded as stupid because they seldom get any education, retain their
rustic and half-aboriginal dialect, and on account of their solitary
life are dull and slow-witted in company. 'The barber's son learns to
shave on the Ahir's head.' 'The cow is in league with the milkman and
lets him milk water into the pail.' The Ahirs are also hot-tempered,
and their propensity for drinking often results in affrays, when they
break each other's head with their cattle-staffs. 'A Gaoli's quarrel:
drunk at night and friends in the morning.'
20. Preparations of milk.
Hindus nearly always boil their milk before using it, as the taste
of milk fresh from the cow is considered unpalatable. After boiling,
the milk is put in a pot and a little old curds added, when the whole
becomes _dahi_ or sour curds. This is a favourite food, and appears
to be exactly the same substance as the Bulgarian sour milk which is
now considered to have much medicinal value. Butter is also made by
churning these curds or _dahi_. Butter is never used without being
boiled first, when it becomes converted into a sort of oil; this
has the advantage of keeping much better than fresh butter, and may
remain fit for use for as long as a year. This boiled butter is known
as _ghi_, and is the staple product of the dairy industry, the bulk
of the surplus supply of milk being devoted to its manufacture. It
is freely used by all classes who can afford it, and serves very well
for cooking purposes. There is a comparatively small market for fresh
milk among the Hindus, and as a rule only those drink milk who obtain
it from their own animals. The acid residue after butter has been
made from _dahi_ (curds) or milk is known as _matha_ or butter-milk,
and is the only kind of milk drunk by the poorer classes. Milk boiled
so long as to become solidified is known as _khir_, and is used by
confectioners for making sweets. When the milk is boiled and some sour
milk added to it, so that it coagulates while hot, the preparation is
called _chhana_. The whey is expressed from this by squeezing it in a
cloth, and a kind of cheese is obtained. [29] The liquid which oozes
out at the root of a cow's horns after death is known as _gaolochan_
and sells for a high price, as it is considered a valuable medicine
for children's cough and lung diseases.
Andh
_Andh._ [30]--A low cultivating caste of Berar, who numbered 52,000
persons in 1911, and belong to the Yeotmal, Akola and Buldana
Districts. The Andhs appear to be a non-Aryan tribe of the Andhra or
Tamil country, from which they derive their name. The territories
of the Andhra dynasty extended across southern India from sea to
sea in the early part of the Christian era. This designation may,
however, have been given to them after migration, emigrants being not
infrequently called in their new country by the name of the place from
which they came, as Berari, Purdesi, Audhia (from Oudh), and so on. At
present there seems to be no caste called Andh in Madras. Mr. Kitts
[31] notes that they still come from Hyderabad across the Penganga
river.
The caste are divided into two groups, Vartati or pure and Khaltati or
illegitimate, which take food together, but do not intermarry. They
have a large number of exogamous septs, most of which appear to have
Marathi names, either taken from villages or of a titular character. A
few are called after animals or plants, as Majiria the cat, Ringni
a kind of tree, Dumare from Dumar, an ant-hill, Dukare from Dukar,
a pig, and Titawe from Titawa, a bird. Baghmare means tiger-killer
or one killed by a tiger; members of this sept revere the tiger. Two
septs, Bhoyar and Wanjari, are named after other castes.
Marriage between members of the same sept is prohibited, and also
between first cousins, except that a sister's son may marry a brother's
daughter. Until recently marriage has been adult, but girls are now
wedded as children, and betrothals are sometimes arranged before they
are born. The ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis. Betrothals are
arranged between October and December, and the weddings take place
three or four months later, from January to April. If the bride is
mature she goes at once to her husband's house. Polygamy is allowed;
and as only a well-to-do man can afford to obtain more than one wife,
those who have several are held to be wealthy, and treated with
respect. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted, but
the widow may not marry her husband's brother nor any member of his
clan. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant by a man of her own or a
superior caste she is fined, and can then be married as a widow. Her
feet are not washed nor besmeared with red powder at the wedding
ceremony like those of other girls. In some localities Andh women
detected in a criminal intimacy even with men of such impure castes
as the Mahars and Mangs have been readmitted into the community. A
substantial fine is imposed on a woman detected in adultery according
to her means and spent on a feast to the caste. All the members thus
have a personal interest in the detection and punishment of such
offences. The dead are usually buried, and water and sugar are placed
in a dying man's mouth instead of the sacred objects used by Hindus;
nor are the dying urged to call on Rama. The dead are buried with
the head to the south, in opposition to the Hindu custom. The Andhs
will eat the flesh of fowls and pigs, and even cats, rats and snakes
in some localities, though the more civilised have abjured these
latter. They are very fond of pork, and drink liquor, and will take
food from Kunbis, Malis and Kolis, but not from Gonds. They have
a caste _panchayat_ or committee, with a headman called Mohtaria,
and two officers known as Phopatia and Dukria. When a caste offence
is committed the Dukria goes to call the offender, and is given the
earthen pots used at the penalty-feast, while the Phopatia receives
a new piece of cloth. The Mohtaria or headman goes from village to
village to decide cases, and gets a share of the fine. The caste are
_shikaris_ or hunters, and cultivators. They catch antelope, hares,
pig and nilgai in their nets, and kill them with sticks and stones,
and they dam up streams and net fish. Birds are not caught. Generally,
the customs of the Andhs clearly point to an aboriginal origin, but
they are rapidly being Hinduised, and in some tracts can scarcely be
distinguished from Kunbis.
They have Marathi names; and though only one name is given at birth,
Mr. Slaney notes that this is frequently changed for some pet name,
and as often as not a man goes regularly by some name other than his
real one.
Arakh
_Arakh._--A small caste of cultivators and labourers found
principally in the Chanda District and Berar and scattered over other
localities. The Arakhs are considered to be an offshoot of the Pasi or
Bahelia caste of hunters and fowlers. Mr. Crooke [32] writes of them:
"All their traditions connect them with the Pasis and Parasurama, the
sixth Avatara of Vishnu. One story runs that Parasurama was bathing
in the sea, when a leech bit his foot and caused it to bleed. He
divided the blood into two parts; out of one part he made the first
Pasi and out of the second the first Arakh. Another story is that
the Pasis were made out of the sweat (_pasina_) of Parasurama. While
Parasurama was away the Pasi shot some animals with his bow, and
the deity was so enraged that he cursed the Pasi, and swore that
his descendants should keep pigs. This accounts for the degradation
of the Pasis. Subsequently Parasurama sent for some Pasis to help
him in one of his wars; but they ran away and hid in an _arhar_
[33] field and were hence called Arakhs." This connection with the
Pasis is also recognised in the case of the Arakhs of Berar, of whom
Mr. Kitts writes: [34] "The Arakhs found in Morsi are a race akin to
the Bahelias. Their regular occupation is bird-catching and _shikar_
(hunting). They do not follow Hindu customs in their marriages,
but although they keep pigs, eat flesh and drink spirits, they will
not touch a Chamar. They appear to be a branch of the Pasi tribe,
and are described as a semi-Hinduised class of aborigines." In the
Chanda District, however, the Arakhs are closely connected with the
Gond tribe, as is evident from their system of exogamy. Thus they
say that they are divided into the Matia, Tekam, Tesli, Godam, Madai,
Sayam and Chorliu septs, worshipping respectively three, four, five,
six, seven, eight and twelve gods; and persons who worship the same
number of gods cannot marry with one another. This system of divisions
according to the different number of gods worshipped is found in the
Central Provinces only among the Gonds and one or two other tribes
like the Baigas, who have adopted it from them, and as some of the
names given above are also Gondi words, no doubt need be entertained
that the Arakhs of Chanda are largely of Gond descent. They are
probably, in fact, the offspring of irregular connections between
the Gonds and Pasis, who, being both frequenters of the forests,
would naturally come much into contact with each other. And being
disowned by the true Pasis on account of their defective pedigree,
they have apparently set up as a separate caste and adopted the name
of Arakh to hide the deficiencies of their ancestry.
The social customs of the Arakhs resemble those of other low Hindu
castes, and need not be given in detail. Their weddings are held
near a temple of Maroti, or if there be none such, then at the place
where the Holi fire was lit in the preceding year. A bride-price
varying from Rs. 25 to Rs. 40 is usually paid. In the case of the
marriage of a widow, the second husband goes to the house of the
woman, where the couple are bathed and seated on two wooden boards,
a branch of a cotton-plant being placed near them. The bridegroom then
ties five strings of black glass beads round the woman's neck. The
dead are mourned for one day only, and a funeral feast is given to
the caste-fellows. The Arakhs are a very low caste, but their touch
does not convey impurity.
Atari
1. General notice.
_Atari, [35] Gandhi, Bukekari._--A small Muhammadan caste of retailers
of scent, incense, tooth-powder and _kunku_ or pink powder. Atari
is derived from _atar_ or _itra_, attar of roses. Gandhi comes from
_gandh_, a Sanskrit word for scent. Bukekari is a Marathi word meaning
a seller of powder. The Ataris number about two hundred persons
in Nagpur, Wardha and Berar. Both Hindus and Muhammadans follow
the profession, but the Hindu Ataris are not a separate caste, and
belong to the Teli, Gurao and Beldar castes. The Muhammadan Ataris,
to whom this article refers, may marry with other Muhammadans, with
the exception of low-class tradesmen like the Pinjaras, Kasais and
Kunjras. One instance of an Atari marrying a Rangrez is known, but
usually they decline to do so. But since they are not considered to
be the equals of ordinary Muhammadans, they constitute more or less
a distinct social group. They are of the same position as Muhammadan
tin-workers, bangle-makers and pedlars, and sometimes intermarry
with them. They admit Hindu converts into the community, but the
women refuse to eat with them, and the better-class families will
not intermarry with converts. A new convert must be circumcised,
but if he is of advanced age, or if his foreskin is wanting, as
sometimes happens, they take a rolled-up betel-leaf and cut it in
two in substitution for the rite.
2. Marriage customs.
It is essential that a girl should be married before adolescence, as it
is said that when the signs of puberty appear in her before wedlock her
parents commit a crime equivalent to the shedding of human blood. The
father of the boy looks for a bride, and after dropping hints to
the girl's family to see if his proposal is acceptable, he sends some
female relatives or friends to discuss the marriage. Before the wedding
the boy is presented with a _chhap_ or ring of gold or silver with
a small cup-like attachment. A _mehar_ or dowry must be given to the
bride, the amount of which is not below Rs. 50 or above Rs. 250. The
bride's parents give her cooking vessels, bedding and a bedstead. After
the wedding, the couple are seated on a cot while the women sing songs,
and they see each other's face reflected in a mirror. The procession
returns after a stay of four days, and is received by the women of
the bridegroom's family with some humorous ceremonies bearing on the
nature of marriage. A feast called Tamm Walima follows, and the couple
are shut up together in an inner room, even though they may be under
age. The marriage includes some Hindu customs, such as the erection
of the _pandal_ or shed, rubbing the couple with turmeric and oil,
and the tying on of _kankans_ or wrist-bands. A girl going wrong
before marriage may be wedded with full rites so long as she has not
conceived, but after conception until her child is born she cannot go
through the ceremony at all. After the birth of the child she may be
married simply with the rite for widows. She retains the child, but it
has no claim to succeed to her husband's property. A widow may marry
again after an interval of forty days from her first husband's death,
and she may wed her younger brother-in-law. Divorce is permitted at
the instance of either party, and for mere disagreement. A man usually
divorces his wife by vowing in the presence of two witnesses that he
will in future consider intercourse with her as incestuous in the same
degree as with his mother. A divorced woman has a claim to her _mehar_
or dowry if not already paid, but forfeits it if she marries again. A
man can marry the daughter of his paternal uncle. The services of a
Kazi at weddings are paid for with a fee of Rs. 1-4, and well-to-do
persons also give him a pair of turbans.
3. Religion.
The Ataris are Muhammadans of the Sunni sect. They revere the
Muhammadan saints, and on the night of Shabrat they let off fireworks
in honour of their ancestors and make offerings of _halwa_ [36] to
them and place lamps and scent on their tombs. They swear by the pig
and abstain from eating its flesh. The dog is considered an unclean
animal and its tail, ears and tongue are especially defiling. If the
hair of a dog falls on the ground they cannot pray in that place
because the souls of the prophets cannot come there. To see a dog
flapping its ears is a bad omen, and a person starting on a journey
should postpone his departure. They esteem the spider, because they
say it spread its web over the mouth of the cave where Hasan and
Husain lay concealed from their enemies and thus prevented it from
being searched. Some of them have Pirs or spiritual preceptors, these
being Muhammadan beggars, not necessarily celibate. The ceremony of
adhesion is that a man should drink sherbet from the cup from which
his preceptor has drunk. They do not observe impurity after a death
nor bathe on returning from a funeral.
4. Social customs.
Liquor is of course prohibited to the Ataris as to other Muhammadans,
but some of them drink it nevertheless. Some of them eat beef and
others abstain. The blood of animals killed must flow before death
according to the rite of _halal_, but they say that fish are an
exception, because when Abraham was offering up his son Ishmael and
God substituted a goat, the goat bleated before it was killed, and
this offended Abraham, who threw his sacrificial knife into the sea:
the knife struck and killed a fish, and on this account all fish
are considered to be _halal_ or lawful food without any further
rite. The Ataris observe the Hindu law of inheritance, and some of
them worship Hindu deities, as Mata the goddess of smallpox. As a rule
their women are not secluded. The Ataris make _missi_ or tooth-powder
from myrobalans, cloves and cardamoms, and other constituents. This
has the effect of blackening the teeth. They also sell the _kunku_
or red powder which women rub on their foreheads, its constituents
being turmeric, borax and the juice of limes. They sell scent and
sometimes deal in tobacco. The scents most in demand are _gulab-pani_
or rose-water and _phulel_ or essence of tilli or sesamum. Scents are
usually sold by the tola of 18 annas silver weight, [37] and a tola
of attar may vary in price from 8 annas to Rs. 80. Other scents are
made from _khas-khas_ grass, the mango, henna and musk, the _bela_
flower, [38] the champak [39] and cucumber. Scent is manufactured
by distillation from the flowers boiled in water, and the drops of
congealed vapour fall into sandalwood oil, which they say is the basis
of all scents. Fragrant oils are also sold for rubbing on the hair,
made from orange flowers, jasmine, cotton-seed and the flowers of
the _aonla_ tree. [40] Scent is sold in tiny circular glass bottles,
and the oils in little bottles made from thin leather. The Ataris
also retail the little black sticks of incense which are set up and
burnt at the time of taking food and in temples, so that the smell
and smoke may keep off evil spirits. When professional exorcists are
called upon to clear any building, such as a hospital, supposed to be
haunted by spirits or the ghosts of the dead, they commence operations
by placing these sticks of incense at the entrance and setting them
alight as in a temple.
Audhelia
1. Origin.
_Audhelia (Audhalia)._--A small hybrid caste found almost exclusively
in the Bilaspur District, where they number about 1000 persons. The
name is derived from the word Udharia, meaning a person with
clandestine sexual intimacies. The Audhelias are a mixed caste and
trace their origin from a Daharia Rajput ancestor, by one Bhuri Bandi,
a female slave of unknown caste. This couple is supposed to have
resided in Ratanpur, the old capital of Chhattisgarh, and the female
ancestors of the Audhelias are said to have been prostitutes until
they developed into a caste and began to marry among themselves. Their
proper avocation at present is the rearing of pigs, while some of
them are also tenants and farm-labourers. Owing to the base descent
and impure occupation of the caste they are held in very low esteem,
and their touch is considered to convey pollution.
2. Marriage.
The caste have at present no endogamous divisions and still admit
members of other castes with the exception of the very lowest. But
social gradations exist to a certain extent among the members
according to the position of their male ancestors, a Daharia Audhelia,
for instance, being reluctant to eat or intermarry with a Panka
Audhelia. Under these circumstances it has become a rule among the
Audhelias not to eat with their caste-fellows excepting their own
relations. On the occasion of a caste feast, therefore, each guest
prepares his own food, taking only uncooked grain from his host. At
present seven _gotras_ or exogamous divisions appear to have been
formed in the caste with the names of Pachbhaiya, Chhahri, Kalkhor,
Bachhawat, Dhanawat, Bhainsa and Limuan. The following story exists as
to the origin of these _gotras_: There were formerly three brothers,
Sahasman, Budha and Mangal, who were Sansis or robbers. One evening
the three brothers halted in a forest and went to look for food. One
brought back a buffalo-horn, another a peacock's feather and the
youngest, Mangal, brought plums. The other brothers asked Mangal to
let them share his plums, to which he agreed on condition that one
of the brothers should give his daughter to him in marriage. As
Mangal and his brothers were of one _gotra_ or section, and the
marriage would thus involve splitting up the _gotra_, the brothers
were doubtful whether it could be performed. They sought about for
some sign to determine this difficult question, and decided that if
Mangal succeeded in breaking in pieces an iron image of a cat simply
by blows of his naked fist, it would be a sufficient indication
that they might split up their _gotra_. Mangal was therefore put
to the ordeal and succeeded in breaking the image, so the three
brothers split up their _gotra_, the eldest assuming the _gotra_
name of Bhainsa because he had found a buffalo-horn, the second that
of Kalkhor, which is stated to mean peacock, and the third that of
Chhahri, which at any rate does not mean a plum. The word Chhahri
means either 'shadow,' or 'one who washes the clothes of a woman in
confinement.' If we assume it to have the latter meaning, it may be
due to the fact that Mangal had to wash the clothes of his own wife,
not being able to induce a professional washerman to do so on account
of the incestuous nature of the connection. As the eldest brother
gave his daughter in an incestuous marriage he was also degraded, and
became the ancestor of the Kanjars or prostitutes, who, it is said,
to the present day do not solicit Audhelias in consideration of the
consanguinity existing between them. The story itself sufficiently
indicates the low and mixed descent of the Audhelias, and its real
meaning may possibly be that when they first began to form a separate
caste they permitted incestuous marriages on account of the paucity of
their members. A curious point about the story is that the incestuous
nature of the connection is not taken to be the most pressing objection
to the marriage of Mangal with his own niece, but the violation of the
caste rule prohibiting marriage within the same _gotra_. Bachhawat
and Dhanawat are the names of sections of the Banjara caste, and
the persons of these _gotras_ among the Audhelias are probably
the descendants of illicit connections among Banjaras. The word
Pachbhaiya means 'five brothers,' and this name possibly commemorates a
polyandrous connection of some Audhelia woman. Limuan means a tortoise,
which is a section of many castes. Several of the section-names are
thus totemistic, and, as in other castes, some reverence is paid to
the animal from whom the name is derived. At present the Audhelias
forbid marriage within the same _gotra_ and also the union of first
cousins. Girls are married between five and seven years of age as their
numbers are scarce, and they are engaged as early as possible. Unless
weddings are arranged by exchanging girls between two families, a
high bride-price, often amounting to as much as Rs. 60, is paid. No
stigma is incurred, however, if a girl should remain unmarried till
she arrives at adolescence, but, on the contrary, a higher price is
then obtained for her. Sexual licence either before or after marriage
is considered a venial offence, but a woman detected in a _liaison_
with a man of one of the lowest castes is turned out of caste. Widow
marriage and divorce are freely allowed.
3. Religion, birth and death.
The Audhelias venerate Dulha Deo and Devi, to whom they usually offer
pigs. Their principal festival is the Holi, at which their women were
formerly engaged to perform as professional dancers. They usually burn
their dead and remove the ashes on the third day, throwing them into
the nearest stream. A few of the bones are picked up and buried under
a pipal tree, and a pitcher with a hole in the bottom is hung on the
tree so that water may trickle down on to them. On the tenth day the
caste-people assemble and are shaved and bathe and rub their bodies
with oil under the tree. Unmarried men and persons dying of cholera
are buried, the head being placed to the north. They consider that if
they place the corpse in the reverse position it would be an insult
to the Ganges equivalent to kicking the holy river, as the feet of
the body would then be turned towards it.
Badhak
List of Paragraphs
1. _Introductory notice._
2. _The Badhak dacoits._
3. _Instances of dacoities._
4. _Further instances of dacoities._
5. _Disguise of religious mendicants._
6. _Countenance and support of landowners._
7. _Pride in their profession._
8. _Caste rules and admission of outsiders._
9. _Religion. Offerings to ancestors._
10. _The wounded haunted by spirits._
11. _Pious funeral observances._
12. _Taking the omens._
13. _Suppression of dacoity._
14. _The Badhaks or Baoris at the present time._
15. _Lizard-hunting._
16. _Social observances._
17. _Criminal practices._
1. Introductory notice.
_Badhak, Bagri, Baoria._--A famous tribe of dacoits who flourished
up to about 1850, and extended their depredations over the whole
of Northern and Central India. The Bagris and Baorias or Bawarias
still exist and are well known to the police as inveterate criminals;
but their operations are now confined to ordinary burglary, theft and
cheating, and their more interesting profession of armed gang-robbery
on a large scale is a thing of the past. The first part of this article
is entirely compiled from the Report on their suppression drawn up
by Colonel Sleeman, [41] who may be regarded as the virtual founder
of the Thuggee and Dacoity Department. Some mention of the existing
Bagri and Baoria tribes is added at the end.
2. The Badhak dacoits.
The origin of the Badhaks is obscure, but they seem to have belonged
to Gujarat, as their peculiar dialect, still in use, is a form of
Gujarati. The most striking feature in it is the regular substitution
of _kh_ for _s_. They claimed to be Rajputs and were divided into clans
with the well-known Rajput names of Solanki, Panwar, Dhundhel, Chauhan,
Rathor, Gahlot, Bhatti and Charan. Their ancestors were supposed to
have fled from Chitor on one of the historical occasions on which it
was assaulted and sacked. But as they spoke Gujarati it seems more
probable that they belonged to Gujarat, a fertile breeding-place of
criminals, and they may have been descended from the alliances of
Rajputs with the primitive tribes of this locality, the Bhils and
Kolis. The existing Bagris are of short stature, one writer stating
that none of them exceed five feet two inches in height; and this
seems to indicate that they have little Rajput blood. It may be
surmised that the Badhaks rose into importance and found scope for
their predatory instincts during the period of general disorder and
absence of governing authority through which northern India passed
after the decline of the Mughal Empire. And they lived and robbed with
the connivance or open support of the petty chiefs and landholders,
to whom they gave a liberal share of their booty. The principal bands
were located in the Oudh forests, but they belonged to the whole
of northern India including the Central Provinces; and as Colonel
Sleeman's Report, though of much interest, is now practically unknown,
I have thought it not out of place to compile an article by means of
short extracts from his account of the tribe.
In 1822 the operations of the Badhaks were being conducted on such a
scale that an officer wrote: "No District between the Brahmaputra,
the Nerbudda, the Satlej and the Himalayas is free from them; and
within this vast field hardly any wealthy merchant or manufacturer
could feel himself secure for a single night from the depredations
of Badhak dacoits. They had successfully attacked so many of the
treasuries of our native Sub-Collectors that it was deemed necessary,
all over the North-Western Provinces, to surround such buildings with
extensive fortifications. In many cases they carried off our public
treasure from strong parties of our regular troops and mounted police;
and none seemed to know whence they came or whither they fled with
the booty acquired." [42]
3. Instances of dacoities.
Colonel Sleeman thus described a dacoity in the town of Narsinghpur
when he was in charge of that District: [43] "In February 1822,
in the dusk of the evening, a party of about thirty persons, with
nothing seemingly but walking-sticks in their hands, passed the
piquet of sepoys on the bank of the rivulet which separates the
cantonment from the town of Narsinghpur. On being challenged by
the sentries they said they were cowherds and that their cattle were
following close behind. They walked up the street; and coming opposite
the houses of the most wealthy merchants, they set their torches
in a blaze by blowing suddenly on pots filled with combustibles,
stabbed everybody who ventured to move or make the slightest noise,
plundered the houses, and in ten minutes were away with their booty,
leaving about twelve persons dead and wounded on the ground. No trace
of them was discovered." Another well-known exploit of the Badhaks
was the attack on the palace of the ex-Peshwa, Baji Rao, at Bithur
near Cawnpore. This was accomplished by a gang of about eighty men,
who proceeded to the locality in the disguise of carriers of Ganges
water. Having purchased a boat and a few muskets to intimidate
the guard they crossed the Ganges about six miles below Bithur,
and reached the place at ten o'clock at night; and after wounding
eighteen persons who attempted resistance they possessed themselves
of property, chiefly in gold, to the value of more than two and a
half lakhs of rupees; and retiring without loss made their way in
safety to their homes in the Oudh forests. The residence of this
gang was known to a British police officer in the King of Oudh's
service, Mr. Orr, and after a long delay on the part of the court
an expedition was sent which recovered a portion of the treasure
and captured two or three hundred of the Badhaks. But none of the
recovered property reached the hands of Baji Rao and the prisoners
were soon afterwards released. [44] Again in 1839, a gang of about
fifty men under a well-known leader, Gajraj, scaled the walls of
Jhansi and plundered the Surafa or bankers' quarter of the town for
two hours, obtaining booty to the value of Rs. 40,000, which they
carried off without the loss of a man. The following account of this
raid was obtained by Colonel Sleeman from one of the robbers: [45]
"The spy (_hirrowa_) having returned and reported that he had found a
merchant's house in Jhansi which contained a good deal of property,
we proceeded to a grove where we took the auspices by the process
of _akut_ (counting of grains) and found the omens favourable. We
then rested three days and settled the rates according to which the
booty should be shared. Four or five men, who were considered too
feeble for the enterprise, were sent back, and the rest, well armed,
strong and full of courage, went on. In the evening of the fourth day
we reached a plain about a mile from the town, where we rested to take
breath for an hour; about nine o'clock we got to the wall and remained
under it till midnight, preparing the ladders from materials which we
had collected on the road. They were placed to the wall and we entered
and passed through the town without opposition. A marriage procession
was going on before us and the people thought we belonged to it. We
found the bankers' shops closed. Thana and Saldewa, who carried the
axes, soon broke them open, while Kulean lighted up his torch. Gajraj
with twenty men entered, while the rest stood posted at the different
avenues leading to the place. When all the property they could find
had been collected, Gajraj hailed the god Hanuman and gave orders for
the retreat. We got back safely to Mondegri in two days and a half,
and then reposed for two or three days with the Raja of Narwar,
with whom we left five or six of our stoutest men as a guard, and
then returned home with our booty, consisting chiefly of diamonds,
emeralds, gold and silver bullion, rupees and about sixty pounds
of silver wire. None of our people were either killed or wounded,
but whether any of the bankers' people were I know not."
4. Further instances of dacoities.
Colonel Sleeman writes elsewhere [46] of the leader of the above
exploit: "This Gajraj had risen from the vocation of a _bandarwala_
(monkey showman) to be the Robin Hood of Gwalior and the adjacent
States; he was the governor-general of banditti in that country of
banditti and kept the whole in awe; he had made himself so formidable
that the Durbar appointed him to keep the _ghats_ or ferries over
the Chambal, which he did in a very profitable manner to them and
to himself, and none entered or quitted the country without paying
blackmail." A common practice of the Badhaks, when in need of a little
ready money, was to lie in wait for money-changers on their return
from the markets. These men take their bags of money with them to the
important bazars at a distance from their residence and return home
with them after dusk. The dacoits were accustomed to watch for them
in the darkest and most retired places on the roads and fell them
to the ground with their bludgeons. This device was often practised
and usually succeeded. [47] Of another Badhak chief, Meherban, it is
stated [48] that he hired a discharged sepoy to instruct his followers
in the European system of drill, that they might travel with him in
the disguise of regular soldiers, well armed and accoutred. During
the rains Meherban's spies (_hirrowa_) were sent to visit the great
commercial towns and report any despatches of money or other valuables,
which were to take place during the following open season. His own
favourite disguise was that of a Hindu prince, while the remainder
of the gang constituted his retinue and escort. On one occasion,
assuming this character, he followed up a boat laden with Spanish
dollars which was being sent from Calcutta to Benares; and having
attacked it at its moorings at Makrai, he killed one and wounded ten
men of the guard and made off with 25,000 Spanish dollars and Rs. 2600
of the Company's coinage. A part of the band were sent direct to the
rendezvous previously arranged, while Meherban returned to the grove
where he had left his women and proceeded with them in a more leisurely
fashion to the same place. Retaining the character of a native prince
he halted here for two days to celebrate the Holi festival. Marching
thence with his women conveyed in covered litters by hired bearers
who were changed at intervals, he proceeded to his bivouac in the
Oudh forests; and at Seosagar, one of his halting-places, he gave
a large sum of money to a gardener to plant a grove of mango trees
near a tank for the benefit of travellers, in the name of Raja
Meherban Singh of Gaur in Oudh; and promised him further alms on
future occasions of pilgrimage if he found the work progressing well,
saying that it was a great shame that travellers should be compelled
as he had been to halt without shade for themselves or their families
during the heat of the day. He arrived safely at his quarters in the
forest and was received in the customary fashion by a procession of
women in their best attire, who conducted him with dancing and music,
like a victorious Roman Proconsul, to his fort. [49]
5. Disguise of religious mendicants.
But naturally not all the Badhaks could do things in the style of
Meherban Singh. The disguise which they most often assumed in the north
was that of carriers of Ganges water, while in Central India they often
pretended to be Banjaras travelling with pack-bullocks, or pilgrims,
or wedding-parties going to fetch the bride or bridegroom. Sometimes
also they took the character of religious mendicants, the leader being
the high priest and all the rest his followers and disciples. One
such gang, described by Colonel Sleeman, [50] had four or five
tents of white and dyed cloth, two or three pairs of _nakkaras_
or kettle-drums and trumpets, with a great number of buffaloes,
cows, goats, sheep and ponies. Some were clothed, but the bodies
of the greater part were covered with nothing but ashes, paint and
a small cloth waistband. But they always provided themselves with
five or six real Bairagis, whose services they purchased at a very
high price. These men were put forward to answer questions in case
of difficulty and to bully the landlords and peasantry; and if the
people demurred to the demands of the Badhaks, to intimidate them by
tricks calculated to play upon the fears of the ignorant. They held
in their hands a preparation of gunpowder resembling common ashes; and
when they found the people very stubborn they repeated their _mantras_
over this and threw it upon the thatch of the nearest house, to which
it set fire. The explosion was caused by a kind of fusee held in the
hand which the people could not see, and taking it for a miracle
they paid all that was demanded. Another method was to pretend to
be carrying the bones of dead relatives to the Ganges. The bones or
ashes of the deceased, says [51] Colonel Sleeman, are carried to the
Ganges in bags, coloured red for females and white for males. These
bags are considered holy, and are not allowed to touch the ground
upon the way, and during halts in the journey are placed on poles or
triangles. The carriers are regarded with respect as persons engaged
upon a pious duty, and seldom questioned on the road. When a gang
assumed this disguise they proceeded to their place of rendezvous
in small parties, some with red and some with white bags, in which
they carried the bones of animals most resembling those of the human
frame. These were supported on triangles formed of the shafts on which
the spear-heads would be fitted when they reached their destination
and had prepared for action.
6. Countenance and support of landowners.
It would have been impossible for the Badhaks to exist and flourish
as they did without the protection of the landowners on whose estates
they lived; and this they received in full measure in return for a
liberal share of their booty. When the chief of Karauli was called upon
to dislodge a gang within his territory, he expressed apprehension
that the coercion of the Badhaks might cause a revolution in the
State. He was not at all singular, says Colonel Sleeman, in his fear
of exasperating this formidable tribe of robbers. It was common to
all the smaller chiefs and the provincial governors of the larger
ones. They everywhere protected and fostered the Badhaks, as did the
landholders; and the highest of them associated with the leaders of
gangs on terms of equality and confidence. It was very common for a
chief or the governor of a district in times of great difficulty and
personal danger to require from one of the leaders of such gangs a
night-guard or _palang ki chauki_: and no less so to entertain large
bodies of them in the attack and defence of forts and camps whenever
unusual courage and skill were required. The son of the Raja of Charda
exchanged turbans with a Badhak leader, Mangal Singh, as a mark of the
most intimate friendship. This episode recalls an alliance of similar
character in _Lorna Doone_; and indeed it would not be difficult to
find several points of resemblance between the careers of the more
enterprising Badhak leaders and the Doones of Bagworthy; but India
produced no character on the model of John Ridd, and it was reserved
for an Englishman, Colonel Sleeman, to achieve the suppression of the
Badhaks as well as that of the Thugs. After the fortress and territory
of Garhakota in Saugor had been taken by the Maharaja Sindhia, Zalim
Singh, a cousin of the dispossessed Bundela chief, collected a force
of Bundelas and Pindaris and ravaged the country round Garhakota
in 1813. In the course of his raid he sacked and burnt the town
of Deori, and 15,000 persons perished in the flames. Colonel Jean
Baptiste, Sindhia's general, obtained a number of picked Badhaks from
Rajputana and offered them a rich reward for the head of Zalim Singh;
and after watching his camp for three months they managed to come on
him asleep in the tent of a dancing-girl, who was following his camp,
and stabbed him to the heart. For this deed they received Rs. 20,000
from Baptiste with other valuable presents. Their reputation was
indeed such that they were frequently employed at this period both by
chiefs who desired to take the lives of others and by those who were
anxious for the preservation of their own. When it happened that a
gang was caught after a robbery in a native State, the custom was
not infrequently to make them over to the merchant whose property
they had taken, with permission to keep them in confinement until
they should refund his money; and in this manner by giving up the
whole or a part of the proceeds of their robbery they were enabled
to regain their liberty. Even if they were sent before the courts,
justice was at that time so corrupt as to permit of easy avenues of
escape for those who could afford to pay; and Colonel Sleeman records
the deposition of a Badhak describing their methods of bribery:
"When police officers arrest Badhaks their old women get round them
and give them large sums of money; and they either release them or
get their depositions so written that their release shall be ordered
by the magistrates. If they are brought to court, their old women,
dressed in rags, follow them at a distance of three or four miles
with a thousand or two thousand rupees upon ponies; and these rupees
they distribute among the native officers of the court and get the
Badhaks released. These old women first ascertain from the people of
the villages who are the Nazirs and Munshis of influence, and wait
upon them at their houses and make their bargains. If the officials
cannot effect their release, they take money from the old women and
send them off to the Sadar Court, with letters of introduction to their
friends, and advice as to the rate they shall pay to each according
to his supposed influence. This is the way that all our leaders get
released, and hardly any but useless men are left in confinement." [52]
7. Pride in their profession.
It may be noticed that these robbers took the utmost pleasure in their
calling, and were most averse to the idea of giving it up and taking
to honest pursuits. "Some of the men with me," one magistrate wrote,
[53] "have been in jail for twenty, and one man for thirty years,
and still do not appear to have any idea of abandoning their illegal
vocation; even now, indeed, they look on what we consider an honest
means of livelihood with the most marked contempt; and in relating
their excursions talk of them with the greatest pleasure, much in
the way an eager sportsman describes a boar-chase or fox-hunt. While
talking of their excursions, which were to me really very interesting,
their eyes gleamed with pleasure; and beating their hands on their
foreheads and breasts and muttering some ejaculation they bewailed
the hardness of their lot, which now ensured their never again being
able to participate in such a joyous occupation." Another Badhak,
on being examined, said he could not recall a case of one of the
community having ever given up the trade of dacoity. "None ever did,
I am certain of it," he continued. [54] "After having been arrested,
on our release we frequently take lands, to make it appear we have
left off dacoity, but we never do so in reality; it is only done as
a feint and to enable our zamindars (landowners) to screen us." They
sometimes paid rent for their land at the rate of thirty rupees
an acre, in return for the countenance and protection afforded by
the zamindars. "Our profession," another Badhak remarked, [55] "has
been a _Padshahi Kam_ (a king's trade); we have attacked and seized
boldly the thousands and hundreds of thousands that we have freely
and nobly spent; we have been all our lives wallowing in wealth and
basking in freedom, and find it hard to manage with the few copper
pice a day we get from you." At the time when captures were numerous,
and the idea was entertained of inducing the dacoits to settle in
villages and supporting them until they had been trained to labour,
several of them, on being asked how much they would require to support
themselves, replied that they could not manage on less than two rupees
a day, having earned quite that sum by dacoity. This amount would be
more than twenty times the wages of an ordinary labourer at the same
period. Another witness put the amount at one to two rupees a day,
remarking, 'We are great persons for eating and drinking, and we keep
several wives according to our means.' Of some of them Colonel Sleeman
had a high opinion, and he mentions the case of one man, Ajit Singh,
who was drafted into the native army and rose to be commander of a
company. "I have seldom seen a man," he wrote, [56] "whom I would
rather have with me in scenes of peril and difficulty." An attempt of
the King of Oudh's, however, to form a regiment of Badhaks had ended
in failure, as after a short time they mutinied, beat their commandant
and other officers and turned them out of the regiment, giving as
their reason that the officers had refused to perform the same duties
as the men. And they visited with the same treatment all the other
officers sent to them, until they were disbanded by the British on
the province of Allahabad being made over to the Company. Colonel
Sleeman notes that they were never known to offer any other violence
or insult to females than to make them give up any gold ornaments that
they might have about their persons. "In all my inquiries into the
character, habits and conduct of these gangs, I have never found an
instance of a female having been otherwise disgraced or insulted by
them. They are all Hindus, and this reverence for the sex pervades
all Hindu society." [57] According to their own account also they
never committed murder; if people opposed them they struck and killed
like soldiers, but this was considered to be in fair fight. It may
be noted, nevertheless, that they had little idea of clan loyalty,
and informed very freely against their fellows when this course was
to their advantage. They also stated that they could not settle in
towns; they had always been accustomed to live in the jungles and
commit dacoities upon the people of the towns as a kind of _shikar_
(sport); they delighted in it, and they felt living in towns or among
other men as a kind of prison, and got quite confused (_ghabraye_),
and their women even more than the men.
8. Caste rules and admission of outsiders.
The Badhaks had a regular caste organisation, and members of the
different clans married with each other like the Rajputs after
whom they were named. They admitted freely into the community
members of any respectable Hindu caste, but not the impure castes
or Muhammadans. But at least one instance of the admission of
a Muhammadan is given. [58] The Badhaks were often known to the
people as Siarkhawa or jackal-eaters, or Sabkhawa, those who eat
everything. And the Muhammadan in question was given jackal's flesh
to eat, and having partaken of it was considered to have become a
member of the community. This indicates that the Badhaks were probably
accustomed to eat the flesh of the jackal at a sacrificial meal,
and hence that they worshipped the jackal, revering it probably
as the deity of the forests where they lived. Such a veneration
would account for the importance attached to the jackal's cry as an
omen. The fact of their eating jackals also points to the conclusion
that the Badhaks were not Rajputs, but a low hunting caste like the
Pardhis and Bahelias. The Pardhis have Rajput sept names as well as the
Badhaks. No doubt a few outcaste Rajputs may have joined the gangs and
become their leaders. Others, however, said that they abstained from
the flesh of jackals, snakes, foxes and cows and buffaloes. Children
were frequently adopted, being purchased in large numbers in time
of famine, and also occasionally kidnapped. They were brought up to
the trade of dacoity, and if they showed sufficient aptitude for it
were taken out on expeditions, but otherwise left at home to manage
the household affairs. They were married to other adopted children
and were known as Ghulami or Slave Badhaks, like the Jangar Banjaras;
and like them also, after some generations, when their real origin had
been forgotten, they became full Badhaks. It was very advantageous to
a Badhak to have a number of children, because all plunder obtained was
divided in regularly apportioned shares among the whole community. Men
who were too old to go on dacoity also received their share, and all
children, even babies born during the absence of the expedition. The
Badhaks said that this rule was enforced because they thought it an
advantage to the community that families should be large and their
numbers should increase; from which statement it must be concluded
that they seldom suffered any stringency from lack of spoil. They
also stated that Badhak widows would go and find a second husband
from among the regular population, and as a rule would sooner or
later persuade him to join the Badhaks.
9. Religion: offerings to ancestors.
Like other Indian criminals the Badhaks were of a very religious
or superstitious disposition. They considered the gods of the Hindu
creed as favouring their undertakings so long as they were suitably
propitiated by offering to their temples and priests, and the spirits
of the most distinguished of their ancestors as exercising a vicarious
authority under these deities in guiding them to their prey and warning
them of danger. [59] The following is an account of a Badhak sacrifice
given to Colonel Sleeman by the Ajit Singh already mentioned. It was
in celebration of a dacoity in which they had obtained Rs. 40,000,
out of which Rs. 4500 were set aside for sacrifices to the gods and
charity to the poor. Ajit Singh said: "For offerings to the gods we
purchase goats, sweet cakes and spirits; and having prepared a feast
we throw a handful of the savoury food upon the fire in the name of
the gods who have most assisted us; but of the feast so consecrated
no female but a virgin can partake. The offering is made through the
man who has successfully invoked the god on that particular occasion;
and, as my god had guided us this time, I was employed to prepare the
feast for him and to throw the offering upon the fire. The offering
must be taken up before the feast is touched and put upon the fire,
and a little water must be sprinkled on it. The savoury smell of the
food as it burns reaches the nostrils of the god and delights him. On
this as on most occasions I invoked the spirit of Ganga Singh, my
grandfather, and to him I made the offering. I considered him to be
the greatest of all my ancestors as a robber, and him I invoked on this
solemn occasion. He never failed me when I invoked him, and I had the
greatest confidence in his aid. The spirits of our ancestors can easily
see whether we shall succeed in what we are about to undertake; and
when we are to succeed they order us on, and when we are not they make
signs to us to desist." Their mode [60] of ascertaining which of their
ancestors interested himself most in their affairs was commonly this,
that whenever a person talked incoherently in a fever or an epileptic
fit, the spirit of one or other of his ancestors was supposed to be
upon him. If they were in doubt as to whose spirit it was, one of them
threw down some grains of wheat or coloured glass beads, a pinch at
a time, saying the name of the ancestor he supposed the most likely
to be at work and calling odd or even as he pleased. If the number
proved to be as he called it several times running while that name
was repeated, they felt secure of their family god, and proceeded at
once to sacrifice a goat or something else in his name. When they were
being hunted down and arrested by Colonel Sleeman and his assistants,
they ascribed their misfortunes to the anger of the goddess Kali,
because they had infringed her rules and disregarded her signs, and
said that their forefathers had often told them they would one day
be punished for their disobedience. [61]
10. The wounded haunted by spirits.
Whenever one of the gang was wounded and was taken with his wounds
bleeding near a place haunted by a spirit, they believed the spirit
got angry and took hold of him, [62] in the manner described by
Ajit Singh as follows: "The spirit comes upon him in all kinds of
shapes, sometimes in that of a buffalo, at others in that of a woman,
sometimes in the air above and sometimes from the ground below; but no
one can see him except the wounded person he is angry with and wants
to punish. Upon such a wounded person we always place a naked sword
or some other sharp steel instrument, as spirits are much afraid of
weapons of this kind. If there be any good conjurer at hand to charm
away the spirits from the person wounded he recovers, but nothing else
can save him." In one case a dacoit named Ghisa had been severely
wounded in an encounter and was seized by the spirit of a banyan
tree as he was being taken away: "We made a litter with our ropes
and cloaks thrown over them and on this he was carried off by four
of our party; at half a mile distant the road passed under a large
banyan tree and as the four men carried him along under the tree,
the spirit of the place fell upon him and the four men who carried
him fell down with the shock. They could not raise him again, so much
were they frightened, and four other men were obliged to lift him and
carry him off." The man died of his wounds soon after they reached
the halting-place, and in commenting on this Ajit Singh continued:
"When the spirit seized Ghisa under the tree we had unfortunately no
conjurer, and he, poor fellow, died in consequence. It was evident that
a spirit had got hold of him, for he could not keep his head upright;
it always fell down upon his right or left shoulder as often as we
tried to put it right; and he complained much of a pain in the region
of the liver. We therefore concluded that the spirit had broken his
neck and was consuming his liver."
11. Pious funeral observances.
Like pious Hindus as they were, the Badhaks were accustomed, whenever
it was possible, to preserve the bones of their dead after the body
had been burnt and carry them to the Ganges. If this was not possible,
however, and the exigencies of their profession obliged them to make
away with the body without the performance of due funeral rites,
they cut off two or three fingers and sent these to the Ganges to
be deposited instead of the whole body. [63] In one case a dacoit,
Kundana, was killed in an affray, and the others carried off his body
and thrust it into a porcupine's hole after cutting off three of the
fingers. "We gave Kundana's fingers to his mother," Ajit Singh stated,
"and she sent them with due offerings and ceremonies to the Ganges
by the hands of the family priest. She gave this priest money to
purchase a cow, to be presented to the priests in the name of her
deceased son, and to distribute in charity to the poor and to holy
men. She got from us for these purposes eighty rupees over and above
her son's share of the booty, while his widow and children continued
to receive their usual share of the takings of the gang so long as
they remained with us."
12. Taking the omens.
Before setting out on an expedition it was their regular custom
to take the omens, and the following account may be quoted of the
preliminaries to an expedition of the great leader, Meherban Singh,
who has already been mentioned: "In the latter end of that year,
Meherban and his brother set out and assembled their friends on the
bank of the Bisori river, where the rate at which each member of the
party should share in the spoil was determined in order to secure to
the dependants of any one who should fall in the enterprise their due
share, as well as to prevent inconvenient disputes during and after
the expedition. The party assembled on this occasion, including women
and children, amounted to two hundred, and when the shares had been
determined the goats were sacrificed for the feast. Each leader and
member of the gang dipped his finger in the blood and swore fidelity
to his engagements and his associates under all circumstances. The
whole feasted together and drank freely till the next evening, when
Meherban advanced with about twenty of the principal persons to a spot
chosen a little way from the camp on the road they proposed to take in
the expedition, and lifting up his hands in supplication said aloud,
'If it be thy will, O God, and thine, Kali, to prosper our undertaking
for the sake of the blind and the lame, _the widow and the orphan_,
who depend upon our exertions for subsistence, vouchsafe, we pray thee,
the call of the female jackal.' All his followers held up their hands
in the same manner and repeated these words after him. All then sat
down and waited in silence for the reply or spoke only in whispers. At
last the cry of the female jackal was heard three times on the left,
and believing her to have been inspired by the deity for their guidance
they were all much rejoiced." The following was another more elaborate
method of taking omens described by Ajit Singh: "When we speak of
seeking omens from our gods or Devi Deota, we mean the spirits of those
of our ancestors who performed great exploits in dacoity in their day,
gained a great name and established lasting reputations. For instance,
Mahajit, my grandfather, and Sahiba, his father, are called gods
and admitted to be so by us all. We have all of us some such gods
to be proud of among our ancestors; we propitiate them and ask for
favourable omens from them before we enter upon any enterprise. We
sometimes propitiate the Suraj Deota (sun god) and seek good omens
from him. We get two or three goats or rams, and sometimes even ten
or eleven, at the place where we determine to take the auspices, and
having assembled the principal men of the gang we put water into the
mouth of one of them and pray to the sun and to our ancestors thus:
'O thou Sun God! And O all ye other Gods! If we are to succeed in
the enterprise we are about to undertake we pray you to cause these
goats to shake their bodies.' If they do not shake them after the
gods have been thus duly invoked, the enterprise must not be entered
upon and the goats are not sacrificed. We then try the auspices with
wheat. We burn frankincense and scented wood and blow a shell; and
taking out a pinch of wheat grains, put them on the cloth and count
them. If they come up odd the omen is favourable, and if even it is
bad. After this, which we call the auspices of the Akut, we take that
of the Siarni or female jackal. If it calls on the left it is good,
but if on the right bad. If the omens turn out favourable in all three
trials then we have no fear whatever, but if they are favourable in
only one trial out of the three the enterprise must be given up."
13. Suppression of dacoity.
Between 1837 and 1849 the suppression of the regular practice of
armed dacoity was practically achieved by Colonel Sleeman. A number
of officers were placed under his orders, and with small bodies of
military and police were set to hunt down different bands of dacoits,
following them all over India when necessary. And special Acts were
passed to enable the offence of dacoity, wherever committed, to be
tried by a competent magistrate in any part of India as had been done
in the case of the Thugs. Many of the Badhaks received conditional
pardons, and were drafted into the police in different stations, and
an agricultural labour colony was also formed, but does not seem to
have been altogether successful. During these twelve years more than
1200 dacoits in all were brought to trial, while some were killed
during the operations, and no doubt many others escaped and took to
other avocations, or became ordinary criminals when their armed gangs
were broken up. In 1825 it had been estimated that the Oudh forests
alone contained from 4000 to 6000 dacoits, while the property stolen
in 1811 from known dacoities was valued at ten lakhs of rupees.
14. The Badhaks or Baoris at the present time.
The Badhaks still exist, and are well known as one of the worst classes
of criminals, practising ordinary house-breaking and theft. The name
Badhak is now less commonly used than those of Bagri and Baori or
Bawaria, both of which were borne by the original Badhaks. The word
Bagri is derived from a tract of country in Malwa which is known
as the Bagar or 'hedge of thorns,' because it is surrounded on all
sides by wooded hills. [64] There are Bagri Jats and Bagri Rajputs,
many of whom are now highly respectable landholders. Bawaria or
Baori is derived from _banwar_, a creeper, or the tendril of a vine,
and hence a noose made originally from some fibrous plant and used
for trapping animals, this being one of the primary occupations of
the tribe. [65] The term Badhak signifies a hunter or fowler, hence
a robber or murderer (Platts). The Bagris and Bawarias are sometimes
considered to be separate communities, but it is doubtful whether there
is any real distinction between them. In Bombay the Bagris are known
as Vaghris by the common change of _b_ into _v_. A good description
of them is contained in Appendix C to Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam's volume
_Hindus of Gujarat_ in the _Bombay Gazetteer_. He divides them into the
Chunaria or lime-burners, the Datonia or sellers of twig tooth-brushes,
and two other groups, and states that, "They also keep fowls and sell
eggs, catch birds and go as _shikaris_ or hunters. They traffic in
green parrots, which they buy from Bhils and sell for a profit."
15. Lizard-hunting.
Their strength and powers of endurance are great, the same writer
states, and they consider that these qualities are obtained by the
eating of the _goh_ and _sandha_ or iguana lizards, which a Vaghri
prizes very highly. This is also the case with the Bawarias of the
Punjab, who go out hunting lizards in the rains and may be seen
returning with baskets full of live lizards, which exist for days
without food and are killed and eaten fresh by degrees. Their method
of hunting the lizard is described by Mr. Wilson as follows: [66]
"The lizard lives on grass, cannot bite severely, and is sluggish
in his movements, so that he is easily caught. He digs a hole for
himself of no great depth, and the easiest way to take him is to
look out for the scarcely perceptible airhole and dig him out; but
there are various ways of saving oneself this trouble. One, which I
have seen, takes advantage of a habit the lizard has in cold weather
(when he never comes out of his hole) of coming to the mouth for
air and warmth. The Chuhra or other sportsman puts off his shoes and
steals along the prairie till he sees signs of a lizard's hole. This
he approaches on tiptoe, raising over his head with both hands a
mallet with a round sharp point, and fixing his eyes intently upon
the hole. When close enough he brings down his mallet with all his
might on the ground just behind the mouth of the hole, and is often
successful in breaking the lizard's back before he awakes to a sense
of his danger. Another plan, which I have not seen, is to tie a wisp
of grass to a long stick and move it over the hole so as to make a
rustling noise. The lizard within thinks, 'Oh here's a snake! I may
as well give in,' and comes to the mouth of the hole, putting out
his tail first so that he may not see his executioner. The sportsman
seizes his tail and snatches him out before he has time to learn his
mistake." This common fondness for lizards is a point in favour of
a connection between the Gujarat Vaghris and the Punjab Bawarias.
16. Social observances.
In Sirsa the great mass of the Bawarias are not given to crime,
and in Gujarat also they do not appear to have special criminal
tendencies. It is a curious point, however, that Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam
emphasises the chastity of the women of the Gujarat Vaghris. [67]
"When a family returns home after a money-making tour to Bombay
or some other city, the women are taken before Vihat (Devi), and
with the women is brought a buffalo or a sheep that is tethered in
front of Vihat's shrine. They must confess all, even their slightest
shortcomings, such as the following: 'Two weeks ago, when begging in
Parsi Bazar-street, a drunken sailor caught me by the hand. Another
day a Miyan or Musalman ogled me, and forgive me, Devi, my looks
encouraged him.' If Devi is satisfied the sheep or buffalo shivers,
and is then sacrificed and provides a feast for the caste." [68]
On the other hand, Mr. Crooke states [69] that in northern India,
"The standard of morality is very low because in Muzaffarnagar it is
extremely rare for a Bawaria woman to live with her husband. Almost
invariably she lives with another man: but the official husband is
responsible for the children." The great difference in the standard
of morality is certainly surprising.
In Gujarat [70] the Vaghris have _gurus_ or religious preceptors of
their own. These men take an eight-anna silver piece and whisper in the
ear of their disciples "Be immortal."... "The Bhuvas or priest-mediums
play an important part in many Vaghri ceremonies. A Bhuva is a male
child born after the mother has made a vow to the goddess Vihat
or Devi that if a son be granted to her she will devote him to the
service of the goddess. No Bhuva may cut or shave his hair on pain
of a fine of ten rupees, and no Bhuva may eat carrion or food cooked
by a Muhammadan."
17. Criminal practices.
The criminal Bagris still usually travel about in the disguise of
Gosains and Bairagis, and are very difficult of detection except to
real religious mendicants. Their housebreaking implement or jemmy
is known as _Gyan_, but in speaking of it they always add _Das_,
so that it sounds like the name of a Bairagi. [71] They are usually
very much afraid of the _gyan_ being discovered on their persons,
and are careful to bury it in the ground at each halting-place,
while on the march it may be concealed in a pack-saddle. The means of
identifying them, Mr. Kennedy remarks, [72] is by their family _deo_
or god, which they carry about when wandering with their families. It
consists of a brass or copper box containing grains of wheat and the
seeds of a creeper, both soaked in _ghi_ (melted butter). The box with
a peacock's feather and a bell is wrapped in two white and then in
two red cloths, one of the white cloths having the print of a man's
hand dipped in goat's blood upon it. The grains of wheat are used
for taking the omens, a few being thrown up at sun-down and counted
afterwards to see whether they are odd or even. When even, two grains
are placed on the right hand of the omen-taker, and if this occurs
three times running the auspices are considered to be favourable. [73]
Mr. Gayer [74] notes that the Badhaks have usually from one to three
brands from a hot iron on the inside of their left wrist. Those of
them who are hunters brand the muscles of the left wrist in order to
steady the hand when firing their matchlocks. The customs of wearing
a peculiar necklace of small wooden beads and a kind of gold pin
fixed to the front teeth, which Mr. Crooke [75] records as having
been prevalent some years ago, have apparently been since abandoned,
as they are not mentioned in more recent accounts. The Dehliwal and
Malpura Baorias have, Mr. Kennedy states, [76] an interesting system of
signs, which they mark on the walls of buildings at important corners,
bridges and cross-roads and on the ground by the roadside with a stick,
if no building is handy. The commonest is a loop, the straight line
indicating the direction a gang or individual has taken:
________________________
/
/ /---\
( ( /// )
\ \---/
\________
The addition of a number of vertical strokes inside the loop signifies
the number of males in a gang. If these strokes are enclosed by a
circle it means that the gang is encamped in the vicinity; while
a square inside a circle and line as below means that property has
been secured by friends who have left in the direction pointed by the
line. It is said that Baorias will follow one another up for fifty
or even a hundred miles by means of these hieroglyphics. The signs
are bold marks, sometimes even a foot or more in length, and are
made where they will at once catch the eye. When the Marwari Baorias
desire to indicate to others of their caste, who may follow in their
footsteps, the route taken, a member of the gang, usually a woman,
trails a stick in the dust as she walks along, leaving a spiral track
on the ground. Another method of indicating the route taken is to
place leaves under stones at intervals along the road. [77] The form
of crime most in favour among the ordinary Baoris is housebreaking
by night. Their common practice is to make a hole in the wall beside
the door through which the hand passes to raise the latch; and only
occasionally they dig a hole in the base of the wall to admit of the
passage of a man, while another favoured alternative is to break in
through a barred window, the bars being quickly and forcibly bent and
drawn out. [78] One class of Marwari Bagris are also expert coiners.
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Bahna
1. Nomenclature and internal structure.
_Bahna, Pinjara, Dhunia._ [79]--The occupational caste of
cotton-cleaners. The Bahnas numbered 48,000 persons in the Central
Provinces and Berar in 1911. The large increase in the number
of ginning-factories has ruined the Bahna's trade of cleaning
hand-ginned cotton, and as no distinction attaches to the name of
Bahna it is possible that members of the caste who have taken to
other occupations may have abandoned it and returned themselves simply
as Muhammadans. The three names Bahna, Pinjara, Dhunia appear to be
used indifferently for the caste in this Province, though in other
parts of India they are distinguished. Pinjara is derived from the
word _pinjan_ used for a cotton-bow, and Dhunia is from _dhunna_,
to card cotton. The caste is also known as Dhunak Pathani. Though
professing the Muhammadan religion, they still have many Hindu
customs and ceremonies, and in the matter of inheritance our courts
have held that they are subject to Hindu and not Muhammadan law. [80]
In Raipur a girl receives half the share of a boy in the division of
inherited property. The caste appears to be a mixed occupational group,
and is split into many territorial subcastes named after the different
parts of the country from which its members have come, as Badharia from
Badhas in Mirzapur, Sarsutia from the Saraswati river, Berari of Berar,
Dakhni from the Deccan, Telangi from Madras, Pardeshi from northern
India, and so on. Two groups are occupational, the Newaris of Saugor,
who make the thick _newar_ tape used for the webbing of beds, and
the Kanderas, who make fireworks and generally constitute a separate
caste. There is considerable ground for supposing that the Bahnas
are mainly derived from the caste of Telis or oil-pressers. In the
Punjab Sir D. Ibbetson says [81] that the Penja or cotton-scutcher is
an occupational name applied to Telis who follow this profession; and
that the Penja, Kasai and Teli are all of the same caste. Similarly
in Nasik the Telis and Pinjaras are said to form one community,
under the government of a single _panchayat_. In cases of dispute
or misconduct the usual penalty is temporary excommunication, which
is known as the stopping of food and water. [82] The Telis are an
enterprising community of very low status, and would therefore be
naturally inclined to take to other occupations; many of them are
shopkeepers, cultivators and landholders, and it is quite probable
that in past times they took up the Bahna's profession and changed
their religion with the hope of improving their social status. The
Telis are generally considered to be quarrelsome and talkative,
and the Bahnas or Dhunias have the same characteristics. If one man
abusing another lapses into Billingsgate, the other will say to him,
'_Hamko Julaha Dhunia neh jano_,' or 'Don't talk to me as if I was
a Julaha or a Dhunia.'
2. Marriage.
Some Bahnas have exogamous sections with Hindu names, while others
are without these, and simply regulate their marriages by rules of
relationship. They have the primitive Hindu custom of allowing a
sister's son to marry a brother's daughter, but not _vice versa_. A
man cannot marry his wife's younger sister during her lifetime, nor
her elder sister at any time. Children of the same foster-mother are
also not allowed to marry. Their marriages are performed by a Kazi
with an imitation of the Nikah rite. The bridegroom's party sit under
the marriage-shed, and the bride with the women of her party inside
the house. The Kazi selects two men, one from the bride's party, who
is known as the Nikahi Bap or 'Marriage Father,' and the other from
the bridegroom's, who is called the Gowah or 'Witness.' These two
men go to the bride and ask her whether she accepts the bridegroom,
whose name is stated, for her husband. She answers in the affirmative,
and mentions the amount of the dowry which she is to receive. The
bridegroom, who has hitherto had a veil (_mukhna_) over his face, now
takes it off, and the men go to him and ask him whether he accepts the
bride. He replies that he does, and agrees to pay the dowry demanded
by her. The Kazi reads some texts and the guests are given a meal
of rice and sugar. Many of the preliminaries to a Hindu marriage
are performed by the more backward members of the caste, and until
recently they erected a sacred post in the marriage-shed, but now
they merely hang the green branch of a mango tree to the roof. The
minimum amount of the _mehar_ or dowry is said to be Rs. 125, but it
is paid to the girl's parents as a bride-price and not to herself,
as among the Muhammadans. A widow is expected, but not obliged, to
marry her deceased husband's younger brother. Divorce is permitted
by means of a written deed known as 'Farkhati.'
3. Religious and other customs.
The Bahnas venerate Muhammad, and also worship the tombs of Muhammadan
saints or _Pirs_. A green sheet or cloth is spread over the tomb and
a lamp is kept burning by it, while offerings of incense and flowers
are made. When the new cotton crop has been gathered they lay some
new cotton by their bow and mallet and make an offering of _malida_
or cakes of flour and sugar to it. They believe that two angels, one
good and one bad, are perched continually on the shoulders of every
man to record his good and evil deeds. And when an eclipse occurs they
say that the sun and moon have gone behind a pinnacle or tower of the
heavens. For exorcising evil spirits they write texts of the Koran
on paper and burn them before the sufferer. The caste bury the dead
with the feet pointing to the south. On the way to the grave each
one of the mourners places his shoulder under the bier for a time,
partaking of the impurity communicated by it. Incense is burnt daily
in the name of a deceased person for forty days after his death, with
the object probably of preventing his ghost from returning to haunt
the house. Muhammadan beggars are fed on the tenth day. Similarly,
after the birth of a child a woman is unclean for forty days, and
cannot cook for her husband during that period. A child's hair is
cut for the first time on the tenth or twelfth day after birth, this
being known as Jhalar. Some parents leave a lock of hair to grow on
the head in the name of the famous saint Sheikh Farid, thinking that
they will thus ensure a long life for the child. It is probably in
reality a way of preserving the Hindu _choti_ or scalp-lock.
4. Occupation.
The hereditary calling [83] of the Bahna is the cleaning or scutching
of cotton, which is done by subjecting it to the vibration of a
bow-string. The seed has been previously separated by a hand-gin,
but the ginned cotton still contains much dirt, leaf-fibre and other
rubbish, and to remove this is the Bahna's task. The bow is somewhat
in the shape of a harp, the wide end consisting of a broad piece of
wood over which the string passes, being secured to a straight wooden
bar at the back. At the narrow end the bar and string are fixed to an
iron ring. The string is made of the sinew of some animal, and this
renders the implement objectionable to Hindus, and may account for
the Bahnas being Muhammadans. The club or mallet is a wooden implement
shaped like a dumb-bell. The bow is suspended from the roof so as to
hang just over the pile of loose cotton; and the worker twangs the
string with the mallet and then draws the mallet across the string,
each three or four times. The string strikes a small portion of the
cotton, the fibre of which is scattered by the impact and thrown off
in a uniform condition of soft fluff, all dirt being at the same time
removed. This is the operation technically known as teasing. Buchanan
remarked that women frequently did the work themselves at home, using
a smaller kind of bow called _dhunkara_. The clean cotton is made up
into balls, some of which are passed on to the spinner, while others
are used for the filling of quilts and the padded coats worn in the
cold weather. The ingenious though rather clumsy method of the Bahna
has been superseded by the ginning-factory, and little or no cotton
destined for the spindle is now cleaned by him. The caste have been
forced to take to cultivation or field labour, while many have become
cartmen and others are brokers, peons or constables. Nearly every
house still has its _pinjan_ or bow, but only a desultory use is
made of this during the winter months. As it is principally used by a
Muhammadan caste it seems a possible hypothesis that the cotton-bow
was introduced into India by invaders of that religion. The name of
the bow, _pinjan_, is, however, a Sanskrit derivative, and this is
against the above theory. It has already been seen that the fact of
animal sinew being used for the string would make it objectionable to
Hindus. The Bahnas are subjected to considerable ridicule on account
of their curious mixture of Hindu and Muhammadan ceremonies, amounting
in some respects practically to a caricature of the rites of Islam;
and further, they share with the weaver class the contempt shown to
those who follow a calling considered more suitable for women than
men. It is related that when the Mughal general Asaf Khan first made an
expedition into the north of the Central Provinces he found the famous
Gond-Rajput queen Durgavati of the Garha-Mandla dynasty governing with
success a large and prosperous state in this locality. He thought a
country ruled by a woman should fall an easy prey to the Muhammadan
arms, and to show his contempt for her power he sent her a golden
spindle. The queen retorted by a present of a gold cotton-cleaner's
bow, and this so enraged the Mughal that he proceeded to attack the
Gond kingdom. The story indicates that cotton-carding is considered
a Muhammadan profession, and also that it is held in contempt.
5. Proverbs about Bahnas.
Various sayings show that the Bahna is not considered a proper
Muhammadan, as
Turuk to Turuk
Aur Bahna Turuk,
or 'A Muhammadan (Turk) is a Muhammadan and the Bahna is also a
Muhammadan'; and again--
Achera, [84] Kachera, Pinjara,
Muhammad se dur, Din se niyara,
or 'The Kachera and Pinjara are lost to Muhammad and far from the
faith'; and again--
Adho Hindu adho Musalman
Tinkhon kahen Dhunak Pathan,
or 'Half a Hindu and half a Muhammadan, that is he who is a Dhunak
Pathan.' They have a grotesque imitation of the Muhammadan rite of
_halal_, or causing an animal's blood to flow on to the ground with
the repetition of the _kalma_ or invocation; thus it is said that when
a Bahna is about to kill a fowl he addresses it somewhat as follows:
Kahe karkarat hai?
Kahe barbarat hai?
Kahe jai jai logon ka dana khat hai?
Tor kiamat mor niamat,
Bismillah hai tuch,
or "Why do you cackle? Why do you crow? Why do you eat other people's
grain? Your death is my feast; I touch you in the name of God." And
saying this he puts a knife to the fowl's throat. The vernacular verse
is a good imitation of the cackling of a fowl. And again, they slice
off the top of an egg as if they were killing an animal and repeat the
formula, "White dome, full of moisture, I know not if there is a male
or female within; in the name of God I kill you." A person whose memory
is not good enough to retain these texts will take a knife and proceed
to one who knows them. Such a man will repeat the texts over the knife,
blowing on it as he does so, and the Bahna considers that the knife
has been sanctified and retains its virtue for a week. Others do not
think this necessary, but have a special knife, which having once been
consecrated is always kept for killing animals, and descends as an
heirloom in the family, the use of this sacred knife being considered
to make the repetition of the _kalma_ unnecessary. These customs are,
however, practised only by the ignorant members of the caste in Raipur
and Bilaspur, and are unknown in the more civilised tracts, where
the Bahnas are rapidly conforming to ordinary Muhammadan usage. Such
primitive Bahnas perform their marriages by walking round the sacred
post, keep the Hindu festivals, and feed Brahmans on the tenth day
after a death. They have a priest whom they call their Kazi, but elect
him themselves. In some places when a Bahna goes to the well to draw
water he first washes the parapet of the well to make it ceremonially
clean, and then draws his water. This custom can only be compared
with that of the Raj-Gonds who wash the firewood with which they are
about to cook their food, in order to make it more pure. Respectable
Muhammadans naturally look down on the Bahnas, and they retaliate
by refusing to take food or water from any Muhammadan who is not
a Bahna. By such strictness the more ignorant think that they will
enhance their ceremonial purity and hence their social consideration;
but the intelligent members of the caste know better and are glad to
improve themselves by learning from educated Muhammadans. The other
menial artisan castes among the Muhammadans have similar ideas, and
it is reported that a Rangrez boy who took food in the house of one
of the highest Muhammadan officers of Government in the Province was
temporarily put out of caste. Another saying about the Bahnas is--
Sheikhon ki Sheikhi,
Pathanon ki tarr,
Turkon ki Turkshahi,
Bahnon ki bharrr ...
or 'Proud as a Sheikh, obstinate as a Pathan, royal as a Turk, buzzing
like a Bahna.' This refers to the noise of the cotton-cleaning bow,
the twang of which as it is struck by the club is like a quail flying;
and at the same time to the Bahna's loquacity. Another story is that
a Bahna was once going through the forest with his cotton-cleaning bow
and club or mallet, when a jackal met him on the path. The jackal was
afraid that the Bahna would knock him on the head, so he said, "With
thy bow on thy shoulder and thine arrow in thy hand, whither goest
thou, O King of Delhi?" The Bahna was exceedingly pleased at this and
replied, 'King of the forest, eater of wild plums, only the great can
recognise the great.' But when the jackal had got to a safe distance
he turned round and shouted, "With your cotton-bow on your shoulder and
your club in your hand, there you go, you sorry Bahna." It is said also
that although the Bahnas as good Muhammadans wear beards, they do not
cultivate them very successfully, and many of them only have a growth
of hair below the chin and none on the under-lip, in the fashion known
as a goat's beard. This kind of beard is thus proverbially described
as '_Bahna kaisi darhi_' or 'A Bahna's beard.' It may be repeated in
conclusion that much of the ridicule attaching to the Bahnas arises
simply from the fact that they follow what is considered a feminine
occupation, and the remainder because in their ignorance they parody
the rites of Islam. It may seem ill-natured to record the sayings
in which they are lampooned, but the Bahnas cannot read English,
and these have an interest as specimens of popular wit.
Baiga
List of Paragraphs
1. _The tribe and its offshoots._
2. _Tribal legends._
3. _Tribal subdivisions._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Birth and funeral rites._
6. _Religion._
7. _Appearance and mode of life._
8. _Dress and food._
9. _Occupation._
10. _Language._
1. The tribe and its offshoots.
_Baiga._ [85]--A primitive Dravidian tribe whose home is on the eastern
Satpura hills in the Mandla, Balaghat and Bilaspur Districts. The
number of the Baigas proper was only 30,000 in 1911. But the Binjhals
or Binjhwars, a fairly numerous caste in the Chhattisgarh Division, and
especially in the Sambalpur District, appear to have been originally
Baigas, though they have dropped the original caste name, become
Hinduised, and now disclaim connection with the parent tribe. A
reason for this may be found in the fact that Sambalpur contains
several Binjhwar zamindars, or large landowners, whose families would
naturally desire a more respectable pedigree than one giving them the
wild Baigas of the Satpuras for their forefathers. And the evolution of
the Binjhwar caste is a similar phenomenon to the constitution of the
Raj-Gonds, the Raj-Korkus, and other aristocratic subdivisions among
the forest tribes, who have been admitted to a respectable position
in the Hindu social community. The Binjhwars, however, have been so
successful as to cut themselves off almost completely from connection
with the original tribe, owing to their adoption of another name. But
in Balaghat and Mandla the Binjhwar subtribe is still recognised as
the most civilised subdivision of the Baigas. The Bhainas, a small
tribe in Bilaspur, are probably another offshoot, Kath-Bhaina being
the name of a subtribe of Baigas in that District, and Rai-Bhaina
in Balaghat, though the Bhainas too no longer admit identity with
the Baigas. A feature common to all three branches is that they have
forgotten their original tongue, and now speak a more or less corrupt
form of the Indo-Aryan vernaculars current around them. Finally,
the term Bhumia or 'Lord of the soil' is used sometimes as the name
of a separate tribe and sometimes as a synonym for Baiga. The fact is
that in the Central Provinces [86] Bhumia is the name of an office,
that of the priest of the village and local deities, which is held
by one of the forest tribes. In the tract where the Baigas live,
they, as the most ancient residents, are usually the priests of the
indigenous gods; but in Jubbulpore the same office is held by another
tribe, the Bharias. The name of the office often attaches itself to
members of the tribe, who consider it as somewhat more respectable
than their own, and it is therefore generally true to say that the
people known as Bhumias in Jubbulpore are really Bharias, but in
Mandla and Bilaspur they are Baigas.
In Mandla there is also found a group called Bharia-Baigas. These
are employed as village priests by Hindus, and worship certain Hindu
deities and not the Gond gods. They may perhaps be members of the
Bharia tribe of Jubbulpore, originally derived from the Bhars, who
have obtained the designation of Baiga, owing to their employment
as village priests. But they now consider themselves a part of the
Baiga tribe and say they came to Mandla from Rewah. In Mandla the
decision of a Baiga on a boundary dispute is almost always considered
as final, and this authority is of a kind that commonly emanates from
recognised priority of residence. [87] There seems reason to suppose
that the Baigas are really a branch of the primitive Bhuiya tribe
of Chota Nagpur, and that they have taken or been given the name of
Baiga, the designation of a village priest, on migration into the
Central Provinces. There is reason to believe that the Baigas were
once dominant in the Chhattisgarh plain and the hills surrounding it
which adjoin Chota Nagpur, the home of the Bhuiyas. The considerations
in favour of this view are given in the article on Bhuiya, to which
reference may be made.
2. Tribal legends.
The Baigas, however, are not without some conceit of themselves,
as the following legend will show. In the beginning, they say, God
created Nanga Baiga and Nangi Baigin, the first of the human race,
and asked them by what calling they would choose to live. They at once
said that they would make their living by felling trees in the jungle,
and permission being accorded, have done so ever since. They had two
sons, one of whom remained a Baiga, while the other became a Gond
and a tiller of the soil. The sons married their own two sisters who
were afterwards born, and while the elder couple are the ancestors
of the Baigas, from the younger are descended the Gonds and all the
remainder of the human race. In another version of the story the
first Baiga cut down two thousand old _sal_ [88] trees in one day,
and God told him to sprinkle a few grains of kutki on the ashes, and
then to retire and sleep for some months, when on his return he would
be able to reap a rich harvest for his children. In this manner the
habit of shifting cultivation is accorded divine sanction. According
to Binjhwar tradition Nanga Baiga and Nangi Baigin dwelt on the
_kajli ban pahar_, which being interpreted is the hill of elephants,
and may well refer to the ranges of Mandla and Bilaspur. It is
stated in the _Ain-i-Akbari_ [89] that the country of Garha-Mandla
abounded in wild elephants, and that the people paid their tribute
in these and gold mohurs. In Mandla the Baigas sometimes hang out
from their houses a bamboo mat fastened to a long pole to represent
a flag which they say once flew from the palace of a Baiga king. It
seems likely that the original home of the tribe may have been the
Chhattisgarh plain and the hill-ranges surrounding it. A number of
estates in these hills are held by landowners of tribes which are
offshoots of the Baigas, as the Bhainas and Binjhwars. The point is
further discussed in the article on Bhuiya. Most of the Baigas speak
a corrupt form of the Chhattisgarhi dialect. When they first came
under the detailed observation of English officers in the middle of
the nineteenth century, the tribe were even more solitary and retired
than at present. Their villages, it is said, were only to be found
in places far removed from all cleared and cultivated country. No
roads or well-defined paths connected them with ordinary lines of
traffic and more thickly inhabited tracts, but perched away in snug
corners in the hills, and hidden by convenient projecting spurs and
dense forests from the country round, they could not be seen except
when nearly approached, and were seldom visited unless by occasional
enterprising Banias and vendors of country liquor. Indeed, without a
Baiga for a guide many of the villages could hardly be discovered,
for nothing but occasional notches on the trees distinguished the
tracks to them from those of the sambhar and other wild animals.
3. Tribal subdivisions.
The following seven subdivisions or subtribes are recognised: Binjhwar,
Bharotia, Narotia or Nahar, Raibhaina, Kathbhaina, Kondwan or Kundi,
and Gondwaina. Of these the Binjhwar, Bharotia and Narotia are the
best-known. The name of the Binjhwars is probably derived from the
Vindhyan range, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit _vindhya_,
a hunter. The rule of exogamy is by no means strictly observed,
and in Kawardha it is said that these three subcastes intermarry
though they do not eat together, while in Balaghat the Bharotias
and Narotias both eat together and intermarry. In both places the
Binjhwars occupy the highest position, and the other two subtribes
will take food from them. The Binjhwars consider themselves as Hindus
and abjure the consumption of buffalo's and cow's flesh and rats,
while the other Baigas will eat almost anything. The Bharotias
partially shave their heads, and in Mandla are apparently known as
Mundia or Mudia, or "shaven." The Gondwainas eat both cow's flesh
and monkeys, and are regarded as the lowest subcaste. As shown by
their name they are probably the offspring of unions between Baigas
and Gonds. Similarly the Kondwans apparently derive their name from
the tract south of the Mahanadi which is named after the Khond tribe,
and was formerly owned by them.
Each subtribe is divided into a number of exogamous septs, the names of
which are identical in many cases with those of the Gonds, as Markam,
Maravi, Netam, Tekam and others. Gond names are found most frequently
among the Gondwainas and Narotias, and these have adopted from the
Gonds the prohibition of marriage between worshippers of the same
number of gods. Thus the four septs above mentioned worship seven gods
and may not intermarry. But they may marry among other septs such as
the Dhurua, Pusam, Bania and Mawar who worship six gods. The Baigas do
not appear to have assimilated the further division into worshippers
of five, four, three and two gods which exist among the Gonds in some
localities, and the system is confined to the lower subtribes. The
meanings of the sept names have been forgotten and no instances of
totemism are known. And the Binjhwars and Bharotias, who are more or
less Hinduised, have now adopted territorial names for their septs,
as Lapheya from Lapha zamindari, Ghugharia from Ghughri village in
Mandla, and so on. The adoption of Gond names and septs appears to
indicate that Gonds were in former times freely admitted into the Baiga
tribe; and this continues to be the case at present among the lower
subtribes, so far that a Gond girl marrying a Baiga becomes a regular
member of the community. But the Binjhwars and Bharotias, who have
a somewhat higher status than the others, refuse to admit Gonds, and
are gradually adopting the strict rule of endogamy within the subtribe.
4. Marriage.
A Baiga must not take a wife from his own sept or from another one
worshipping the same number of gods. But he may marry within his
mother's sept, and in some localities the union of first cousins is
permitted. Marriage is adult and the proposal comes from the parents of
the bride, but in some places the girl is allowed to select a husband
for herself. A price varying from five to twenty rupees is usually
paid to the bride's parents, or in lieu of this the prospective
husband serves his father-in-law for a period of about two years,
the marriage being celebrated after the first year if his conduct
is satisfactory. Orphan boys who have no parents to arrange their
marriages for them often take service for a wife. Three ceremonies
should precede the marriage. The first, which may take place at
any time after the birth of both children, consists merely in the
arrangement for their betrothal. The second is only a ratification
of the first, feasts being provided by the boy's parents on both
occasions. While on the approach of the children to marriageable age
the final betrothal or _barokhi_ is held. The boy's father gives a
large feast at the house of the girl and the date of the wedding is
fixed. To ascertain whether the union will be auspicious, two grains
of rice are dropped into a pot of water, after various preliminary
solemnities to mark the importance of the occasion. If the points
of the grains meet almost immediately it is considered that the
marriage will be highly auspicious. If they do not meet, a second
pair of grains are dropped in, and should these meet it is believed
that the couple will quarrel after an interval of married life and
that the wife will return to her father's house. While if neither
of the two first essays are successful and a third pair is required,
the regrettable conclusion is arrived at that the wife will run away
with another man after a very short stay with her husband. But it
is not stated that the betrothal is on that account annulled. The
wedding procession starts from the bridegroom's house [90] and is
received by the bride's father outside the village. It is considered
essential that he should go out to meet the bride's party riding on an
elephant. But as a real elephant is not within the means of a Baiga,
two wooden bedsteads are lashed together and covered with blankets with
a black cloth trunk in front, and this arrangement passes muster for
an elephant. The elephant makes pretence to charge and trample down
the marriage procession, until a rupee is paid, when the two parties
embrace each other and proceed to the marriage-shed. Here the bride
and bridegroom throw fried rice at each other until they are tired,
and then walk three or seven times round the marriage-post with their
clothes tied together. It is stated by Colonel Ward that the couple
always retired to the forest to spend the wedding night, but this
custom has now been abandoned. The expenditure on a marriage varies
between ten and fifty rupees, of which only about five rupees fall
on the bride's parents. The remarriage of widows is permitted, and
the widow is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late husband's
younger brother, while if she takes another husband he must pay her
brother-in-law the sum of five rupees. The ceremony consists merely of
the presentation of bangles and new clothes by the suitor, in token
of her acceptance of which the widow pours some tepid water stained
with turmeric over his head. Divorce may be effected by the husband
and wife breaking a straw in the presence of the caste _panchayat_
or committee. If the woman remains in the same village and does
not marry again, the husband is responsible for her maintenance and
that of her children, while a divorced woman may not remarry without
the sanction of the _panchayat_ so long as her husband is alive and
remains single. Polygamy is permitted.
5. Birth and funeral rites.
A woman is unclean for a month after childbirth, though the Binjhwars
restrict the period to eight days. At the ceremony of purification a
feast is given and the child is named, often after the month or day
of its birth, as Chaitu, Phagu, Saoni, and so on, from the months
of Chait, Phagun and Shrawan. Children who appear to be physically
defective are given names accordingly, such as Langra (lame), or Bahira
(deaf). The dead are usually buried, the bodies of old persons being
burnt as a special honour and to save them from the risk of being
devoured by wild animals. Bodies are laid naked in the grave with the
head pointing to the south. In the grave of a man of importance two
or three rupees and some tobacco are placed. In some places a rupee
is thrust into the mouth of the dying man, and if his body is burnt,
the coin is recovered from the pyre by his daughter or sister, who
wears it as an amulet. Over the grave a platform is made on which
a stone is erected. This is called the Bhiri of the deceased and is
worshipped by his relatives in time of trouble. If one of the family
has to be buried elsewhere, the relatives go to the Bhiri of the
great dead and consign his spirit to be kept in their company. At a
funeral the mourners take one black and one white fowl to a stream
and kill and eat them there, setting aside a portion for the dead
man. Mourning is observed for a period of from two to nine days,
and during this time labour and even household work are stopped, food
being supplied by the friends of the family. When a man is killed by
a tiger the Baiga priest goes to the spot and there makes a small
cone out of the blood-stained earth. This must represent a man,
either the dead man or one of his living relatives. His companions
having retired a few paces, the priest goes on his hands and knees
and performs a series of antics which are supposed to represent the
tiger in the act of destroying the man, at the same time seizing the
lump of blood-stained earth in his teeth. One of the party then runs
up and taps him on the back with a small stick. This perhaps means
that the tiger is killed or otherwise rendered harmless; and the
Baiga immediately lets the mud cone fall into the hands of one of the
party. It is then placed in an ant-hill and a pig is sacrificed over
it. The next day a small chicken is taken to the place, and after
a mark supposed to be the dead man's name is made on its head with
red ochre, it is thrown back into the forest, the priest exclaiming,
'Take this and go home.' The ceremony is supposed to lay the dead
man's spirit and at the same time to prevent the tiger from doing
any further damage. The Baigas believe that the ghost of the victim,
if not charmed to rest, resides on the head of the tiger and incites
him to further deeds of blood, rendering him also secure from harm
by his preternatural watchfulness. [91]
They also think that they can shut up the tiger's _dar_ or jaws,
so that he cannot bite them, by driving a nail into a tree. The
forest track from Kanha to Kisli in the Banjar forest reserve of
Mandla was formerly a haunt of man-eating tigers, to whom a number
of the wood-cutters and Baiga coolies, clearing the jungle paths,
fell victims every year. In a large tree, at a dangerous point in the
track, there could recently be seen a nail, driven into the trunk by
a Baiga priest, at some height from the ground. It was said that this
nail shut the mouth of a famous man-eating tiger of the locality and
prevented him from killing any more victims. As evidence of the truth
of the story there were shown on the trunk the marks of the tiger's
claws, where he had been jumping up the tree in the effort to pull
the nail out of the trunk and get his man-eating powers restored.
6. Religion.
Although the Binjhwar subcaste now profess Hinduism, the religion of
the Baigas is purely animistic. Their principal deity is Bura Deo, [92]
who is supposed to reside in a _saj_ tree (_Terminalia tomentosa_); he
is worshipped in the month of Jeth (May), when goats, fowls, cocoanuts,
and the liquor of the new mahua crop are offered to him. Thakur Deo
is the god of the village land and boundaries, and is propitiated
with a white goat. The Baigas who plough the fields have a ceremony
called Bidri, which is performed before the breaking of the rains. A
handful of each kind of grain sown is given by each cultivator to the
priest, who mixes the grains together and sows a little beneath the
tree where Thakur Deo lives. After this he returns a little to each
cultivator, and he sows it in the centre of the land on which crops
are to be grown, while the priest keeps the remainder. This ceremony
is believed to secure the success of the harvest. Dulha Deo is the
god who averts disease and accident, and the offering made to him
should consist of a fowl or goat of reddish colour. Bhimsen is the
deity of rainfall, and Dharti Mata or Mother Earth is considered to be
the wife of Thakur Deo, and must also be propitiated for the success
of the crops. The grain itself is worshipped at the threshing floor
by sprinkling water and liquor on to it. Certain Hindu deities are
also worshipped by the Baigas, but not in orthodox fashion. Thus it
would be sacrilege on the part of a Hindu to offer animal sacrifices
to Narayan Deo, the sun-god, but the Baigas devote to him a special
oblation of the most unclean animal, the pig. The animal to be
sacrificed is allowed to wander loose for two or three years, and is
then killed in a most cruel manner. It is laid across the threshold of
a doorway on its back, and across its stomach is placed a stout plank
of _saj_-wood. Half a dozen men sit or stand on the ends of this, and
the fore and hind feet of the pig are pulled backwards and forwards
alternately over the plank until it is crushed to death, while all
the men sing or shout a sacrificial hymn. The head and feet are cut
off and offered to the deity, and the body is eaten. The forests are
believed to be haunted by spirits, and in certain localities _pats_
or shrines are erected in their honour, and occasional offerings are
made to them. The spirits of married persons are supposed to live in
streams, while trees afford a shelter to the souls of the unmarried,
who become _bhuts_ or malignant spirits after death. Nag Deo or the
cobra is supposed to live in an ant-hill, and offerings are made to
him there. Demoniacal possession is an article of faith, and a popular
remedy is to burn human hair mixed with chillies and pig's dung near
the person possessed, as the horrible smell thus produced will drive
away the spirit. Many and weird, Mr. Low writes, are the simples
which the Baiga's travelling scrip contains. Among these a dried bat
has the chief place; this the Baiga says he uses to charm his nets
with, that the prey may catch in them as the bat's claws catch in
whatever it touches. As an instance of the Baiga's pantheism it may
be mentioned that on one occasion when a train of the new Satpura
railway [93] had pulled up at a wayside forest station, a Baiga was
found offering a sacrifice to the engine. Like other superstitious
people they are great believers in omens. A single crow bathing in
a stream is a sign of death. A cock which crows in the night should
be instantly killed and thrown into the darkness, a custom which some
would be glad to see introduced into much more civilised centres. The
woodpecker and owl are birds of bad omen. The Baigas do not appear to
have any idea of a fresh birth, and one of their marriage songs says,
"O girl, take your pleasure in going round the marriage-post once and
for all, for there is no second birth." The Baigas are generally the
priests of the Gonds, probably because being earlier residents of
the country they are considered to have a more intimate acquaintance
with the local deities. They have a wide knowledge of the medicinal
properties of jungle roots and herbs, and are often successful in
effecting cures when the regular native doctors have failed. Their
village priests have consequently a considerable reputation as skilled
sorcerers and persons conversant with the unseen world. A case is
known of a Brahman transferred to a jungle station, who immediately
after his arrival called in a Baiga priest and asked what forest gods
he should worship, and what other steps he should take to keep well
and escape calamity. Colonel Ward states that in his time Baigas were
commonly called in to give aid when a town or village was attacked
by cholera, and further that he had seen the greatest benefit to
result from their visit. For the people had so much confidence in
their powers and ceremonies that they lost half their fright at once,
and were consequently not so much predisposed to an attack of the
disease. On such an occasion the Baiga priest goes round the village
and pulls out a little straw from each house-roof, afterwards burning
the whole before the shrine of Khermata, the goddess of the village,
to whom he also offers a chicken for each homestead. If this remedy
fails goats are substituted for chickens, and lastly, as a forlorn
hope, pigs are tried, and, as a rule, do not fail, because by this
time the disease may be expected to have worked itself out. It is
suggested that the chicken represents a human victim from each house,
while the straw stands for the house itself, and the offering has
the common idea of a substituted victim.
7. Appearance and mode of life.
In stature the Baigas are a little taller than most other tribes,
and though they have a tendency to the flat nose of the Gonds,
their foreheads and the general shape of their heads are of a better
mould. Colonel Ward states that the members of the tribe inhabiting
the Maikal range in Mandla are a much finer race than those living
nearer the open country. [94] Their figures are very nearly perfect,
says Colonel Bloomfield, [95] and their wiry limbs, unburdened by
superfluous flesh, will carry them over very great distances and
over places inaccessible to most human beings, while their compact
bodies need no other nutriment than the scanty fare afforded by their
native forests. They are born hunters, hardy and active in the chase,
and exceedingly bold and courageous. In character they are naturally
simple, honest and truthful, and when their fear of a stranger has
been dissipated are most companionable folk. A small hut, 6 or 7 feet
high at the ridge, made of split bamboos and mud, with a neat veranda
in front thatched with leaves and grass, forms the Baiga's residence,
and if it is burnt down, or abandoned on a visitation of epidemic
disease, he can build another in the space of a day. A rough earthen
vessel to hold water, leaves for plates, gourds for drinking-vessels,
a piece of matting to sleep on, and a small axe, a sickle and a spear,
exhaust the inventory of the Baiga's furniture, and the money value
of the whole would not exceed a rupee. [96] The Baigas never live in
a village with other castes, but have their huts some distance away
from the village in the jungle. Unlike the other tribes also, the
Baiga prefers his house to stand alone and at some little distance
from those of his fellow-tribesmen. While nominally belonging to
the village near which they dwell, so separate and distinct are
they from the rest of people that in the famine of 1897 cases were
found of starving Baiga hamlets only a few hundred yards away from
the village proper in which ample relief was being given. On being
questioned as to why they had not caused the Baigas to be helped,
the other villagers said, 'We did not remember them'; and when the
Baigas were asked why they did not apply for relief, they said,
'We did not think it was meant for Baigas.'
8. Dress and food.
Their dress is of the most simple description, a small strip of rag
between the legs and another wisp for a head-covering sufficing for
the men, though the women are decently covered from their shoulders
to half-way between the thighs and knees. A Baiga may be known by his
scanty clothing and tangled hair, and his wife by the way in which
her single garment is arranged so as to provide a safe sitting-place
in it for her child. Baiga women have been seen at work in the field
transplanting rice with babies comfortably seated in their cloth,
one sometimes supported on either hip with their arms and legs out,
while the mother was stooping low, hour after hour, handling the rice
plants. A girl is tattooed on the forehead at the age of five, and over
her whole body before she is married, both for the sake of ornament and
because the practice is considered beneficial to the health. The Baigas
are usually without blankets or warm clothing, and in the cold season
they sleep round a wood fire kept burning or smouldering all night,
stray sparks from which may alight on their tough skins without being
felt. Mr. Lampard relates that on one occasion a number of Baiga men
were supplied by the Mission under his charge with large new cloths
to cover their bodies with and make them presentable on appearance in
church. On the second Sunday, however, they came with their cloths
burnt full of small holes; and they explained that the damage had
been done at night while they were sleeping round the fire.
A Baiga, Mr. Lampard continues, is speedily discerned in a forest
village bazar, and is the most interesting object in it. His almost
nude figure, wild, tangled hair innocent of such inventions as brush
or comb, lithe wiry limbs and jungly and uncivilised appearance,
mark him out at once. He generally brings a few mats or baskets which
he has made, or fruits, roots, honey, horns of animals, or other
jungle products which he has collected, for sale, and with the sum
obtained (a few pice or annas at the most) he proceeds to make his
weekly purchases, changing his pice into cowrie shells, of which he
receives eighty for each one. He buys tobacco, salt, chillies and
other sundries, besides as much of kodon, kutki, or perhaps rice, as
he can afford, always leaving a trifle to be expended at the liquor
shop before departing for home. The various purchases are tied up in
the corners of the bit of rag twisted round his head. Unlike pieces
of cloth known to civilisation, which usually have four corners,
the Baiga's headgear appears to be nothing but corners, and when the
shopping is done the strip of rag may have a dozen minute bundles
tied up in it.
In Baihar of Balaghat buying and selling are conducted on perhaps
the most minute scale known, and if a Baiga has one or two pice [97]
to lay out he will spend no inconsiderable time over it. Grain is
sold in small measures holding about four ounces called _baraiyas_,
but each of these has a layer of mud at the bottom of varying degrees
of thickness, so as to reduce its capacity. Before a purchase can be
made it must be settled by whose _baraiya_ the grain is to be measured,
and the seller and purchaser each refuse the other's as being unfair
to himself, until at length after discussion some neutral person's
_baraiya_ is selected as a compromise. Their food consists largely
of forest fruits and roots with a scanty allowance of rice or the
light millets, and they can go without nourishment for periods which
appear extraordinary to civilised man. They eat the flesh of almost
all animals, though the more civilised abjure beef and monkeys. They
will take food from a Gond but not from a Brahman. The Baiga dearly
loves the common country liquor made from the mahua flower, and this is
consumed as largely as funds will permit of at weddings, funerals and
other social gatherings, and also if obtainable at other times. They
have a tribal _panchayat_ or committee which imposes penalties for
social offences, one punishment being the abstention from meat for a
fixed period. A girl going wrong with a man of the caste is punished
by a fine, but cases of unchastity among unmarried Baiga girls are
rare. Among their pastimes dancing is one of the chief, and in their
favourite dance, known as _karma_, the men and women form long lines
opposite to each other with the musicians between them. One of the
instruments, a drum called _mandar_, gives out a deep bass note which
can be heard for miles. The two lines advance and retire, everybody
singing at the same time, and when the dancers get fully into the
time and swing, the pace increases, the drums beat furiously, the
voices of the singers rise higher and higher, and by the light of the
bonfires which are kept burning the whole scene is wild in the extreme.
9. Occupation.
The Baigas formerly practised only shifting cultivation, burning down
patches of jungle and sowing seed on the ground fertilised by the
ashes after the breaking of the rains. Now that this method has been
prohibited in Government forest, attempts have been made to train them
to regular cultivation, but with indifferent success in Balaghat. An
idea of the difficulties to be encountered may be obtained from the
fact that in some villages the Baiga cultivators, if left unwatched,
would dig up the grain which they had themselves sown as seed in
their fields and eat it; while the plough-cattle which were given to
them invariably developed diseases in spite of all precautions, as a
result of which they found their way sooner or later to the Baiga's
cooking-pot. But they are gradually adopting settled habits, and in
Mandla, where a considerable block of forest was allotted to them
in which they might continue their destructive practice of shifting
sowings, it is reported that the majority have now become regular
cultivators. One explanation of their refusal to till the ground is
that they consider it a sin to lacerate the breast of their mother
earth with a ploughshare. They also say that God made the jungle to
produce everything necessary for the sustenance of men and made the
Baigas kings of the forest, giving them wisdom to discover the things
provided for them. To Gonds and others who had not this knowledge, the
inferior occupation of tilling the land was left. The men never become
farmservants, but during the cultivating season they work for hire at
uprooting the rice seedlings for transplantation; they do no other
agricultural labour for others. Women do the actual transplantation
of rice and work as harvesters. The men make bamboo mats and baskets,
which they sell in the village weekly markets. They also collect
and sell honey and other forest products, and are most expert at all
work that can be done with an axe, making excellent woodcutters. But
they show no aptitude in acquiring the use of any other implement,
and dislike steady continuous labour, preferring to do a few days'
work and then rest in their homes for a like period before beginning
again. Their skill and dexterity in the use of the axe in hunting
is extraordinary. Small deer, hares and peacocks are often knocked
over by throwing it at them, and panthers and other large animals
are occasionally killed with a single blow. If one of two Baigas
is carried off by a tiger, the survivor will almost always make a
determined and often successful attempt to rescue him with nothing
more formidable than an axe or a stick. They are expert trackers,
and are also clever at setting traps and snares, while, like Korkus,
they catch fish by damming streams in the hot weather and throwing into
the pool thus formed some leaf or root which stupefies them. Even in
a famine year, Mr. Low says, a Baiga can collect a large basketful of
roots in a single day; and if the bamboo seeds he is amply provided
for. Nowadays Baiga cultivators may occasionally be met with who have
taken to regular cultivation and become quite prosperous, owning a
number of cattle.
10. Language.
As already stated, the Baigas have completely forgotten their own
language, and in the Satpura hills they speak a broken form of Hindi,
though they have a certain number of words and expressions peculiar
to the caste.
Bairagi
List of Paragraphs
1. _Definition of name and statistics._
2. _The four Sampradayas or main orders._
3. _The Ramanujis._
4. _The Ramanandis._
5. _The Nimanandis._
6. _The Madhavacharyas._
7. _The Vallabhacharyas._
8. _Minor sects._
9. _The seven Akharas._
10. _The Dwaras._
11. _Initiation, appearance and customs._
12. _Recruitment of the order and its character._
13. _Social position and customs._
14. _Bairagi monasteries._
15. _Married Bairagis._
1. Definition of name and statistics.
_Bairagi_, [98] _Sadhu_.--The general term for members of the Vishnuite
religious orders, who formerly as a rule lived by mendicancy. The
Bairagis have now, however, become a caste. In 1911 they numbered
38,000 persons in the Provinces, being distributed over all Districts
and States. The name Bairagi is supposed to come from the Sanskrit
Vairagya and to signify one who is free from human passions. Bairaga is
also the term for the crutched stick which such mendicants frequently
carry about with them and lean upon, either sitting or standing, and
which in case of need would serve them as a weapon. Platts considers
[99] that the name of the order comes from the Sanskrit abstract
term, and the crutch therefore apparently obtained its name from
being used by members of the order. Properly, a religious mendicant
of any Vishnuite sect should be called a Bairagi. But the term is not
generally applied to the more distinctive sects as the Kabirpanthi,
Swami-Narayan, Satnami and others, some of which are almost separated
from Hinduism, nor to the Sikh religious orders, nor the Chaitanya
sect of Bengal. A proper Bairagi is one whose principal deity is
either Vishnu or either of his great incarnations, Rama and Krishna.
2. The four Sampradayas or main orders.
It is generally held that there are four Sampradayas or main sects
of Bairagis. These are--
(_a_) The Ramanujis, the followers of the first prominent Vishnuite
reformer Ramanuj in southern India, with whom are classed the
Ramanandis or adherents of his great disciple Ramanand in northern
India. Both these are also called Sri Vaishnava, that is, the principal
or original Vaishnava sect.
(_b_) The Nimanandi, Nimat or Nimbaditya sect, followers of a saint
called Nimanand.
(_c_) The Vishnu-Swami or Vallabhacharya sect, worshippers of Krishna
and Radha.
(_d_) The Madhavacharya sect of southern India.
It will be desirable to give a few particulars of each of these,
mainly taken from Wilson's _Hindu Sects_ and Dr. Bhattacharya's _Hindu
Castes and Sects_.
3. The Ramanujis.
Ramanuj was the first great Vishnuite prophet, and lived in southern
India in the eleventh or twelfth century on an island in the Kaveri
river near Trichinopoly. He preached the worship of a supreme spirit,
Vishnu and his consort Lakshmi, and taught that men also had souls
or spirits, and that matter was lifeless. He was a strong opponent
of the cult of Siva, then predominant in southern India, and of
phallic worship. He, however, admitted only the higher castes into
his order, and cannot therefore be considered as the founder of the
liberalising principle of Vishnuism. The superiors of the Ramanuja
sect are called Acharya, and rank highest among the priests of the
Vishnuite orders. The most striking feature in the practice of the
Ramanujis is the separate preparation and scrupulous privacy of their
meals. They must not eat in cotton garments, but must bathe, and then
put on wool or silk. The teachers allow their select pupils to assist
them, but in general all the Ramanujis cook for themselves, and should
the meal during this process, or while they are eating, attract even
the look of a stranger, the operation is instantly stopped and the
viands buried in the ground. The Ramanujis address each other with the
salutation Dasoham, or 'I am your slave,' accompanied with the Pranam
or slight inclination of the head and the application of joined hands
to the forehead. To the Acharyas or superiors the other members of the
sect perform the Ashtanga or prostration of the body with eight parts
touching the ground. The _tilak_ or sect-mark of the Ramanujis consists
of two perpendicular white lines from the roots of the hair to the top
of the eyebrows, with a connecting white line at the base, and a third
central line either of red or yellow. The Ramanujis do not recognise
the worship of Radha, the consort of Krishna. The mendicant orders
of the Satanis and Dasaris of southern India are branches of this sect.
4. The Ramanandis
Ramanand, the great prophet of Vishnuism in northern India, and the
real founder of the liberal doctrines of the cult, lived at Benares
at the end of the fourteenth century, and is supposed to have been a
follower of Ramanuj. He introduced, however, a great extension of his
predecessor's gospel in making his sect, nominally at least, open to
all castes. He thus initiated the struggle against the social tyranny
and exclusiveness of the caste system, which was carried to greater
lengths by his disciples and successors, Kabir, Nanak, Dadu, Rai Das
and others. These afterwards proclaimed the worship of one unseen god
who could not be represented by idols, and the religious equality of
all men, their tenets no doubt being considerably influenced by their
observance of Islam, which had now become a principal religion of
India. Ramanand himself did not go so far, and remained a good Hindu,
inculcating the special worship of Rama and his consort Sita. The
Ramaaandis consider the Ramayana as their most sacred book, and make
pilgrimages to Ajodhia and Ramnath. [100] Their sect-mark consists of
two white lines down the forehead with a red one between, but they are
continued on to the nose, ending in a loop, instead of terminating at
the line of the eyebrows, like that of the Ramanujis. The Ramanandis
say that the mark on the nose represents the Singasun or lion's throne,
while the two white lines up the forehead are Rama and Lakhshman, and
the centre red one is Sita. Some of their devotees wear ochre-coloured
clothes like the Sivite mendicants.
5. The Nimanandis.
The second of the four orders is that of the Nimanandis, called
after a saint Nimanand. He lived near Mathura Brindaban, and on one
occasion was engaged in religious controversy with a Jain ascetic
till sunset. He then offered his visitor some refreshment, but the
Jain could not eat anything after sunset, so Nimanand stopped the
sun from setting, and ordered him to wait above a _nim_ tree till the
meal was cooked and eaten under the tree, and this direction the sun
duly obeyed. Hence Nimanand, whose original name was Bhaskaracharya,
was called by his new name after the tree, and was afterwards held
to have been an incarnation of Vishnu or the Sun.
The doctrines of the sect, Mr. Growse states, [101] are of a very
enlightened character. Thus their tenet of salvation by faith is
thought by many scholars to have been directly derived from the
Gospels; while another article in their creed is the continuance of
conscious individual existence in a future world, when the highest
reward of the good will not be extinction, but the enjoyment of
the visible presence of the divinity whom they have served while
on earth. The Nimanandis worship Krishna, and were the first sect,
Dr. Bhattacharya states, [102] to associate with him as a divine
consort Radha, the chief partner of his illicit loves.
Their headquarters are at Muttra, and their chief festival is the
Janam-Ashtami [103] or Krishna's birthday. Their sect-mark consists of
two white lines down the forehead with a black patch in the centre,
which is called Shiambindini. Shiam means black, and is a name of
Krishna. They also sometimes have a circular line across the nose,
which represents the moon.
6. The Madhavacharyas.
The third great order is that of the Madhavas, named after a saint
called Madhavacharya in southern India. He attempted to reconcile the
warring Sivites and Vishnuites by combining the worship of Krishna with
that of Siva and Parvati. The doctrine of the sect is that the human
soul is different from the divine soul, and its members are therefore
called dualists. They admit a distinction between the divine soul and
the universe, and between the human soul and the material world. They
deny also the possibility of Nirvana or the absorption and extinction
of the human soul in the divine essence. They destroy their thread
at initiation, and also wear red clothes like the Sivite devotees,
and like them also they carry a staff and water-pot. The _tilak_
of the Madhavacharyas is said to consist of two white lines down the
forehead and continued on to the nose where they meet, with a black
vertical line between them.
7. The Vallabhacharyas.
The fourth main order is the Vishnu-Swami, which is much better known
as the Vallabhacharya sect, called after its founder Vallabha, who
was born in A.D. 1479. The god Krishna appeared to him and ordered
him to marry and set up a shrine to the god at Gokul near Mathura
(Muttra). The sect worship Krishna in his character of Bala Gopala
or the cowherd boy. Their temples are numerous all over India, and
especially at Mathura and Brindaban, where Krishna was brought up
as a cowherd. The temples at Benares, Jagannath and Dwarka are rich
and important, but the most celebrated shrine is at Sri Nathadwara
in Mewar. The image is said to have transported itself thither
from Mathura, when Aurangzeb ordered its temple at Mathura to be
destroyed. Krishna is here represented as a little boy in the act of
supporting the mountain Govardhan on his finger to shelter the people
from the storms of rain sent by Indra. The image is splendidly dressed
and richly decorated with ornaments to the value of several thousand
pounds. The images of Krishna in the temples are commonly known as
Thakurji, and are either of stone or brass. At all Vallabhacharya
temples there are eight daily services: the Mangala or morning _levée_,
a little after sunrise, when the god is taken from his couch and
bathed; the Sringara, when he is attired in his jewels and seated on
his throne; the Gwala, when he is supposed to be starting to graze
his cattle in the woods of Braj; the Raj Bhog or midday meal, which,
after presentation, is consumed by the priests and votaries who
have assisted at the ceremonies; the Uttapan, about three o'clock,
when the god awakes from his siesta; the Bhog or evening collation;
the Sandhiya or disrobing at sunset; and the Sayan or retiring to
rest. The ritual is performed by the priests and the lay worshipper
is only a spectator, who shows his reverence by the same forms as he
would to a human superior. [104]
The priests of the sect are called Gokalastha Gosain or Maharaja. They
are considered to be incarnations of the god, and divine honours
are paid to them. They always marry, and avow that union with the
god is best obtained by indulgence in all bodily enjoyments. This
doctrine has led to great licentiousness in some groups of the sect,
especially on the part of the priests or Maharajas. Women were taught
to believe that the service of and contact with the priest were the
most real form of worshipping the god, and that intercourse with him
was equivalent to being united with the god. Dr. Bhattacharya quotes
[105] the following tariff for the privilege of obtaining different
degrees of contact with the body of the Maharaja or priest:
For homage by sight Rs. 5.
For homage by touch Rs. 20.
For the honour of washing the Maharaja's foot Rs. 35.
For swinging him Rs. 40.
For rubbing sweet unguents on his body Rs. 42.
For being allowed to sit with him on the same couch Rs. 60.
For the privilege of dancing with him Rs. 100
to 200.
For drinking the water in which he has bathed Rs. 17.
For being closeted with him in the same room Rs. 50 to 500.
The public disapprobation caused by these practices and their bad
effect on the morality of women culminated in the great Maharaj libel
suit in the Bombay High Court in 1862. Since then the objectionable
features of the cult have to a large extent disappeared, while it has
produced some priests of exceptional liberality and enlightenment. The
_tilak_ of the Vallabhacharyas is said to consist of two white lines
down the forehead, forming a half-circle at its base and a white dot
between them. They will not admit the lower castes into the order,
but only those from whom a Brahman can take water.
8. Minor sects.
Besides the main sects as described above, Vaishnavism has produced
many minor sects, consisting of the followers of some saint of special
fame, and mendicants belonging to these are included in the body of
Bairagis. One or two legends concerning such saints may be given. A
common order is that of the Bendiwale, or those who wear a dot. Their
founder began putting a red dot on his forehead between the two white
lines in place of the long red line of the Ramanandis. His associates
asked him why he had dared to alter his _tilak_ or sect-mark. He said
that the goddess Janki had given him the dot, and as a test he went
and bathed in the Sarju river, and rubbed his forehead with water,
and all the sect-mark was rubbed out except the dot. So the others
recognised the special intervention of the goddess, and he founded a
sect. Another sect is called the Chaturbhuji or four-armed, Chaturbhuj
being an epithet of Vishnu. He was taking part in a feast when his
loin-cloth came undone behind, and the others said to him that as
this had happened, he had become impure at the feast. He replied,
'Let him to whom the _dhoti_ belongs tie it up,' and immediately
four arms sprang from his body, and while two continued to take food,
the other two tied up his loin-cloth behind. Thus it was recognised
that the Chaturbhuji Vishnu had appeared in him, and he was venerated.
9. The seven Akharas.
Among the Bairagis, besides the four Sampradayas or main orders,
there are seven Akharas. These are military divisions or schools for
training, and were instituted when the Bairagis had to fight with the
Gosains. Any member of one of the four Sampradayas can belong to any
one of the seven Akharas, and a man can change his Akhara as often as
he likes, but not his Sampradaya. The Akharas, with the exception of
the Lasgaris, who change the red centre line of the Ramanandis into
a white line, have no special sect-marks. They are distinguished by
their flags or standards, which are elaborately decorated with gold
thread embroidered on silk or sometimes with jewels, and cost two
or three hundred rupees to prepare. These standards were carried
by the Naga or naked members of the Akhara, who went in front and
fought. Once in twelve years a great meeting of all the seven Akharas
is held at Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain or Hardwar, where they bathe and
wash the image of the god in the water of the holy rivers. The quarrels
between the Bairagis and Gosains usually occurred at the sacred rivers,
and the point of contention was which sect should bathe first. The
following is a list of the seven Akharas: Digambari, Khaki, Munjia,
Kathia, Nirmohi, Nirbani or Niranjani and Lasgari.
The name of the Digamber or Meghdamber signifies sky-clad or
cloud-clad, that is naked. They do penance in the rainy season
by sitting naked in the rain for two or three hours a day with an
earthen pot on the head and the hands inserted in two others so that
they cannot rub the skin. In the dry season they wear only a little
cloth round the waist and ashes over the rest of the body. The ashes
are produced from burnt cowdung picked up off the ground, and not
mixed with straw like that which is prepared for fuel.
The Khaki Bairagis also rub ashes on the body. During the four hot
months they make five fires in a circle, and kneel between them with
the head and legs and arms stretched towards the fires. The fires are
kindled at noon with little heaps of cowdung cakes, and the penitent
stays between them till they go out. They also have a block of wood
with a hole through it, into which they insert the organ of generation
and suspend it by chains in front and behind. They rub ashes on the
body, from which they probably get their name of Khaki or dust-colour.
The Munjia Akhara have a belt made of _munj_ grass round the waist,
and a little apron also of grass, which is hung from it, and passed
through the legs. Formerly they wore no other clothes, but now they
have a cloth. They also do penance between the fires.
The Kathias have a waist-belt of bamboo fibre, to which is suspended
the wooden block for the purpose already described. Their name
signifies wooden, and is probably given to them on account of this
custom.
The Nirmohi carry a _lota_ or brass vessel and a little cup, in which
they receive alms.
The Nirbani wear only a piece of string or rope round the waist, to
which is attached a small strip of cloth passing through the legs. When
begging, they carry a _kawar_ or banghy, holding two baskets covered
with cloth, and into this they put all their alms. They never remove
the cloth, but plunge their hands into the basket at random when
they want something to eat. They call the basket Kamdhenu, the name
of the cow which gave inexhaustible wealth. These Bairagis commonly
marry and accumulate property.
The Lasgari are soldiers, as the name denotes. [106] They wear three
straight lines of sandalwood up the forehead. It is said that on one
occasion the Bairagis were suddenly attacked by the Gosains when they
had only made the white lines of the sect-mark, and they fought as
they were. In consequence of this, they have ever since worn three
white lines and no red one.
Others say that the Lasgari are a branch of the Digambari Akhara,
and that the Munjia and Kathia are branches of the Khaki Akhara. They
give three other Akharas--Niralankhi, Mahanirbani and Santokhi--about
which nothing is known.
10. The Dwaras.
Besides the Akharas, the Bairagis are said to have fifty-two Dwaras
or doors, and every man must be a member of a Dwara as well as of a
Sampradaya and Akhara. The Dwaras seem to have no special purpose,
but in the case of Bairagis who marry, they now serve as exogamous
sections, so that members of the same Dwara do not intermarry.
11. Initiation, appearance and customs.
A candidate for initiation has his head shaved, is invested with a
necklace of beads of the _tulsi_ or basil, and is taught a _mantra_
or text relating to Vishnu by his preceptor. The initiation
text of the Ramanandis is said to be _Om Ramaya Namah_, or _Om_,
Salutation to Rama. _Om_ is a very sacred syllable, having much magical
power. Thereafter the novice must journey to Dwarka in Gujarat and have
his body branded with hot iron or copper in the shape of Vishnu's four
implements: the _chakra_ or discus, the _guda_ or club, the _shank_ or
conch-shell and the _padma_ or lotus. Sometimes these are not branded
but are made daily on the arms with clay. The sect-mark should be made
with Gopichandan or the milkmaid's sandalwood. This is supposed to be
clay taken from a tank at Dwarka, in which the Gopis or milkmaids who
had been Krishna's companions drowned themselves when they heard of his
death. But as this can seldom be obtained any suitable whitish clay is
used instead. The Bairagis commonly let their hair grow long, after
being shaved at initiation, to imitate the old forest ascetics. If
a man makes a pilgrimage on foot to some famous shrine he may have
his head shaved there and make an offering of his hair. Others keep
their hair long and shave it only at the death of their _guru_ or
preceptor. They usually wear white clothes, and if a man has a cloth
on the upper part of the body it should be folded over the shoulders
and knotted at the neck. He also has a _chimta_ or small pair of tongs,
and, if he can obtain it, the skin of an Indian antelope, on which he
will sit while taking his food. The skin of this animal is held to be
sacred. Every Bairagi before he takes his food should dip a sprig of
_tulsi_ or basil into it to sanctify it, and if he cannot get this he
uses his necklace of _tulsi_-beads for the purpose instead. The caste
abstain from flesh and liquor, but are addicted to the intoxicating
drugs, _ganja_ and _bhang_ or preparations of Indian hemp. A Hindu
on meeting a Bairagi will greet him with the phrase 'Jai Sitaram,'
and the Bairagi will answer, 'Sitaram.' This word is a conjunction
of the names of Rama and his consort Sita. When a Bairagi receives
alms he will present to the giver a flower and a sprig of _tulsi_.
12. Recruitment of the order and its character.
A man belonging to any caste except the impure ones can be initiated
as a Bairagi, and the order is to a large extent recruited from
the lower castes. Theoretically all members of the order should
eat together; but the Brahmans and other high castes belonging
to it now eat only among themselves, except on the occasion of a
Ghosti or special religious assembly, when all eat in common. As a
matter of fact the order is a very mixed assortment of people. Many
persons who lost their caste in the famine of 1897 from eating in
Government poor-houses, joined the order and obtained a respectable
position. Debtors who have become hopelessly involved sometimes find
in it a means of escape from their creditors. Women of bad character,
who have been expelled from their caste, are also frequently enrolled
as female members, and in monasteries live openly with the men. The
caste is also responsible for a good deal of crime. Not only is the
disguise a very convenient one for thieves and robbers to assume on
their travels, but many regular members of the order are criminally
disposed. Nevertheless large numbers of Bairagis are men who have given
up their caste and families from a genuine impulse of self-sacrifice,
and the desire to lead a religious life.
13. Social position and customs.
On account of their sanctity the Bairagis have a fairly good social
position, and respectable Hindu castes will accept cooked food
from them. Brahmans usually, but not always, take water. They act
as _gurus_ or spiritual guides to the laymen of all castes who can
become Bairagis. They give the Ram and Gopal Mantras, or the texts
of Rama and Krishna, to their disciples of the three twice-born
castes, and the Sheo Mantra or Siva's text to other castes. The last
is considered to be of smaller religious efficacy than the others,
and is given to the lower castes and members of the higher ones who
do not lead a particularly virtuous life. They invest boys with the
sacred thread, and make the sect-mark on their foreheads. When they
go and visit their disciples they receive presents, but do not ask
them to confess their sins nor impose penalties.
If a mendicant Bairagi keeps a woman it is stated that he is expelled
from the community, but this rule does not seem to be enforced in
practice. If he is detected in a casual act of sexual intercourse
a fine should be imposed, such as feeding two or three hundred
Bairagis. The property of an unmarried Bairagi descends to a selected
_chela_ or disciple. The bodies of the dead are usually burnt, but
those of saints specially famous for their austerities or piety are
buried, and salt is put round the body to preserve it. Such men are
known as Bhakta.
14. Bairagi monasteries.
The Bairagis [107] have numerous _maths_ or monasteries, scattered
over the country and usually attached to temples. The Math comprises a
set of huts or chambers for the Mahant or superior and his permanent
pupils; a temple and often the Samadhi or tomb of the founder, or
of some eminent Mahant; and a Dharmsala or charitable hostel for
the accommodation of wandering members of the order, and of other
travellers who are constantly visiting the temple. Ingress and egress
are free to all, and, indeed, a restraint on personal liberty seems
never to have entered into the conception of any Hindu religious
legislator. There are, as a rule, a small number of resident _chelas_
or disciples who are scholars and attendants on the superiors,
and also out-members who travel over the country and return to the
monastery as a headquarters. The monastery has commonly some small
endowment in land, and the resident _chelas_ go out and beg for alms
for their common support. If the Mahant is married the headship may
descend in his family; but when he is unmarried his successor is one
of his disciples, who is commonly chosen by election at a meeting of
the Mahants of neighbouring monasteries. Formerly the Hindu governor
of the district would preside at such an election, but it is now,
of course, left entirely to the Bairagis themselves.
15. Married Bairagis.
Large numbers of Bairagis now marry and have children, and have
formed an ordinary caste. The married Bairagis are held to be
inferior to the celibate mendicants, and will take food from them,
but the mendicants will not permit the married Bairagis to eat with
them in the _chauka_ or place purified for the taking of food. The
customs of the married Bairagis resemble those of ordinary Hindu
castes such as the Kurmis. They permit divorce and the remarriage
of widows, and burn the dead. Those who have taken to cultivation
do not, as a rule, plough with their own hands. Many Bairagis have
acquired property and become landholders, and others have extensive
moneylending transactions. Two such men who had acquired possession
of extensive tracts of zamindari land in Chhattisgarh, in satisfaction
of loans made to the Gond zamindars, and had been given the zamindari
status by the Marathas, were subsequently made Feudatory Chiefs of
the Nandgaon and Chhuikhadan States. These chiefs now marry and the
States descend in their families by primogeniture in the ordinary
manner. As a rule, the Bairagi landowners and moneylenders are not
found to be particularly good specimens of their class.
Balahi
1. General notice.
_Balahi._ [108]--A low functional caste of weavers and village
watchmen found in the Nimar and Hoshangabad Districts and in Central
India. They numbered 52,000 persons in the Central Provinces in
1911, being practically confined to the two Districts already
mentioned. The name is a corruption of the Hindi _bulahi_, one who
calls, or a messenger. The Balahis seem to be an occupational group,
probably an offshoot of the large Kori caste of weavers, one of
whose subdivisions is shown as Balahi in the United Provinces. In
the Central Provinces they have received accretions from the spinner
caste of Katias, themselves probably a branch of the Koris, and
from the Mahars, the great menial caste of Bombay. In Hoshangabad
they are known alternatively as Mahar, while in Burhanpur they are
called Bunkar or weaver by outsiders. The following story which they
tell about themselves also indicates their mixed origin. They say
that their ancestors came to Nimar as part of the army of Raja Man
of Jodhpur, who invaded the country when it was under Muhammadan
rule. He was defeated, and his soldiers were captured and ordered
to be killed. [109] One of the Balahis among them won the favour of
the Muhammadan general and asked for his own freedom and that of the
other Balahis from among the prisoners. The Musalman replied that
he would be unable to determine which of the prisoners were really
Balahis. On this the Balahi, whose name was Ganga Kochla, replied
that he had an effective test. He therefore killed a cow, cooked its
flesh and invited the prisoners to partake of it. So many of them
as consented to eat were considered to be Balahis and liberated; but
many members of other castes thus obtained their freedom, and they and
their descendants are now included in the community. The subcastes
or endogamous groups distinctly indicate the functional character
of the caste, the names given being Nimari, Gannore, Katia, Kori and
Mahar. Of these Katia, Kori and Mahar are the names of distinct castes,
Nimari is a local subdivision indicating those who speak the peculiar
dialect of this tract, and the Gannore are no doubt named after the
Rajput clan of that name, of whom their ancestors were not improbably
the illegitimate offspring. The Nimari Balahis are said to rank lower
than the rest, as they will eat the flesh of dead cattle which the
others refuse to do. They may not take water from the village well,
and unless a separate one can be assigned to them, must pay others
to draw water for them. Partly no doubt in the hope of escaping from
this degraded position, many of the Nimari group became Christians in
the famine of 1897. They are considered to be the oldest residents
of Nimar. At marriages the Balahi receives as his perquisite the
leaf-plates used for feasts with the leavings of food upon them;
and at funerals he takes the cloth which covers the corpse on its
way to the burning-_ghat_. In Nimar the Korkus and Balahis each
have a separate burying-ground which is known as Murghata. [110] The
Katias weave the finer kinds of cloth and rank a little higher than
the others. In Burhanpur, as already stated, the caste are known as
Bunkar, and they are probably identical with the Bunkars of Khandesh;
Bunkar is simply an occupational term meaning a weaver.
2. Marriage.
The caste have the usual system of exogamous groups, some of which
are named after villages, while the designations of others are
apparently nicknames given to the founder of the clan, as Bagmar, a
tiger-killer, Bhagoria, a runaway, and so on. They employ a Brahman to
calculate the horoscopes of a bridal couple and fix the date of their
wedding, but if he says the marriage is inauspicious, they merely
obtain the permission of the caste _panchayat_ and celebrate it on
a Saturday or Sunday. Apparently, however, they do not consult real
Brahmans, but merely priests of their own caste whom they call Balahi
Brahmans. These Brahmans are, nevertheless, said to recite the Satya
Narayan Katha. They also have _gurus_ or spiritual preceptors, being
members of the caste who have joined the mendicant orders; and Bhats
or genealogists of their own caste who beg at their weddings. They
have the practice of serving for a wife, known as Gharjamai or
Lamjhana. When the pauper suitor is finally married at the expense
of his wife's father, a marriage-shed is erected for him at the house
of some neighbour, but his own family are not invited to the wedding.
After marriage a girl goes to her husband's house for a few days and
returns. The first Diwali or Akha-tij festival after the wedding must
also be passed at the husband's house, but consummation is not effected
until the _aina_ or _gauna_ ceremony is performed on the attainment
of puberty. The cost of a wedding is about Rs. 80 to the bridegroom's
family and Rs. 20 to the bride's family. A widow is forbidden to marry
her late husband's brother or other relatives. At the wedding she is
dressed in new clothes, and the foreheads of the couple are marked
with cowdung as a sign of purification. They then proceed by night to
the husband's village, and the woman waits till morning in some empty
building, when she enters her husband's house carrying two water-pots
on her head in token of the fertility which she is to bring to it.
3. Other customs.
Like the Mahars, the Balahis must not kill a dog or a cat under pain
of expulsion; but it is peculiar that in their case the bear is held
equally sacred, this being probably a residue of some totemistic
observance. The most binding form of oath which they can use is by
any one of these animals. The Balahis will admit any Hindu into the
community except a man of the very lowest castes, and also Gonds
and Korkus. The head and face of the neophyte are shaved clean, and
he is made to lie on the ground under a string-cot; a number of the
Balahis sit on this and wash themselves, letting the water drip from
their bodies on to the man below until he is well drenched; he then
gives a feast to the caste-fellows, and is considered to have become
a Balahi. It is reported also that they will receive back into the
community Balahi women who have lived with men of other castes and
even with Jains and Muhammadans. They will take food from members of
these religions and of any Hindu caste, except the most impure.
Balija
1. Origin and traditions.
_Balija, Balji, Gurusthulu, Naidu._--A large trading caste of the
Madras Presidency, where they number a million persons. In the Central
Provinces 1200 were enumerated in 1911, excluding 1500 Perikis,
who though really a subcaste and not a very exalted one of Balijas,
[111] claim to be a separate caste. They are mainly returned from
places where Madras troops have been stationed, as Nagpur, Jubbulpore
and Raipur. The caste are frequently known as Naidu, a corruption
of the Telugu word Nayakdu, a prince or leader. Their ancestors
are supposed to have been Nayaks or kings of Madura, Tanjore and
Vijayanagar. The traditional occupation of the caste appears to have
been to make bangles and pearl and coral ornaments, and they have
still a subcaste called Gazulu, or a bangle-seller. In Madras they
are said to be an offshoot of the great cultivating castes of Kamma
and Kapu and to be a mixed community recruited from these and other
Telugu castes. Another proof of their mixed descent may be inferred
from the fact that they will admit persons of other castes or the
descendants of mixed marriages into the community without much scruple
in Madras. [112] The name of Balija seems also to have been applied
to a mixed caste started by Basava, the founder of the Lingayat sect
of Sivites, these persons being known in Madras as Linga Balijas.
2. Marriage.
The Balijas have two main divisions, Desa or Kota, and Peta, the Desas
or Kotas being those who claim descent from the old Balija kings,
while the Petas are the trading Balijas, and are further subdivided
into groups like the Gazulu or bangle-sellers and the Periki or
salt-sellers. The subdivisions are not strictly endogamous. Every
family has a surname, and exogamous groups or _gotras_ also exist,
but these have generally been forgotten, and marriages are regulated
by the surnames, the only prohibition being that persons of the same
surname may not intermarry. Instances of such names are: Singiri,
Gudari, Jadal, Sangnad and Dasiri. In fact the rules of exogamy
are so loose that an instance is known of an uncle having married
his niece. Marriage is usually infant, and the ceremony lasts for
five days. On the first day the bride and bridegroom are seated on
a yoke in the _pandal_ or marriage pavilion, where the relatives
and guests assemble. The bridegroom puts a pair of silver rings
on the bride's toes and ties the _mangal-sutram_ or flat circular
piece of gold round her neck. On the next three days the bridegroom
and bride are made to sit on a plank or cot face to face with each
other and to throw flowers and play together for two hours in the
mornings and evenings. On the fourth day, at dead of night, they are
seated on a cot and the jewels and gifts for the bride are presented,
and she is then formally handed over to the bridegroom's family. In
Madras Mr. Thurston [113] states that on the last day of the marriage
ceremony a mock ploughing and sowing rite is held, and during this,
the sister of the bridegroom puts a cloth over the basket containing
earth, wherein seeds are to be sown by the bridegroom, and will not
allow him to go on with the ceremony till she has extracted a promise
that his first-born daughter shall marry her son. No bride-price is
paid, and the remarriage of widows is forbidden.
3. Occupation and social status.
The Balijas bury their dead in a sitting posture. In the Central
Provinces they are usually Lingayats and especially worship Gauri,
Siva's wife. Jangams serve them as priests. They usually eat flesh
and drink liquor, but in Chanda it is stated that both these practices
are forbidden. In the Central Provinces they are mainly cultivators,
but some of them still sell bangles and salt. Several of them are in
Government service and occupy a fairly high social position.
In Madras a curious connection exists between the Kapus and Balijas
and the impure Mala caste. It is said that once upon a time the Kapus
and Balijas were flying from the Muhammadans and came to the northern
Pallar river in high flood. They besought the river to go down and let
them across, but it demanded the sacrifice of a first-born child. While
the Kapus and Balijas were hesitating, the Malas who had followed them
boldly sacrificed one of their children. Immediately the river divided
before them and they all crossed in safety. Ever since then the Kapus
and Balijas have respected the Malas, and the Balijas formerly even
deposited the images of the goddess Gauri, of Ganesha, and of Siva's
bull with the Malas, as the hereditary custodians of their gods. [114]
Bania
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice._
2. _The Banias a true caste: use of the name._
3. _Their distinctive occupation._
4. _Their distinctive status._
5. _The endogamous divisions of the Banias._
6. _The Banias derived from the Rajputs._
7. _Banias employed as ministers in Rajput courts._
8. _Subcastes._
9. _Hindu and Jain subcastes: divisions among subcastes._
10. _Exogamy and rules regulating marriage._
11. _Marriage customs._
12. _Polygamy and widow-marrriage._
13. _Disposal of the dead and mourning._
14. _Religion: the god Ganpati or Ganesh._
15. _Diwali festival._
16. _Holi festival._
17. _Social customs: rules about food._
18. _Character of the Bania._
19. _Dislike of the cultivators towards him._
20. _His virtues._
21. _The moneylender changed for the worse._
22. _The enforcement of contracts._
23. _Cash coinage and the rate of interest._
24. _Proprietary and transferable rights in land._
25. _The Bania as a landlord._
26. _Commercial honesty._
List of Subordinate Articles on Subcastes
1. Agarwala, Agarwal.
2. Agrahari.
3. Ajudhiabasi, Audhia.
4. Asathi.
5. Charnagri, Channagri, Samaiya.
6. Dhusar, Bhargava Dhusar.
7. Dosar, Dusra.
8. Gahoi.
9. Golapurab, Golahre.
10. Kasarwani.
11. Kasaundhan.
12. Khandelwal.
13. Lad.
14. Lingayat.
15. Maheshri.
16. Nema.
17. Oswal.
18. Parwar.
19. Srimali.
20. Umre.
1. General notice.
_Bania, Bani, Vani, Mahajan, Seth, Sahukar._--The occupational
caste of bankers, moneylenders and dealers in grain, _ghi_ (butter),
groceries and spices. The name Bania is derived from the Sanskrit
_vanij_, a merchant. In western India the Banias are always called
Vania or Vani. Mahajan literally means a great man, and being applied
to successful Banias as an honorific title has now come to signify a
banker or moneylender; Seth signifies a great merchant or capitalist,
and is applied to Banias as an honorific prefix. The words _Sahu_,
_Sao_ and _Sahukar_ mean upright or honest, and have also, curiously
enough, come to signify a moneylender. The total number of Banias in
the Central Provinces in 1911 was about 200,000, or rather over one
per cent of the population. Of the above total two-thirds were Hindus
and one-third Jains. The caste is fairly distributed over the whole
Province, being most numerous in Districts with large towns and a
considerable volume of trade.
2. The Banias a true caste: use of the name.
There has been much difference of opinion as to whether the name
Bania should be taken to signify a caste, or whether it is merely an
occupational term applied to a number of distinct castes. I venture
to think it is necessary and scientifically correct to take it as a
caste. In Bengal the word Banian, a corruption of Bania, has probably
come to be a general term meaning simply a banker, or person dealing
in money. But this does not seem to be the case elsewhere. As a
rule the name Bania is used only as a caste name for groups who are
considered both by themselves and outsiders to belong to the Bania
caste. It may occasionally be applied to members of other castes,
as in the case of certain Teli-Banias who have abandoned oil-pressing
for shop-keeping, but such instances are very rare; and these Telis
would probably now assert that they belonged to the Bania caste. That
the Banias are recognised as a distinct caste by the people is shown
by the number of uncomplimentary proverbs and sayings about them,
which is far larger than in the case of any other caste. [115] In
all these the name Bania is used and not that of any subdivision,
and this indicates that none of the subdivisions are looked upon
as distinctive social groups or castes. Moreover, so far as I am
aware, the name Bania is applied regularly to all the groups usually
classified under the caste, and there is no group which objects to the
name or whose members refuse to describe themselves by it. This is by
no means always the case with other important castes. The Rathor Telis
of Mandla entirely decline to answer to the name of Teli, though they
are classified under that caste. In the case of the important Ahir or
grazier caste, those who sell milk instead of grazing cattle are called
Gaoli, but remain members of the Ahir caste. An Ahir in Chhattisgarh
would be called Rawat and in the Maratha Districts Gowari, but might
still be an Ahir by caste. The Barai caste of betel-vine growers and
sellers is in some localities called Tamboli and not Barai; elsewhere
it is known only as Pansari, though the name Pansari is correctly
an occupational term, and, where it is not applied to the Barais,
means a grocer or druggist by profession and not a caste. Bania,
on the other hand, over the greater part of India is applied only
to persons who acknowledge themselves and are generally recognised
by Hindu society to be members of the Bania caste, and there is no
other name which is generally applied to any considerable section of
such persons. Certain of the more important subcastes of Bania, as
the Agarwala, Oswal and Parwar, are, it is true, frequently known by
the subcaste name. But the caste name is as often as not, or even more
often, affixed to it. Agarwala, or Agarwala Bania, are names equally
applied to designate this subcaste, and similarly with the Oswals and
Parwars; and even so the subcaste name is only applied for greater
accuracy and for compliment, since these are the best subcastes;
the Bania's quarter of a town will be called Bania Mahalla, and its
residents spoken of as Banias, even though they may be nearly all
Agarwals or Oswals. Several Rajput clans are similarly spoken of by
their clan names, as Rathor, Panwar, and so on, without the addition
of the caste name Rajput. Brahman subcastes are usually mentioned
by their subcaste name for greater accuracy, though in their case
too it is usual to add the caste name. And there are subdivisions of
other castes, such as the Jaiswar Chamars and the Somvansi Mehras,
who invariably speak of themselves only by their subcaste name,
and discard the caste name altogether, being ashamed of it, but are
nevertheless held to belong to their parent castes. Thus in the matter
of common usage Bania conforms in all respects to the requirements
of a proper caste name.
3. Their distinctive occupation.
The Banias have also a distinct and well-defined traditional
occupation, [116] which is followed by many or most members of
practically every subcaste so far as has been observed. This occupation
has caused the caste as a body to be credited with special mental
and moral characteristics in popular estimation, to a greater extent
perhaps than any other caste. None of the subcastes are ashamed of
their traditional occupation or try to abandon it. It is true that a
few subcastes such as the Kasaundhans and Kasarwanis, sellers of metal
vessels, apparently had originally a somewhat different profession,
though resembling the traditional one; but they too, if they once
only sold vessels, now engage largely in the traditional Bania's
calling, and deal generally in grain and money. The Banias, no doubt
because it is both profitable and respectable, adhere more generally
to their traditional occupation than almost any great caste, except
the cultivators. Mr. Marten's analysis [117] of the occupations of
different castes shows that sixty per cent of the Banias are still
engaged in trade; while only nineteen per cent of Brahmans follow
a religious calling; twenty-nine per cent of Ahirs are graziers,
cattle-dealers or milkmen; only nine per cent of Telis are engaged
in all branches of industry, including their traditional occupation
of oil-pressing; and similarly only twelve per cent of Chamars work
at industrial occupations, including that of curing hides. In respect
of occupation therefore the Banias strictly fulfil the definition of
a caste.
4. Their distinctive status.
The Banias have also a distinctive social status. They are considered,
though perhaps incorrectly, to represent the Vaishyas or third great
division of the Aryan twice-born; they rank just below Rajputs and
perhaps above all other castes except Brahmans; Brahmans will take
food cooked without water from many Banias and drinking-water from
all. Nearly all Banias wear the sacred thread; and the Banias are
distinguished by the fact that they abstain more rigorously and
generally from all kinds of flesh food than any other caste. Their
rules as to diet are exceptionally strict, and are equally observed
by the great majority of the subdivisions.
5. The endogamous divisions of the Banias.
Thus the Banias apparently fulfil the definition of a caste, as
consisting of one or more endogamous groups or subcastes with a
distinct name applied to them all and to them only, a distinctive
occupation and a distinctive social status; and there seems no reason
for not considering them a caste. If on the other hand we examine the
subcastes of Bania we find that the majority of them have names derived
from places, [118] not indicating any separate origin, occupation or
status, but only residence in separate tracts. Such divisions are
properly termed subcastes, being endogamous only, and in no other
way distinctive. No subcaste can be markedly distinguished from the
others in respect of occupation or social status, and none apparently
can therefore be classified as a separate caste. There are no doubt
substantial differences in status between the highest subcastes of
Bania, the Agarwals, Oswals and Parwars, and the lower ones, the
Kasaundhan, Kasarwani, Dosar and others. But this difference is not
so great as that which separates different groups included in such
important castes as Rajput and Bhat. It is true again that subcastes
like the Agarwals and Oswals are individually important, but not
more so than the Maratha, Khedawal, Kanaujia and Maithil Brahmans, or
the Sesodia, Rathor, Panwar and Jadon Rajputs. The higher subcastes
of Bania themselves recognise a common relationship by taking food
cooked without water from each other, which is a very rare custom
among subcastes. Some of them are even said to have intermarried. If
on the other hand it is argued, not that two or three or more of the
important subdivisions should be erected into independent castes,
but that Bania is not a caste at all, and that every subcaste should
be treated as a separate caste, then such purely local groups as
Kanaujia, Jaiswar, Gujarati, Jaunpuri and others, which are found in
forty or fifty other castes, would have to become separate castes;
and if in this one case why not in all the other castes where they
occur? This would result in the impossible position of having forty
or fifty castes of the same name, which recognise no connection of
any kind with each other, and make any arrangement or classification
of castes altogether impracticable. And in 1911 out of 200,000 Banias
in the Central Provinces, 43,000 were returned with no subcaste at
all, and it would therefore be impossible to classify these under
any other name.
6. The Banias derived from the Rajputs.
The Banias have been commonly supposed to represent the Vaishyas or
third of the four classical castes, both by Hindu society generally
and by leading authorities on the subject. It is perhaps this view of
their origin which is partly responsible for the tendency to consider
them as several castes and not one. But its accuracy is doubtful. The
important Bania groups appear to be of Rajput stock. They nearly all
come from Rajputana, Bundelkhand or Gujarat, that is from the homes
of the principal Rajut clans. Several of them have legends of Rajput
descent. The Agarwalas say that their first ancestor was a Kshatriya
king, who married a Naga or snake princess; the Naga race is supposed
to have signified the Scythian immigrants, who were snake-worshippers
and from whom several clans of Rajputs were probably derived. The
Agarwalas took their name from the ancient city of Agroha or possibly
from Agra. The Oswals say that their ancestor was the Rajput king
of Osnagar in Marwar, who with his followers was converted by a Jain
mendicant. The Nemas state that their ancestors were fourteen young
Rajput princes who escaped the vengeance of Parasurama by abandoning
the profession of arms and taking to trade. The Khandelwals take
their name from the town of Khandela in Jaipur State of Rajputana. The
Kasarwanis say they immigrated from Kara Manikpur in Bundelkhand. The
origin of the Umre Banias is not known, but in Gujarat they are also
called Bagaria from the Bagar or wild country of the Dongarpur and
Pertabgarh States of Rajputana, where numbers of them are still
settled; the name Bagaria would appear to indicate that they are
supposed to have immigrated thence into Gujarat. The Dhusar Banias
ascribe their name to a hill called Dhusi or Dhosi on the border of
Alwar State. The Asatis say that their original home was Tikamgarh
State in Bundelkhand. The name of the Maheshris is held to be derived
from Maheshwar, an ancient town on the Nerbudda, near Indore, which
is traditionally supposed to have been the earliest settlement of the
Yadava Rajputs. The headquarters of the Gahoi Banias is said to have
been at Kharagpur in Bundelkhand, though according to their own legend
they are of mixed origin. The home of the Srimalis was the old town
of Srimal, now Bhinmal in Marwar. The Palliwal Banias were from the
well-known trading town of Pali in Marwar. The Jaiswal are said to take
their name from Jaisalmer State, which was their native country. The
above are no doubt only a fraction of the Bania subcastes, but they
include nearly all the most important and representative ones, from
whom the caste takes its status and character. Of the numerous other
groups the bulk have probably been brought into existence through
the migration and settlement of sections of the caste in different
parts of the country, where they have become endogamous and obtained a
fresh name. Other subcastes may be composed of bodies of persons who,
having taken to trade and prospered, obtained admission to the Bania
caste through the efforts of their Brahman priests. But a number of
mixed groups of the same character are also found among the Brahmans
and Rajputs, and their existence does not invalidate arguments derived
from a consideration of the representative subcastes. It may be said
that not only the Banias, but many of the low castes have legends
showing them to be of Rajput descent of the same character as those
quoted above; and since in their case these stories have been adjudged
spurious and worthless, no greater importance should be attached to
those of the Banias. But it must be remembered that in the case of the
Banias the stories are reinforced by the fact that the Bania subcastes
certainly come from Rajputana; no doubt exists that they are of high
caste, and that they must either be derived from Brahmans or Rajputs,
or themselves represent some separate foreign group; but if they are
really the descendants of the Vaishyas, the main body of the Aryan
immigrants and the third of the four classical castes, it might be
expected that their legends would show some trace of this instead of
being unitedly in favour of their Rajput origin.
Colonel Tod gives a catalogue of the eighty-four mercantile tribes,
whom he states to be chiefly of Rajput descent. [119] In this list
the Agarwal, Oswal, Srimal, Khandelwal, Palliwal and Lad subcastes
occur; while the Dhakar and Dhusar subcastes may be represented by the
names Dhakarwal and Dusora in the lists. The other names given by Tod
appear to be mainly small territorial groups of Rajputana. Elsewhere,
after speaking of the claims of certain towns in Rajputana to be
centres of trade, Colonel Tod remarks: "These pretensions we may
the more readily admit, when we recollect that nine-tenths of the
bankers and commercial men of India are natives of Marudesh, [120]
and these chiefly of the Jain faith. The Oswals, so termed from the
town of Osi, near the Luni, estimate one hundred thousand families
whose occupation is commerce. All these claim a Rajput descent, a fact
entirely unknown to the European inquirer into the peculiarities of
Hindu manners." [121]
Similarly, Sir D. Ibbetson states that the Maheshri Banias claim
Rajput origin and still have subdivisions bearing Rajput names. [122]
Elliot also says that almost all the mercantile tribes of Hindustan
are of Rajput descent. [123]
It would appear, then, that the Banias are an offshoot from the
Rajputs, who took to commerce and learnt to read and write for
the purpose of keeping accounts. The Charans or bards are another
literate caste derived from the Rajputs, and it may be noticed that
both the Banias and Charans or Bhats have hitherto been content
with the knowledge of their own rude Marwari dialect and evinced no
desire for classical learning or higher English education. Matters
are now changing, but this attitude shows that they have hitherto not
desired education for itself but merely as an indispensable adjunct
to their business.
7. Banias employed as ministers in Rajput courts.
Being literate, the Banias were not infrequently employed as ministers
and treasurers in Rajput states. Forbes says, in an account of
an Indian court: "Beside the king stand the warriors of Rajput
race or, equally gallant in the field and wiser far in council,
the Wania (Bania) Muntreshwars, already in profession puritans
of peace, and not yet drained enough of their fiery Kshatriya
blood.... It is remarkable that so many of the officers possessing
high rank and holding independent commands are represented to have
been Wanias." [124] Colonel Tod writes that Nunkurn, the Kachhwaha
chief of the Shekhawat federation, had a minister named Devi Das of
the Bania or mercantile caste, and, like thousands of that caste,
energetic, shrewd and intelligent. [125] Similarly, Muhaj, the Jadon
Bhatti chief of Jaisalmer, by an unhappy choice of a Bania minister,
completed the demoralisation of the Bhatti state. This minister was
named Sarup Singh, a Bania of the Jain faith and Mehta family, whose
descendants were destined to be the exterminators of the laws and
fortunes of the sons of Jaisal. [126] Other instances of the employment
of Bania ministers are to be found in Rajput history. Finally, it
may be noted that the Banias are by no means the only instance of a
mercantile class formed from the Rajputs. The two important trading
castes of Khatri and Bhatia are almost certainly of Rajput origin,
as is shown in the articles on those castes.
8. Subcastes.
The Banias are divided into a large number of endogamous groups or
subcastes, of which the most important have been treated in the
annexed subordinate articles. The minor subcastes, mainly formed
by migration, vary greatly in different provinces. Colonel Tod gave
a list of eighty-four in Rajputana, of which eight or ten only can
be identified in the Central Provinces, and of thirty mentioned by
Bhattacharya as the most common groups in northern India, about a third
are unknown in the Central Provinces. The origin of such subcastes
has already been explained. The main subcastes may be classified
roughly into groups coming from Rajputana, Bundelkhand and the United
Provinces. The leading Rajputana groups are the Oswal, Maheshri,
Khandelwal, Saitwal, Srimal and Jaiswaal. These groups are commonly
known as Marwari Bania or simply Marwari. The Bundelkhand or Central
India subcastes are the Gahoi, Golapurab, Asati, Umre and Parwar;
[127] while the Agarwal, Dhusar, Agrahari, Ajudhiabasi and others
come from the United Provinces. The Lad subcaste is from Gujarat,
while the Lingayats originally belonged to the Telugu and Canarese
country. Several of the subcastes coming from the same locality will
take food cooked without water from each other, and occasionally two
subcastes, as the Oswal and Khandelwal, even food cooked with water or
_katchi_. This practice is seldom found in other good castes. It is
probably due to the fact that the rules about food are less strictly
observed in Rajputana.
9. Hindu and Jain subcastes: divisions among subcastes.
Another classification may be made of the subcastes according as
they are of the Hindu or Jain religion; the important Jain subcastes
are the Oswal, Parwar, Golapurab, Saitwal and Charnagar, and one or
two smaller ones, as the Baghelwal and Samaiya. The other subcastes
are principally Hindu, but many have a Jain minority, and similarly
the Jain subcastes return a proportion of Hindus. The difference of
religion counts for very little, as practically all the non-Jain Banias
are strict Vaishnava Hindus, abstain entirely from any kind of flesh
meat, and think it a sin to take animal life; while on their side the
Jains employ Brahmans for certain purposes, worship some of the local
Hindu deities, and observe the principal Hindu festivals. The Jain and
Hindu sections of a subcaste have consequently, as a rule, no objection
to taking food together, and will sometimes intermarry. Several of the
important subcastes are subdivided into Bisa and Dasa, or twenty and
ten groups. The Bisa or twenty group is of pure descent, or twenty
carat, as it were, while the Dasas are considered to have a certain
amount of alloy in their family pedigree. They are the offspring of
remarried widows, and perhaps occasionally of still more irregular
unions. Intermarriage sometimes takes place between the two groups,
and families in the Dasa group, by living a respectable life and
marrying well, improve their status, and perhaps ultimately get
back into the Bisa group. As the Dasas become more respectable they
will not admit to their communion newly remarried widows or couples
who have married within the prohibited degrees, or otherwise made a
_mésalliance_, and hence a third inferior group, called the Pacha or
five, is brought into existence to make room for these.
10. Exogamy and rules regulating marriage.
Most subcastes have an elaborate system of exogamy. They are
either divided into a large number of sections, or into a few
_gotras_, usually twelve, each of which is further split up into
subsections. Marriage can then be regulated by forbidding a man to
take a wife from the whole of his own section or from the subsection
of his mother, grandmothers and even greatgrandmothers. By this means
the union of persons within five or more degrees of relationship
either through males or females is avoided, and most Banias prohibit
intermarriage, at any rate nominally, up to five degrees. Such
practices as exchanging girls between families or marrying two
sisters are, as a rule, prohibited. The _gotras_ or main sections
appear to be frequently named after Brahman Rishis or saints, while
the subsections have names of a territorial or titular character.
11. Marriage customs.
There is generally no recognised custom of paying a bride- or
bridegroom-price, but one or two instances of its being done are given
in the subordinate articles. On the occasion of betrothal, among some
subcastes, the boy's father proceeds to the girl's house and presents
her with a _mala_ or necklace of gold or silver coins or coral, and a
_mundri_ or silver ring for the finger. The contract of betrothal is
made at the village temple and the caste-fellows sprinkle turmeric and
water over the parties. Before the wedding the ceremony of Benaiki is
performed; in this the bridegroom, riding on a horse, and the bride on
a decorated chair or litter, go round their villages and say farewell
to their friends and relations. Sometimes they have a procession in
this way round the marriage-shed. Among the Marwari Banias a _toran_
or string of mango-leaves is stretched above the door of the house on
the occasion of a wedding and left there for six months. And a wooden
triangle with figures perched on it to represent sparrows is tied
over the door. The binding portion of the wedding is the procession
seven times round the marriage altar or post. In some Jain subcastes
the bridegroom stands beside the post and the bride walks seven times
round him, while he throws sugar over her head at each turn. After the
wedding the couple are made to draw figures out of flour sprinkled
on a brass plate in token of the bridegroom's occupation of keeping
accounts. It is customary for the bride's family to give _sidha_ or
uncooked food sufficient for a day's consumption to every outsider
who accompanies the marriage party, while to each member of the caste
provisions for two to five days are given. This is in addition to the
evening feasts and involves great expense. Sometimes the wedding lasts
for eight days, and feasts are given for four days by the bridegroom's
party and four days by the bride's. It is said that in some places
before a Bania has a wedding he goes before the caste _panchayat_
and they ask him how many people he is going to invite. If he says
five hundred, they prescribe the quantity of the different kinds of
provisions which he must supply. Thus they may say forty maunds (3200
lbs.) of sugar and flour, with butter, spices, and other articles in
proportion. He says, 'Gentlemen, I am a poor man; make it a little
less'; or he says he will give _gur_ or cakes of raw cane sugar
instead of refined sugar. Then they say, 'No, your social position
is too high for _gur_; you must have sugar for all purposes.' The
more guests the host invites the higher is his social consideration;
and it is said that if he does not maintain this his life is not worth
living. Sometimes the exact amount of entertainment to be given at a
wedding is fixed, and if a man cannot afford it at the time he must
give the balance of the feasts at any subsequent period when he has
money; and if he fails to do this he is put out of caste. The bride's
father is often called on to furnish a certain sum for the travelling
expenses of the bridegroom's party, and if he does not send this money
they do not come. The distinctive feature of a Bania wedding in the
northern Districts is that women accompany the marriage procession,
and the Banias are the only high caste in which they do this. Hence a
high-caste wedding party in which women are present can be recognised
to be a Bania's. In the Maratha Districts women also go, but here
this custom obtains among other high castes. The bridegroom's party
hire or borrow a house in the bride's village, and here they erect
a marriage-shed and go through the preliminary ceremonies of the
wedding on the bridegroom's side as if they were at home.
12. Polygamy and widow-marriage.
Polygamy is very rare among the Banias, and it is generally the rule
that a man must obtain the consent of his first wife before taking
a second one. In the absence of this precaution for her happiness,
parents will refuse to give him their daughter. The remarriage of
widows is nominally prohibited, but frequently occurs, and remarried
widows are relegated to the inferior social groups in each subcaste as
already described. Divorce is also said to be prohibited, but it is
probable that women put away for adultery are allowed to take refuge
in such groups instead of being finally expelled.
13. Disposal of the dead and mourning.
The dead are cremated as a rule, and the ashes are thrown into
a sacred river or any stream. The bodies of young children and of
persons dying from epidemic disease are buried. The period of mourning
must be for an odd number of days. On the third day a leaf plate with
cooked food is placed on the ground where the body was burnt, and on
some subsequent day a feast is given to the caste. Rich Banias will
hire people to mourn. Widows and young girls are usually employed,
and these come and sit before the house for an hour in the morning
and sometimes also in the evening, and covering their heads with
their cloths, beat their breasts and make lamentations. Rich men
may hire as many as ten mourners for a period of one, two or three
months. The Marwaris, when a girl is born, break an earthen pot to
show that they have had a misfortune; but when a boy is born they
beat a brass plate in token of their joy.
14. Religion: the god Ganpati or Ganesh.
Nearly all the Banias are Jains or Vaishnava Hindus. An account of the
Jain religion has been given in a separate article, and some notice
of the retention of Hindu practices by the Jains is contained in the
subordinate article on Parwar Bania. The Vaishnava Banias no less
than the Jains are strongly averse to the destruction of animal life,
and will not kill any living thing. Their principal deity is the god
Ganesh or Ganpati, the son of Mahadeo and Parvati, who is the god of
good-luck, wealth and prosperity. Ganesh is represented in sculpture
with the head of an elephant and riding on a rat, though the rat is now
covered by the body of the god and is scarcely visible. He has a small
body like a child's with a fat belly and round plump arms. Perhaps
his body signifies that he is figured as a boy, the son of Parvati
or Gauri. In former times grain was the main source of wealth, and
from the appearance of Ganesh it can be understood why he is the god
of overflowing granaries, and hence of wealth and good fortune. The
elephant is a sacred animal among Hindus, and that on which the king
rides. To have an elephant was a mark of wealth and distinction among
Banias, and the Jains harness the cars of their gods to elephants at
their great _rath_ or chariot festival. Gajpati or 'lord of elephants'
is a title given to a king; Gajanand or 'elephant-faced' is an epithet
of the god Ganesh and a favourite Hindu name. Gajvithi or the track
of the elephant is a name of the Milky Way, and indicates that there
is believed to be a divine elephant who takes this course through the
heavens. The elephant eats so much grain that only a comparatively
rich man can afford to keep one; and hence it is easy to understand
how the attribute of plenty or of wealth was associated with the divine
elephant as his special characteristic. Similarly the rat is connected
with overflowing granaries, because when there is much corn in a
Hindu house or store-shed there will be many rats; thus a multitude
of rats implied a rich household, and so this animal too came to be a
symbol of wealth. The Hindus do not now consider the rat sacred, but
they have a tenderness for it, especially in the Maratha country. The
more bigoted of them objected to rats being poisoned as a means of
checking plague, though observation has fully convinced them that rats
spread the plague; and in the Bania hospitals, formerly maintained for
preserving the lives of animals, a number of rats were usually to be
found. The rat, in fact, may now be said to stand to Ganpati in the
position of a disreputable poor relation. No attempt is made to deny
his existence, but he is kept in the background as far as possible. The
god Ganpati is also associated with wealth of grain through his
parentage. He is the offspring of Siva or Mahadeo and his wife Devi
or Gauri. Mahadeo is in this case probably taken in his beneficent
character of the deified bull; Devi in her most important aspect as
the great mother-goddess is the earth, but as mother of Ganesh she
is probably imagined in her special form of Gauri, the yellow one,
that is, the yellow corn. Gauri is closely associated with Ganesh, and
every Hindu bridal couple worship Gauri Ganesh together as an important
rite of the wedding. Their conjunction in this manner lends colour to
the idea that they are held to be mother and son. In Rajputana Gauri
is worshipped as the corn goddess at the Gangore festival about the
time of the vernal equinox, especially by women. The meaning of Gauri,
Colonel Tod states, is yellow, emblematic of the ripened harvest,
when the votaries of the goddess adore her effigies, in the shape
of a matron painted the colour of ripe corn. Here she is seen as
Ana-purna (the corn-goddess), the benefactress of mankind. "The rites
commence when the sun enters Aries (the opening of the Hindu year),
by a deputation to a spot beyond the city to bring earth for the image
of Gauri. A small trench is then excavated in which barley is sown;
the ground is irrigated and artificial heat supplied till the grain
germinates, when the females join hands and dance round it, invoking
the blessings of Gauri on their husbands. The young corn is then taken
up, distributed and presented by the females to the men, who wear it
in their turbans." [128] Thus if Ganesh is the son of Gauri he is the
offspring of the bull and the growing corn; and his genesis from the
elephant and the rat show him equally as the god of full granaries, and
hence of wealth and good fortune. We can understand therefore how he
is the special god of the Banias, who formerly must have dealt almost
entirely in grain, as coined money had not come into general use.
15. Diwali festival.
At the Diwali festival the Banias worship Ganpati or Ganesh, in
conjunction with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. Lakshmi is considered
to be the deified cow, and, as such, the other main source of wealth,
both as mother of the bull, the tiller of the soil, and the giver
of milk from which _ghi_ (clarified butter) is made; this is another
staple of the Bania's trade, as well as a luxurious food, of which he
is especially fond. At Diwali all Banias make up their accounts for
the year, and obtain the signatures of clients to their balances. They
open fresh account-books, which they first worship and adorn with an
image of Ganesh, and perhaps an invocation to the god on the front
page. A silver rupee is also worshipped as an emblem of Lakshmi,
but in some cases an English sovereign, as a more precious coin,
has been substituted, and this is placed on the seat of the goddess
and reverence paid to it. The Banias and Hindus generally think it
requisite to gamble at Diwali in order to bring good luck during
the coming year; all classes indulge in a little speculation at
this season.
16. Holi festival.
In the month of Phagun (February), about the time of the Holi, the
Marwaris make an image of mud naked, calling it Nathu Ram, who was
supposed to be a great Marwari. They mock at this and throw mud at
it, and beat it with shoes, and have various jests and sports. The
men and women are divided into two parties, and throw dirty water
and red powder over each other, and the women make whips of cloth
and beat the men. After two or three days, they break up the image
and throw it away. The Banias, both Jain and Hindu, like to begin the
day by going and looking at the god in his temple. This is considered
an auspicious omen in the same manner as it is commonly held to be a
good omen to see some particular person or class of person the first
thing in the morning. Others begin the day by worshipping the sacred
_tulsi_ or basil.
17. Social customs: rules about food.
The Banias are very strict about food. The majority of them abstain
from all kinds of flesh food and alcoholic liquor. The Kasarwanis are
reported to eat the flesh of clean animals, and perhaps others of the
lower subcastes may also do so, but the Banias are probably stricter
than any other caste in their adherence to a vegetable diet. Many
of them eschew also onions and garlic as impure food. Banias take
the lead in the objection to foreign sugar on account of the stories
told of the impure ingredients which it contains, and many of them,
until recently, at any rate, still adhered to Indian sugar. Drugs are
not forbidden, but they are not usually addicted to them. Tobacco
is forbidden to the Jains, but both they and the Hindus smoke, and
their women sometimes chew tobacco. The Bania while he is poor is
very abstemious, and it is said that on a day when he has made no
money he goes supperless to bed. But when he has accumulated wealth,
he develops a fondness for _ghi_ or preserved butter, which often
causes him to become portly. Otherwise his food remains simple, and
as a rule he confined himself until recently to two daily meals,
at midday and in the evening; but Banias, like most other classes
who can afford it, have now begun to drink tea in the morning. In
dress the Bania is also simple, adhering to the orthodox Hindu
garb of a long white coat and a loin-cloth. He has not yet adopted
the cotton trousers copied from the English fashion. Some Banias in
their shops wear only a cloth over their shoulders and another round
their waist. The _kardora_ or silver waist-belt is a favourite Bania
ornament, and though plainly dressed in ordinary life, rich Marwaaris
will on special festival occasions wear costly jewels. On his head the
Marwari wears a small tightly folded turban, often coloured crimson,
pink or yellow; a green turban is a sign of mourning and also black,
though the latter is seldom seen. The Banias object to taking the
life of any animal. They will not castrate cattle even through their
servants, but sell the young bulls and buy oxen. In Saugor, a Bania
is put out of caste if he keeps buffaloes. It is supposed that good
Hindus should not keep buffaloes nor use them for carting or ploughing,
because the buffalo is impure, and is the animal on which Yama,
the god of death, rides. Thus in his social observances generally
the Bania is one of the strictest castes, and this is a reason why
his social status is high. Sometimes he is even held superior to the
Rajput, as the local Rajputs are often of impure descent and lax in
their observance of religious and social restrictions. Though he soon
learns the vernacular language of the country where he settles, the
Marwari usually retains his own native dialect in his account-books,
and this makes it more difficult for his customers to understand them.
18. Character of the Bania.
The Bania has a very distinctive caste character. From early boyhood
he is trained to the keeping of accounts and to the view that it
is his business in life to make money, and that no transaction
should be considered successful or creditable which does not show
a profit. As an apprentice, he goes through a severe training in
mental arithmetic, so as to enable him to make the most intricate
calculations in his head. With this object a boy commits to memory a
number of very elaborate tables. For whole numbers he learns by heart
the units from one to ten multiplied as high as forty times, and the
numbers from eleven to twenty multiplied to twenty times. There are
also fractional tables, giving the results of multiplying 1/4, 1/2,
3/4, 1 1/4, 1 1/2, 2 1/2, 3 1/2 into units from one to one hundred;
interest-tables showing the interest due on any sum from one to
one thousand rupees for one month, and for a quarter of a month at
twelve per cent; tables of the squares of all numbers from one to
one hundred, and a set of technical rules for finding the price of a
part from the price of the whole. [129] The self-denial and tenacity
which enable the Bania without capital to lay the foundations of a
business are also remarkable. On first settling in a new locality, a
Marwari Bania takes service with some shopkeeper, and by dint of the
strictest economy puts together a little money. Then the new trader
establishes himself in some village and begins to make grain advances
to the cultivators on high rates of interest, though occasionally on
bad security. He opens a shop and retails grain, pulses, condiments,
spices, sugar and flour. From grain he gradually passes to selling
cloth and lending money, and being keen and exacting, and having
to deal with ignorant and illiterate clients, he acquires wealth;
this he invests in purchasing villages, and after a time blossoms
out into a big Seth or banker. The Bania can also start a retail
business without capital. The way in which he does it is to buy
a rupee's worth of stock in a town, and take it out early in the
morning to a village, where he sits on the steps of the temple
until he has sold it. Up till then he neither eats nor washes his
face. He comes back in the evening after having eaten two or three
pice worth of grain, and buys a fresh stock, which he takes out to
another village in the morning. Thus he turns over his capital with
a profit two or three times a week according to the saying, "If a
Bania gets a rupee he will have an income of eight rupees a month,"
or as another proverb pithily sums up the immigrant Marwari's career,
'He comes with a _lota_ [130] and goes back with a lakh.' The Bania
never writes off debts, even though his debtor may be a pauper, but
goes on entering them up year by year in his account-books and taking
the debtor's acknowledgment. For he says, '_Purus Parus_', or man is
like the philosopher's stone, and his fortune may change any day.
19. Dislike of the cultivators towards him.
The cultivators rarely get fair treatment from the Banias, as the odds
are too much against them. They must have money to sow their land, and
live while the crops are growing, and the majority who have no capital
are at the moneylender's mercy. He is of a different caste, and often
of a different country, and has no fellow-feeling towards them, and
therefore considers the transaction merely from the business point of
view of getting as much profit as possible. The debtors are illiterate,
often not even understanding the meaning of figures, or the result of
paying compound interest at twenty-five or fifty per cent; they can
neither keep accounts themselves nor check their creditor's. Hence
they are entirely in his hands, and in the end their villages or land,
if saleable, pass to him, and they decline from landlord to tenant,
or from tenant to labourer. They have found vent for their feelings
in some of the bitterest sayings ever current: 'A man who has a
Bania for a friend has no need of an enemy.' 'Borrow from a Bania
and you are as good as ruined.' 'The rogue cheats strangers and the
Bania cheats his friends.' 'Kick a Bania even if he is dead.' "His
heart, we are told, is no bigger than a coriander seed; he goes in
like a needle and comes out like a sword; as a neighbour he is as
bad as a boil in the armpit. If a Bania is on the other side of a
river you should leave your bundle on this side for fear he should
steal it. If a Bania is drowning you should not give him your hand;
he is sure to have some pecuniary motive for drifting down-stream. A
Bania will start an auction in a desert. If a Bania's son tumbles
down he is sure to pick up something. He uses light weights and
swears that the scales tip up of themselves; he keeps his accounts
in a character that no one but God can read; if you borrow from him
your debt mounts up like a refuse-heap or gallops like a horse; if
he talks to a customer he debits the conversation in his accounts;
and when his own credit is shaky he writes up his transactions on
the wall so that they can easily be rubbed out." [131]
20. His virtues.
Nevertheless there is a good deal to be said on the other side,
and the Bania's faults are probably to a large extent produced by
his environment, like other people's. One of the Bania's virtues is
that he will lend on security which neither the Government nor the
banks would look at, or on none at all. Then he will always wait
a long time for his money, especially if the interest is paid. No
doubt this is no loss to him, as he keeps his money out at good
interest; but it is a great convenience to a client that his debt
can be postponed in a bad year, and that he can pay as much as he
likes in a good one. The village moneylender is indispensable to
its economy when the tenants are like school-boys in that money
burns a hole in their pocket; and Sir Denzil Ibbetson states that
it is surprising how much reasonableness and honesty there is in his
dealings with the people, so long as he can keep his transactions out
of a court of justice. [132] Similarly, Sir Reginald Craddock writes:
"The village Bania is a much-abused individual, but he is as a rule a
quiet, peaceable man, a necessary factor in the village economy. He
is generally most forbearing with his clients and customers, and is
not the person most responsible for the indebtedness of the ryot. It
is the casual moneylender with little or no capital who lives by
his wits, or the large firms with shops and agents scattered over
the face of the country who work the serious mischief. These latter
encourage the people to take loans and discourage repayment until the
debt has increased by accumulation of interest to a sum from which
the borrower cannot easily free himself." [133]
21. The moneylender changed for the worse.
The progress of administration, bringing with it easy and safe transit
all over the country; the institution of a complete system of civil
justice and the stringent enforcement of contracts through the courts;
the introduction of cash coinage as the basis of all transactions;
and the grant of proprietary and transferable rights in land,
appear to have at the same time enhanced the Bania's prosperity
and increased the harshness and rapacity of his dealings. When the
moneylender lived in the village he had an interest in the solvency
of the tenants who constituted his clientèle and was also amenable
to public opinion, even though not of his own caste. For it would
clearly be an impossibly unpleasant position for him to meet no one
but bitter enemies whenever he set foot outside his house, and to go
to bed in nightly fear of being dacoited and murdered by a combination
of his next-door neighbours. He therefore probably adopted the motto
of live and let live, and conducted his transactions on a basis of
custom, like the other traders and artisans who lived among the
village community. But with the rise of the large banking-houses
whose dealings are conducted through agents over considerable tracts
of country, public opinion can no longer act. The agent looks mainly
to his principal, and the latter has no interest in or regard for
the cultivators of distant villages. He cares only for his profit,
and his business is conducted with a single view to that end. He
himself has no public opinion to face, as he lives in a town among a
community of his caste-fellows, and here absolutely no discredit is
attached to grinding the faces of the poor, but on the contrary the
honour and consideration accruing to him are in direct proportion to
his wealth. The agent may have some compunction, but his first aim is
to please his principal, and as he is often a sojourner liable to early
transfer he cares little what may be said or thought about him locally.
22. The enforcement of contracts.
Again the introduction of the English law of contract and transfer
of property, and the increase in the habit of litigation have greatly
altered the character of the money-lending business for the worse. The
debtor signs a bond sometimes not even knowing the conditions,
more often having heard them but without any clear idea of their
effect or of the consequences to himself, and as readily allows it
to be registered. When it comes into court the witnesses, who are
the moneylender's creatures, easily prove that it was a genuine and
_bona fide_ transaction, and the debtor is too ignorant and stupid
to be able to show that he did not understand the bargain or that it
was unconscionable. In any case the court has little or no power to
go behind a properly executed contract without any actual evidence of
fraud, and has no option but to decree it in terms of the deed. This
evil is likely to be remedied very shortly, as the Government of
India have announced a proposal to introduce the recent English Act
and allow the courts the discretion to go behind contracts, and to
refuse to decree exorbitant interest or other hard bargains. This
urgently needed reform will, it may be hoped, greatly improve the
character of the civil administration by encouraging the courts to
realise that it is their business to do justice between litigants,
and not merely to administer the letter of the law; and at the same
time it should have the result, as in England, of quickening the public
conscience and that of the moneylenders themselves, which has indeed
already been to some extent awakened by other Government measures,
including the example set by the Government itself as a creditor.
23. Cash coinage and the rate of interest.
Again the free circulation of metal currency and its adoption as a
medium for all transactions has hitherto been to the disadvantage
of the debtors. Interest on money was probably little in vogue among
pastoral peoples, and was looked upon with disfavour, being prohibited
by both the Mosaic and Muhammadan codes. The reason was perhaps that
in a pastoral community there existed no means of making a profit
on a loan by which interest could be paid, and hence the result of
usury was that the debtor ultimately became enslaved to his creditor;
and the enslavement of freemen on any considerable scale was against
the public interest. With the introduction of agriculture a system of
loans on interest became a necessary and useful part of the public
economy, as a cultivator could borrow grain to sow land and support
himself and his family until the crop ripened, out of which the
loan, principal and interest, could be repaid. If, as seems likely,
this was the first occasion for the introduction of the system
of loan-giving on a large scale, it would follow that the rate of
interest would be based largely on the return yielded by the earth
to the seed. Support is afforded to this conjecture by the fact that
in the case of grain loans in the Central Provinces the interest on
loans of grain of the crops which yield a comparatively small return,
such as wheat, is twenty-five to fifty per cent, while in the case
of those which yield a large return, such as juari and kodon, it is
one hundred per cent. These high rates of interest were not of much
importance so long as the transaction was in grain. The grain was
much less valuable at harvest than at seed time, and in addition the
lender had the expense of storing and protecting his stock of grain
through the year. It is probable that a rate of twenty-five per cent
on grain loans does not yield more than a reasonable profit to the
lender. But when in recent times cash came to be substituted for
grain it would appear that there was no proportionate reduction in
the interest. The borrower would lose by having to sell his grain for
the payment of his debt at the most unfavourable rate after harvest,
and since the transaction was by a regular deed the lender no longer
took any share of the risk of a bad harvest, as it is probable that he
was formerly accustomed to do. The rates of interest for cash loans
afforded a disproportionate profit to the lender, who was put to no
substantial expense in keeping money as he had formerly been in the
case of grain. It is thus probable that rates for cash loans were for
a considerable period unduly severe in proportion to the risk, and
involved unmerited loss to the borrower. This is now being remedied
by competition, by Government loans given on a large scale in time
of scarcity, and by the introduction of co-operative credit. But it
has probably contributed to expedite the transfer of land from the
cultivating to the moneylending classes.
24. Proprietary and transferable rights in land.
Lastly the grant of proprietary and transferable right to
land has afforded a new incentive and reward to the successful
moneylender. Prior to this measure it is probable that no considerable
transfers of land occurred for ordinary debt. The village headman might
be ousted for non-payment of revenue, or simply through the greed of
some Government official under native rule, and of course the villages
were continually pillaged and plundered by their own and hostile armies
such as the Pindaris, while the population was periodically decimated
by famine. But apart from their losses by famine, war and the badness
of the central government, it is probable that the cultivators were
held to have a hereditary right to their land, and were not liable to
ejectment on the suit of any private person. It is doubtful whether
they had any conception of ownership of the land, and it seems likely
that they may have thought of it as a god or the property of the god;
but the cultivating castes perhaps had a hereditary right to cultivate
it, just as the Chamar had a prescriptive right to the hides of the
village cattle, the Kalar to the mahua-flowers for making his liquor,
the Kumhar to clay for his pots, and the Teli to press the oil-seeds
grown in his village. The inferior castes were not allowed to hold
land, and it was probably never imagined that the village moneylender
should by means of a piece of stamped paper be able to oust the
cultivators indebted to him and take their land himself. With the
grant of proprietary right to land such as existed in England, and the
application of the English law of contract and transfer of property,
a new and easy road to wealth was opened to the moneylender, of which
he was not slow to take advantage. The Banias have thus ousted numbers
of improvident proprietors of the cultivating castes, and many of them
have become large landlords. A considerable degree of protection has
now been afforded to landowners and cultivators, and the process has
been checked, but that it should have proceeded so far is regrettable;
and the operation of the law has been responsible for a large amount
of unintentional injustice to the cultivating castes and especially
to proprietors of aboriginal descent, who on account of their extreme
ignorance and improvidence most readily fall a prey to the moneylender.
25. The Bania as a landlord.
As landlords the Banias were not at first a success. They did not
care to spend money in improving their property, and ground their
tenants to the utmost. Sir R. Craddock remarks of them: [134] "Great
or small they are absolutely unfitted by their natural instincts to
be landlords. Shrewdest of traders, most business-like in the matter
of bargains, they are unable to take a broad view of the duties of
landlord or to see that rack-renting will not pay in the long run."
Still, under the influence of education, and the growth of moral
feeling, as well as the desire to stand well with Government officers
and to obtain recognition in the shape of some honour, many of
the Marwari proprietors are developing into just and progressive
landlords. But from the cultivator's point of view, residence on
their estates, which are managed by agents in charge of a number
of villages for an absent owner, cannot compare with the system of
the small cultivating proprietor resident among tenants of his own
caste, and bound to them by ties of sympathy and caste feeling,
which produces, as described by Sir R. Craddock, the ideal village.
26. Commercial honesty.
As a trader the Bania formerly had a high standard of commercial
probity. Even though he might show little kindliness or honesty in
dealing with the poorer class of borrowers, he was respected and
absolutely reliable in regard to money. It was not unusual for people
to place their money in a rich Bania's hands without interest, even
paying him a small sum for safe-keeping. Bankruptcy was considered
disgraceful, and was visited with social penalties little less severe
than those enforced for breaches of caste rules. There was a firm
belief that a merchant's condition in the next world depended on the
discharge of all claims against him. And the duty of paying ancestral
debts was evaded only in the case of helpless or hopeless poverty. Of
late, partly owing to the waning power of caste and religious feeling
in the matter, and partly to the knowledge of the bankruptcy laws,
the standard of commercial honour has greatly fallen. Since the
case of bankruptcy is governed and arranged for by law, the trader
thinks that so long as he can keep within the law he has done nothing
wrong. A banker, when heavily involved, seldom scruples to become a
bankrupt and to keep back money enough to enable him to start afresh,
even if he does nothing worse. This, however, is probably a transitory
phase, and the same thing has happened in England and America at one
stage of commercial development. In time it may be expected that
the loss of the old religious and caste feeling will be made good
by a new standard of commercial honour enforced by public opinion
among merchants generally. The Banias are very good to their own
caste, and when a man is ruined will have a general subscription and
provide funds to enable him to start afresh in a small way. Beggars
are very rare in the caste. Rich Marwaris are extremely generous in
their subscriptions to objects of public utility, but it is said that
the small Bania is not very charitably inclined, though he doles out
handfuls of grain to beggars with fair liberality. But he has a system
by which he exacts from those who deal with him a slight percentage
on the price received by them for religious purposes. This is called
Deodan or a gift to God, and is supposed to go into some public fund
for the construction or maintenance of a temple or similar object. In
the absence of proper supervision or audit it is to be feared that the
Bania inclines to make use of it for his private charity, thus saving
himself expense on that score. The system has been investigated by
Mr. Napier, Commissioner of Jubbulpore, with a view to the application
of these funds to public improvements.
Bania, Agarwala
_Bania, Agarwala, Agarwal._--This is generally considered to be
the highest and most important subdivision of the Banias. They
numbered about 25,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911,
being principally found in Jubbulpore and Nagpur. The name is probably
derived from Agroha, a small town in the Hissar District of the Punjab,
which was formerly of some commercial importance. Buchanan records that
when any firm failed in the city each of the others contributed a brick
and five rupees, which formed a stock sufficient for the merchant to
recommence trade with advantage. The Agarwalas trace their descent
from a Raja Agar Sen, whose seventeen sons married the seventeen
daughters of Basuki, the king of the Nagas or snakes. Elliot considers
that the snakes were really the Scythian or barbarian immigrants,
the Yueh-chi or Kushans, from whom several of the Rajpat clans as the
Tak, Haihayas and others, who also have the legend of snake ancestry,
were probably derived. Elliot also remarks that Raja Agar Sen, being a
king, must have been a Kshatriya, and thus according to the legend the
Agarwalas would have Rajput ancestry on both sides. Their appearance,
Mr. Crooke states, indicates good race and breeding, and would lend
colour to the theory of a Rajput origin. Raja Agar Sen is said to have
ruled over both Agra and Agroha, and it seems possible that the name
of the Agarwalas may also be connected with Agra, which is a much
more important place than Agroha. The country round Agra and Delhi
is their home, and the shrine of the tutelary goddess of some of the
Agarwalas in the Central Provinces is near Delhi. The memory of the
Naga princess who was their ancestor is still, Sir H. Risley states,
held in honour by the Agarwalas, and they say, 'Our mother's house is
of the race of the snake.' [135] No Agarwala, whether Hindu or Jain,
will kill or molest a snake, and the Vaishnava Agarwalas of Delhi
paint pictures of snakes on either side of the outside doors of their
houses, and make offerings of fruit and flowers before them.
In the Central Provinces, like other Bania subcastes, they are
divided into the Bisa and Dasa or twenty and ten subdivisions,
which marry among themselves. The Bisa rank higher than the Dasa,
the latter being considered to have some flaw in their pedigree,
such as descent from a remarried widow. The Dasas are sometimes
said to be the descendants of the maidservants who accompanied the
seventeen Naga or snake princesses on their marriages to the sons of
Raja Agar Sen. A third division has now come into existence in the
Central Provinces, known as the Pacha or fives; these are apparently
of still more doubtful origin than the Dasas. The divisions tend to
be endogamous, but if a man of the Bisa or Dasa cannot obtain a wife
from his own group he will sometimes marry in a lower group.
The Agarwalas are divided into seventeen and a half _gotras_ or
exogamous sections, which are supposed to be descended from the
seventeen sons of Raja Agar Sen. The extra half _gotra_ is accounted
for by a legend, but it probably has in reality also something to
do with illegitimate descent. Some of the _gotras_, as given by
Mr. Crooke, are as a matter of fact named after Brahmanical saints
like those of the Brahmans; instances of these are Garga, Gautama,
Kaushika, Kasyapa and Vasishtha; the others appear to be territorial
or titular names. The prohibitions on marriage between relations are
far-reaching among the Agarwalas. The detailed rules are given in
the article on Bania, and the effect is that persons descended from
a common ancestor cannot intermarry for five generations. When the
wedding procession is about to start the Kumhar brings his donkey
and the bridegroom has to touch it with his foot, or, according to
one version, ride upon it. The origin of this custom is obscure, but
the people now say that it is meant to emphasise the fact that the
bridegroom is going to do a foolish thing. The remarriage of widows
is prohibited, and divorce is not recognised. Most of the Agarwalas
are Vaishnava by religion, but a few are Jains. Intermarriage between
members of the two religions is permitted in some localities, and
the wife adopts that of her husband. The Jain Agarwalas observe the
Hindu festivals and employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. In Nimar
the caste have some curious taboos. It is said that a married woman
may not eat wheat until a child has been born to her, but only juari;
and if she has no child she may not eat wheat all her life. If a son
is born to her she must go to Mahaur, a village near Delhi where the
tutelary goddess of the caste has her shrine. This goddess is called
Mohna Devi, and she is the deified spirit of a woman who burnt herself
with her husband. After this the woman may eat wheat; but if a second
son is born she must stop eating wheat until she has been to the shrine
again. But if she has a daughter she may at once and always eat wheat
without visiting the shrine. These rules, as well as the veneration
of a snake, from which they believe themselves to be descended on the
mother's side, may perhaps, as suggested by Sir H. Risley, be a relic
of the system of matriarchal descent. It is said that when Raja Agar
Sen or his sons married the Naga princesses, he obtained permission
as a special favour from the goddess Lakshmi that the children should
bear their father's name and not their mother's. [136]
In Nimar some Agarwalas worship Goba Pir, the god of the sweepers. He
is represented by a pole some 30 feet long on which are hung a cloth
and cocoanuts. The sweepers carry this through the city almost daily
during the month of Shrawan (July), and people offer cocoanuts, tying
them on to the pole. Some Agarwalas offer vermilion to the god in token
of worship, and a few invite it to the compounds of their houses and
keep it there all night for the same purpose. When a feast is given in
the caste the Agarwalas do not take their own brass vessels according
to the usual practice, but the host gives them little earthen pots
to drink from which are afterwards broken, and leaf-plates for their
food. The Agarwalas will take food cooked without water (_pakki_) from
Oswal, Maheshri and Khandelwal Banias. The Agarwalas of the Central
Provinces hold some substantial estates in Chhattisgarh; these were
obtained at the first settlements during 1860-70, when considerable
depression existed, and many of the village headmen were unwilling to
accept the revenue assessed on their villages. The more enterprising
Banias stepped in and took them, and have profited enormously owing to
the increase in the value of land. Akbar's great minister, Todar Mal,
who first introduced an assessment of the land-revenue based on the
measurement and survey of the land, is said to have been an Agarwala.
Bania, Agrahari
_Bania, Agrahari._ [137]--This subcaste numbered nearly 2000 persons
in 1911, resident principally in Jubbulpore, Raipur and Bilaspur,
and some of the Feudatory States. Mr. Crooke states that they claim
partly a Vaishya and partly a Brahmanical descent, and wear the sacred
thread. Like that of the Agarwala Banias their name has been connected
with the cities of Agra and Agroha. There is no doubt that they are
closely connected with the Agarwalas, and Mr. Nesfield suggests that
the two groups must have been sections of one and the same caste
which quarrelled on some trifling matter connected with cooking or
eating, and have remained separate ever since. The Agrahari Banias
are Hindus, and some of them belong to the Nanakpanthi sect. They
are principally dealers in provisions, and they have acquired some
discredit as compared with their kinsfolk the Agarwalas, through
not secluding their women and allowing them to attend the shop. They
also retail various sweet-smelling woods which are used in religious
ceremonies, such as aloe-wood and sandalwood, besides a number of
medicines and simples. The richer members of the caste are bankers,
dealers in grain and pawnbrokers.
Bania, Ajudhiabasi
_Bania, Ajudhiabasi, Audhia_.--A subcaste of Bania, whose name
signifies a resident of Ajodhia, the old name of Oudh. Outsiders often
shorten the name to Audhia, but, as will be seen, the name Audhia
is regularly applied to a criminal class, who may have been derived
from the Ajudhiabasi Banias, but are now quite distinct from them. The
Ajudhiabasis numbered nearly 2000 persons in 1911, belonging chiefly
to the Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts. This total
includes any persons who may have returned themselves as Audhia. The
Ajudhiabasis are nearly all Hindus with a small Jain minority. Though
Oudh was their original home they are now fairly numerous in Cawnpore
and Bundelkhand as well, and it may have been from this last locality
that they entered the Central Provinces. Here they form a separate
endogamous group and do not marry with their caste-fellows in northern
India. They have exogamous sections, and marriage is prohibited
within the section and also between first cousins. They permit the
remarriage of widows, but are said not to recognise divorce, and to
expel from the caste a woman guilty of adultery. It may be doubted,
however, whether this is correct. Brahmans serve as their priests,
and they invest boys with the sacred thread either at marriage or at
a special ceremony known as Gurmukh. The dead are either buried or
burnt; in the case of burial men are laid on the face and women on
the back, the body being first rubbed with salt, clarified butter,
turmeric and milk. A little earth from the grave is carried away and
thrown into a sacred river, and when the dead are burnt the ashes are
similarly disposed of. Their principal deity is the goddess Devi,
and at the Dasahra festival they offer a goat to her, the flesh of
which is distributed among members of the caste.
The Audhias are a well-known criminal tribe, whose headquarters is
in the Fatehpur District. They say that they are Banias, and use the
name Ajudhiabasi in speaking of themselves, and from their customs and
criminal methods it seems not unlikely that they may originally have
been an offshoot from the Ajudhiabasi Banias. They are now, however,
perfectly distinct from this group, and any confusion between them
would be very unjust to the latter. In northern India it is said that
the Audhias deal largely in counterfeit coin and false jewellery, and
never commit crimes of violence; [138] but in Bombay they have taken
to housebreaking, though they usually select an empty house. [139]
From their homes in the United Provinces they wander over Central
India, the Central Provinces, Bengal and Bombay; they are said to
avoid the Punjab and Sind owing to difficulties of working, and they
have made it a caste offence to commit any crime in the Ganges-Jumna
Doab, probably because this is their home. It is said also that if
any one of them is imprisoned he is put out of caste. They wander
about disguised as religious mendicants, Brahmans or Bairagis. They
carry their bedding tied on their back with a cloth, and a large bag
slung over the shoulders which contains food, cooking-vessels and
other articles. Sometimes they pretend to be Banias and hawk about
sweets and groceries, or one of the gang opens a shop, which serves
as a rendezvous and centre for collecting information. [140] In the
Districts where they reside they are perfectly well-behaved. They are
well-to-do and to all appearance respectable in their habits. Their
women are well-dressed with plenty of ornaments on their persons. They
have no apparent means of support; they neither cultivate land
nor trade; and all that appears on the surface is that most of the
men and boys go off after the rains and return at the end of the
cold weather. If asked how they support themselves they reply by
begging. Their marriage rules are those of high-caste Hindus. They
are divided into two classes, Unch or high and Nich or low, the
former being of pure blood, and the latter the descendants of kept
women. These are practically endogamous. A man may not have more than
two wives. If a girl is detected in immorality before marriage, she
is permanently excommunicated, and a married woman can be turned out
by her husband on proof of adultery. A bridegroom-price is usually
paid, the father of the bride visiting the bridegroom and giving
him the money in secret. The dead are burnt, and Brahmans are duly
fed. If a man has died through an accident or from cholera, smallpox,
poison or leprosy, the corpse, if available, is at once consigned to
the Ganges or other river, and during the course of the next twelve
months a Mahabrahman is paid to make an image of the deceased in
gram-flour, which is cremated with the usual rites. As in the case
of the Ajudhiabasi Banias, the tribal deity of the Audhias is the
goddess Devi. [141]
Bania, Asathi
_Bania, Asathi._--This subcaste numbers about 2500 persons in the
Central Provinces, belonging principally to the Damoh and Jubbulpore
Districts. They say that their original home was the Tikamgarh State
in Bundelkhand. They do not rank very high, and are sometimes said
to be the descendants of an Ahir who became a Bania. The great bulk
are Hindus and a small minority Jains. It is told of the Asathis that
they first bury their dead, in accordance presumably with a former
practice, and then exhume and burn the bodies; and there is a saying--
Ardha jale, ardha gare
Jinka nam Asathi pare,
or, 'He who is an Asathi is half buried and half burnt.' But this
practice, if it ever really existed, has now been abandoned.
Bania, Charnagri
_Bania, Charnagri, Channagri, Samaiya._--The Charnagris are a small
Jain subcaste which numbered about 2500 persons in 1911, residing
principally in the Damoh and Chhindwara Districts. They are the
followers of one Taran Swami, who is said to have lived about five
centuries ago. He preached against the worship of the images of the
Jain Tirthakars, and said that this should be abandoned and only
the sacred books be revered. The chief sacred place of the sect
is Malhargarh in Gwalior State; here the tomb of their prophet is
situated and there is also a large temple in which the Jain scriptures
are enshrined. In the month of Phagun (February) a fair is held here,
and Charnagris dance in the temples, holding lighted lamps in their
hands. Nowadays the Charnagris also visit the ordinary Jain temples
when their own are not available. They are practically all derived from
Parwar Banias, and formerly would sometimes give their daughters to
Parwars in marriage, but this practice is said to have stopped. Like
other Bania subcastes, they are divided into Bisa and Dasa, or twenty
and ten sections, the Dasa being of irregular descent. Intermarriage
between the two sections occasionally occurs, and the Dasa will take
food from the Bisa section, but the latter do not reciprocate except
at caste feasts.
Bania, Dhusar
_Bania, Dhusar, Bhargava Dhusar._--The origin of this group is much
disputed. They are usually classed as a subcaste of Bania, but claim
to be Brahmans. They take their name from a hill called Dhusi or
Dhosi, near Narnaul on the border of Alwar State. The title Bhargava
signifies a descendant of Bhrigu, one of the famous eponymous Rishis
or Brahmanical saints, to whom Manu confided his institutes, calling
him his son. If this was their original name, it would show that they
were Brahmans, but its adoption appears to be somewhat recent. Their
claim to be Brahmans is, however, admitted by many members of that
caste, and it is stated that they perform the functions of Brahmans
in their original home in Rajputana. Mr. Burn wrote of them: [142]
"In his book on castes published in 1872 Mr. Sherring does not refer to
any claim to kinship with Brahmans, though in his description of Dhusar
Banias he appears to include the people under consideration. Both the
Dhusar Bhargavas and Dhusar Banias assert that Himu, the capable Vazir
of Muhammad Shah Suri, belonged to their community, and such a claim
by the former is if anything in favour of the view that they are not
Brahmans, since Himu is variously described by Muhammadan writers as
a corn-chandler, a weighman and a Bania. Colonel Dow in his history
of Hindustan calls him a shopkeeper who was raised by Sher Shah to be
Superintendent of Markets. It is not improbable that Himu's success
laid the foundation for a claim to a higher position, but the matter
does not admit of absolute proof, and I have therefore accepted the
decision of the majority of the caste-committees and considered them
as a caste allied to Brahmans." In the Punjab the Dhusars appear to be
in some places Brahmans and in others Banias. "They take their food
before morning prayer, contrary to the Hindu rule, but of late years
they have begun to conform to the orthodox practice. The Brahman
Dhusar marries with his caste-fellows and the Bania with Banias,
avoiding always the same family (_gotra_) or one having the same
family deity." [143] From the above accounts it would appear that
the Dhusars may have originally been a class of Brahmans who took
to trade, like the Palliwal Brahmans of Marwar, and have lost their
position as Brahmans and become amalgamated with the Bania caste;
or they may have been Banias, who acted as priests to others of the
community, and hence claimed to be Brahmans. The caste is important and
influential, and is now making every effort to recover or substantiate
its Brahman status. One writer states that they combine the office
aptitude and hard-heartedness to a debtor characteristic of the
Bania. The Dhusars are rigid in the maintenance of the purity of
their order and in the performance of Hindu ceremonies and duties,
and neither eat meat nor drink any kind of spirit. In Delhi they
were distinguished for their talent as singers, and cultivated a
peculiar strain or measure, in which they were unsurpassed. [144]
In the Central Provinces the Dhusars are a flourishing body, their
leaders being Rai Bahadur Bihari Lal Khizanchi of Jubbulpore and Rai
Sahib Seth Sundar Lal of Betul. They have founded the Bhargava bank
of Jubbulpore, and shown considerable public spirit; to the latter
gentleman's generosity a large part of the success of the recent
debt-conciliation proceedings in the Betul District must be attributed.
Bania, Dosar
_Bania, Dosar, Dusra._ [145]--This subcaste numbers about 600
persons. The original name is Dusra or second, and the Dosar or Dusra
are a section of the Ummar Banias, who were so called because they
permit widows to make a second marriage. Their home is the Ganges-Jumna
Doab and Oudh, and in the United Provinces they are classed as an
inferior subcaste of the Ummars. Here they say that the Ummars are
their elder brothers. In the Central Provinces they are said to be
forming three local endogamous groups according as their homes were in
the Doab, Oudh or the Allahabad country; and members of each of these
marry among themselves. The Dosars say that they all belong to the
Kashyap [146] _gotra_ or clan, but for the purpose of marriage they
have territorial or titular exogamous sections; instances of these are
Gangapari, a native of Oudh; Sagarah, a resident of Saugor; Makraha,
a seller of _makka_ or maize, and Tamakhuha, a tobacco-seller. They
pay a bridegroom-price, the full recognised amount of which is Rs. 211,
either in cash or brass cooking-vessels. Those who cannot afford this
sum give half of it or Rs. 105, and the poorest classes pay anything
they can afford. The Dosars are Vaishnava Hindus and employ Sanadhya
Brahmans as their priests. These Brahmans will take food without
water from their clients, but they are an inferior class and are
looked down upon by other Brahmans. The caste are mainly shopkeepers,
and they deal in gold and silver ornaments, as well as grain, tobacco
and all kinds of groceries.
Bania, Gahoi
_Bania, Gahoi._ [147]--This Hindu subcaste numbered nearly 7000
persons in 1911, belonging principally to the Saugor, Jubbulpore and
Narsinghpur Districts. Their home is the Bundelkhand country, which
these Districts adjoin, and they say that their original headquarters
was at Kharagpur in Bundelkhand, whence they have spread over the
surrounding country. They tell a curious story of their origin to the
effect that once upon a time there was a certain schoolmaster, one
Biya Pande Brahman, who could foretell the future. One day he was in
his school with his boys when he foresaw that there was about to be an
earthquake. He immediately warned his boys to get out of the building,
and himself led the way. Only twelve of the boys had followed, and the
others were still hesitating, when the earthquake began, the school
fell in, and they were all buried in the ruins. The schoolmaster
formed the boys who had escaped into one caste, calling them Gahoi,
which is supposed to mean that which is left or the residue; and he
determined that he and his descendants would be the priests of the
new caste. At the weddings of the Gahois an image of the schoolmaster
is painted on the house wall, and the bridegroom worships it with
offerings of butter and flowers. The story indicates clearly that
the Gahois are of mixed descent from several castes.
The subcaste has twelve _gotras_ or sections, and seventy-two _al_
or _anken_, which are subsections of the _gotras_. Several of the
_al_ names appear to be of a titular or totemistic character, as Mor
peacock, Sohania beautiful, Nagaria a drummer, Paharia a hillman,
Matele the name of a village headman in Bundelkhand, Piparvania from
the pipal tree, Dadaria a singer. The rule of exogamy is said to be
that a man must not marry in his own _gotra_ nor in the _al_ of his
mother or either grandmother. [148] Their weddings are held only at
the bride's house, no ceremonies being performed at the bridegroom's;
at the ceremony the bridegroom stands in the centre of the shed by
the marriage-post and the bride walks seven times round him. At their
weddings the Gahois still use the old rupees of the Nagpur kingdom for
presents and payments to menials, and they hoard them up, when they
can get them, for this special purpose. The rupee is sacred with the
Bania, and this is an instance of the preservation of old accessories
for religious ceremonies when they have been superseded in ordinary
use. Polygamy is permitted, but is rare. The Gahois employ Bhargava
Brahmans for their priests, and these are presumably the descendants
of the schoolmaster who founded the caste. At the thirteenth-day feast
after a death the Brahmans must be fed first before the members of the
caste. On this occasion thirteen brass or earthen vessels are filled
with flour, and a piece of money, and presented to thirteen Brahmans,
while the family priest receives a bed and piece of cloth. The priests
are said to be greedy, and to raise quarrels over the value of the
presents given to them. At the Diwali festival the Gahois worship the
implements of their trade, pen and ink, and their account-books. The
Gahois are Vaishnava Hindus, and abstain from all flesh and alcoholic
liquor. They trade in grain and groceries, and are bankers and
moneylenders. They are considered to be cunning in business, and a
proverb says that a Gahoi will deceive even his own father.
Bania, Golapurab
_Bania, Golapurab, Golahre._--This Jain subcaste numbers about 6000
persons in the Central Provinces, and belongs mainly to the Saugor,
Damoh and Narsinghpur Districts. Its distribution is nearly the
same as that of the Gahois, and it is probably also a Bundelkhand
group. The Golapurabs are practically all Digambari Jains with a small
Hindu minority. In some localities they intermarry with Parwar Banias
who are also Digambari Jains; and they will take food cooked without
water from the Nema subcaste who are Hindus. According to one story
the Golapurabs were the offspring of a Purabia, that is probably a
Bais Rajput, by a kept woman of the Ahir caste. This fits in very
well with the name, as Golak means a bastard, and the termination
_purab_ would be from Purabia; but it is probably the name which has
given rise to the story, or at any rate to the supposed descent from
a Purabia. In the United Provinces a small subcaste of Bania called
Golahre exists, belonging to the Jhansi District, that is the country
of the Golapurabs, and Jain by religion. There is no doubt that this
group is the same as the Golapurabs, and Mr. Crooke derives [149]
the name from _gola_, a grain-mart, which seems more probable than
the derivation suggested above. But it is an interesting fact that
there is also a caste of cultivators called Golapurab in the United
Provinces, found only in the Agra District. It is suggested that
these people are the illegitimate offspring of Sanadhya Brahmans,
with whom they appear to be closely connected. From their sept-names,
however, which include those of several Rajput clans and also some
titular terms of a low-caste type, Mr. Crooke thinks their Brahmanical
origin improbable. It is noticeable that these Golapurabs though a
cultivating caste have, like the Banias, a subcaste called Dasa,
comprising persons of irregular descent; they also prohibit the
remarriage of widows, and abstain from all flesh and from onions and
garlic. Such customs are peculiar in a cultivating caste, and resemble
those of Banias. It seems possible that a detailed investigation
might give ground for supposing that both the Golahre and Golapurab
subcastes of Banias in the United and Central Provinces respectively
are connected with this cultivating caste of Golapurabs. The latter
might have abandoned the Jain religion on taking to cultivation,
as a Jain cannot well drive the plough, which involves destruction
of animal life; or the Bania section might have adopted Jainism in
order to obtain a better social position and differentiate themselves
from the cultivators. Unfortunately no detailed information about
the Golapurabs of the Central Provinces is available, from which the
probability or otherwise of this hypothesis could be tested.
Bania, Kasarwani
_Bania, Kasarwani_. [150]--This Hindu subcaste numbers about 6500
persons in the Central Provinces, who belong mainly to Saugor,
Jubbulpore and the three Chhattisgarh Districts. The name is probably
derived from _kansa_, bell-metal, as these Banias retail brass and
bell-metal vessels. The Kasarwanis may therefore not improbably
be an occupational group formed from persons who engaged in the
trade, and in that case they may be wholly or partly derived from
the Kasars and Tameras, the castes which work in brass, copper and
bell-metal. The Kasarwanis are numerous in Allahabad and Mirzapur,
and they may have come to Chhattisgarh from Mirzapur, attracted by the
bell-metal industries in Ratanpur and Drug. In Saugor and also in the
United Provinces they say that they came from Kara Manikpur several
generations ago. If the selling of metal vessels was their original
calling, many, or the majority of them, have now abandoned it, and
deal in grain and groceries, and lend money like other Banias. The
Kasarwanis do not observe the same standard of strictness as the good
Bania subcastes in their social rules. They eat the flesh of goats,
sheep, birds and fish, though they abstain from liquor. They permit the
remarriage of widows and divorce; and women who have been divorced can
marry again in the caste by the same rite as widows. They also allow
the exchange of girls in marriage between two families. They do not as
a rule wear the sacred thread. Their priests are Sarwaria Brahmans,
and these Brahmans and a few Bania subcastes, such as the Agarwalas,
Umres and Gahois, can take food cooked without water from them, but
other Brahmans and Rajputs will not take any kind of food. Matches
are arranged in the presence of the head of the caste _panchayat_,
who is known as Chaudhri. The parents on each side give their consent,
and in pledge of it six pice (farthings) are taken from both of them,
mixed together and given to their family priests and barbers, four
pice to the priests and two to the barbers. The following is a local
derivation of the name; the word _kasar_ means more or the increase,
and _bhata_ means less; and _Hamara kya kasar bhata?_ means 'How
does my account stand?' Hence Kasarbani is one who keeps accounts,
that is a Bania.
Bania, Kasaundhan
_Bania, Kasaundhan._--This subcaste numbers about 5500 persons in the
Central Provinces and is returned principally from the Bilaspur, Raipur
and Jubbulpore Districts. The name is derived [151] by Mr. Crooke from
_kansa_, bell-metal, and _dhana_, wealth, and it would appear that the
Kasaundhans like the Kasarwanis are an occupational group, made up of
shopkeepers who dealt in metal vessels. Like them also the Kasaundhans
may have originally been constituted from the metal-working castes,
and indeed they may be only a local branch of the Kasarwanis, though no
information is available which would decide this point. In the United
Provinces both the Kasarwanis and Kasaundhans are divided into the
Purbia or eastern and Pachhaiyan or western subcastes. Dharam Das,
the great disciple of Kabir, who founded the Kabirpanthi sect in the
Central Provinces, was a Kasaundhan Bania, and the Kabirpanthi Mahants
or high-priests of Kawardha are of this caste. It is probable that a
good many of the Kasaundhan Banias in Bilaspur and Raipur belong to
the Kabirpanthi sect. The remainder are ordinary Hindus.
Bania, Khandelwal
_Bania, Khandelwal._--This subcaste numbers about 1500 persons in
the Central Provinces; they are most numerous in the Hoshangabad and
Amraoti Districts, but are scattered all over the Province. They take
their name from the town of Khandela in the Jaipur State of Rajputana,
which was formerly the capital of the Shekhawati federation. There is
also a Khandelwal subcaste of the Brahman caste, found in the United
Provinces. [152] Mr. Bhattacharya says of them: [153] "The Khandelwal
Banias are not inferior to any other division of the caste either in
wealth or refinement. There are both Vaishnavites and Jains among
them, and the Vaishnavite Khandelwals wear the sacred thread. The
millionaire Seths of Mathura are Khandelwal Banias."
Bania, Lad
_Bania, Lad._--This subcaste numbers about 5000 persons in the
Central Provinces, being settled in Nimar, Nagpur and all the Berar
Districts. The Lad Banias came from Gujarat, and Lad is derived from
Lat-desh, the old name for Gujarat. Like other Banias they are divided
into the Bisa and Dasa groups or twenties and tens, the Dasa being
of irregular descent. Their family priests are Khedawal Brahmans,
and their caste deity is Ashapuri of Ashnai, near Petlad. Lad women,
especially those of Baroda, are noted for their taste in dress. The
Lad Banias are Hindus of the Vallabhacharya sect, who worship Krishna,
and were formerly addicted to sexual indulgence. [154]
Bania, Lingayat
_Bania, Lingayat._--The Lingayat Banias number nearly 8000 persons in
the Central Provinces, being numerous in Wardha, Nagpur and all the
Berar Districts. A brief account of the Lingayat sect has been given
in a separate article. The Lingayat Banias form a separate endogamous
group, and they do not eat or intermarry either with other Banias or
with members of other castes belonging to the Lingayat sect. But they
retain the name and occupation of Banias. They have five subdivisions,
Pancham, Dikshawant, Chilliwant, Takalkar and Kanade. The Pancham or
Panchamsalis are the descendants of the original Brahman converts
to the Lingayat sect. They are the main body of the community
and are initiated by what is known as the eight-fold sacrament or
_eshta-varna_. The Dikshawant, from _diksha_ or initiation, are a
subdivision of the Panchamsalis, who apparently initiate disciples
like the Dikshit Brahmans. The Takalkar are said to take their name
from a forest called Takali, where their first ancestress bore a
child to the god Siva. The Kanade are from Canara. The meaning of
the term Chilliwant is not known; it is said that a member of this
subcaste will throw away his food or water if it is seen by any one
who is not a Lingayat, and they shave the whole head. The above form
endogamous subcastes. The Lingayat Banias also have exogamous groups,
the names of which are mainly titular, of a low-caste type. Instances
of them are Kaode, from _kawa_ a crow, Teli an oil-seller, Thubri a
dwarf, Ubadkar an incendiary, Gudkari a sugar-seller and Dhamankar
from Dhamangaon. They say that the _maths_ or exogamous groups are no
longer regarded, and that marriage is now prohibited between persons
having the same surname. It is stated that if a girl is not married
before adolescence she is finally expelled from the caste, but this
rule has probably become obsolete. The proposal for marriage comes
from either the boy's or girl's party, and sometimes the bridegroom
receives a small sum for his travelling expenses, while at other times
a bride-price is paid. At the wedding, rice coloured red is put in
the hands of the bridegroom and juari coloured yellow in those of the
bride. The bridegroom places the rice on the bride's head and she lays
the juari at his feet. A dish full of water with a golden ring in it is
put between them, and they lay their hands on the ring together under
the water and walk five times round a decorative little marriage-shed
erected inside the real one. A feast is given, and the bridal couple
sit on a little dais and eat out of the same dish. The remarriage of
widows is permitted, but the widow may not marry a man belonging to
the section either of her first husband or of her father. Divorce is
recognised. The Lingayats bury the dead in a sitting posture with
the _lingam_ or emblem of Siva, which has never left the dead man
during his lifetime, clasped in his right hand. Sometimes a platform
is made over the grave with an image of Siva. They do not shave the
head in token of mourning. Their principal festival is Shivratri or
Siva's night, when they offer the leaves of the bel tree and ashes
to the god. A Lingayat must never be without the _lingam_ or phallic
sign of Siva, which is carried slung round the neck in a little
case of silver, copper or brass. If he loses it, he must not eat,
drink nor smoke until he finds it or obtains another. The Lingayats
do not employ Brahmans for any purpose, but are served by their own
priests, the Jangams, [155] who are recruited both by descent and by
initiation from members of the Pancham group. The Lingayat Banias are
practically all immigrants from the Telugu country; they have Telugu
names and speak this language in their homes. They deal in grain,
cloth, groceries and spices.
Bania, Maheshri
_Bania, Maheshri._--This important subcaste of Banias numbered
about 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, of whom 8000
belonged to the Berar Districts, and the remainder principally to
Hoshangabad, Nimar, Wardha and Nagpur. The name is said to be derived
from Maheshwar, an ancient town on the Nerbudda, near Indore, and one
of the earliest Rajput settlements. But some of them say that their
original home is in Bikanir, and tell a story to the effect that their
ancestor was a Raja who was turned into stone with his seventy-two
followers by some ascetics whose devotions they had interrupted in
the forest. But when their wives came to commit _sati_ by the stone
figures the god Siva intervened and brought them to life again. He
told them to give up the profession of arms and take to trade. So the
seventy-two followers were the ancestors of the seventy-two _gotras_
or sections of the Maheshris, and the Raja became their tribal
_Bhat_ or genealogist, and they were called Maheshri or Maheswari,
from Mahesh, a name of Siva. In Gujarat the term Maheshri or Meshri
appears to be used for all Banias who are not Jains, including the
other important Hindu subcastes. [156] This is somewhat peculiar,
and perhaps tends to show that several of the local subcastes are
of recent formation. But though they profess to be named after Siva,
the Maheshris, like practically all other Hindu Banias, are Vaishnava
by sect, and wear the _kunti_ or necklace of beads of basil. A small
minority are Jains. It is to be noticed that both the place of their
origin, an early Rajput settlement of the Yadava clan, and their own
legend tend to show that they were derived from the Rajput caste;
for as their ancestors were attendants on a Raja and followed the
profession of arms, which they were told to abandon, they could be
none other than Rajputs. The Maheshris also have the Rajput custom of
sending a cocoanut as a symbol of a proposal of marriage. In Nimar the
Maheshri Banias say they belong to the Dhakar subcaste, a name which
usually means illegitimate, though they themselves explain that it is
derived from a place called Dhakargarh, from which they migrated. As
already stated they are divided into seventy-two exogamous clans,
the names of which appear to be titular or territorial. It is said
that at their weddings when the bridegroom gets to the door of the
marriage-shed, the bride's mother ties a scarf round his neck and
takes hold of his nose and drags him into the shed. Sometimes they make
the bridegroom kneel down and pay reverence to a shoe as a joke. They
do not observe the custom of the _pangat_ or formal festal assembly,
which is usual among Hindu castes; according to this, none can begin
to eat until all the guests have assembled, when they all sit down at
once. Among the Maheshris the guests sit down as they come in, and are
served and take their food and go. They only have the _pangat_ feast
on very rare occasions. The Maheshris are one of the richest, most
enterprising and influential classes of Banias. They are intelligent,
of high-bred appearance, cleanly habits and courteous manners. The
great bankers, Sir Kasturchand Daga of Kamptee, of the firm of Bansi
Lal Abirchand, and Rai Bahadur Seth Jiwan Das and Diwan Bahadur Seth
Ballabh Das, of Jubbulpore, belong to this subcaste.
Bania, Nema
_Bania, Nema._--This subcaste numbers nearly 4000 persons, the bulk of
whom reside in the Saugor, Damoh, Narsinghpur and Seoni Districts. The
Nemas are most largely returned from Central India, and are probably
a Bundelkhand group; they will eat food cooked without water with
Golapurab Banias, who are also found in Bundelkhand. They are
mainly Hindus, with a small minority of Jains. The origin of the
name is obscure; the suggestion that it comes from Nimar appears
to be untenable, as there are very few Nemas in that District. They
say that when Parasurama was slaying the Kshatriyas fourteen young
Rajput princes, who at the time were studying religion with their
family priests, were saved by the latter on renouncing their Kshatriya
status and declaring themselves to be Vaishyas. These fourteen princes
were the ancestors of the fourteen _gotras_ of the Nema subcaste,
but the _gotras_ actually bear the names of the fourteen Rishis or
saints who saved their lives. These sections appear to be of the
usual Brahmanical type, but marriage is regulated by another set of
fifty-two subsections, with names which are apparently titular or
territorial. Like other Bania groups the Nemas are divided into Bisa
and Dasa subdivisions or twenties and tens, the Bisa being of pure
and the Dasa of irregular descent. There is also a third group of
Pacha or fives, who appear to be the offspring of kept women. After
some generations, when the details of their ancestry are forgotten,
the Pachas probably obtain promotion into the Dasa group. The Bisa
and Dasa groups take food together, but do not intermarry. The
Nemas wear the sacred thread and apparently prohibit the remarriage
of widows. The Nemas are considered to be very keen business men,
and a saying about them is, "Where a sheep grazes or a Nema trades,
what is there left for anybody else?"
Bania, Oswal
_Bania, Oswal._--This is perhaps the most important subdivision of the
Banias after the Agarwala. The Oswals numbered nearly 10,000 persons
in the Central Provinces in 1911, being found in considerable numbers
in all the Berar Districts, and also in Nimar, Wardha and Raipur. The
name is derived from the town of Osia or Osnagar in Marwar. According
to one legend of their origin the Raja of Osnagar had no son, and
obtained one through the promise of a Jain ascetic. The people then
drove the ascetic from the town, fearing that the Raja would become a
Jain; but Osadev, the guardian goddess of the place, told the ascetic,
Sri Ratan Suri, to convert the Raja by a miracle. So she took a small
hank (_puni_) of cotton and passed it along the back of the saint,
when it immediately became a snake and bit Jaichand, the son of the
Raja, in the toe, while he was asleep beside his wife. Every means
was tried to save his life, but he died. As his corpse was about
to be burnt, the ascetic sent one of his disciples and stopped the
cremation. Then the Raja came with the body of his son and stood
with hands clasped before the saint. He ordered that it was to be
taken back to the place where the prince had been bitten, and that
the princess was to lie down beside it as before. At midnight the
snake returned and licked the bite, when the prince was restored to
life. Then the Raja, with all his Court and people, became a Jain. He
and his family founded the _gotra_ or section now known as Sri Srimal
or most noble; his servants formed that known as Srimal or excellent,
while the other Rajputs of the town became ordinary Oswals. When the
Brahmans of the place heard of these conversions they asked the saint
how they were to live, as all their clients had become Jains. The
saint directed that they should continue to be the family priests
of the Oswals and be known as Bhojak or 'eaters.' Thus the Oswals,
though Jains, continue to employ Marwari Brahmans as their family
priests. Another version of the story is that the king of Srimali
[157] allowed no one who was not a millionaire to live within his city
walls. In consequence of this a large number of persons left Srimal,
and, settling in Mandovad, called it Osa or the frontier. Among them
were Srimali Banias and also Bhatti, Chauhan, Gahlot, Gaur, Yadava,
and several other clans of Rajputs, and these were the people who
were subsequently converted by the Jain ascetic, Sri Ratan Suri,
and formed into the single caste of Oswal. [158] Finally, Colonel
Tod states that the Oswals are all of pure Rajput descent, of no
single tribe, but chiefly Panwars, Solankis and Bhattis. [159] From
these legends and the fact that their headquarters are in Rajputana,
it may safely be concluded that the Oswal Banias are of Rajput origin.
The large majority of the Oswals are Jain by religion, but a few are
Vaishnava Hindus. Intermarriage between the Hindu and Jain sections is
permitted. Like the Agarwalas, the Oswals are divided into Bisa, Dasa
and Pacha sections or twenties, tens and fives, according to the purity
of their lineage. The Pacha subcaste still permit the remarriage of
widows. The three groups take food together but do not intermarry. In
Bombay, Dasa Oswals intermarry with the Dasa groups of Srimali and
Parwar Banias, [160] and Oswals generally can marry with other good
Bania subcastes so long as both parties are Jains. The Oswals are
divided into eighty-four _gotras_ or exogamous sections for purposes
of marriage, a list of which is given by Mr. Crooke. [161] Most of
these cannot be recognised, but a few of them seem to be titular, as
Lorha a caste which grows hemp, Nunia a salt-refiner, Seth a banker,
Daftari an office-boy, Vaid a physician, Bhandari a cook, and Kukara
a dog. These may indicate a certain amount of admixture of foreign
elements in the caste. As stated from Benares, the exogamous rule
is that a man cannot marry in his own section, and he cannot marry a
girl whose father's or mother's section is the same as that of either
his father or mother. This would bar the marriage of first cousins.
Though Jains the Oswals perform their weddings by walking round the
sacred fire and observe certain Hindu rites, including the worship
of the god Ganpati. [162] They also revere other Hindu deities and
the sun and moon. The dead are burnt, but they do not observe any
impurity after a death nor clean the house. On the day after the
death the mourning family, both men and women, visit Parasnath's
temple, and lay one seer (2 lbs.) of Indian millet before the god,
bow to him and go home. They do not gather the ashes of the dead nor
keep the yearly death-day. Their only observance is that on some
day between the twelfth day after a death and the end of a year,
the caste-people are treated to a dinner of sweetmeats and the dead
'are then forgotten.' [163] The Oswals will take food cooked with
water (_katchi_) only from Brahmans, and that cooked without water
(_pakki_) from Agarwala and Maheshri Banias. In the Central Provinces
the principal deity of the Oswals is the Jain Tirthakar Parasnath,
and they spend large sums in the erection of splendid temples. The
Oswals are the most prominent trading caste in Rajputana; and they
have also frequently held high offices, such as Diwan or minister,
and paymaster in Rajput States. [164]
Bania, Parwar
1. Origin.
_Bania, Parwar._ [165]--This Jain subcaste numbered nearly 29,000
persons in 1911. They belong almost entirely to the Jubbulpore
and Nerbudda Divisions, and the great bulk are found in the Saugor,
Damoh and Jubbulpore Districts. The origin of the Parwars and of their
name is not known, but there is some reason to suppose that they are
from Rajputana. Their women wear on the head the _bij_, a Rajputana
ornament, and use the _charu_, a deep brass plate for drinking, which
also belongs there. Their songs are said to be in the Rajasthani
dialect. It seems likely that the Parwars may be identical with the
Porawal subcaste found in other Provinces, which, judging from the
name, may belong to Rajputana. In the northern Districts the Parwars
speak Bundeli, but in the south their language is said to be Marwari.
2. Subdivisions.
Among the Parwars the Samaiya or Channagri form a separate sectarian
Jain group. They do not worship the images of the Jain Tirthakars,
but enshrine the sacred books of the Jains in their temples, and
worship these. The Parwars will take daughters in marriage from the
Channagris, and sometimes give their daughters in consideration of
a substantial bride-price. Among the Parwars themselves there is a
social division between the Ath Sake and the Chao Sake; the former
will not permit the marriage of persons related more nearly than
eight degrees, while the latter permit it after four degrees. The
Ath Sake have the higher position, and if one of them marries a Chao
Sake he is degraded to that group. Besides this the Parwars have an
inferior division called Benaikia, which consists of the offspring of
irregular unions and of widows who have remarried. Persons who have
committed a caste offence and cannot pay the fine imposed on them for
it also go into this subcaste. The Benaikias [166] themselves are
distributed into four groups of varying degrees of respectability,
and families who live correctly and marry as well as they can tend
to rise from one to the other until after several generations they
may again be recognised as Parwars proper.
3. Exogamy.
The Parwars have twelve _gotras_ or main sections, and each _gotra_
has, or is supposed to have, twelve _muls_ or subsections. A Parwar
must not marry in his own _gotra_ nor in the _mul_ of his mother, or
any of his grandmothers or greatgrandmothers. This practically bars
marriage within seven degrees of relationship. But a man's sister and
daughter may be married in the same family, and even to two brothers,
and a man can marry two sisters.
4. Marriage customs.
As a rule no bride-price is paid, but occasionally an old man
desiring a wife will give something substantial to her father in
secret. There are two forms of marriage, called Thinga and Dajanha;
in the former, women do not accompany the wedding procession, and they
have a separate marriage-shed at the bridegroom's house for their own
celebrations; while in the latter, they accompany it and erect such
a shed at the house in the bridegroom's village or town where they
have their lodging. Before the wedding, the bridegroom, mounted on
a horse, and the bride, carried in a litter, proceed together round
the marriage-shed. The bridegroom then stands by the sacred post in
the centre and the bride walks seven times round him. In the evening
there was a custom of dressing the principal male relatives of the
bridegroom in women's clothes and making them dance, but this is now
being discarded. On the fifth day is held a rite called Palkachar. A
new cot is provided by the bride's father, and on it is spread a red
cloth. The couple are seated on this with their hands entwined, and
their relations come and make them presents. If the bridegroom catches
hold of the dress of his mother- or father-in-law, they are expected
to make him a handsome present. In other respects the wedding follows
the ordinary Hindu ritual. Widow-marriage and divorce are forbidden
among the Parwars proper, and those who practise them go into the
lower Benaikia group.
5. Religion: Hindu observances.
The Parwars are practically all Jains of the Digambari sect. They
build costly and beautiful temples for their Tirthakars, especially for
their favourite Parasnath. They have also many Hindu practices. They
observe the Diwali, Rakshabandhan and Holi festivals; they say that
at the Diwali the last Tirthakar Mahavira attained beatitude and the
gods rained down jewels; the little lamps now lighted at Diwali are
held to be symbolic of these jewels. They tie the threads round the
wrist on Rakshabandhan to keep off evil spirits. They worship Sitala
Devi, the Hindu goddess of smallpox, and employ Brahmans to choose
names for their children and fix the dates of their wedding and other
ceremonies, though not at the ceremonies themselves.
6. Disposal of the dead.
The caste burn the dead, with the exception of the bodies of young
children, which are buried. The corpse is sometimes placed sitting in
a car to be taken to the cremation ground, but often laid on a bier
in the ordinary manner. The sitting posture is that in which all the
Tirthakars attained paradise, and their images always represent them
in this posture. The corpse is naked save for a new piece of cloth
round the waist, but it is covered with a sheet. The Jains do not
shave their hair in token of mourning, nor do they offer sacrificial
cakes to the dead. When the body is burnt they bathe in the nearest
water and go home. Neither the bearers nor the mourners are held to
be impure. Next day the mourning family, both men and women, visit
Parasnath's temple, lay two pounds of Indian millet before the god
and go home. [167] But in the Central Provinces they whitewash their
houses, get their clothes washed, throw away their earthen pots and
give a feast to the caste.
7. Social rules and customs.
The Parwars abstain from eating any kind of flesh and from drinking
liquor. They have a _panchayat_ and impose penalties for offences
against caste rules like the Hindus. Among the offences are the
killing of any living thing, unchastity or adultery, theft or other
bad conduct, taking cooked food or water from a caste from which
the Parwars do not take them, and violation of any rule of their
religion. To get vermin in a wound, or to be beaten by a low-caste
man or with a shoe, incidents which entail serious penalties among
the Hindus, are not offences with the Parwars. When an offender is
put out of caste the ordinary deprivation is that he is not allowed
to enter a Jain temple, and in serious cases he may also not eat nor
drink with the caste. The Parwars are generally engaged in the trade
in grain, _ghi_, and other staples. Several of them are well-to-do
and own villages.
Bania, Srimali
_Bania, Srimali._--This subcaste takes its name from the town of
Srimal, which is now Bhinmal in Marwar. They numbered 600 persons in
the Central Provinces in 1911, most of whom belonged to the Hoshangabad
District. More than two-thirds were Hindus and the remainder
Jains. Colonel Tod writes of Bhinmal and an adjoining town, Sanchor:
"These towns are on the high road to Cutch and Gujarat, which has given
them from the most remote times a commercial celebrity. Bhinmal is said
to contain about 1500 houses and Sanchor half that number. Very wealthy
_mahajans_ or merchants used to reside here, but insecurity both within
and without has much injured these cities." From Bhinmal the Srimalis
appear to have gone to Gujarat, where they are found in considerable
numbers. Their legend of origin is that the goddess Lakshmi created
from a flower-garland 90,000 families to act as servants to the
90,000 Srimali Brahmans, and these were the ancestors of the Srimali
Banias. [168] Both the Jain and Hindu sections of the Srimali Banias
employ Srimali Brahmans as priests. Like other classes of Banias, the
Srimali are divided into two sections, the Bisa and Dasa, or twenty
and ten, of which the Bisa are considered to be of pure and the Dasa of
somewhat mixed descent. In Gujarat they also have a third territorial
group, known as Ladva, from Lad, the old name of Gujarat. All three
subdivisions take food together but do not intermarry. [169] The two
highest sections of the Oswal Banias are called Sri Srimal and Srimal,
and it is possible that further investigation might show the Srimals
and Oswals to have been originally of one stock.
Bania, Umre
_Bania, Umre._--This Hindu subcaste belongs to Damoh and
Jubbulpore. They are perhaps the same as the Ummar Banias of the United
Provinces, who reside in the Meerut, Agra and Kumaon Divisions. The
name Umre is found as a subdivision of several castes in the Central
Provinces, as the Telis and others, and is probably derived from
some town or tract of country in northern or central India, but no
identification has been made. Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam states that in
Gujarat the Ummar Banias are also known as Bagaria from the Bagar
or wild country, comprised in the Dongarpur and Pertabgarh States of
Rajputana, where considerable numbers of them are still settled. Their
headquarters is at Sagwara, near Dongarpur. [170] In Damoh the Umre
Banias formerly cultivated the _al_ plant, [171] which yielded a
well-known dye, and hence they lost caste, as in soaking the roots
of the plant to extract the dye the numerous insects in them are
necessarily destroyed. The Dosar subcaste [172] are a branch of the
Umre, who allow widow-remarriage.
Banjara
List of Paragraphs
1. _Historical notice of the caste._
2. _Banjaras derived from the Charans or Bhats._
3. _Charan Banjaras employed with the Mughal armies._
4. _Internal structure._
5. _Minor subcastes._
6. _Marriage: betrothal._
7. _Marriage._
8. _Widow-remarriage._
9. _Birth and death._
10. _Religion: Banjari Devi._
11. _Mithu Bhukia._
12. _Siva Bhaia._
13. _Worship of cattle._
14. _Connection with the Sikhs._
15. _Witchcraft._
16. _Human sacrifice._
17. _Admission of outsiders: kidnapped children and slaves._
18. _Dress._
19. _Social customs._
20. _The Naik or headman. Banjara dogs._
21. _Criminal tendencies of the caste._
22. _Their virtues._
1. Historical notice of the caste.
_Banjara, Wanjari, Lahana, Mukeri_. [173]--The caste of carriers and
drivers of pack-bullocks. In 1911 the Banjaras numbered about 56,000
persons in the Central Provinces and 80,000 in Berar, the caste being
in greater strength here than in any part of India except Hyderabad,
where their total is 174,000. Bombay comes next with a figure
approaching that of the Central Provinces and Berar, and the caste
belongs therefore rather to the Deccan than to northern India. The
name has been variously explained, but the most probable derivation
is from the Sanskrit _banijya kara_, a merchant. Sir H. M. Elliot
held that the name Banjara was of great antiquity, quoting a passage
from the Dasa Kumara Charita of the eleventh or twelfth century. But
it was subsequently shown by Professor Cowell that the name Banjara
did not occur in the original text of this work. [174] Banjaras are
supposed to be the people mentioned by Arrian in the fourth century
B.C., as leading a wandering life, dwelling in tents and letting out
for hire their beasts of burden. [175] But this passage merely proves
the existence of carriers and not of the Banjara caste. Mr. Crooke
states [176] that the first mention of Banjaras in Muhammadan history
is in Sikandar's attack on Dholpur in A.D. 1504. [177] It seems
improbable, therefore, that the Banjaras accompanied the different
Muhammadan invaders of India, as might have been inferred from the
fact that they came into the Deccan in the train of the forces of
Aurangzeb. The caste has indeed two Muhammadan sections, the Turkia
and Mukeri. [178] But both of these have the same Rajput clan names
as the Hindu branch of the caste, and it seems possible that they may
have embraced Islam under the proselytising influence of Aurangzeb,
or simply owing to their having been employed with the Muhammadan
troops. The great bulk of the caste in southern India are Hindus,
and there seems no reason for assuming that its origin was Muhammadan.
2. Banjaras derived from the Charans or Bhats.
It may be suggested that the Banjaras are derived from the Charan
or Bhat caste of Rajputana. Mr. Cumberlege, whose _Monograph_ on the
caste in Berar is one of the best authorities, states that of the four
divisions existing there the Charans are the most numerous and by
far the most interesting class. [179] In the article on Bhat it has
been explained how the Charans or bards, owing to their readiness
to kill themselves rather than give up the property entrusted to
their care, became the best safe-conduct for the passage of goods
in Rajputana. The name Charan is generally held to mean 'Wanderer,'
and in their capacity of bards the Charans were accustomed to travel
from court to court of the different chiefs in quest of patronage. They
were first protected by their sacred character and afterwards by their
custom of _traga_ or _chandi_, that is, of killing themselves when
attacked and threatening their assailants with the dreaded fate of
being haunted by their ghosts. Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam [180] remarks:
"After Parasurama's dispersion of the Kshatris the Charans accompanied
them in their southward flight. In those troubled times the Charans
took charge of the supplies of the Kshatri forces and so fell to their
present position of cattle-breeders and grain-carriers...." Most of
the Charans are graziers, cattle-sellers and pack-carriers. Colonel
Tod says: [181] "The Charans and Bhats or bards and genealogists are
the chief carriers of these regions (Marwar); their sacred character
overawes the lawless Rajput chief, and even the savage Koli and Bhil
and the plundering Sahrai of the desert dread the anathema of these
singular races, who conduct the caravans through the wildest and
most desolate regions." In another passage Colonel Tod identifies
the Charans and Banjaras [182] as follows: "Murlah is an excellent
township inhabited by a community of Charans of the tribe Cucholia
(Kacheli), who are Bunjarris (carriers) by profession, though poets by
birth. The alliance is a curious one, and would appear incongruous were
not gain the object generally in both cases. It was the sanctity of
their office which converted our _bardais_ (bards) into _bunjarris_,
for their persons being sacred, the immunity extended likewise to
their goods and saved them from all imposts; so that in process of
time they became the free-traders of Rajputana. I was highly gratified
with the reception I received from the community, which collectively
advanced to meet me at some distance from the town. The procession was
headed by the village elders and all the fair Charanis, who, as they
approached, gracefully waved their scarfs over me until I was fairly
made captive by the muses of Murlah! It was a novel and interesting
scene. The manly persons of the Charans, clad in the flowing white robe
with the high loose-folded turban inclined on one side, from which
the _mala_ or chaplet was gracefully suspended; and the _naiques_
or leaders, with their massive necklaces of gold, with the image
of the _pitriswar_ (_manes_) depending therefrom, gave the whole an
air of opulence and dignity. The females were uniformly attired in a
skirt of dark-brown camlet, having a bodice of light-coloured stuff,
with gold ornaments worked into their fine black hair; and all had the
favourite _churis_ or rings of _hathidant_ (elephant's tooth) covering
the arm from the wrist to the elbow, and even above it." A little
later, referring to the same Charan community, Colonel Tod writes:
"The _tanda_ or caravan, consisting of four thousand bullocks, has
been kept up amidst all the evils which have beset this land through
Mughal and Maratha tyranny. The utility of these caravans as general
carriers to conflicting armies and as regular tax-paying subjects has
proved their safeguard, and they were too strong to be pillaged by any
petty marauder, as any one who has seen a Banjari encampment will be
convinced. They encamp in a square, and their grain-bags piled over
each other breast-high, with interstices left for their matchlocks,
make no contemptible fortification. Even the ruthless Turk, Jamshid
Khan, set up a protecting tablet in favour of the Charans of Murlah,
recording their exemption from _dind_ contributions, and that there
should be no increase in duties, with threats to all who should injure
the community. As usual, the sun and moon are appealed to as witnesses
of good faith, and sculptured on the stone. Even the forest Bhil and
mountain Mair have set up their signs of immunity and protection to
the chosen of Hinglaz (tutelary deity); and the figures of a cow and
its _kairi_ (calf) carved in rude relief speak the agreement that
they should not be slain or stolen within the limits of Murlah."
In the above passage the community described by Colonel Tod were
Charans, but he identified them with Banjaras, using the name
alternatively. He mentions their large herds of pack-bullocks, for the
management of which the Charans, who were graziers as well as bards,
would naturally be adapted; the name given to the camp, _tanda_, is
that generally used by the Banjaras; the women wore ivory bangles,
which the Banjara women wear. [183] In commenting on the way in which
the women threw their scarves over him, making him a prisoner, Colonel
Tod remarks: "This community had enjoyed for five hundred years the
privilege of making prisoner any Rana of Mewar who may pass through
Murlah, and keeping him in bondage until he gives them a _got_ or
entertainment. The patriarch (of the village) told me that I was in
jeopardy as the Rana's representative, but not knowing how I might
have relished the joke had it been carried to its conclusion, they
let me escape." Mr. Ball notes a similar custom of the Banjara women
far away in the Bastar State of the Central Provinces: [184] "Today
I passed through another Banjara hamlet, from whence the women and
girls all hurried out in pursuit, and a brazen-faced powerful-looking
lass seized the bridle of my horse as he was being led by the _sais_
in the rear. The _sais_ and _chaprasi_ were both Muhammadans, and
the forward conduct of these females perplexed them not a little,
and the former was fast losing his temper at being thus assaulted by a
woman." Colonel Mackenzie in his account of the Banjara caste remarks:
[185] "It is certain that the Charans, whoever they were, first rose
to the demand which the great armies of northern India, contending
in exhausted countries far from their basis of supply, created,
viz. the want of a fearless and reliable transport service.... The
start which the Charans then acquired they retain among Banjaras to
this day, though in very much diminished splendour and position. As
they themselves relate, they were originally five brethren, Rathor,
Turi, Panwar, Chauhan and Jadon. But fortune particularly smiled on
Bhika Rathor, as his four sons, Mersi, Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar,
great names among the Charans, rose immediately to eminence as
commissariat transporters in the north. And not only under the
Delhi Emperors, but under the Satara, subsequently the Poona Raj,
and the Subahship of the Nizam, did several of their descendants rise
to consideration and power." It thus seems a reasonable hypothesis
that the nucleus of the Banjara caste was constituted by the Charans
or bards of Rajputana. Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam [186] also identifies
the Charans and Banjaras, but I have not been able to find the exact
passage. The following notice [187] by Colonel Tone is of interest
in this connection:
"The vast consumption that attends a Maratha army necessarily
superinduces the idea of great supplies; yet, notwithstanding this,
the native powers never concern themselves about providing for their
forces, and have no idea of a grain and victualling department,
which forms so great an object in a European campaign. The Banias
or grain-sellers in an Indian army have always their servants ahead
of the troops on the line of march, to purchase in the circumjacent
country whatever necessaries are to be disposed of. Articles of
consumption are never wanting in a native camp, though they are
generally twenty-five per cent dearer than in the town bazars;
but independent of this mode of supply the Vanjaris or itinerant
grain-merchants furnish large quantities, which they bring on
bullocks from an immense distance. These are a very peculiar race,
and appear a marked and discriminated people from any other I have
seen in this country. Formerly they were considered so sacred that
they passed in safety in the midst of contending armies; of late,
however, this reverence for their character is much abated and they
have been frequently plundered, particularly by Tipu."
The reference to the sacred character attaching to the Banjaras a
century ago appears to be strong evidence in favour of their derivation
from the Charans. For it could scarcely have been obtained by any body
of commissariat agents coming into India with the Muhammadans. The
fact that the example of disregarding it was first set by a Muhammadan
prince points to the same conclusion.
Mr. Irvine notices the Banjaras with the Mughal armies in similar
terms: [188] "It is by these people that the Indian armies in the
field are fed, and they are never injured by either army. The grain
is taken from them, but invariably paid for. They encamp for safety
every evening in a regular square formed of the bags of grain of
which they construct a breastwork. They and their families are in the
centre, and the oxen are made fast outside. Guards with matchlocks and
spears are placed at the corners, and their dogs do duty as advanced
posts. I have seen them with droves of 5000 bullocks. They do not
move above two miles an hour, as their cattle are allowed to graze
as they proceed on the march."
One may suppose that the Charans having acted as carriers for the
Rajput chiefs and courts, both in time of peace and in their continuous
intestinal feuds, were pressed into service when the Mughal armies
entered Rajputana and passed through it to Gujarat and the Deccan. In
adopting the profession of transport agents for the imperial troops
they may have been amalgamated into a fresh caste with other Hindus and
Muhammadans doing the same work, just as the camp language formed by
the superposition of a Persian vocabulary on to a grammatical basis
of Hindi became Urdu or Hindustani. The readiness of the Charans
to commit suicide rather than give up property committed to their
charge was not, however, copied by the Banjaras, and so far as I am
aware there is no record of men of this caste taking their own lives,
though they had little scruple with those of others.
3. Charan Ranjarans employed with the Mughal armies.
The Charan Banjaras, Mr. Cumberlege states, [189] first came to the
Deccan with Asaf Khan in the campaign which closed with the annexation
by the Emperor Shah Jahan of Ahmadnagar and Berar about 1630. Their
leaders or Naiks were Bhangi and Jhangi of the Rathor [190] and Bhagwan
Das of the Jadon clan. Bhangi and Jhangi had 180,000 pack-bullocks,
and Bhagwan Das 52,000. It was naturally an object with Asaf Khan to
keep his commissariat well up with his force, and as Bhangi and Jhangi
made difficulties about the supply of grass and water to their cattle,
he gave them an order engraved on copper in letters of gold to the
following effect:
Ranjan ka pani
Chhappar ka ghas
Din ke tin khun muaf;
Aur jahan Asaf Jah ke ghore
Wahan Bhangi Jhangi ke bail,
which may be rendered as follows: "If you can find no water elsewhere
you may even take it from the pots of my followers; grass you may
take from the roofs of their huts; and I will pardon you up to three
murders a day, provided that wherever I find my cavalry, Bhangi
and Jhangi's bullocks shall be with them." This grant is still in
the possession of Bhangi Naik's descendant who lives at Musi, near
Hingoli. He is recognised by the Hyderabad Court as the head Naik of
the Banjara caste, and on his death his successor receives a _khillat_
or dress-of-honour from His Highness the Nizam. After Asaf Khan's
campaign and settlement in the Deccan, a quarrel broke out between
the Rathor clan, headed by Bhangi and Jhangi, and the Jadons under
Bhagwan Das, owing to the fact that Asaf Khan had refused to give
Bhagwan Das a grant like that quoted above. Both Bhangi and Bhagwan
Das were slain in the feud and the Jadons captured the standard,
consisting of eight _thans_ (lengths) of cloth, which was annually
presented by the Nizam to Bhangi's descendants. When Mr. Cumberlege
wrote (1869), this standard was in the possession of Hatti Naik,
a descendant of Bhagwan Das, who had an estate near Muchli Bunder,
in the Madras Presidency. Colonel Mackenzie states [191] that the
leaders of the Rathor clan became so distinguished not only in their
particular line but as men of war that the Emperors recognised
their carrying distinctive standards, which were known as _dhal_
by the Rathors themselves. Jhangi's family was also represented
in the person of Ramu Naik, the _patel_ or headman of the village
of Yaoli in the Yeotmal District. In 1791-92 the Banjaras were
employed to supply grain to the British army under the Marquis of
Cornwallis during the siege of Seringapatam, [192] and the Duke of
Wellington in his Indian campaigns regularly engaged them as part of
the commissariat staff of his army. On one occasion he said of them:
"The Banjaras I look upon in the light of servants of the public,
of whose grain I have a right to regulate the sale, always taking
care that they have a proportionate advantage." [193]
4. Internal structure.
Mr. Cumberlege gives four main divisions of the caste in Berar, the
Charans, Mathurias, Labhanas and Dharis. Of these the Charans are
by far the most numerous and important, and included all the famous
leaders of the caste mentioned above. The Charans are divided into
the five clans, Rathor, Panwar, Chauhan, Puri and Jadon or Burthia,
all of these being the names of leading Rajput clans; and as the
Charan bards themselves were probably Rajputs, the Banjaras, who
are descended from them, may claim the same lineage. Each clan or
sept is divided into a number of subsepts; thus among the Rathors
the principal subsept is the Bhurkia, called after the Bhika Rathor
already mentioned; and this is again split into four groups, Mersi,
Multasi, Dheda and Khamdar, named after his four sons. As a rule,
members of the same clan, Panwar, Rathor and so on, may not intermarry,
but Mr. Cumberlege states that a man belonging to the Banod or Bhurkia
subsepts of the Rathors must not take a wife from his own subsept,
but may marry any other Rathor girl. It seems probable that the same
rule may hold with the other subsepts, as it is most unlikely that
intermarriage should still be prohibited among so large a body as the
Rathor Charans have now become. It may be supposed therefore that the
division into subsepts took place when it became too inconvenient
to prohibit marriage throughout the whole body of the sept, as
has happened in other cases. The Mathuria Banjaras take their name
from Mathura or Muttra and appear to be Brahmans. "They wear the
sacred thread, [194] know the _Gayatri Mantra_, and to the present
day abstain from meat and liquor, subsisting entirely on grain and
vegetables. They always had a sufficiency of Charans and servants
(_Jangar_) in their villages to perform all necessary manual labour,
and would not themselves work for a remuneration otherwise than by
carrying grain, which was and still is their legitimate occupation;
but it was not considered undignified to cut wood and grass for the
household. Both Mathuria and Labhana men are fairer than the Charans;
they wear better jewellery and their loin-cloths have a silk border,
while those of the Charans are of rough, common cloth." The Mathurias
are sometimes known as Ahiwasi, and may be connected with the Ahiwasis
of the Hindustani Districts, who also drive pack-bullocks and call
themselves Brahmans. But it is naturally a sin for a Brahman to load
the sacred ox, and any one who does so is held to have derogated
from the priestly order. The Mathurias are divided according to
Mr. Cumberlege into four groups called Pande, Dube, Tiwari and Chaube,
all of which are common titles of Hindustani Brahmans and signify
a man learned in one, two, three and four Vedas respectively. It is
probable that these groups are exogamous, marrying with each other,
but this is not stated. The third division, the Labhanas, may derive
their name from _lavana_, salt, and probably devoted themselves more
especially to the carriage of this staple. They are said to be Rajputs,
and to be descended from Mota and Mola, the cowherds of Krishna. The
fourth subdivision are the Dharis or bards of the caste, who rank
below the others. According to their own story [195] their ancestor
was a member of the Bhat caste, who became a disciple of Nanak,
the Sikh apostle, and with him attended a feast given by the Mughal
Emperor Humayun. Here he ate the flesh of a cow or buffalo, and in
consequence became a Muhammadan and was circumcised. He was employed
as a musician at the Mughal court, and his sons joined the Charans and
became the bards of the Banjara caste. "The Dharis," Mr. Cumberlege
continues, "are both musicians and mendicants; they sing in praise
of their own and the Charan ancestors and of the old kings of Delhi;
while at certain seasons of the year they visit Charan hamlets, when
each family gives them a young bullock or a few rupees. They are
Muhammadans, but worship Sarasvati and at their marriages offer up
a he-goat to Gaji and Gandha, the two sons of the original Bhat, who
became a Muhammadan. At burials a Fakir is called to read the prayers."
5. Minor subcastes.
Besides the above four main divisions, there are a number of others,
the caste being now of a very mixed character. Two principal Muhammadan
groups are given by Sir H. Elliot, the Turkia and Mukeri. The Turkia
have thirty-six septs, some with Rajput names and others territorial or
titular. They seem to be a mixed group of Hindus who may have embraced
Islam as the religion of their employers. The Mukeri Banjaras assert
that they derive their name from Mecca (Makka), which one of their
Naiks, who had his camp in the vicinity, assisted Father Abraham in
building. [196] Mr. Crooke thinks that the name may be a corruption
of Makkeri and mean a seller of maize. Mr. Cumberlege says of them:
"Multanis and Mukeris have been called Banjaras also, but have nothing
in common with the caste; the Multanis are carriers of grain and the
Mukeris of wood and timber, and hence the confusion may have arisen
between them." But they are now held to be Banjaras by common usage;
in Saugor the Mukeris also deal in cattle. From Chanda a different set
of subcastes is reported called Bhusarjin, Ladjin, Saojin and Kanhejin;
the first may take their name from _bhusa_, the chaff of wheat, while
Lad is the term used for people coming from Gujarat, and Sao means
a banker. In Sambalpur again a class of Thuria Banjaras is found,
divided into the Bandesia, Atharadesia, Navadesia and Chhadesia, or
the men of the 52 districts, the 18 districts, the 9 districts and
the 6 districts respectively. The first and last two of these take
food and marry with each other. Other groups are the Guar Banjaras,
apparently from Guara or Gwala, a milkman, the Guguria Banjaras, who
may, Mr. Hira Lal suggests, take their name from trading in _gugar_,
a kind of gum, and the Bahrup Banjaras, who are Nats or acrobats. In
Berar also a number of the caste have become respectable cultivators
and now call themselves Wanjari, disclaiming any connection with
the Banjaras, probably on account of the bad reputation for crime
attached to these latter. Many of the Wanjaris have been allowed
to rank with the Kunbi caste, and call themselves Wanjari Kunbis in
order the better to dissociate themselves from their parent caste. The
existing caste is therefore of a very mixed nature, and the original
Brahman and Charan strains, though still perfectly recognisable,
cannot have maintained their purity.
6. Marriage: betrothal.
At a betrothal in Nimar the bridegroom and his friends come and stay
in the next village to that of the bride. The two parties meet on the
boundary of the village, and here the bride-price is fixed, which
is often a very large sum, ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 1000. Until
the price is paid the father will not let the bridegroom into his
house. In Yeotmal, when a betrothal is to be made, the parties go
to a liquor-shop and there a betel-leaf and a large handful of sugar
are distributed to everybody. Here the price to be paid for the bride
amounts to Rs. 40 and four young bullocks. Prior to the wedding the
bridegroom goes and stays for a month or so in the house of the bride's
father, and during this time he must provide a supply of liquor daily
for the bride's male relatives. The period was formerly longer, but now
extends to a month at the most. While he resides at the bride's house
the bridegroom wears a cloth over his head so that his face cannot be
seen. Probably the prohibition against seeing him applies to the bride
only, as the rule in Berar is that between the betrothal and marriage
of a Charan girl she may not eat or drink in the bridegroom's house,
or show her face to him or any of his relatives. Mathuria girls must
be wedded before they are seven years old, but the Charans permit
them to remain single until after adolescence.
7. Marriage.
Banjara marriages are frequently held in the rains, a season forbidden
to other Hindus, but naturally the most convenient to them, because
in the dry weather they are usually travelling. For the marriage
ceremony they pitch a tent in lieu of the marriage-shed, and on the
ground they place two rice-pounding pestles, round which the bride and
bridegroom make the seven turns. Others substitute for the pestles
a pack-saddle with two bags of grain in order to symbolise their
camp life. During the turns the girl's hand is held by the Joshi
or village priest, or some other Brahman, in case she should fall;
such an occurrence being probably a very unlucky omen. Afterwards,
the girl runs away and the Brahman has to pursue and catch her. In
Bhandara the girl is clad only in a light skirt and breast-cloth,
and her body is rubbed all over with oil in order to make his
task more difficult. During this time the bride's party pelt the
Brahman with rice, turmeric and areca-nuts, and sometimes even with
stones; and if he is forced to cry with the pain, it is considered
lucky. But if he finally catches the girl, he is conducted to a dais
and sits there holding a brass plate in front of him, into which the
bridegroom's party drop presents. A case is mentioned of a Brahman
having obtained Rs. 70 in this manner. Among the Mathuria Banjaras
of Berar the ceremony resembles the usual Hindu type. [197] Before
the wedding the families bring the branches of eight or ten different
kinds of trees, and perform the _hom_ or fire sacrifice with them. A
Brahman knots the clothes of the couple together, and they walk round
the fire. When the bride arrives at the bridegroom's hamlet after the
wedding, two small brass vessels are given to her; she fetches water
in these and returns them to the women of the boy's family, who mix
this with other water previously drawn, and the girl, who up to this
period was considered of no caste at all, becomes a Mathuria. [198]
Food is cooked with this water, and the bride and bridegroom are
formally received into the husband's _kuri_ or hamlet. It is possible
that the mixing of the water may be a survival of the blood covenant,
whereby a girl was received into her husband's clan on her marriage
by her blood being mixed with that of her husband. [199] Or it may be
simply symbolical of the union of the families. In some localities
after the wedding the bride and bridegroom are made to stand on two
bullocks, which are driven forward, and it is believed that whichever
of them falls off first will be the first to die.
8. Widow remarriage.
Owing to the scarcity of women in the caste a widow is seldom allowed
to go out of the family, and when her husband dies she is taken either
by his elder or younger brother; this is in opposition to the usual
Hindu practice, which forbids the marriage of a woman to her deceased
husband's elder brother, on the ground that as successor to the
headship of the joint family he stands to her, at least potentially,
in the light of a father. If the widow prefers another man and runs
away to him, the first husband's relatives claim compensation, and
threaten, in the event of its being refused, to abduct a girl from
this man's family in exchange for the widow. But no case of abduction
has occurred in recent years. In Berar the compensation claimed in
the case of a woman marrying out of the family amounts to Rs. 75,
with Rs. 5 for the Naik or headman of the family. Should the widow
elope without her brother-in-law's consent, he chooses ten or twelve
of his friends to go and sit _dharna_ (starving themselves) before
the hut of the man who has taken her. He is then bound to supply
these men with food and liquor until he has paid the customary sum,
when he may marry the widow. [200] In the event of the second husband
being too poor to pay monetary compensation, he gives a goat, which
is cut into eighteen pieces and distributed to the community. [201]
9. Birth and death.
After the birth of a child the mother is unclean for five days, and
lives apart in a separate hut, which is run up for her use in the
_kuri_ or hamlet. On the sixth day she washes the feet of all the
children in the _kuri_, feeds them and then returns to her husband's
hut. When a child is born in a moving _tanda_ or camp, the same
rule is observed, and for five days the mother walks alone after the
camp during the daily march. The caste bury the bodies of unmarried
persons and those dying of smallpox and burn the others. Their rites
of mourning are not strict, and are observed only for three days. The
Banjaras have a saying: "Death in a foreign land is to be preferred,
where there are no kinsfolk to mourn, and the corpse is a feast
for birds and animals"; but this may perhaps be taken rather as an
expression of philosophic resignation to the fate which must be in
store for many of them, than a real preference, as with most people
the desire to die at home almost amounts to an instinct.
10. Religion: Banjari Devi.
One of the tutelary deities of the Banjaras is Banjari Devi, whose
shrine is usually located in the forest. It is often represented by a
heap of stones, a large stone smeared with vermilion being placed on
the top of the heap to represent the goddess. When a Banjara passes
the place he casts a stone upon the heap as a prayer to the goddess
to protect him from the dangers of the forest. A similar practice of
offering bells from the necks of cattle is recorded by Mr. Thurston:
[202] "It is related by Moor that he passed a tree on which were
hanging several hundred bells. This was a superstitious sacrifice of
the Banjaras (Lambaris), who, passing this tree, are in the habit
of hanging a bell or bells upon it, which they take from the necks
of their sick cattle, expecting to leave behind them the complaint
also. Our servants particularly cautioned us against touching these
diabolical bells, but as a few of them were taken for our own cattle,
several accidents which happened were imputed to the anger of the
deity to whom these offerings were made; who, they say, inflicts the
same disorder on the unhappy bullock who carries a bell from the tree,
as that from which he relieved the donor." In their houses the Banjari
Devi is represented by a pack-saddle set on high in the room, and
this is worshipped before the caravans set out on their annual tours.
11. Mithu Bhukia.
Another deity is Mithu Bhukia, an old freebooter, who lived in the
Central Provinces; he is venerated by the dacoits as the most clever
dacoit known in the annals of the caste, and a hut was usually
set apart for him in each hamlet, a staff carrying a white flag
being planted before it. Before setting out for a dacoity, the men
engaged would assemble at the hut of Mithu Bhukia, and, burning a
lamp before him, ask for an omen; if the wick of the lamp drooped
the omen was propitious, and the men present then set out at once on
the raid without returning home. They might not speak to each other
nor answer if challenged; for if any one spoke the charm would be
broken and the protection of Mithu Bhukia removed; and they should
either return to take the omens again or give up that particular
dacoity altogether. [203] It has been recorded as a characteristic
trait of Banjaras that they will, as a rule, not answer if spoken
to when engaged on a robbery, and the custom probably arises from
this observance; but the worship of Mithu Bhukia is now frequently
neglected. After a successful dacoity a portion of the spoil would be
set apart for Mithu Bhukia, and of the balance the Naik or headman of
the village received two shares if he participated in the crime; the
man who struck the first blow or did most towards the common object
also received two shares, and all the rest one share. With Mithu
Bhukia's share a feast was given at which thanks were returned to
him for the success of the enterprise, a burnt offering of incense
being made in his tent and a libation of liquor poured over the
flagstaff. A portion of the food was sent to the women and children,
and the men sat down to the feast. Women were not allowed to share
in the worship of Mithu Bhukia nor to enter his hut.
12. Siva Bhaia.
Another favourite deity is Siva Bhaia, whose story is given by Colonel
Mackenzie [204] as follows: "The love borne by Mari Mata, the goddess
of cholera, for the handsome Siva Rathor, is an event of our own
times (1874); she proposed to him, but his heart being pre-engaged he
rejected her; and in consequence his earthly bride was smitten sick
and died, and the hand of the goddess fell heavily on Siva himself,
thwarting all his schemes and blighting his fortunes and possessions,
until at last he gave himself up to her. She then possessed him and
caused him to prosper exceedingly, gifting him with supernatural power
until his fame was noised abroad, and he was venerated as the saintly
Siva Bhaia or great brother to all women, being himself unable to
marry. But in his old age the goddess capriciously wished him to marry
and have issue, but he refused and was slain and buried at Pohur in
Berar. A temple was erected over him and his kinsmen became priests of
it, and hither large numbers are attracted by the supposed efficacy
of vows made to Siva, the most sacred of all oaths being that taken
in his name." If a Banjara swears by Siva Bhaia, placing his right
hand on the bare head of his son and heir, and grasping a cow's tail
in his left, he will fear to perjure himself, lest by doing so he
should bring injury on his son and a murrain on his cattle. [205]
13. Worship of cattle.
Naturally also the Banjaras worshipped their pack-cattle. [206] "When
sickness occurs they lead the sick man to the feet of the bullock
called Hatadiya. [207] On this animal no burden is ever laid, but
he is decorated with streamers of red-dyed silk, and tinkling bells
with many brass chains and rings on neck and feet, and silken tassels
hanging in all directions; he moves steadily at the head of the convoy,
and at the place where he lies down when he is tired they pitch their
camp for the day; at his feet they make their vows when difficulties
overtake them, and in illness, whether of themselves or their cattle,
they trust to his worship for a cure."
14. Connection with the Sikhs.
Mr. Balfour also mentions in his paper that the Banjaras call
themselves Sikhs, and it is noticeable that the Charan subcaste say
that their ancestors were three Rajput boys who followed Guru Nanak,
the prophet of the Sikhs. The influence of Nanak appears to have been
widely extended over northern India, and to have been felt by large
bodies of the people other than those who actually embraced the Sikh
religion. Cumberlege states [208] that before starting to his marriage
the bridegroom ties a rupee in his turban in honour of Guru Nanak,
which is afterwards expended in sweetmeats. But otherwise the modern
Banjaras do not appear to retain any Sikh observances.
15. Witchcraft.
"The Banjaras," Sir A. Lyall writes, [209] "are terribly vexed
by witchcraft, to which their wandering and precarious existence
especially exposes them in the shape of fever, rheumatism and
dysentery. Solemn inquiries are still held in the wild jungles where
these people camp out like gipsies, and many an unlucky hag has been
strangled by sentence of their secret tribunals." The business of
magic and witchcraft was in the hands of two classes of Bhagats or
magicians, one good and the other bad, [210] who may correspond to
the European practitioners of black and white magic. The good Bhagat
is called Nimbu-katna or lemon-cutter, a lemon speared on a knife
being a powerful averter of evil spirits. He is a total abstainer
from meat and liquor, and fasts once a week on the day sacred to the
deity whom he venerates, usually Mahadeo; he is highly respected and
never panders to vice. But the Janta, the 'Wise or Cunning Man,' is
of a different type, and the following is an account of the devilry
often enacted when a deputation visited him to inquire into the cause
of a prolonged illness, a cattle murrain, a sudden death or other
misfortune. A woman might often be called a Dakun or witch in spite,
and when once this word had been used, the husband or nearest male
relative would be regularly bullied into consulting the Janta. Or
if some woman had been ill for a week, an avaricious [211] husband
or brother would begin to whisper foul play. Witchcraft would be
mentioned, and the wise man called in. He would give the sufferer a
quid of betel, muttering an incantation, but this rarely effected a
cure, as it was against the interest of all parties that it should
do so. The sufferer's relatives would then go to their Naik, tell him
that the sick person was bewitched, and ask him to send a deputation
to the Janta or witch-doctor. This would be at once despatched,
consisting of one male adult from each house in the hamlet, with
one of the sufferer's relatives. On the road the party would bury
a bone or other article to test the wisdom of the witch-doctor. But
he was not to be caught out, and on their arrival he would bid the
deputation rest, and come to him for consultation on the following
day. Meanwhile during the night the Janta would be thoroughly coached
by some accomplice in the party. Next morning, meeting the deputation,
he would tell every man all particulars of his name and family; name
the invalid, and tell the party to bring materials for consulting the
spirits, such as oil, vermilion, sugar, dates, cocoanut, _chironji_,
[212] and sesamum. In the evening, holding a lamp, the Janta would
be possessed by Mariai, the goddess of cholera; he would mention
all particulars of the sick man's illness, and indignantly inquire
why they had buried the bone on the road, naming it and describing
the place. If this did not satisfy the deputation, a goat would be
brought, and he would name its sex with any distinguishing marks on the
body. The sick person's representative would then produce his _nazar_
or fee, formerly Rs. 25, but lately the double of this or more. The
Janta would now begin a sort of chant, introducing the names of the
families of the _kuri_ other than that containing her who was to be
proclaimed a witch, and heap on them all kinds of abuse. Finally, he
would assume an ironic tone, extol the virtues of a certain family,
become facetious, and praise its representative then present. This
man would then question the Janta on all points regarding his own
family, his connections, worldly goods, and what gods he worshipped,
ask who was the witch, who taught her sorcery, and how and why she
practised it in this particular instance. But the witch-doctor, having
taken care to be well coached, would answer everything correctly and
fix the guilt on to the witch. A goat would be sacrificed and eaten
with liquor, and the deputation would return. The punishment for
being proclaimed a Dakun or witch was formerly death to the woman
and a fine to be paid by her relatives to the bewitched person's
family. The woman's husband or her sons would be directed to kill
her, and if they refused, other men were deputed to murder her, and
bury the body at once with all the clothing and ornaments then on
her person, while a further fine would be exacted from the family
for not doing away with her themselves. But murder for witchcraft
has been almost entirely stopped, and nowadays the husband, after
being fined a few head of cattle, which are given to the sick man,
is turned out of the village with his wife. It is quite possible,
however, that an obnoxious old hag would even now not escape death,
especially if the money fine were not forthcoming, and an instance
is known in recent times of a mother being murdered by her three
sons. The whole village combined to screen these amiable young men,
and eventually they made the Janta the scapegoat, and he got seven
years, while the murderers could not be touched. Colonel Mackenzie
writes that, "Curious to relate, the Jantas, known locally as Bhagats,
in order to become possessed of their alleged powers of divination and
prophecy, require to travel to Kazhe, beyond Surat, there to learn and
be instructed by low-caste Koli impostors." This is interesting as an
instance of the powers of witchcraft being attributed by the Hindus or
higher race to the indigenous primitive tribes, a rule which Dr. Tylor
and Dr. Jevons consider to hold good generally in the history of magic.
16. Human sacrifice.
Several instances are known also of the Banjaras having practised
human sacrifice. Mr. Thurston states: [213] "In former times the
Lambadis, before setting out on a journey, used to procure a little
child and bury it in the ground up to the shoulders, and then drive
their loaded bullocks over the unfortunate victim. In proportion to
the bullocks thoroughly trampling the child to death, so their belief
in a successful journey increased." The Abbé Dubois describes another
form of sacrifice: [214]
"The Lambadis are accused of the still more atrocious crime of offering
up human sacrifices. When they wish to perform this horrible act, it
is said, they secretly carry off the first person they meet. Having
conducted the victim to some lonely spot, they dig a hole in which they
bury him up to the neck. While he is still alive they make a sort of
lamp of dough made of flour, which they place on his head; this they
fill with oil, and light four wicks in it. Having done this, the men
and women join hands and, forming a circle, dance round their victim,
singing and making a great noise until he expires." Mr. Cumberlege
records [215] the following statement of a child kidnapped by a Banjara
caravan in 1871. After explaining how he was kidnapped and the tip
of his tongue cut off to give him a defect in speech, the Kunbi lad,
taken from Sahungarhi, in the Bhandara District, went on to say that,
"The _tanda_ (caravan) encamped for the night in the jungle. In the
morning a woman named Gangi said that the devil was in her and that
a sacrifice must be made. On this four men and three women took a boy
to a place they had made for _puja_ (worship). They fed him with milk,
rice and sugar, and then made him stand up, when Gangi drew a sword and
approached the child, who tried to run away; caught and brought back
to this place, Gangi, holding the sword with both hands and standing
on the child's right side, cut off his head with one blow. Gangi
collected the blood and sprinkled it on the idol; this idol is made
of stone, is about 9 inches high, and has something sparkling in
its forehead. The camp marched that day, and for four or five days
consecutively, without another sacrifice; but on the fifth day a young
woman came to the camp to sell curds, and having bought some, the
Banjaras asked her to come in in the evening and eat with them. She
did come, and after eating with the women slept in the camp. Early
next morning she was sacrificed in the same way as the boy had been,
but it took three blows to cut off her head; it was done by Gangi, and
the blood was sprinkled on the stone idol. About a month ago Sitaram,
a Gond lad, who had also been kidnapped and was in the camp, told me
to run away as it had been decided to offer me up in sacrifice at the
next Jiuti festival, so I ran away." The child having been brought
to the police, a searching and protracted inquiry was held, which,
however, determined nothing, though it did not disprove his story.
17. Admission of outsiders: kidnapped children and slaves.
The Banjara caste is not closed to outsiders, but the general rule
is to admit only women who have been married to Banjara men. Women
of the lowest and impure castes are excluded, and for some unknown
reason the Patwas [216] and Nunias are bracketed with these. In
Nimar it is stated that formerly Gonds, Korkus and even Balahis [217]
might become Banjaras, but this does not happen now, because the caste
has lost its occupation of carrying goods, and there is therefore no
inducement to enter it. In former times they were much addicted to
kidnapping children--these were whipped up or enticed away whenever an
opportunity presented itself during their expeditions. The children
were first put into the _gonis_ or grain bags of the bullocks and so
carried for a few days, being made over at each halt to the care of
a woman, who would pop the child back into its bag if any stranger
passed by the encampment. The tongues of boys were sometimes slit or
branded with hot gold, this last being the ceremony of initiation into
the caste still used in Nimar. Girls, if they were as old as seven,
were sometimes disfigured for fear of recognition, and for this
purpose the juice of the marking-nut [218] tree would be smeared
on one side of the face, which burned into the skin and entirely
altered the appearance. Such children were known as Jangar. Girls
would be used as concubines and servants of the married wife, and
boys would also be employed as servants. Jangar boys would be married
to Jangar girls, both remaining in their condition of servitude. But
sometimes the more enterprising of them would abscond and settle down
in a village. The rule was that for seven generations the children
of Jangars or slaves continued in that condition, after which they
were recognised as proper Banjaras. The Jangar could not draw in
smoke through the stem of the huqqa when it was passed round in the
assembly, but must take off the stem and inhale from the bowl. The
Jangar also could not eat off the bell-metal plates of his master,
because these were liable to pollution, but must use brass plates. At
one time the Banjaras conducted a regular traffic in female slaves
between Gujarat and Central India, selling in each country the girls
whom they had kidnapped in the other. [219]
18. Dress.
Up to twelve years of age a Charan girl only wears a skirt with a
shoulder-cloth tucked into the waist and carried over the left arm
and the head. After this she may have anklets and bangles on the
forearm and a breast-cloth. But until she is married she may not
have the _wankri_ or curved anklet, which marks that estate, nor wear
bone or ivory bangles on the upper arm. [220] When she is ten years
old a Labhana girl is given two small bundles containing a nut, some
cowries and rice, which are knotted to two corners of the _dupatta_
or shoulder-cloth and hung over the shoulder, one in front and one
behind. This denotes maidenhood. The bundles are considered sacred,
are always knotted to the shoulder-cloth in wear, and are only removed
to be tucked into the waist at the girl's marriage, where they are
worn till death. These bundles alone distinguish the Labhana from
the Mathuria woman. Women often have their hair hanging down beside
the face in front and woven behind with silver thread into a plait
down the back. This is known as Anthi, and has a number of cowries at
the end. They have large bell-shaped ornaments of silver tied over
the head and hanging down behind the ears, the hollow part of the
ornament being stuffed with sheep's wool dyed red; and to these are
attached little bells, while the anklets on the feet are also hollow
and contain little stones or balls, which tinkle as they move. They
have skirts, and separate short cloths drawn across the shoulders
according to the northern fashion, usually red or green in colour,
and along the skirt-borders double lines of cowries are sewn. Their
breast-cloths are profusely ornamented with needle-work embroidery and
small pieces of glass sewn into them, and are tied behind with cords of
many colours whose ends are decorated with cowries and beads. Strings
of beads, ten to twenty thick, threaded on horse-hair, are worn round
the neck. Their favourite ornaments are cowries, [221] and they have
these on their dress, in their houses and on the trappings of their
bullocks. On the arms they have ten or twelve bangles of ivory,
or in default of this lac, horn or cocoanut-shell. Mr. Ball states
that he was "at once struck by the peculiar costumes and brilliant
clothing of these Indian gipsies. They recalled to my mind the
appearance of the gipsies of the Lower Danube and Wallachia." [222]
The most distinctive ornament of a Banjara married woman is, however,
a small stick about 6 inches long made of the wood of the _khair_ or
catechu. In Nimar this is given to a woman by her husband at marriage,
and she wears it afterwards placed upright on the top of the head,
the hair being wound round it and the head-cloth draped over it in
a graceful fashion. Widows leave it off, but on remarriage adopt it
again. The stick is known as _chunda_ by the Banjaras, but outsiders
call it _singh_ or horn. In Yeotmal, instead of one, the women have
two little sticks fixed upright in the hair. The rank of the woman is
said to be shown by the angle at which she wears this horn. [223] The
dress of the men presents no features of special interest. In Nimar
they usually have a necklace of coral beads, and some of them carry,
slung on a thread round the neck, a tin tooth-pick and ear-scraper,
while a small mirror and comb are kept in the head-cloth so that
their toilet can be performed anywhere.
Mr. Cumberlege [224] notes that in former times all Charan Banjaras
when carrying grain for an army placed a twig of some tree, the sacred
_nim_ [225] when available, in their turban to show that they were
on the war-path; and that they would do the same now if they had
occasion to fight to the death on any social matter or under any
supposed grievance.
19. Social customs.
The Banjaras eat all kinds of meat, including fowls and pork, and drink
liquor. But the Mathurias abstain from both flesh and liquor. Major
Gunthorpe states that the Banjaras are accustomed to drink before
setting out for a dacoity or robbery and, as they smoke after drinking,
the remains of leaf-pipes lying about the scene of action may indicate
their handiwork. They rank below the cultivating castes, and Brahmans
will not take water to drink from them. When engaged in the carrying
trade, they usually lived in _kuris_ or hamlets attached to such
regular villages as had considerable tracts of waste land belonging
to them. When the _tanda_ or caravan started on its long carrying
trips, the young men and some of the women went with it with the
working bullocks, while the old men and the remainder of the women
and children remained to tend the breeding cattle in the hamlet. In
Nimar they generally rented a little land in the village to give
them a footing, and paid also a carrying fee on the number of cattle
present. Their spare time was constantly occupied in the manufacture
of hempen twine and sacking, which was much superior to that obtainable
in towns. Even in Captain Forsyth's [226] time (1866) the construction
of railways and roads had seriously interfered with the Banjaras'
calling, and they had perforce taken to agriculture. Many of them
have settled in the new ryotwari villages in Nimar as Government
tenants. They still grow _tilli_ [227] in preference to other crops,
because this oilseed can be raised without much labour or skill,
and during their former nomadic life they were accustomed to sow it
on any poor strip of land which they might rent for a season. Some
of them also are accustomed to leave a part of their holding untilled
in memory of their former and more prosperous life. In many villages
they have not yet built proper houses, but continue to live in mud
huts thatched with grass. They consider it unlucky to inhabit a house
with a cement or tiled roof; this being no doubt a superstition arising
from their camp life. Their houses must also be built so that the main
beams do not cross, that is, the main beam of a house must never be
in such a position that if projected it would cut another main beam;
but the beams may be parallel. The same rule probably governed the
arrangement of tents in their camps. In Nimar they prefer to live at
some distance from water, probably that is of a tank or river; and this
seems to be a survival of a usage mentioned by the Abbé Dubois: [228]
"Among other curious customs of this odious caste is one that obliges
them to drink no water which is not drawn from springs or wells. The
water from rivers and tanks being thus forbidden, they are obliged
in case of necessity to dig a little hole by the side of a tank or
river and take the water filtering through, which, by this means, is
supposed to become spring water." It is possible that this rule may
have had its origin in a sanitary precaution. Colonel Sleeman notes
[229] that the Banjaras on their carrying trips preferred by-paths
through jungles to the high roads along cultivated plains, as grass,
wood and water were more abundant along such paths; and when they could
not avoid the high roads, they commonly encamped as far as they could
from villages and towns, and upon the banks of rivers and streams,
with the same object of obtaining a sufficient supply of grass,
wood and water. Now it is well known that the decaying vegetation in
these hill streams renders the water noxious and highly productive of
malaria. And it seems possible that the perception of this fact led
the Banjaras to dig shallow wells by the sides of the streams for
their drinking-water, so that the supply thus obtained might be in
some degree filtered by percolation through the intervening soil and
freed from its vegetable germs. And the custom may have grown into
a taboo, its underlying reason being unknown to the bulk of them,
and be still practised, though no longer necessary when they do not
travel. If this explanation be correct it would be an interesting
conclusion that the Banjaras anticipated so far as they were able the
sanitary precaution by which our soldiers are supplied with portable
filters when on the march.
20. The Naik or headman. Banjara dogs.
Each _kuri_ (hamlet) or _tanda_ (caravan) had a chief or leader with
the designation of Naik, a Telugu word meaning 'lord' or 'master.' The
office of Naik [230] was only partly hereditary, and the choice also
depended on ability. The Naik had authority to decide all disputes in
the community, and the only appeal from him lay to the representatives
of Bhangi and Jhangi Naik's families at Narsi and Poona, and to Burthia
Naik's successors in the Telugu country. As already seen, the Naik
received two shares if he participated in a robbery or other crime,
and a fee on the remarriage of a widow outside her family and on
the discovery of a witch. Another matter in which he was specially
interested was pig-sticking. The Banjaras have a particular breed
of dogs, and with these they were accustomed to hunt wild pig on
foot, carrying spears. When a pig was killed, the head was cut off
and presented to the Naik or headman, and if any man was injured
or gored by the pig in the hunt, the Naik kept and fed him without
charge until he recovered.
The following notice of the Banjaras and their dogs may be reproduced:
[231] "They are brave and have the reputation of great independence,
which I am not disposed to allow to them. The Wanjari indeed is
insolent on the road, and will drive his bullocks up against a Sahib
or any one else; but at any disadvantage he is abject enough. I
remember one who rather enjoyed seeing his dogs attack me, whom he
supposed alone and unarmed, but the sight of a cocked pistol made
him very quick in calling them off, and very humble in praying for
their lives, which I spared less for his entreaties than because they
were really noble animals. The Wanjaris are famous for their dogs,
of which there are three breeds. The first is a large, smooth dog,
generally black, sometimes fawn-coloured, with a square heavy head,
most resembling the Danish boarhound. This is the true Wanjari
dog. The second is also a large, square-headed dog, but shaggy,
more like a great underbred spaniel than anything else. The third
is an almost tailless greyhound, of the type known all over India by
the various names of Lat, Polygar, Rampuri, etc. They all run both by
sight and scent, and with their help the Wanjaris kill a good deal of
game, chiefly pigs; but I think they usually keep clear of the old
fighting boars. Besides sport and their legitimate occupations the
Wanjaris seldom stickle at supplementing their resources by theft,
especially of cattle; and they are more than suspected of infanticide."
The Banjaras are credited with great affection for their dogs, and
the following legend is told about one of them: Once upon a time a
Banjara, who had a faithful dog, took a loan from a Bania (moneylender)
and pledged his dog with him as security for payment. And some time
afterwards, while the dog was with the moneylender, a theft was
committed in his house, and the dog followed the thieves and saw them
throw the property into a tank. When they went away the dog brought
the Bania to the tank and he found his property. He was therefore very
pleased with the dog and wrote a letter to his master, saying that the
loan was repaid, and tied it round his neck and said to him, 'Now,
go back to your master.' So the dog started back, but on his way he
met his master, the Banjara, coming to the Bania with the money for
the repayment of the loan. And when the Banjara saw the dog he was
angry with him, not seeing the letter, and thinking he had run away,
and said to him, 'Why did you come, betraying your trust?' and he
killed the dog in a rage. And after killing him he found the letter
and was very grieved, so he built a temple to the dog's memory, which
is called the Kukurra Mandhi. And in the temple is the image of a
dog. This temple is in the Drug District, five miles from Balod. A
similar story is told of the temple of Kukurra Math in Mandla.
21. Criminal tendencies of the caste.
The following notice of Banjara criminals is abstracted from Major
Gunthorpe's interesting account: [232] "In the palmy days of the tribe
dacoities were undertaken on the most extensive scale. Gangs of fifty
to a hundred and fifty well-armed men would go long distances from
their _tandas_ or encampments for the purpose of attacking houses
in villages, or treasure-parties or wealthy travellers on the high
roads. The more intimate knowledge which the police have obtained
concerning the habits of this race, and the detection and punishment
of many criminals through approvers, have aided in stopping the heavy
class of dacoities formerly prevalent, and their operations are now on
a much smaller scale. In British territory arms are scarcely carried,
but each man has a good stout stick (_gedi_), the bark of which is
peeled off so as to make it look whitish and fresh. The attack is
generally commenced by stone-throwing and then a rush is made, the
sticks being freely used and the victims almost invariably struck
about the head or face. While plundering, Hindustani is sometimes
spoken, but as a rule they never utter a word, but grunt signals to
one another. Their loin-cloths are braced up, nothing is worn on the
upper part of the body, and their faces are generally muffled. In house
dacoities men are posted at different corners of streets, each with
a supply of well-chosen round stones to keep off any people coming
to the rescue. Banjaras are very expert cattle-lifters, sometimes
taking as many as a hundred head or even more at a time. This kind
of robbery is usually practised in hilly or forest country where the
cattle are sent to graze. Secreting themselves they watch for the
herdsman to have his usual midday doze and for the cattle to stray
to a little distance. As many as possible are then driven off to a
great distance and secreted in ravines and woods. If questioned they
answer that the animals belong to landowners and have been given into
their charge to graze, and as this is done every day the questioner
thinks nothing more of it. After a time the cattle are quietly sold
to individual purchasers or taken to markets at a distance."
22. Their virtues.
The Banjaras, however, are far from being wholly criminal, and the
number who have adopted an honest mode of livelihood is continually
on the increase. Some allowance must be made for their having been
deprived of their former calling by the cessation of the continual
wars which distracted India under native rule, and the extension
of roads and railways which has rendered their mode of transport
by pack-bullocks almost entirely obsolete. At one time practically
all the grain exported from Chhattisgarh was carried by them. In
1881 Mr. Kitts noted that the number of Banjaras convicted in the
Berar criminal courts was lower in proportion to the strength of
the caste than that of Muhammadans, Brahmans, Koshtis or Sunars,
[233] though the offences committed by them were usually more
heinous. Colonel Mackenzie had quite a favourable opinion of them:
"A Banjara who can read and write is unknown. But their memories,
from cultivation, are marvellous and very retentive. They carry in
their heads, without slip or mistake, the most varied and complicated
transactions and the share of each in such, striking a debtor and
creditor account as accurately as the best-kept ledger, while their
history and songs are all learnt by heart and transmitted orally from
generation to generation. On the whole, and taken rightly in their
clannish nature, their virtues preponderate over their vices. In the
main they are truthful and very brave, be it in war or the chase, and
once gained over are faithful and devoted adherents. With the pride
of high descent and with the right that might gives in unsettled and
troublous times, these Banjaras habitually lord it over and contemn the
settled inhabitants of the plains. And now not having foreseen their
own fate, or at least not timely having read the warnings given by a
yearly diminishing occupation, which slowly has taken their bread away,
it is a bitter pill for them to sink into the ryot class or, oftener
still, under stern necessity to become the ryot's servant. But they
are settling to their fate, and the time must come when all their
peculiar distinctive marks and traditions will be forgotten."
Barai
1. Origin and traditions.
_Barai, [234] Tamboli, Pansari._--The caste of growers and sellers of
the betel-vine leaf. The three terms are used indifferently for the
caste in the Central Provinces, although some shades of variation in
the meaning can be detected even here--Barai signifying especially one
who grows the betel-vine, and Tamboli the seller of the prepared leaf;
while Pansari, though its etymological meaning is also a dealer in
_pan_ or betel-vine leaves, is used rather in the general sense of
a druggist or grocer, and is apparently applied to the Barai caste
because its members commonly follow this occupation. In Bengal,
however, Barai and Tamboli are distinct castes, the occupations
of growing and selling the betel-leaf being there separately
practised. And they have been shown as different castes in the
India Census Tables of 1901, though it is perhaps doubtful whether
the distinction holds good in northern India. [235] In the Central
Provinces and Berar the Barais numbered nearly 60,000 persons in
1911. They reside principally in the Amraoti, Buldana, Nagpur, Wardha,
Saugor and Jubbulpore Districts. The betel-vine is grown principally
in the northern Districts of Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore and in
those of Berar and the Nagpur plain. It is noticeable also that the
growers and sellers of the betel-vine numbered only 14,000 in 1911
out of 33,000 actual workers of the Barai caste; so that the majority
of them are now employed in ordinary agriculture, field-labour and
other avocations. No very probable derivation has been obtained for
the word Barai, unless it comes from _bari_, a hedge or enclosure,
and simply means 'gardener.' Another derivation is from _barana,_
to avert hailstorms, a calling which they still practise in northern
India. _Pan_, from the Sanskrit _parna_ (leaf), is _the_ leaf _par
excellence_. Owing to the fact that they produce what is perhaps the
most esteemed luxury in the diet of the higher classes of native
society, the Barais occupy a fairly good social position, and one
legend gives them a Brahman ancestry. This is to the effect that the
first Barai was a Brahman whom God detected in a flagrant case of
lying to his brother. His sacred thread was confiscated and being
planted in the ground grew up into the first betel-vine, which he
was set to tend. Another story of the origin of the vine is given
later in this article. In the Central Provinces its cultivation has
probably only flourished to any appreciable extent for a period of
about three centuries, and the Barai caste would appear to be mainly
a functional one, made up of a number of immigrants from northern
India and of recruits from different classes of the population,
including a large proportion of the non-Aryan element.
2. Caste subdivisions.
The following endogamous divisions of the caste have been reported:
Chaurasia, so called from the Chaurasi pargana of the Mirzapur
District; Panagaria from Panagar in Jubbulpore; Mahobia from Mahoba
in Hamirpur; Jaiswar from the town of Jais in the Rai Bareli District
of the United Provinces; Gangapari, coming from the further side of
the Ganges; and Pardeshi or Deshwari, foreigners. The above divisions
all have territorial names, and these show that a large proportion
of the caste have come from northern India, the different batches
of immigrants forming separate endogamous groups on their arrival
here. Other subcastes are the Dudh Barais, from _dudh_, milk;
the Kuman, said to be Kunbis who have adopted this occupation and
become Barais; the Jharia and Kosaria, the oldest or jungly Barais,
and those who live in Chhattisgarh; the Purania or old Barais; the
Kumhardhang, who are said to be the descendants of a potter on whose
wheel a betel-vine grew; and the Lahuri Sen, who are a subcaste formed
of the descendants of irregular unions. None of the other subcastes
will take food from these last, and the name is locally derived from
_lahuri_, lower, and _sen_ or _shreni_, class. The caste is also
divided into a large number of exogamous groups or septs which may
be classified according to their names as territorial, titular and
totemistic. Examples of territorial names are: Kanaujia of Kanauj,
Burhanpuria of Burhanpur, Chitoria of Chitor in Rajputana, Deobijha
the name of a village in Chhattisgarh, and Kharondiha from Kharond
or Kalahandi State. These names must apparently have been adopted at
random when a family either settled in one of these places or removed
from it to another part of the country. Examples of titular names
of groups are: Pandit (priest), Bhandari (store-keeper), Patharha
(hail-averter), Batkaphor (pot-breaker), Bhulya (the forgetful one),
Gujar (a caste), Gahoi (a caste), and so on. While the following are
totemistic groups: Katara (dagger), Kulha (jackal), Bandrele (monkey),
Chikhalkar (from _chikhal_, mud), Richharia (bear), and others. Where
the group is named after another caste it probably indicates that a
man of that caste became a Barai and founded a family; while the fact
that some groups are totemistic shows that a section of the caste
is recruited from the indigenous tribes. The large variety of names
discloses the diverse elements of which the caste is made up.
3. Marriage
Marriage within the _gotra_ or exogamous group and within three
degrees of relationship between persons connected through females
is prohibited. Girls are usually wedded before adolescence, but
no stigma attaches to the family if they remain single beyond this
period. If a girl is seduced by a man of the caste she is married to
him by the _pat_, a simple ceremony used for widows. In the southern
Districts a barber cuts off a lock of her hair on the banks of a
tank or river by way of penalty, and a fast is also imposed on her,
while the caste-fellows exact a meal from her family. If she has an
illegitimate child, it is given away to somebody else, if possible. A
girl going wrong with an outsider is expelled from the caste.
Polygamy is permitted and no stigma attaches to the taking of a second
wife, though it is rarely done except for special family reasons. Among
the Maratha Barais the bride and bridegroom must walk five times
round the marriage altar and then worship the stone slab and roller
used for pounding spices. This seems to show that the trade of the
Pansari or druggist is recognised as being a proper avocation of the
Barai. They subsequently have to worship the potter's wheel. After the
wedding the bride, if she is a child, goes as usual to her husband's
house for a few days. In Chhattisgarh she is accompanied by a few
relations, the party being known as Chauthia, and during her stay in
her husband's house the bride is made to sleep on the ground. Widow
marriage is permitted, and the ceremony is conducted according to the
usage of the locality. In Betul the relatives of the widow take the
second husband before Maroti's shrine, where he offers a nut and some
betel-leaf. He is then taken to the malguzar's house and presents
to him Rs. 1-4-0, a cocoanut and some betel-vine leaf as the price
of his assent to the marriage. If there is a Deshmukh [236] of the
village, a cocoanut and betel-leaf are also given to him. The nut
offered to Maroti represents the deceased husband's spirit, and is
subsequently placed on a plank and kicked off by the new bridegroom
in token of his usurping the other's place, and finally buried to
lay the spirit. The property of the first husband descends to his
children, and failing them his brother's children or collateral heirs
take it before the widow. A bachelor espousing a widow must first go
through the ceremony of marriage with a swallow-wort plant. When a
widower marries a girl a silver impression representing the deceased
first wife is made and worshipped daily with the family gods. Divorce
is permitted on sufficient grounds at the instance of either party,
being effected before the caste committee or _panchayat_. If a husband
divorces his wife merely on account of bad temper, he must maintain her
so long as she remains unmarried and continues to lead a moral life.
4. Religion and social status.
The Barais especially venerate the Nag or cobra and observe the
festival of Nag-Panchmi (Cobra's fifth), in connection with which
the following story is related. Formerly there was no betel-vine on
the earth. But when the five Pandava brothers celebrated the great
horse sacrifice after their victory at Hastinapur, they wanted some,
and so messengers were sent down below the earth to the residence of
the queen of the serpents, in order to try and obtain it. Basuki,
the queen of the serpents, obligingly cut off the top joint of her
little finger and gave it to the messengers. This was brought up
and sown on the earth, and _pan_ creepers grew out of the joint. For
this reason the betel-vine has no blossoms or seeds, but the joints
of the creepers are cut off and sown, when they sprout afresh; and
the betel-vine is called Nagbel or the serpent-creeper. On the day
of Nag-Panchmi the Barais go to the _bareja_ with flowers, cocoanuts
and other offerings, and worship a stone which is placed in it and
which represents the Nag or cobra. A goat or sheep is sacrificed and
they return home, no leaf of the _pan_ garden being touched on that
day. A cup of milk is also left, in the belief that a cobra will come
out of the _pan_ garden and drink it. The Barais say that members of
their caste are never bitten by cobras, though many of these snakes
frequent the gardens on account of the moist coolness and shade
which they afford. The Agarwala Banias, from whom the Barais will
take food cooked without water, have also a legend of descent from
a Naga or snake princess. 'Our mother's house is of the race of the
snake,' say the Agarwals of Bihar. [237] The caste usually burn the
dead, with the exception of children and persons dying of leprosy
or snake-bite, whose bodies are buried. Mourning is observed for
ten days in the case of adults and for three days for children. In
Chhattisgarh if any portion of the corpse remains unburnt on the
day following the cremation, the relatives are penalised to the
extent of an extra feast to the caste-fellows. Children are named
on the sixth or twelfth day after birth either by a Brahman or by
the women of the household. Two names are given, one for ceremonial
and the other for ordinary use. When a Brahman is engaged he gives
seven names for a boy and five for a girl, and the parents select
one out of these. The Barais do not admit outsiders into the caste,
and employ Brahmans for religious and ceremonial purposes. They are
allowed to eat the flesh of clean animals, but very rarely do so,
and they abstain from liquor. Brahmans will take sweets and water
from them, and they occupy a fairly good social position on account
of the important nature of their occupation.
5. Occupation.
"It has been mentioned," says Sir H. Risley, [238] "that the garden
is regarded as almost sacred, and the superstitious practices in
vogue resemble those of the silk-worm breeder. The Barui will not
enter it until he has bathed and washed his clothes. Animals found
inside are driven out, while women ceremonially unclean dare not enter
within the gate. A Brahman never sets foot inside, and old men have a
prejudice against entering it. It has, however, been known to be used
for assignations." The betel-vine is the leaf of _Piper betel_ L.,
the word being derived from the Malayalam _vettila_, 'a plain leaf,'
and coming to us through the Portuguese _betre_ and _betle_. The
leaf is called _pan_, and is eaten with the nut of _Areca catechu_,
called in Hindi _supari_. The vine needs careful cultivation, the
gardens having to be covered to keep off the heat of the sun, while
liberal treatment with manure and irrigation is needed. The joints of
the creepers are planted in February, and begin to supply leaves in
about five months' time. When the first creepers are stripped after
a period of nearly a year, they are cut off and fresh ones appear,
the plants being exhausted within a period of about two years after
the first sowing. A garden may cover from half an acre to an acre
of land, and belongs to a number of growers, who act in partnership,
each owning so many lines of vines. The plain leaves are sold at from
2 annas to 4 annas a hundred, or a higher rate when they are out of
season. Damoh, Ramtek and Bilahri are three of the best-known centres
of cultivation in the Central Provinces. The Bilahri leaf is described
in the _Ain-i-Akbari_ as follows: "The leaf called Bilahri is white and
shining, and does not make the tongue harsh and hard. It tastes best
of all kinds. After it has been taken away from the creeper, it turns
white with some care after a month, or even after twenty days, when
greater efforts are made." [239] For retail sale _bidas_ are prepared,
consisting of a rolled betel-leaf containing areca-nut, catechu and
lime, and fastened with a clove. Musk and cardamoms are sometimes
added. Tobacco should be smoked after eating a _bida_ according to
the saying, 'Service without a patron, a young man without a shield,
and betel without tobacco are alike savourless.' _Bidas_ are sold
at from two to four for a pice (farthing). Women of the caste often
retail them, and as many are good-looking they secure more custom;
they are also said to have an indifferent reputation. Early in the
morning, when they open their shops, they burn some incense before
the bamboo basket in which the leaves are kept, to propitiate Lakshmi,
the goddess of wealth.
Barhai
List of Paragraphs
1. _Strength and local distribution._
2. _Internal structure._
3. _Marriage customs._
4. _Religion._
5. _Social position._
6. _Occupation._
1. Strength and local distribution.
_Barhai, Sutar, Kharadi, Mistri._--The occupational caste of
carpenters. The Barhais numbered nearly 110,000 persons in the Central
Provinces and Berar in 1911, or about 1 in 150 persons. The caste
is most numerous in Districts with large towns, and few carpenters
are to be found in villages except in the richer and more advanced
Districts. Hitherto such woodwork as the villagers wanted for
agriculture has been made by the Lohar or blacksmith, while the
country cots, the only wooden article of furniture in their houses,
could be fashioned by their own hands or by the Gond woodcutter. In the
Mandla District the Barhai caste counts only 300 persons, and about
the same in Balaghat, in Drug only 47 persons, and in the fourteen
Chhattisgarh Feudatory States, with a population of more than two
millions, only some 800 persons. The name Barhai is said to be from
the Sanskrit Vardhika and the root _vardh_, to cut. Sutar is a common
name of the caste in the Maratha Districts, and is from Sutra-kara,
one who works by string, or a maker of string. The allusion may be to
the Barhai's use of string in planing or measuring timber, or it may
possibly indicate a transfer of occupation, the Sutars having first
been mainly string-makers and afterwards abandoned this calling for
that of the carpenter. The first wooden implements and articles of
furniture may have been held together by string before nails came into
use. Kharadi is literally a turner, one who turns woodwork on a lathe,
from _kharat_, a lathe. Mistri, a corruption of the English Mister,
is an honorific title for master carpenters.
2. Internal structure.
The comparatively recent growth of the caste in these Provinces is
shown by its subdivisions. The principal subcastes of the Hindustani
Districts are the Pardeshi or foreigners, immigrants from northern
India, and the Purbia or eastern, coming from Oudh; other subcastes are
the Sri Gaur Malas or immigrants from Malwa, the Beradi from Berar,
and the Mahure from Hyderabad. We find also subcastes of Jat and
Teli Barhais, consisting of Jats and Telis (oil-pressers) who have
taken to carpentering. Two other caste-groups, the Chamar Barhais and
Gondi Barhais, are returned, but these are not at present included in
the Barhai caste, and consist merely of Chamars and Gonds who work
as carpenters but remain in their own castes. In the course of some
generations, however, if the cohesive social force of the caste system
continues unabated, these groups may probably find admission into
the Barhai caste. Colonel Tod notes that the progeny of one Makur,
a prince of the Jadon Rajput house of Jaisalmer, became carpenters,
and were known centuries after as Makur Sutars. They were apparently
considered illegitimate, as he states: "Illegitimate children can
never overcome this natural defect among the Rajputs. Thus we find
among all classes of artisans in India some of royal but spurious
descent." [240] The internal structure of the caste seems therefore
to indicate that it is largely of foreign origin and to a certain
degree of recent formation in these Provinces.
3. Marriage customs.
The caste are also divided into exogamous septs named after
villages. In some localities it is said that they have no septs,
but only surnames, and that people of the same surname cannot
intermarry. Well-to-do persons marry their daughters before puberty
and others when they can afford the expense of the ceremony. Brahman
priests are employed at weddings, though on other occasions their
services are occasionally dispensed with. The wedding ceremony is
of the type prevalent in the locality. When the wedding procession
reaches the bride's village it halts near the temple of Maroti or
Hanuman. Among the Panchal Barhais the bridegroom does not wear
a marriage crown but ties a bunch of flowers to his turban. The
bridegroom's party is entertained for five days. Divorce and the
remarriage of widows are permitted. In most localities it is said that
a widow is forbidden to marry her first husband's younger as well as
his elder brother. Among the Pardeshi Barhais of Betul if a bachelor
desires to marry a widow he must first go through the ceremony with
a branch or twig of the _gular_ tree. [241]
4. Religion.
The caste worship Viswakarma, the celestial architect, and venerate
their trade implements on the Dasahra festival. They consider the
sight of a mongoose and of a light-grey pigeon or dove as lucky
omens. They burn the dead and throw the ashes into a river or tank,
employing a Maha-Brahman to receive the gifts for the dead.
5. Social position.
In social status the Barhais rank with the higher artisan
castes. Brahmans take water from them in some localities, perhaps
more especially in towns. In Betul for instance Hindustani Brahmans
do not accept water from the rural Barhais. In Damoh where both the
Barhai and Lohar are village menials, their status is said to be the
same, and Brahmans do not take water from Lohars. Mr. Nesfield says
that the Barhai is a village servant and ranks with the Kurmi, with
whom his interests are so closely allied. But there seems no special
reason why the interests of the carpenter should be more closely
allied with the cultivator than those of any other village menial,
and it may be offered as a surmise that carpentering as a distinct
trade is of comparatively late origin, and was adopted by Kurmis, to
which fact the connection noticed by Mr. Nesfield might be attributed;
hence the position of the Barhai among the castes from whom a Brahman
will take water. In some localities well-to-do members of the caste
have begun to wear the sacred thread.
6. Occupation.
In the northern Districts and the cotton tract the Barhai works as a
village menial. He makes and mends the plough and harrow (_bakhar_)
and other wooden implements of agriculture, and makes new ones when
supplied with the wood. In Wardha he receives an annual contribution
of 100 lbs. of grain from each cultivator. In Betul he gets 67 lbs. of
grain and other perquisites for each plough of four bullocks. For
making carts and building or repairing houses he must be separately
paid. At weddings the Barhai often supplies the sacred marriage-post
and is given from four annas to a rupee. At the Diwali festival he
prepares a wooden peg about six inches long, and drives it into the
cultivator's house inside the threshold, and receives half a pound
to a pound of grain.
In cities the carpenters are rapidly acquiring an increased degree
of skill as the demand for a better class of houses and furniture
becomes continually greater and more extensive. The carpenters
have been taught to make English furniture by such institutions as
the Friends' Mission of Hoshangabad and other missionaries; and a
Government technical school has now been opened at Nagpur, in which
boys from all over the Province are trained in the profession. Very
little wood-carving with any pretensions to excellence has hitherto
been done in the Central Provinces, but the Jain temples at Saugor and
Khurai contain some fair woodwork. A good carpenter in towns can earn
from 12 annas to Rs. 1-8 a day, and both his earnings and prospects
have greatly improved within recent years. Sherring remarks of the
Barhais: "As artisans they exhibit little or no inventive powers: but
in imitating the workmanship of others they are perhaps unsurpassed
in the whole world. They are equally clever in working from designs
and models." [242]
Bari
_Bari._--A caste of household servants and makers of leaf-plates,
belonging to northern India. The Baris numbered 1200 persons in
the Central Provinces in 1911, residing mainly in Jubbulpore and
Mandla. Sir H. Risley remarks of the caste: [243] "Mr. Nesfield
regards the Bari as merely an offshoot from a semi-savage tribe
known as Banmanush and Musahar. He is said still to associate with
them at times, and if the demand for leaf-plates and cups, owing to
some temporary cause, such as a local fair or an unusual multitude
of marriages, happens to become larger than he can at once supply,
he gets them secretly made by his ruder kinsfolk and retails them at
a higher rate, passing them off as his own production. The strictest
Brahmans, those at least who aspire to imitate the self-denying life
of the ancient Indian hermit, never eat off any other plates than those
made of leaves." "If the above view is correct," Sir H. Risley remarks,
"the Baris are a branch of a non-Aryan tribe who have been given a
fairly respectable position in the social system in consequence of the
demand for leaf-plates, which are largely used by the highest as well
as the lowest castes. Instances of this sort, in which a non-Aryan
or mixed group is promoted on grounds of necessity or convenience to
a higher status than their antecedents would entitle them to claim,
are not unknown in other castes, and must have occurred frequently
in outlying parts of the country, where the Aryan settlements were
scanty and imperfectly supplied with the social apparatus demanded by
the theory of ceremonial purity." There is no reason why the origin
of the Bari from the Banmanush (wild man of the woods) or Musahar
(mouse-eater), a forest tribe, as suggested by Mr. Nesfield from
his observation of their mutual connection, should be questioned. The
making of leaf-plates is an avocation which may be considered naturally
to pertain to the tribes frequenting jungles from which the leaves are
gathered; and in the Central Provinces, though in the north the Nai
or barber ostensibly supplies the leaf-plates, probably buying the
leaves and getting them made up by Gonds and others, in the Maratha
Districts the Gond himself does so, and many Gonds make their living
by this trade. The people of the Maratha country are apparently less
strict than those of northern India, and do not object to eat off
plates avowedly the handiwork of Gonds. The fact that the Bari has
been raised to the position of a pure caste, so that Brahmans will take
water from his hands, is one among several instances of this elevation
of the rank of the serving castes for purposes of convenience. The
caste themselves have the following legend of their origin: Once upon
a time Parmeshwar [244] was offering rice milk to the spirits of his
ancestors. In the course of this ceremony the performer has to present
a gift known as Vikraya Dan, which cannot be accepted by others without
loss of position. Parmeshwar offered the gift to various Brahmans,
but they all refused it. So he made a man of clay, and blew upon the
image and gave it life, and the god then asked the man whom he had
created to accept the gift which the Brahmans had refused. This man,
who was the first Bari, agreed on condition that all men should drink
with him and recognise his purity of caste. Parmeshwar then told him
to bring water in a cup, and drank of it in the presence of all the
castes. And in consequence of this all the Hindus will take water
from the hands of a Bari. They also say that their first ancestor was
named Sundar on account of his personal beauty; but if so, he failed
to bequeath this quality to his descendants. The proper avocation
of the Baris is, as already stated, the manufacture of the leaf-cups
and plates used by all Hindus at festivals. In the Central Provinces
these are made from the large leaves of the _mahul_ creeper (_Bauhinia
Vahlii_), or from the _palas_ (_Butea frondosa_). The caste also act as
personal servants, handing round water, lighting and carrying torches
at marriages and other entertainments and on journeys, and performing
other functions. Some of them have taken to agriculture. Their women
act as maids to high-caste Hindu ladies, and as they are always about
the zenana, are liable to lose their virtue. A curious custom prevails
in Marwar on the birth of an heir to the throne. An impression of the
child's foot is taken by a Bari on cloth covered with saffron, and
is exhibited to the native chiefs, who make him rich presents. [245]
The Baris have the reputation of great fidelity to their employers, and
a saying about them is, 'The Bari will die fighting for his master.'
Basdewa
_Basdewa, [246] Wasudeo, Harbola, Kaparia, Jaga, Kapdi._--A wandering
beggar caste of mixed origin, who also call themselves Sanadhya or
Sanaurhia Brahmans. The Basdewas trace their origin to Wasudeo,
the father of Krishna, and the term Basdewa is a corruption of
Wasudeo or Wasudeva. Kaparia is the name they bear in the Anterved
or country between the Ganges and Jumna, whence they claim to have
come. Kaparia has been derived from _kapra_, cloth, owing to the custom
of the Basdewas of having several dresses, which they change rapidly
like the Bahrupia, making themselves up in different characters as a
show. Harbola is an occupational term, applied to a class of Basdewas
who climb trees in the early morning and thence vociferate praises
of the deity in a loud voice. The name is derived from _Har_, God,
and _bolna_, to speak. As the Harbolas wake people up in the morning
they are also called Jaga or Awakener. The number of Basdewas in
the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911 was 2500, and they are found
principally in the northern Districts and in Chhattisgarh. They have
several territorial subcastes, as Gangaputri or those who dwell on
the banks of the Ganges; Khaltia or Deswari, those who belong to
the Central Provinces; Parauha, from _para_, a male buffalo calf,
being the dealers in buffaloes; Harbola or those who climb trees and
sing the praises of God; and Wasudeo, the dwellers in the Maratha
Districts who marry only among themselves. The names of the exogamous
divisions are very varied, some being taken from Brahman _gotras_ and
Rajput septs, while others are the names of villages, or nicknames,
or derived from animals and plants. It may be concluded from these
names that the Basdewas are a mixed occupational group recruited
from high and low castes, though they themselves say that they do
not admit any outsiders except Brahmans into the community. In Bombay
[247] the Wasudevas have a special connection with Kumhars or potters,
whom they address by the term of _kaka_ or paternal uncle, and at whose
houses they lodge on their travels, presenting their host with the two
halves of a cocoanut. The caste do not observe celibacy. A price of
Rs. 25 has usually to be given for a bride, and a Brahman is employed
to perform the ceremony. At the conclusion of this the Brahman invests
the bridegroom with a sacred thread, which he thereafter continues to
wear. Widow marriage is permitted, and widows are commonly married to
widowers. Divorce is also permitted. When a man's wife dies he shaves
his moustache and beard, if any, in mourning and a father likewise
for a daughter-in-law; this is somewhat peculiar, as other Hindus do
not shave the moustache for a wife or daughter-in-law. The Basdewas
are wandering mendicants. In the Maratha Districts they wear a plume
of peacock's feathers, which they say was given to them as a badge
by Krishna. In Saugor and Damoh instead of this they carry during the
period from Dasahra to the end of Magh or from September to January a
brass vessel called _matuk_ bound on their heads. It is surmounted by
a brass cone and adorned with mango-leaves, cowries and a piece of red
cloth, and with figures of Rama and Lakshman. Their stock-in-trade for
begging consists of two _kartals_ or wooden clappers which are struck
against each other; _ghungrus_ or jingling ornaments for the feet,
worn when dancing; and a _paijna_ or kind of rattle, consisting of
two semicircular iron wires bound at each end to a piece of wood with
rings slung on to them; this is simply shaken in the hand and gives
out a sound from the movement of the rings against the wires. They
worship all these implements as well as their beggar's wallet on
the Janam-Ashtami or Krishna's birthday, the Dasahra, and the full
moon of Magh (January). They rise early and beg only in the morning
from about four till eight, and sing songs in praise of Sarwan and
Karan. Sarwan was a son renowned for his filial piety; he maintained
and did service to his old blind parents to the end of their lives,
much against the will of his wife, and was proof against all her
machinations to induce him to abandon them. Karan was a proverbially
charitable king, and all his family had the same virtue. His wife gave
away daily rice and pulse to those who required it, his daughter gave
them clothes, his son distributed cows as alms and his daughter-in-law
cocoanuts. The king himself gave only gold, and it is related of him
that he was accustomed to expend a maund and a quarter [248] weight
of gold in alms-giving before he washed himself and paid his morning
devotions. Therefore the Basdewas sing that he who gives early in the
morning acquires the merit of Karan; and their presence at this time
affords the requisite opportunity to anybody who may be desirous of
emulating the king. At the end of every couplet they cry 'Jai Ganga'
or 'Har Ganga,' invoking the Ganges.
The Harbolas have each a beat of a certain number of villages which
must not be infringed by the others. Their method is to ascertain the
name of some well-to-do person in the village. This done, they climb
a tree in the early morning before sunrise, and continue chanting
his praises in a loud voice until he is sufficiently flattered
by their eulogies or wearied by their importunity to throw down a
present of a few pice under the tree, which the Harbola, descending,
appropriates. The Basdewas of the northern Districts are now commonly
engaged in the trade of buying and selling buffaloes. They take the
young male calves from Saugor and Damoh to Chhattisgarh, and there
retail them at a profit for rice cultivation, driving them in large
herds along the road. For the capital which they have to borrow to
make their purchases, they are charged very high rates of interest. The
Basdewas have here a special veneration for the buffalo as the animal
from which they make their livelihood, and they object strongly to
the calves being taken to be tied out as baits for tiger, refusing,
it is said, to accept payment if the calf should be killed. Their
social status is not high, and none but the lowest castes will take
food from their hands. They eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain
from pork, fowls and beef. Some of the caste have given up animal food.
Basor
List of Paragraphs
1. _Numbers and distribution._
2. _Caste traditions._
3. _Subdivisions._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Religion and social status._
6. _Occupation._
1. Numbers and distribution.
_Basor, [249] Bansphor, Dhulia, Burud._--The occupational caste of
bamboo-workers, the two first names being Hindi and the last the
term used in the Maratha Districts. The cognate Uriya caste is called
Kandra and the Telugu one Medara. The Basors numbered 53,000 persons
in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911. About half the total
number reside in the Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore Districts. The word
Basor is a corruption of Bansphor, 'a breaker of bamboos.' Dhulia,
from _dholi_, a drum, means a musician.
2. Caste traditions.
The caste trace their origin from Raja Benu or Venu who ruled at
Singorgarh in Damoh. It is related of him that he was so pious that
he raised no taxes from his subjects, but earned his livelihood by
making and selling bamboo fans. He could of course keep no army,
but he knew magic, and when he broke his fan the army of the enemy
broke up in unison. Venu is a Sanskrit word meaning bamboo. But a
mythological Sanskrit king called Vena is mentioned in the Puranas,
from whom for his sins was born the first Nishada, the lowest of human
beings, and Manu [250] states that the bamboo-worker is the issue of
a Nishada or Chandal father and a Vaideha [251] mother. So that the
local story may be a corruption of the Brahmanical tradition. Another
legend relates that in the beginning there were no bamboos, and
the first Basor took the serpent which Siva wore round his neck and
going to a hill planted it with its head in the ground. A bamboo at
once sprang up on the spot, and from this the Basor made the first
winnowing fan. And the snake-like root of the bamboo, which no doubt
suggested the story to its composer, is now adduced in proof of it.
3. Subdivisions.
The Basors of the northern Districts are divided into a number of
subcastes, the principal of which are: the Purania or Juthia, who
perhaps represent the oldest section, Purania being from _purana_ old;
they are called Juthia because they eat the leavings of others; the
Barmaiya or Malaiya, apparently a territorial group; the Deshwari or
Bundelkhandi who reside in the _desh_ or native place of Bundelkhand;
the Gudha or Gurha, the name being derived by some from _guda_
a pigsty; the Dumar or Dom Basors; the Dhubela, perhaps from the
Dhobi caste; and the Dharkar. Two or three of the above names appear
to be those of other low castes from which the Basor caste may have
been recruited, perhaps at times when a strong demand existed for
bamboo-workers. The Buruds do not appear to be sufficiently numerous
to have subcastes. But they include a few Telenga Buruds who are
really Medaras, and the caste proper are therefore sometimes known as
Maratha Buruds to distinguish them from these. The caste has numerous
_bainks_ or exogamous groups or septs, the names of which may chiefly
be classified as territorial and totemistic. Among the former are
Mahobia, from the town of Mahoba; Sirmaiya, from Sirmau; Orahia,
from Orai, the battlefield of the Banaphar generals, Alha and Udal;
Tikarahia from Tikari, and so on. The totemistic septs include the
Sanpero from _sanp_ a snake, the Mangrelo from _mangra_ a crocodile,
the Morya from _mor_ a peacock, the Titya from the _titehri_ bird
and the Sarkia from _sarki_ or red ochre, all of which worship their
respective totems. The Katarya or 'dagger' sept worship a real or
painted dagger at their marriage, and the Kemia, a branch of the _kem_
tree (_Stephegyne parvifolia_). The Bandrelo, from _bandar_, worship a
painted monkey. One or two groups are named after castes, as Bamhnelo
from Brahman and Bargujaria from Bargujar Rajput, thus indicating that
members of these castes became Basors and founded families. One sept
is called Marha from Marhai, the goddess of cholera, and the members
worship a picture of the goddess drawn in black. The name of the
Kulhantia sept means somersault, and these turn a somersault before
worshipping their gods. So strong is the totemistic idea that some
of the territorial groups worship objects with similar names. Thus
the Mahobia group, whose name is undoubtedly derived from the town
of Mahoba, have adopted the mahua tree as their totem, and digging
a small hole in the ground place in it a little water and the liquor
made from mahua flowers, and worship it. This represents the process
of distillation of country liquor. Similarly, the Orahia group,
who derive their name from the town of Orai, now worship the _urai_
or _khaskhas_ grass, and the Tikarahia from Tikari worship a _tikli_
or glass spangle.
4. Marriage.
The marriage of persons belonging to the same _baink_ or sept and also
that of first cousins is forbidden. The age of marriage is settled
by convenience, and no stigma attaches to its postponement beyond
adolescence. Intrigues of unmarried girls with men of their own or
any higher caste are usually overlooked. The ceremony follows the
standard Hindi and Marathi forms, and presents no special features. A
bride-price called _chari_, amounting to seven or eight rupees,
is usually paid. In Betul the practice of _lamjhana_ or serving the
father-in-law for a term of years before marrying his daughter, is
sometimes followed. Widow-marriage is permitted, and the widow is
expected to wed her late husband's younger brother. The Basors are
musicians by profession, but in Betul the _narsingha_, a peculiar
kind of crooked trumpet, is the only implement which may be played
at the marriage of a widow. A woman marrying a second time forfeits
all interest in the property of her late husband, unless she is
without issue and there are no near relatives of her husband to take
it. Divorce is effected by the breaking of the woman's bangles in
public. If obtained by the wife, she must repay to her first husband
the expenditure incurred by him for her marriage when she takes a
second. But the acceptance of this payment is considered derogatory
and the husband refuses it unless he is poor.
5. Religion and social status.
The Basors worship the ordinary Hindu deities and also ghosts and
spirits. Like the other low castes they entertain a special veneration
for Devi. They profess to exorcise evil spirits and the evil eye,
and to cure other disorders and diseases through the agency of their
incantations and the goblins who do their bidding. They burn their
dead when they can afford it and otherwise bury them, placing the
corpse in the grave with its head to the north. The body of a woman
is wrapped in a red shroud and that of a man in a white one. They
observe mourning for a period of three to ten days, but in Jubbulpore
it always ends with the fortnight in which the death takes place;
so that a person dying on the 15th or 30th of the month is mourned
only for one day. They eat almost every kind of food, including
beef, pork, fowls, liquor and the leavings of others, but abjure
crocodiles, monkeys, snakes and rats. Many of them have now given
up eating cow's flesh in deference to Hindu feeling. They will take
food from almost any caste except sweepers, and one or two others,
as Joshi and Jasondhi, towards whom for some unexplained reason they
entertain a special aversion. They will admit outsiders belonging
to any caste from whom they can take food into the community. They
are generally considered as impure, and live outside the village,
and their touch conveys pollution, more especially in the Maratha
Districts. The ordinary village menials, as the barber and washerman,
will not work for them, and services of this nature are performed by
men of their own community. As, however, their occupation is not in
itself unclean, they rank above sweepers, Chamars and Dhobis. Temporary
exclusion from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and the almost
invariable penalty for readmission is a feast to the caste-fellows. A
person, male or female, who has been convicted of adultery must have
the head shaved, and is then seated in the centre of the caste-fellows
and pelted by them with the leavings of their food. Basor women are
not permitted to wear nose-rings on pain of exclusion from caste.
6. Occupation.
The trade of the Basors is a very essential one to the agricultural
community. They make numerous kinds of baskets, among which may be
mentioned the _chunka_, a very small one, the _tokni_, a basket
of middle size, and the _tokna_, a very large one. The _dauri_
is a special basket with a lining of matting for washing rice in
a stream. The _jhanpi_ is a round basket with a cover for holding
clothes; the _tipanna_ a small one in which girls keep dolls; and the
_bilahra_ a still smaller one for holding betel-leaf. Other articles
made from bamboo-bark are the _chalni_ or sieve, the _khunkhuna_ or
rattle, the _bansuri_ or wooden flute, the _bijna_ or fan, and the
_supa_ or winnowing-fan. All grain is cleaned with the help of the
_supa_ both on the threshing-floor and in the house before consumption,
and a child is always laid in one as soon as it is born. In towns
the Basors make the bamboo matting which is so much used. The only
implement they employ is the _banka_, a heavy curved knife, with which
all the above articles are made. The _banka_ is duly worshipped at
the Diwali festival. The Basors are also the village musicians, and a
band of three or four of them play at weddings and on other festive
occasions. Some of them work as pig-breeders and others are village
watchmen. The women often act as midwives. One subcaste, the Dumar,
will do scavenger's work, but they never take employment as _saises_,
because the touch of horse-dung is considered as a pollution, entailing
temporary excommunication from caste.
Bedar
1. General notice.
_Bedar. [252]_--A small caste of about 1500 persons, belonging
to Akola, Khandesh and Hyderabad. Their ancestors were Pindaris,
apparently recruited from the different Maratha castes, and when the
Pindaris were suppressed they obtained or were awarded land in the
localities where they now reside, and took to cultivation. The more
respectable Bedars say that their ancestors were Tirole Kunbis, but
when Tipu Sultan invaded the Carnatic he took many of them prisoners
and ordered them to become Muhammadans. In order to please him they
took food with Muhammadans, and on this account the Kunbis put them out
of caste until they should purify themselves. But as there were a large
number of them, they did not do this, and have remained a separate
caste. The real derivation of the name is unknown, but the caste say
that it is _be-dar_ or 'without fear,' and was given to them on account
of their bravery. They have now obtained a warrant from the descendant
of Shankar Acharya, or the high priest of Sivite Hindus, permitting
them to describe themselves as Put Kunbi or purified Kunbi. [253]
The community is clearly of a most mixed nature, as there are also
Dher or Mahar Bedars. They refuse to take food from other Mahars and
consider themselves defiled by their touch. The social position of
the caste also presents some peculiar features. Several of them have
taken service in the army and police, and have risen to the rank of
native officer; and Rao Sahib Dhonduji, a retired Inspector of Police,
is a prominent member of the caste. The Raja of Surpur, near Raichur,
is also said to be a Bedar, while others are ministerial officials
occupying a respectable position. Yet of the Bedars generally it is
said that they cannot draw water freely from the public wells, and in
Nasik Bedar constables are not considered suitable for ordinary duty,
as people object to their entering houses. The caste must therefore
apparently have higher and lower groups, differing considerably
in position.
2. Subdivisions and marriage customs.
They have three subdivisions, the Maratha, Telugu and Kande Bedars. The
names of their exogamous sections are also Marathi. Nevertheless
they retain one or two northern customs, presumably acquired from
association with the Pindaris. Their women do not tuck the body-cloth
in behind the waist, but draw it over the right shoulder. They wear
the _choli_ or Hindustani breast-cloth tied in front, and have a hooped
silver ornament on the top of the head, which is known as _dhora_. They
eat goats, fowls and the flesh of the wild pig, and drink liquor, and
will take food from a Kunbi or a Phulmali, and pay little heed to the
rules of social impurity. But Hindustani Brahmans act as their priests.
Before a wedding they call a Brahman and worship him as a god, the
ceremony being known as Deo Brahman. The Brahman then cooks food in the
house of his host. On the same occasion a person specially nominated
by the Brahman, and known as Deokia, fetches an earthen vessel from
the potter, and this is worshipped with offerings of turmeric and
rice, and a cotton thread is tied round it. Formerly it is said they
worshipped the spent bullets picked up after a battle, and especially
any which had been extracted from the body of a wounded person.
3. Funeral rites.
When a man is about to die they take him down from his cot and lay
him on the ground with his head in the lap of a relative. The dead
are buried, a person of importance being carried to the grave in a
sitting posture, while others are laid out in the ordinary manner. A
woman is buried in a green cloth and a breast-cloth. When the corpse
has been prepared for the funeral they take some liquor, and after a
few drops have been poured into the mouth of the corpse the assembled
persons drink the rest. While following to the grave they beat drums
and play on musical instruments and sing religious songs; and if a
man dies during the night, since he is not buried till the morning,
they sit in the house playing and singing for the remaining hours of
darkness. The object of this custom must presumably be to keep away
evil spirits. After the funeral each man places a leafy branch of
some tree or shrub on the grave, and on the thirteenth day they put
food before a cow and also throw some on to the roof of the house as
a portion for the crows.
Beldar
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice._
2. _Beldars of the northern Districts._
3. _Odias of Chhattisgarh._
4. _Other Chhattisgarhi Beldars._
5. _Munurwar and Telenga._
6. _Vaddar._
7. _Pathrot._
8. _Takari._
1. General notice.
_Beldar, [254] Od, Sonkar, Raj, Larhia, Karigar, Matkuda, Chunkar,
Munurwar, Thapatkari, Vaddar, Pathrot, Takari._--The term Beldar
is generically applied to a number of occupational groups of more
or less diverse origin, who work as masons or navvies, build the
earthen embankments of tanks or fields, carry lime and bricks and
in former times refined salt. Beldar means one who carries a _bel_,
a hoe or mattock. In 1911 a total of 25,000 Beldars were returned
from the Central Provinces, being most numerous in the Nimar, Wardha,
Nagpur, Chanda and Raipur districts. The Nunia, Murha and Sansia
(Uriya) castes, which have been treated in separate articles, are
also frequently known as Beldar, and cannot be clearly distinguished
from the main caste. If they are all classed together the total of
the earth- and stone-working castes comes to 35,000 persons.
It is probable that the bulk of the Beldars and allied castes are
derived from the non-Aryan tribes. The Murhas or navvies of the
northern Districts appear to be an offshoot of the Bind tribe; the
people known as Matkuda (earth-digger) are usually Gonds or Pardhans;
the Sansias and Larhias or Uriyas of Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country
seem to have originated from the Kol, Bhuiya and Oraon tribes, the Kols
especially making excellent diggers and masons; the Oddes or Vaddars
of Madras are a very low caste, and some of their customs point to a
similar origin, though the Munurwar masons of Chanda appear to have
belonged originally to the Kapu caste of cultivators.
The term Raj, which is also used for the Beldars in the northern
Districts, has the distinctive meaning of a mason, while Chunkar
signifies a lime-burner. The Sonkars were formerly occupied in Saugor
in carrying lime, bricks and earth on donkeys, but they have now
abandoned this calling in Chhattisgarh and taken to growing vegetables,
and have been given a short separate notice. In Hoshangabad some
Muhammadan Beldars are now also found.
2. Beldars of the northern Districts.
The Beldars of Saugor say that their ancestors were engaged in
refining salt from earth. A divine saint named Nona Rishi (_non_,
salt) came down on earth, and while cooking his food mixed some
saline soil with it. The bread tasted much better in consequence, and
he made the earth into a ball or _goli_ and taught his followers to
extract the salt from it, whence their descendants are known as Goli
Beldars. The customs of these Beldars are of the ordinary low-caste
type. The wedding procession is accompanied by drums, fireworks and,
if means permit, a nautch-girl. If a man puts away his wife without
adequate cause the caste _panchayat_ may compel him to support her
so long as she remains of good conduct. The party seeking a divorce,
whether husband or wife, has to pay Rs. 7 to the caste committee
and the other partner Rs. 3, irrespective of where the blame rests,
and each remains out of caste until he or she pays.
These Beldars will not take food from any caste but their own, and will
not take water from a Brahman, though they will accept it from Kurmis,
Gujars and similar castes. Sir H. Risley notes that their women always
remove earth in baskets on the head. "The Beldars regard this mode of
carrying earth as distinctive of themselves, and will on no account
transport it in baskets slung from the shoulders. They work very
hard when paid by the piece, and are notorious for their skill in
manipulating the pillars (_sakhi_, witness) left to mark work done,
so as to exaggerate the measurement. On one occasion while working
for me on a large lake at Govindpur, in the north of the Manbhum
District, a number of Beldars transplanted an entire pillar during
the night and claimed payment for several thousand feet of imaginary
earthwork. The fraud was most skilfully carried out, and was only
detected by accident." [255] The Beldars are often dishonest in their
dealings, and will take large advances for a tank or embankment, and
then abscond with the money without doing the work. During the open
season parties of the caste travel about in camp looking for work,
their furniture being loaded on donkeys. They carry grain in earthen
pots encased in bags of netting, neatly and closely woven, and grind
their wheat daily in a small mill set on a goat-skin. Butter is made
in one of their pots with a churning-stick, consisting of a cogged
wheel fixed on to the end of a wooden rod.
3. Odias of Chhattisgarh.
The Beldars of Chhattisgarh are divided into the Odia or Uriya, Larhia,
Kuchbandhia, Matkuda and Karigar groups. Uriya and Larhia are local
names, applied to residents of the Uriya country and Chhattisgarh
respectively. Odia is the name of a low Madras caste of masons,
but whether it is a corruption of Uriya is not clear. Karigar means
a workman, and Kuchbandhia is the name of a separate caste, who make
loom-combs for weavers. The Odias pretend to be fallen Rajputs. They
say that when Indra stole the sacrificial horse of Raja Sagar and
kept it in the underworld, the Raja's thousand sons dug great holes
through the earth to get it. Finally they arrived at the underworld
and were all reduced to ashes by the Rishi Kapil Muni, who dwelt
there. Their ghosts besought him for life, and he said that their
descendants should always continue to dig holes in the earth, which
would be used as tanks; and that whenever a tank was dug by them, and
its marriage celebrated with a sacrifice, the savour of the sacrifice
would descend to the ghosts and would afford them sustenance. The Odias
say that they are the descendants of the Raja's sons, and unless a tank
is dug and its marriage celebrated by them it remains impure. These
Odias have their tutelary deity in Rewah State, and at his shrine is a
flag which none but an Odia of genuine descent from Raja Sagar's sons
can touch without some injury befalling him. If any Beldaar therefore
claims to belong to their caste they call on him to touch the flag,
and if he does so with impunity they acknowledge him as a brother.
4. Other Chhattisgarhi Beldars.
The other group of Chattisgarhi Beldars are of lower status, and
clearly derived from the non-Aryan tribes. They eat pigs, and at
intervals of two or three years they celebrate the worship of Gosain
Deo with a sacrifice of pigs, the deity being apparently a deified
ascetic or mendicant. On this occasion the Dhimars, Gonds, and all
other castes which eat pig's flesh join in the sacrifice, and consume
the meat together after the fashion of the rice at Jagannath's temple,
which all castes may eat together without becoming impure. These
Beldars use asses for the transport of their bricks and stones, and
on the Diwali day they place a lamp before the ass and pay reverence
to it. They say that at their marriages a bride-price of Rs. 100
or Rs. 200 must always be paid, but they are allowed to give one or
two donkeys and value them at Rs. 50 apiece. They make grindstones
(_chakki_), combs for straightening the threads on the loom, and
frames for stretching the threads. These frames are called _dongi_,
and are made either wholly or partly from the horns of animals,
a fact which no doubt renders them impure.
5. Munurwar and Telenga.
In Chanda the principal castes of stone-workers are the Telengas
(Telugus), who are also known as Thapatkari (tapper or chiseller),
Telenga Kunbi and Munurwar. They occupy a higher position than the
ordinary Beldar, and Kunbis will take water from them and sometimes
food. They say that they came into Chanda from the Telugu country along
the Godavari and Pranhita rivers to build the great wall of Chanda
and the palaces and tombs of the Gond kings. There is no reason to
doubt that the Munurwars are a branch of the Kapu cultivating caste
of the Telugu country. Mr. A. K. Smith states that they refuse to eat
the flesh of an animal which has been skinned by a Mahar, a Chamar,
or a Gond; the Kunbis and Marathas also consider flesh touched by a
Mahar or Chamar to be impure, but do not object to a Gond. Like the
Berar Kunbis, the Telengas prefer that an animal should be killed by
the rite of _halal_ as practised by Muhammadan butchers. The reason
no doubt is that the _halal_ is a method of sacrificial slaughter,
and the killing of the animal is legitimised even though by the ritual
of a foreign religion. The Thapatkaris appear to be a separate group,
and their original profession was to collect and retail jungle fruits
and roots having medicinal properties. Though the majority have become
stone- and earth-workers some of them still do this.
6. Vaddar.
The Vaddars or Wadewars are a branch of the Odde caste of Madras. They
are almost an impure caste, and a section of them are professional
criminals. Their women wear glass bangles only on the left arm, those
on the right arm being made of brass or other metal. This rule has no
doubt been introduced because glass bangles would get broken when they
were supporting loads on the head. The men often wear an iron bangle
on the left wrist, which they say keeps off the lightning. Mr. Thurston
states that "Women who have had seven husbands are much respected among
the Oddes, and their blessing on a bridal pair is greatly prized. They
work in gangs on contract, and every one, except very old and very
young, shares in the labour. The women carry the earth in baskets,
while the men use the pick and spade. The babies are usually tied up
in cloths, which are suspended, hammock-fashion, from the boughs of
trees. A woman found guilty of immorality is said to have to carry
a basketful of earth from house to house before she is readmitted to
the caste. The stone-cutting Vaddars are the principal criminals, and
by going about under the pretence of mending grindstones they obtain
much useful information as to the houses to be looted or parties of
travellers to be attacked. In committing a highway robbery or dacoity
they are always armed with stout sticks." [256]
7. Pathrot.
In Berar besides the regular Beldars two castes of stone-workers are
found, the Pathrawats or Pathrots (stone-breakers) and the Takaris,
who should perhaps be classed as separate castes. Both make and
sharpen millstones and grindstones, and they are probably only
occupational groups of recent formation. The Takaris are connected
with the Pardhi caste of professional hunters and fowlers and may
be a branch of them. The social customs of the Pathrots resemble
those of the Kunbis. "They will take cooked food from a Sutar or a
Kumbhar. Imprisonment, the killing of a cow or criminal intimacy of a
man with a woman of another caste is punished by temporary outcasting,
readmission involving a fine of Rs. 4 or Rs. 5. Their chief deity
is the Devi of Tuljapur and their chief festival Dasahra; the
implements of the caste are worshipped twice a year, on Gudhi Padwa
and Diwali. Women are tattooed with a crescent between the eyebrows
and dots on the right side of the nose, the right cheek, and the chin,
and a basil plant or peacock is drawn on their wrists." [257]
8. Takari.
"The Takaris take their name from the verb _takne_, to reset or
rechisel. They mend the handmills (_chakkis_) used for grinding corn,
an occupation which is sometimes shared with them by the Langoti
Pardhis. The Takari's avocation of chiselling grindstones gives him
excellent opportunities for examining the interior economy of houses,
and the position of boxes and cupboards, and for gauging the wealth of
the inmates. They are the most inveterate house-breakers and dangerous
criminals. A form of crime favoured by the Takari, in common with
many other criminal classes, is that of decoying into a secluded
spot outside the village the would-be receiver of stolen property and
robbing him of his cash--a trick which carries a wholesome lesson with
it." [258] The chisel with which they chip the grindstones furnishes,
as stated by Mr. D. A. Smyth, D.S.P., an excellent implement for
breaking a hole through the mud wall of a house.
Beria, Bedia.
[_Bibliography_: Sir H. Risley's _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_;
Rajendra Lal Mitra in _Memoirs, Anthropological Society of London_,
iii. p. 122; Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western
Provinces and Oudh_; Mr. Kennedy's _Criminal Classes of the Bombay
Presidency_; Major Gunthorpe's _Criminal Tribes_; Mr. Gayer's _Lectures
on some Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_; Colonel Sleeman's
_Report on the Badhak or Bagri Dacoits_.]
1. Historical notice.
A caste of gipsies and thieves who are closely connected with the
Sansias. In 1891 they numbered 906 persons in the Central Provinces,
distributed over the northern Districts; in 1901 they were not
separately classified but were identified with the Nats. "They say that
some generations ago two brothers resided in the Bhartpur territory, of
whom one was named Sains Mul and the other Mullanur. The descendants
of Sains Mul are the Sansias and those of Mullanur the Berias or
Kolhatis, who are vagrants and robbers by hereditary profession,
living in tents or huts of matting, like Nats or other vagrant tribes,
and having their women in common without any marriage ceremonies
or ties whatsoever. Among themselves or their relatives the Sansias
or descendants of Sains Mul, they are called Dholi or Kolhati. The
descendants of the brothers eat, drink and smoke together, and join in
robberies, but never intermarry." So Colonel Sleeman wrote in 1849,
and other authorities agree on the close connection or identity of
the Berias and Sansias of Central India. The Kolhatis belong mainly
to the Deccan and are apparently a branch of the Berias, named
after the _Kolhan_ or long pole with which they perform acrobatic
feats. The Berias of Central India differ in many respects from those
of Bengal. Here Sir H. Risley considers Beria to be 'the generic name
of a number of vagrant, gipsy-like groups'; and a full description of
them has been given by Babu Rajendra Lal Mitra, who considers them to
resemble the gipsies of Europe. "They are noted for a light, elastic,
wiry make, very uncommon in the people of this country. In agility
and hardness they stand unrivalled. The men are of a brownish colour,
like the bulk of Bengalis, but never black. The women are of lighter
complexion and generally well-formed; some of them have considerable
claims to beauty, and for a race so rude and primitive in their habits
as the Berias, there is a sharpness in the features of their women
which we see in no other aboriginal race in India. Like the gipsies
of Europe they are noted for the symmetry of their limbs; but their
offensive habits, dirty clothing and filthy professions give them a
repulsive appearance, which is heightened by the reputation they have
of kidnapping children and frequenting burial-grounds and places of
cremation.... Familiar with the use of bows and arrows and great adepts
in laying snares and traps, they are seldom without large supplies of
game and flesh of wild animals of all kinds. They keep the dried bodies
of a variety of birds for medical purposes; mongoose, squirrels and
flying-foxes they eat with avidity as articles of luxury. Spirituous
liquors and intoxicating drugs are indulged in to a large extent,
and chiefs of clans assume the title of Bhangi or drinkers of hemp
(_bhang_) as a mark of honour.... In lying, thieving and knavery
the Beria is not a whit inferior to his brother gipsy of Europe. The
Beria woman deals in charms for exorcising the devil and palmistry
is her special vocation. She also carries with her a bundle of herbs
and other real or pretended charms against sickness of body or mind;
and she is much sought after by village maidens for the sake of
the philtre with which she restores to them their estranged lovers;
while she foretells the date when absent friends will return and the
sex of unborn children. They practise cupping with buffalo horns,
pretend to extract worms from decayed teeth and are commonly employed
as tattooers. At home the Beria woman makes mats of palm-leaves,
while her lord alone cooks.... Beria women are even more circumspect
than European gipsies. If a wife does not return before the jackal's
cry is heard in the evening, she is subject to severe punishment. It
is said that a _faux pas_ among her own kindred is not considered
reprehensible; but it is certain that no Berini has ever been known to
be at fault with any one not of her own caste." This last statement
is not a little astonishing, inasmuch as in Central India and in
Bundelkhand Berni is an equivalent term for a prostitute. A similar
diversity of conjugal morality has been noticed between the Bagris
of northern India and the Vaghris of Gujarat. [259]
2. Criminal tendencies in the Central Provinces.
In other respects also the Berias of Bengal appear to be more
respectable than the remainder of the caste, obtaining their livelihood
by means which, if disreputable, are not actually dishonest; while
in Central India the women Berias are prostitutes and the men
house-breakers and thieves. These latter are so closely connected
with the Sansias that the account of that caste is also applicable
to the Berias. In Jubbulpore, Mr. Gayer states, the caste are expert
house-breakers, bold and daring, and sometimes armed with swords and
matchlocks. They sew up stolen property in their bed-quilts and secrete
it in the hollow legs of their sleeping-cots, and the women habitually
conceal jewels and even coins in the natural passages of the body, in
which they make special _saos_ or receptacles by practice. The Beria
women go about begging, and often break open the doors of unoccupied
houses in the daytime and steal anything they can find. [260] Both
Sansia and Beria women wear a _laong_ or clove in the left nostril.
3. Social customs.
As already stated, the women are professional prostitutes, but these
do not marry, and on arrival at maturity they choose the life which
they prefer. Mr. Crooke states, [261] however, that regular marriages
seldom occur among them, because nearly all the girls are reserved
for prostitution, and the men keep concubines drawn from any fairly
respectable caste. So far is this the rule that in some localities if
a man marries a girl of the tribe he is put out of caste or obliged
to pay a fine to the tribal council. This last rule does not seem
to obtain in the Central Provinces, but marriages are uncommon. In
a colony of Berias in Jubbulpore [262] numbering sixty families it
was stated that only eight weddings could be remembered as having
occurred in the last fifty years. The boys therefore have to obtain
wives as best they can; sometimes orphan girls from other castes are
taken into the community, or any outsider is picked up. For a bride
from the caste itself a sum of Rs. 100 is usually demanded, and the
same has to be paid by a Beria man who takes a wife from the Nat or
Kanjar castes, as is sometimes done. When a match is proposed they
ask the expectant bridegroom how many thefts he has committed without
detection; and if his performances have been inadequate they refuse
to give him the girl on the ground that he will be unable to support
a wife. At the betrothal the boy's parents go to the girl's house,
taking with them a potful of liquor round which a silver ring is
placed and a pig. The ring is given to the girl and the head of
the pig to her father, while the liquor and the body of the pig
provide a feast for the caste. They consult Brahmans at their birth
and marriage ceremonies. Their principal deities appear to be their
ancestors, whom they worship on the same day of the month and year
as that on which their death took place. They make an offering of a
pig to the goddess Dadaju or Devi before starting on their annual
predatory excursions. Some rice is thrown into the animal's ear
before it is killed, and the direction in which it turns its head is
selected as the one divinely indicated for their route. Prostitution
is naturally not regarded as any disgrace, and the women who have
selected this profession mix on perfectly equal terms with those
who are married. They occupy, in fact, a more independent position,
as they dispose absolutely of their own earnings and property, and on
their death it devolves on their daughters or other female relatives,
males having no claim to it, in some localities at least. Among the
children of married couples daughters inherit equally with sons. A
prostitute is regarded as the head of the family so far as her children
are concerned. Outsiders are freely admitted into the caste on giving
a feast to the community. In Saugor the women of the caste, known
as Berni, are the village dancing-girls, and are employed to give
performances in the cold weather, especially at the Holi festival,
where they dance the whole night through, fortified by continuous
potations of liquor. This dance is called _rai_, and is accompanied
by most obscene songs and gestures.
Bhaina
List of Paragraphs
1. _The tribe derived from the Baigas._
2. _Closely connected with the Kawars._
3. _Internal structure. Totemism._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Religious superstitions._
6. _Admission of outsiders and caste offences._
7. _Social customs._
1. The tribe derived from the Baigas.
_Bhaina._ [263]--A primitive tribe peculiar to the Central Provinces
and found principally in the Bilaspur District and the adjoining area,
that is, in the wild tract of forest country between the Satpura
range and the south of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In 1911 about 17,000
members of the tribe were returned. The tribe is of mixed descent and
appears to have been derived principally from the Baigas and Kawars,
having probably served as a city of refuge to persons expelled from
these and other tribes and the lower castes for irregular sexual
relations. Their connection with the Baigas is shown by the fact that
in Mandla the Baigas have two subdivisions, which are known as Rai
or Raj-Bhaina, and Kath, or catechu-making Bhaina. The name therefore
would appear to have originated with the Baiga tribe. A Bhaina is also
not infrequently found to be employed in the office of village priest
and magician, which goes by the name of Baiga in Bilaspur. And a Bhaina
has the same reputation as a Baiga for sorcery, it being said of him--
Mainhar ki manjh
Bhaina ki pang
or 'The magic of a Bhaina is as deadly as the powdered _mainhar_
fruit,' this fruit having the property of stupefying fish when thrown
into the water, so that they can easily be caught. This reputation
simply arises from the fact that in his capacity of village priest the
Bhaina performs the various magical devices which lay the ghosts of
the dead, protect the village against tigers, ensure the prosperity
of the crops and so on. But it is always the older residents of any
locality who are employed by later comers in this office, because they
are considered to have a more intimate acquaintance with the local
deities. And consequently we are entitled to assume that the Bhainas
are older residents of the country where they are found than their
neighbours, the Gonds and Kawars. There is other evidence to the same
effect; for instance, the oldest forts in Bilaspur are attributed to
the Bhainas, and a chief of this tribe is remembered as having ruled
in Bilaigarh; they are also said to have been dominant in Pendra,
where they are still most numerous, though the estate is now held
by a Kawar; and it is related that the Bhainas were expelled from
Phuljhar in Raipur by the Gonds. Phuljhar is believed to be a Gond
State of long standing, and the Raja of Raigarh and others claim to be
descended from its ruling family. A manuscript history of the Phuljhar
chiefs records that that country was held by a Bhaina king when the
Gonds invaded it, coming from Chanda. The Bhaina with his soldiers
took refuge in a hollow underground chamber with two exits. But the
secret of this was betrayed to the Gonds by an old Gond woman, and
they filled up the openings of the chamber with grass and burnt the
Bhainas to death. On this account the tribe will not enter Phuljhar
territory to this day, and say that it is death to a Bhaina to do
so. The Binjhwars are also said to have been dominant in the hills
to the east of Raipur District, and they too are a civilised branch
of the Baigas. And in all this area the village priest is commonly
known as Baiga, the deduction from which is, as already stated, that
the Baigas were the oldest residents. [264] It seems a legitimate
conclusion, therefore, that prior to the immigration of the Gonds
and Kawars, the ancient Baiga tribe was spread over the whole hill
country east and north of the Mahanadi basin.
2. Closely connected with the Kawars.
The Bhainas are also closely connected with the Kawars, who still own
many large estates in the hills north of Bilaspur. It is said that
formerly the Bhainas and Kawars both ate in common and intermarried,
but at present, though the Bhainas still eat rice boiled in water from
the Kawars, the latter do not reciprocate. But still, when a Kawar
is celebrating a birth, marriage or death in his family, or when he
takes in hand to make a tank, he will first give food to a Bhaina
before his own caste-men eat. And it may safely be assumed that this
is a recognition of the Bhaina's position as having once been lord of
the land. A Kawar may still be admitted into the Bhaina community,
and it is said that the reason of the rupture of the former equal
relations between the two tribes was the disgust felt by the Kawars
for the rude and uncouth behaviour of the Bhainas. For on one occasion
a Kawar went to ask for a Bhaina girl in marriage, and, as the men of
the family were away, the women undertook to entertain him. And as
the Bhainas had no axes, the daughter proceeded to crack the sticks
on her head for kindling a fire, and for grass she pulled out a wisp
of thatch from the roof and broke it over her thigh, being unable to
chop it. This so offended the delicate susceptibilities of the Kawar
that he went away without waiting for his meal, and from that time the
Kawars ceased to marry with the Bhainas. It seems possible that the
story points to the period when the primitive Bhainas and Baigas did
not know the use of iron and to the introduction of this metal by the
later-coming Kawars and Gonds. It is further related that when a Kawar
is going to make a ceremonial visit he likes always to take with him
two or three Bhainas, who are considered as his retainers, though not
being so in fact. This enhances his importance, and it is also said
that the stupidity of the Bhainas acts as a foil, through which the
superior intelligence of the Kawar is made more apparent. All these
details point to the same conclusion that the primitive Bhainas first
held the country and were supplanted by the more civilised Kawars,
and bears out the theory that the settlement of the Munda tribes was
prior to those of the Dravidian family.
3. Internal structure: Totemism.
The tribe has two subdivisions of a territorial nature, Laria or
Chhattisgarhi, and Uriya. The Uriya Bhainas will accept food cooked
without water from the Sawaras or Saonrs, and these also from them;
so that they have probably intermarried. Two other subdivisions
recorded are the Jhalyara and Ghantyara or Ghatyara; the former
being so called because they live in _jhalas_ or leaf huts in the
forest, and the latter, it is said, because they tie a _ghanta_ or
bell to their doors. This, however, seems very improbable. Another
theory is that the word is derived from _ghat_, a slope or descent,
and refers to a method which the tribe have of tattooing themselves
with a pattern of lines known as _ghat_. Or it is said to mean a low
or despised section. The Jhalyara and Ghatyara divisions comprise the
less civilised portion of the tribe, who still live in the forests;
and they are looked down on by the Uriya and Laria sections, who belong
to the open country. The exogamous divisions of the tribe show clearly
enough that the Bhainas, like other subject races, have quite failed
to preserve any purity of blood. Among the names of their _gots_
or septs are Dhobia (a washerman), Ahera (cowherd), Gond, Mallin
(gardener), Panika (from a Panka or Ganda) and others. The members of
such septs pay respect to any man belonging to the caste after which
they are named and avoid picking a quarrel with him. They also worship
the family gods of this caste. The tribe have also a number of totem
septs, named after animals or plants. Such are Nag the cobra, Bagh
the tiger, Chitwa the leopard, Gidha the vulture, Besra the hawk,
Bendra the monkey, Kok or Lodha the wild dog, Bataria the quail,
Durgachhia the black ant, and so on. Members of a sept will not injure
the animal after which it is named, and if they see the corpse of the
animal or hear of its death, they throw away an earthen cooking-pot
and bathe and shave themselves as for one of the family. Members of
the Baghchhal or tiger sept will, however, join in a beat for tiger
though they are reluctant to do so. At weddings the Bhainas have a
ceremony known as the _gotra_ worship. The bride's father makes an
image in clay of the bird or animal of the groom's sept and places
it beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom worships the image,
lighting a sacrificial fire before it, and offers to it the vermilion
which he afterwards smears upon the forehead of the bride. At the
bridegroom's house a similar image is made of the bride's totem,
and on returning there after the wedding she worships this. Women
are often tattooed with representations of their totem animal, and
men swear by it as their most sacred oath. A similar respect is paid
to the inanimate objects after which certain septs are named. Thus
members of the Gawad or cowdung sept will not burn cowdung cakes for
fuel; and those of the Mircha sept do not use chillies. One sept is
named after the sun, and when an eclipse occurs these perform the
same formal rites of mourning as the others do on the death of their
totem animal. Some of the groups have two divisions, male and female,
which practically rank as separate septs. Instances of these are the
Nagbans Andura and the Nagbans Mai or male and female cobra septs;
the Karsayal Singhara and Karsayal Mundi or stag and doe deer septs;
and the Baghchhal Andura and Baghchhal Mai or tiger and tigress
septs. These may simply be instances of subdivisions arising owing
to the boundaries of the sept having become too large for convenience.
4. Marriage.
The tribe consider that a boy should be married when he has learnt to
drive the plough, and a girl when she is able to manage her household
affairs. When a father can afford a bride for his son, he and his
relatives go to the girl's village, taking with them ten or fifteen
cakes of bread and a bottle of liquor. He stays with some relative and
sends to ask the girl's father if he will give his daughter to the
inquirer's son. If the former agrees, the bread and liquor are sent
over to him, and he drinks three cups of the spirit as a pledge of
the betrothal, the remainder being distributed to the company. This is
known as _Tatia kholna_ or 'the opening of the door,' and is followed
some days afterwards by a similar ceremonial which constitutes the
regular betrothal. On this occasion the father agrees to marry his
daughter within a year and demands the bride-price, which consists
of rice, cloth, a goat and other articles, the total value being
about five rupees. A date is next fixed for the wedding, the day
selected being usually a Monday or Friday, but no date or month is
forbidden. The number of days to the wedding are then counted, and
two knotted strings are given to each party, with a knot for each
day up to that on which the anointings with oil and turmeric will
commence at the bridegroom's and bride's houses. Every day one knot
is untied at each house up to that on which the ceremonies begin,
and thus the correct date for them is known. The invitations to the
wedding are given by distributing rice coloured yellow with turmeric
to all members of the caste in the locality, with the intimation
that the wedding procession will start on a certain day and that they
will be pleased to attend. During the four days that they are being
anointed the bride and bridegroom dance at their respective houses
to the accompaniment of drums and other instruments. For the wedding
ceremony a number of Hindu rites have been adopted. The eldest sister
of the bridegroom or bride is known as the _sawasin_ and her husband as
the _sawasa_, and these persons seem to act as the representatives of
the bridal couple throughout the marriage and to receive all presents
on their behalf. The custom is almost universal among the Hindus,
and it is possible that they are intended to act as substitutes and
to receive any strokes of evil fortune which may befall the bridal
pair at a season at which they are peculiarly liable to it. The
couple go round the sacred post, and afterwards the bridegroom daubs
the bride's forehead with red lead seven times and covers her head
with her cloth to show that she has become a married woman. After
the wedding the bridegroom's parents say to him, "Now your parents
have done everything they could for you, and you must manage your
own house." The expenditure on an average wedding is about fifteen
or twenty rupees. A widow is usually taken in marriage by her late
husband's younger brother or Dewar, or by one of his relatives. If
she marries an outsider, the Dewar realises twelve rupees from him
in compensation for her loss. But if there is no Dewar this sum is
not payable to her first husband's elder brother or her own father,
because they could not have married her and hence are not held to be
injured by a stranger doing so. If a woman is divorced and another
man wishes to marry her, he must make a similar payment of twelve
rupees to the first husband, together with a goat and liquor for the
penal feast. The Bhainas bury or burn the dead according as their
means permit.
5. Religious superstitions.
Their principal deity in Bilaspur is Nakti Devi [265] or the 'Noseless
Goddess.' For her ritual rice is placed on a square of the floor
washed with cowdung, and _ghi_ or preserved butter is poured on it and
burnt. A hen is made to eat the rice, and then its head is cut off and
laid on the square. The liver is burnt on the fire as an offering to
the deity and the head and body of the animal are then eaten. After
the death of a man a cock is offered to Nakti Devi and a hen after
that of a woman. The fowl is made to pick rice first in the yard of
the house, then on the threshold, and lastly inside the house. Thakur
Deo is the deity of cultivation and is worshipped on the day before
the autumn crops are sown. On this day all the men in the village
go to his shrine taking a measure of rice and a ploughshare. At the
same time the Baiga or village priest goes and bathes in the tank and
is afterwards carried to the assembly on a man's shoulders. Here he
makes an offering and repeats a charm, and then kneeling down strikes
the earth seven times with the ploughshare, and sows five handfuls of
rice, sprinkling water over the seed. After him the villagers walk
seven times round the altar of the god in pairs, one man turning up
the earth with the ploughshare and the other sowing and watering the
seed. While this is going on the Baiga sits with his face covered
with a piece of cloth, and at the end the villagers salute the Baiga
and go home. When a man wishes to do an injury to another he makes
an image of him with clay and daubs it with vermilion and worships
it with an offering of a goat or a fowl and liquor. Then he prays
the image that his enemy may die. Another way of injuring an enemy
is to take rice coloured with turmeric, and after muttering charms
throw it in the direction in which the enemy lives.
6. Admission of outsiders and caste offences.
Outsiders are not usually admitted, but if a Bhaina forms a connection
with a woman of another tribe, they will admit the children of such
a union, though not the woman herself. For they say: 'The seed is
ours and what matters the field on which it was sown.' But a man
of the Kawar tribe having intimacy with a Bhaina woman may be taken
into the community. He must wait for three or four months after the
matter becomes known and will beg for admission and offer to give
the penalty feast. A day is fixed for this and invitations are sent
to members of the caste. On the appointed day the women of the tribe
cook rice, pulse, goat's flesh and urad cakes fried in oil, and in
the evening the people assemble and drink liquor and then go to take
their food. The candidate for admission serves water to the men and
his prospective wife to the women, both being then permitted to take
food with the tribe. Next morning the people come again and the woman
is dressed in a white cloth with bangles. The couple stand together
supported by their brother-in-law and sister-in-law respectively,
and turmeric dissolved in water is poured over their heads. They
are now considered to be married and go round together and give the
salutation or Johar to the people, touching the feet of those who
are entitled to this mark of respect, and kissing the others. Among
the offences for which a man is temporarily put out of caste is
getting the ear torn either accidentally or otherwise, being beaten
by a man of very low caste, growing san-hemp (_Crotalaria juncea_),
rearing tasar silk-worms or getting maggots in a wound. This last is
almost as serious an offence as killing a cow, and, in both cases,
before an offender can be reinstated he must kill a fowl and swallow
a drop or two of its blood with turmeric. Women commonly get the lobe
of the ear torn through the heavy ear-rings which they wear; and in
a squabble another woman will often seize the ear-ring maliciously
in order to tear the ear. A woman injured in this way is put out of
caste for a year in Janjgir. To grow turmeric or garlic is also an
offence against caste, but a man is permitted to do this for his own
use and not for sale. A man who gets leprosy is said to be permanently
expelled from caste. The purification of delinquents is conducted
by members of the Sonwani (gold-water) and Patel (headman) septs,
whose business it is to give the offender water to drink in which
gold has been dipped and to take over the burden of his sins by first
eating food with him. But others say that the Hathi or elephant sept
is the highest, and to its members are delegated these duties. And
in Janjgir again the president of the committee gives the gold-water,
and is hence known as Sonwan; and this office must always be held by
a man of the Bandar or monkey sept.
7. Social customs.
The Bhainas are a comparatively civilised tribe and have largely
adopted Hindu usages. They employ Brahmans to fix auspicious days
for their ceremonies, though not to officiate at them. They live
principally in the open country and are engaged in agriculture, though
very few of them hold land and the bulk are farm-labourers. They now
disclaim any connection with the primitive Baigas, who still prefer
the forests. But their caste mark, a symbol which may be affixed to
documents in place of a signature or used for a brand on cattle, is
a bow, and this shows that they retain the recollection of hunting as
their traditional occupation. Like the Baigas, the tribe have forgotten
their native dialect and now speak bad Hindi. They will eat pork and
rats, and almost anything else they can get, eschewing only beef. But
in their intercourse with other castes they are absurdly strict, and
will take boiled rice only from a Kawar, or from a Brahman if it is
cooked in a brass and not in an earthen vessel, and this only from
a male and not from a female Brahman; while they will accept baked
_chapatis_ and other food from a Gond and a Rawat. But in Sambalpur
they will take this from a Savar and not from a Gond. They rank below
the Gonds, Kawars and Savars or Saonrs. Women are tattooed with a
representation of their sept totem; and on the knees and ankles they
have some figures of lines which are known as _ghats_. These they
say will enable them to climb the mountains leading to heaven in the
other world, while those who have not such marks will be pierced with
spears on their way up the ascent. It has already been suggested that
these marks may have given rise to the name of the Ghatyara division
of the tribe.
Bhamta or Bhamtya
1. Occupation.
_Bhamta or Bhamtya._ [266]--A caste numbering 4000 persons in the
Central Provinces, nearly all of whom reside in the Wardha, Nagpur
and Chanda Districts of the Nagpur Division. The Bhamtas are also
found in Bombay, Berar and Hyderabad. In Bombay they are known by the
names of Uchla or 'Lifter' and Ganthachor or 'Bundle-thief.' [267]
The Bhamtas were and still are notorious thieves, but many of the
caste are now engaged in the cultivation of hemp, from which they
make ropes, mats and gunny-bags. Formerly it was said in Wardha that
a Bhamta girl would not marry unless her suitor had been arrested not
less than fourteen times by the police, when she considered that he
had qualified as a man. The following description of their methods
does not necessarily apply to the whole caste, though the bulk of
them are believed to have criminal tendencies. But some colonies of
Bhamtas who have taken to the manufacture of sacking and gunny-bags
from hemp-fibre may perhaps be excepted. They steal only during the
daytime, and divide that part of the Province which they frequent into
regular beats or ranges. They adopt many disguises. Even in their own
cottages one dresses as a Marwari Bania, another as a Gujarat Jain,
a third as a Brahman and a fourth as a Rajput. They keep to some
particular disguise for years and often travel hundreds of miles,
entering and stealing from the houses of the classes of persons whose
dress they adopt, or taking service with a merchant or trader, and
having gained their employer's confidence, seizing an opportunity to
abscond with some valuable property. Sometimes two or three Bhamtas
visit a large fair, and one of them dressed as a Brahman mingles with
the crowd of bathers and worshippers. The false Brahman notices some
ornament deposited by a bather, and while himself entering the water
and repeating sacred verses, watches his opportunity and spreads out
his cloth near the ornament, which he then catches with his toes,
and dragging it with him to a distance as he walks away buries it in
the sand. The accomplices meanwhile loiter near, and when the owner
discovers his loss the Brahman sympathises with him and points out
the accomplices as likely thieves, thus diverting suspicion from
himself. The victim follows the accomplices, who make off, and the
real thief meanwhile digs the ornament out of the sand and escapes
at his leisure. Women often tie their ornaments in bundles at such
bathing-fairs, and in that case two Bhamtas will go up to her, one
on each side, and while one distracts her attention the other makes
off with the bundle and buries it in the sand. A Bhamta rarely retains
the stolen property on his person while there is a chance of his being
searched, and is therefore not detected. They show considerable loyalty
to one another, and never steal from or give information against a
member of the caste. If stolen property is found in a Bhamta's house,
and it has merely been deposited there for security, the real thief
comes forward. An escaped prisoner does not come back to his friends
lest he should get them into trouble. A Bhamta is never guilty of
house-breaking or gang-robbery, and if he takes part in this offence
he is put out of caste. He does not steal from the body of a person
asleep. He is, however, expert at the theft of ornaments from the
person. He never steals from a house in his own village, and the
villagers frequently share directly or indirectly in his gains. The
Bhamtas are now expert railway thieves. [268] Two of them will get
into a carriage, and, engaging the other passengers in conversation,
find out where they are going, so as to know the time available for
action. When it gets dark and the travellers go to sleep, one of
the Bhamtas lies down on the floor and covers himself with a large
cloth. He begins feeling some bag under the seat, and if he cannot
open it with his hands, takes from his mouth the small curved knife
which all Bhamtas carry concealed between their gum and upper lip,
and with this he rips up the seams of the bag and takes out what
he finds; or they exchange bags, according to a favourite device of
English railway thieves, and then quickly either leave the train or
get into another carriage. If attention is aroused they throw the
stolen property out of the window, marking the place and afterwards
going back to recover it. Another device is to split open and pick
the pockets of people in a crowd. Besides the knife they often have
a needle and thread and an iron nut-cutter.
2. Subdivisions and marriage customs.
Members of other castes, as Chhatri, Kanjar, Rawat and others, who
have taken to stealing, are frequently known as Bhamtas, but unless
they have been specially initiated do not belong to the caste. The
Bhamtas proper have two main divisions, the Chhatri Bhamtas, who are
usually immigrants from Gujarat, and those of the Maratha country,
who are often known as Bhamtis. The former have a dialect which is
a mixture of Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati, while the latter speak
the local form of Marathi. The sections of the Chhatri Bhamtas are
named after Rajput septs, as Badgujar, Chauhan, Gahlot, Bhatti,
Kachhwaha and others. They may be partly of Rajput descent, as they
have regular and pleasing features and a fair complexion, and are well
built and sturdy. The sections of the Bhamtis are called by Maratha
surnames, as Gudekar, Kaothi, Bailkhade, Satbhaia and others. The
Chhatri Bhamtas have northern customs, and the Bhamtis those of the
Maratha country. Marriage between persons of the same _gotra_ or
surname is prohibited. The Chhatris avoid marriage between relations
having a common greatgrandparent, but among the Bhamtis the custom of
Mehunchar is prevalent, by which the brother's daughter is married to
the sister's son. Girls are usually married at ten and eleven years of
age or later. The betrothal and marriage customs of the two subcastes
differ, the Chhatris following the ceremonial of the northern Districts
and the Bhamtis that of the Maratha country. The Chhatris do not pay
a bride-price, but the Bhamtis usually do. Widow-marriage is allowed,
and while the Chhatris expect the widow to marry her deceased husband's
brother, the Bhamtis do not permit this. Among both subdivisions a
price is paid for the widow to her parents. Divorce is only permitted
for immoral conduct on the part of the wife. A divorced woman may
remarry after giving a feast to the caste _panchayat_ or committee,
and obtaining their consent.
3. Religion and social customs.
The goddess Devi is the tutelary deity of the caste, as of all those
who ply a disreputable profession. Animals are sacrificed to her
or let loose to wander in her name. The offerings are appropriated
by the village washerman. In Bombay the rendezvous of the Bhamtis
is the temple of Devi at Konali, in Akalkot State, near Sholapur,
and here the gangs frequently assemble before and after their raids
to ask the goddess that luck may attend them and to thank her for
success obtained. [269] They worship their rope-making implements on
the Dasahra day. They both bury and burn the dead. Ghosts and spirits
are worshipped. If a man takes a second wife after the death of his
first, the new wife wears a _putli_ or image of the first wife on
a piece of silver on her neck, and offers it the _hom_ sacrifice
by placing some _ghi_ on the fire before taking a meal. In cases of
doubt and difficulty she often consults the _putli_ by speaking to it,
while any chance stir of the image due to the movement of her body
is interpreted as approval or disapproval. In the Central Provinces
the Bhamtis say that they do not admit outsiders into the caste, but
this is almost certainly untrue. In Bombay they are said to admit all
Hindus [270] except the very lowest castes, and also Muhammadans. The
candidate must pass through the two ceremonies of admission into the
caste and adoption into a particular family. For the first he pays an
admission fee, is bathed and dressed in new clothes, and one of the
elders drops turmeric and sugar into his mouth. A feast follows, during
which some elders of the caste eat out of the same plate with him. This
completes the admission ceremony, but in order to marry in the caste
a candidate must also be adopted into a particular family. The Bhamta
who has agreed to adopt him invites the caste people to his house,
and there takes the candidate on his knee while the guests drop
turmeric and sugar into his mouth. The Bhamtas eat fish and fowl but
not pork or beef, and drink liquor. This last practice is, however,
frequently made a caste offence by the Bhamtis. They take cooked
food from Brahmans and Kunbis and water from Gonds. The keeping of
concubines is also an offence entailing temporary excommunication. The
morality of the caste is somewhat low and their women are addicted
to prostitution. The occupation of the Bhamta is also looked down on,
and it is said, _Bhamta ka kam sub se nikam_, or 'The Bhamta's work is
the worst of all.' This may apply either to his habits of stealing or
to the fact that he supplies a bier made of twine and bamboo sticks at
a death. In Bombay the showy dress of the Bhamta is proverbial. Women
are tattooed before marriage on the forehead and lower lip, and on
other parts of the body for purposes of adornment. The men have the
head shaved for three inches above the top of the forehead in front
and an inch higher behind, and they wear the scalp-lock much thicker
than Brahmans do. They usually have red head-cloths.
Bharbhunja
1. General notice
_Bharbhunja._ [271]--The occupational caste of grain-parchers. The
name is derived from the Sanskrit _bhrastra_, a frying-pan, and
_bharjaka_, one who fries. The Bharbhunjas numbered 3000 persons in
1911, and belong mainly to the northern Districts, their headquarters
being in Upper India. In Chhattisgarh the place of the Bharbhunjas is
taken by the Dhuris. Sir H. Elliot [272] remarks that the caste are
traditionally supposed to be descended from a Kahar father and a Sudra
mother, and they are probably connected with the Kahars. In Saugor
they say that their ancestors were Kankubja Brahmans who were ordered
to parch rice at the wedding of the great Rama, and in consequence
of this one of their subcastes is known as Kanbajia. But Kankubja is
one of the commonest names of subcastes among the people of northern
India, and merely indicates that the bearers belong to the tract
round the old city of Kanauj; and there is no reason to suppose that
it means anything more in the case of the Bharbhunjas. Another group
are called Kaitha, and they say that their ancestors were Kayasths,
who adopted the profession of grain-parching. It is said that in Bhopal
proper Kayasths will take food from Kaitha Bharbhunjas and smoke from
their huqqa; and it is noticeable that in northern India Mr. Crooke
gives [273] not only the Kaitha subcaste, but other groups called
Saksena and Srivastab, which are the names of well-known Kayasth
subdivisions. It is possible, therefore, that the Kaitha group may
really be connected with the Kayasths. Other subcastes are the Benglah,
who are probably immigrants from Bengal; and the Kandu, who may also
come from that direction, Kandu being the name of the corresponding
caste of grain-parchers in Bengal.
2. Social customs.
The social customs of the Bharbhunjas resemble those of Hindustani
castes of fairly good position. [274] They employ Brahmans for their
ceremonies, and the family priest receives five rupees for officiating
at a wedding, three rupees for a funeral, one rupee for a birth,
and four annas on ordinary occasions. No price is paid for a bride,
and at their marriages the greater part of the expense falls on the
girl's father, who has to give three feasts as against two provided by
the bridegroom's father. After the wedding the bridegroom's father puts
on women's clothes given by the bride's father and dances before the
family. Rose-coloured water and powder are sprinkled over the guests
and the proceeding is known as _Phag_, because it is considered to have
the same significance as the Holi festival observed in Phagun. This
is usually done on the bank of a river or in some garden outside
the village. At the _gauna_ or going-away ceremony the bride and
bridegroom take their seats on two wooden boards and then change
places. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. The union
of a widow with her deceased husband's younger brother is considered
a suitable match, but is not compulsory. When a bachelor marries a
widow, he first goes through the proper ceremony either with a stick
or an ear-ring, and is then united to the widow by the simple ritual
employed for widow remarriage. A girl who is seduced by a member of
the caste may be married to him as if she were a widow, but if her
lover is an outsider she is permanently expelled from the caste.
3. Occupation.
The Bharbhunjas occupy a fairly high social position, analogous to
that of the Barais, Kahars and other serving castes, the explanation
being that all Hindus require the grain parched by them; this, as it
is not cooked with water, may be eaten abroad, on a journey or in the
market-place. This is known as _pakki_ food, and even Brahmans will
take it from their hands. But Mr. Crooke notes [275] that the work
they do, and particularly the sweeping up of dry leaves for fuel,
tends to lower them in the popular estimation, and it is a favourite
curse to wish of an enemy that he may some day come to stoke the kiln
of a grain-parcher. Of their occupation Sir H. Risley states that
"Throughout the caste the actual work of parching grain is usually
left to the women. The process is a simple one. A clay oven is built,
somewhat in the shape of a bee-hive, with ten or twelve round holes at
the top. A fire is lighted under it and broken earthen pots containing
sand are put on the holes. The grain to be parched is thrown in with
the sand and stirred with a flat piece of wood or a broom until it is
ready. The sand and parched grain are then placed in a sieve, through
which the former escapes. The wages of the parcher are a proportion
of the grain, varying from one-eighth to one-fourth. In Bengal the
caste was spoken of by early English travellers under the quaint name
of the frymen." [276] In the Central Provinces also grain-parching
is distinctly a woman's industry, only twenty-two per cent of those
shown as working at it being men. There are two classes of tradesmen,
those who simply keep ovens and parch grain which is brought to them,
and those who keep the grain and sell it ready parched. The rates for
parching are a pice a seer or an eighth part of the grain. Gram and
rice, husked or unhusked, are the grains usually parched. When parched,
gram is called _phutana_ (broken) and rice _lahi_. The Bharbhunjas also
prepare _sathu_, a flour made by grinding parched gram or wheat, which
is a favourite food for a light morning meal, or for travellers. It
can be taken without preparation, being simply mixed with water and
a little salt or sugar. The following story is told about _sathu_
to emphasise its convenience in this respect. Once two travellers
were about to take some food before starting in the morning, of
whom one had _sathu_ and the other _dhan_ (unhusked rice). The one
with the _dhan_ knew that it would take him a long time to pound,
and then cook and eat it, so he said to the other, "My poor friend,
I perceive that you only have _sathu_, which will delay you because
you must find water, and then mix it, and find salt, and put it in,
before your _sathu_ can be ready, while rice--pound, eat and go. But
if you like, as you are in a greater hurry than I am, I will change my
rice for your _sathu_." The other traveller unsuspectingly consented,
thinking he was getting the best of the bargain, and while he was still
looking for a mortar in which to pound his rice, the first traveller
had mixed and eaten the _sathu_ and proceeded on his journey. In the
vernacular the point is brought out by the onomatopoeic character
of the lines, which cannot be rendered in English. The caste are now
also engaged in selling tobacco and sweetmeats and the manufacture of
fireworks. They stoke their ovens with any refuse they can collect
from the roads, and hence comes the saying, '_Bhar men dalna_',
'To throw into the oven,' meaning to throw away something or to make
ducks and drakes with it; while _Bhar-jhokna_ signifies to light
or heat the oven, and, figuratively, to take up a mean occupation
(Platts). Another proverb quoted by Mr. Crooke is, '_Bharbhunja ka
larki kesar ka tika_,' or 'The Bharbhunja's slut with saffron on her
forehead,' meaning one dressed in borrowed plumes. Another saying is,
'_To tum kya abhi tak bhar bhunjte rahe_,' or 'Have you been stoking
the oven all this time?'--meaning to imply that the person addressed
has been wasting his time, because the profits from grain-parching
are so small. The oven of the Psalmist into which the grass was cast
no doubt closely resembled that of the Bharbhunjas.
Bharia
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin and tribal legend._
2. _Tribal subdivisions._
3. _Marriage._
4. _Childbirth._
5. _Funeral ceremonies._
6. _Religion and magic._
7. _Social life and customs._
8. _Occupation._
1. Origin and tribal legend.
_Bharia, Bharia-Bhumia._ [277]--A Dravidian tribe numbering about
50,000 persons and residing principally in the Jubbulpore District,
which contains a half of the total number. The others are found in
Chhindwara and Bilaspur. The proper name of the tribe is Bharia,
but they are often called Bharia-Bhumia, because many of them hold
the office of Bhumia or priest of the village gods and of the lower
castes in Jubbulpore, and the Bharias prefer the designation of Bhumia
as being the more respectable. The term Bhumia or 'Lord of the soil'
is an alternative for Bhuiya, the name of another Dravidian tribe,
and no doubt came to be applied to the office of village priest
because it was held by members of this tribe; the term Baiga has a
similar signification in Mandla and Balaghat, and is applied to the
village priest though he may not belong to the Baiga tribe at all. The
Bharias have forgotten their original affinities, and several stories
of the origin of the tribe are based on far-fetched derivations of
the name. One of these is to the effect that Arjun, when matters were
going badly with the Pandavas in their battle against the Kauravas,
took up a handful of _bharru_ grass and, pressing it, produced a
host of men who fought in the battle and became the ancestors of the
Bharias. And there are others of the same historical value. But there
is no reason to doubt that Bharia is the contemptuous form of Bhar, as
Telia for Teli, Jugia for Jogi, Kuria for Kori, and that the Bharias
belong to the great Bhar tribe who were once dominant in the eastern
part of the United Provinces, but are now at the bottom of the social
scale, and relegated by their conquerors to the degrading office
of swineherds. The Rajjhars, who appear to have formed a separate
caste as the landowning subdivision of the Bhars, like the Raj-Gonds
among Gonds, are said to be the descendants of a Raja and a Bharia
woman. The Rajjhars form a separate caste in the Central Provinces,
and the Bharias acknowledge some connection with them, but refuse to
take water from their hands, as they consider them to be of impure
blood. The Bharias also give Mahoba or Bandhogarh as their former
home, and these places are in the country of the Bhars. According
to tradition Raja Karna Deva, a former king of Dahal, the classical
name of the Jubbulpore country, was a Bhar, and it may be that the
immigration of the Bharias into Jubbulpore dates from his period, which
is taken as 1040 to 1080 A.D. While then it may be considered as fairly
certain that the Bharias are merely the Bhar tribe with a variant
of the name, it is clear from the titles of their family groups,
which will shortly be given, that they are an extremely mixed class
and consist largely of the descendants of members of other castes,
who, having lost their own social position, have taken refuge among
the Bharias at the bottom of the social scale. Mr. Crooke says of the
Bhars: [278] "The most probable supposition is that the Bhars were
a Dravidian race closely allied to the Kols, Cheros and Seoris, who
at an early date succumbed to the invading Aryans. This is borne out
by their appearance and physique, which closely resemble that of the
undoubted non-Aryan aborigines of the Vindhyan-Kaimur plateau." In
the Central Provinces the Bharias have been so closely associated
with the Gonds that they have been commonly considered to belong
to that tribe. Thus Mr. Drysdale says of them: [279] 'The Bharias
were the wildest of the wild Gonds and were inveterate _dhaya_ [280]
cutters.' Although, however, they have to some extent intermarried
with the Gonds, the Bharias were originally quite a distinct tribe,
and would belong to the Kolarian or Munda group but that they have
entirely forgotten their own language and speak only Hindi, though with
a peculiar intonation especially noticeable in the case of their women.
2. Tribal subdivisions.
The structure of the tribe is a very loose one, and though the
Bharias say that they are divided into subcastes, there are none
in reality. Members of all castes except the very lowest may become
Bharias, and one Bharia will recognise another as a fellow-tribesman
if he can show relationship to any person admitted to occupy that
position. But a division is in process of formation in Bilaspur
based on the practice of eating beef, from which some abstain,
and in consequence look down on the others who are addicted to it,
and call them Dhur Bharias, the term _dhur_ meaning cattle. The
abstainers from beef now refuse to marry with the others. The tribe
is divided into a number of exogamous groups, and the names of these
indicate the very heterogeneous elements of which it consists. Out of
fifty-one groups reported not less than fifteen or sixteen have names
derived from other castes or clans, showing almost certainly that such
groups were formed by a mixed marriage or the admission of a family of
outsiders. Such names are: Agaria, from the Agarias or iron-workers:
this clan worships Loha-Sur, the god of the Agarias; Ahirwar, or the
descendants of an Ahir: this clan worships the Ahir gods; Bamhania,
born of a Brahman ancestor; Binjhwar or Binjha, perhaps from the
tribe of that name; Chandel, from a Rajput clan; Dagdoha, a synonym
of Basor: persons of this sept hang a piece of bamboo and a curved
knife to the waist of the bride at their marriages; Dhurua, born of
a Dhurua Gond; Kuanpa, born of an Ahir subcaste of that name; Kurka,
of Korku parentage; Maravi, the name of a Gond clan; Rathor from a
Rajput clan; Samarba from a Chamar; and Yarkara, the name of a Gond
clan. These names sufficiently indicate the diverse elements of which
the tribe is made up. Other group names with meanings are: Gambhele,
or those who seclude their women in a separate house during the
menstrual period; Kaitha, from the _kaith_ tree (_Feronia elephantum_);
Karondiha, from the _karonda_ plant (_Carissa Carandas_); Magarha,
from _magar_ a crocodile: members of this group worship an image of
a crocodile made with flour and fried in oil; Sonwani, from _sona_
gold: members of this group perform the ceremony of readmission of
persons temporarily put out of caste by sprinkling on them a little
water in which gold has been dipped. Any person who does not know his
clan name calls himself a Chandel, and this group, though bearing the
name of a distinguished Rajput clan, is looked upon as the lowest. But
although the rule of exogamy in marriage is recognised, it is by no
means strictly adhered to, and many cases are known in which unions
have taken place between members of the same clan. So long as people
can recollect a relationship between themselves, they do not permit
their families to intermarry. But the memory of the Bharia does not
extend beyond the third generation.
3. Marriage.
Marriages are adult, and the proposal comes from the boy's father,
who has it conveyed to the girl's father through some friend in his
village. If a betrothal is arranged the bride's father invites the
father and friends of the bridegroom to dinner; on this occasion
the boy's father brings some necklaces of lac beads and spangles and
presents them to the bride's female relatives, who then come out and
tie the necklaces round his neck and those of his friends, place
the spangles on their foreheads, and then, catching hold of their
cheeks, press and twist them violently. Some turmeric powder is also
thrown on their faces. This is the binding portion of the betrothal
ceremony. The date of marriage is fixed by a Brahman, this being
the only purpose for which he is employed, and a bride-price varying
from six to twelve rupees is paid. On this occasion the women draw
caricatures with turmeric or charcoal on the loin-cloth of the boy's
father, which they manage to purloin. The marriage ceremony follows
generally the Hindu form. The bridegroom puts on women's ornaments
and carries with him an iron nut-cracker or dagger to keep off evil
spirits. After the wedding, the _midua_, a sort of burlesque dance,
is held. The girl's mother gets the dress of the boy's father and puts
it on, together with a false beard and moustaches, and dances, holding
a wooden ladle in one hand and a packet of ashes in the other. Every
time she approaches the bridegroom's father on her rounds she spills
some of the ashes over him, and occasionally gives him a crack on
the head with her ladle, these actions being accompanied by bursts of
laughter from the party and frenzied playing by the musicians. When
the party reach the bridegroom's house on their return, his mother and
the other women come out and burn a little mustard and human hair in a
lamp, the unpleasant smell emitted by these articles being considered
potent to drive away evil spirits. Every time the bride leaves her
father's house she must weep, and must cry separately with each one of
her caste-sisters when taking leave of them. When she returns home she
must begin weeping loudly on the boundary of the village, and continue
doing so until she has embraced each of her relatives and friends,
a performance which in a village containing a large number of Bharias
may take from three to six hours. These tears are, however, considered
to be a manifestation of joy, and the girl who cannot produce enough of
them is often ridiculed. A prospective son-in-law who serves for his
wife is known as Gharjian. The work given him is always very heavy,
and the Bharias have a saying which compares his treatment with that
awarded to an ox obtained on hire. If a girl is seduced by a man of
the tribe, she may be married to him by the ceremony prescribed for
the remarriage of a widow, which consists merely in the placing of
bangles on the wrists and a present of a new cloth, together with
a feast to the caste-fellows. Similarly if she is seduced by a man
of another caste who would be allowed to become a Bharia, she can
be married as a widow to any man of the tribe. A widow is expected
to marry her late husband's younger brother, but no compulsion is
exercised. If a bachelor espouses a widow, he first goes through the
ceremony of marriage with a ring to which a twig of the date-palm is
tied, by carrying the ring seven times round the marriage post. This
is necessary to save him from the sin of dying unmarried, as the
union with a widow is not reckoned as a true marriage. In Jubbulpore
divorce is said to be allowed only for conjugal misbehaviour, and a
Bharia will pass over three transgressions on his wife's part before
finally turning her out of his house. A woman who wishes to leave her
husband simply runs away from him and lives with somebody else. In
this case the third party must pay a goat to the husband by way of
compensation and give a feast to the caste-fellows.
4. Childbirth.
The carelessness of the Bharias in the matter of childbirth is
notorious, and it is said that mothers commonly went on working up
to the moment of childbirth and were delivered of children in the
fields. Now, however, the woman lies up for three days, and some
ceremonies of purification are performed. In Chhattisgarh infants
are branded on the day of their birth, under the impression that this
will cause them to digest the food they have taken in the womb. The
child is named six months after birth by the father's sister, and
its lips are then touched with cooked food for the first time.
5. Funeral ceremonies.
The tribe both burn and bury the dead, and observe mourning for an
adult for ten days, during which time they daily put out a leaf-cup
containing food for the use of the deceased. In the third year after
the death, the _mangan_ or caste beggar visits the relatives of the
deceased, and receives what they call one limb (_ang_), or half his
belongings; the _ang_ consists of a loin-cloth, a brass vessel and
dish, an axe, a scythe and a wrist-ring.
6. Religion and magic.
The Bharias call themselves Hindus and worship the village deities
of the locality, and on the day of Diwali offer a black chicken
to their family god, who may be Bura Deo, Dulha Deo or Karua, the
cobra. For this snake they profess great reverence, and say that he was
actually born in a Bharia family. As he could not work in the fields
he was usually employed on errands. One day he was sent to the house,
and surprised one of his younger brother's wives, who had not heard
him coming, without her veil. She reproached him, and he retired in
dudgeon to the oven, where he was presently burnt to death by another
woman, who kindled a fire under it not knowing that he was there. So
he has been deified and is worshipped by the tribe. The Bharias also
venerate Bagheshwar, the tiger god, and believe that no tiger will eat
a Bharia. On the Diwali day they invite the tiger to drink some gruel
which they place ready for him behind their houses, at the same time
warning the other villagers not to stir out of doors. In the morning
they display the empty vessels as a proof that the tiger has visited
them. They practise various magical devices, believing that they can
kill a man by discharging at him a _muth_ or handful of charmed objects
such as lemons, vermilion and seeds of urad. This ball will travel
through the air and, descending on the house of the person at whom
it is aimed, will kill him outright unless he can avert its power by
stronger magic, and perhaps even cause it to recoil in the same manner
on the head of the sender. They exorcise the Sudhiniyas or the drinkers
of human blood. A person troubled by one of these is seated near the
Bharia, who places two pots with their mouths joined over a fire. He
recites incantations and the pots begin to boil, emitting blood. This
result is obtained by placing a herb in the pot whose juice stains the
water red. The blood-sucker is thus successfully exorcised. To drive
away the evil eye they burn a mixture of chillies, salt, human hair
and the husks of kodon, which emits a very evil smell. Such devices
are practised by members of the tribe who hold the office of Bhumia
or village priest. The Bharias are well-known thieves, and they say
that the dark spots on the moon are caused by a banyan tree, which God
planted with the object of diminishing her light and giving thieves
a chance to ply their trade. If a Bhumia wishes to detect a thief,
he sits clasping hands with a friend, while a pitcher is supported on
their hands. An oblation is offered to the deity to guide the ordeal
correctly, and the names of suspected persons are recited one by one,
the name at which the pitcher topples over being that of the thief. But
before employing this method of detection the Bhumia proclaims his
intention of doing so on a certain date, and in the meantime places a
heap of ashes in some lonely place and invites the thief to deposit
the stolen article in the ashes to save himself from exposure. By
common custom each person in the village is required to visit the
heap and mingle a handful of ashes with it, and not infrequently
the thief, frightened at the Bhumia's powers of detection, takes the
stolen article and buries it in the ash-heap where it is duly found,
the necessity for resorting to the further method of divination being
thus obviated. Occasionally the Bharia in his character of a Hindu
will make a vow to pay for a recitation of the Satya Narayan Katha
or some other holy work. But he understands nothing of it, and if
the Brahman employed takes a longer time than he had bargained for
over the recitation he becomes extremely bored and irritated.
7. Social life and customs.
The scantiness of the Bharia's dress is proverbial, and the saying is
'_Bharia bhwaka, pwanda langwata_', or 'The Bharia is verily a devil,
who only covers his loins with a strip of cloth.' But lately he has
assumed more clothing. Formerly an iron ring carried on the wrist to
exorcise the evil spirits was his only ornament. Women wear usually
only one coarse cloth dyed red, spangles on the forehead and ears, bead
necklaces, and cheap metal bracelets and anklets. Some now have Hindu
ornaments, but in common with other low castes they do not usually
wear a nose-ring, out of respect to the higher castes. Women, though
they work in the fields, do not commonly wear shoes; and if these
are necessary to protect the feet from thorns, they take them off and
carry them in the presence of an elder or a man of higher caste. They
are tattooed with various devices, as a cock, a crown, a native chair,
a pitcher stand, a sieve and a figure called _dhandha_, which consists
of six dots joined by lines, and appears to be a representation of
a man, one dot standing for the head, one for the body, two for
the arms and two for the legs. This device is also used by other
castes, and they evince reluctance if asked to explain its meaning,
so that it may be intended as a representation of the girl's future
husband. The Bharia is considered very ugly, and a saying about him
is: 'The Bharia came down from the hills and got burnt by a cinder,
so that his face is black.' He does not bathe for months together,
and lives in a dirty hovel, infested by the fowls which he loves to
rear. His food consists of coarse grain, often with boiled leaves as a
vegetable, and he consumes much whey, mixing it with his scanty portion
of grain. Members of all except the lowest castes are admitted to the
Bharia community on presentation of a _pagri_ and some money to the
headman, together with a feast to the caste-fellows. The Bharias do not
eat monkeys, beef or the leavings of others, but they freely consume
fowls and pork. They are not considered as impure, but rank above
those castes only whose touch conveys pollution. For the slaughter
of a cow the Bilaspur Bharias inflict the severe punishment of nine
daily feasts to the caste, or one for each limb of the cow, the limbs
being held to consist of the legs, ears, horns and tail. They have
an aversion for the horse and will not remove its dung. To account
for this they tell a story to the effect that in the beginning God
gave them a horse to ride and fight upon. But they did not know how
to mount the horse because it was so high. The wisest man among them
then proposed to cut notches in the side of the animal by which they
could climb up, and they did this. But God, when he saw it, was very
angry with them, and ordered that they should never be soldiers, but
should be given a winnowing-fan and broom to sweep the grain out of
the grass and make their livelihood in that way.
8. Occupation.
The Bharias are usually farmservants and field-labourers, and their
services in these capacities are in much request. They are hardy and
industrious, and so simple that it is an easy matter for their masters
to involve them in perpetual debt, and thus to keep them bound to
service from generation to generation. They have no understanding
of accounts, and the saying, 'Pay for the marriage of a Bharia and
he is your bond-slave for ever,' sufficiently explains the methods
adopted by their employers and creditors.
Bhat
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin of the Bhats._
2. _Bhats and Charans._
3. _Lower-class Bhats._
4. _Social status of the caste._
5. _Social customs._
6. _The Bhat's business._
7. _Their extortionate practices._
8. _The Jasondhis._
9. _The Charans as carriers._
10. _Suicide and the fear of ghosts._
11. _Instances of haunting and laying ghosts._
12. _The Charans as sureties._
13. _Suicide as a means of revenge._
14. _Dharna._
15. _Casting out spirits._
16. _Sulking. Going bankrupt._
17. _Bhat songs._
1. Origin of the Bhats.
_Bhat, Rao, Jasondhi._--The caste of bards and genealogists. In
1911 the Bhats numbered 29,000 persons in the Central Provinces
and Berar, being distributed over all Districts and States, with
a slight preponderance in large towns such as Nagpur, Jubbulpore
and Amraoti. The name Bhat is derived from the Sanskrit Bhatta,
a lord. The origin of the Bhats has been discussed in detail by Sir
H. Risley. Some, no doubt, are derived from the Brahman caste as stated
by Mr. Nesfield: "They are an offshoot from those secularised Brahmans
who frequented the courts of princes and the camps of warriors, recited
their praises in public, and kept records of their genealogies. Such,
without much variation, is the function of the Bhat at the present
day. The Mahabharata speaks of a band of bards and eulogists marching
in front of Yudishthira as he made his progress from the field of
Kurukshetra towards Hastinapur. But these very men are spoken of in the
same poem as Brahmans. Naturally as time went on these courtier priests
became hereditary bards, receded from the parent stem and founded a new
caste." "The best modern opinion," Sir H. Risley states, [281] "seems
disposed to find the germ of the Brahman caste in the bards, ministers
and family priests, who were attached to the king's household in Vedic
times. The characteristic profession of the Bhats has an ancient and
distinguished history. The literature of both Greece and India owes
the preservation of its oldest treasures to the singers who recited
poems in the households of the chiefs, and doubtless helped in some
measure to shape the masterpieces which they handed down. Their place
was one of marked distinction. In the days when writing was unknown,
the man who could remember many verses was held in high honour by
the tribal chief, who depended upon the memory of the bard for his
personal amusement, for the record of his own and his ancestors'
prowess, and for the maintenance of the genealogy which established
the purity of his descent. The bard, like the herald, was not lightly
to be slain, and even Odysseus in the heat of his vengeance spares
the aoidos Phemius, 'who sang among the wooers of necessity.'" [282]
2. Bhats and Charans.
There is no reason to doubt that the Birm or Baram Bhats are an
offshoot of Brahmans, their name being merely a corruption of the term
Brahman. But the caste is a very mixed one, and another large section,
the Charans, are almost certainly derived from Rajputs. Malcolm states
that according to the fable of their origin, Mahadeo first created
Bhats to attend his lion and bull; but these could not prevent the
former from killing the latter, which was a source of infinite vexation
and trouble, as it compelled Mahadeo to create new ones. He therefore
formed the Charan, equally devout with the Bhat, but of bolder spirit,
and gave him in charge these favourite animals. From that time no bull
was ever destroyed by the lion. [283] This fable perhaps indicates
that while the peaceful Bhats were Brahmans, the more warlike
Charans were Rajputs. It is also said that some Rajputs disguised
themselves as bards to escape the vengeance of Parasurama. [284] The
Maru Charans intermarry with Rajputs, and their name appears to be
derived from Maru, the term for the Rajputana desert, which is also
found in Marwar. Malcolm states [285] that when the Rajputs migrated
from the banks of the Ganges to Rajputana, their Brahman priests did
not accompany them in any numbers, and hence the Charans arose and
supplied their place. They had to understand the rites of worship,
particularly of Siva and Parvati, the favourite deities of the Rajputs,
and were taught to read and write. One class became merchants and
travelled with large convoys of goods, and the others were the bards
and genealogists of the Rajputs. Their songs were in the rudest metre,
and their language was the local dialect, understood by all. All this
evidence shows that the Charans were a class of Rajput bards.
3. Lower-class Bhats.
But besides the Birm or Brahman Bhats and the Rajput Charans there is
another large body of the caste of mixed origin, who serve as bards
of the lower castes and are probably composed to a great extent of
members of these castes. These are known as the Brid-dhari or begging
Bhats. They beg from such castes as Lodhis, Telis, Kurmis, Ahirs and
so on, each caste having a separate section of Bhats to serve it;
the Bhats of each caste take food from the members of the caste,
but they also eat and intermarry with each other. Again, there are
Bairagi Bhats who beg from Bairagis, and keep the genealogies of
the temple-priests and their successors. Yet another class are the
Dasaundhis or Jasondhis, who sing songs in honour of Devi, play on
musical instruments and practise astrology. These rank below the
cultivating castes and sometimes admit members of such castes who
have taken religious vows.
4. Social status of the caste.
The Brahman or Birm-Bhats form a separate subcaste, and the Rajputs
are sometimes called Rajbhat. These wear the sacred thread, which the
Brid-Bhats and Jasondhis do not. The social status of the Bhats appears
to vary greatly. Sir H. Risley states that they rank immediately below
Kayasths, and Brahmans will take water from their hands. The Charans
are treated by the Rajputs with the greatest respect; [286] the highest
ruler rises when one of this class enters or leaves an assembly,
and the Charan is invited to eat first at a Rajput feast. He smokes
from the same huqqa as Rajputs, and only caste-fellows can do this, as
the smoke passes through water on its way to the mouth. In past times
the Charan acted as a herald, and his person was inviolable. He was
addressed as Maharaj, [287] and could sit on the Singhasan or Lion's
Hide, the ancient term for a Rajput throne, as well as on the hides
of the tiger, panther and black antelope. The Rajputs held him in
equal estimation with the Brahman or perhaps even greater. [288] This
was because they looked to him to enshrine their heroic deeds in his
songs and hand them down to posterity. His sarcastic references to a
defeat in battle or any act displaying a want of courage inflamed their
passions as nothing else could do. On the other hand, the Brid-Bhats,
who serve the lower castes, occupy an inferior position. This is
because they beg at weddings and other feasts, and accept cooked
food from members of the caste who are their clients. Such an act
constitutes an admission of inferior status, and as the Bhats eat
together their position becomes equivalent to that of the lowest
group among them. Thus if other Bhats eat with the Bhats of Telis or
Kalars, who have taken cooked food from their clients, they are all
in the position of having taken food from Telis and Kalars, a thing
which only the lowest castes will do. If the Bhat of any caste, such
as the Kurmis, keeps a girl of that caste, she can be admitted into
the community, which is therefore of a very mixed character. Such a
caste as the Kurmis will not even take water from the hands of the
Bhats who serve them. This rule applies also where a special section
of the caste itself act as bards and minstrels. Thus the Pardhans
are the bards of the Gonds, but rank below ordinary Gonds, who give
them food and will not take it from them. And the Sansias, the bards
of the Jats, and the Mirasis, who are employed in this capacity by
the lower castes generally, occupy a very inferior position, and are
sometimes considered as impure.
5. Social customs.
The customs of the Bhats resemble those of other castes of
corresponding status. The higher Bhats forbid the remarriage of
widows, and expel a girl who becomes pregnant before marriage. They
carry a dagger, the special emblem of the Charans, in order to be
distinguished from low-class Bhats. The Bhats generally display the
_chaur_ or yak-tail whisk and the _chhadi_ or silver-plated rod on
ceremonial occasions, and they worship these emblems of their calling
on the principal festivals. The former is waved over the bridegroom
at a wedding, and the latter is borne before him. The Brahman Bhats
abstain from flesh of any kind and liquor, and other Bhats usually have
the same rules about food as the caste whom they serve. Brahman Bhats
and Charans alone wear the sacred thread. The high status sometimes
assigned to this division of the caste is shown in the saying:
Age Brahman pichhe Bhat
take pichhe aur jat,
or, 'First comes the Brahman, then the Bhat, and after them the
other castes.'
6. The Bhat's business.
The business of a Bhat in former times is thus described by Forbes:
[289] "When the rainy season closes and travelling becomes practicable,
the bard sets off on his yearly tour from his residence in the
Bhatwara or bard's quarter of some city or town. One by one he
visits each of the Rajput chiefs who are his patrons, and from whom
he has received portions of land or annual grants of money, timing
his arrival, if possible, to suit occasions of marriage or other
domestic festivals. After he has received the usual courtesies he
produces the Wai, a book written in his own crabbed hieroglyphics
or in those of his father, which contains the descent of the house
from its founder, interspersed with many a verse or ballad, the dark
sayings contained in which are chanted forth in musical cadence to
a delighted audience, and are then orally interpreted by the bard
with many an illustrative anecdote or tale. The Wai, however, is not
merely a source for the gratification of family pride or even of love
of song; it is also a record by which questions of relationship are
determined when a marriage is in prospect, and disputes relating to the
division of ancestral property are decided, intricate as these last
necessarily are from the practice of polygamy and the rule that all
the sons of a family are entitled to a share. It is the duty of the
bard at each periodical visit to register the births, marriages and
deaths which have taken place in the family since his last circuit,
as well as to chronicle all the other events worthy of remark which
have occurred to affect the fortunes of his patron; nor have we ever
heard even a doubt suggested regarding the accurate, much less the
honest fulfilment of this duty by the bard. The manners of the bardic
tribe are very similar to those of their Rajput clients; their dress
is nearly the same, but the bard seldom appears without the _katar_
or dagger, a representation of which is scrawled beside his signature,
and often rudely engraved upon his monumental stone, in evidence of
his death in the sacred duty of _traga_ (suicide)." [290]
7. Their extortionate practices.
The Bhat thus fulfilled a most useful function as registrar of births
and marriages. But his merits were soon eclipsed by the evils produced
by his custom of extolling liberal patrons and satirising those who
gave inadequately. The desire of the Rajputs to be handed down to fame
in the Bhat's songs was such that no extravagance was spared to satisfy
him. Chand, the great Rajput bard, sang of the marriage of Prithwi Raj,
king of Delhi, that the bride's father emptied his coffers in gifts,
but he filled them with the praises of mankind. A lakh of rupees
[291] was given to the chief bard, and this became a precedent for
similar occasions. "Until vanity suffers itself to be controlled,"
Colonel Tod wrote, [292] "and the aristocratic Rajputs submit to
republican simplicity, the evils arising from nuptial profusion
will not cease. Unfortunately those who should check it find their
interest in stimulating it, namely, the whole crowd of _mangtas_
or beggars, bards, minstrels, jugglers, Brahmans, who assemble
on these occasions, and pour forth their epithalamiums in praise
of the virtue of liberality. The bards are the grand recorders of
fame, and the volume of precedent is always resorted to by citing
the liberality of former chiefs; while the dread of their satire
[293] shuts the eyes of the chief to consequences, and they are only
anxious to maintain the reputation of their ancestors, though fraught
with future ruin." Owing to this insensate liberality in the desire
to satisfy the bards and win their praises, a Rajput chief who had
to marry a daughter was often practically ruined; and the desire
to avoid such obligations led to the general practice of female
infanticide, formerly so prevalent in Rajputana. The importance of
the bards increased their voracity; Mr. Nesfield describes them as
"Rapacious and conceited mendicants, too proud to work but not too
proud to beg." The Dholis [294] or minstrels were one of the seven
great evils which the famous king Sidhraj expelled from Anhilwada
Patan in Gujarat; the Dakans or witches were another. [295] Malcolm
states that "They give praise and fame in their songs to those who
are liberal to them, while they visit those who neglect or injure
them with satires in which the victims are usually reproached with
illegitimate birth and meanness of character. Sometimes the Bhat,
if very seriously offended, fixes an effigy of the person he desires
to degrade on a long pole and appends to it a slipper as a mark of
disgrace. In such cases the song of the Bhat records the infamy of the
object of his revenge. This image usually travels the country till
the party or his friends purchase the cessation of the curses and
ridicule thus entailed. It is not deemed in these countries within
the power of the prince, much less any other person, to stop a Bhat
or even punish him for such a proceeding. In 1812 Sevak Ram Seth,
a banker of Holkar's court, offended one of these Bhats, pushing
him rudely out of the shop where the man had come to ask alms. The
man made a figure [296] of him to which he attached a slipper and
carried it to court, and everywhere sang the infamy of the Seth. The
latter, though a man of wealth and influence, could not prevent him,
but obstinately refused to purchase his forbearance. His friends
after some months subscribed Rs. 80 and the Bhat discontinued his
execrations, but said it was too late, as his curses had taken effect;
and the superstitious Hindus ascribe the ruin of the banker, which
took place some years afterwards, to this unfortunate event." The
loquacity and importunity of the Bhats are shown in the saying,
'Four Bhats make a crowd'; and their insincerity in the proverb
quoted by Mr. Crooke, "The bard, the innkeeper and the harlot have
no heart; they are polite when customers arrive, but neglect those
leaving (after they have paid)" [297] The Bhat women are as bold,
voluble and ready in retort as the men. When a Bhat woman passes a
male caste-fellow on the road, it is the latter who raises a piece
of cloth to his face till the woman is out of sight. [298]
8. The Jasondhis.
Some of the lower classes of Bhats have become religious mendicants
and musicians, and perform ceremonial functions. Thus the Jasondhis,
who are considered a class of Bhats, take their name from the _jas_
or hymns sung in praise of Devi. They are divided into various
sections, as the Nakib or flag-bearers in a procession, the Nazir or
ushers who introduced visitors to the Raja, the Nagaria or players on
kettle-drums, the Karaola who pour sesamum oil on their clothes and
beg, and the Panda, who serve as priests of Devi, and beg carrying
an image of the goddess in their hands. There is also a section of
Muhammadan Bhats who serve as bards and genealogists for Muhammadan
castes. Some Bhats, having the rare and needful qualification of
literacy so that they can read the old Sanskrit medical works, have,
like a number of Brahmans, taken to the practice of medicine and are
known as Kaviraj.
9. The Charans as carriers.
As already stated, the persons of the Charans in the capacity of bard
and herald were sacred, and they travelled from court to court without
fear of molestation from robbers or enemies. It seems likely that the
Charans may have united the breeding of cattle to their calling of
bard; but in any case the advantage derived from their sanctity was so
important that they gradually became the chief carriers and traders of
Rajputana and the adjoining tracts. They further, in virtue of their
holy character, enjoyed a partial exemption from the perpetual and
harassing imposts levied by every petty State on produce entering its
territory; and the combination of advantages thus obtained was such
as to give them almost a monopoly in trade. They carried merchandise
on large droves of bullocks all over Rajputana and the adjoining
countries; and in course of time the carriers restricted themselves
to their new profession, splitting off from the Charans and forming
the caste of Banjaras.
10. Suicide and the fear of ghosts.
But the mere reverence for their calling would not have sufficed for
a permanent safeguard to the Charans from destitute and unscrupulous
robbers. They preserved it by the customs of _Chandi_ or _Traga_ and
_Dharna_. These consisted in their readiness to mutilate, starve or
kill themselves rather than give up property entrusted to their care;
and it was a general belief that their ghosts would then haunt the
persons whose ill deeds had forced them to take their own lives. It
seems likely that this belief in the power of a suicide or murdered
man to avenge himself by haunting any persons who had injured him or
been responsible for his death may have had a somewhat wide prevalence
and been partly accountable for the reprobation attaching in early
times to the murderer and the act of self-slaughter. The haunted
murderer would be impure and would bring ill-fortune on all who had
to do with him, while the injury which a suicide would inflict on his
relatives in haunting them would cause this act to be regarded as a sin
against one's family and tribe. Even the ordinary fear of the ghosts
of people who die in the natural course, and especially of those who
are killed by accident, is so strong that a large part of the funeral
rites is devoted to placating and laying the ghost of the dead man;
and in India the period of observance of mourning for the dead is
perhaps in reality that time during which the spirit of the dead man
is supposed to haunt his old abode and render the survivors of his
family impure. It was this fear of ghosts on which the Charans relied,
nor did they hesitate a moment to sacrifice their lives in defence of
any obligation they had undertaken or of property committed to their
care. When plunderers carried off any cattle belonging to the Charans,
the whole community would proceed to the spot where the robbers
resided; and in failure of having their property restored would cut off
the heads of several of their old men and women. Frequent instances
occurred of a man dressing himself in cotton-quilted cloths steeped
in oil which he set on fire at the bottom, and thus danced against
the person against whom _traga_ was performed until the miserable
creature dropped down and was burnt to ashes. On one occasion a Cutch
chieftain, attempting to escape with his wife and child from a village,
was overtaken by his enemy when about to leap a precipice; immediately
turning he cut off his wife's head with his scimitar and, flourishing
his reeking blade in the face of his pursuer, denounced against him
the curse of the _traga_ which he had so fearfully performed. [299]
In this case it was supposed that the wife's ghost would haunt the
enemy who had driven the husband to kill her.
11. Instances of haunting and laying ghosts.
The following account in the _Rasmala_ [300] is an instance of suicide
and of the actual haunting by the ghost: A Charan asserted a claim
against the chief of Siela in Kathiawar, which the latter refused to
liquidate. The bard thereupon, taking forty of his caste with him,
went to Siela with the intention of sitting _Dharna_ at the chief's
door and preventing any one from coming out or going in until the
claim should be discharged. However, as they approached the town,
the chief, becoming aware of their intention, caused the gates to
be closed. The bards remained outside and for three days abstained
from food; on the fourth day they proceeded to perform _traga_ as
follows: some hacked their own arms; others decapitated three old
women of the party and hung their heads up at the gate as a garland;
certain of the women cut off their own breasts. The bards also pierced
the throats of four of their old men with spikes, and they took two
young girls by the heels, and dashed out their brains against the
town gate. The Charan to whom the money was due dressed himself in
clothes wadded with cotton which he steeped in oil and then set on
fire. He thus burned himself to death. But as he died he cried out,
"I am now dying; but I will become a headless ghost (_Kuvis_) in the
palace, and will take the chiefs life and cut off his posterity." After
this sacrifice the rest of the bards returned home.
On the third day after the Charan's death his Bhut (ghost) threw the
Rani downstairs so that she was very much injured. Many other persons
also beheld the headless phantom in the palace. At last he entered
the chief's head and set him trembling. At night he would throw stones
at the palace, and he killed a female servant outright. At length, in
consequence of the various acts of oppression which he committed, none
dared to approach the chief's mansion even in broad daylight. In order
to exorcise the Bhut, Jogis, Fakirs and Brahmans were sent for from
many different places; but whoever attempted the cure was immediately
assailed by the Bhut in the chief's body, and that so furiously
that the exorcist's courage failed him. The Bhut would also cause
the chief to tear the flesh off his own arms with his teeth. Besides
this, four or five persons died of injuries received from the Bhut;
but nobody had the power to expel him. At length a foreign Jyotishi
(astrologer) came who had a great reputation for charms and magic,
and the chief sent for him and paid him honour. First he tied all
round the house threads which he had charged with a charm; then he
sprinkled charmed milk and water all round; then he drove a charmed
iron nail into the ground at each corner of the mansion, and two at the
door. He purified the house and continued his charms and incantations
for forty-one days, every day making sacrifices at the cemetery to the
Bhut's spirit. The Joshi lived in a room securely fastened up; but
people say that while he was muttering his charms stones would fall
and strike the windows. Finally the Joshi brought the chief, who had
been living in a separate room, and tried to exorcise the spirit. The
patient began to be very violent, but the Joshi and his people spared
no pains in thrashing him until they had rendered him quite docile. A
sacrificial fire-pit was made and a lemon placed between it and the
chief. The Joshi commanded the Bhut to enter the lime. The possessed,
however, said, 'Who are you; if one of your Deos (gods) were to come,
I would not quit this person.' Thus they went on from morning till
noon. At last they came outside, and, burning various kinds of incense
and sprinkling many charms, the Bhut was got out into the lemon. When
the lemon began to jump about, the whole of the spectators praised
the Joshi, crying out: 'The Bhut has gone into the lemon! The Bhut
has gone into the lemon!' The possessed person himself, when he saw
the lemon hopping about, was perfectly satisfied that the Bhut had
left his body and gone out into the lemon. The Joshi then drove the
lemon outside the city, followed by drummers and trumpeters; if the
lemon left the road, he would touch it with his stick and put it into
the right way again. On the track they sprinkled mustard and salt and
finally buried the lemon in a pit seven cubits deep, throwing into
the hole above it mustard and salt, and over these dust and stones,
and filling in the space between the stones with lead. At each corner,
too, the Joshi drove in an iron nail, two feet long, which he had
previously charmed. The lemon buried, the people returned home, and not
one of them ever saw the Bhut thereafter. According to the recorder
of the tale, the cure was effected by putting quicksilver into the
lemon. When a man is attacked with fever or becomes speechless or
appears to have lockjaw, his friends conclude from these indications
that he is possessed by a Bhut.
In another case some Bhats had been put in charge, by the chief of a
small State, of a village which was coveted by a neighbouring prince,
the Rana of Danta. The latter sent for the Bhats and asked them to
guard one or two of his villages, and having obtained their absence
by this pretext he raided their village, carrying off hostages and
cattle. When the Bhats got back they collected to the number of a
hundred and began to perform _Dharna_ against the Rana. They set
out from their village, and at every two miles as they advanced they
burned a man, so that by the time they got to the Rana's territory
seven or eight men had been burnt. They were then pacified by his
people and induced to go back. The Rana offered them presents, but
they refused to accept them, as they said the guilt of the death of
their fellows who had been burned would thereby be removed from the
Rana. The Rana lost all the seven sons born to him and died childless,
and it was generally held to be on account of this sin. [301]
12. The Charans as sureties.
Such was the certainty attaching to the Charan's readiness to forfeit
his life rather than prove false to a trust, and the fear entertained
of the offence of causing him to do so and being haunted by his ghost,
that his security was eagerly coveted in every kind of transaction. "No
traveller could journey unattended by these guards, who for a small
sum were satisfied to conduct him in safety. [302] The guards, called
Valavas, were never backward in inflicting the most grievous wounds
and even causing the death of their old men and women if the robbers
persisted in plundering those under their protection; but this seldom
happened, as the wildest Koli, Kathi or Rajput held the person of a
Charan sacred. Besides becoming safeguards to travellers and goods,
they used to stand security to the amount of many lakhs of rupees. When
rents and property were concerned, the Rajputs preferred a Charan's
bond to that of the wealthiest banker. They also gave security for good
behaviour, called _chalu zamin_, and for personal attendance in court
called _hazar zamin_. The ordinary _traga_ went no farther than a cut
on the arm with the _katar_ or crease; the forearms of those who were
in the habit of becoming security had generally several cuts from the
elbow downwards. The Charans, both men and women, wounded themselves,
committed suicide and murdered their relations with the most complete
self-devotion. In 1812 the Marathas brought a body of troops to impose
a payment on the village of Panchpipla. [303] The Charans resisted the
demand, but finding the Marathas determined to carry their point, after
a remonstrance against paying any kind of revenue as being contrary to
their occupation and principles, they at last cut the throats of ten
young children and threw them at the feet of the Marathas, exclaiming,
'These are our riches and the only payment we can make.' The Charans
were immediately seized and confined in irons at Jambusar."
As was the case with the Bhat and the Brahman, the source of the
Charan's power lay in the widespread fear that a Charan's blood
brought ruin on him who caused the blood to be spilt. It was also
sometimes considered that the Charan was possessed by his deity,
and the caste were known as Deoputra or sons of God, the favourite
dwelling of the guardian spirit.
13. Suicide as a means of revenge.
Such a belief enhanced the guilt attaching to the act of causing
or being responsible for a Charan's death. Suicide from motives of
revenge has been practised in other countries. "Another common form
of suicide which is admired as heroic in China is that committed for
the purpose of taking revenge upon an enemy who is otherwise out of
reach--according to Chinese ideas a most effective mode of revenge,
not only because the law throws the responsibility of the deed on him
who occasioned it, but also because the disembodied soul is supposed
to be better able than the living man to persecute the enemy." [304]
Similarly, among the Hos or Mundas the suicide of young married women
is or was extremely common, and the usual motive was that the girl,
being unhappy in her husband's house, jumped down a well or otherwise
made away with herself in the belief that she would take revenge on
his family by haunting them after her death. The treatment of the
suicide's body was sometimes directed to prevent his spirit from
causing trouble. "According to Jewish custom persons who had killed
themselves were left unburied till sunset, perhaps for fear lest the
spirit of the deceased otherwise might find its way back to the old
home." [305] At Athens the right hand of a person who had taken his
own life was struck off and buried apart from the rest of the body,
evidently in order to make him harmless after death. [306] Similarly,
in England suicides were buried with a spike through the chest to
prevent their spirits from rising, and at cross-roads, so that the
ghost might not be able to find its way home. This fear appears to
have partly underlain the idea that suicide was a crime or an offence
against society and the state, though, as shown by Dr. Westermarck,
the reprobation attaching to it was far from universal; while in
the cultured communities of ancient Greece and Rome, and among such
military peoples as the Japanese suicide was considered at all times a
legitimate and, on occasion, a highly meritorious and praiseworthy act.
That condition of mind which leads to the taking of one's own
life from motives of revenge is perhaps a fruit of ignorance and
solitude. The mind becomes distorted, and the sufferer attributes the
unhappiness really caused by accident or his own faults or defects to
the persecution of a malignant fate or the ill-will of his neighbours
and associates. And long brooding over his wrongs eventuates in his
taking the extreme step. The crime known as running amok appears to be
the outcome of a similar state of mind. Here too the criminal considers
his wrongs or misery as the result of injury or unjust treatment
from his fellow-men, and, careless of his own life, determines to be
revenged on them. Such hatred of one's kind is cured by education,
leading to a truer appreciation of the circumstances and environment
which determine the course of life, and by the more cheerful temper
engendered by social intercourse. And these crimes of vengeance tend
to die out with the advance of civilisation.
14. _Dharna._
Analogous to the custom of _traga_ was that of _Dharna_, which was
frequently and generally resorted to for the redress of wrongs and
offences at a time when the law made little provision for either. The
ordinary method of _Dharna_ was to sit starving oneself in front of
the door of the person from whom redress was sought until he gave it
from fear of causing the death of the suppliant and being haunted
by his ghost. It was, naturally, useless unless the person seeking
redress was prepared to go to extremes, and has some analogy to the
modern hunger-strike with the object of getting out of jail. Another
common device was to thrust a spear-blade through both cheeks,
and in this state to dance before the person against whom _Dharna_
was practised. The pain had to be borne without a sign of suffering,
which, if displayed, would destroy its efficacy. Or a creditor would
proceed to the door of his debtor and demand payment, and if not
appeased would stand up in his presence with an enormous weight upon
his head, which he had brought with him for the purpose, swearing never
to alter his position until satisfaction was given, and denouncing at
the same time the most horrible execrations on his debtor, should he
suffer him to expire in that situation. This seldom failed to produce
the desired effect, but should he actually die while in _Dharna_, the
debtor's house was razed to the earth and he and his family sold for
the satisfaction of the creditor's heirs. Another and more desperate
form of _Dharna_, only occasionally resorted to, was to erect a large
pile of wood before the house of the debtor, and after the customary
application for payment had been refused the creditor tied on the
top of the pile a cow or a calf, or very frequently an old woman,
generally his mother or other relation, swearing at the same time
to set fire to it if satisfaction was not instantly given. All the
time the old woman denounced the bitterest curses, threatening to
persecute the wretched debtor both here and hereafter. [307]
The word _dharna_ means 'to place or lay on,' and hence 'a
pledge.' Mr. Hira Lal suggests that the standing with a weight on the
head may have been the original form of the penance, from which the
other and severer methods were subsequently derived. Another custom
known as _dharna_ is that of a suppliant placing a stone on the
shrine of a god or tomb of a saint. He makes his request and, laying
the stone on the shrine, says, "Here I place this stone until you
fulfil my prayer; if I do not remove it, the shame is on you." If the
prayer is afterwards fulfilled, he takes away the stone and offers a
cocoanut. It seems clear that the underlying idea of this custom is the
same as that of standing with a stone on the head as described above,
but it is difficult to say which was the earlier or original form.
15. Casting out spirits.
As a general rule, if the guilt of having caused a suicide was at a
man's door, he should expiate it by going to the Ganges to bathe. When
a man was haunted by the ghost of any one whom he had wronged, whether
such a person had committed suicide or simply died of grief at being
unable to obtain redress, it was said of him _Brahm laga_, or that
Brahma had possessed him. The spirit of a Brahman boy, who has died
unmarried, is also accustomed to haunt any person who walks over his
grave in an impure condition or otherwise defiles it, and when a man is
haunted in such a manner it is called _Brahm laga_. Then an exorcist
is called, who sprinkles water over the possessed man, and this burns
the Brahm Deo or spirit inside him as if it were burning oil. The
spirit cries out, and the exorcist orders him to leave the man. Then
the spirit states how he has been injured by the man, and refuses to
leave him. The exorcist asks him what he requires on condition of
leaving the man, and he asks for some good food or something else,
and is given it. The exorcist takes a nail and goes to a _pipal_
tree and orders the Brahm Deo to go into the tree. Brahm Deo obeys,
and the exorcist drives the nail into the tree and the spirit remains
imprisoned there until somebody takes the nail out, when he will come
out again and haunt him. The Hindus think that the god Brahma lives
in the roots of the _pipal_ tree, Siva in its branches, and Vishnu
in the _choti_ or scalp-knot, that is the topmost foliage.
16. Sulking. Going bankrupt.
Another and mild form of _Dharna_ is that known as _Khatpati_. When a
woman is angry with her husband on account of his having refused her
some request, she will put her bed in a corner of the room and go and
lie on it, turning her face to the wall, and remain so, not answering
when spoken to nor taking food. The term Khatpati signifies keeping
to one side of the bed, and there she will remain until her husband
accedes to her request, unless indeed he should decide to beat her
instead. This is merely an exaggerated form of the familiar display
of temper known as sulking. It is interesting to note the use of the
phrase turning one's face to the wall, with something of the meaning
attached to it in the Bible.
A custom similar to that of _Dharna_ was called _Diwala nikalna_ or
going bankrupt. When a merchant had had heavy losses and could not
meet his liabilities, he would place the lock of his door outside,
reversing it, and sit in the veranda with a piece of sackcloth over
him. Or he wrapped round him the floor-carpet of his room. When he
had displayed these signs of ruin and self-abasement his creditors
would not sue him, but he would never be able to borrow money again.
17. Bhat songs.
In conclusion a few specimens of Bhat songs may be given. The
following is an account of the last king of Nagpur, Raghuji III.,
commonly known as Baji Rao:
They made a picture of Baji Rao;
Baji Rao was the finest king to see;
The Brahmans told lies about him,
They sent a letter from Nagpur to Calcutta,
They made Baji Rao go on a pilgrimage.
Brothers! the great Sirdars who were with him,
They brought a troop of five hundred horse!
The Tuesday fair in Benares was held with fireworks,
They made the Ganges pink with rose-petals.
Baji Rao's gifts were splendid,
His turban and coat were of brocaded silk,
A pair of diamonds and emeralds
He gave to the Brahmans of Benares.
Oh brothers! the Raja sat in a covered howdah bound on an
elephant!
Many fans waved over his head;
How charitable a king he was!
In the above song a note of regret is manifest for the parade
and display of the old court of Nagpur, English rule being less
picturesque. The next is a song about the English:
The English have taken the throne of Nagpur,
The fear of the English is great.
In a moment's time they conquer countries.
The guns boomed, the English came strong and warlike,
They give wealth to all.
They ram the ramrods in the guns.
They conquered also Tippoo's dominions,
The English are ruling in the fort of Gawilgarh.
The following is another song about the English, not quite so
complimentary:
The English became our kings and have made current the _kaldar_
(milled) rupee.
The menials are favoured and the Bhats have lost their profession,
The mango has lost its taste, the milk has lost its sweetness,
The rose has lost its scent.
Baji Rao of Nagpur he also is gone,
No longer are the drums beaten at the palace gate.
Poona customs have come in.
Brahmans knowing the eighteen Purans have become Christians;
The son thinks himself better than his father,
The daughter-in-law no longer respects her mother-in-law.
The wife fights with her husband.
The English have made the railways and telegraphs;
The people wondered at the silver rupees and all the country
prospered.
The following is a song about the Nerbudda at Mandla, Rewa being
another name for the river:
The stream of the world springs out breaking apart the hills;
The Rewa cuts her path through the soil, the air is darkened with
her spray.
All the length of her banks are the seats of saints; hermits and
pilgrims worship her.
On seeing the holy river a man's sins fall away as wood is cut
by a saw;
By bathing in her he plucks the fruit of holiness.
When boats are caught in her flood, the people pray: 'We are
sinners, O Rewa, bring us safely to the bank!'
When the Nerbudda is in flood, Mandla is an island and the people
think their end has come:
The rain pours down on all sides, earth and sky become dark as
smoke, and men call on Rama.
The bard says: 'Let it rain as it may, some one will save us as
Krishna saved the people of Brindawan!'
This is a description of a beautiful woman:
A beautiful woman is loved by her neighbours,
But she will let none come to her and answers them not.
They say: 'Since God has made you so beautiful, open your litter
and let yourself be seen!'
He who sees her is struck as by lightning, she shoots her lover
with the darts of her eyes, invisible herself.
She will not go to her husband's house till he has her brought
by the Government.
When she goes her father's village is left empty.
She is so delicate she faints at the sight of a flower,
Her body cannot bear the weight of her cloth,
The garland of jasmine-flowers is a burden on her neck,
The red powder on her feet is too heavy for them.
It is interesting to note that weakness and delicacy in a woman
are emphasised as an attraction, as in English literature of the
eighteenth century.
The last is a gentle intimation that poets, like other people, have
to live:
It is useless to adorn oneself with sandalwood on an empty belly,
Nobody's body gets fat from the scent of flowers;
The singing of songs excites the mind,
But if the body is not fed all these are vain and hollow.
All Bhats recite their verses in a high-pitched sing-song tone,
which renders it very difficult for their hearers to grasp the
sense unless they know it already. The Vedas and all other sacred
verses are spoken in this manner, perhaps as a mark of respect and to
distinguish them from ordinary speech. The method has some resemblance
to intoning. Women use the same tone when mourning for the dead.
Bhatra
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice and structure of the caste._
2. _Admission of outsiders._
3. _Arrangement of marriages._
4. _The Counter of Posts._
5. _Marriage customs._
6. _Propitiation of ghosts._
7. _Religion. Ceremonies at hunting._
8. _Superstitious remedies._
9. _Occupation._
10. _Names._
1. General notice and structure of the caste.
_Bhatra._ [308]--A primitive tribe of the Bastar State and the south
of Raipur District, akin to the Gonds. They numbered 33,000 persons
in 1891, and in subsequent enumerations have been amalgamated with
the Gonds. Nothing is known of their origin except a legend that they
came with the Rajas of Bastar from Warangal twenty-three generations
ago. The word Bhatra is said to mean a servant, and the tribe are
employed as village watchmen and household and domestic servants. They
have three divisions, the Pit, Amnait and San Bhatras, who rank one
below the other, the Pit being the highest and the San the lowest. The
Pit Bhatras base their superiority on the fact that they decline to
make grass mats, which the Amnait Bhatras will do, while the San
Bhatras are considered to be practically identical with the Muria
Gonds. Members of the three groups will eat with each other before
marriage, but afterwards they will take only food cooked without water
from a person belonging to another group. They have the usual set of
exogamous septs named after plants and animals. Formerly, it is said,
they were tattooed with representations of the totem plant and animal,
and the septs named after the tiger and snake ate the flesh of these
animals at a sacrificial meal. These customs have fallen into abeyance,
but still if they kill their totem animal they will make apologies to
it, and break their cooking-pots, and bury or burn the body. A man of
substance will distribute alms in the name of the deceased animal. In
some localities members of the Kachhun or tortoise sept will not eat a
pumpkin which drops from a tree because it is considered to resemble a
tortoise. But if they can break it immediately on touching the ground
they may partake of the fruit, the assumption being apparently that
it has not had time to become like a tortoise.
2. Admission of outsiders.
Outsiders are not as a rule admitted. But a woman of equal or higher
caste who enters the house of a Bhatra will be recognised as his wife,
and a man of the Panara, or gardener caste, can also become a member of
the community if he lives with a Bhatra woman and eats from her hand.
3. Arrangement of marriages.
In Raipur a girl should be married before puberty, and if no husband
is immediately available, they tie a few flowers into her cloth and
consider this as a marriage. If an unmarried girl becomes pregnant she
is debarred from going through the wedding ceremony, and will simply
go and live with her lover or any other man. Matches are usually
arranged by the parents, but if a daughter is not pleased with the
prospective bridegroom, who may sometimes be a well-to-do man much
older than herself, she occasionally runs away and goes through the
ceremony on her own account with the man of her choice.
If no one has asked her parents for her hand she may similarly select
a husband for herself and make her wishes known, but in that case she
is temporarily put out of caste until the chosen bridegroom signifies
his acquiescence by giving the marriage feast. What happens if he
definitely fails to respond is not stated, but presumably the young
woman tries elsewhere until she finds herself accepted.
4. The Counter of Posts.
The date and hour of the wedding are fixed by an official known as
the Meda Gantia, or Counter of Posts. He is a sort of illiterate
village astrologer, who can foretell the character of the rainfall,
and gives auspicious dates for sowing and harvest. He goes through
some training, and as a test of his capacity is required by his
teacher to tell at a glance the number of posts in an enclosure which
he has not seen before. Having done this correctly he qualifies as
a Meda Gantia. Apparently the Bhatras, being unable at one time to
count themselves, acquired an exaggerated reverence for the faculty
of counting, and thought that if a man could only count far enough
he could reckon into the future; or it might be thought that as he
could count and name future days, he thus obtained power over them,
and could tell what would happen on them just as one can obtain power
over a man and work him injury by knowing his real name.
5. Marriage customs.
At a wedding the couple walk seven times round the sacred post, which
must be of wood of the mahua [309] tree, and on its conclusion the post
is taken to a river or stream and consigned to the water. The Bhatras,
like the Gonds, no doubt revere this tree because their intoxicating
liquor is made from its flowers. The couple wear marriage crowns
made from the leaves of the date palm and exchange these. A little
turmeric and flour are mixed with water in a plate, and the bride,
taking the bridegroom's right hand, dips it into the coloured paste
and strikes it against the wall. The action is repeated five times,
and then the bridegroom does the same with the bride's hand. By this
rite the couple pledge each other for their mutual behaviour during
married life. From the custom of making an impression of the hand
on a wall in token of a vow may have arisen that of clasping hands
as a symbol of a bargain assented to, and hence of shaking hands,
by persons who meet, as a pledge of amity and the absence of hostile
intentions. Usually the hand is covered with red ochre, which is
probably a substitute for blood; and the impression of the hand is made
on the wall of a temple in token of a vow. This may be a survival of
the covenant made by the parties dipping their hands in the blood of
the sacrifice and laying them on the god. A pit about a foot deep is
dug close to the marriage-shed, and filled with mud or wet earth. The
bride conceals a nut in the mud and the bridegroom has to find it,
and the hiding and finding are repeated by both parties. This rite may
have the signification of looking for children. The remainder of the
day is spent in eating, drinking and dancing. On the way home after
the wedding the bridegroom has to shoot a deer, the animal being
represented by a branch of a tree thrown across the path by one of
the party. But if a real deer happens by any chance to come by he has
to shoot this. The bride goes up to the real or sham deer and pulls
out the arrow, and presents her husband with water and a tooth-stick,
after which he takes her in his arms and they dance home together. On
arrival at the house the bridegroom's maternal uncle or his son lies
down before the door covering himself with a blanket. He is asked
what he wants, and says he will have the daughter of the bridegroom
to wife. The bridegroom promises to give a daughter if he has one,
and if he has a son to give him for a friend. The tribe consider that
a man has a right to marry the daughter of his maternal uncle, and
formerly if the girl was refused by her parents he abducted her and
married her forcibly. The bride remains at her husband's house for a
few days and then goes home, and before she finally takes up her abode
with him the _gauna_ or going-away ceremony must be performed. The
hands of the bride and bridegroom are tied together, and an arrow is
held upright on them and some oil poured over it. The foreheads of
the couple are marked with turmeric and rice, this rite being known
as _tika_ or anointing, and presents are given to the bride's family.
6. Propitiation of ghosts.
The dead are buried, the corpse being laid on its back with the head
to the north. Some rice, cowrie-shells, a winnowing-fan and other
articles are placed on the grave. The tribe probably consider the
winnowing-fan to have some magical property, as it also forms one of
the presents given to the bride at the betrothal. If a man is killed
by a tiger his spirit must be propitiated. The priest ties strips of
tiger-skin to his arms, and the feathers of the peacock and blue jay
to his waist, and jumps about pretending to be a tiger. A package of
a hundred seers (200 lbs.) of rice is made up, and he sits on this
and finally takes it away with him. If the dead man had any ornaments
they must all be given, however valuable, lest his spirit should hanker
after them and return to look for them in the shape of the tiger. The
large quantity of rice given to the priest is also probably intended
as a provision of the best food for the dead man's spirit, lest it
be hungry and come in the shape of the tiger to satisfy its appetite
upon the surviving relatives. The laying of the ghosts of persons
killed by tigers is thus a very profitable business for the priests.
7. Religion. Ceremonies at hunting.
The tribe worship the god of hunting, who is known as Mati Deo
and resides in a separate tree in each village. At the Bijphutni
(threshing) or harvest festival in the month of Chait (March) they have
a ceremonial hunting party. All the people of the village collect,
each man having a bow and arrow slung to his back and a hatchet
on his shoulder. They spread out a long net in the forest and beat
the animals into this, usually catching a deer, wild pig or hare,
and quails and other birds. They return and cook the game before the
shrine of the god and offer to him a fowl and a pig. A pit is dug
and water poured into it, and a person from each house must stand
in the mud. A little seed taken from each house is also soaked in
the mud, and after the feast is over this is taken and returned to
the householder with words of abuse, a small present of two or three
pice being received from him. The seed is no doubt thus consecrated
for the next sowing. The tribe also have joint ceremonial fishing
excursions. Their ideas of a future life are very vague, and they
have no belief in a place of reward or punishment after death. They
propitiate the spirits of their ancestors on the 15th of Asarh (June)
with offerings of a little rice and incense.
8. Superstitious remedies.
To cure the evil eye they place a little gunpowder in water and
apply it to the sufferer's eyes, the idea perhaps being that the
fiery glance from the evil eye which struck him is quenched like the
gunpowder. To bring on rain they perform a frog marriage, tying two
frogs to a pestle and pouring oil and turmeric over them as in a real
marriage. The children carry them round begging from door to door and
finally deposit them in water. They say that when rain falls and the
sun shines together the jackals are being married. Formerly a woman
suspected of being a witch was tied up in a bag and thrown into a
river or tank at various places set apart for the purpose. If she
sank she was held to be innocent, and if she floated, guilty. In the
latter case she had to defile herself by taking the bone of a cow
and the tail of a pig in her mouth, and it was supposed that this
drove out the magic-working spirit. In the case of illness of their
children or cattle, or the failure of crops, they consult the Pujari
or priest and make an offering. He applies some flowers or grains of
rice to the forehead of the deity, and when one of these falls down
he diagnoses from it the nature of the illness, and gives it to the
sufferer to wear as a charm.
9. Occupation.
The tribe are cultivators and farmservants, and practise shifting
cultivation. They work as village watchmen and also as the Majhi or
village headman and the Pujari or village priest. These officials
are paid by contributions of grain from the cultivators. And as
already seen, the Bhatras are employed as household servants and
will clean cooking-vessels. Since they act as village priests, it
may perhaps be concluded that the Bhatras like the Parjas are older
residents of Bastar than the bulk of the Gonds, and they have become
the household servants of the Hindu immigrants, which the Gonds would
probably disdain to do. Some of them wear the sacred thread, but in
former times the Bastar Raja would invest any man with this for a
fee of four or five rupees, and the Bhatras therefore purchased the
social distinction. They find it inconvenient, however, and lay it
aside when proceeding to their work or going out to hunt. If a man
breaks his thread he must wait till a Brahman comes round, when he
can purchase another.
10. Names.
Among a list of personal names given by Mr. Baijnath the following
are of some interest: Pillu, one of short stature; Matola, one
who learnt to walk late; Phagu, born in Phagun (February); Ghinu,
dirty-looking; Dasru, born on the Dasahra festival; Ludki, one with
a fleshy ear; Dalu, big-bellied; Mudi, a ring, this name having been
given to a child which cried much after birth, but when its nose was
pierced and a ring put in it stopped crying; Chhi, given to a child
which sneezed immediately after birth; Nunha, a posthumous child;
and Bhuklu, a child which began to play almost as soon as born. The
above instances indicate that it is a favourite plan to select the
name from any characteristic displayed by the child soon after birth,
or from any circumstance or incident connected with its birth. Among
names of women are: Cherangi, thin; Fundi, one with swollen cheeks;
Kandri, one given to crying; Mahina (month), a child born a month late;
Batai, one with large eyes; Gaida, fat; Pakli, of fair colour; Boda,
one with crooked legs; Jhunki, one with small eyes; Rupi, a girl who
was given a nose-ring of silver as her brothers had died; Paro, born
on a field-embankment; Dango, tall. A woman must not call by their
names her father-in-law, mother-in-law, her husband's brothers and
elder sisters and the sons and daughters of her husband's brothers
and sisters.
Bhil
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice. The Bhils a Kolarian tribe._
2. _Rajputs deriving their title to the land from the Bhils._
3. _Historical notice._
4. _General Outram and the Khandesh Bhil Corps._
5. _Subdivisions._
6. _Exogamy and marriage customs._
7. _Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy._
8. _Religion._
9. _Witchcraft and amulets._
10. _Funeral rites._
11. _Social customs._
12. _Appearance and characteristics._
13. _Occupation._
14. _Language._
1. General notice. The Bhils a Kolarian tribe.
_Bhil._ [310]--An indigenous or non-Aryan tribe which has been much
in contact with the Hindus and is consequently well known. The home
of the Bhils is the country comprised in the hill ranges of Khandesh,
Central India and Rajputana, west from the Satpuras to the sea in
Gujarat. The total number of Bhils in India exceeds a million and a
half, of which the great bulk belong to Bombay, Rajputana and Central
India. The Central Provinces have only about 28,000, practically all of
whom reside in the Nimar district, on the hills forming the western end
of the Satpura range and adjoining the Rajpipla hills of Khandesh. As
the southern slopes of these hills lie in Berar, a few Bhils are also
found there. The name Bhil seems to occur for the first time about
A.D. 600. It is supposed to be derived from the Dravidian word for
a bow, which is the characteristic weapon of the tribe. It has been
suggested that the Bhils are the Pygmies referred to by Ktesias (400
B.C.) and the Phyllitae of Ptolemy (A.D. 150). The Bhils are recognised
as the oldest inhabitants of southern Rajputana and parts of Gujarat,
and are usually spoken of in conjunction with the Kolis, who inhabit
the adjoining tracts of Gujarat. The most probable hypothesis of the
origin of the Kolis is that they are a western branch of the Kol or
Munda tribe who have spread from Chota Nagpur, through Mandla and
Jubbulpore, Central India and Rajputana to Gujarat and the sea. If
this is correct the Kolis would be a Kolarian tribe. The Bhils have
lost their own language, so that it cannot be ascertained whether
it was Kolarian or Dravidian. But there is nothing against its being
Kolarian in Sir G. Grierson's opinion; and in view of the length of
residence of the tribe, the fact that they have abandoned their own
language and their association with the Kolis, this view may be taken
as generally probable. The Dravidian tribes have not penetrated so
far west as Central India and Gujarat in appreciable numbers.
2. Rajputs deriving their title to the land from the Bhils.
The Rajputs still recognise the Bhils as the former residents and
occupiers of the land by the fact that some Rajput chiefs must be
marked on the brow with a Bhil's blood on accession to the _Gaddi_ or
regal cushion. Tod relates how Goha, [311] the eponymous ancestor of
the Sesodia Rajputs, took the state of Idar in Gujarat from a Bhil:
"At this period Idar was governed by a chief of the savage race of
Bhils. The young Goha frequented the forests in company with the Bhils,
whose habits better assimilated with his daring nature than those of
the Brahmans. He became a favourite with these _vena-putras_ or sons of
the forest, who resigned to him Idar with its woods and mountains. The
Bhils having determined in sport to elect a king, their choice fell
on Goha; and one of the young savages, cutting his finger, applied
the blood as the badge (_tika_) of sovereignty to his forehead. What
was done in sport was confirmed by the old forest chief. The sequel
fixes on Goha the stain of ingratitude, for he slew his benefactor,
and no motive is assigned in the legend for the deed." [312]
The legend is of course a euphemism for the fact that the Rajputs
conquered and dispossessed the Bhils of Idar. But it is interesting
as an indication that they did not consider themselves to derive a
proper title to the land merely from the conquest, but wished also to
show that it passed to them by the designation and free consent of
the Bhils. The explanation is perhaps that they considered the gods
of the Bhils to be the tutelary guardians and owners of the land,
whom they must conciliate before they could hope to enjoy it in
quiet and prosperity. This token of the devolution of the land from
its previous holders, the Bhils, was till recently repeated on the
occasion of each succession of a Sesodia chief. "The Bhil landholders
of Oguna and Undri still claim the privilege of performing the _tika_
for the Sesodias. The Oguna Bhil makes the mark of sovereignty on the
chief's forehead with blood drawn from his own thumb, and then takes
the chief by the arm and seats him on the throne, while the Undri Bhil
holds the salver of spices and sacred grains of rice used in making
the badge." [313] The story that Goha killed the old Bhil chief,
his benefactor, who had adopted him as heir and successor, which
fits in very badly with the rest of the legend, is probably based
on another superstition. Sir J. G. Frazer has shown in _The Golden
Bough_ that in ancient times it was a common superstition that any
one who killed the king had a right to succeed him. The belief was
that the king was the god of the country, on whose health, strength
and efficiency its prosperity depended. When the king grew old and
weak it was time for a successor, and he who could kill the king
proved in this manner that the divine power and strength inherent
in the late king had descended to him, and he was therefore the fit
person to be king. [314] An almost similar story is told of the way
in which the Kachhwaha Rajputs took the territory of Amber State from
the Mina tribe. The infant Rajput prince had been deprived of Narwar
by his uncle, and his mother wandered forth carrying him in a basket,
till she came to the capital of the Minas, where she first obtained
employment in the chiefs kitchen. But owing to her good cooking she
attracted his wife's notice and ultimately disclosed her identity and
told her story. The Mina chief then adopted her as his sister and the
boy as his nephew. This boy, Dhola Rai, on growing up obtained a few
Rajput adherents and slaughtered all the Minas while they were bathing
at the feast of Diwali, after which he usurped their country. [315]
The repetition both of the adoption and the ungrateful murder shows
the importance attached by the Rajputs to both beliefs as necessary
to the validity of their succession and occupation of the land.
The position of the Bhils as the earliest residents of the country
was also recognised by their employment in the capacity of village
watchmen. One of the duties of this official is to know the village
boundaries and keep watch and ward over them, and it was supposed
that the oldest class of residents would know them best. The Bhils
worked in the office of Mankar, the superior village watchman, in
Nimar and also in Berar. Grant Duff states [316] that the Ramosi or
Bhil was employed as village guard by the Marathas, and the Ramosis
were a professional caste of village policemen, probably derived from
the Bhils or from the Bhils and Kolis.
3. Historical notice.
The Rajputs seem at first to have treated the Bhils
leniently. Intermarriage was frequent, especially in the families of
Bhil chieftains, and a new caste called Bhilala [317] has arisen,
which is composed of the descendants of mixed Rajput and Bhil
marriages. Chiefs and landholders in the Bhil country now belong to
this caste, and it is possible that some pure Bhil families may have
been admitted to it. The Bhilalas rank above the Bhils, on a level
with the cultivating castes. Instances occasionally occurred in which
the children of Rajput by a Bhil wife became Rajputs. When Colonel Tod
wrote, Rajputs would still take food with Ujla Bhils or those of pure
aboriginal descent, and all castes would take water from them. [318]
But as Hinduism came to be more orthodox in Rajputana, the Bhils
sank to the position of outcastes. Their custom of eating beef had
always caused them to be much despised. A tradition is related that
one day the god Mahadeo or Siva, sick and unhappy, was reclining in a
shady forest when a beautiful woman appeared, the first sight of whom
effected a cure of all his complaints. An intercourse between the
god and the strange female was established, the result of which was
many children; one of whom, from infancy distinguished alike by his
ugliness and vice, slew the favourite bull of Mahadeo, for which crime
he was expelled to the woods and mountains, and his descendants have
ever since been stigmatised by the names of Bhil and Nishada. [319]
Nishada is a term of contempt applied to the lowest outcastes. Major
Hendley, writing in 1875, states: "Some time since a Thakur (chief)
cut off the legs of two Bhils, eaters of the sacred cow, and plunged
the stumps into boiling oil." [320] When the Marathas began to occupy
Central India they treated the Bhils with great cruelty. A Bhil caught
in a disturbed part of the country was without inquiry flogged and
hanged. Hundreds were thrown over high cliffs, and large bodies of
them, assembled under promise of pardon, were beheaded or blown from
guns. Their women were mutilated or smothered by smoke, and their
children smashed to death against the stones. [321] This treatment may
to some extent have been deserved owing to the predatory habits and
cruelty of the Bhils, but its result was to make them utter savages
with their hand against every man, as they believed that every one's
was against them. From their strongholds in the hills they laid waste
the plain country, holding villages and towns to ransom and driving off
cattle; nor did any travellers pass with impunity through the hills
except in convoys too large to be attacked. In Khandesh, during the
disturbed period of the wars of Sindhia and Holkar, about A.D. 1800,
the Bhils betook themselves to highway robbery and lived in bands
either in mountains or in villages immediately beneath them. The
revenue contractors were unable or unwilling to spend money in the
maintenance of soldiers to protect the country, and the Bhils in a very
short time became so bold as to appear in bands of hundreds and attack
towns, carrying off either cattle or hostages, for whom they demanded
handsome ransoms. [322] In Gujarat another writer described the Bhils
and Kolis as hereditary and professional plunderers--'Soldiers of
the night,' as they themselves said they were. [323] Malcolm said
of them, after peace had been restored to Central India: [324]
"Measures are in progress that will, it is expected, soon complete
the reformation of a class of men who, believing themselves doomed
to be thieves and plunderers, have been confirmed in their destiny
by the oppression and cruelty of neighbouring governments, increased
by an avowed contempt for them as outcasts. The feeling this system
of degradation has produced must be changed; and no effort has been
left untried to restore this race of men to a better sense of their
condition than that which they at present entertain. The common answer
of a Bhil when charged with theft or robbery is, 'I am not to blame;
I am the thief of Mahadeo'; in other words, 'My destiny as a thief
has been fixed by God.'" The Bhil chiefs, who were known as Bhumia,
exercised the most absolute power, and their orders to commit the
most atrocious crimes were obeyed by their ignorant but attached
subjects without a conception on the part of the latter that they
had an option when he whom they termed their Dhunni (Lord) issued the
mandates. [325] Firearms and swords were only used by the chiefs and
headmen of the tribe, and their national weapon was the bamboo bow
having the bowstring made from a thin strip of its elastic bark. The
quiver was a piece of strong bamboo matting, and would contain sixty
barbed arrows a yard long, and tipped with an iron spike either
flattened and sharpened like a knife or rounded like a nail; other
arrows, used for knocking over birds, had knob-like heads. Thus armed,
the Bhils would lie in wait in some deep ravine by the roadside, and
an infernal yell announced their attack to the unwary traveller. [326]
Major Hendley states that according to tradition in the Mahabharata
the god Krishna was killed by a Bhil's arrow, when he was fighting
against them in Gujarat with the Yadavas; and on this account it was
ordained that the Bhil should never again be able to draw the bow with
the forefinger of the right hand. "Times have changed since then, but
I noticed in examining their hands that few could move the forefinger
without the second finger; indeed the fingers appeared useless as
independent members of the hands. In connection with this may be
mentioned their apparent inability to distinguish colours or count
numbers, due alone to their want of words to express themselves." [327]
4. General Outram and the Khandesh Bhil Corps.
The reclamation and pacification of the Bhils is inseparably associated
with the name of Lieutenant, afterwards Sir James, Outram. The Khandesh
Bhil Corps was first raised by him in 1825, when Bhil robber bands
were being hunted down by small parties of troops, and those who were
willing to surrender were granted a free pardon for past offences,
and given grants of land for cultivation and advances for the purchase
of seed and bullocks. When the first attempts to raise the corps were
made, the Bhils believed that the object was to link them in line
like galley-slaves with a view to extirpate the race, that blood was
in high demand as a medicine in the country of their foreign masters,
and so on. Indulging the wild men with feasts and entertainments, and
delighting them with his matchless urbanity, Captain Outram at length
contrived to draw over to the cause nine recruits, one of whom was a
notorious plunderer who had a short time before successfully robbed
the officer commanding a detachment sent against him. This infant
corps soon became strongly attached to the person of their new chief
and entirely devoted to his wishes; their goodwill had been won by his
kind and conciliatory manners, while their admiration and respect had
been thoroughly roused and excited by his prowess and valour in the
chase. On one occasion, it is recorded, word was brought to Outram
of the presence of a panther in some prickly-pear shrubs on the
side of a hill near his station. He went to shoot it with a friend,
Outram being on foot and his friend on horseback searching through the
bushes. When close on the animal, Outram's friend fired and missed, on
which the panther sprang forward roaring and seized Outram, and they
rolled down the hill together. Being released from the claws of the
furious beast for a moment, Outram with great presence of mind drew a
pistol which he had with him, and shot the panther dead. The Bhils,
on seeing that he had been injured, were one and all loud in their
grief and expressions of regret, when Outram quieted them with the
remark, 'What do I care for the clawing of a cat?' and this saying
long remained a proverb among the Bhils. [328] By his kindness and
sympathy, listening freely to all that each single man in the corps
had to say to him, Outram at length won their confidence, convinced
them of his good faith and dissipated their fears of treachery. Soon
the ranks of the corps became full, and for every vacant place there
were numbers of applicants. The Bhils freely hunted down and captured
their friends and relations who continued to create disturbances,
and brought them in for punishment. Outram managed to check their
propensity for liquor by paying them every day just sufficient for
their food, and giving them the balance of their pay at the end of
the month, when some might have a drinking bout, but many preferred
to spend the money on ornaments and articles of finery. With the
assistance of the corps the marauding tendencies of the hill Bhils
were suppressed and tranquillity restored to Khandesh, which rapidly
became one of the most fertile parts of India. During the Mutiny the
Bhil corps remained loyal, and did good service in checking the local
outbursts which occurred in Khandesh. A second battalion was raised
at this time, but was disbanded three years afterwards. After this the
corps had little or nothing to do, and as the absence of fighting and
the higher wages which could be obtained by ordinary labour ceased
to render it attractive to the Bhils, it was finally converted into
police in 1891. [329]
5. Subdivisions.
The Bhils of the Central Provinces have now only two subdivisions, the
Muhammadan Bhils, who were forcibly converted to Islam during the time
of Aurangzeb, and the remainder, who though retaining many animistic
beliefs and superstitions, have practically become Hindus. The
Muhammadan Bhils only number about 3000 out of 28,000. They are
known as Tadvi, a name which was formerly applied to a Bhil headman,
and is said to be derived from _tad_, meaning a separate branch or
section. These Bhils marry among themselves and not with any other
Muhammadans. They retain many Hindu and animistic usages, and are
scarcely Muhammadan in more than name. Both classes are divided into
groups or septs, generally named after plants or animals to which
they still show reverence. Thus the Jamania sept, named after the
_jaman_ tree, [330] will not cut or burn any part of this tree, and
at their weddings the dresses of the bride and bridegroom are taken
and rubbed against the tree before being worn. Similarly the Rohini
sept worship the _rohan_ [331] tree, the Avalia sept the _aonla_
[332] tree, the Meheda sept the _bahera_ [333] tree, and so on. The
Mori sept worship the peacock. They go into the jungle and look for
the tracks of a peacock, and spreading a piece of red cloth before the
footprint, lay their offerings of grain upon it. Members of this sept
may not be tattooed, because they think the splashes of colour on the
peacock's feathers are tattoo-marks. Their women must veil themselves
if they see a peacock, and they think that if any member of the sept
irreverently treads on a peacock's footprints he will fall ill. The
Ghodmarya (Horse-killer) sept may not tame a horse nor ride one. The
Masrya sept will not kill or eat fish. The Sanyan or cat sept have a
tradition that one of their ancestors was once chasing a cat, which
ran for protection under a cover which had been put over the stone
figure of their goddess. The goddess turned the cat into stone and
sat on it, and since then members of the sept will not touch a cat
except to save it from harm, and they will not eat anything which has
been touched by a cat. The Ghattaya sept worship the grinding mill at
their weddings and also on festival days. The Solia sept, whose name
is apparently derived from the sun, are split up into four subsepts:
the Ada Solia, who hold their weddings at sunrise; the Japa Solia,
who hold them at sunset; the Taria Solia, who hold them when stars have
become visible after sunset; and the Tar Solia, who believe their name
is connected with cotton thread and wrap several skeins of raw thread
round the bride and bridegroom at the wedding ceremony. The Moharia
sept worship the local goddess at the village of Moharia in Indore
State, who is known as the Moharia Mata; at their weddings they apply
turmeric and oil to the fingers of the goddess before rubbing them on
the bride and bridegroom. The Maoli sept worship a goddess of that
name in Barwani town. Her shrine is considered to be in the shape
of a kind of grain-basket known as _kilia_, and members of the sept
may never make or use baskets of this shape, nor may they be tattooed
with representations of it. Women of the sept are not allowed to visit
the shrine of the goddess, but may worship her at home. Several septs
have the names of Rajput clans, as Sesodia, Panwar, Mori, and appear
to have originated in mixed unions between Rajputs and Bhils.
6. Exogamy and marriage customs.
A man must not marry in his own sept nor in the families of his
mothers and grandmothers. The union of first cousins is thus
prohibited, nor can girls be exchanged in marriage between two
families. A wife's sister may also not be married during the wife's
lifetime. The Muhammadan Bhils permit a man to marry his maternal
uncle's daughter, and though he cannot marry his wife's sister
he may keep her as a concubine. Marriages may be infant or adult,
but the former practice is becoming prevalent and girls are often
wedded before they are eleven. Matches are arranged by the parents
of the parties in consultation with the caste _panchayat_; but in
Bombay girls may select their own husbands, and they have also a
recognised custom of elopement at the Tosina fair in the month of the
Mahi Kantha. If a Bhil can persuade a girl to cross the river there
with him he may claim her as his wife; but if they are caught before
getting across he is liable to be punished by the bride's father. [334]
The betrothal and wedding ceremonies now follow the ordinary ritual of
the middle and lower castes in the Maratha country. [335] The bride
must be younger than the bridegroom except in the case of a widow. A
bride-price is paid which may vary from Rs. 9 to 20; in the case of
Muhammadan Bhils the bridegroom is said to give a dowry of Rs. 20 to
25. When the ovens are made with the sacred earth they roast some of
the large millet juari [336] for the family feast, calling this Juari
Mata or the grain goddess. Offerings of this are made to the family
gods, and it is partaken of only by the members of the bride's and
bridegroom's septs respectively at their houses. No outsider may even
see this food being eaten. The leavings of food, with the leaf-plates
on which it was eaten, are buried inside the house, as it is believed
that if they should fall into the hands of any outsider the death or
blindness of one of the family will ensue. When the bridegroom reaches
the bride's house he strikes the marriage-shed with a dagger or other
sharp instrument. A goat is killed and he steps in its blood as he
enters the shed. A day for the wedding is selected by the priest,
but it may also take place on any Sunday in the eight fine months. If
the wedding takes place on the eleventh day of Kartik, that is on
the expiration of the four rainy months when marriages are forbidden,
they make a little hut of eleven stalks of juari with their cobs in
the shape of a cone, and the bride and bridegroom walk round this. The
services of a Brahman are not required for such a wedding. Sometimes
the bridegroom is simply seated in a grain basket and the bride in
a winnowing-fan; then their hands are joined as the sun is half set,
and the marriage is completed. The bridegroom takes the basket and fan
home with him. On the return of the wedding couple, their _kankans_
or wristbands are taken off at Hanuman's temple. The Muhammadan Bhils
perform the same ceremonies as the Hindus, but at the end they call in
the Kazi or registrar, who repeats the Muhammadan prayers and records
the dowry agreed upon. The practice of the bridegroom serving for
his wife is in force among both classes of Bhils.
7. Widow--marriage, divorce and polygamy.
The remarriage of widows is permitted, but the widow may not marry
any relative of her first husband. She returns to her father's house,
and on her remarriage they obtain a bride-price of Rs. 40 or 50, a
quarter of which goes in a feast to the tribesmen. The wedding of a
widow is held on the Amawas or last day of the dark fortnight of the
month, or on a Sunday. A wife may be divorced for adultery without
consulting the _panchayat_. It is said that a wife cannot otherwise
be divorced on any account, nor can a woman divorce her husband, but
she may desert him and go and live with a man. In this case all that
is necessary is that the second husband should repay to the first
as compensation the amount expended by the latter on his marriage
with the woman. Polygamy is permitted, and a second wife is sometimes
taken in order to obtain children, but this number is seldom if ever
exceeded. It is stated that the Bhil married women are generally chaste
and faithful to their husbands, and any attempt to tamper with their
virtue on the part of an outsider is strongly resented by the man.
8. Religion.
The Bhils worship the ordinary Hindu deities and the village godlings
of the locality. The favourite both with Hindu and Muhammadan Bhils
is Khande Rao or Khandoba, the war-god of the Marathas, who is often
represented by a sword. The Muhammadans and the Hindu Bhils also
to a less extent worship the Pirs or spirits of Muhammadan saints
at their tombs, of which there are a number in Nimar. Major Hendley
states that in Mewar the seats or _sthans_ of the Bhil gods are on the
summits of high hills, and are represented by heaps of stones, solid
or hollowed out in the centre, or mere platforms, in or near which are
found numbers of clay or mud images of horses. [337] In some places
clay lamps are burnt in front of the images of horses, from which
it may be concluded that the horse itself is or was worshipped as a
god. Colonel Tod states that the Bhils will eat of nothing white in
colour, as a white sheep or goat; and their grand adjuration is 'By
the white ram.' [338] Sir A. Lyall [339] says that their principal
oath is by the dog. The Bhil sepoys told Major Hendley that they
considered it of little use to go on worshipping their own gods, as
the power of these had declined since the English became supreme. They
thought the strong English gods were too much for the weak deities
of their country, hence they were desirous of embracing Brahmanism,
which would also raise them in the social scale and give them a better
chance of promotion in regiments where there were Brahman officers.
9. Witchcraft and amulets.
They wear charms and amulets to keep off evil spirits; the charms
are generally pieces of blue string with seven knots in them, which
their witch-finder or Badwa ties, reciting an incantation on each; the
knots were sometimes covered with metal to keep them undefiled and the
charms were tied on at the Holi, Dasahra or some other festival. [340]
In Bombay the Bhils still believe in witches as the agents of any
misfortunes that may befall them. If a man was sick and thought some
woman had bewitched him, the suspected woman was thrown into a stream
or swung from a tree. If the branch broke and the woman fell and
suffered serious injury, or if she could not swim across the stream
and sank, she was considered to be innocent and efforts were made
to save her. But if she escaped without injury she was held to be a
witch, and it frequently happened that the woman would admit herself
to be one either from fear of the infliction of a harder ordeal, or
to keep up the belief in her powers as a witch, which often secured
her a free supper of milk and chickens. She would then admit that
she had really bewitched the sick man and undertake to cure him on
some sacrifice being made. If he recovered, the animal named by the
witch was sacrificed and its blood given her to drink while still
warm; either from fear or in order to keep up the character she would
drink it, and would be permitted to stay on in the village. If, on the
other hand, the sick person died, the witch would often be driven into
the forest to die of hunger or to be devoured by wild animals. [341]
These practices have now disappeared in the Central Provinces, though
occasionally murders of suspected witches may still occur. The Bhils
are firm believers in omens, the nature of which is much the same as
among the Hindus. When a Bhil is persistently unlucky in hunting,
he sometimes says '_Nat laga_,' meaning that some bad spirit is
causing his ill-success. Then he will make an image of a man in
the sand or dust of the road, or sometimes two images of a man and
woman, and throwing straw or grass over the images set it alight, and
pound it down on them with a stick with abusive yells. This he calls
killing his bad luck. [342] Major Hendley notes that the men danced
before the different festivals and before battles. The men danced
in a ring holding sticks and striking them against each other, much
like the Baiga dance. Before battle they had a war-dance in which
the performers were armed and imitated a combat. To be carried on
the shoulders of one of the combatants was a great honour, perhaps
because it symbolised being on horseback. The dance was probably in
the nature of a magical rite, designed to obtain success in battle
by going through an imitation of it beforehand. The priests are the
chief physicians among the Bhils, though most old men were supposed
to know something about medicine. [343]
10. Funeral rites.
The dead are usually buried lying on the back, with the head pointing
to the south. Cooked food is placed on the bier and deposited on
the ground half-way to the cemetery. On return each family of the
sept brings a wheaten cake to the mourners and these are eaten. On
the third day they place on the grave a thick cake of wheaten flour,
water in an earthen pot and tobacco or any other stimulant which the
deceased was in the habit of using in his life.
11. Social customs.
The Hindu Bhils say that they do not admit outsiders into the caste,
but the Muhammadans will admit a man of any but the impure castes. The
neophyte must be shaved and circumcised, and the Kazi gives him
some holy water to drink and teaches him the profession of belief
in Islam. If a man is not circumcised, the Tadvi or Muhammadan Bhils
will not bury his body. Both classes of Bhils employ Brahmans at their
ceremonies. The tribe eat almost all kinds of flesh and drink liquor,
but the Hindus now abjure beef and the Muhammadans pork. Some Bhils
now refuse to take the skins off dead cattle, but others will do
so. The Bhils will take food from any caste except the impure ones,
and none except these castes will now take food from them. Temporary
or permanent exclusion from caste is imposed for the same offences
as among the Hindus.
12. Appearance and characteristics.
The typical Bhil is small, dark, broad-nosed and ugly, but well built
and active. The average height of 128 men measured by Major Hendley
was 5 feet 6.4 inches. The hands are somewhat small and the legs
fairly developed, those of the women being the best. "The Bhil is an
excellent woodsman, knows the shortest cuts over the hills, can walk
the roughest paths and climb the steepest crags without slipping or
feeling distressed. He is often called in old Sanskrit works Venaputra,
'child of the forest,' or Pal Indra, 'lord of the pass.' These
names well describe his character. His country is approached through
narrow defiles (_pal_), and through these none could pass without his
permission. In former days he always levied _rakhwali_ or blackmail,
and even now native travellers find him quite ready to assert what he
deems his just rights. The Bhil is a capital huntsman, tracking and
marking down tigers, panthers and bears, knowing all their haunts, the
best places to shoot them, the paths they take and all those points so
essential to success in big-game shooting; they will remember for years
the spots where tigers have been disposed of, and all the circumstances
connected with their deaths. The Bhil will himself attack a leopard,
and with his sword, aided by his friends, cut him to pieces." [344]
Their agility impressed the Hindus, and an old writer says: "Some
Bhil chieftains who attended the camp of Sidhraj, king of Gujarat,
astonished him with their feats of activity; in his army they seemed
as the followers of Hanuman in attendance upon Ram." [345]
13. Occupation.
The Bhils have now had to abandon their free use of the forests,
which was highly destructive in its effects, and their indiscriminate
slaughter of game. Many of them live in the open country and have
become farmservants and field-labourers. A certain proportion are
tenants, but very few own villages. Some of the Tadvi Bhils, however,
still retain villages which were originally granted free of revenue
on condition of their keeping the hill-passes of the Satpuras open
and safe for travellers. These are known as Hattiwala. Bhils also
serve as village watchmen in Nimar and the adjoining tracts of the
Berar Districts. Captain Forsyth, writing in 1868, described the
Bhils as follows: "The Muhammadan Bhils are with few exceptions a
miserable lot, idle and thriftless, and steeped in the deadly vice
of opium-eating. The unconverted Bhils are held to be tolerably
reliable. When they borrow money or stock for cultivation they seldom
abscond fraudulently from their creditors, and this simple honesty
of theirs tends, I fear, to keep numbers of them still in a state
little above serfdom." [346]
14. Language.
The Bhils have now entirely abandoned their own language and speak a
corrupt dialect based on the Aryan vernaculars current around them. The
Bhil dialect is mainly derived from Gujarati, but it is influenced
by Marwari and Marathi; in Nimar especially it becomes a corrupt
form of Marathi. Bhili, as this dialect is called, contains a number
of non-Aryan words, some of which appear to come from the Mundari,
and others from the Dravidian languages; but these are insufficient
to form any basis for a deduction as to whether the Bhils belonged
to the Kolarian or Dravidian race. [347]
Bhilala
1. General notice.
_Bhilala_, [348]--A small caste found in the Nimar and Hoshangabad
Districts of the Central Provinces and in Central India. The total
strength of the Bhilalas is about 150,000 persons, most of whom reside
in the Bhopawar Agency, adjoining Nimar. Only 15,000 were returned from
the Central Provinces in 1911. The Bhilalas are commonly considered,
and the general belief may in their case be accepted as correct, to be
a mixed caste sprung from the alliances of immigrant Rajputs with the
Bhils of the Central India hills. The original term was not improbably
Bhilwala, and may have been applied to those Rajput chiefs, a numerous
body, who acquired small estates in the Bhil country, or to those who
took the daughters of Bhil chieftains to wife, the second course being
often no doubt a necessary preliminary to the first. Several Bhilala
families hold estates in Nimar and Indore, and their chiefs now claim
to be pure Rajputs. The principal Bhilala houses, as those of Bhamgarh,
Selani and Mandhata, do not intermarry with the rest of the caste, but
only among themselves and with other families of the same standing in
Malwa and Holkar's Nimar. On succession to the _Gaddi_ or headship of
the house, representatives of these families are marked with a _tika_
or badge on the forehead and sometimes presented with a sword, and
the investiture may be carried out by custom by the head of another
house. Bhilala landholders usually have the title of Rao or Rawat. They
do not admit that a Bhilala can now spring from intermarriage between
a Rajput and a Bhil. The local Brahmans will take water from them and
they are occasionally invested with the sacred thread at the time
of marriage. The Bhilala Rao of Mandhata is hereditary custodian
of the great shrine of Siva at Onkar Mandhata on an island in the
Nerbudda. According to the traditions of the family, their ancestor,
Bharat Singh, was a Chauhan Rajput, who took Mandhata from Nathu
Bhil in A.D. 1165, and restored the worship of Siva to the island,
which had been made inaccessible to pilgrims by the terrible deities,
Kali and Bhairava, devourers of human flesh. In such legends may be
recognised the propagation of Hinduism by the Rajput adventurers and
the reconsecration of the aboriginal shrines to its deities. Bharat
Singh is said to have killed Nathu Bhil, but it is more probable that
he only married his daughter and founded a Bhilala family. Similar
alliances have taken place among other tribes, as the Korku chiefs
of the Gawilgarh and Mahadeo hills, and the Gond princes of Garha
Mandla. The Bhilalas generally resemble other Hindus in appearance,
showing no marked signs of aboriginal descent. Very probably they have
all an infusion of Rajput blood, as the Rajputs settled in the Bhil
country in some strength at an early period of history. The caste have,
however, totemistic group names; they will eat fowls and drink liquor;
and they bury their dead with the feet to the north, all these customs
indicating a Dravidian origin. Their subordinate position in past times
is shown by the fact that they will accept cooked food from a Kunbi
or a Gujar; and indeed the status of all except the chief's families
would naturally have been a low one, as they were practically the
offspring of kept women. As already stated, the landowning families
usually arrange alliances among themselves. Below these comes the
body of the caste and below them is a group known as the Chhoti Tad
or bastard Bhilalas, to which are relegated the progeny of irregular
unions and persons expelled from the caste for social offences.
2. Marriage.
The caste, for the purpose of avoiding marriages between relations,
are also divided into exogamous groups called _kul_ or _kuri_,
several of the names of which are of totemistic origin or derived
from those of animals and plants. Members of the Jamra _kuri_ will
not cut or burn the _jamun_ [349] tree; those of the Saniyar _kuri_
will not grow _san_-hemp, while the Astaryas revere the _sona_ [350]
tree and the Pipaladya, the _pipal_ tree. Some of the _kuris_ have
Rajput sept names, as Mori, Baghel and Solanki. A man is forbidden to
take a wife from within his own sept or that of his mother, and the
union of first cousins is also prohibited. The customs of the Bhilalas
resemble those of the Kunbis and other cultivating castes. At their
weddings four cart-yokes are arranged in a square, and inside this
are placed two copper vessels filled with water and considered to
represent the Ganges and Jumna. When the sun is half set, the bride
and the bridegroom clasp hands and then walk seven times round the
square of cart-yokes. The water of the pots is mixed and this is
considered to represent the mingling of the bride's and bridegroom's
personalities as the Ganges and Jumna meet at Allahabad. A sum of about
Rs. 60 is usually paid by the parents of the bridegroom to those of
the bride and is expended on the ceremony. The ordinary Bhilalas have,
Mr. Korke states, a simple form of wedding which may be gone through
without consulting a Brahman on the Ekadashi or eleventh of Kartik
(October); this is the day on which the gods awake from sleep and
marks the commencement of the marriage season. A cone is erected of
eleven plants of juari, roots and all, and the couple simply walk
round this seven times at night, when the marriage is complete. The
remarriage of widows is permitted. The woman's forehead is marked
with cowdung by another widow, probably as a rite of purification,
and the cloths of the couple are tied together.
3. Social customs.
The caste commonly bury the dead and erect memorial stones at the
heads of graves which they worship in the month of Chait (April),
smearing them with vermilion and making an offering of flowers. This
may either be a Dravidian usage or have been adopted by imitation
from the Muhammadans. The caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities,
but each family has a _Kul-devi_ or household god, Mr. Korke remarks,
to which they pay special reverence. The offerings made to the Kul-devi
must be consumed by the family alone, but married daughters are allowed
to participate. They employ Nimari Brahmans as their priests, and also
have _gurus_ or spiritual preceptors, who are Gosains or Bairagis. They
will take food cooked with water from Brahmans, Rajputs, Munda Gujars
and Tirole Kunbis. The last two groups are principal agricultural
castes of the locality and the Bhilalas are probably employed by them
as farmservants, and hence accept cooked food from their masters in
accordance with a common custom. The local Brahmans of the Nagar,
Naramdeo, Baisa and other subcastes will take water from the hand of
a Bhilala. Temporary excommunication from caste is imposed for the
usual offences, such as going to jail, getting maggots in a wound,
killing a cow, a dog or a squirrel, committing homicide, being beaten
by a man of low caste, selling shoes at a profit, committing adultery,
and allowing a cow to die with a rope round its neck; and further, for
touching the corpses of a cow, cat or horse, or a Barhai (carpenter) or
Chamar (tanner). They will not swear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel, and
if either of the first two animals dies in a house, it is considered to
be impure for a month and a quarter. The head of the caste committee
has the designation of Mandloi, which is a territorial title borne
by several families in Nimar. He receives a share of the fine levied
for the _Sarni_ or purification ceremony, when a person temporarily
expelled is readmitted into caste. Under the Mandloi is the Kotwal
whose business is to summon the members to the caste assemblies;
he also is paid out of the fines and his office is hereditary.
4. Occupation and character.
The caste are cultivators, farmservants and field-labourers, and a
Bhilala also usually held the office of Mankar, a superior kind of
Kotwar or village watchman. The Mankar did no dirty work and would not
touch hides, but attended on any officer who came to the village and
acted as a guide. Where there was a village _sarai_ or rest-house,
it was in charge of the Mankar, who was frequently also known as
zamindar. This may have been a recognition of the ancient rights of
the Bhilalas and Bhils to the country.
5. Character.
Captain Forsyth, Settlement Officer of Nimar, had a very unfavourable
opinion of the Bhilalas, whom he described as proverbial for
dishonesty in agricultural engagements and worse drunkards than any
of the indigenous tribes. [351] This judgment was probably somewhat
too severe, but they are poor cultivators, and a Bhilala's field may
often be recognised by its slovenly appearance. [352]
A century ago Sir J. Malcolm also wrote very severely of the Bhilalas:
"The Bhilala and Lundi chiefs were the only robbers in Malwa whom under
no circumstances travellers could trust. There are oaths of a sacred
but obscure kind among those that are Rajputs or who boast their blood,
which are almost a disgrace to take, but which, they assert, the basest
was never known to break before Mandrup Singh, a Bhilala, and some of
his associates, plunderers on the Nerbudda, showed the example. The
vanity of this race has lately been flattered by their having risen
into such power and consideration that neighbouring Rajput chiefs found
it their interest to forget their prejudices and to condescend so far
as to eat and drink with them. Hatti Singh, Grassia chief of Nowlana,
a Khichi Rajput, and several others in the vicinity cultivated the
friendship of Nadir, the late formidable Bhilala robber-chief of
the Vindhya range; and among other sacrifices made by the Rajputs,
was eating and drinking with him. On seeing this take place in my
camp, I asked Hatti Singh whether he was not degraded by doing so;
he said no, but that Nadir was elevated." [353]
Bhishti
_Bhishti._--A small Muhammadan caste of water-bearers. Only 26
Bhishtis were shown in the Central Provinces in 1901 and 278 in
1891. The tendency of the lower Muhammadan castes, as they obtain
some education, is to return themselves simply as Muhammadans, the
caste name being considered derogatory. The Bhishtis are, however,
a regular caste numbering over a lakh of persons in India, the bulk
of whom belong to the United Provinces. Many of them are converts
from Hinduism, and they combine Hindu and Muhammadan practices. They
have _gotras_ or exogamous sections, the names of which indicate
the Hindu origin of their members, as Huseni Brahman, Samri Chauhan,
Bahmangour and others. They prohibit marriage within the section and
within two degrees of relationship on the mother's side. Marriages are
performed by the Muhammadan ritual or Nikah, but a Brahman is sometimes
asked to fix the auspicious day, and they erect a marriage-shed. The
bridegroom goes to the bride's house riding on a horse, and when he
arrives drops Rs. 1-4 into a pot of water held by a woman. The bride
whips the bridegroom's horse with a switch made of flowers. During
the marriage the bride sits inside the house and the bridegroom in
the shed outside. An agent or Vakil with two witnesses goes to the
bride and asks her whether she consents to marry the bridegroom,
and when she gives her consent, as she always does, they go out and
formally communicate it to the Kazi. The dowry is then settled, and
the bond of marriage is sealed. But when the parents of the bride are
poor they receive a bride-price of Rs. 30, from which they pay the
dowry. The Bhishtis worship their leather bag (_mashk_) as a sort of
fetish, and burn incense before it on Fridays. [354] The traditional
occupation of the Bhishti is to supply water, and he is still engaged
in this and other kinds of domestic service. The name is said to be
derived from the Persian _bihisht_, 'paradise,' and to have been given
to them on account of the relief which their ministrations afforded
to the thirsty soldiery. [355] Perhaps, too, the grandiloquent name
was applied partly in derision, like similar titles given to other
menial servants. They are also known as Mashki or Pakhali, after
their leathern water-bag. The leather bag is a distinctive sign of
the Bhishti, but when he puts it away he may be recognised from the
piece of red cloth which he usually wears round his waist. There is
an interesting legend to the effect that the Bhishti who saved the
Emperor Humayun's life at Chausa, and was rewarded by the tenure
of the Imperial throne for half a day, employed his short lease of
power by providing for his family and friends, and caused his leather
bag to be cut up into rupees, which were gilded and stamped with the
record of his date and reign in order to perpetuate its memory. [356]
The story of the Bhishti obtaining his name on account of the solace
which he afforded to the Muhammadan soldiery finds a parallel in the
case of the English army:
The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a piece o' twisty rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
With 'is mussick on 'is back,
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch us till the bugles made 'Retire,'
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire. [357]
An excellent description of the Bhishti as a household servant is
contained in Eha's _Behind the Bungalow_, [358] from which the
following extract is taken: "If you ask: Who is the Bhishti? I
will tell you. Bihisht in the Persian tongue means Paradise, and a
Bihishtee is therefore an inhabitant of Paradise, a cherub, a seraph,
an angel of mercy. He has no wings; the painters have misconceived
him; but his back is bowed down with the burden of a great goat-skin
swollen to bursting with the elixir of life. He walks the land when
the heaven above him is brass and the earth iron, when the trees and
shrubs are languishing and the last blade of grass has given up the
struggle for life, when the very roses smell only of dust, and all
day long the roaming dust-devils waltz about the fields, whirling
leaf and grass and cornstalk round and round and up and away into
the regions of the sky; and he unties a leather thong which chokes
the throat of his goat-skin just where the head of the poor old goat
was cut off, and straightway, with a life-reviving gurgle, the stream
called _thandha pani_ gushes forth, and plant and shrub lift up their
heads and the garden smiles again. The dust also on the roads is laid,
and a grateful incense rises from the ground, the sides of the water
_chatti_ grow dark and moist and cool themselves in the hot air,
and through the dripping interstices of the _khaskhas_ tattie a
chilly fragrance creeps into the room, causing the mercury in the
thermometer to retreat from its proud place. I like the Bhishti and
respect him. As a man he is temperate and contented, eating _bajri_
bread and slaking his thirst with his own element. And as a servant
he is laborious and faithful, rarely shirking his work, seeking it out
rather. For example, we had a bottle-shaped filter of porous stoneware,
standing in a bucket of water which it was his duty to fill daily;
but the good man, not content with doing his bare duty, took the
plug out of the filter and filled it too. And all the station knows
how assiduously he fills the rain-gauge." With the construction of
water-works in large stations the Bhishti is losing his occupation,
and he is a far less familiar figure to the present generation of
Anglo-Indians than to their predecessors.
Bhoyar
1. Origin and traditions.
_Bhoyar, [359] Bhoir_ (Honorific titles, Mahajan and Patel).--A
cultivating caste numbering nearly 60,000 persons in 1911, and residing
principally in the Betul and Chhindwara Districts. The Bhoyars are not
found outside the Central Provinces. They claim to be the descendants
of a band of Panwar Rajputs, who were defending the town of Dharanagri
or Dhar in Central India when it was besieged by Aurangzeb. Their post
was on the western part of the wall, but they gave way and fled into
the town as the sun was rising, and it shone on their faces. Hence
they were called Bhoyar from a word _bhor_ meaning morning, because
they were seen running away in the morning. They were put out of
caste by the other Rajputs, and fled to the Central Provinces. The
name may also be a variant of that of the Bhagore Rajputs. And another
derivation is from _bhora_, a simpleton or timid person. Their claim
to be immigrants from Central India is borne out by the fact that they
still speak a corrupt form of the Malwi dialect of Rajputana, which
is called after them Bhoyari, and their Bhats or genealogists come
from Malwa. But they have now entirely lost their position as Rajputs.
2. Subcastes and sections.
The Bhoyars are divided into the Panwari, Dholewar, Chaurasia and
Daharia subcastes. The Panwars are the most numerous and the highest,
as claiming to be directly descended from Panwar Rajputs. They
sometimes called themselves Jagdeo Panwars, Jagdeo being the name
of the king under whom they served in Dharanagri. The Dholewars
take their name from Dhola, a place in Malwa, or from _dhol_, a
drum. They are the lowest subcaste, and some of them keep pigs. It
is probable that these subcastes immigrated with the Malwa Rajas in
the fifteenth century, the Dholewars being the earlier arrivals,
and having from the first intermarried with the local Dravidian
tribes. The Daharias take their name from Dahar, the old name of
the Jubbulpore country, and may be a relic of the domination of
the Chedi kings of Tewar. The name of the Chaurasias is probably
derived from the Chaurasi or tract of eighty-four villages formerly
held by the Betul Korku family of Chandu. The last two subdivisions
are numerically unimportant. The Bhoyars have over a hundred _kuls_
or exogamous sections. The names of most of these are titular, but
some are territorial and a few totemistic. Instances of such names
are Onkar (the god Siva), Deshmukh and Chaudhari, headman, Hazari (a
leader of 1000 horse), Gore (fair-coloured), Dongardiya (a lamp on a
hill), Pinjara (a cotton-cleaner), Gadria (a shepherd), Khaparia (a
tyler), Khawasi (a barber), Chiknya (a sycophant), Kinkar (a slave),
Dukhi (penurious), Suplya toplya (a basket and fan maker), Kasai (a
butcher), Gohattya (a cow-killer), and Kalebhut (black devil). Among
the territorial sections may be mentioned Sonpuria, from Sonpur,
and Patharia, from the hill country. The name Badnagrya is also
really territorial, being derived from the town of Badnagar, but
the members of the section connect it with the _bad_ or banyan tree,
the leaves of which they refrain from eating. Two other totemistic
gotras are the Baranga and Baignya, derived from the _barang_ plant
(_Kydia calycina_) and from the brinjal respectively. Some sections
have the names of Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Parihar and Panwar. This
curiously mixed list of family names appears to indicate that the
Bhoyars originate from a small band of Rajputs who must have settled
in the District about the fifteenth century as military colonists,
and taken their wives from the people of the country. They may have
subsequently been recruited by fresh bands of immigrants who have
preserved a slightly higher status. They have abandoned their old high
position, and now rank below the ordinary cultivating castes like
Kunbis and Kurmis who arrived later; while the caste has probably
in times past also been recruited to a considerable extent by the
admission of families of outsiders.
3. Marriage.
Marriage within the _kul_ or family group is forbidden, as also the
union of first cousins. Girls are usually married young, and sometimes
infants of one or two months are given in wedlock, while contracts
of betrothal are made for unborn children if they should be of the
proper sex, the mother's womb being touched with _kunku_ or red powder
to seal the agreement. A small _dej_ or price is usually paid for the
bride, amounting to Rs. 5 with 240 lbs. of grain, and 8 seers of _ghi_
and oil. At the betrothal the Joshi or astrologer is consulted to see
whether the names of the couple make an auspicious conjunction. He asks
for the names of the bride and bridegroom, and if these are found to be
inimical another set of names is given, and the experiment is continued
until a union is obtained which is astrologically auspicious. In order
to provide for this contingency some Bhoyars give their children ten
or twelve names at birth. If all the names fail, the Joshi invents new
ones of his own, and in some way brings about the auspicious union
to the satisfaction of both parties, who consider it no business
of theirs to pry into the Joshi's calculations or to question his
methods. After the marriage-shed is erected the family god must be
invoked to be present at the ceremony. He is asked to come and take
his seat in an earthen pot containing a lighted wick, the pot being
supported on a toy chariot made of sticks. A thread is coiled round
the neck of the jar, and the Bhoyars then place it in the middle of
the house, confident that the god has entered it, and will ward off
all calamities during the marriage. This is performed by the _bhanwar_
ceremony, seven earthen pots being placed in a row, while the bride and
bridegroom walk round in a circle holding a basket with a lighted lamp
in it. As each circle is completed, one pot is removed. This always
takes place at night. The Dholewars do not perform the _bhanwar_
ceremony, and simply throw sacred rice on the couple, and this is
also done in Wardha. Sometimes the Bhoyars dispense with the presence
of the Brahman and merely get some rice and juari consecrated by
him beforehand, which they throw on the heads of the couple, and
thereupon consider the marriage complete. Weddings are generally
held in the bright fortnight of Baisakh (April-May), and sometimes
can be completed in a single day. Widow-marriage is allowed, but it
is considered that the widow should marry a widower and not a bachelor.
4. Occupation.
The regular occupation of the Bhoyars is agriculture, and they are
good cultivators, growing much sugar-cane with well-irrigation. They
are industrious, and their holdings on the rocky soils of the plateau
Districts are often cleared of stones at the cost of much labour. Their
women work in the fields. In Betul they have the reputation of being
much addicted to drink.
5. Social status.
They do not now admit outsiders, but their family names show that at
one time they probably did so, and this laxity of feeling survives in
the toleration with which they readmit into caste a woman who has gone
wrong with an outsider. They eat flesh and fowls, and the Dholewars eat
pork, while as already stated they are fond of liquor. To have a shoe
thrown on his house by a caste-fellow is a serious degradation for a
Bhoyar, and he must break his earthen pots, clean his house and give
a feast. To be beaten with a shoe by a low caste like Mahar entails
shaving the moustaches and paying a heavy fine, which is spent on a
feast. The Bhoyars do not take food from any caste but Brahmans, but
no caste higher than Kunbis and Malis will take water from them. In
social status they rank somewhat below Kunbis. In appearance they are
well built, and often of a fair complexion. Unmarried girls generally
wear skirts instead of _saris_ or cloths folding between the legs;
they also must not wear toe-rings. Women of the Panwar subcaste wear
glass bangles on the left hand, and brass ones on the right. All
women are tattooed. They both burn and bury the dead, placing the
corpse on the pyre with its head to the south or west, and in Wardha
to the north. Here they have a peculiar custom as regards mourning,
which is observed only till the next Monday or Thursday whichever
falls first. Thus the period of mourning may extend from one to four
days. The Bhoyars are considered in Wardha to be more than ordinarily
timid, and also to be considerable simpletons, while they stand in much
awe of Government officials, and consider it a great misfortune to be
brought into a court of justice. Very few of them can read and write.
Bhuiya
List of Paragraphs
1. _The tribe and its name._
2. _Distribution of the tribe._
3. _Example of the position of the aborigines in Hindu society._
4. _The Bhuiyas a Kolarian tribe._
5. _The Baigas and the Bhuiyas. Chhattisgarh the home of the Baigas._
6. _The Baigas a branch of the Bhuiyas._
7. _Tribal subdivisions._
8. _Exogamous septs._
9. _Marriage customs._
10. _Widow-marriage and divorce._
11. _Religion._
12. _Religious dancing._
13. _Funeral rites and inheritance._
14. _Physical appearance and occupation._
15. _Social customs._
1. The tribe and its name.
_Bhuiya, Bhuinhar, Bhumia._ [360]--The name of a very important tribe
of Chota Nagpur, Bengal and Orissa. The Bhuiyas numbered more than
22,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, being mainly found
in the Sarguja and Jashpur States. In Bengal and Bihar the Bhuiyas
proper count about half a million persons, while the Musahar and
Khandait castes, both of whom are mainly derived from the Bhuiyas,
total together well over a million.
The name Bhuiya means 'Lord of the soil,' or 'Belonging to the soil,'
and is a Sanskrit derivative. The tribe have completely forgotten
their original name, and adopted this designation conferred on them
by the immigrant Aryans. The term Bhuiya, however, is also employed
by other tribes and by some Hindus as a title for landholders, being
practically equivalent to zamindar. And hence a certain confusion
arises, and classes or individuals may have the name of Bhuiya without
belonging to the tribe at all. "In most parts of Chota Nagpur,"
Sir H. Risley says, "there is a well-known distinction between a
Bhuiya by tribe and a Bhuiya by title. The Bhuiyas of Bonai and
Keonjhar described by Colonel Dalton belong to the former category;
the Bhuiya Mundas and Oraons to the latter. The distinction will be
made somewhat clearer if it is explained that every 'tribal Bhuiya'
will as a matter of course describe himself as Bhuiya, while a member
of another tribe will only do so if he is speaking with reference to
a question of land, or desires for some special reason to lay stress
on his status as a landholder or agriculturist."
We further find in Bengal and Benares a caste of landholders known as
Bhuinhar or Babhan, who are generally considered as a somewhat mixed
and inferior group of Brahman and Rajput origin. Both Sir H. Risley
and Mr. Crooke adopt this view and deny any connection between the
Bhuinhars and the Bhuiya tribes. Babhan appears to be a corrupt form
of Brahman. Mr. Mazumdar, however, states that Bhuiya is never used in
Bengali as an equivalent for zamindar or landholder, and he considers
that the Bhuinhars and also the Barah Bhuiyas, a well-known group of
twelve landholders of Eastern Bengal and Assam, belonged to the Bhuiya
tribe. He adduces from Sir E. Gait's _History of Assam_ the fact that
the Chutias and Bhuiyas were dominant in that country prior to its
conquest by the Ahoms in the thirteenth century, and considers that
these Chutias gave their name to Chutia or Chota Nagpur. I am unable
to express any opinion on Mr. Mazumdar's argument, and it is also
unnecessary as the question does not concern the Central Provinces.
2. Distribution of the tribe.
The principal home of the Bhuiya tribe proper is the south of the
Chota Nagpur plateau, comprised in the Gangpur, Bonai, Keonjhar and
Bamra States. "The chiefs of these States," Colonel Dalton says,
"now call themselves Rajputs; if they be so, they are strangely
isolated families of Rajputs. The country for the most part belongs
to the Bhuiya sub-proprietors. They are a privileged class, holding as
hereditaments the principal offices of the State, and are organised as
a body of militia. The chiefs have no right to exercise any authority
till they have received the _tilak_ or token of investiture from their
powerful Bhuiya vassals. Their position altogether renders their claim
to be considered Rajputs extremely doubtful, and the stories told to
account for their acquisition of the dignity are palpable fables. They
were no doubt all Bhuiyas originally; they certainly do not look like
Rajputs." Members of the tribe are the household servants of the Bamra
Raja's family, and it is said that the first Raja of Bamra was a child
of the Patna house, who was stolen from his home and anointed king of
Bamra by the Bhuiyas and Khonds. Similarly Colonel Dalton records the
legend that the Bhuiyas twenty-seven generations ago stole a child
of the Moharbhanj Raja's family, brought it up amongst them and made
it their Raja. He was freely admitted to intercourse with Bhuiya
girls, and the children of this intimacy are the progenitors of the
Rajkuli branch of the tribe. But they are not considered first among
Bhuiyas because they are not of pure Bhuiya descent. Again the Raja of
Keonjhar is always installed by the Bhuiyas. These facts indicate that
the Bhuiyas were once the rulers of Chota Nagpur and are recognised
as the oldest inhabitants of the country. From this centre they have
spread north through Lohardaga and Hazaribagh and into southern Bihar,
where large numbers of Bhuiyas are encountered on whom the opprobrious
designation of Musahar or 'rat-eater' has been conferred by their
Hindu neighbours. Others of the tribe who travelled south from Chota
Nagpur experienced more favourable conditions, and here the tendency
has been for the Bhuiyas to rise rather than to decline in social
status. "Some of their leading families," Sir H. Risley states,
"have come to be chiefs of the petty States of Orissa, and have now
sunk the Bhuiya in the Khandait or swordsman, a caste of admitted
respectability in Orissa and likely in course of time to transform
itself into some variety of Rajput."
3. Example of the position of the aborigines in Hindu society.
The varying status of the Bhuiyas in Bihar, Chota Nagpur and Orissa
is a good instance of the different ways in which the primitive
tribes have fared in contact with the immigrant Aryans. Where the
country has been completely colonised and populated by Hindus, as
in Bihar, the aboriginal residents have commonly become transformed
into village drudges, relegated to the meanest occupations, and
despised as impure by the Hindu cultivators, like the Chamars of
northern India and the Mahars of the Maratha Districts. Where the
Hindu immigration has only been partial and the forests have not
been cleared, as in Chota Nagpur and the Central Provinces, they may
keep their old villages and tribal organisation and be admitted as
a body into the hierarchy of caste, ranking above the impure castes
but below the Hindu cultivators. This is the position of the Gonds,
Baigas and other tribes in these tracts. While, if the Hindus come
only as colonists and not as rulers, the indigenous residents may
retain the overlordship of the soil and the landed proprietors among
them may be formed into a caste ranking with the good cultivating
castes of the Aryans. Instances of such are the Khandaits of Orissa,
the Binjhwars of Chhattisgarh and the Bhilalas of Nimar and Indore.
4. The Bhuiyas a Kolarian tribe.
The Bhuiyas have now entirely forgotten their own language and speak
Hindi, Uriya and Bengali, according as each is the dominant vernacular
of their Hindu neighbours. They cannot therefore on the evidence
of language be classified as a Munda or Kolarian or as a Dravidian
tribe. Colonel Dalton was inclined to consider them as Dravidian: [361]
"Mr. Stirling in his account of Orissa classes them among the Kols;
but there are no grounds that I know of for so connecting them. As I
have said above, they appear to me to be linked with the Dravidian
rather than with the Kolarian tribes." His account, however, does
not appear to contain any further evidence in support of this view;
and, on the other hand, he identifies the Bhuiyas with the Savars
or Saonrs. Speaking of the Bendkars or Savars of Keonjhar, he says:
"It is difficult to regard them otherwise than as members of the great
Bhuiya family, and thus connecting them we link the Bhuiyas and Savaras
and give support to the conjecture that the former are Dravidian." But
it is now shown in the _Linguistic Survey_ that the Savars have a Munda
dialect. In Chota Nagpur this has been forgotten, and the tribe speak
Hindi or Uriya like the Bhuiyas, but it remains in the hilly tracts of
Ganjam and Vizagapatam. [362] Savara is closely related to Kharia and
Juang, the dialects of two of the most primitive Munda tribes. The
Savars must therefore be classed as a Munda or Kolarian tribe, and
since Colonel Dalton identified the Bhuiyas with the Savars of Chota
Nagpur, his evidence appears really to be in favour of the Kolarian
origin of the Bhuiyas. He notes further that the ceremony of naming
children among the Bhuiyas is identical with that of the Mundas and
Hos. [363] Mr. Mazumdar writes: "Judging from the external appearance
and general physical type one would be sure to mistake a Bhuiya for a
Munda. Their habits and customs are essentially Mundari. The Bhuiyas
who live in and around the District of Manbhum are not much ashamed
to admit that they are Kol people; and Bhumia Kol is the name that
has been given them there by the Hindus. The Mundas and Larka-Kols of
Chota Nagpur tell us that they first established themselves there by
driving out the Bhuiyas; and it seems likely that the Bhuiyas formed
the first batch of the Munda immigrants in Chota Nagpur and became
greatly Hinduised there, and on that account were not recognised by
the Mundas as people of their kin." If the tradition of the Mundas and
Kols that they came to Chota Nagpur after the Bhuiyas be accepted, and
tradition on the point of priority of immigration is often trustworthy,
then it follows that the Bhuiyas must be a Munda tribe. For the main
distinction other than that of language between the Munda and Dravidian
tribes is that the former were the earlier and the latter subsequent
immigrants. The claim of the Bhuiyas to be the earliest residents of
Chota Nagpur is supported by the fact that they officiate as priests
in certain temples. Because in primitive religion the jurisdiction of
the gods is entirely local, and foreigners bringing their own gods
with them are ignorant of the character and qualities of the local
deities, with which the indigenous residents are, on the other hand,
well acquainted. Hence the tendency of later comers to employ these
latter in the capacity of priests of the godlings of the earth, corn,
forests and hills. Colonel Dalton writes: [364] "It is strange that
these Hinduised Bhuiyas retain in their own hands the priestly duties
of certain old shrines to the exclusion of Brahmans. This custom has
no doubt descended in Bhuiya families from the time when Brahmans were
not, or had obtained no footing amongst them, and when the religion of
the land and the temples were not Hindu; they are now indeed dedicated
to Hindu deities, but there are evidences of the temples having been
originally occupied by other images. At some of these shrines human
sacrifices were offered every third year and this continued till the
country came under British rule." And again of the Pauri Bhuiyas of
Keonjhar: "The Pauris dispute with the Juangs the claim to be the
first settlers in Keonjhar, and boldly aver that the country belongs
to them. They assert that the Raja is of their creation and that the
prerogative of installing every new Raja on his accession is theirs,
and theirs alone. The Hindu population of Keonjhar is in excess of the
Bhuiya and it comprises Gonds and Kols, but the claim of the Pauris
to the dominion they arrogate is admitted by all; even Brahmans and
Rajputs respectfully acknowledge it, and the former by the addition
of Brahmanical rites to the wild ceremonies of the Bhuiyas affirm
and sanctify their installation." In view of this evidence it seems
a probable hypothesis that the Bhuiyas are the earliest residents of
these parts of Chota Nagpur and that they are a Kolarian tribe.
5. The Baigas and the Bhuiyas. Chhattisgarh the home of the Baigas.
There appears to be considerable reason for supposing that the
Baiga tribe of the Central Provinces are really a branch of the
Bhuiyas. Though the Baigas are now mainly returned from Mandla and
Balaghat, it seems likely that these Districts were not their original
home, and that they emigrated from Chhattisgarh into the Satpura hills
on the western borders of the plain. The hill country of Mandla and the
Maikal range of Balaghat form one of the wildest and most inhospitable
tracts in the Province, and it is unlikely that the Baigas would have
made their first settlements here and spread thence into the fertile
plain of Chhattisgarh. Migration in the opposite direction would be
more natural and probable. But it is fairly certain that the Baiga
tribe were among the earliest if not the earliest residents of the
Chhattisgarh plain and the hills north and east of it. The Bhaina,
Bhunjia and Binjhwar tribes who still reside in this country can
all be recognised as offshoots of the Baigas. In the article on
Bhaina it is shown that some of the oldest forts in Bilaspur are
attributed to the Bhainas and a chief of this tribe is remembered
as having ruled in Bilaigarh south of the Mahanadi. They are said
to have been dominant in Pendra where they are still most numerous,
and to have been expelled from Phuljhar in Raipur by the Gonds. The
Binjhwars or Binjhals again are an aristocratic subdivision of the
Baigas, belonging to the hills east of Chhattisgarh and the Uriya plain
country of Sambalpur beyond them. The zamindars of Bodasamar, Rampur,
Bhatgaon and other estates to the south and east of the Chhattisgarh
plain are members of this tribe. Both the Bhainas and Binjhwars are
frequently employed as priests of the village deities all over this
area, and may therefore be considered as older residents than the
Gond and Kawar tribes and the Hindus. Sir G. Grierson also states
that the language of the Baigas of Mandla and Balaghat is a form of
Chhattisgarhi, and this is fairly conclusive evidence of their first
having belonged to Chhattisgarh. [365] It seems not unlikely that the
Baigas retreated into the hills round Chhattisgarh after the Hindu
invasion and establishment of the Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur,
which is now assigned to the ninth century of the Christian era; just
as the Gonds retired from the Nerbudda valley and the Nagpur plain
before the Hindus several centuries later. Sir H. Risley states that
the Binjhias or Binjhwars of Chota Nagpur say that their ancestors
came from Ratanpur twenty generations ago. [366]
6. The Baigas a branch of the Bhuiyas.
But the Chhattisgarh plain and the hills north and east of it are
adjacent to and belong to the same tract of country as the Chota
Nagpur States, which are the home of the Bhuiyas. Sir H. Risley
gives Baiga as a name for a sorcerer, and as a synonym or title of
the Khairwar tribe in Chota Nagpur, possibly having reference to the
idea that they, being among the original inhabitants of the country,
are best qualified to play the part of sorcerer and propitiate the
local gods. It has been suggested in the article on Khairwar that that
tribe are a mongrel offshoot of the Santals and Cheros, but the point
to be noticed here is the use of the term Baiga in Chota Nagpur for a
sorcerer; and a sorcerer may be taken as practically equivalent for a
priest of the indigenous deities, all tribes who act in this capacity
being considered as sorcerers by the Hindus. If the Bhuiyas of Chota
Nagpur had the title of Baiga, it is possible that it may have been
substituted for the proper tribal name on their migration to the
Central Provinces. Mr. Crooke distinguishes two tribes in Mirzapur
whom he calls the Bhuiyas and Bhuiyars. The Bhuiyas of Mirzapur seem
to be clearly a branch of the Bhuiya tribe of Chota Nagpur, with whom
their section-names establish their identity. [367] Mr. Crooke states
that the Bhuiyas are distinguished with very great difficulty from the
Bhuiyars with whom they are doubtless very closely connected. [368]
Of the Bhuiyars [369] he writes that the tribe is also known as Baiga,
because large numbers of the aboriginal local priests are derived
from this caste. He also states that "Most Bhuiyars are Baigas and
officiate in their own as well as allied tribes; in fact, as already
stated, one general name for the tribe is Baiga." [370] It seems not
unlikely that these Bhuiyars are the Baigas of the Central Provinces
and that they went to Mirzapur from here with the Gonds. Their original
name may have been preserved or revived there, while it has dropped
out of use in this Province. The name Baiga in the Central Provinces
is sometimes applied to members of other tribes who serve as village
priests, and, as has already been seen, it is used in the same sense in
Chota Nagpur. The Baigas of Mandla are also known as Bhumia, which is
only a variant of Bhuiya, having the same meaning of lord of the soil
or belonging to the soil. Both Bhuiya and Bhumia are in fact nearly
equivalent to our word 'aboriginal,' and both are names given to the
tribe by the Hindus and not originally that by which its members called
themselves. It would be quite natural that a branch of the Bhuiyas,
who settled in the Central Provinces and were commonly employed as
village priests by the Hindus and Gonds should have adopted the name
of the office, Baiga, as their tribal designation; just as the title
of Munda or village headman has become the name of one branch of the
Kol tribe, and Bhumij, another term equivalent to Bhuiya, of a second
branch. Mr. A. F. Hewitt, Settlement Officer of Raipur, considered
that the Buniyas of that District were the same tribe as the Bhuiyas
of the Garhjat States. [371] By Buniya he must apparently have meant
the Bhunjia tribe of Raipur, who as already stated are an offshoot
of the Baigas. Colonel Dalton describes the dances of the Bhuiyas
of Chota Nagpur as follows: [372] "The men have each a wide kind of
tambourine. They march round in a circle, beating these and singing
a very simple melody in a minor key on four notes. The women dance
opposite to them with their heads covered and bodies much inclined,
touching each other like soldiers in line, but not holding hands or
wreathing arms like the Kols." This account applies very closely to
the Sela and Rina dances of the Baigas. The Sela dance is danced
by men only who similarly march round in a circle, though they
do not carry tambourines in the Central Provinces. Here, however,
they sometimes carry sticks and march round in opposite directions,
passing in and out and hitting their sticks against each other as
they meet, the movement being exactly like the grand chain in the
Lancers. Similarly the Baiga women dance the Rina dance by themselves,
standing close to each other and bending forward, but not holding each
other by the hands and arms, just as described by Colonel Dalton. The
Gonds now also have the Sela and Rina dances, but admit that they are
derived from the Baigas. Another point of some importance is that the
Bhuiyas of Chota Nagpur and the Baigas and the tribes derived from
them in the Central Provinces have all completely abandoned their own
language and speak a broken form of that of their Hindu neighbours. As
has been seen, too, the Bhuiyas are commonly employed as priests in
Chota Nagpur, and there seems therefore to be a strong case for the
original identity of the two tribes. [373] Both the Baigas and Bhuiyas,
however, have now become greatly mixed with the surrounding tribes,
the Baigas of Mandla and Balaghat having a strong Gond element.
7. Tribal sub-divisions.
In Singhbhum the Bhuiyas call themselves _Pawan-bans_ or 'The Children
of the Wind,' and in connection with Hanuman's title of _Pawan-ka-put_
or 'The Son of the Wind,' are held to be the veritable apes of
the Ramayana who, under the leadership of Hanuman, the monkey-god,
assisted the Aryan hero Rama on his expedition to Ceylon. This may be
compared with the name given to the Gonds of the Central Provinces
of Rawanbansi, or descendants of Rawan, the idea being that their
ancestors were the subjects of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon, who was
conquered by Rama. "All Bhuiyas," Sir H. Risley states, "affect great
reverence for the memory of Rikhmun or Rikhiasan, whom they regard,
some as a patron deity, others as a mythical ancestor, whose name
distinguishes one of the divisions of the tribe. It seems probable that
in the earliest stage of belief Rikhmun was the bear-totem of a sept of
the tribe, that later on he was transformed into an ancestral hero, and
finally promoted to the rank of a tribal god." The Rikhiasan Mahatwar
subtribe of the Bhuiyas in the Central Provinces are named after this
hero Rikhmun; the designation of Mahatwar signifies that they are the
Mahtos or leaders of the Bhuiyas. The Khandaits or Paiks are another
subcaste formed from those who became soldiers; in Orissa they are now,
as already stated, a separate caste of fairly high rank. The Parja
or 'subject people' are the ordinary Bhuiyas, probably those living
in Hindu tracts. The Dhur or 'dust' Gonds, and the Parja Gonds of
Bastar may be noted as a parallel in nomenclature. The Rautadi are a
territorial group, taking their name from a place called Raotal. The
Khandaits practise hypergamy with the Rautadi, taking daughters from
them, but not giving their daughters to them. The Pabudia or Madhai
are the hill Bhuiyas, and are the most wild and backward portion of
the tribe. Dalton writes of them in Keonjhar: "They are not bound
to fight for the Raja, though they occasionally take up arms against
him. Their duty is to attend on him and carry his loads when he travels
about, and so long as they are satisfied with his person and his rule,
no more willing or devoted subjects could be found. They are then in
Keonjhar, as in Bonai, a race whom you cannot help liking and taking
an interest in from the primitive simplicity of their customs, their
amenability and their anxiety to oblige; but unsophisticated as they
are they wield an extraordinary power in Keonjhar, and when they take
it into their heads to use that power, the country may be said to be
governed by an oligarchy composed of the sixty chiefs of the Pawri
Desh, the Bhuiya Highlands. A knotted string passed from village to
village in the name of the sixty chiefs throws the entire country into
commotion, and the order verbally communicated in connection with
it is as implicitly obeyed as if it emanated from the most potent
despot." This knotted string is known as _Ganthi_. The Pabudias say
that their ancestors were twelve brothers belonging to Keonjhar,
of whom eight went to an unknown country, while the remaining four
divided among themselves all the territory of which they had knowledge,
this being comprised in the four existing states of Keonjhar, Bamra,
Palahara and Bonai. Any Pabudia who takes up his residence permanently
beyond the boundaries of these four states is considered to lose his
caste, like Hindus in former times who went to dwell in the foreign
country beyond the Indus. [374] But if the wandering Pabudia returns
in two years, and proves that he has not drunk water from any other
caste, he is taken back into the fold. Other subdivisions are the Kati
or Khatti and the Bathudia, these last being an inferior group who
are said to be looked down on because they have taken food from other
low castes. No doubt they are really the offspring of irregular unions.
8. Exogamus septs.
In Raigarh the Bhuiyas appear to have no exogamous divisions. When
they wish to arrange a marriage they compare the family gods of the
parties, and if these are not identical and there is no recollection of
a common ancestor for three generations, the union is permitted. In
Sambalpur, however, Mr. Mazumdar states, all Bhuiyas are divided
into the following twelve septs: Thakur, or the clan of royal blood;
Saont, from _samanta_, a viceroy; Padhan, a village headman; Naik,
a military leader; Kalo, a wizard or priest; Dehri, also a priest;
Chatria, one who carried the royal umbrella; Sahu, a moneylender;
Majhi, a headman; Behra, manager of the household; Amata, counsellor;
and Dandsena, a police official. The Dehrin sept still worship the
village gods on behalf of the tribe.
9. Marriage customs.
Marriage is adult, but the more civilised Bhuiyas are gradually
adopting Hindu usages, and parents arrange matches for their children
while they are still young. Among the Pabudias some primitive customs
survive. They have the same system as the Oraons, by which all
the bachelors of the village sleep in one large dormitory; this is
known as Dhangarbasa, _dhangar_ meaning a farmservant or young man,
or Mandarghar, the house of the drums, because these instruments are
kept in it. "Some villages," Colonel Dalton states, "have a Dhangaria
basa, or house for maidens, which, strange to say, they are allowed to
occupy without any one to look after them. They appear to have very
great liberty, and slips of morality, so long as they are confined
to the tribe, are not much heeded." This intimacy between boys and
girls of the same village does not, however, commonly end in marriage,
for which a partner should be sought from another village. For this
purpose the girls go in a body, taking with them some ground rice
decorated with flowers. They lay this before the elders of the village
they have entered, saying, 'Keep this or throw it into the water,
as you prefer.' The old men pick up the flowers, placing them behind
their ears. In the evening all the boys of the village come and dance
with the girls, with intervals for courtship, half the total number of
couples dancing and sitting out alternately. This goes on all night,
and in the morning any couples who have come to an understanding
run away together for a day or two. The boy's father must present a
rupee and a piece of cloth to the girl's mother, and the marriage is
considered to be completed.
Among the Pabudia or Madhai Bhuiyas the bride-price consists of two
bullocks or cows, one of which is given to the girl's father and
the other to her brother. The boy's father makes the proposal for
marriage, and the consent of the girl is necessary. At the wedding
turmeric and rice are offered to the sun; some rice is then placed
on the girl's head and turmeric rubbed on her body, and a brass ring
is placed on her finger. The bridegroom's father says to him, "This
girl is ours now: if in future she becomes one-eyed, lame or deaf,
she will still be ours." The ceremony concludes with the usual feast
and drinking bout. If the boy's father cannot afford the bride-price
the couple sometimes run away from home for two or three days, when
their parents go in search of them and they are brought back and
married in the boy's house.
10. Widow-marriage and divorce.
A widow is often taken by the younger brother of the deceased husband,
though no compulsion is exerted over her. But the match is common
because the Bhuiyas have the survival of fraternal polyandry, which
consists in allowing unmarried younger brothers to have access to an
elder brother's wife during his lifetime. [375] Divorce is allowed
for misconduct on the part of the wife or mutual disagreement.
11. Religion.
The Bhuiyas commonly take as their principal deity the spirit of the
nearest mountain overlooking their village, and make offerings to it
of butter, rice and fowls. In April they present the first-fruits
of the mango harvest. They venerate the sun as Dharam Deota, but
no offerings are made to him. Nearly all Bhuiyas worship the cobra,
and some of them call it their mother and think they are descended
from it. They will not touch or kill a cobra, and do not swear by
it. In Rairakhol they venerate a goddess, Rambha Devi, who may be a
corn-goddess, as the practice of burning down successive patches of
jungle and sowing seed on each for two or three years is here known
as _rambha_. They think that the sun and moon are sentient beings,
and that fire and lightning are the children of the sun, and the stars
the children of the moon. One day the moon invited the sun to dinner
and gave him very nice food, so that the sun asked what it was. The
moon said she had cooked her own children, and on this the sun went
home and cooked all his children and ate them, and this is the reason
why there are no stars during the day. But his eldest son, fire,
went and hid in a _rengal_ tree, and his daughter, the lightning,
darted hither and thither so that the sun could not catch her. And
when night came again, and the stars came out, the sun saw how the
moon had deceived him and cursed her, saying that she should die for
fifteen days in every month. And this is the reason for the waxing
and waning of the moon. Ever since this event fire has remained hidden
in a _rengal_ tree, and when the Bhuiyas want him they rub two pieces
of its wood together and he comes out. This is the Bhuiya explanation
of the production of fire from the friction of wood.
12. Religious dancing.
In the month of Kartik (October), or the next month, they bring from
the forest a branch of the _karm_ tree and venerate it and perform
the _karma_ dance in front of it. They think that this worship and
dance will cause the _karma_ tree, the mango, the jack-fruit and the
mahua to bear a full crop of fruit. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are
considered the proper days for worshipping the deities, and children
are often named on a Friday.
13. Funeral rites and inheritance.
The dead are either buried or burnt, the corpse being placed always
with the feet pointing to its native village. On the tenth day the
soul of the dead person is called back to the house. But if a man is
killed by a tiger or by falling from a tree no mourning is observed
for him, and his soul is not brought back. To perish from snake-bite
is considered a natural death, and in such cases the usual obsequies
are awarded. This is probably because they revere the cobra as their
first mother. The Pabudia Bhuiyas throw four to eight annas' worth
of copper on to the pyre or into the grave, and if the deceased had
a cow some _ghi_ or melted butter. No division of property can take
place during the lifetime of either parent, but when both have died
the children divide the inheritance, the eldest son taking two shares
and the others one equal share each.
14. Physical appearance and occupation.
Colonel Dalton describes the Bhuiyas as, "A dark-brown,
well-proportioned race, with black, straight hair, plentiful on
the head, but scant on the face, of middle height, figures well
knit and capable of enduring great fatigue, but light-framed like
the Hindu rather than presenting the usual muscular development of
the hillman." Their dress is scanty, and in the Tributary States
Dalton says that the men and women all wear dresses of brown cotton
cloth. This may be because white is a very conspicuous colour in the
forests. They wear ornaments and beads, and are distinctive in that
neither men nor women practise tattooing, though in some localities
this rule is not observed by the women. To keep themselves warm at
night they kindle two fires and sleep between them, and this custom
has given rise to the saying, 'Wherever you see a Bhuiya he always has
a fire.' In Bamra the Bhuiyas still practise shifting cultivation,
for which they burn the forest growth from the hillsides and sow
oilseeds in the fresh soil. This method of agriculture is called
locally Khasrathumi. They obtain their lands free from the Raja in
return for acting as luggage porters and coolies. In Bamra they will
not serve as farm-servants or labourers for hire, but elsewhere they
are more docile.
15. Social customs.
A woman divorced for adultery is not again admitted to caste
intercourse. Her parents take her to their village, where she has
to live in a separate hut and earn her own livelihood. If any Bhuiya
steals from a Kol, Ganda or Ghasia he is permanently put out of caste,
while for killing a cow the period of expulsion is twelve years. The
emblem of the Bhuiyas is a sword, in reference to their employment as
soldiers, and this they affix to documents in place of their signature.
Bhulia
_Bhulia, [376] Bholia, Bhoriya, Bholwa, Mihir, Mehar._--A caste of
weavers in the Uriya country. In 1901 the Bhulias numbered 26,000
persons, but with the transfer of Sambalpur and the Uriya States to
Bengal this figure has been reduced to 5000. A curious fact about the
caste is that though solely domiciled in the Uriya territories, many
families belonging to it talk Hindi in their own houses. According to
one of their traditions they immigrated to this part of the country
with the first Chauhan Raja of Patna, and it may be that they are
members of some northern caste who have forgotten their origin and
taken to a fresh calling in the land of their adoption. The Koshtas of
Chhattisgarh have a subcaste called Bhoriya, and possibly the Bhulias
have some connection with these. The caste sometimes call themselves
Devang, and Devang or Devangan is the name of another subcaste of
Koshtis. Various local derivations of the name are current, generally
connecting it with _bhulna_, to forget. The Bhulias occupy a higher
rank than the ordinary weavers, corresponding with that of the Koshtis
elsewhere, and this is to some extent considered to be an unwarranted
pretension. Thus one saying has it: "Formerly a son was born from a
Chandal woman; at that time none were aware of his descent or rank,
and so he was called Bhulia (one who is forgotten). He took the loom
in his hands and became the brother-in-law of the Ganda." The object
here is obviously to relegate the Bhulia to the same impure status
as the Ganda. Again the Bhulias affect the honorific title of Meher,
and another saying addresses them thus: "Why do you call yourself
Meher? You make a hole in the ground and put your legs into it and
are like a cow with foot-and-mouth disease struggling in the mud." The
allusion here is to the habit of the weaver of hollowing out a hole for
his feet as he sits before the loom, while cattle with foot-and-mouth
disease are made to stand in mud to cool and cleanse the feet.
The caste have no subcastes, except that in Kalahandi a degraded
section is recognised who are called Sanpara Bhulias, and with whom
the others refuse to intermarry. These are, there is little reason
to doubt, the progeny of illicit unions. They say that they have two
_gotras_, Nagas from the cobra and Kachhap from the tortoise. But these
have only been adopted for the sake of respectability, and exercise
no influence on marriage, which is regulated by a number of exogamous
groups called _vansa_. The names of the _vansas_ are usually either
derived from villages or are titles or nicknames. Two of them, Bagh
(tiger) and Kimir (crocodile), are totemistic, while two more, Kumhar
(potter) and Dhuba (washerman), are the names of other castes. Examples
of titular names are Bankra (crooked), Ranjujha (warrior), Kodjit
(one who has conquered a score of people) and others. The territorial
names are derived from those of villages where the caste reside at
present. Marriage within the _vansa_ is forbidden, but some of the
_vansas_ have been divided into _bad_ and _san_, or great and small,
and members of these may marry with each other, the subdivision having
been adopted when the original group became so large as to include
persons who were practically not relations. The binding portion of
the wedding ceremony is that the bridegroom should carry the bride
in a basket seven times round the _hom_ or sacrificial fire. If he
cannot do this, the girl's grandfather carries them both. After the
ceremony the pair return to the bridegroom's village, and are made to
sleep on the same bed, some elder woman of the family lying between
them. After a few days the girl goes back to her parents and does
not rejoin her husband until she attains maturity. The remarriage
of widows is permitted, and in Native States is not less costly to
the bridegroom than the regular ceremony. In Sonpur the suitor must
proceed to the Raja and pay him twenty rupees for his permission,
which is given in the shape of a present of rice and nuts. Similar
sums are paid to the caste-fellows and the parents of the girl, and
the Raja's rice and nuts are then placed on the heads of the couple,
who become man and wife. Divorce may be effected at the instance of the
husband or the wife's parents on the mere ground of incompatibility of
temper. The position of the caste corresponds to that of the Koshtas;
that is, they rank below the good cultivating castes, but above the
menial and servile classes. They eat fowls and the flesh of wild pig,
and drink liquor. A _liaison_ with one of the impure castes is the
only offence entailing permanent expulsion from social intercourse. A
curious rule is that in the case of a woman going wrong with a man of
the caste, the man only is temporarily outcasted and forced to pay a
fine on readmission, while the woman escapes without penalty. They
employ Brahmans for ceremonial purposes. They are considered
proverbially stupid, like the Koris in the northern Districts, but
very laborious. One saying about them is: "The Kewat catches fish
but himself eats crabs, and the Bhulia weaves loin-cloths but himself
wears only a rag"; and another: "A Bhulia who is idle is as useless
as a confectioner's son who eats sweetmeats, or a moneylender's son
with a generous disposition, or a cultivator's son who is extravagant."
Bhunjia
1. Origin and traditions.
_Bhunjia. [377]_--A small Dravidian tribe residing in the
Bindranawagarh and Khariar zamindaris of the Raipur District, and
numbering about 7000 persons. The tribe was not returned outside this
area in 1911, but Sherring mentions them in a list of the hill tribes
of the Jaipur zamindari of Vizagapatam, which touches the extreme
south of Bindranawagarh. The Bhunjias are divided into two branches,
Chaukhutia and Chinda, and the former have the following legend of
their origin. On one occasion a Bhatra Gond named Bachar cast a net
into the Pairi river and brought out a stone. He threw the stone back
into the river and cast his net again, but a second and yet a third
time the stone came out. So he laid the stone on the bank of the
river and went back to his house, and that night he dreamt that the
stone was Bura Deo, the great God of the Gonds. So he said: 'If this
dream be true let me draw in a deer in my net to-morrow for a sign';
and the next day the body of a deer appeared in his net. The stone
then called upon the Gond to worship him as Bura Deo, but the Gond
demurred to doing so himself, and said he would provide a substitute
as a devotee. To this Bura Deo agreed, but said that Bachar, the Gond,
must marry his daughter to the substituted worshipper. The Gond then
set out to search for somebody, and in the village of Lafandi he
found a Halba of the name of Konda, who was a cripple, deaf and dumb,
blind, and a leper. He brought Konda to the stone, and on reaching
it he was miraculously cured of all his ailments and gladly began
to worship Bura Deo. He afterwards married the Gond's daughter and
they had a son called Chaukhutia Bhunjia, who was the ancestor of
the Chaukhutia division of the tribe. Now the term Chaukhutia in
Chhattisgarhi signifies a bastard, and the story related above is
obviously intended to signify that the Chaukhutia Bhunjias are of
mixed descent from the Gonds and Halbas. It is clearly with this
end in view that the Gond is made to decline to worship the stone
himself and promise to find a substitute, an incident which is wholly
unnatural and is simply dragged in to meet the case. The Chaukhutia
subtribe especially worship Bura Deo, and sing a song relating to
the finding of the stone in their marriage ceremony as follows:
Johar, johar Thakur Deota, Tumko lagon,
Do matia ghar men dine tumhare nam.
Johar, johar Konda, Tumko lagon,
Do matia ghar men, etc.
Johar, johar Bachar Jhakar Tumko lagon, etc.
Johar, johar Budha Raja Tumko lagon, etc.
Johar, johar Lafandi Mati Tumko lagon, etc.
Johar, johar Anand Mati Tumko lagon, etc.
which may be rendered:
I make obeisance to thee, O Thakur Deo, I bow down to thee!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house (as a mark of
respect).
I make obeisance to thee, O Konda Pujari, I bow down to thee!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Bachar Jhakar!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Budha Raja!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Soil of Lafandi!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
I make obeisance to thee, O Happy Spot!
In thy name have I placed two pots in my house.
The song refers to the incidents in the story. Thakur Deo is the
title given to the divine stone, Konda is the Halba priest, and
Bachar the Gond who cast the net. Budha Raja, otherwise Singh Sei,
is the Chief who was ruling in Bindranawagarh at the time, Lafandi the
village where Konda Halba was found, and the Anand Mati or Happy Spot
is that where the stone was taken out of the river. The majority of
the sept-names returned are of Gond origin, and there seems no doubt
that the Chaukhutias are, as the story says, of mixed descent from
the Halbas and Gonds. It is noticeable, however, that the Bhunjias,
though surrounded by Gonds on all sides, do not speak Gondi but a
dialect of Hindi, which Sir G. Grierson considers to resemble that of
the Halbas, and also describes as "A form of Chhattisgarhi which is
practically the same as Baigani. It is a jargon spoken by Binjhwars,
Bhumias and Bhunjias of Raipur, Raigarh, Sarangarh and Patna in the
Central Provinces." [378] The Binjhwars also belong to the country
of the Bhunjias, and one or two estates close to Bindranawagarh are
held by members of this tribe. The Chinda division of the Bhunjias
have a saying about themselves: '_Chinda Raja, Bhunjia Paik'_; and
they say that there was originally a Kamar ruler of Bindranawagarh who
was dispossessed by Chinda. The Kamars are a small and very primitive
tribe of the same locality. _Paik_ means a foot-soldier, and it seems
therefore that the Bhunjias formed the levies of this Chinda, who may
very probably have been one of themselves. The term Bhunjia may perhaps
signify one who lives on the soil, from _bhum_, the earth, and _jia_,
dependent on. The word _Birjia_, a synonym for Binjhwar, is similarly
a corruption of _bewar jia_, and means one who is dependent on _dahia_
or patch cultivation. Sir H. Risley gives Birjia, Binjhia and Binjhwar
[379] as synonymous terms, and Bhunjia may be another corruption of
the same sort. The Binjhwars are a Hinduised offshoot of the ancient
Baiga tribe, who may probably have been in possession of the hills
bordering the Chhattisgarh plain as well as of the Satpura range before
the advent of the Gonds, as the term Baiga is employed for a village
priest over a large part of this area. It thus seems not improbable
that the Chinda Bhunjias may have been derived from the Binjhwars,
and this would account for the fact that the tribe speaks a dialect
of Hindi and not Gondi. As already seen, the Chaukhutia subcaste
appear to be of mixed origin from the Gonds and Halbas, and as the
Chindas are probably descended from the Baigas, the Bhunjias may be
considered to be an offshoot from these three important tribes.
2. Subdivisions.
Of the two subtribes already mentioned the Chaukhutia are recognised
to be of illegitimate descent. As a consequence of this they strive to
obtain increased social estimation by a ridiculously strict observance
of the rules of ceremonial purity. If any man not of his own caste
touches the hut where a Chaukhutia cooks his food, it is entirely
abandoned and a fresh one built. At the time of the census they
threatened to kill the enumerator if he touched their huts to affix the
census number. Pegs had therefore to be planted in the ground a little
in front of the huts and marked with their numbers. The Chaukhutia
will not eat food cooked by other members of his own community, and
this is a restriction found only among those of bastard descent, where
every man is suspicious of his neighbour's parentage. He will not take
food from the hands of his own daughter after she is married; as soon
as the ceremony is over her belongings are at once removed from the
hut, and even the floor beneath the seat of the bride and bridegroom
during the marriage ceremony is dug up and the surface earth thrown
away to avoid any risk of defilement. Only when it is remembered that
these rules are observed by people who do not wash themselves from one
week's end to the other, and wear the same wisp of cloth about their
loins until it comes to pieces, can the full absurdity of such customs
as the above be appreciated. But the tendency appears to be of the
same kind as the intense desire for respectability so often noticed
among the lower classes in England. The Chindas, whose pedigree is
more reliable, are far less particular about their social purity.
3. Marriage.
As already stated, the exogamous divisions of the Bhunjias are derived
from those of the Gonds. Among the Chaukhutias it is considered a
great sin if the signs of puberty appear in a girl before she is
married, and to avoid this, if no husband has been found for her,
they perform a 'Kand Byah' or 'Arrow Marriage': the girl walks seven
times round an arrow fixed in the ground, and is given away without
ceremony to the man who by previous arrangement has brought the
arrow. If a girl of the Chinda group goes wrong with an outsider
before marriage and becomes pregnant, the matter is hushed up, but
if she is a Chaukhutia it is said that she is finally expelled from
the community, the same severe course being adopted even when she is
not pregnant if there is reason to suppose that the offence has been
committed. A proposal for marriage among the Chaukhutias is made on
the boy's behalf by two men who are known as Mahalia and Jangalia, and
are supposed to represent a Nai (barber) and Dhimar (water-carrier),
though they do not actually belong to these castes. As among the
Gonds, the marriage takes place at the bridegroom's village, and
the Mahalia and Jangalia act as stewards of the ceremony, and are
entrusted with the rice, pulse, salt, oil and other provisions, the
bridegroom's family having no function in the matter except to pay
for them. The provisions are all stored in a separate hut, and when
the time for the feast has come they are distributed raw to all the
guests, each family of whom cook for themselves. The reason for this
is, as already explained, that each one is afraid of losing status
by eating with other members of the tribe. The marriage is solemnised
by walking round the sacred post, and the ceremony is conducted by a
hereditary priest known as Dinwari, a member of the tribe, whose line
it is believed will never become extinct. Among the Chinda Bhunjias
the bride goes away with her husband, and in a short time returns with
him to her parents' house for a few days, to make an offering to the
deities. But the Chaukhutias will not allow her, after she has lived
in her father-in-law's house, to return to her home. In future if she
goes to visit her parents she must stay outside the house and cook
her food separately. Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted, but
a husband will often overlook transgressions on the part of his wife
and only put her away when her conduct has become an open scandal. In
such a case he will either quietly leave house and wife and settle
alone in another village, or have his wife informed by means of a
neighbour that if she does not leave the village he will do so. It
is not the custom to bring cases before the tribal committee or to
claim damages. A special tie exists between a man and his sister's
children. The marriage of a brother's son or daughter to a sister's
daughter or son is considered the most suitable. A man will not allow
his sister's children to eat the leavings of food on his plate, though
his own children may do so. This is a special token of respect to his
sister's children. He will not chastise his sister's children, even
though they deserve it. And it is considered especially meritorious for
a man to pay for the wedding ceremony of his sister's son or daughter.
4. Religion.
Every third year in the month of Chait (March) the tribe offer a
goat and a cocoanut to Mata, the deity of cholera and smallpox. They
bow daily to the sun with folded hands, and believe that he is of
special assistance to them in the liquidation of debt, which the
Bhunjias consider a primary obligation. When a debt has been paid
off they offer a cocoanut to the sun as a mark of gratitude for
his assistance. They also pay great reverence to the tortoise. They
call the tortoise the footstool (_pidha_) of God, and have adopted
the Hindu theory that the earth is supported by a tortoise swimming
in the midst of the ocean. Professor Tylor explains as follows how
this belief arose: [380] "To man in the lower levels of science the
earth is a flat plain over which the sky is placed like a dome as the
arched upper shell of the tortoise stands upon the flat plate below,
and this is why the tortoise is the symbol or representative of the
world." It is said that Bhunjia women are never allowed to sit either
on a footstool or a bed-cot, because these are considered to be the
seats of the deities. They consider it disrespectful to walk across
the shadow of any elderly person, or to step over the body of any human
being or revered object on the ground. If they do this inadvertently,
they apologise to the person or thing. If a man falls from a tree he
will offer a chicken to the tree-spirit.
5. Social rules.
The tribe will eat pork, but abstain from beef and the flesh of
monkeys. Notwithstanding their strictness of social observance, they
rank lower than the Gonds, and only the Kamars will accept food from
their hands. A man who has got maggots in a wound is purified by
being given to drink water, mixed with powdered turmeric, in which
silver and copper rings have been dipped. Women are secluded during
the menstrual period for as long as eight days, and during this time
they may not enter the dwelling-hut nor touch any article belonging to
it. The Bhunjias take their food on plates of leaves, and often a whole
family will have only one brass vessel, which will be reserved for
production on the visit of a guest. But no strangers can be admitted
to the house, and a separate hut is kept in the village for their
use. Here they are given uncooked grain and pulse, which they prepare
for themselves. When the women go out to work they do not leave their
babies in the house, but carry them tied up in a small rag under the
arm. They have no knowledge of medicine and are too timid to enter a
Government dispensary. Their panacea for most diseases is branding the
skin with a hot iron, which is employed indifferently for headache,
pains in the stomach and rheumatism. Mr. Pyare Lal notes that one
of his informants had recently been branded for rheumatism on both
knees and said that he felt much relief.
Binjhwar
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin and tradition._
2. _Tribal subdivisions._
3. _Marriage._
4. _The marriage ceremony._
5. _Sexual morality._
6. _Disposal of the dead._
7. _Religion._
8. _Festivals._
9. _Social customs._
1. Origin and tradition.
_Binjhwar, Binjhal._ [381]--A comparatively civilised Dravidian
tribe, or caste formed from a tribe, found in the Raipur and Bilaspur
Districts and the adjoining Uriya country. In 1911 the Binjhwars
numbered 60,000 persons in the Central Provinces. There is little
or no doubt that the Binjhwars are an offshoot of the primitive
Baiga tribe of Mandla and Balaghat, who occupy the Satpura or Maikal
hills to the north of the Chhattisgarh plain. In these Districts a
Binjhwar subdivision of the Baigas exists; it is the most civilised
and occupies the highest rank in the tribe. In Bhandara is found the
Injhwar caste who are boatmen and cultivators. This caste is derived
from the Binjhwar subdivision of the Baigas, and the name Injhwar
is simply a corruption of Binjhwar. Neither the Binjhwars nor the
Baigas are found except in the territories above mentioned, and it
seems clear that the Binjhwars are a comparatively civilised section
of the Baigas, who have become a distinct caste. They are in fact the
landholding section of the Baigas, like the Raj-Gonds among the Gonds
and the Bhilalas among Bhils. The zamindars of Bodasamar, Rampur,
Bhatgaon and other estates to the south and east of the Chhattlsgarh
plain belong to this tribe. But owing to the change of name their
connection with the parent Baigas has now been forgotten. The name
Binjhwar is derived from the Vindhya hills, and the tribe still worship
the goddess Vindhyabasini of these hills as their tutelary deity. They
say that their ancestors migrated from Binjhakop to Lampa, which may be
either Lamta in Balaghat or Laphagarh in Bilaspur. The hills of Mandla,
the home of perhaps the most primitive Baigas, are quite close to the
Vindhya range. The tribe say that their original ancestors were _Barah
bhai betkar_, or the twelve Brother Archers. They were the sons of
the goddess Vindhyabasini. One day they were out shooting and let off
their arrows, which flew to the door of the great temple at Puri and
stuck in it. Nobody in the place was able to pull them out, not even
when the king's elephants were brought and harnessed to them; till
at length the brothers arrived and drew them forth quite easily with
their hands, and the king was so pleased with their feat that he gave
them the several estates which their descendants now hold. The story
recalls that of Arthur and the magic sword. According to another legend
the mother of the first Raja of Patna, a Chauhan Rajput, had fled from
northern India to Sambalpur after her husband and relations had been
killed in battle. She took refuge in a Binjhwar's hut and bore a son
who became Raja of Patna; and in reward for the protection afforded to
his mother he gave the Binjhwar the Bodasamar estate, requiring only
of him and his descendants the tribute of a silk cloth on accession to
the zamindari; and this has been rendered ever since by the zamindars
of Bodasamar to the Rajas of Patna as a mark of fealty. It is further
stated that the twelve archers when they fired the memorable arrows in
the forest were in pursuit of a wild boar; and the landholding class of
Binjhwars are called Bariha from _barah_, a boar. As is only fitting,
the Binjhwars have taken the arrow as their tribal symbol or mark;
their cattle are branded with it, and illiterate Binjhwars sign it
in place of their name. If a husband cannot be found for a girl she
is sometimes married to an arrow. At a Binjhwar wedding an arrow
is laid on the trunk of mahua [382] which forms the marriage-post,
and honours are paid to it as representing the bridegroom.
2. Tribal subdivisions.
The tribe have four subdivisions, the Binjhwars proper, the Sonjharas,
the Birjhias and the Binjhias. The Sonjharas consist of those who
took to washing for gold in the sands of the Mahanadi, and it may
be noted that a separate caste of Sonjharas is also in existence in
this locality besides the Binjhwar group. The Birjhias are those who
practised _bewar_ or shifting cultivation in the forests, the name
being derived from _bewarjia_, one living by _bewar_-sowing. Binjhia is
simply a diminutive form of Binjhwar, but in Bilaspur it is sometimes
regarded as a separate caste. The zamindar of Bhatgaon belongs to
this group. The tribe have also exogamous divisions, the names of
which are of a diverse character, and on being scrutinised show a
mixture of foreign blood. Among totemistic names are Bagh, a tiger;
Pod, a buffalo; Kamalia, the lotus flower; Panknali, the water-crow;
Tar, the date-palm; Jal, a net, and others. Some of the sections
are nicknames, as Udhar, a debtor; Marai Meli Bagh, one who carried
a dead tiger; Ultum, a talker; Jalia, a liar; Kessal, one who has
shaved a man, and so on. Several are the names of other castes, as
Lohar, Dudh Kawaria, Bhil, Banka and Majhi, indicating that members
of these castes have become Binjhwars and have founded families. The
sept names also differ in different localities; the Birjhia subtribe
who live in the same country as the Mundas have several Munda names
among their septs, as Munna, Son, Solai; while the Binjhwars who are
neighbours of the Gonds have Gond sept names, as Tekam, Sonwani, and
others. This indicates that there has been a considerable amount of
intermarriage with the surrounding tribes, as is the case generally
among the lower classes of the population in Chhattisgarh. Even now if
a woman of any caste from whom the Binjhwars will take water to drink
forms a connection with a man of the tribe, though she herself must
remain in an irregular position, her children will be considered as
full members of it. The Barhias or landowning group have now adopted
names of Sanskrit formation, as Gajendra, an elephant, Rameswar, the
god Rama, and Nageshwar, the cobra deity. Two of their septs are named
Lohar (blacksmith) and Kumhar (potter), and may be derived from members
of these castes who became Binjhwars or from Binjhwars who took up the
occupations. At a Binjhwar wedding the presence of a person belonging
to each of the Lohar and Kumhar septs is essential, the reason being
probably the estimation in which the two handicrafts were held when
the Binjhwars first learnt them from their Hindu neighbours.
3. Marriage.
In Sambalpur there appears to be no system of exogamous groups, and
marriage is determined simply by relationship. The union of agnates
is avoided as long as the connection can be traced between them, but
on the mother's side all except first cousins may marry. Marriage
is usually adult, and girls are sometimes allowed to choose their
own husbands. A bride-price of about eight _khandis_ (1400 lbs.) of
unhusked rice is paid. The ceremony is performed at the bridegroom's
house, to which the bride proceeds after bidding farewell to her
family and friends in a fit of weeping. Weddings are avoided during
the four months of the rainy season, and in Chait (March) because it
is inauspicious, Jeth (May) because it is too hot, and Pus (December)
because it is the last month of the year among the Binjhwars. The
marriage ceremony should begin on a Sunday, when the guests are
welcomed and their feet washed. On Monday the formal reception of the
bride takes place, the Gandsan or scenting ceremony follows on Tuesday,
and on Wednesday is the actual wedding. At the scenting ceremony seven
married girls dressed in new clothes dyed yellow with turmeric conduct
the bridegroom round the central post; one holds a dish containing
rice, mango leaves, myrobalans and betel-nuts, and a second sprinkles
water from a small pot. At each round the bridegroom is made to throw
some of the condiments from the dish on to the wedding-post, and after
the seven rounds he is seated and is rubbed with oil and turmeric.
4. The marriage ceremony.
Among the Birjhias a trunk of mahua with two branches is erected in
the marriage-shed, and on this a dagger is placed in a winnowing-fan
filled with rice, the former representing the bridegroom and the
latter the bride. The bride first goes round the post seven times
alone, and then the bridegroom, and after this they go round it
together. A plough is brought and they stand upon the yoke, and seven
cups of water having been collected from seven different houses,
four are poured over the bridegroom and three over the bride. Some
men climb on to the top of the shed and pour pots of water down on to
the couple. This is now said to be done only as a joke. Next morning
two strong men take the bridegroom and bride, who are usually grown
up, on their backs, and the parties pelt each other with unhusked
rice. Then the bridegroom holds the bride in his arms from behind and
they stand facing the sun, while some old man ties round their feet
a thread specially spun by a virgin. The couple stand for some time
and then fall to the ground as if dazzled by his rays, when water is
again poured over their bodies to revive them. Lastly, an old man
takes the arrow from the top of the marriage-post and draws three
lines with it on the ground to represent the Hindu trinity, Brahma,
Vishnu and Siva, and the bridegroom jumps over these holding the bride
in his arms. The couple go to bathe in a river or tank, and on the
way home the bridegroom shoots seven arrows at an image of a sambhar
deer made with straw. At the seventh shot the bride's brother takes
the arrow, and running away and hiding it in his cloth lies down at
the entrance of the bridegroom's house. The couple go up to him, and
the bridegroom examines his body with suspicion, pretending to think
that he is dead. He draws the arrow out of his cloth and points to
some blood which has been previously sprinkled on the ground. After
a time the boy gets up and receives some liquor as a reward. This
procedure may perhaps be a symbolic survival of marriage by capture,
the bridegroom killing the bride's brother before carrying her off,
or more probably, perhaps, the boy may represent a dead deer. In
some of the wilder tracts the man actually waylays and seizes the
girl before the wedding, the occasion being previously determined,
and the women of her family trying to prevent him. If he succeeds in
carrying her off they stay for three or four days in the forest and
then return and are married.
5. Sexual morality.
If a Binjhwar girl is seduced and rendered pregnant by a man of the
tribe, the people exact a feast and compel them to join their hands
in an informal manner before the caste committee, the tie thus formed
being considered as indissoluble as a formal marriage. Polygamy is
permitted; a Binjhwar zamindar marries a new wife, who is known as
Pat Rani, to celebrate his accession to his estates, even though he
may have five or six already.
Divorce is recognised but is not very common, and a married woman
having an intrigue with another Binjhwar is often simply made over
to him and they live as husband and wife. If this man does not wish
to take her she can live with any other, conjugal morality being very
loose in Sambalpur. In Bodasamar a fine of from one to ten rupees is
payable to the zamindar in the case of each divorce, and a feast must
also be given to the caste-fellows.
6. Disposal of the dead.
The tribe usually bury the dead, and on the third day they place on
the grave some uncooked rice and a lighted lamp. As soon as an insect
flies to the lamp they catch it, and placing it in a cake of flour
carry this to a stream, where it is worshipped with an offering of
coloured rice. It is then thrust into the sand or mud in the bed of
the stream with a grass broom. This ceremony is called Kharpani or
'Grass and Water,' and appears to be a method of disposing of the
dead man's spirit. It is not performed at all for young children,
while, on the other hand, in the case of respected elders a second
ceremony is carried out of the same nature, being known as Badapani or
'Great Water.' On this occasion the _jiva_ or soul is worshipped with
greater pomp. Except in the case of wicked souls, who are supposed
to become malignant ghosts, the Binjhwars do not seem to have any
definite belief in a future life. They say, '_Je maris te saris_,'
or 'That which is dead is rotten and gone.'
7. Religion.
The tribe worship the common village deities of Chhattisgarh,
and extend their veneration to Bura Deo, the principal god of the
Gonds. They venerate their daggers, spears and arrows on the day of
Dasahra, and every third year their tutelary goddess Vindhyabasini is
carried in procession from village to village. Mr. Mian Bhai gives the
following list of precepts as forming the Binjhwar's moral code:--Not
to commit adultery outside the caste; not to eat beef; not to murder;
not to steal; not to swear falsely before the caste committee. The
tribe have _gurus_ or spiritual preceptors, whom he describes as
the most ignorant Bairagis, very little better than impostors. When
a boy or girl grows up the Bairagi comes and whispers the _Karn
mantra_ or spell in his ear, also hanging a necklace of _tulsi_
(basil) beads round his neck; for this the _guru_ receives a cloth,
a cocoanut and a cash payment of four annas to a rupee. Thereafter he
visits his disciples annually at harvest time and receives a present
of grain from them.
8. Festivals.
On the 11th of Bhadon (August) the tribe celebrate the _karma_
festival, which is something like May-Day or a harvest feast. The
youths and maidens go to the forest and bring home a young _karma_
tree, singing, dancing and beating drums. Offerings are made to the
tree, and then the whole village, young and old, drink and dance
round it all through the night. Next morning the tree is taken to
the nearest stream or tank and consigned to it. After this the young
girls of five or six villages make up a party and go about to the
different villages accompanied by drummers and Ganda musicians. They
are entertained for the night, and next morning dance for five or
six hours in the village and then go on to another.
9. Social customs.
The tribe are indiscriminate in their diet, which includes pork,
snakes, rats, and even carnivorous animals, as panthers. They refuse
only beef, monkeys and the leavings of others. The wilder Binjhwars of
the forests will not accept cooked food from any other caste, but those
who live in association with Hindus will take it when cooked without
water from a few of the higher ones. The tribe are not considered as
impure. Their dress is very simple, consisting as a rule only of one
dirty white piece of cloth in the case of both men and women. Their
hair is unkempt, and they neither oil nor comb it. A genuine Binjhwar
of the hills wears long frizzled hair with long beard and moustaches,
but in the open country they cut their hair and shave the chin. Every
Binjhwar woman is tattooed either before or just after her marriage,
when she has attained to the age of adolescence. A man will not touch
or accept food from a woman who is not tattooed on the feet. The
expenses must be paid either by the woman's parents or her brothers
and not by her husband. The practice is carried to an extreme, and
many women have the upper part of the chest, the arms from shoulder to
wrist, and the feet and legs up to the knee covered with devices. On
the chest and arms the patterns are in the shape of flowers and leaves,
while along the leg a succession of zigzag lines are pricked. The
Binjhwars are usually cultivators and labourers, while, as already
stated, several zamindari and other estates are owned by members of the
tribe. Binjhwars also commonly hold the office of Jhankar or priest
of the village gods in the Sambalpur District, as the Baigas do in
Mandla and Balaghat. In Sambalpur the Jhankar or village priest is a
universal and recognised village servant of fairly high status. His
business is to conduct the worship of the local deities of the soil,
crops, forests and hills, and he generally has a substantial holding,
rent free, containing some of the best land in the village. It is
said locally that the Jhankar is looked on as the founder of the
village, and the representative of the old owners who were ousted
by the Hindus. He worships on their behalf the indigenous deities,
with whom he naturally possesses a more intimate acquaintance than
the later immigrants; while the gods of these latter cannot be relied
on to exercise a sufficient control over the works of nature in the
foreign land to which they have been imported, or to ensure that the
earth and the seasons will regularly perform their necessary functions
in producing sustenance for mankind.
Bishnoi
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin of the sect._
2. _Precepts of Jhambaji._
3. _Customs of the Bishnois in the Punjab._
4. _Initiation and baptism._
5. _Nature of the sect._
6. _Bishnois in the Central Provinces._
7. _Marriage._
8. _Disposal of the dead._
9. _Development into a caste._
1. Origin of the sect.
_Bishnoi._ [383]--A Hindu sect which has now developed into a
caste. The sect was founded in the Punjab, and the Bishnois are
immigrants from northern India. In the Central Provinces they
numbered about 1100 persons in 1911, nearly all of whom belonged
to the Hoshangabad District. The best description of the sect is
contained in Mr. Wilson's _Sirsa Settlement Report_ (quoted in Sir
E. Maclagan's _Census Report of the Punjab_ for 1891), from which the
following details are taken: "The name Bishnoi means a worshipper of
Vishnu. The founder of the sect was a Panwar Rajput named Jhambaji,
who was born in a village of Bikaner State in A.D. 1451. His father
had hitherto remained childless, and being greatly oppressed by this
misfortune had been promised a son by a Muhammadan Fakir. After nine
months Jhambaji was born and showed his miraculous origin in various
ways, such as producing sweets from nothing for the delectation
of his companions. Until he was thirty-four years old he spoke no
word and was employed in tending his father's cattle. At this time
a Brahman was sent for to get him to speak, and on confessing his
failure, Jhambaji showed his power by lighting a lamp with a snap
of his fingers and spoke his first word. He adopted the life of a
teacher and went to reside on a sandhill some thirty miles south of
Bikaner. In 1485 a fearful famine desolated the country, and Jhambaji
gained an enormous number of disciples by providing food for all
who would declare their belief in him. He is said to have died on
his sandhill at the good old age of eighty-four, and to have been
buried at a spot about a mile distant from it. A further account
says that his body remained suspended for six months in the bier
without decomposing. His name Jhambaji was a contraction of Achambha
(The Wonder), with the honorific suffix _ji_.
2. Precepts of Jhambaji.
"The sayings (_shabd_) of Jhambaji, to the number of one hundred and
twenty, were recorded by his disciples, and have been handed down in
a book (_pothi_) which is written in the Nagari character, and in a
Hindu dialect similar to Bagri and therefore probably a dialect of
Rajasthani. The following is a translation of the twenty-nine precepts
given by him for the guidance of his followers: 'For thirty days
after childbirth and five days after a menstrual discharge a woman
must not cook food. Bathe in the morning. Commit no adultery. Be
content. Be abstemious and pure. Strain your drinking-water. Be
careful of your speech. Examine your fuel in case any living creature
be burnt with it. Show pity to living creatures. Keep duty present
to your mind as the teacher bade. Do not steal. Do not speak evil
of others. Do not tell lies. Never quarrel. Avoid opium, tobacco,
_bhang_ and blue clothing. Flee from spirits and flesh. See that your
goats are kept alive (not sold to Musalmans, who will kill them for
food). Do not plough with bullocks. Keep a fast on the day before the
new moon. Do not cut green trees. Sacrifice with fire. Say prayers;
meditate. Perform worship and attain heaven.' And the last of the
twenty-nine duties prescribed by the teacher: 'Baptise your children
if you would be called a true Bishnoi.' [384]
3. Customs of the Bishnois in the Punjab.
"Some of these precepts are not strictly obeyed. For instance, though
ordinarily they allow no blue in their clothing, yet a Bishnoi,
if he is a police constable, is allowed to wear a blue uniform;
and Bishnois do use bullocks, though most of their farming is done
with camels. They also seem to be generally quarrelsome (in words)
and given to use bad language. But they abstain from tobacco, drugs
and spirits, and are noted for their regard for animal life, which is
such that not only will they not themselves kill any living creature,
but they do their utmost to prevent others from doing so. Consequently
their villages are generally swarming with antelope and other animals,
and they forbid their Musalman neighbours to kill them, and try to
dissuade European sportsmen from interfering with them. They wanted to
make it a condition of their settlement that no one should be allowed
to shoot on their land, but at the same time they asked that they
might be assessed at lower rates than their neighbours, on the ground
that the antelope, being thus left undisturbed, did more damage to
their crops; but I told them that this would lessen the merit (_pun_)
of their actions in protecting the animals, and they must be treated
just as the surrounding villages were. They consider it a good deed to
scatter grain to pigeons and other birds, and often have a large number
of half-tame birds about their villages. The day before the new moon
(Amawas) they observe as a Sabbath and fast-day, doing no work in the
fields or in the house. They bathe and pray three times a day, in the
morning, afternoon and evening, saying 'Bishnu! Bishnu!' instead of
the ordinary Hindu 'Ram! Ram.' Their clothing is the same as that of
other Bagris, except that their women do not allow the waist to be
seen, and are fond of wearing black woollen clothing. They are more
particular about ceremonial purity than ordinary Hindus are, and it is
a common saying that if a Bishnoi's food is on the first of a string of
twenty camels and a man of another caste touches the last camel of the
string, the Bishnoi would consider his food defiled and throw it away."
4. Initiation and baptism.
The ceremony of initiation is as follows: "A number of representative
Bishnois assemble, and before them a Sadh or Bishnoi priest, after
lighting a sacrificial fire (_hom_), instructs the novice in the duties
of the faith. He then takes some water in a new earthen vessel, over
which he prays in a set form (_Bishno gayatri_), stirring it the while
with his string of beads (_mala_), and after asking the consent of
the assembled Bishnois he pours the water three times into the hands
of the novice, who drinks it off. The novice's scalp-lock (_choti_)
is then cut off and his head shaved, for the Bishnois shave the whole
head and do not leave a scalp-lock like the Hindus, but they allow the
beard to grow, only shaving the chin on the father's death. Infant
baptism is also practised, and thirty days after birth the child,
whether boy or girl, is baptised by the priest (Sadh) in much the
same way as an adult; only the set form of prayer is different, and
the priest pours a few drops of water into the child's mouth, and
gives the child's relatives each three handfuls of the consecrated
water to drink; at the same time the barber clips off the child's
hair. The baptismal ceremony has the effect of purifying the house,
which has been made impure by the birth (_sutak_).
"The Bishnois do not revere Brahmans, but have priests of their own
known as Sadh, who are chosen from among the laity. The priests are
a hereditary class, and do not intermarry with other Bishnois, from
whom, like Brahmans, they receive food and offerings. The Bishnois do
not burn their dead, but bury them below the cattle-shed or in some
place like a pen frequented by cattle. They make pilgrimages to the
place where Jhambaji is buried to the south of Bikaner; here a tomb
and temple have been erected to his memory, and gatherings are held
twice a year. The sect observe the Holi in a different way from other
Hindus. After sunset on that day they fast till the next forenoon
when, after hearing read the account of how Prahlad was tortured by
his infidel father, Hrianya Kasipu, for believing in the god Vishnu,
until he was delivered by the god himself in his incarnation of
Narsingh, the Man-lion, and mourning over Prahlad's sufferings, they
light a sacrificial fire and partake of consecrated water, and after
distributing sugar (_gur_) in commemoration of Prahlad's delivery
from the fire into which he was thrown, they break their fast."
5. Nature of the sect.
The above interesting account of the Bishnois by Mr. Wilson shows that
Jhambaji was a religious reformer, who attempted to break loose from
the debased Hindu polytheism and arrogant supremacy of the Brahmans
by choosing one god, Vishnu, out of the Hindu pantheon and exalting
him into the sole and supreme deity. In his method he thus differed
from Kabir and other reformers, who went outside Hinduism altogether,
preaching a monotheistic faith with one unseen and nameless deity. The
case of the Manbhaos, whose unknown founder made Krishna the one
god, discarding the Vedas and the rest of Hinduism, is analogous
to Jhambaji's movement. His creed much resembles that of the other
Hindu reformers and founders of the Vaishnavite sects. The extreme
tenderness for animal life is a characteristic of most of them,
and would be fostered by the Hindu belief in the transmigration of
souls. The prohibition of liquor is another common feature, to which
Jhambaji added that of all kinds of drugs. His mind, like those of
Kabir and Nanak, was probably influenced by the spectacle of the
comparatively liberal creed of Islam, which had now taken root in
northern India. Mr. Crooke remarks that the Bishnois of Bijnor appear
to differ from those of the Punjab in using the Muhammadan form of
salutation, _Salam alaikum_, and the title of Shaikhji. They account
for this by saying they murdered a Muhammadan Kazi, who prevented
them from burning a widow, and were glad to compound the offence
by pretending to adopt Islam. But it seems possible that on their
first rupture with Hinduism they were to some extent drawn towards
the Muhammadans, and adopted practices of which, on tending again to
conform to their old religion, they have subsequently become ashamed.
6. Bishnois in the Central Provinces.
In northern India the members of different castes who have become
Bishnois have formed separate endogamous groups, of which Mr. Crooke
gives nine; among these are the Brahman, Bania, Jat, Sunar, Ahir and
Nai Bishnois. Only members of comparatively good castes appear to have
been admitted into the community, and in the Punjab they are nearly
all Jats and Banias. In the Central Provinces the caste forms only
one endogamous group. They have _gotras_ or exogamous sections, the
names of which appear to be of the titular or territorial type. Some
of the _gotras_, Jhuria, Ajna, Sain and Ahir, [385] are considered
to be lower than the others, and though they are not debarred from
intermarriage, a connection with them is looked upon as something of
a _mésalliance_. They are not consulted in the settlement of tribal
disputes. No explanation of the comparatively degraded position of
these septs is forthcoming, but it may probably be attributed to
some blot in their ancestral escutcheon. The Bishnois celebrate
their marriages at any period of the year, and place no reliance
on astrology. According to their saying, "Every day is as good as
Sankrant, [386] every day is as good as Amawas. [387] The Ganges flows
every day, and he whose preceptor has taught him the most truth will
get the most good from bathing in it."
7. Marriage.
Before a wedding the bride's father sends, by the barber, a cocoanut
and a silver ring tied round it with a yellow thread. On the thread
are seven, nine, eleven or thirteen knots, signifying the number of
days to elapse before the ceremony. The barber on his arrival stands
outside the door of the house, and the bridegroom's father sends
round to all the families of his caste. The men go to the house and
the women come singing to the barber, and rub turmeric on the boy. A
married woman touches the cocoanut and waves a lighted lamp seven
times round the bridegroom's head. This is meant to scare off evil
spirits. On arrival at the bride's village the bridegroom touches
the marriage-shed with the branch of a _ber_ or wild plum tree. The
mother of the bride gives him some sugar, rubs lamp-black on his
eyes and twists his nose. The bride and bridegroom are seated side by
side on wooden boards, and after the caste priest (Sadh) has chanted
some sacred verses, water is poured nine times on to the palms of
the bridegroom, and he drinks it. They do not perform the ceremony
of walking round the sacred pole. Girls are usually married at a very
early age, sometimes when they are only a few months old. Subsequently,
when the bridegroom comes to take his bride, her family present her
with clothing and a spinning-wheel, this implement being still in
favour among the Bishnois. When a widow is to be married again she
is taken to her new husband's house at night, and there grinds a
flour-mill five times, being afterwards presented with lac bangles.
8. Disposal of the dead.
The dead are never burnt, but their bodies are weighted with sand-bags
and thrown into a stream. The practice which formerly prevailed among
the Bishnois of burying their dead in the courtyard of the house by
the cattle-stalls has now fallen into desuetude as being insanitary. A
red cloth is spread over the body of a woman, and if her maternal
relatives are present each of them places a piece of cloth on the
bier. After the funeral the mourning party proceed to a river to
bathe, and then cook and eat their food on the bank. This custom is
also followed by the Panwar Rajputs of the Wainganga Valley, but is
forbidden by most of the good Hindu castes. No period of impurity is
observed after a death, but on some day between the fourth and tenth
days afterwards a feast is given to the caste-fellows.
9. Development into a caste.
The Bishnois of the Central Provinces are gradually becoming an
ordinary Hindu caste, a fate which has several times befallen the
adherents of Hindu reformers. Many of the precepts of Jhambaji are
neglected. They still usually strain their water and examine their fuel
before burning it to remove insects, and they scatter flour to feed the
ants and grain for peacocks and pigeons. The wearing of blue cloth is
avoided by most, blue being for an obscure reason a somewhat unlucky
colour among the Hindus. But they now use bullocks for ploughing, and
cut green trees except on the Amawas day. Many of them, especially
the younger generation, have begun to grow the Hindu _choti_ or
scalp-lock. They go on pilgrimage to all the Hindu sacred places, and
no doubt make presents there to Brahman priests. They offer _pindas_
or sacrificial cakes to the spirits of their deceased ancestors. They
observe some of the ordinary Hindu festivals, as the Anant Chaturthi,
and some of them employ Brahmans to read the Satya Narayan Katha,
the favourite Hindu sacred book. They still retain their special
observance of the Holi. The admission of proselytes has practically
ceased, and they marry among themselves like an ordinary Hindu caste,
in which light they are gradually coming to be regarded. The Bishnois
are usually cultivators or moneylenders by calling.
Bohra
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin of the sect._
2. _Their religious tenets._
3. _The Mullahs._
4. _Bohra graveyards._
5. _Religious customs._
6. _Occupation._
7. _Houses and dress._
1. Origin of the sect.
_Bohra, Bohora._ [388]--A Muhammadan caste of traders who come
from Gujarat and speak Gujarati. At the last census they numbered
nearly 5000 persons, residing principally in the Nimar, Nagpur and
Amraoti Districts, Burhanpur being the headquarters of the sect in
the Central Provinces. The name is probably derived from the Hindi
_byohara_, a trader. Members of the caste are honorifically addressed
as Mullaji. According to the received account of the rise of the
Bohras in Gujarat a missionary, Abdulla, came from Yemen to Cambay
in A.D. 1067. By his miracles he converted the great king Sidhraj
of Anhilvada Patan in Gujarat, and he with numbers of his subjects
embraced the new faith. For two centuries and a half the Bohras
flourished, but with the establishment of Muzaffar Shah's power
(A.D. 1390-1413) in that country the spread of Sunni doctrines was
encouraged and the Bohra and other Shia sects suppressed. Since then,
with gradually lessening numbers, they have passed through several
bitter persecutions, meeting with little favour or protection, till at
the close of the eighteenth century they found shelter under British
rule. In 1539 the members of the sect living in Arabia were expelled
from there and came to Gujarat, where they were hospitably received by
their brethren, the headquarters of the sect being thenceforward fixed
at Surat. The Bohras are Shias of the great Ismailia sect of Egypt. The
Ismailia sect split off from the orthodox Shias on the question of the
succession to the sixth Imam, Jafar Sadik, in A.D. 765. The dispute
was between his eldest son's son Ismail and his second son Musi,
the Ismailias being those who supported the former and the orthodox
Shias the latter. The orthodox Shias are distinguished as believers
in twelve Imams, the last of whom is still to come. The Ismailias
again divided on a similar dispute as to the succession to the
Khalifa Almustansir Billah by his eldest son Nazar or his younger son
Almustaali. The Bohras are descended from the Mustaalians or supporters
of the younger son and the Khojas from the Nazarians who supported
the elder son. [389] All these distinctions appear somewhat trivial.
2. Their religious tenets.
Gujarat contains two classes of Bohras: the traders who are all
Shias and are the only immigrants into the Central Provinces, and a
large class of cultivating Bohras who are Sunnis. The latter may be
the descendants of the earliest converts and may have been forced to
become Sunnis when this sect was dominant in Gujarat as noticed above,
while the Shias are perhaps descended from the later immigrants from
Arabia. The Shia Bohras themselves are further divided into several
sects of which the Daudi are the principal.
Mr. Faridi writes of them: [390] "They are attentive to their religious
duties, both men and women knowing the Koran. They are careful to
say their prayers, to observe Muharram as a season of mourning and
to go on pilgrimage to Mecca and Kerbala. They strictly abstain
from music and dancing and from using or dealing in intoxicating
drinks or drugs. Though fierce sectarians, keenly hating and hated
by the regular Sunnis and other Muhammadans than those of their
own sect, their reverence for Ali and for their high priest seems
to be further removed from adoration than among the Khojahs. They
would appear to accept the ordinary distinctions of right and wrong,
punishing drunkenness, adultery and other acts generally considered
disgraceful. Of the state beyond death they hold that, after passing
a time of freedom as evil spirits, unbelievers go to a place of
torment. Believers, but apparently only believers of the Ismaili
faith, after a term of training enter a state of perfection. Among
the faithful each disembodied spirit passes the term of training in
communion with the soul of some good man. The spirit can suggest
good or evil to the man and may learn from his good deeds to love
the right; when the good man dies the spirits in communion with his
soul are, if they have gained by their training, attached to some
more perfect man, or if they have lost by their opportunities are
sent back to learn; spirits raised to a higher degree of knowledge
are placed in communion with the High Priest on earth; and on his
death are with him united to the Imams, and when through the Imams
they have learnt what they still require to know they are absorbed
in perfection. Except for some peculiarities in their names; that
they attach special importance to circumcision; that the sacrifice
or _alsikah_ ceremony is held in the Mullah's house; that at marriage
the bride and bridegroom when not of age are represented by sponsors
or _walis_; that at death a prayer for pity on his soul and body is
laid in the dead man's hands; and that on certain occasions the High
Priest feeds the whole community--Bohra customs do not so far as has
been ascertained differ from those of ordinary Muhammadans.
3. The Mullahs.
"Their leader, both in things religious and social, is the head Mullah
of Surat. The ruling Mullah names his successor, generally, but it
is said not always, from among the members of his own family. Short
of worship the head Mullah is treated with the greatest respect. He
lives in much state and entertains with the most profuse liberality. On
both religious and civil questions his authority is final. Discipline
is enforced in religious matters by fine, and in case of adultery,
drunkenness and other offences, by fine, excommunication and rarely by
flogging. On ceremonial occasions the head Mullah sits on his throne,
and in token of his power has the flyflapper, _chauri_, held before
him. As the Bohras enter they make three prostrations, _salaams_,
close their hands and stand before him. To such as are worthy he says
'Be seated,' to others 'Stand.' Once a year, on the 18th Rajjab,
every Daudi lays his palm within the head Mullah's hand and takes
an oath to be faithful. On this day when he goes to the mosque the
Bohras are said to kiss the Mullah's footsteps and to apply the dust
he treads to their heads and eyes." Each considerable settlement of
the sect has a deputy Mullah of its own.
4. Bohra graveyards.
The Sahadra or burial-place of the Bohras at Burhanpur contains
the tombs of three of the Surat Mullahs who happened to die when
they were at Burhanpur. The tombs are in shell-lime and are fairly
handsome erections. The Bohras support here by voluntary subscription
a rest-house, where members of the sect coming to the city can obtain
free board and lodging for as long as they like to stay. Mr. Conolly
says of their graveyards: [391]
"Their burial-grounds have a pleasing appearance, the tombs being
regularly arranged in streets, east and west. The tombs themselves,
which are, of course, north and south, the corpse resting on its right
side, differ in no respect from those of Sunnis, with the exception
of a small _chiragh takia_ or lamp-socket, cut out of the north face,
just like the cavity for the inscription of our own tombs."
5. Religious customs.
Of their religion Mr. Kitts writes: [392] "In prayers they differ
both from Shias and Sunnis in that they follow their Mullah, praying
aloud after him, but without much regularity of posture. The times for
commencing their devotions are about five minutes later than those
observed by Sunnis. After the midday and sunset supplications they
allow a short interval to elapse, remaining themselves in the mosque
meanwhile. They then commence the afternoon and evening prayers and
thus run five services into three."
Mr. Thurston notes that the Bohras consider themselves so superior
to other sects that if another Muhammadan enters their mosque
they afterwards clean the spot which he has occupied during his
prayers. [393] They show strictness in other ways, making their
own sweetmeats at home and declining to eat those of the Halwai
(confectioner). It is said also that they will not have their clothes
washed by a Dhobi, nor wear shoes made by a Chamar, nor take food
touched by any Hindu. They are said to bathe only on Fridays, and some
of them not on every Friday. If a dog touches them they are unclean
and must change their clothes. They celebrate the Id and Ramazan a
day before other Muhammadans. At the Muharram their women break all
their bangles and wear new bangles next day to show that they have
been widowed, and during this period they observe mourning by going
without shoes and not using umbrellas. Mr. Conolly says of them:
"I must not omit to notice that a fine of 20 cowries (equally for
rich and poor) punishes the non-attendance of a Bohra at the daily
prayers. A large sum is exacted for remissness during the Ramazan,
and it is said that the dread of loss operates powerfully upon a
class of men who are particularly penny-wise. The money collected
thus is transmitted by the Ujjain Mullah to his chief at Surat,
who devotes it to religious purposes such as repairing or building
mosques, assisting the needy of his subjects and the like. Several
other offences have the same characteristic punishment, such as
fornication, drunkenness, etc. But the cunning Bohras elude many of the
fines and daily indulge in practices not sanctioned by their creed;
thus in their shops pictures and figures may be purchased though it
is against the commandments to sell the likeness of any living thing."
It has been seen that when a Bohra is buried a prayer for pity on his
soul and body is laid in the dead man's hands, of which Mr. Faridi
gives the text. But other Muhammadans tell a story to the effect that
the head Mullah writes a letter to the archangel Gabriel in which he
is instructed to supply a stream of honey, a stream of milk, water
and some fruit trees, a golden building and a number of houris, the
extent of the order depending on the amount of money which has been
paid to the Mullah by the departed in his lifetime; and this letter
is placed beneath the dead man's head in the grave, the Bohras having
no coffins. The Bohras indignantly repudiate any such version of the
letter, and no doubt if the custom ever existed it has died out.
6. Occupation.
The Bohras, Captain Forsyth remarks, though bigoted religionists,
are certainly the most civilised and enterprising and perhaps also
the most industrious class in the Nimar District. They deal generally
in hardware, piece-goods and drugs, and are very keen traders. There
is a proverb, "He who is sharper than a Bohra must be mad, and he
who is fairer than a Khatri must be a leper." Some of them are only
pedlars and hawkers, and in past times their position seems to have
been lower than at present. An old account says: [394] "The Bohras are
an inferior set of travelling merchants. The inside of a Bohra's box
is like that of an English country shop; spelling-books, prayer-books,
lavender-water, soap, tapes, scissors, knives, needles and thread make
but a small part of the variety." And again: "In Bombay the Bohras go
about the town as the dirty Jews do in London early and late, carrying
a bag and inviting by the same nasal tone servants and others to fill
it with old clothes, empty bottles, scraps of iron, etc." [395]
7. Houses and dress.
Of their method of living Malcolm wrote: [396] "I visited several
of the houses of this tribe at Shahjahanpur, where a colony of them
are settled, and was gratified to find not only in their apartments,
but in the spaciousness and cleanliness of their kitchens, in the
well-constructed chimney, the neatly arranged pantries, and the
polished dishes and plates as much of real comfort in domestic
arrangements as could be found anywhere. We took the parties we
visited by surprise and there could have been no preparation." The
Bohras do not charge interest on loans, and they combine to support
indigent members of the community, never allowing one of their caste
to beg. The caste may easily be known from other Muhammadans by their
small, tightly wound turbans and little skull-caps, and their long
flowing robes, and loose trousers widening from the ankle upwards and
gathered in at the waist with a string. The women dress in a coloured
cotton or silk petticoat, a short-sleeved bodice and a coloured cotton
head-scarf. When they go out of doors they throw a dark cloak over
the head which covers the body to the ankles, with gauze openings
for the eyes.
Brahman [397]
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin and development of the caste._
2. _Their monopoly of literature._
3. _Absence of central authority._
4. _Mixed elements in the caste._
5. _Caste subdivisions._
6. _Miscellaneous groups._
7. _Sectarian divisions._
8. _Exogamy._
9. _Restrictions on marriage._
10. _Hypergamy._
11. _Marriage customs._
12. _Polygamy, divorce and treatment of widows._
13. _Sati or burning of widows._
14. _Funeral rites and mourning._
15. _Religion._
16. _Daily ritual._
17. _The sacred thread._
18. _Social position._
19. _Titles._
20. _Caste panchayat and offences._
21. _Rules about food._
22. _Dress._
23. _Tattooing._
24. _Occupation._
25. _Character of Brahmans._
List of Subordinate Articles on Subcastes
1. Ahivasi.
2. Jijhotia.
3. Kanaujia, Kanyakubja.
4. Khedawal.
5. Maharashtra, Maratha.
6. Maithil.
7. Malwi.
8. Nagar.
9. Naramdeo.
10. Sanadhya, Sanaurhia.
11. Sarwaria.
12. Utkal.
1. Origin and development of the caste.
_Brahman, Baman._--The well-known priestly caste of India and the
first of the four traditional castes of the Hindu scriptures. In 1911
the Brahmans numbered about 450,000 persons in the Central Provinces
and Berar, or nearly 3 per cent of the population. This is less than
the average strength for India as a whole, which is about 4 1/2 per
cent. The caste is spread over the whole Province, but is in greatest
numbers in proportion to the population in Saugor and Jubbulpore,
and weakest in the Feudatory States.
The name Brahman or Brahma is said to be from the root _brih_ or
_vrih_, to increase. The god Brahma is considered as the spirit
and soul of the universe, the divine essence and source of all
being. Brahmana, the masculine numerative singular, originally denoted
one who prays, a worshipper or the composer or reciter of a hymn. [398]
It is the common term used in the Vedas for the officiating priest. Sir
H. Risley remarks on the origin of the caste: [399] "The best modern
opinion seems disposed to find the germ of the Brahman caste in the
bards, ministers and family priests who were attached to the king's
household in Vedic times. Different stages of this institution may be
observed. In the earliest ages the head of every Aryan household was
his own priest, and even a king would himself perform the sacrifices
which were appropriate to his rank. By degrees families or guilds
of priestly singers arose, who sought service under the kings, and
were rewarded by rich presents for the hymns or praise and prayer
recited and sacrifices offered by them on behalf of their masters. As
time went on the sacrifices became more numerous and more elaborate,
and the mass of ritual grew to such an extent that the king could no
longer cope with it unaided. The employment of _purohits_ or family
priests, formerly optional, now became a sacred duty if the sacrifices
were not to fall into disuse. The Brahman obtained a monopoly of
priestly functions, and a race of sacerdotal specialists arose
which tended continually to close its ranks against the intrusion
of outsiders." Gradually then from the household priests and those
who made it their business to commit to memory and recite the sacred
hymns and verses handed down orally from generation to generation
through this agency, an occupational caste emerged, which arrogated
to itself the monopoly of these functions, and the doctrine developed
that nobody could perform them who was not qualified by birth, that
is, nobody could be a Brahman who was not the son of a Brahman. When
religious ritual became more important, as apparently it did, a desire
would naturally arise among the priests to make their revered and
lucrative profession a hereditary monopoly; and this they were easily
and naturally able to do by only teaching the sacred songs and the
sacrificial rules and procedure to their own descendants. The process
indeed would be to a considerable extent automatic, because the priests
would always take their own sons for their pupils in the first place,
and in the circumstances of early Indian society a married priesthood
would thus naturally evolve into a hereditary caste. The Levites
among the Jews and the priests of the Parsis formed similar hereditary
orders, and the reason why they did not arise in other great religions
would appear to have been the prescription or encouragement of the
rule of celibacy for the clergy and the foundation of monasteries,
to which admission was free. But the military landed aristocracies
of Europe practically formed hereditary castes which were analogous
to the Brahman and Rajput castes, though of a less stereotyped and
primitive character. The rise of the Brahman caste was thus perhaps
a comparatively simple and natural product of religious and social
evolution, and might have occurred independently of the development
of the caste system as a whole. The former might be accounted for by
reasons which would be inadequate to explain the latter, even though
as a matter of fact the same factors were at work in both cases.
2. Their monopoly of literature.
The hereditary monopoly of the sacred scriptures would be strengthened
and made absolute when the Sanskrit language, in which they had been
composed and handed down, ceased to be the ordinary spoken language
of the people. Nobody then could learn them unless he was taught by
a Brahman priest. And by keeping the sacred literature in an unknown
language the priesthood made their own position absolutely secure and
got into their own hands the allocation of the penalties and rewards
promised by religion, for which these books were the authority, that
is to say, the disposal of the souls of Hindus in the afterlife. They,
in fact, held the keys of heaven and hell. The jealousy with which they
guarded them is well shown by the Abbé Dubois: [400] "To the Brahmans
alone belongs the right of reading the Vedas, and they are so jealous
of this, or rather it is so much to their interest to prevent other
castes obtaining any insight into their contents, that the Brahmans
have inculcated the absurd theory, which is implicitly believed, that
should anybody of any other caste be so highly imprudent as even to
read the title-page his head would immediately split in two. The very
few Brahmans who are able to read those sacred books in the original,
only do so in secret and in a whisper. Expulsion from caste, without
the smallest hope of re-entering it, would be the lightest punishment
of a Brahman who exposed those books to the eyes of the profane." It
would probably be unfair, however, to suppose that the Vedas were
kept in the original Sanskrit simply from motives of policy. It
was probably thought that the actual words of the sacred text had
themselves a concrete force and potency which would be lost in a
translation. This is the idea underlying the whole class of beliefs
in the virtue of charms and spells.
But the Brahmans had the monopoly not only of the sacred Sanskrit
literature, but practically of any kind of literacy or education. They
were for long the only literate section of the people. Subsequently
two other castes learnt to read and write in response to an economic
demand, the Kayasths and the Banias. The Kayasths, it has been
suggested in the article on that caste, were to a large extent the
offspring and inmates of the households of Brahmans, and were no doubt
taught by them, but only to read and write the vernacular for the
purpose of keeping the village records and accounts of rent. They were
excluded from any knowledge of Sanskrit, and the Kayasths subsequently
became an educated caste in spite of their Brahman preceptors, by
learning Persian under their Muhammadan, and English under their
European employers. The Banias never desired nor were encouraged
to attain to any higher degree of literacy than that necessary
for keeping accounts of sale and loan transactions. The Brahmans
thus remained the only class with any real education, and acquired
a monopoly not only of intellectual and religious leadership, but
largely of public administration under the Hindu kings. No literature
existed outside their own, which was mainly of a sacerdotal character;
and India had no heritage such as that bequeathed by Greece and Rome
to mediaeval Europe which could produce a Renaissance or revival of
literacy, leading to the Reformation of religion and the breaking
of the fetters in which the Roman priesthood had bound the human
mind. The Brahmans thus established, not only a complete religious,
but also a social ascendancy which is only now beginning to break
down since the British Government has made education available to all.
3. Absence of central authority.
The Brahman body, however, lacked one very important element of
strength. They were apparently never organised nor controlled by
any central authority such as that which made the Roman church so
powerful and cohesive. Colleges and seats of learning existed at
Benares and other places, at which their youth were trained in the
knowledge of religion and of the measure of their own pretensions,
and the means by which these were to be sustained. But probably
only a small minority can have attended them, and even these when
they returned home must have been left practically to themselves,
spread as the Brahmans were over the whole of India with no means of
postal communication or rapid transit. And by this fact the chaotic
character of the Hindu religion, its freedom of belief and worship,
its innumerable deities, and the almost complete absence of dogmas
may probably be to a great extent explained. And further the Brahman
caste itself cannot have been so strictly organised that outsiders and
the priests of the lower alien religions never obtained entrance to
it. As shown by Mr. Crooke, many foreign elements, both individuals
and groups, have at various times been admitted into the caste.
4. Mixed elements in the caste.
The early texts indicate that Brahmans were in the habit of forming
connections with the widows of Rajanyas and Vaishyas, even if they
did not take possession of the wives of such men while they were
still alive. [401] The sons of Angiras, one of the great ancestral
sages, were Brahmans as well as Kshatriyas. The descendants of Garga,
another well-known eponymous ancestor, were Kshatriyas by birth but
became Brahmans. Visvamitra was a Kshatriya, who, by the force of
his austerities, compelled Brahma to admit him into the Brahmanical
order, so that he might be on a level with Vasishtha with whom he
had quarrelled. According to a passage in the Mahabharata all castes
become Brahmans when once they have crossed the Gomti on a pilgrimage
to the hermitage of Vasishtha. [402] In more recent times there are
legends of persons created Brahmans by Hindu Rajas. Sir J. Malcolm in
Central India found many low-caste female slaves in Brahman houses, the
owners of which had treated them as belonging to their own caste. [403]
It would appear also that in some cases the caste priests of different
castes have become Brahmans. Thus the Saraswat Brahmans of the Punjab
are the priests of the Khatri caste. They have the same complicated
arrangement of exogamy and hypergamy as the Khatris, and will take
food from that caste. It seems not improbable that they are really
descendants of Khatri priests who have become Brahmans. [404]
Similarly such groups as the Oswal, Srimal and Palliwal Brahmans of
Rajputana, who are priests of the subcastes of Banias of the same
name, may originally have been caste priests and become Brahmans. The
Naramdeo Brahmans, or those living on the Nerbudda River, are said to
be descendants of a Brahman father by a woman of the Naoda or Dhimar
caste; and the Golapurab Brahmans similarly of a Brahman father and
Ahir mother. In many cases, such as the island of Onkar Mandhata in
the Nerbudda in Nimar, and the Mahadeo caves at Pachmarhi, the places
of worship of the non-Aryan tribes have been adopted by Hinduism and
the old mountain or river gods transformed into Hindu deities. At
the same time it is not improbable that the tribal priests of the
old shrines have been admitted into the Brahman caste.
5. Caste subdivisions.
The Brahman caste has ten main territorial divisions, forming two
groups, the Panch-Gaur or five northern, and the Panch-Dravida or five
southern. The boundary line between the two groups is supposed to
be the Nerbudda River, which is also the boundary between Hindustan
and the Deccan. But the Gujarati Brahmans belong to the southern
group, though Gujarat is north of the Nerbudda. The five northern
divisions are:
(_a_) _Saraswat._--These belong to the Punjab and are named after
the Saraswati river of the classical period, on whose banks they are
supposed to have lived.
(_b_) _Gaur._--The home of these is the country round Delhi, but
they say that the name is from the old Gaur or Lakhnauti kingdom
of Bengal. If this is correct, it is difficult to understand how
they came from Bengal to Delhi contrary to the usual tendency of
migration. General Cunningham has suggested that Gaura was also the
name of the modern Gonda District, and it is possible that the term was
once used for a considerable tract in northern India as well as Bengal,
since it has come to be applied to all the northern Brahmans. [405]
(_c_) _Kankubja or Kanaujia._--These are named after the old town of
Kanauj on the Ganges near Cawnpore, once the capital of India. The
Kanaujia are the most important of the northern groups and extend from
the west of Oudh to beyond Benares and into the northern Districts of
the Central Provinces. Here they are subdivided into four principal
groups--the Kanaujia, Jijhotia, Sarwaria and Sanadhya, which are
treated in annexed subordinate articles.
(_d_) _Maithil._--They take their name from Mithila, the old term
for Bihar or Tirhut, and belong to this tract.
(_e_) _Utkal._--These are the Brahmans of Orissa.
The five groups of the Panch-Dravida are as follows:
(_a_) _Maharashtra._--These belong to the Maratha country or
Bombay. They are subdivided into three main territorial groups--the
Deshasth, or those of the home country, that is the Poona tract above
the Western Ghats; the Konkonasth, who belong to the Bombay Konkan
or littoral; and the Karhara, named after a place in the Satara
District. [406]
(_b_) _Tailanga or Andhra._--The Brahmans of the Telugu country,
Hyderabad and the northern part of Madras. This territory was known
as Andhra and governed by an important dynasty of the same name in
early times.
(_c_) _Dravida._--The Brahmans of the Tamil country or the south
of Madras.
(_d_) _Karnata._--The Brahmans of the Carnatic, or the Canarese
country. The Canarese area comprises the Mysore State, and the British
Districts of Canara, Dharwar and Belgaum.
(_e_) _Gurjara._--The Brahmans of Gujarat, of whom two subcastes are
found in the Central Provinces. The first consists of the Khedawals,
named after Kheda, a village in Gujarat, who are a strictly orthodox
class holding a good position in the caste. And the second are the
Nagar Brahmans, who have been long settled in Nimar and the adjacent
tracts, and act as village priests and astrologers. Their social
status is somewhat lower.
There are, however, a large number of other subcastes, and the
tendency to fissure in a large caste, and to the formation of small
local groups which marry among themselves, is nowhere more strikingly
apparent than among the Brahmans. This is only natural, as they,
more than any other caste, attach importance to strict ceremonial
observance in matters of food and the daily ritual of prayer, and
any group which was suspected of backsliding in respect of these on
emigration to a new locality would be debarred from intermarriage
with the parent caste at home. An instance of this is found among the
Chhattisgarhi Brahmans, who have been long settled in this backward
tract and cut off from communication with northern India. They
are mainly of the Kanaujia division, but the Kanaujias of Oudh will
neither take food nor intermarry with them, and they now constitute a
separate subcaste of Kanaujias. Similarly the Malwi Brahmans, whose
home is in Malwa, whence they have spread to Hoshangabad and Betul,
are believed to have been originally a branch of the Gaur or Kanaujia,
but have now become a distinct subcaste, and have adopted many of the
customs of Maratha Brahmans. Mandla contains a colony of Sarwaria [407]
Brahmans who received grants of villages from the Gond kings and have
settled down there. They are now cultivators, and some have taken to
the plough, while they also permit widow-remarriage in all but the
name. They are naturally cut off from intercourse with the orthodox
Sarwarias and marry among themselves. The Harenia Brahmans of Saugor
are believed to have immigrated from Hariana some generations ago and
form a separate local group; and also the Laheria Brahmans of the same
District, who, like the Mandla Sarwarias, permit widows to marry. In
Hoshangabad there is a small subcaste of Bawisa or 'Twenty-two'
Brahmans, descended from twenty-two families from northern India,
who settled here and have since married among themselves. A similar
diversity of subcastes is found in other Provinces. The Brahmans of
Bengal are also mainly of the Kanaujia division, but they are divided
into several local subcastes, of which the principal are Rarhi and
Barendra, named after tracts in Bengal, and quite distinct from the
subdivisions of the Kanaujia group in the Central Provinces.
6. Miscellaneous groups.
Another class of local subdivisions consists of those Brahmans who
live on the banks of the various sacred rivers or at famous shrines,
and earn their livelihood by conducting pilgrims through the series
of ceremonies and acts of worship which are performed on a visit to
such places; they receive presents from the pilgrims and the offerings
made at the shrines. The most prominent among these are the Gayawals of
Gaya, the Prayagwals of Allahabad (Prayag), the Chaubes of Mathura, the
Gangaputras (Sons of the Ganges) of Benares, the Pandarams of southern
India and the Naramdeo Brahmans who hold charge of the many temples on
the Nerbudda. As such men accept gifts from pilgrims they are generally
looked down on by good Brahmans and marry among themselves. Many of
them have a character for extortion and for fleecing their clients,
a propensity commonly developed in a profession of this kind. Such
a reputation particularly attaches to the Chaubes of Mathura and
Brindaban, the holy places of the god Krishna. They are strong and
finely built men, but gluttonous, idle and dissolute. Some of the
Benares Brahmans are known as Sawalakhi, or having one and a quarter
lakhs, apparently on account of the wealth they amass from pilgrims. A
much lower group are the Maha-Brahmans (great Brahmans), who are also
known as Patit (degraded) or Katia. These accept the gifts offered by
the relatives after a death for the use of the dead man in the next
world during the period of mourning; they also eat food which it is
supposed will benefit the dead man, and are considered to represent
him. Probably on this account they share in the impurity attaching to
the dead, and are despised by all castes and sometimes not permitted to
live in the village. Other Brahmans are degraded on account of their
having partly adopted Muhammadan practices. The Husaini Brahmans of
western India are so called as they combine Muhammadan with Hindu
rites. They are principally beggars. And the Kalanki Brahmans of
Wardha and other Districts are looked down upon because, it is said,
that at the bidding of a Muhammadan governor they make a figure of
a cow from sugar and eat it up. Probably they may have really acted
as priests to Muhammadans who were inclined to adopt certain Hindu
rites on the principle of imitation, and with a view to please their
disciples conformed to some extent to Islam.
7. Sectarian divisions.
Brahmans have also sectarian divisions according to the different
Vedas, which they especially study. It is held that the ancient Rishis
or saints, like the Jewish patriarchs, lived far beyond the ordinary
span of existence, and hence had time to learn all the Vedas and
their commentaries. But this was impossible for their shorter-lived
descendants, and hence each Veda has been divided into a number of
Shakhas or branches, and the ordinary Brahman only learns one Shakha of
one Veda. Most Brahmans of the Central Provinces are either Rigvedis
or Yajurvedis, and these commonly marry only followers of their own
Veda, thus forming a sort of cross set of endogamous divisions. The
restriction on marriage may also extend to the Shakha, so that a
man can only marry in a family of the same Shakha as himself. This
applies in the Central Provinces mainly to the Yajurvedis, who have
three well-known Shakhas or branches called Kannava, Apastambha and
Madhyandina. These are derived from the Shukla or White Yajurveda,
which can be understood, while the Black Yajurveda is obscure and
unintelligible. The Rigvedis and Yajurvedis have some differences in
their methods of recitation. The Rigvedis are said to move the head
up and down when they recite and not to use the hands; while the
Yajurvedis swing the hands and body from side to side. It is said
that a Madhyandina cannot say his prayers nor take his food before
midday, and hence the name, which means half the day. These points
of distinction are given as stated by the local Brahmans, and it is
not known whether they would be endorsed by the Pandits. The Maratha
Brahmans of the Central Provinces are usually Rigvedis and the Kanaujia
Brahmans Yajurvedis. Followers of the other two Vedas are practically
not found. Among Kanaujia Brahmans it is also customary to ask the
head of a family with which a marriage is proposed whether he ties
a knot in the right or left half of his Shikha or scalp-lock during
his prayers and whether he washes his right or left foot first in
the performance of a religious ceremony.
8. Exogamy.
The exogamous arrangements of the Brahmans are also very complex. It
is said that the Brahmans are descended from the seven sons of
the god Brahma, who were Bhrigu, Angirasa, Marichi, Atri, Pulaha,
Pulastya and Vasishtha. But Pulaha only begot demons and Pulastya
giants, while Vasishtha died and was born again as a descendant
of Marichi. Consequently the four ancestors of the Brahmans were
Bhrigu, Angirasa, Marichi and Atri. But according to another account
the ancestors of the Brahmans were the seven Rishis or saints who
form the constellation of the Great Bear. These were Jamadagni,
Bharadwaj, Gautam, Kashyap, Vasishtha, Agastya, Atri and Visvamitra,
who makes the eighth and is held to be descended from Atri. These
latter saints are also said to be the descendants of the four original
ones, Atri appearing in both lists. But the two lists taken together
make up eleven great saints, who were the eponymous ancestors of
the Brahmans. All the different subcastes have as a rule exogamous
classes tracing their descent from these saints. But each group,
such as that of Bhrigu or Angirasa, contains a large number of
exogamous sections usually named after other more recent saints, and
intermarriage is sometimes prohibited among the different sections,
which are descended from the same son of Brahma or star of the
Great Bear. The arrangement thus bears a certain resemblance to the
classification system of exogamy found among primitive races, only
that the number of groups is now fairly large; but it is said that
originally there were only four, from the four sons of Brahma who
gave birth to Brahmans. The names of other important saints, after
whom exogamous sections are most commonly called, are Garg, Sandilya,
Kaushik, Vatsya and Bhargava. These five appear sometimes to be held
as original ancestors in addition to the eleven already mentioned. It
may be noted that some of the above names of saints have a totemistic
character; for instance, Bharadwaj means a lark; Kashyap resembles
Kachhap, the name for a tortoise; Kaushik may come from the _kusha_
grass; Agastya from the _agasti_ flower, and so on. Within the main
group exogamy sometimes also goes by titles or family names. Thus
the principal titles of the Kanaujias are: Pande, a wise man; Dube,
learned in two Vedas; Tiwari, learned in three Vedas; Chaube, learned
in four Vedas; Sukul, white or pure; Upadhya, a teacher; Agnihotri,
the priest who performs the fire-sacrifice; Dikshit, the initiator,
and so on. Marriage between persons bearing the same family name
tends to be prohibited, as they are considered to be relations.
9. Restrictions on marriage.
The prohibition of marriage within the _gotra_ or exogamous section
bars the union of persons related solely through males. In addition
to this, according to Hindu law a Brahman must not marry a girl of his
mother's or maternal grandfather's _gotra_, or one who is a _sapinda_
of his father or maternal grandfather. Mr. Joshi states that _sapindas_
are persons related through being particles of the same body. It is
also understood that two persons are said to be _sapindas_ when they
can offer _pindas_ or funeral cakes to the same ancestor. The rule
barring the marriage of _sapindas_ is that two persons cannot marry
if they are both as near as fourth in descent from a common ancestor,
and the relationship is derived through the father of either party. If
either is more remote than fourth in descent they apparently could
marry. If the relationship of the couple is through their mothers
in each case, then they cannot marry if they are third in descent
from the same ancestor, but may do so in the fourth or subsequent
generations. It is of no importance whether the intervening links
between the common ancestor and the proposed couple are male or female;
descent is considered to be male if through the father, and female
if through the mother. In practice, marriages are held to be valid
between persons fourth in descent from a common ancestor in the case
of male relationship, and third in the case of female relationship,
that is, persons having a common greatgrandparent in the male line
or a common grandparent in the female line can marry.
Other rules are that girls must not be exchanged in marriage between
two families, and a man may not marry two sisters, though he can
marry his deceased wife's sister. The bride should be both younger
in age and shorter in stature than the bridegroom. A younger sister
should not be married while her elder sister is single.
10. Hypergamy.
The practice of hypergamy is, or was until recently, common among
Brahmans. This is the rule by which the social estimation of a
family is raised if its girls are married into a class of higher
social status than its own. Members of the superior classes will take
daughters from the lower classes on payment usually of a substantial
bride-price, but will not give their daughters to them. According
to Manu, men of the higher castes were allowed to take wives from
the lower ones but not to give daughters to them. The origin of the
custom is obscure. If caste was based on distinctions of race, then
apparently the practice of hypergamy would be objectionable, because
it would destroy the different racial classes. If, on the other
hand, the castes consisted of groups of varying social status, the
distinction being that those of the lower ones could not participate
in the sacramental or communal meals of the higher ones, then the
marriage of a daughter into a higher group, which would carry with
it participation at the sacramental marriage feast of this group,
might well be a coveted distinction. The custom of hypergamy prevails
somewhat largely in northern India between different subcastes, groups
of different social status in the same subcaste, and occasionally
even between different castes. The social results of hypergamy, when
commonly practised, are highly injurious. Men of the higher subcastes
get paid for marrying several wives, and indulge in polygamy, while
the girls of the higher subcastes and the boys of the lower ones
find it difficult and sometimes even impossible to obtain husbands
and wives. The custom attained its most absurd development among the
Kulin Brahmans of eastern Bengal, as described by Sir H. Risley. [408]
Here the Brahmans were divided by a Hindu king, Ballal Sen, into
two classes, the Kulin (of good family), who had observed the entire
nine counsels of perfection; and the Srotriya, who, though regular
students of the Vedas, had lost sanctity by intermarrying with families
of inferior birth. The latter were further subdivided into three
classes according to their degree of social purity, and each higher
class could take daughters from the next one or two lower ones. The
doctrine known as Kula-gotra was developed, whereby the reputation of
a family depended on the character of the marriages made by its female
members. In describing the results of the system Sir H. Risley states:
"The rush of competition for Kulin husbands on the part of the inferior
classes became acute. In order to dispose of the surplus of women in
the higher groups polygamy was resorted to on a very large scale:
it was popular with the Kulins because it enabled them to make a
handsome income by the accident of their birth; and it was accepted
by the parents of the girls concerned as offering the only means of
complying with the requirements of the Hindu religion. Tempted by a
_pan_ or premium, which often reached the sum of two thousand rupees,
Swabhava Kulins made light of their _kul_ and its obligations, and
married girls, whom they left after the ceremony to be taken care of by
their parents. Matrimony became a sort of profession, and the honour
of marrying a girl to a Kulin is said to have been so highly valued
in eastern Bengal that as soon as a boy was ten years old his friends
began to discuss his matrimonial prospects, and before he was twenty
he had become the husband of many wives of ages varying from five to
fifty." The wives were commonly left at home to be supported by their
parents, and it is said that when a Kulin Brahman had a journey to
make he usually tried to put up for the night at the house of one of
his fathers-in-law. All the marriages were recorded in the registers
of the professional Ghataks or marriage-brokers, and each party was
supplied with an extract. On arrival at his father-in-law's house the
Kulin would produce his extract showing the date on which his marriage
took place; and the owner of the house, who was often unfamiliar with
the bridegroom's identity, would compare it with his own extract. When
they agreed he was taken in and put up for the night, and enjoyed the
society of his wife. The system thus entailed the greatest misery to
large numbers of women, both those who were married to husbands whom
they scarcely ever saw, and those of the higher classes who got no
husbands at all. It is now rapidly falling into abeyance. Hypergamy
is found in the Central Provinces among the subcastes of Kanaujia
Brahmans. The Sarwaria subcaste, which is the highest, takes daughters
from Kanaujias and Jijhotias, and the Kanaujias take them from the
Jijhotias. These and other subcastes such as the Khedawals are also
often divided into two groups of different status, the higher of
which takes daughters from the lower. Usually the parents of the
girl pay a liberal bridegroom-price in money or ornaments. It has
never, however, been carried to the same length here as in Bengal,
and two, or in some cases three, wives are the limit for a man of
the higher classes. One division of Kanaujias is called the Satkul or
seven families, and is the highest. Other Kanaujias, who are known as
Pachhadar, pay substantial sums for husbands for this group, and it is
reported that if such a marriage takes place and the bridegroom-price
is not paid up, the husband will turn his wife out and send her home
to her father. Certain subcastes of Sunars also have hypergamy and,
as between different castes, it exists between the Dangis and Rajputs,
pure Rajputs being held willing to take daughters in marriage from
the highest clans of Dangis.
11. Marriage customs.
A text of Manu prescribes: [409] "If a young woman marry while she is
pregnant, whether her pregnancy be known or unknown, the male child in
her womb belongs to the bridegroom and is called a son received with
his bride." But at present a Brahman girl who is known to be pregnant
will be wholly debarred from the sacrament of marriage. An invitation
to a wedding is sent by means of grains of rice coloured yellow with
turmeric and placed in a brass bowl with areca-nuts over them. All
the members of the caste or subcaste who eat food with the host and
are resident in the same town or close at hand are as a rule invited,
and all relatives of the family who reside at a distance. The head of
the family goes himself to the residence of the guests and invites
them with expressions of humility to honour his home. Before the
wedding the ancestors of the family and also the divine mothers are
worshipped, these latter consisting of the consorts of the principal
gods. In front of the wedding procession are carried _kalashas_ or
earthen jars filled to the brim with water, and with green shoots
and branches floating on the top. The _kalasha_ is said to represent
the universe and to contain the principal gods and divine mothers,
while the waters in it are the seven seas. All these are witnesses
to the wedding. Among other ceremonies, presents of fruit, food,
ornaments and jewellery are exchanged between the parties, and these
are called _choli-ka-bharana_ or filling the bride's breast-cloth. The
original object of giving these presents was thus, it would appear
from the name, to render the bride fertile. The father then gives
his daughter away in a set form of speech. After reciting the exact
moment of time, the hour, the day, the minute according to solar
and lunar reckoning, the year and the epoch, he proceeds: "In the
name of Vishnu (repeating the name three times), the supreme spirit,
father and creator of the universe, and in furtherance of his wish for
the propagation of the human species, I (specifying his full name and
section, etc.), in the company of my married wife, do hereby offer the
hand of my daughter--may she live long--full of all virtuous qualities,
image of Lakshmi, wife of Vishnu, anxious of union in lawful wedlock,
ornamented and dressed, brought up and instructed according to the best
of my means, by name (naming her and repeating the full description
of ancestors, class, etc.) in the solemn presence of the Brahmans,
Gurus, fire and deities, to you--may you live long--(repeating the
bridegroom's name and full description), anxious to obtain a wife
with a view to secure the abode of bliss and eternal happiness in
the heaven of Brahma. Accept her with _kusha_ grass, grains of rice,
water and presents of money." Afterwards the father asks the bridegroom
never to disregard the feelings and sentiments of his wife in matters
of religion, social pleasures and the acquisition of money, and the
bridegroom agrees. The binding portion of the ceremony consists in
walking seven times round the sacred post, and when the seventh round
is completed the marriage is irrevocable. Among the Maratha Brahmans
the bridegroom is called Nawar Deo or the new god. During the five
days of the wedding he is considered to be a sort of king, and is
put in the highest place, and everybody defers to him. They make the
bridegroom and bride name each other for a joke, as they are ashamed
to do this, and will not untie their clothes to let them bathe until
they have done it. At all the feasts the bride and bridegroom are
made to eat out of the same plate, and they put pieces of food in
each other's mouth, which is supposed to produce affection between
them. The wedding expenses in an ordinary Kanaujia Brahman's family,
whose income is perhaps Rs. 20 to 40 a month, are estimated at Rs. 200
for the bridegroom's party and Rs. 175 for the bride's, exclusive
of any bride- or bridegroom-price. The bulk of the expenditure is on
feasts to the caste. The bride does not live with her husband until
after she arrives at puberty, but it is thought desirable that she
should spend long visits with his family before this, in order that
she may assimilate their customs and be trained by her mother-in-law,
according to the saying, 'Tender branches are easily bent.' Among
some Maratha Brahmans, when the bride arrives at puberty a ceremony
called Garhbhadan is performed, and the husband confesses whether he
has cohabited with his wife before her puberty, and if so, he is fined
a small sum. Such instances usually occur when the signs of puberty
are delayed. If the planet Mangal or Mars is adverse to a girl in her
horoscope, it is thought that her husband will die. The women of her
family will, therefore, first marry her secretly to a pipal-tree,
so that the tree may die instead. But they do not tell this to the
bridegroom. In Saugor, girls whose horoscope is unfavourable to the
husband are first married to the _arka_ or swallow-wort plant. If
a Brahman has not sufficient funds to arrange for the marriage of
his daughter he will go about and beg, and it is considered that
alms given for this purpose acquire special merit for the donor,
nor will any good Brahman refuse a contribution according to his means.
12. Polygamy, divorce and treatment of widows.
Polygamy conveys no stigma among Brahmans, but is uncommon. Divorce
is not recognised, a woman who is put away by her husband being turned
out of the caste. The remarriage of widows is strictly prohibited. It
is said that marriage is the only sacrament (Sanskar) for a woman,
and she can only go through it once. The holy nuptial texts may not
be repeated except for a virgin. The prohibition of the remarriage
of widows has become a most firmly rooted prejudice among the higher
classes of Hindus, and is the last to give way before the inroads of
liberal reform. Only a small minority of the most advanced Brahmans
have recognised widow-remarriage, and these are generally held to
be excluded from the caste, though breaches of the rules against the
consumption of prohibited kinds of meat, and the drinking of aerated
waters and even alcoholic liquor, are now winked at and not visited
with the proper penalty. Nevertheless, many classes of Brahmans,
who live in the country and have taken to cultivation, allow widows
to live with men without putting the family out of caste. Where
this is not permitted, surreptitious intercourse may occasionally
take place with members of the family. The treatment of widows is
also becoming more humane. Only Maratha and Khedawal Brahmans in
the Central Provinces still force them to shave their heads, and
these will permit a child-widow to retain her hair until she grows
up, though they regard her as impure while she has it. A widow is
usually forbidden to have a cot or bed, and must sleep on the ground
or on a plank. She may not chew betel-leaves, should eat only once
a day, and must rigorously observe all the prescribed fasts. She
wears white clothes only, no glass bangles, and no ornaments on her
feet. She is subject to other restrictions and is a general drudge
in the family. It is probable that the original reason for such
treatment of a widow was that she was considered impure through being
perpetually haunted by her husband's ghost. Hindus say that a widow
is half-dead. She should not be allowed to cook the household food,
because while cooking it she will remember her husband and the food
will become like a corpse. The smell of such food will offend the gods,
and it cannot be offered to them. A widow is not permitted to worship
the household god or the ancestors of the family. It was no doubt an
advantage under the joint family system that a widow should not claim
any life-interest in her husband's property. The modern tendency of
widows, who are left in possession, to try and alienate the property
from the husband's relatives has been a fruitful cause of litigation
and the ruin of many old landed families. The severe treatment of
widows was further calculated to suppress any tendency on the part
of wives to poison their husbands. These secondary grounds may have
contributed something to the preservation and enforcement of an idea
based originally on superstitious motives.
13. _Sati_ or burning of widows.
For a widow to remain single and lead an austere and joyless life was
held to confer great honour on her family; and this was enormously
enhanced when she decided to become _sati_ and die with her husband
on the funeral pyre. Though it is doubtful whether this practice is
advocated by the Vedas, subsequent Hindu scriptures insist strongly
on it. It was said that a widow who was burnt with her husband would
enjoy as many years in paradise as there are hairs on the human head,
that is to say, thirty-five million. Conversely, one who insisted
on surviving him would in her next birth go into the body of some
animal. By the act of _sati_ she purified all her husband's ancestors,
even from the guilt of killing a Brahman, and also those of her own
family. If a man died during an absence from home in another country
his wife was recommended to take his slippers or any other article
of dress and burn herself with them tied to her breast. [410]
Great honour was paid to a Sati, and a temple or memorial stone was
always erected to her at which her spirit was venerated, and this
encouraged many pious women not only to resign themselves to this
terrible death but ardently to desire it. The following account given
by Mr. Ward of the method of a _sati_ immolation in Bengal may be
reproduced: [411]
"When the husband's life is despaired of and he is carried to the
bank of the Ganges, the wife declares her resolution to be burnt
with him. In this case she is treated with great respect by her
neighbours, who bring her delicate food, and when her husband is dead
she again declares her resolve to be burnt with his body. Having
broken a small branch from a mango tree she takes it with her and
proceeds to the body, where she sits down. The barber then paints
the sides of her feet red, after which she bathes and puts on new
clothes. During these preparations the drum beats a certain sound by
which it is known that a widow is about to be burnt with the corpse
of her husband. A hole is dug in the ground round which posts are
driven into the earth, and thick green stakes laid across to form a
kind of bed; and upon these are laid in abundance dry faggots, hemp,
clarified butter and pitch. The officiating Brahman now causes the
widow to repeat the prayer that as long as fourteen Indras reign,
or as many years as there are hairs on her head, she may abide in
heaven with her husband; that during this time the heavenly dancers
may wait on her and her husband; and that by this act of merit all
the ancestors of her mother and husband may ascend to heaven. She
now presents her ornaments to her friends, ties some red cotton on
both wrists, puts two new combs in her hair, paints her forehead,
and takes into the end of the cloth that she wears some parched
rice and cowries. The dead body is bathed, anointed with butter,
and dressed in new clothes. The son takes a handful of boiled rice
and offers it in the name of his deceased father. Ropes and another
piece of cloth are spread on the wood, and the dead body is laid
upon the pile. The widow next walks round the pyre seven times,
as she did round the marriage-post at her wedding, strewing parched
rice and cowries as she goes, which the spectators catch and keep
under the belief that they will cure diseases. The widow then lies
down on the fatal pile by the side of the dead body. The bodies are
bound together with ropes and the faggots placed over them. The son,
averting his head, puts fire to the face of his father, and at the
same moment several persons light the pile at different sides, when
the women and mourners set up cries. More faggots are hastily brought
and thrown over the pile, and two bamboo levers are pressed over them
to hold down the bodies and the pile. Several persons are employed in
holding down these levers. More clarified butter, pitch and faggots
are thrown on to the pile till the bodies are consumed. This may
take about two hours, but I conceive the woman must be dead in a few
minutes after the fire has been kindled."
As showing the tenacity with which women sometimes adhered to their
resolve to be burned with their husbands, and thus, as they believed,
resume their conjugal life in heaven, the following account by Sir
William Sleeman, in his _Rambles and Recollections_, of a _sati_
at Jubbulpore may be given:
"At Gopalpur on the Nerbudda are some very pretty temples built
for the most part to the memory of women who have burned themselves
with the remains of their husbands, and on the very spot where the
cremation occurred. Among them was one recently raised over the ashes
of one of the most extraordinary old bodies I had ever seen, who
burned herself in my presence in 1829. In March 1828 I had issued a
proclamation prohibiting any one from aiding or assisting in _sati_,
and distinctly stating that to bring one ounce of wood for the
purpose would be considered as so doing. Subsequently, on Tuesday,
24th November, I had an application from the heads of the most
respectable and most extensive family of Brahmans in the District,
to suffer this old woman to burn herself with the remains of her
husband, Umeid Singh Upadhya, who had that morning died upon the
banks of the Nerbudda. I threatened to enforce my order and punish
severely any man who assisted; and placed a police guard for the
purpose of seeing that no one did so. The old woman remained by the
edge of the water without eating or drinking. Next day the body of her
husband was burned in the presence of several thousand spectators,
who had assembled to see the _sati_. The sons and grandsons of the
old woman remained with her, urging her to desist from her resolve,
while her other relatives surrounded my house urging me to allow her
to burn. All the day she remained sitting upon a bare rock in the bed
of the Nerbudda, refusing every kind of sustenance, and exposed to
the intense heat of the sun by day and the severe cold of the night,
with only a thin sheet thrown over her shoulders. On the next day,
Thursday, to cut off all hope of her being moved from her purpose,
she put on the _dhujja_ or coarse red turban and broke her bracelets
in pieces, by which she became dead in law and for ever excluded from
caste. Should she choose to live after this she could never return
to her family. On the morning of Saturday, the fourth day after the
death, I rode out ten miles to the spot, and found the poor old widow
sitting with the _dhujja_ round her head, a brass plate before her
with undressed rice and flowers, and a cocoanut in each hand. She
talked very collectedly, telling me that she had determined to mix her
ashes with those of her departed husband, and should patiently await
my permission to do so, assured that God would enable her to sustain
life till that was given, though she dared not eat or drink. Looking
at the sun, then rising before her over a long and beautiful reach of
the Nerbudda, she said calmly: 'My soul has been for five days with
my husband's near that sun; nothing but my earthly frame is left,
and this I know you will in time suffer to be mixed with the ashes
of his in yonder pit, because it is not in your nature wantonly
to prolong the miseries of a poor old woman.' I told her that my
object and duty was to save and preserve her; I was come to urge her
to live and keep her family from the disgrace of being thought her
murderers. I tried to work upon her pride and fears. I told her that
the rent-free lands on which her family had long subsisted might be
resumed by Government if her children permitted her to do this act;
and that no brick or stone should ever mark the place of her death;
but if she would live, a splendid habitation should be made for her
among the temples, and an allowance given her from the rent-free
lands. She smiled, but held out her arm and said, 'My pulse has long
ceased to beat, for my spirit has departed, and I have nothing left
but a little earth that I wish to mix with the ashes of my husband. I
shall suffer nothing in burning, and if you wish proof order some fire,
and you shall see this arm consumed without giving me any pain.' I
did not attempt to feel her pulse, but some of my people did, and
declared that it had ceased to be perceptible. At this time every
native present believed that she was incapable of suffering pain,
and her end confirmed them in their opinion. Satisfied myself that
it would be unavailing to attempt to save her life, I sent for all
the principal members of the family, and consented that she should be
suffered to burn herself if they would enter into engagements that no
other member of their family should ever do the same. This they all
agreed to, and the papers having been drawn out in due form about
midday, I sent down notice to the old lady, who seemed extremely
pleased and thankful. The ceremonies of bathing were gone through
before three, while the wood and other combustible materials for a
strong fire were collected and put into the pit. After bathing she
called for a _pan_ (betel-leaf) and ate it, then rose up, and with one
arm on the shoulder of her eldest son, and the other on that of her
nephew, approached the fire. As she rose up fire was set to the pile,
and it was instantly in a blaze. The distance was about one hundred
and fifty yards; she came on with a calm and cheerful countenance,
stopped once, and casting her eyes upwards said, 'Why have they kept
me five days from thee, my husband?' On coming to the sentries her
supports stopped, she walked round the pit, paused a moment; and while
muttering a prayer threw some flowers into the fire. She then walked
deliberately and steadily to the brink, stepped into the centre of
the flame, sat down, and leaning back in the midst as if reposing
upon a couch, was consumed without uttering a shriek or betraying
one sign of agony."
In cases, however, where women shrank from the flames they were
frequently forced into them, as it was a terrible disgrace to their
families that they should recoil on the scene of the sacrifice. Opium
and other drugs were also administered to stupefy the woman and prevent
her from feeling pain. Widows were sometimes buried alive with their
dead husbands. The practice of _sati_ was finally prohibited in 1829,
without exciting the least discontent.
14. Funeral rites and mourning.
The bodies of children dying before they are named, or before the
tonsure ceremony is performed on them, are buried, and those of other
persons are burnt. In the grave of a small child some of its mother's
milk, or, if this is not available, cow's milk in a leaf-cup or earthen
vessel, is placed. Before a body is burnt cakes of wheat-flour are put
on the face, breast and both shoulders, and a coin is always deposited
for the purchase of the site. Mourning or impurity is observed for
varying periods, according to the nearness of relationship. For a
child, relatives other than the parents have only to take a bath to
remove the impurity caused by the death. In a small town or village all
Brahmans of the same subcaste living in the place are impure from the
time of the death until cremation has taken place. After the funeral
the chief mourner performs the _shraddh_ ceremony, offering _pindas_
or cakes of rice, with libations of water, to the dead. Presents are
made to Brahmans for the use of the dead man in the other world, and
these are sometimes very valuable, as it is thought that the spirit
will thereby be profited. Such presents are taken by the Maha-Brahman,
who is much despised. When a late zamindar of Khariar died, Rs. 2000
were given to the Maha-Brahman for the use of his soul in the next
world. The funeral rites are performed by an ordinary Brahman, known
as Malai, who may receive presents after the period of impurity has
expired. Formerly a calf was let loose in the name of the deceased
after being branded with the mark of a trident to dedicate it to Siva,
and allowed to wander free thenceforth. Sometimes it was formally
married to three or four female calves, and these latter were presented
to Brahmans. Sometimes the calf was brought to stand over the dying
man and water poured down its tail into his mouth. The practice of
letting loose a male calf is now declining, as these animals are a
great nuisance to the crops, and cultivators put them in the pound. The
calf is therefore also presented to a Brahman. It is believed that the
_shraddh_ ceremony is necessary to unite the dead man's spirit with
the Pitris or ancestors, and without this it wanders homeless. Some
think that the ancestors dwell on the under or dark side of the
moon. Those descendants who can offer the _pindas_ or funeral cakes
to the same ancestor are called Sapindas or relatives, and the man
who fills the office of chief mourner thereby becomes the dead man's
heir. Persons who have died a violent death or have been executed are
not entitled to the ordinary funeral oblations, and cannot at once be
united with the ancestors. But one year after the death an effigy of
the deceased person is made in _kusha_ grass and burnt, with all the
ordinary funeral rites, and offerings are made to his spirit as if
he had died on this occasion. If the death was caused by snake-bite
a gold snake is made and presented to a Brahman before this ceremony
is begun. This is held to be the proper funeral ceremony which unites
his spirit with the ancestors. Formerly in Madras if a man died during
the last five days of the waning of the moon it was considered very
unlucky. In order to escape evil effects to the relatives a special
opening was made in the wall of the house, through which the body
was carried, and the house itself was afterwards abandoned for three
to six months. [412] A similar superstition prevails in the Central
Provinces about a man dying in the Mul Nakshatra or lunar asterism,
which is perhaps the same or some similar period. In this case it is
thought that the deaths of four other members of the household are
portended, and to avert this four human figures are made of flour or
grass and burnt with the corpse. According to the Abbé Dubois if a
man died on a Saturday it was thought that another death would occur
in the family, and to avert this a living animal, such as a ram,
goat or fowl, was offered with the corpse. [413]
15. Religion.
The religion of the Brahmans is Hinduism, of which they are the
priests and exponents. Formerly the Brahman considered himself as
a part of Brahma, and hence a god. This belief has decayed, but the
gods are still held to reside in the body; Siva in the crown of the
head, Vishnu in the chest, Brahma in the navel, Indra in the genitals
and Ganesh in the rectum. Most Brahmans belong to a sect worshipping
especially Siva or Vishnu, or Rama and Krishna, the incarnations of
the latter god, or Sakti, the female principle of energy of Siva. But
as a rule Brahmans, whether of the Sivite or Vishnuite sects, abstain
from flesh meat and are averse to the killing of any living thing. The
following account of the daily ritual prayers of a Benares Brahman
may be reproduced from M. André Chevrillon's _Romantic India_, [414]
as, though possibly not altogether accurate in points of detail,
it gives an excellent idea of their infinitely complicated nature:
16. Daily ritual.
"Here is the daily life of one of the twenty-five thousand Brahmans
of Benares. He rises before the dawn, and his first care is to look
at an object of good omen. If he sees a crow at his left, a kite,
a snake, a cat, a hare, a jackal, an empty jar, a smoking fire,
a wood-pile, a widow, a man blind of one eye, he is threatened with
great dangers during the day. If he intended to make a journey, he
puts it off. But if he sees a cow, a horse, an elephant, a parrot, a
lizard, a clear-burning fire, a virgin, all will go well. If he should
sneeze once, he may count upon some special good fortune; but if twice
some disaster will happen to him. If he yawns some demon may enter his
body. Having avoided all objects of evil omen, the Brahman drops into
the endless routine of his religious rites. Under penalty of rendering
all the day's acts worthless, he must wash his teeth at the bank of
a sacred stream or lake, reciting a special _mantra_, which ends in
this ascription: 'O Ganges, daughter of Vishnu, thou springest from
Vishnu's foot, thou art beloved by him! Remove from us the stains of
sin and birth, and until death protect us thy servants!' He then rubs
his body with ashes, saying: 'Homage to Siva, homage to the source of
all birth! May he protect me during all births!' He traces the sacred
signs upon his forehead--the three vertical lines representing the
foot of Vishnu, or the three horizontal lines which symbolise the
trident of Siva--and twists into a knot the hair left by the razor
on the top of his head, that no impurity may fall from it to pollute
the sacred river.
"He is now ready to begin the ceremonies of the morning (_sandhya_),
those which I have just observed on the banks of the river. Minutely
and mechanically each Brahman performs by himself these rites of
prescribed acts and gestures. First the internal ablution: the
worshipper takes water in the hollow of his hand, and, letting it
fall from above into his mouth, cleanses his body and soul. Meanwhile
he mentally invokes the names of Vishnu, saying, 'Glory to Keshava,
to Narayana, to Madhava, to Govinda,' and so on.
"The second rite is the exercise or 'discipline' of the respiration
(_prajayama_). Here there are three acts: first, the worshipper
compresses the right nostril with the thumb, and drives the breath
through the left; second, he inhales through the left nostril,
then compresses it, and inhales through the other; third, he stops
the nose completely with thumb and forefinger, and holds his breath
as long as possible. All these acts must be done before sunrise, and
prepare for what is to follow. Standing on the water's edge, he utters
solemnly the famous syllable OM, pronouncing it _aum_, with a length
equalling that of three letters. It recalls to him the three persons
of the Hindu trinity: Brahma, who creates; Vishnu, who preserves;
Siva, who destroys. More noble than any other word, imperishable,
says Manu, it is eternal as Brahma himself. It is not a sign, but a
being, a force; a force which constrains the gods, superior to them,
the very essence of all things. Mysterious operations of the mind,
strange associations of ideas, from which spring conceptions like
these! Having uttered this ancient and formidable syllable, the man
calls by their names the three worlds: earth, air, sky; and the four
superior heavens. He then turns towards the east, and repeats the verse
[415] from the Rig-Veda: 'Let us meditate upon the resplendent glory of
the divine vivifier, that it may enlighten our minds.' As he says the
last words he takes water in the palm of his hand and pours it upon the
top of his head. 'Waters,' he says, 'give me strength and vigour that
I may rejoice. Like loving mothers, bless us, penetrate us with your
sacred essence. We come to wash ourselves from the pollution of sins:
make us fruitful and prosperous.' Then follow other ablutions, other
_mantras_, verses from the Rig-Veda, and this hymn, which relates the
origin of all things: 'From the burning heat came out all things. Yes,
the complete order of the world; Night, the throbbing Ocean, and after
the throbbing Ocean, Time, which separates Light from Darkness. All
mortals are its subjects. It is this which disposes of all things,
and has made, one after another, the sun, the sky, the earth, the
intermediate air.' This hymn, says Manu, thrice repeated, effaces
the gravest sins.
"About this time, beyond the sands of the opposite shore of the Ganges,
the sun appears. As soon as its brilliant disc becomes visible the
multitude welcome it, and salute it with 'the offering of water.' This
is thrown into the air, either from a vase or from the hand. Thrice
the worshipper, standing in the river up to his waist, flings the
water towards the sun. The farther and wider he flings it, the greater
the virtue attributed to this act. Then the Brahman, seated upon his
heels, fulfils the most sacred of his religious duties: he meditates
upon his fingers. For the fingers are sacred, inhabited by different
manifestations of Vishnu; the thumb by Govinda, the index-finger by
Madhava, the middle finger by Hrikesa, the third by Trivikama and the
little finger by Vishnu himself. 'Homage to the two thumbs,' says
the Brahman, 'to the two index-fingers, to the two middle fingers,
to the two "unnamed fingers," to the two little fingers, to the two
palms, to the two backs of the hands.' Then he touches the various
parts of the body, and lastly, the right ear, the most sacred of all,
where reside fire, water, the sun and the moon. He then takes a red
bag (_gomukhi_), into which he plunges his hand, and by contortions
of the fingers rapidly represents the chief incarnations of Vishnu:
a fish, a tortoise, a wild boar, a lion, a slip-knot, a garland. [416]
"The second part of the service is no less rich than the first
in ablutions and _mantras_. The Brahman invokes the sun, 'Mitra,
who regards all creatures with unchanging gaze,' and the Dawns,
'brilliant children of the sky,' the earliest divinities of our Aryan
race. He extols the world of Brahma, that of Siva, that of Vishnu;
recites passages from the Mahabharata, the Puranas, all the first
hymn of the Rig-Veda, the first lines of the second, the first words
of the principal Vedas, of the Yajur, the Sama, and the Atharva, then
fragments of grammar, inspired prosodies, and, in conclusion, the first
words of the book of the Laws of Yajnavalkya, the philosophic Sutras:
and finally ends the ceremony with three kinds of ablutions, which are
called the refreshing of the gods, of the sages and of the ancestors.
"First, placing his sacred cord upon the left shoulder, the Brahman
takes up water in the right hand, and lets it run off his extended
fingers. To refresh the sages, the cord must hang about the neck,
and the water run over the side of the hand between the thumb and the
forefinger, which is bent back. For the ancestors, the cord passes
over the right shoulder, and the water falls from the hand in the
same way as for the sages. 'Let the fathers be refreshed,' says the
prayer, 'may this water serve all those who inhabit the seven worlds,
as far as to Brahma's dwelling, even though their number be greater
than thousands of millions of families. May this water, consecrated
by my cord, be accepted by the men of my race who have left no sons.'
"With this prayer the morning service ends. Now, remember that
this worship is daily, that these formulas must be pronounced,
these movements of the hands made with mechanical precision; that
if the worshipper forgets one of the incarnations of Vishnu which
he is to figure with his fingers, if he stop his left nostril when
it should be the right, the entire ceremony loses its efficacy;
that, not to go astray amid this multitude of words and gestures
required for each rite, he is obliged to use mnemotechnic methods;
that there are five of these for each series of formulas; that his
attention always strained and always directed toward the externals
of the cult, does not leave his mind a moment in which to reflect
upon the profound meaning of some of these prayers, and you will
comprehend the extraordinary scene that the banks of the Ganges at
Benares present every morning; this anxious and demented multitude,
these gestures, eager and yet methodical, this rapid movement of the
lips, the fixed gaze of these men and women who, standing in the water,
seem not even to see their neighbours, and count mentally like men in
the delirium of a fever. Remember that there are ceremonies like these
in the afternoon and also in the evening, and that in the intervals,
in the street, in the house at meals, when going to bed, similar rites
no less minute pursue the Brahman, all preceded by the exercises of
respiration, the enunciation of the syllable OM, and the invocation of
the principal gods. It is estimated that between daybreak and noon he
has scarcely an hour of rest from the performance of these rites. After
the great powers of nature, the Ganges, the Dawn, and the Sun, he
goes to worship in their temples the representations of divinity,
the sacred trees, finally the cows, to whom he offers flowers. In
his own dwelling other divinities await him, five black stones,
[417] representing Siva, Ganesa, Surya, Devi and Vishnu, arranged
according to the cardinal points: one towards the north, a second to
the south-east, a third to the south-west, a fourth to the north-west,
and one in the centre, this order changing according as the worshipper
regards one god or another as most important; then there is a shell,
a bell--to which, kneeling, he offers flowers--and, lastly, a vase,
whose mouth contains Vishnu, the neck Rudra, the paunch Brahma, while
at the bottom repose the three divine mothers, the Ganges, the Indus,
and the Jumna.
"This is the daily cult of the Brahman of Benares, and on holidays
it is still further complicated. Since the great epoch of Brahmanism
it has remained the same. Some details may alter, but as a whole it
has always been thus tyrannical and thus extravagant. As far back
as the Upanishads appears the same faith in the power of articulate
speech, the same imperative and innumerable prescriptions, the same
singular formulas, the same enumeration of grotesque gestures. Every
day, for more than twenty-five hundred years, since Buddhism was a
protest against the tyranny and absurdity of rites, has this race
mechanically passed through this machinery, resulting in what mental
malformations, what habitual attitudes of mind and will, the race is
now too different from ourselves for us to be able to conceive."
Secular Brahmans now, however, greatly abridge the length of their
prayers, and an hour or an hour and a half in the morning suffices
for the daily bath and purification, the worship of the household
deities and the morning meal.
17. The sacred thread.
Brahman boys are invested with the sacred thread between the ages of
five and nine. The ceremony is called Upanayana or the introduction to
knowledge, since by it the boy acquires the right to read the sacred
books. Until this ceremony he is not really a Brahman, and is not bound
to observe the caste rules and restrictions. By its performance he
becomes Dvija or twice-born, and the highest importance is attached
to the change or initiation. He may then begin to acquire divine
knowledge, and perhaps in past times it was thought that he obtained
the divine character belonging to a Brahman. The sacred thread is
made of three strands of cotton, which should be obtained from the
cotton tree growing wild. Sometimes a tree is grown in the yard of
the house for the provision of the threads. It has several knots
in it, to which great importance is attached, the number of knots
being different for a Brahman, a Kshatriya and a Vaishya, the three
twice-born castes. The thread hangs from the left shoulder, falling
on to the right hip. Sometimes, when a man is married, he wears a
double thread of six strands, the second being for his wife; and after
his father dies a treble one of nine strands. At the investiture the
boy's nails are cut and his hair is shaved, and he performs the _hom_
or fire sacrifice for the first time. He then acquires the status of
a Brahmachari or disciple, and in former times he would proceed to
some religious centre and begin to study the sacred books. The idea
of this is preserved by a symbolic ritual. Some Brahmans shave the
boy's head completely, make a girdle of _kusha_ or _munj_ grass round
his waist, provide him with a begging-bowl and tongs and the skin of
an antelope to sit on and make him go and beg from four houses. Among
others the boy gets on to a wooden horse and announces his intention
of going off to Benares to study. His mother then sits on the edge of
a well and threatens to throw herself in if he will not change his
mind, or the maternal uncle promises to give the boy his daughter
in marriage. Then the boy relinquishes his intention and agrees to
stay at home. The sacred thread must always be passed through the
hand before saying the Gayatri text in praise of the sun, the most
sacred Brahmanical text. The sacred thread is changed once a year on
the day of Rakshabandhan; the Brahman and all his family change it
together. The word Rakshabandhan means binding or tying up the devils,
and it would thus appear that the sacred thread and the knots in it
may have been originally intended to some extent to be a protection
against evil spirits. It is also changed on the occasion of a birth
or death in the family, or of an eclipse, or if it breaks. The old
threads are torn up or sewn into clothes by the very poor in the
Maratha districts. It is said that the Brahmans are afraid that the
Kunbis will get hold of their old threads, and if they do get one
they will fold it into four strings, holding a lamp in the middle,
and wave it over any one who is sick. The Brahmans think that if this
is done all the accumulated virtue which they have obtained by many
repetitions of the Gayatri or sacred prayer will be transferred to
the sick Kunbi. Many castes now wear the sacred thread who have no
proper claim to do so, especially those who have become landholders
and aspire to the status of Rajputs.
18. Social position.
The Brahman is of course supreme in Hindu society. He never bows his
head in salutation to any one who is not a Brahman, and acknowledges
with a benediction the greetings of all other classes. No member
of another caste, Dr. Bhattacharya states, can, consistently with
Hindu etiquette and religious beliefs, refuse altogether to bow to
a Brahman. "The more orthodox Sudras carry their veneration for the
priestly caste to such an extent that they will not cross the shadow
of a Brahman, and it is not unusual for them to be under a vow not
to eat any food in the morning before drinking Brahman nectar, [418]
or water in which the toe of a Brahman has been dipped. On the other
hand, the pride of the Brahman is such that he does not bow even to
the images of the gods in a Sudra's house. When a Brahman invites a
Sudra the latter is usually asked to partake of the host's _prasada_
or favour in the shape of the leavings of his plate. Orthodox Sudras
actually take offence if invited by the use of any other formula. No
Sudra is allowed to eat in the same room or at the same time with
Brahmans." [419]
A man of low caste meeting a Brahman says 'Pailagi' or 'I fall at
your feet,' and touches the Brahman's foot with his hand, which he
then carries to his own forehead to signify this. A man wishing to
ask a favour in a humble manner stands on one leg and folds his cloth
round his neck to show that his head is at his benefactor's disposal;
and he takes a piece of grass in his mouth by which he means to say,
'I am your cow.' Brahmans greeting each other clasp the hands and say
'Salaam,' this method of greeting being known as Namaskar. Since
most Brahmans have abandoned the priestly calling and are engaged
in Government service and the professions, this exaggerated display
of reverence is tending to disappear, nor do the educated members of
the caste set any great store by it, preferring the social estimation
attaching to such a prominent secular position as they often attain
for themselves.
19. Titles.
Any Brahman is, however, commonly addressed by other castes as
Maharaj, great king, or else as Pandit, a learned man. I had a Brahman
chuprassie, or orderly, who was regularly addressed by the rest of the
household as Pandit, and on inquiring as to the literary attainments
of this learned man, I found he had read the first two class-books in
a primary school. Other titles of Brahmans are Dvija, or twice-born,
that is, one who has had the thread ceremony performed; Bipra, applied
to a Brahman learned in the Shastras or scriptures; and Srotriya,
a learned Brahman who is engaged in the performance of Vedic rites.
20. Caste _panchayat_ and offences.
The Brahmans have a caste _panchayat_, but among the educated classes
the tendency is to drop the _panchayat_ procedure and to refer
matters of caste rules and etiquette to the informal decision of a
few of the most respected local members. In northern India there is
no supreme authority for the caste, but the five southern divisions
acknowledge the successor of the great reformer Shankar Acharya as
their spiritual head, and important caste questions are referred to
him. His headquarters are at the monastery of Sringeri on the Cauvery
river in Mysore. Mr. Joshi gives four offences as punishable with
permanent exclusion from caste: killing a Brahman, drinking prohibited
wine or spirits, committing incest with a mother or step-mother or
with the wife of one's spiritual preceptor, and stealing gold from a
priest. Some very important offences, therefore, such as murder of any
person other than a Brahman, adultery with a woman of impure caste and
taking food from her, and all offences against property, except those
mentioned, do not involve permanent expulsion. Temporary exclusion is
inflicted for a variety of offences, among which are teaching the Vedas
for hire, receiving gifts from a Sudra for performing fire-worship,
falsely accusing a spiritual preceptor, subsisting by the harlotry of a
wife, and defiling a damsel. It is possible that some of the offences
against morality are comparatively recent additions. Brahmans who
cross the sea to be educated in England are readmitted into caste
on going through various rites of purification; the principal of
these is to swallow the five products of the sacred cow, milk, _ghi_
or preserved butter, curds, dung and urine. But the small minority
who have introduced widow-marriage are still banned by the orthodox.
21. Rules about food.
Brahmans as a rule should not eat meat nor drink intoxicating
liquor. But it is said that the following indulgences have been
recognised: for residents in eastern India the eating of flesh and
drinking liquor; for those of northern India the eating of flesh; for
those in the west the use of water out of leather buckets; and in the
south marriage with a first cousin on the mother's side. Hindustani
Brahmans eat meat, according to Mr. Joshi, and others are now also
adopting this custom. The kinds of meat permitted are mutton and
venison, scaly, but not scaleless, fish, hares, and even the tortoise,
wild boar, wild buffalo and rhinoceros. Brahmans are said even to
eat domestic fowls, though not openly, and wild jungle fowls are
preferred, but are seldom obtainable. Maratha Brahmans will not eat
meat openly. Formerly only the flesh of animals offered in sacrifice
could be eaten, but this rule is being disregarded and some Brahmans
buy mutton from the butchers. A Brahman should not eat even _pakki
rasoi_ or food cooked without water, such as sweetmeats and cakes fried
in butter or oil, except when cooked by his own family and in his own
home. But these are now partaken of abroad, and also purchased from
the Halwai or confectioner on the assumption that he is a Brahman. A
Brahman should take food cooked with water only from his own relations
and in his own home after the place has been purified and spread
with cowdung. He bathes before eating, and wears only a yellow silk
or woollen cloth round his waist, which is kept specially for this
purpose, cotton being regarded as impure. But these rules are tending
to become obsolete, as educated Brahmans recognise more and more what
a hindrance they cause to any social enjoyment. Boys especially who
receive an English education in high schools and universities are
rapidly becoming more liberal. They will drink soda-water or lemonade
of which they are very fond, and eat European sweets and sometimes
biscuits. The social intercourse of boys of all castes and religions
in school and games, and in the latter the frequent association with
Europeans, are having a remarkable effect in breaking down caste
prejudice, the results of which should become very apparent in a few
years. A Brahman also should not smoke, but many now do so, and when
they go to see a friend will take their own huqqa with them as they
cannot smoke out of his. Maratha and Khedawal Brahmans, however,
as a rule do not smoke, but only chew tobacco.
22. Dress.
A Brahman's dress should be white, and he can have a coloured turban,
preferably red. Maratha Brahmans were very particular about the
securing of their _dhoti_ or loin-cloth, which always had to have
five tucks, three into the waistband at the two sides and in front,
while the loose ends were tucked in in front and behind. Buttons had
to be avoided as they were made of bone, and shoes were considered
to be impure as being of leather. Formerly a Brahman never entered
a house with his shoes on, as he would consider the house to be
defiled. According to the old rule, if a Brahman touches a man of
an impure caste, as a Chamar (tanner) or Basor (basket-maker), he
should bathe and change his loin-cloth, and if he touches a sweeper
he should change his sacred thread. Now, however, educated Brahmans
usually wear white cotton trousers and black or brown coats of cloth,
alpaca or silk with the normal allowance of buttons, and European
shoes and boots which they keep on indoors. Boys are even discarding
the _choti_ or scalp-lock and simply cut their hair short in imitation
of the English. For the head small felt caps have become fashionable
in lieu of turbans.
23. Tattooing.
Men are never tattooed, but women are freely tattooed on the face
and body. One dot is made in the centre of the forehead and three
on the left nostril in the form of a triangle. All the limbs and the
fingers and toes may also be tattooed, the most common patterns being
a peacock with spread wings, a fish, cuckoo, scorpion, a child's
doll, a sieve, a pattern of Sita's cookroom and representations of
all female ornaments. Some women think that they will be able to sell
the ornaments tattooed on their bodies in the next world and subsist
on the proceeds.
24. Occupation.
In former times the Brahman was supposed to confine himself to priestly
duties, learning the Vedas and giving instruction to the laity. His
subsistence was to be obtained from gleaning the fields after the
crop had been cut and from unsolicited alms, as it was disgraceful
for him to beg. But if he could not make a living in this manner
he was at liberty to adopt a trade or profession. The majority of
Brahmans have followed the latter course with much success. They were
the ministers of Hindu kings, and as these were usually illiterate,
most of the power fell into the Brahmans' hands. In Poona the Maratha
Brahmans became the actual rulers of the State. They have profited
much from gifts and bequests of land for charitable purposes and are
one of the largest landholding castes. In Mewar it was recorded that a
fifth of the State revenue from land was assigned in religious grants,
[420] and in the deeds of gift, drawn up no doubt by the Brahmans
themselves, the most terrible penalties were invoked on any one who
should interfere with the grant. One of these was that such an impious
person would be a caterpillar in hell for sixty thousand years. [421]
Plots of land and mango groves are also frequently given to Brahmans
by village proprietors. A Brahman is forbidden to touch the plough
with his own hands, but this rule is falling into abeyance and many
Brahman cultivators plough themselves. Brahmans are also prohibited
from selling a large number of articles, as milk, butter, cows, salt
and so on. Formerly a Brahman village proprietor refused payment
for the supplies of milk and butter given to travellers, and some
would expend the whole produce of their cattle in feeding religious
mendicants and poor Brahmans. But these scruples, which tended to
multiply the number of beggars indefinitely, have happily vanished,
and Brahmans will even sell cows to a butcher. Mr. Joshi relates
that a suit was brought by a Brahman in his court for the hide of a
cow sold by him for slaughter. A number of Brahmans are employed as
personal servants, and these are usually cooks, a Brahman cook being
very useful, since all Hindus can eat the food which he prepares. Nor
has this calling hitherto been considered derogatory, as food is
held to be sacred, and he who prepares it is respected. Many live on
charitable contributions, and it is a rule among Hindus that a Brahman
coming into the house and asking for a present must be given something
or his curse will ruin the family. Liberality is encouraged by the
recitation of legends, such as that of the good king Harischandra who
gave away his whole kingdom to the great Brahman saint Visvamitra,
and retired to Benares with a loin-cloth which the recipient allowed
him to retain from his possessions. But Brahmans who take gifts at the
time of a death, and those who take them from pilgrims at the sacred
shrines, are despised and considered as out of caste, though not the
priests in charge of temples. The rapacity of all these classes is
proverbial, and an instance may be given of the conduct of the Pandas
or temple-priests of Benares. These men were so haughty that they
never appeared in the temple unless some very important visitor was
expected, who would be able to pay largely. It is related that when
the ex-Peshwa of Poona came to Benares after the death of his father
he solicited the Panda of the great temple of Viseshwar to assist him
in the performance of the ceremonies necessary for the repose of his
father's soul. But the priest refused to do so until the Maharaja had
filled with coined silver the _hauz_ or font of the temple. The demand
was acceded to and Rs. 125,000 were required to fill the font. [422]
Those who are very poor adopt the profession of a Maha-Brahman or
Mahapatra, who takes gifts for the dead. Respectable Brahmans will
not accept gifts at all, but when asked to a feast the host usually
gives them one to four annas or pence with betel-leaf at the time of
their departure, and there is no shame in accepting this. A very rich
man may give a gold mohar (guinea) to each Brahman. Other Brahmans
act as astrologers and foretell events. They pretend to be able
to produce rain in a drought or stop excessive rainfall when it is
injuring the crops. They interpret dreams and omens. In the case of
a theft the loser will go to a Brahman astrologer, and after learning
the circumstances the latter will tell him what sort of person stole
the property and in what direction the property is concealed. But
the large majority of Brahmans have abandoned all priestly functions,
and are employed in all grades of Government service, the professions
and agriculture. In 1911 about fifty-three per cent of Brahmans in
the Central Provinces were supported by agriculture as landowners,
cultivators and labourers. About twenty-two per cent were engaged
in the arts and professions, seven per cent in Government service,
including the police which contains many Brahman constables, and
only nineteen per cent were returned under all occupations connected
with religion.
25. Character of Brahmans.
Many hard things have been said about the Brahman caste and have
not been undeserved. The Brahman priesthood displayed in a marked
degree the vices of arrogance, greed, hypocrisy and dissimulation,
which would naturally be engendered by their sacerdotal pretensions
and the position they claimed at the head of Hindu society. But
the priests and mendicants now, as has been seen, contribute only a
comparatively small minority of the whole caste. The majority of the
Brahmans are lawyers, doctors, executive officers of Government and
clerks in all kinds of Government, railway and private offices. The
defects ascribed to the priesthood apply to these, if at all, only in
a very minor degree. The Brahman official has many virtues. He is, as
a rule, honest, industrious and anxious to do his work creditably. He
spends very little on his own pleasures, and his chief aim in life is
to give his children as good an education as he can afford. A half or
more of his income may be devoted to this object. If he is well-to-do
he helps his poor relations liberally, having the strong fellow-feeling
for them which is a relic of the joint family system. He is a faithful
husband and an affectionate father. If his outlook on life is narrow
and much of his leisure often devoted to petty quarrels and intrigues,
this is largely the result of his imperfect, parrot-like education
and lack of opportunity for anything better. In this respect it may
be anticipated that the excellent education and training now afforded
by Government in secondary schools for very small fees will produce a
great improvement; and that the next generation of educated Hindus will
be considerably more manly and intelligent, and it may be hoped at the
same time not less honest, industrious and loyal than their fathers.
Brahman, Ahivasi
_Brahman, Ahivasi._--A class of persons who claim to be Brahmans, but
are generally engaged in cultivation and pack-carriage. They are looked
down upon by other Brahmans, and permit the remarriage of widows. The
name means the abode of the snake or dragon, and the caste are said to
be derived from a village Sunrakh in Muttra District, where a dragon
once lived. For further information Mr. Crooke's article on the caste,
[423] from which the above details are taken, may be consulted.
Brahman, Jijhotia
_Brahman, Jijhotia._--This is a local subdivision of the Kanaujia
subcaste, belonging to Bundelkhand. They take their name from Jajhoti,
the classical term for Bundelkhand, and reside in Saugor and the
adjoining Districts, where they usually act as priests to the higher
castes. The Jijhotia Brahmans rank a little below the Kanaujias proper
and the Sarwarias, who are also a branch of the Kanaujia division. The
two latter classes take daughters in marriage from Jijhotias, but do
not give their daughters to them. But these hypergamous marriages are
now rare. Jijhotia Brahmans will plough with their own hands in Saugor.
Brahman, Kanaujia, Kanyakubja
_Brahman, Kanaujia, Kanyakubja._--This, the most important division
of the northern Brahmans, takes its name from the ancient city of
Kanauj in the Farukhabad District on the Ganges, which was on two
occasions the capital of India. The great king Harsha Vardhana, who
ruled the whole of northern India in the seventh century, had his
headquarters here, and when the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen Tsang stayed at
Kanauj in A.D. 638 and 643 he found upwards of a hundred monasteries
crowded by more than 10,000 Buddhist monks. "Hinduism flourished as
well as Buddhism, and could show more than two hundred temples with
thousands of worshippers. The city, which was strongly fortified,
extended along the east bank of the Ganges for about four miles, and
was adorned with lovely gardens and clear tanks. The inhabitants were
well-to-do, including some families of great wealth; they dressed in
silk, and were skilled in learning and the arts." [424] When Mahmud
of Ghazni appeared before Kanauj in A.D. 1018 the number of temples
is said to have risen to 10,000. The Sultan destroyed the temples,
but seems to have spared the city. Thereafter Kanauj declined in
importance, though still the capital of a Rajput dynasty, and the
final sack by Shihab-ud-Din in A.D. 1194 reduced it to desolation
and insignificance for ever. [425]
The Kanaujia Brahmans include the principal body of the caste in
Bengal and in the Hindi Districts of the Central Provinces. They are
here divided into four sub-groups, the Kanaujia proper, Sarwaria,
Jijhotia and Sanadhya, which are separately noticed. The Sarwarias
are sometimes considered to rank a little higher than the proper
Kanaujias. It is said that the two classes are the descendants of two
brothers, Kanya and Kubja, of whom the former accepted a present from
the divine king Rama of Ayodhya when he celebrated a sacrifice on his
return from Ceylon, while the latter refused it. The Sarwarias are
descended from Kubja who refused the present and therefore are purer
than the Kanaujias, whose ancestor, Kanya, accepted it. Kanya and Kubja
are simply the two parts of Kanyakubja, the old name for Kanauj. It may
be noted that Kanya means a maiden and also the constellation Virgo,
while Kubja is a name of the planet Mars; but it is not known whether
the words in this sense are connected with the name of the city. The
Kanaujia Brahmans of the Central Provinces practise hypergamy,
as described in the general article on Brahman. Mr. Crooke states
that in the United Provinces the children of a man's second wife can
intermarry with those of his first wife, provided that they are not
otherwise related or of the same section. The practice of exchanging
girls between families is also permitted there. [426] In the Central
Provinces the Kanaujias eat meat and sometimes plough with their own
hands. The Chhattisgarhi Kanaujias form a separate group, who have
been long separated from their brethren elsewhere. As a consequence
other Kanaujias will neither eat nor intermarry with them. Similarly
in Saugor those who have come recently from the United Provinces will
not marry with the older settlers. A Kanaujia Brahman is very strict
in the matter of taking food, and will scarcely eat it unless cooked
by his own relations, according to the saying, '_Ath Kanaujia, nau
chulha_' or 'Eight Kanaujias will want nine places to cook their food.'
Brahman, Khedawal
_Brahman, Khedawal._--The Khedawals are a class of Gujarati Brahmans,
who take their name from Kheda or Kaira, the headquarters of the Kaira
District, where they principally reside. They have two divisions,
known as Inside and Outside. It is said that once the Kaira chief was
anxious to have a son and offered them gifts. The majority refused the
gifts, and leaving Kaira settled in villages outside the town; while
a small number accepted the gifts and remained inside, and hence two
separate divisions arose, the outside group being the higher. [427]
It is said that the first Khedawal who came to the Central Provinces
was on a journey from Gujarat to Benares when, on passing through
Panna State, he saw some diamonds lying in a field. He stopped and
picked up as many as he could and presented them to the Raja of Panna,
who made him a grant of an estate, and from this time other Khedawals
came and settled. A considerable colony of them now exists in Saugor
and Damoh. The Khedawals are clever and astute, and many of them are
the agents of landowners and moneylenders, while a large proportion
are in the service of the Government. They do not as a rule perform
priestly functions in the Central Provinces. Their caste observances
are strict. Formerly it is said that a Khedawal who was sent to jail
was permanently expelled from caste, and though the rule has been
relaxed the penalties for readmission are still very heavy. They
do not smoke, but only chew tobacco. Widows must dress in white,
and their heads are sometimes shaved. They are said to consider a
camel as impure as a donkey, and will not touch either animal. One
of their common titles is Mehta, meaning great. The Khedawals of the
Central Provinces formerly married only among themselves, but since
the railway has been opened intermarriage with their caste-fellows
in Gujarat has been resumed.
Brahman, Maharashtra
_Brahman, Maharashtra, Maratha._--The Maratha Brahmans, or those
of the Bombay country, are numerous and important in the Central
Provinces. The northern Districts were for a period governed by
Maratha Brahmans on behalf of the Peshwa of Poona, and under the
Bhonsla dynasty of Nagpur in the south they took a large part in the
administration. The Maratha Brahmans have three main subcastes, the
Deshasth, Konkonasth and Karhada. The Deshasth Brahmans belong to the
country of Poona above the Western Ghats, which is known as the _desh_
or home country. They are numerous in Berar and Nagpur. The Konkonasth
are so called because they reside in the Konkan country along the
Bombay coast. They have noticeably fair complexions, good features
and often grey eyes. According to a legend they were sprung from the
corpses of a party of shipwrecked foreigners, who were raised to life
by Parasurama. [428] This story and their fine appearance have given
rise to the hypothesis that their ancestors were shipwrecked sailors
from some European country, or from Arabia or Persia. They are also
known as Chitpavan, which is said to mean the pure in heart, but a
derivation suggested in the _Bombay Gazetteer_ is from Chiplun or
Chitapolan, a place in the Konkan which was their headquarters. The
Peshwa of Poona was a Konkonasth Brahman, and there are a number of
them in Saugor. The Karhada Brahmans take their name from the town
of Karhad in the Satara District. They show little difference from
the Deshasths in customs and appearance.
Formerly the above three subcastes were endogamous and married only
among themselves. But since the railway has been opened they have
begun to intermarry with each other to a limited extent, having
obtained sanction to this from the successor of Shankar Acharya,
whom they acknowledge as their spiritual head.
The Maratha Brahmans are also divided into sects, according to the
Veda which they follow. Most of them are either Rigvedis or Yajurvedis,
and these two sects marry among themselves. These Brahmans are strict
in the observance of caste rules. They do not take water from any
but other Brahmans, and abstain from flesh and liquor. They will,
however, eat with any of the Panch-Dravid or southern divisions of
Brahmans except those of Gujarat. They usually abstain from smoking,
and until recently have made widows shave their heads; but this rule is
perhaps now relaxed. As a rule they are well educated, and the majority
of them look to Government service for a career, either as clerks
in the public offices or as officers of the executive and judicial
services. They are intelligent and generally reliable workers. The
full name of a Maratha or Gujarati Brahman consists of his own name,
his father's name and a surname. But he is commonly addressed by his
own name, followed by the honorific termination Rao for Raja, a king,
or Pant for Pandit, a wise man.
Brahman, Maithil
_Brahman, Maithil._--One of the five Panch-Gaur or northern divisions,
comprising the Brahmans of Bihar or Tirhut. There are some Maithil
Brahman families settled in Mandla, who were formerly in the service
of the Gond kings. They have the surname of Ojha, which is one of those
borne by the caste and signifies a soothsayer. The Maithil Brahmans are
said to have at one time practised magic. Mithila or Bihar has also,
from the earliest times, been famous for the cultivation of Sanskrit,
and the great lawgiver Yajnavalkya is described as a native of this
country. [429] The head of the subcaste is the Maharaja of Darbhanga,
to whom family disputes are sometimes referred for decision. The
Maithil Brahmans are said to be mainly Sakti worshippers. They eat
flesh and fish, but do not drink liquor or smoke tobacco. [430]
Brahman, Malwi
_Brahman, Malwi._--This is a local class of Brahmans from Malwa
in Central India, who are found in the Hoshangabad and Betul
Districts. They are said to have been invited here by the Gond kings of
Kherla in Betul six or more centuries ago, and are probably of impure
descent. Malwa is north of the Nerbudda, and they should therefore
properly belong to the Panch-Gaur division, but they speak Marathi and
their customs resemble those of Maratha Brahmans, who will take food
cooked without water from them. The Malwi Brahmans usually belong to
the Madhyandina branch of the Yajurvedi sect. They work as village
accountants (_patwaris_) and village priests, and also cultivate land.
Brahman, Nagar
_Brahman, Nagar._--A class of Gujarati Brahmans found in the Nimar
District. The name is said to be derived from the town of Vadnagar of
Gujarat, now in Baroda State. According to one account they accepted
grants of land from a Rajput king, and hence were put out of caste
by their fellows. Another story is that the Nagar Brahman women
were renowned for their personal beauty and also for their skill in
music. The emperor Jahangir, hearing of their fame, wished to see
them and sent for them, but they refused to go. The emperor then
ordered that all the men should be killed and the women be taken to
his Court. A terrible struggle ensued, and many women threw themselves
into tanks and rivers and were drowned, rather than lose their modesty
by appearing before the emperor. A body of Brahmans numbering 7450
(or 74 1/2 hundred) threw away their sacred threads and became Sudras
in order to save their lives. Since this occurrence the figure 74
1/2 is considered very unlucky. Banias write 74 1/2 in the beginning
of their account-books, by which they are held to take a vow that if
they make a false entry in the book they will be guilty of the sin
of having killed this number of Brahmans. The same figure is also
written on letters, so that none but the person to whom they are
addressed may dare to open them. [431]
The above stories seem to show that the Nagar Brahmans are partly of
impure descent. In Gujarat it is said that one section of them called
Barud are the descendants of Nagar Brahman fathers who were unable
to get wives in their own caste and took them from others. The Barud
section also formerly permitted the remarriage of widows. [432] This
seems a further indication of mixed descent. The Nagars settled in
the Central Provinces have for a long time ceased to marry with those
of Gujarat owing to difficulties in communication. But now that the
railway has been opened they have petitioned the Rao of Bhaunagar,
who is the head of the caste, and a Nagar Brahman, to introduce
intermarriage again between the two sections of the caste. Many Nagar
Brahmans have taken to secular occupations and are land-agents and
cultivators.
Formerly the Nagar Brahmans observed very strict rules about defilement
when in the state called _Nuven_, that is, having bathed and purified
themselves prior to taking food. A Brahman in this condition was
defiled if he touched an earthen vessel unless it was quite new and
had never held water. If he sat down on a piece of cotton cloth or a
scrap of leather or paper he became impure unless Hindu letters had
been written on the paper; these, as being the goddess Saraswati, would
preserve it from defilement. But cloth or leather could not be purified
through being written on. Thus if the Brahman wished to read any book
before or at his meal it had to be bound with silk and not with cotton;
leather could not be used, and instead of paste of flour and water the
binder had to employ paste of pounded tamarind seed. A printed book
could not be read, because printing-ink contained impure matter. Raw
cotton did not render the Brahman impure, but if it had been twisted
into the wick of a lamp by any one not in a state of purity he became
impure. Bones defiled, but women's ivory armlets did not, except in
those parts of the country where they were not usually worn, and then
they did. The touch of a child of the same caste who had not learned
to eat grain did not defile, but if the child ate grain it did. The
touch of a donkey, a dog or a pig defiled; some said that the touch
of a cat also defiled, but others were inclined to think it did not,
because in truth it was not easy to keep the cat out. [433]
If a Brahman was defiled and rendered impure by any of the above
means he could not proceed with his meal.
Brahman, Naramdeo
_Brahman, Naramdeo._--A class of Brahmans who live in the Hoshangabad
and Nimar Districts near the banks of the Nerbudda, from which river
their name is derived. According to their own account they belong to
the Gurjara or Gujarati division, and were expelled from Gujarat by a
Raja who had cut up a golden cow and wished them to accept pieces of it
as presents. This they refused to do on account of the sin involved,
and hence were exiled and came to the Central Provinces. A local
legend about them is to the effect that they are the descendants
of a famous Rishi or saint, who dwelt beside the Nerbudda, and of
a Naoda or Dhimar woman who was one of his disciples. The Naramdeo
Brahmans have for the most part adopted secular occupations, though
they act as village priests or astrologers. They are largely employed
as village accountants (_patwaris_), clerks in Government offices, and
agents to landowners, that is, in very much the same capacity as the
Kayasths. As land-agents they show much astuteness, and are reputed
to have enriched themselves in many cases at the expense of their
masters. Hence they are unpopular with the cultivators just as the
Kayasths are, and very uncomplimentary proverbs are current about them.
Brahman, Sanadhya
_Brahman, Sanadhya, Sanaurhia._--The Sanadhyas are considered in the
Central Provinces to be a branch of the Kanaujia division. Their
home is in the Ganges-Jumna Doab and Rohilkhand, between the Gaur
Brahmans to the north-west and the Kanaujias to the east. Mr. Crooke
states that in some localities the Sanadhyas intermarry with both
the Kanaujia and Gaur divisions. But formerly both Kanaujias and
Gaurs practised hypergamy with the Sanadhyas, taking daughters from
them in marriage but not giving their daughters to them. [434] This
fact indicates the inferiority of the Sanadhya group, but marriage
is now becoming reciprocal. In Bengal the Sanadhyas account for their
inferiority to the other Kanaujias by saying that their ancestors on
one occasion at the bidding of a Raja partook of a sacrificial feast
with all their clothes on, instead of only their loin-cloths according
to the rule among Brahmans, and were hence degraded. The Sanadhyas
themselves have two divisions, the _Sarhe-tin ghar_ and _Dasghar_,
or Three-and-a-half houses and Ten houses, of whom the former are
superior, and practise hypergamy with the latter. Further, it is said
that the Three-and-a-half group were once made to intermarry with the
degraded Kataha or Maha-Brahmans, who are funeral priests. [435] This
further indicates the inferior status of the Sanadhyas. The Sanaurhia
criminal caste of pickpockets are supposed to be made up of a nucleus
of Sanadhya Brahmans with recruits from all other castes, but this is
not certain. In the Central Provinces a number of Sanadhyas took to
carrying grain and merchandise on pack-bullocks, and are hence known
as Belwar. They form a separate subcaste, ranking below the other
Sanadhyas and marrying among themselves. Mr. Crooke notes that at
their weddings the Sanadhyas worship a potter's wheel. Some make an
image of it on the wall of the house, while others go to the potter's
house and worship his wheel there. In the Central Provinces after
the wedding they get a bed newly made with _newar_ tape and seat the
bride and bridegroom on it, and put a large plate at their feet, in
which presents are placed. The Sanadhyas differ from the Kanaujias in
that they smoke tobacco but do not eat meat, while the Kanaujias eat
meat but do not smoke. They greet each other with the word Dandawat,
adding Maharaj to an equal or superior.
Brahman, Sarwaria
_Brahman, Sarwaria._--This is the highest class of the Kanaujia
Bramans, who take their name from the river Sarju or Gogra in Oudh,
where they have their home. They observe strict rules of ceremonial
purity, and do not smoke tobacco nor plough with their own hands. An
orthodox Sarwaria Braman will not give his daughter in marriage in a
village from which his family has received a girl, and sometimes will
not even drink the water of that village. The Sarwarias make widows
dress in white and sometimes shave their heads. In some tracts they
intermarry with the Kanaujia Brahmans, and in others take daughters in
marriage but do not give their own daughters to them. In Dr. Buchanan's
time, a century ago, the Sarwaria Brahmans would not eat rice sold in
the bazar which had been cleaned in boiling water, as they considered
that it had thereby become food cooked with water; and they carried
their own grain to the grain-parcher to be prepared for them. When
they ate either parched grain or sweetmeats from a confectioner in
public they must purify the place on which they sat down with cowdung
and water. [436] This may be compared with a practice observed by very
strict Brahmans even now, of adding water to the medicine which they
obtain from a Government dispensary, to purify it before drinking it.
Brahman, Utkal
_Brahman, Utkal._--These are the Brahmans of Orissa and one of
the Panch-Gaur divisions. They are divided into two groups, the
Dakshinatya or southern and the Jajpuria or northern clan. The Utkal
Brahmans, who first settled in Sambalpur, are known as Jharia or
jungly, and form a separate subcaste, marrying among themselves,
as the later immigrants refuse to intermarry with them. Another
group of Orissa Brahmans have taken to cultivation, and are known as
Halia, from _hal_, a plough. They grow the betel-vine, and in Orissa
the areca and cocoanuts, besides doing ordinary cultivation. They
have entirely lost their sacerdotal character, but glory in their
occupation, and affect to despise the Bed or Veda Brahmans, who live
upon alms. [437] A third class of Orissa Brahmans are the Pandas,
who serve as priests and cooks in the public temples and also in
private houses, and travel about India touting for pilgrims to visit
the temple at Jagannath. Dr. Bhattacharya describes the procedure of
the temple-touts as follows: [438]
"Their tours are so organised that during their campaigning season,
which commences in November and is finished by the car-festival at the
beginning of the rains, very few villages of the adjoining Provinces
escape their visits and taxation. Their appearance causes a disturbance
in every household. Those who have already visited 'The Lord of the
World' at Puri are called upon to pay an instalment towards the debt
contracted by them while at the sacred shrine, which, though paid
many times over, is never completely satisfied. That, however, is a
small matter compared with the misery and distraction caused by the
'Jagannath mania,' which is excited by the preachings and pictures of
the Panda. A fresh batch of old ladies become determined to visit the
shrine, and neither the waitings and protestations of the children nor
the prospect of a long and toilsome journey can dissuade them. The
arrangements of the family are for the time being altogether upset,
and the grief of those left behind is heightened by the fact that
they look upon the pilgrims as going to meet almost certain death...."
This vivid statement of the objections to the habit of pilgrimage from
a Brahman writer is very interesting. Since the opening of the railway
to Puri the danger and expense as well as the period of absence have
been greatly reduced; but the pilgrimages are still responsible for
a large mortality, as cholera frequently breaks out among the vast
assembly at the temple, and the pilgrims, hastily returning to all
parts of India, carry the disease with them, and cause epidemics in
many localities. All castes now eat the rice cooked at the temple of
Jagannath together without defilement, and friendships are cemented
by eating a little of this rice together as a sacred bond.
Chadar
_Chadar, [439] Kotwar._--A small caste of weavers and village
watchmen resident in the Districts of Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore and
Narsinghpur. They numbered 28,000 persons in 1911. The caste is not
found outside the northern Districts of the Central Provinces. The
name is derived from the Sanskrit _chirkar_, a weaver, and belongs
to Bundelkhand, but beyond this the Chadars have no knowledge or
traditions of their origin. They are probably an occupational group
formed from members of the Dravidian tribes and others who took to the
profession of village watchmen. A number of other occupational castes
of low status are found in the northern Districts, and their existence
is probably to be accounted for by the fact that the forest tribes
were subjected and their tribal organisation destroyed by the invading
Bundelas and other Hindus some centuries ago. They were deprived
of the land and relegated to the performance of menial and servile
duties in the village, and they have formed a new set of divisions
into castes arising from the occupations they adopted. The Chadars
have two subcastes based on differences of religious practice, the
Parmesuria or worshippers of Vishnu, and Athia or devotees of Devi. It
is doubtful, however, whether these are strictly endogamous. They
have a large number of exogamous septs or _bainks_, which are named
after all sorts of animals, plants and natural objects. Instances of
these names are Dhana (a leaf of the rice plant), Kasia (bell-metal),
Gohia (a kind of lizard), Bachhulia (a calf), Gujaria (a milkmaid),
Moria (a peacock), Laraiya (a jackal), Khatkira (a bug), Sugaria
(a pig), Barraiya (a wasp), Neora (a mongoose), Bhartu Chiraiya (a
sparrow), and so on. Thirty-nine names in all are reported. Members
of each sept draw the figure of the animal or plant after which it
is named on the wall at marriages and worship it. They usually refuse
to kill the totem animal, and the members of the Sugaria or pig sept
throw away their earthen vessels if a pig should be killed in their
sight, and clean their houses as if on the death of a member of the
family. Marriage between members of the same sept is forbidden and
also between first cousins and other near relations. The Chadars say
that the marriages of persons nearly related by blood are unhappy, and
occasion serious consequences to the parties and their families. Girls
are usually wedded in the fifth, seventh, ninth, or eleventh year
of their age and boys between the ages of eight and sixteen. If an
unmarried girl is seduced by a member of the caste she is married
to him by the simple form adopted for the wedding of a widow. But
if she goes wrong with an outsider of low caste she is permanently
expelled. The remarriage of widows is permitted and divorce is also
allowed, a deed being executed on stamped paper before the _panchayat_
or caste committee. If a woman runs away from her husband to another
man he must repay to the husband the amount expended on her wedding
and give a feast to the caste. A Brahman is employed to fix the date
of a wedding and sometimes for the naming of children, but he is only
consulted and is never present at the ceremony. The caste venerate the
goddess Devi, offering her a virgin she-goat in the month of Asarh
(June-July). They worship their weaving implements at the Diwali
and Holi festivals, and feed the crows in Kunwar (September-October)
as representing the spirits of their ancestors. This custom is based
on the superstition that a crow does not die of old age or disease,
but only when it is killed. To cure a patient of fever they tie a
blue thread, irregularly knotted, round his wrist. They believe that
thunder-bolts are the arrows shot by Indra to kill his enemies in the
lower world, and that the rainbow is Indra's bow; any one pointing at
it will feel pain in his finger. The dead are mourned for ten days,
and during that time a burning lamp is placed on the ground at some
distance from the house, while on the tenth day a tooth-stick and water
and food are set out for the soul of the dead. They will not throw the
first teeth of a child on to a tiled roof, because they believe that if
this is done his next teeth will be wide and ugly like the tiles. But
it is a common practice to throw the first teeth on to the thatched
roof of the house. The Chadars will admit members of most castes of
good standing into the community, and they eat flesh, including pork
and fowls, and drink liquor, and will take cooked food from most of the
good castes and from Kalars, Khangars and Kumhars. The social status
of the caste is very low, but they rank above the impure castes and
are of cleanly habits, bathing daily and cleaning their kitchens
before taking food. They are employed as village watchmen and as
farmservants and field-labourers, and also weave coarse country cloth.
Chamar
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice of the caste._
2. _Endogamous divisions._
3. _Subcastes continued._
4. _Exogamous divisions._
5. _Marriage._
6. _Widow-marriage and divorce._
7. _Funeral customs._
8. _Childbirth._
9. _Religion._
10. _Occupation._
11. _The tanning process._
12. _Shoes._
13. _Other articles made of leather._
14. _Customs connected with shoes._
15. _The Chamar as general village drudge._
16. _Social status._
17. _Character._
1. General notice of the caste.
_Chamar, Chambhar._ [440]--The caste of tanners and menial labourers
of northern India. In the Central Provinces the Chamars numbered about
900,000 persons in 1911. They are the third caste in the Province in
numerical strength, being exceeded by the Gonds and Kunbis. About
600,000 persons, or two-thirds of the total strength of the caste
in the Province, belong to the Chhattisgarh Division and adjacent
Feudatory States. Here the Chamars have to some extent emancipated
themselves from their servile status and have become cultivators, and
occasionally even malguzars or landed proprietors; and between them
and the Hindus a bitter and long-standing feud is in progress. Outside
Chhattisgarh the Chamars are found in most of the Hindi-speaking
Districts whose population has been recruited from northern and
central India, and here they are perhaps the most debased class of
the community, consigned to the lowest of menial tasks, and their
spirit broken by generations of servitude. In the Maratha country the
place of the Chamars is taken by the Mehras or Mahars. In the whole
of India the Chamars are about eleven millions strong, and are the
largest caste with the exception of the Brahmans. The name is derived
from the Sanskrit Charmakara, a worker in leather; and, according
to classical tradition, the Chamar is the offspring of a Chandal or
sweeper woman by a man of the fisher caste. [441] The superior physical
type of the Chamar has been noticed in several localities. Thus in
the Kanara District of Bombay [442] the Chamar women are said to be
famed for their beauty of face and figure, and there it is stated
that the Padminis or perfect type of women, middle-sized with fine
features, black lustrous hair and eyes, full breasts and slim waists,
[443] are all Chamarins. Sir D. Ibbetson writes [444] that their women
are celebrated for beauty, and loss of caste is often attributed to
too great a partiality for a Chamarin. In Chhattisgarh the Chamars
are generally of fine stature and fair complexion; some of them are
lighter in colour than the Chhattisgarhi Brahmans, and it is on record
that a European officer mistook a Chamar for a Eurasian and addressed
him in English. This, however, is by no means universally the case,
and Sir H. Risley considers [445] that "The average Chamar is hardly
distinguishable in point of features, stature or complexion from the
members of those non-Aryan races from whose ranks we should primarily
expect the profession of leather-dressers to be recruited." Again, Sir
Henry Elliot, writing of the Chamars of the North-Western Provinces,
says: "Chamars are reputed to be a dark race, and a fair Chamar is
said to be as rare an object as a black Brahman:
Karia Brahman, gor Chamar,
Inke sath na utariye par,
that is, 'Do not cross a river in the same boat with a black Brahman
or a fair Chamar,' both being of evil omen." The latter description
would certainly apply to the Chamars of the Central Provinces outside
the Chhattisgarh Districts, but hardly to the caste as a whole within
that area. No satisfactory explanation has been offered of this
distinction of appearance of some groups of Chamars. It is possible
that the Chamars of certain localities may be the descendants of a
race from the north-west, conquered and enslaved by a later wave of
immigrants; or that their physical development may owe something to
adult marriage and a flesh diet, even though consisting largely of
carrion. It may be noticed that the sweepers, who eat the broken food
from the tables of the Europeans and wealthy natives, are sometimes
stronger and better built than the average Hindu. Similarly, the
Kasais or Muhammadan butchers are proverbially strong and lusty. But
no evidence is forthcoming in support of such conjectures, and the
problem is likely to remain insoluble.
"The Chamars," Sir H. Risley states, [446] "trace their own pedigree
to Ravi or Rai Das, the famous disciple of Ramanand at the end
of the fourteenth century, and whenever a Chamar is asked what
he is, he replies a Ravi Das. Another tradition current among them
alleges that their original ancestor was the youngest of four Brahman
brethren who went to bathe in a river and found a cow struggling in a
quicksand. They sent the youngest brother in to rescue the animal, but
before he could get to the spot it had been drowned. He was compelled,
therefore, by his brothers to remove the carcase, and after he had
done this they turned him out of their caste and gave him the name
of Chamar." Other legends are related by Mr. Crooke in his article
on the caste.
2. Endogamous divisions.
The Chamars are broken up into a number of endogamous subcastes. Of
these the largest now consists of the members of the Satnami sect
in Chhattisgarh, who do not intermarry with other Chamars. They
are described in the article on that sect. The other Chamars call
the Satnamis Jharia or 'jungly', which implies that they are the
oldest residents in Chhattisgarh. The Satnamis are all cultivators,
and have given up working in leather. The Chungias (from _chungi_,
a leaf-pipe) are a branch of the Satnamis who have taken to smoking,
a practice which is forbidden by the rules of the sect. In Chhattisgarh
those Chamars who still cure hides and work in leather belong either
to the Kanaujia or Ahirwar subcastes, the former of whom take their
name from the well-known classical town of Kanauj in northern India,
while the latter are said to be the descendants of unions between
Chamar fathers and Ahir mothers. The Kanaujias are much addicted to
drink, and though they eat pork they do not rear pigs. The Ahirwars,
or Erwars as they are called outside Chhattisgarh, occupy a somewhat
higher position than the Kanaujias. They consider themselves to be the
direct descendants of the prophet Raidas or Rohidas, who, they say,
had seven wives of different castes; one of them was an Ahir woman,
and her offspring were the ancestors of the Ahirwar subcaste. Both
the Kanaujias and Ahirwars of Chhattisgarh are generally known to
outsiders as Paikaha, a term which indicates that they still follow
their ancestral calling of curing hides, as opposed to the Satnamis,
who have generally eschewed it. Those Chamars who are curriers have,
as a rule, the right to receive the hides of the village cattle in
return for removing the carcases, each family of Chamars having
allotted to them a certain number of tenants whose dead cattle
they take, while their women are the hereditary midwives of the
village. Such Chamars have the designation of Meher. The Kanaujias
make shoes out of a single piece of leather, while the Ahirwars cut
the front separately. The latter also ornament their shoes with fancy
work consisting of patterns of silver thread on red cloth. No Ahirwar
girl is married until she has shown herself proficient in this kind of
needlework. [447] Another well-known group, found both in Chhattisgarh
and elsewhere, are the Jaiswaras, who take their name from the old
town of Jais in the United Provinces. Many of them serve as grooms,
and are accustomed to state their caste as Jaiswara, considering
it a more respectable designation than Chamar. The Jaiswaras must
carry burdens on their heads only and not on their shoulders, and
they must not tie up a dog with a halter or neck-rope, this article
being venerated by them as an implement of their calling. A breach
of either of these rules entails temporary excommunication from caste
and a fine for readmission. Among a number of territorial groups may
be mentioned the Bundelkhandi or immigrants from Bundelkhand; the
Bhadoria from the Bhadawar State; the Antarvedi from Antarved or the
Doab, the country lying between the Ganges and Jumna; the Gangapari
or those from the north of the Ganges; and the Pardeshi (foreigners)
and Desha or Deswar (belonging to the country), both of which groups
come from Hindustan. The Deswar Chamars of Narsinghpur [448] are now
all agriculturists and have totally abjured the business of working in
leather. The Mahobia and Khaijraha take their names from the towns of
Mahoba and Khaijra in Central India. The Ladse or Ladvi come from south
Gujarat, which in classical times was known as Lat; while the Maratha,
Beraria and Dakhini subdivisions belong to southern India. There are
a number of other territorial groups of less importance.
3. Subcastes continued.
Certain subcastes are of an occupational nature, and among these may be
mentioned the Budalgirs of Chhindwara, who derive their name from the
_budla_, or leather bag made for the transport and storage of oil and
_ghi_. The _budla_, Mr. Trench remarks, [449] has been ousted by the
kerosene oil tin, and the industry of the Budalgirs has consequently
almost disappeared; but the _budlas_ are still used by barbers to
hold oil for the torches which they carry in wedding processions. The
Daijanya subcaste are so named because their women act as midwives
(_dai_), but this business is by no means confined to one particular
group, being undertaken generally by Chamar women. The Kataua or
Katwa are leather-cutters, the name being derived from _katna_, to
cut. And the Gobardhua (from _gobar_, cowdung) collect the droppings
of cattle on the threshing-floors and wash out and eat the undigested
grain. The Mochis or shoemakers and Jingars [450] or saddlemakers and
bookbinders have obtained a better position than the ordinary Chamars,
and have now practically become separate castes; while, on the other
hand, the Dohar subcaste of Narsinghpur have sunk to the very lowest
stage of casual labour, grass-cutting and the like, and are looked
down on by the rest of the caste. [451] The Korchamars are said to be
the descendants of alliances between Chamars and Koris or weavers, and
the Turkanyas probably have Turk or Musalman blood in their veins. In
Berar the Romya or Haralya subcaste claim the highest rank and say
that their ancestor Harlya was the primeval Chamar who stripped off
a piece of his own skin to make a pair of shoes for Mahadeo. [452]
The Mangya [453] Chamars of Chanda and the Nona Chamars of Damoh are
groups of beggars, who are the lowest of the caste and will take food
from the hands of any other Chamar. The Nona group take their name
from Nona or Lona Chamarin, a well-known witch about whom Mr. Crooke
relates the following story: [454] "Her legend tells how Dhanwantari,
the physician of the gods, was bitten by Takshaka, the king of the
snakes, and knowing that death approached he ordered his sons to cook
and eat his body after his death, so that they might thereby inherit
his skill in medicine. They accordingly cooked his body in a cauldron,
and were about to eat it when Takshaka appeared to them in the form
of a Brahman and warned them against this act of cannibalism. So
they let the cauldron float down the Ganges, and as it floated down,
Lona the Chamarin, who was washing on the bank of the river, took the
vessel out in ignorance of its contents, and partook of the ghastly
food. She at once obtained power to cure diseases, and especially
snake-bite. One day all the women were transplanting rice, and it
was found that Lona could do as much work as all her companions put
together. So they watched her, and when she thought she was alone she
stripped off her clothes (nudity being an essential element in magic),
muttered some spells, and threw the plants into the air, when they
all settled down in their proper places. Finding she was observed, she
tried to escape, and as she ran the earth opened, and all the water of
the rice-fields followed her and thus was formed the channel of the
Loni River in the Unao District." This Lona or Nona has obtained the
position of a nursery bogey, and throughout Hindustan, Sir H. Risley
states, parents frighten naughty children by telling them that Nona
Chamarin will carry them off. The Chamars say that she was the mother
or grandmother of the prophet Ravi Das, or Rai Das already referred to.
4. Exogamous divisions.
The caste is also divided into a large number of exogamous groups
or sections, whose names, as might be expected, present a great
diversity of character. Some are borrowed from Rajput clans, as
Surajvansi, Gaharwar and Rathor; while others, as Marai, are taken
from the Gonds. Instances of sections named after other castes are
Banjar (Banjara), Jogi, Chhipia (Chhipi, a tailor) and Khairwar
(a forest tribe). The Chhipia section preserve the memory of their
comparatively illustrious descent by refusing to eat pork. Instances
of sections called after a title or nickname of the reputed founder
are Maladhari, one who wears a garland; Machhi-Mundia or fly-headed,
perhaps the equivalent of feather-brained; Hathila, obstinate; Baghmar,
a tiger-killer; Mangaya, a beggar; Dhuliya, a drummer; Jadkodiha, one
who digs for roots, and so on. There are numerous territorial groups
named after the town or village where the ancestor of the clan may
be supposed to have lived; and many names also are of a totemistic
nature, being taken from plants, animals or natural objects. Among
these are Khunti, a peg; Chandaniha, sandalwood; Tarwaria, a sword;
Borbans, plums; Miri, chillies; Chauria, a whisk; Baraiya, a wasp;
Khalaria, a hide or skin; Kosni, _kosa_ or tasar silk; and Purain,
the lotus plant. Totemistic observances survive only in one or two
isolated instances.
5. Marriage.
A man must not take a wife from his own section, nor in some localities
from that of his mother or either of his grandmothers. Generally the
union of first cousins is prohibited. Adult marriage is the rule, but
those who wish to improve their social position have taken to disposing
of their daughters at an early age. Matches are always arranged by the
parents, and it is the business of the boy's father to find a bride for
his son. A bride-price is paid which may vary from two pice (farthings)
to a hundred rupees, but usually averages about twenty rupees. In
Chanda the amount is fixed at Rs. 13 and it is known as _hunda_,
but if the bride's grandmother is alive it is increased to Rs. 15-8,
and the extra money is given to her. The marriage ceremony follows the
standard type prevalent in the locality. On his journey to the girl's
house the boy rides on a bullock and is wrapped up in a blanket. In
Bilaspur a kind of sham fight takes place between the parties, which
is a reminiscence of the former practice of marriage by capture and is
thus described as an eye-witness by the Rev. E. M. Gordon of Mungeli:
[455]
"As the bridegroom's party approached the home of the bride the boy's
friends lifted him up on their shoulders, and, surrounding him on
every side, they made their way to the bride's house, swinging round
their sticks in a threatening manner. On coming near the house they
crossed sticks with the bride's friends, who gradually fell back and
allowed the bridegroom's friends to advance in their direction. The
women of the house gathered with baskets and fans and some threw about
rice in pretence of self-defence. When the sticks of the bridegroom's
party struck the roof of the bride's house or of the marriage-shed her
friends considered themselves defeated and the sham fight was at an
end." Among the Maratha Chamars of Betul two earthen pots full of water
are half buried in the ground and worship is paid to them. The bride
and bridegroom then stand together and their relatives take out water
from the pots and pour it on to their heads from above. The idea is
that the pouring of the sacred water on to them will make them grow,
and if the bride is much smaller than the bridegroom more water is
poured on to her in order that she may grow faster. The practice may
symbolise the fertilising influence of rain. Among the Dohar Chamars
of Narsinghpur the bride and bridegroom are seated on a plough-yoke
while the marriage ceremony is performed. Before the wedding the
bride's party take a goat's leg in a basket with other articles to the
_janwasa_ or bridegroom's lodging and present it to his father. The
bride and bridegroom take the goat's leg and beat each other with it
alternately. Another ceremony, known as Pendpuja, consists in placing
pieces of stick with cotton stuck to the ends in an oven and burning
them in the name of the deceased ancestors; but the significance, if
there be any, of this rite is obscure. Some time after the wedding
the bride is taken to her husband's house to live with him, and on
this occasion a simple ceremony known as Chauk or Pathoni is performed.
6. Widow-marriage and divorce.
Widows commonly remarry, and may take for their second husband anybody
they please, except their own relatives and their late husband's
elder brother and ascendant relations. In Chhattisgarh widows are
known either as _barandi_ or _randi_, the _randi_ being a widow
in the ordinary sense of the term and the _barandi_ a girl who has
been married but has not lived with her husband. Such a girl is not
required to break her bangles on her husband's death, and, being more
in demand as a second wife, her father naturally obtains a good price
for her. To marry a woman whose husband is alive is known as _chhandwe
banana_, the term _chhandwe_ implying that the woman has discarded,
or has been discarded by, her husband. The second husband must in
this case repay to the first husband the expenses incurred by him
on his wedding. The marriage ceremony for a widow is of the simplest
character, and consists generally of the presentation to her by her
new husband of those articles which a married woman may use, but which
should be forsworn by a widow, as representing the useless vanities
of the world. Thus in Saugor the bridegroom presents his bride with
new clothes, vermilion for the parting of her hair, a spangle for her
forehead, lac dye for her feet, antimony for the eyes, a comb, glass
bangles and betel-leaves. In Mandla and Seoni the bridegroom gives
a ring, according to the English custom, instead of bangles. When
a widow marries a second time her first husband's property remains
with his family and also the children, unless they are very young,
when the mother may keep them for a few years and subsequently send
them back to their father's relatives. Divorce is permitted for a
variety of causes, and is usually effected in the presence of the
caste _panchayat_ or committee by the husband and wife breaking a
straw as a symbol of the rupture of the union. In Chanda an image
of the divorced wife is made of grass and burnt to indicate that to
her husband she is as good as dead; if she has children their heads
and faces are shaved in token of mourning, and in the absence of
children the husband's younger brother has this rite performed; while
the husband gives a funeral feast known as _Marti Jiti ka Bhat_, or
'The feast of the living dead woman.' In Chhattisgarh marriage ties
are of the loosest description, and adultery is scarcely recognised
as an offence. A woman may go and live openly with other men and
her husband will take her back afterwards. Sometimes, when two men
are in the relation of Mahaprasad or nearest friend to each other,
that is, when they have vowed friendship on rice from the temple of
Jagannath, they will each place his wife at the other's disposal. The
Chamars justify this carelessness of the fidelity of their wives by
the saying, 'If my cow wanders and comes home again, shall I not let
her into her stall?' In Seoni, if a Chamar woman is detected in a
misdemeanour with a man of the caste, both parties are taken to the
bank of a tank or river, where their heads are shaved in the presence
of the caste _panchayat_ or committee. They are then made to bathe,
and the shoes of all the assembled Chamars made up into two bundles
and placed on their heads, while they are required to promise that
they will not repeat the offence.
7. Funeral customs.
The caste usually bury the dead with the feet to the north, like the
Gonds and other aboriginal tribes. They say that heaven is situated
towards the north, and the dead man should be placed in a position to
start for that direction. Another explanation is that the head of the
earth lies towards the north, and yet another that in the Satyug or
beginning of time the sun rose in the north; and in each succeeding
Yug or era it has veered round the compass until now in the Kali Yug
or Iron Age it rises in the east. In Chhattisgarh, before burying a
corpse, they often make a mark on the body with butter, oil or soot;
and when a child is subsequently born into the same family they
look for any kind of mark on the corresponding place on its body. If
any such be found they consider the child as a reincarnation of the
deceased person. Still-born children, and those who die before the
Chathi or sixth-day ceremony of purification, are not taken to the
burial-ground, but their bodies are placed in an earthen pot and
interred below the doorway or in the courtyard of the house. In
such cases no funeral feast is demanded from the family, and some
people believe that the custom tends in favour of the mother bearing
another child; others say, however, that its object is to prevent
the _tonhi_ or witch from getting hold of the body of the child and
rousing its spirit to life to do her bidding as Matia Deo. [456] In
Seoni a curious rule obtains to the effect that the bodies of those
who eat carrion or the flesh of animals dying a natural death should
be cremated. In the northern Districts a bier painted white is used
for a man and a red one for a woman.
8. Childbirth.
Among the better-class Chamars it is customary to place a newborn child
in a winnowing-fan on a bed of rice. The nurse receives the rice and
she also goes round to the houses of the headman of the village and
the relatives of the family and makes a mark with cowdung on their
doors as an announcement of the birth, for which she receives a small
present. In Chhattisgarh a woman is given nothing to eat or drink
on the day that a child is born and for two days afterwards. On the
fourth day she receives a liquid decoction of ginger, the roots of
the _orai_ or _khaskhas_ grass, areca-nut, coriander and turmeric
and other hot substances, and in some places a cake of linseed or
sesamum. She sometimes goes on drinking this mixture for as long
as a month, and usually receives solid food for the first time on
the sixth day after the birth, when she bathes and her impurity
is removed. The child is not permitted to suckle its mother until
the third day after it is born, but before this it receives a small
quantity of a mixture made by boiling the urine of a calf with some
medicinal root. In Chhattisgarh it is a common practice to brand a
child on the stomach on the name-day or sixth day after its birth;
twenty or more small burns may be made with the point of a _hansia_
or sickle on the stomach, and it is supposed that this operation will
prevent it from catching cold. Another preventive for convulsions
and diseases of the lungs is the rubbing of the limbs and body with
castor-oil; the nurse wets her hands with the oil and then warms them
before a fire and rubs the child. It is also held in the smoke of
burning _ajwain_ plants (_Carum copticum_). Infants are named on the
Chathi or sixth day, or sometimes on the twelfth day after birth. The
child's head is shaved, and the hair, known as Jhalar, thrown away, the
mother and child are washed and the males of the family are shaved. The
mother is given her first regular meal of grain and pulse cooked with
pumpkins. A pregnant woman who is afraid that her child will die will
sometimes sell it to a neighbour before its birth for five or six
cowries. [457] The baby will then be named Pachkouri or Chhekouri, and
it is thought that the gods, who are jealous of the lives of children,
will overlook one whose name shows it to be valueless. Children are
often nicknamed after some peculiarity as Kanwa (one-eyed), Behra
(deaf), Konda (dumb), Khurwa (lame), Kari (black), Bhuri (fair). It
does not follow that a child called Konda is actually dumb, but it
may simply have been late in learning to speak. Parents are jealous
of exposing their children to the gaze of strangers and especially
of a crowd, in which there will almost certainly be some malignant
person to cast the evil eye upon them. Young children are therefore
not infrequently secluded in the house and deprived of light and air
to an extent which is highly injurious to them.
9. Religion.
The caste worship the ordinary Hindu and village deities of
the localities in which they reside, and observe the principal
festivals. In Saugor the Chamars have a family god, known as Marri,
who is represented by a lump of clay kept in the cooking-room of the
house. He is supposed to represent the ancestors of the family. The
Seoni Chamars especially worship the castor-oil plant. Generally
the caste revere the _rampi_ or skinning-knife with offerings of
flour-cakes and cocoanuts on festival days. In Chhattisgarh more than
half the Chamars belong to the reformed Satnami sect, by which the
worship of images is at least nominally abolished. This is separately
treated. Mr. Gordon states [458] that it is impossible to form a clear
conception of the beliefs of the village Chamars as to the hereafter:
"That they have the idea of hell as a place of punishment may be
gathered from the belief that if salt is spilt the one who does this
will in Patal--or the infernal region--have to gather up each grain of
salt with his eyelids. Salt is for this reason handed round with great
care, and it is considered unlucky to receive it in the palm of the
hand; it is therefore invariably taken in a cloth or in a vessel. There
is a belief that the spirit of the deceased hovers round familiar
scenes and places, and on this account, whenever it is possible,
it is customary to destroy or desert the house in which any one has
died. If a house is deserted the custom is to sweep and plaster the
place, and then, after lighting a lamp, to leave it in the house and
withdraw altogether. After the spirit of the dead has wandered around
restlessly for a certain time it is said that it will again become
incarnate and take the form of man or of one of the lower animals."
10. Occupation.
The curing and tanning of hides is the primary occupation of the
Chamar, but in 1911 only 80,000 persons, or about a seventh of the
actual workers of the caste, were engaged in it, and by Satnamis the
trade has been entirely eschewed. The majority of the Chhattisgarhi
Chamars are cultivators with tenant right, and a number of them have
obtained villages. In the northern Districts, however, the caste
are as a rule miserably poor, and none of them own villages. A
very few are tenants, and the vast majority despised and bullied
helots. The condition of the leather-working Chamars is described
by Mr. Trench as lamentable. [459] Chief among the causes of their
ruin has been the recently established trade in raw hides. Formerly
the bodies of all cattle dying within the precincts of the village
necessarily became the property of the Chamars, as the Hindu owners
could not touch them without loss of caste. But since the rise of
the cattle-slaughtering industry the cultivator has put his religious
scruples in his pocket, and sells his old and worn-out animals to the
butchers for a respectable sum. "For a mere walking skeleton of a cow
or bullock from two to four rupees may be had for the asking, and so
long as he does not actually see or stipulate for the slaughter of the
sacred animal, the cultivator's scruples remain dormant. No one laments
this lapse from orthodoxy more sincerely than the outcaste Chamar. His
situation may be compared with that of the Cornish pilchard-fishers,
for whom the growing laxity on the part of continental Roman Catholic
countries in the observance of Lent is already more than an omen of
coming disaster." [460]
11. The tanning process.
When a hide is to be cured the inside is first cleaned with the
_rampi_, a chisel-like implement with a short blade four inches broad
and a thick short handle. It is then soaked in a mixture of water
and lime for ten or twelve days, and at intervals scraped clean of
flesh and hair with the _rampi_. "The skill of a good tanner appears
in the absence of superfluous inner skin, fat or flesh, remaining to
be removed after the hide is finally taken out of the lime-pit. Next
the hard berries of the _ghont_ [461] tree are poured into a large
earthen vessel sunk in the ground, and water added till the mixture
is so thick as to become barely liquid. In this the folded hide is
dipped three or four times a day, undergoing meanwhile a vigorous
rubbing and kneading. The average duration of this process is eight
days, and it is followed by what is according to European ideas the
real tanning. Using as thread the roots of the ubiquitous _palas_
[462] tree, the Chamar sews the hide up into a mussack-shaped bag
open at the neck. The sewing is admirably executed, and when drawn
tight the seams are nearly, but purposely not quite, water-tight. The
hide is then hung on low stout scaffolding over a pit and filled with
a decoction of the dried and semi-powdered leaves of the _dhaura_
[463] tree mixed with water. As the decoction trickles slowly through
the seams below, more is poured on from above, and from time to time
the position of the hide is reversed in such a way that the tanning
permeates each part in turn. Sometimes only one reversal of the hide
takes place half-way through the process, which occupies as a rule
some eight days. But energetic Chamars continually turn and refill
the skin until satisfied that it is thoroughly saturated with the
tanning. After a washing in clean water the hide is now considered
to be tanned." [464]
12. Shoes.
In return for receiving the hides of the village cattle the Chamar
had to supply the village proprietor and his family with a pair
of shoes each free of payment once a year, and sometimes also the
village accountant and watchman; but the cultivators had usually
to pay for them, though nowadays they also often insist on shoes
in exchange for their hides. Shoes are usually worn in the wheat
and cotton growing areas, but are less common in the rice country,
where they would continually stick in the mud of the fields. The
Saugor or Bundelkhandi shoe is a striking specimen of footgear. The
sole is formed of as many as three layers of stout hide, and may be
nearly an inch thick. The uppers in a typical shoe are of black soft
leather, inlaid with a simple pattern in silver thread. These are
covered by flaps of stamped yellow goat-skin cut in triangular and
half-moon patterns, the interstices between the flaps being filled
with red cloth. The heel-piece is continued more than half-way up the
calf behind. The toe is pointed, curled tightly over backwards and
surmounted by a brass knob. The high frontal shield protects the instep
from mud and spear-grass, and the heel-piece ensures the retention of
the shoe in the deepest quagmire. Such shoes cost one or two rupees
a pair. [465] In the rice Districts sandals are often worn on the
road, and laid aside when the cultivator enters his fields. Women go
bare-footed as a rule, but sometimes have sandals. Up till recently
only prostitutes wore shoes in public, and no respectable woman would
dare to do so. In towns boots and shoes made in the English fashion at
Cawnpore and other centres have now been generally adopted, and with
these socks are worn. The Mochis and Jingars, who are offshoots from
the Chamar caste, have adopted the distinctive occupations of making
shoes and horse furniture with prepared leather, and no longer cure
hides. They have thus developed into a separate caste, and consider
themselves greatly superior to the Chamars.
13. Other articles made of leather.
Other articles made of leather are the thongs and nose-strings for
bullocks, the buckets for irrigation wells, rude country saddlery,
and _mussacks_ and _pakhals_ for carrying water. These last are
simply hides sewn into a bag and provided with an orifice. To make
a pair of bellows a goat-skin is taken with all four legs attached,
and wetted and filled with sand. It is then dried in the sun, the
sand shaken out, the sticks fitted at the hind-quarters for blowing,
and the pair of bellows is complete.
14. Customs connected with shoes.
The shoe, as everybody in India knows, is a symbol of the greatest
degradation and impurity. This is partly on account of its manufacture
from the impure leather or hide, and also perhaps because it is worn
and trodden under foot. All the hides of tame animals are polluted and
impure, but those of certain wild animals, such as the deer and tiger,
are not so, being on the contrary to some extent sacred. This last
feeling may be due to the fact that the old anchorites of the forests
were accustomed to cover themselves with the skins of wild animals, and
to use them for sitting and kneeling to pray. A Bairagi or Vaishnava
religious mendicant much likes to carry a tiger-skin on his body if
he can afford one; and a Brahman will have the skin of a black-buck
spread in the room where he performs his devotions. Possibly the sin
involved in killing tame animals has been partly responsible for the
impurity attaching to their hides, to the obtaining of which the death
of the animal must be a preliminary. Every Hindu removes his shoes
before entering a house, though with the adoption of English boots a
breach is being made in this custom. So far as the houses of Europeans
are concerned, the retention of shoes is not, as might be imagined,
of recent origin, but was noticed by Buchanan a hundred years ago:
"Men of rank and their attendants continue to wear their shoes loose
for the purpose of throwing them off whenever they enter a room,
which they still continue to do everywhere except in the houses of
Europeans, in which all natives of rank now imitate our example." In
this connection it must be remembered that a Hindu house is always
sacred as the shrine of the household god, and shoes are removed
before stepping across the threshold on to the hallowed ground. This
consideration does not apply to European houses, and affords ground
for dispensing with the removal of laced shoes and boots.
To be beaten or sometimes even touched with a shoe by a man of
low caste entails temporary social excommunication to most Hindus,
and must be expiated by a formal purification and caste feast. The
outcaste Mahars punish a member of their community in the same manner
even if somebody should throw a shoe on to the roof of his house,
and the Pharasaical absurdities of the caste system surely find their
culminating point in this rule. Similarly if a man touches his shoe
with his hand and says 'I have beaten you,' to a member of any of
the lower castes in Seoni, the person so addressed is considered as
temporarily out of caste. If he then immediately goes and informs his
caste-fellows he is reinstated with a nominal fine of grain worth
one or two pice. But if he goes back to his house and takes food,
and the incident is subsequently discovered, a penalty of a goat is
levied. A curious exception recognised is that of the _Sirkari juta_,
or shoe belonging to a Government servant, and to be beaten with this
shoe does not entail social punishment.
15. The Chamar as general village drudge.
In return for his perquisite of the hides of cattle the Chamar has
to act as the general village drudge in the northern Districts and is
always selected for the performance of _bigar_ or forced labour. When
a Government officer visits the village the Chamar must look after
him, fetch what grass or fuel he requires, and accompany him as far
as the next village to point out the road. He is also the bearer
of official letters and messages sent to the village. The special
Chamar on whom these duties are imposed usually receives a plot of
land rent-free from the village proprietor. Another of the functions
of the Chamar is the castration of the young bullocks, which task the
cultivators will not do for themselves. His method is most primitive,
the scrotum being held in a cleft bamboo or a pair of iron pincers,
while the testicles are bruised and rubbed to pulp with a stone. The
animal remains ill for a week or a fortnight and is not worked for two
months, but the operation is rarely or never fatal. In the northern
Districts the Chamars are said to be very strong and to make the
best farmservants and coolies for earthwork. It is a proverb that
'The Chamar has half a rib more than other men.' Notwithstanding his
strength, however, he is a great coward, this characteristic having
probably been acquired through centuries of oppression. Many Chamar
women act as midwives. In Raipur the cultivators give her five annas
at the birth of a boy and four annas for a girl, while well-to-do
people pay a rupee. When the first child of a rich man is born,
the midwife, barber and washerman go round to all his friends and
relations to announce the event and obtain presents. It is a regular
function of the Chamars to remove the carcases of dead cattle, which
they eat without regard to the disease from which the animal may have
died. But a Chamar will not touch the corpse of a pony, camel, cat,
dog, squirrel or monkey, and to remove the bodies of such animals
a Mehtar (sweeper) or a Gond must be requisitioned. In Raipur it is
said that the Chamars will eat only the flesh of four-legged animals,
avoiding presumably birds and fish. When acting as a porter the Chamar
usually carries a load on his head, whereas the Kahar bears it on his
shoulders, and this distinction is proverbial. In Raipur the Chamars
have become retail cattle-dealers and are known as Kochias. They
purchase cattle at the large central markets of Baloda and Bamnidih
and retail them at the small village bazars. It is said that this
trade could only flourish in Chhattisgarh, where the cultivators
are too lazy to go and buy their cattle for themselves. Many Chamars
have emigrated from Chhattisgarh to the Assam tea-gardens, and others
have gone to Calcutta and to the railway workshops at Kharagpur and
Chakardharpur. Many of them work as porters on the railway. It is
probable that their taste for emigration is due to the resentment
felt at their despised position in Chhattisgarh.
16. Social status.
The Chamar ranks at the very bottom of the social scale, and contact
with his person is considered to be a defilement to high-caste
Hindus. He cannot draw water from the common well and usually
lives in a hamlet somewhat removed from the main village. But in
several localities the rule is not so strict, and in Saugor a Chamar
may go into all parts of the house except the cooking and eating
rooms. This is almost necessary when he is so commonly employed
as a farmservant. Here the village barber will shave Chamars and
the washerman will wash their clothes. And the Chamar himself will
not touch the corpse of a horse, a dog or any animal whose feet are
uncloven; and he will not kill a cow though he eats its flesh. It is
stated indeed that a Chamar who once killed a calf accidentally had
to go to the Ganges to purify himself. The crime of cattle-poisoning
is thus rare in Saugor and the other northern Districts, but in the
east of the Provinces it is a common practice of the Chamars. As is
usual with the low castes, many Chamars are in some repute as Gunias or
sorcerers, and in this capacity they are frequently invited to enter
the houses of Hindus to heal persons possessed of evil spirits. When
children fall ill one of them is called in and he waves a branch of
the _nim_ [466] tree over the child and taking ashes in his hand
blows them at it; he is also consulted for hysterical women. When
a Chamar has had something stolen and wishes to detect the thief,
he takes the wooden-handled needle used for stitching leather and
sticks the spike into the sole of a shoe. Then two persons standing
in the relation of maternal uncle and nephew hold the needle and shoe
up by placing their forefingers under the wooden handle. The names
of all suspected persons are pronounced, and he at whose name the
shoe turns on the needle is taken to be the thief.
The caste do not employ Brahmans for their ceremonies, but consult
them for the selection of auspicious days, as this business can be
performed by the Brahman at home and he need not enter the Chamar's
house. But poor and despised as the Chamars are they have a pride of
their own. When the Dohar and Maratha Chamars sell shoes to a Mahar
they will only allow him to try on one of them and not both, and this,
too, he must do in a sitting posture, as an indication of humility. The
Harale or Maratha Chamars of Berar [467] do not eat beef nor work with
untanned leather, and they will not work for the lowest castes, as
Mahars, Mangs, Basors and Kolis. If one of these buys a pair of shoes
from the Chamar the seller asks no indiscreet questions; but he will
not mend the pair as he would for a man of higher caste. The Satnamis
of Chhattisgarh have openly revolted against the degraded position to
which they are relegated by Hinduism and are at permanent feud with
the Hindus; some of them have even adopted the sacred thread. But this
interesting movement is separately discussed in the article on Satnami.
17. Character.
In Chhattisgarh the Chamars are the most criminal class of the
population, and have made a regular practice of poisoning cattle with
arsenic in order to obtain the hides and flesh. They either mix the
poison with mahua flowers strewn on the grazing-ground, or make it
into a ball with butter and insert it into the anus of the animal when
the herdsman is absent. They also commit cattle-theft and frequently
appear at the whipping-post before the court-house. The estimation in
which they are held by their neighbours is reflected in the proverb,
'Hemp, rice and a Chamar; the more they are pounded the better they
are.' "The caste," Mr. Trench writes, "are illiterate to a man,
and their intellectual development is reflected in their style of
living. A visit to a hamlet of tanning Chamars induces doubt as to
whence the appalling smells of the place proceed--from the hides or
from the tanners. Were this squalor invariably, as it is occasionally,
accompanied by a sufficiency of the necessaries of life, victuals and
clothing, the Chamar would not be badly off, but the truth is that in
the northern Districts at all events the Chamar, except in years of
good harvest, does not get enough to eat. This fact is sufficiently
indicated by a glance at the perquisites of the village Chamar, who
is almost invariably the shoemaker and leather-worker for his little
community. In one District the undigested grain left by the gorged
bullocks on the threshing-floor is his portion, and a portion for
which he will sometimes fight. Everywhere he is a carrion-eater,
paying little or no regard to the disease from which the animal
may have died." The custom above mentioned of washing grain from
the dung of cattle is not so repugnant to the Hindus, owing to the
sacred character of the cow, as it is to us. It is even sometimes
considered holy food:--"The zamindar of Idar, who is named Naron Das,
lives with such austerity that his only food is grain which has passed
through oxen and has been separated from their dung; and this kind
of aliment the Brahmans consider pure in the highest degree." [468]
Old-fashioned cultivators do not muzzle the bullocks treading out
the corn, and the animals eat it the whole time, so that much passes
through their bodies undigested. The Chamar will make several maunds
(80 lbs.) of grain in this way, and to a cultivator who does not
muzzle his bullocks he will give a pair of shoes and a plough-rein and
yoke-string. Another duty of the Chamar is to look after the _banda_
or large underground masonry chamber in which grain is kept. After
the grain has been stored, a conical roof is built and plastered over
with mud to keep out water. The Chamar looks after the repairs of the
mud plaster and in return receives a small quantity of grain, which
usually goes bad on the floor of the store-chamber. They prepare the
threshing-floors for the cultivators, making the surface of the soil
level and beating it down to a smooth and hard surface. In return
for this they receive the grain mixed with earth which remains on
the threshing-floor after the crop is removed.
Like all other village artisans the Chamar is considered by the
cultivators to be faithless and dilatory in his dealings with them;
and they vent their spleen in sayings such as the following:--"The
Kori, the Chamar and the Ahir, these are the three biggest liars that
ever were known. For if you ask the Chamar whether he has mended your
shoes he says, 'I am at the last stitch,' when he has not begun them;
if you ask the Ahir whether he has brought back your cow from the
jungle he says, 'It has come, it has come,' without knowing or caring
whether it has come or not; and if you ask the Kori whether he has
made your cloth he says, 'It is on the loom,' when he has not so much
as bought the thread." Another proverb conveying the same sense is,
'The Mochi's to-morrow never comes.' But no doubt the uncertainty
and delay in payment account for much of this conduct.
Chasa
1. Origin and traditions.
_Chasa_, [469] _Tasa_ (also called Alia in the Sonpur and Patna
States).--The chief cultivating caste of Orissa. In 1901 more
than 21,000 Chasas were enumerated in Sambalpur and the adjoining
Feudatory States, but nearly all these passed in 1905 to Bengal. The
Chasas are said [470] by Sir H. Risley to be for the most part of
non-Aryan descent, the loose organisation of the caste system among
the Uriyas making it possible on the one hand for outsiders to be
admitted into the caste, and on the other for wealthy Chasas who
gave up ploughing with their own hands and assumed the respectable
title of Mahanti to raise themselves to membership among the lower
classes of Kayasths. This passage indicates that the term Mahanti is
or was a broader one than Karan or Uriya Kayasth, and was applied to
educated persons of other castes who apparently aspired to admission
among the Karans, in the same manner as leading members of the
warlike and landholding castes lay claim to rank as Rajputs. For
this reason probably the Uriya Kayasths prefer the name of Karan
to that of Mahanti, and the Uriya saying, 'He who has no caste is
called a Mahanti,' supports this view. The word Chasa has the generic
meaning of 'a cultivator,' and the Chasas may in Sambalpur be merely
an occupational group recruited from other castes. This theory is
supported by the names of their subdivisions, three of which, Kolta,
Khandait and Ud or Orh are the names of distinct castes, while the
fourth, Benatia, is found as a subdivision of several other castes.
2. Exogamous divisions.
Each family has a _got_ or sept and a _varga_ or family name. The
_vargas_ are much more numerous than the _gots_, and marriages are
arranged according to them, unions of members of the same _varga_ only
being forbidden. The sept names are totemistic and the family names
territorial or titular. Among the former are _bachhas_ (calf), _nagas_
(cobra), _hasti_ or _gaj_ (elephant), _harin_ (deer), _mahumachhi_
(bee), _dipas_ (lamp), and others; while instances of the _varga_
names are Pitmundia, Hulbulsingia, Giringia and Dumania, all names of
villages in Angul State; and Nayak (headman), Mahanti (writer), Dehri
(worshipper), Behera (cook), Kandra (bamboo-worker), and others. The
different _gots_ or septs revere their totems by drawing figures
of them on their houses, and abstaining from injuring them in any
way. If they find the footprints of the animal which they worship,
they bow to the marks and obliterate them with the hand, perhaps with
the view of affording protection to the totem animal from hunters
or of preventing the marks from being trampled on by others. They
believe that if they injured the totem animal they would be attacked
by leprosy and their line would die out. Members of the _dipas_ sept
will not eat if a lamp is put out at night, and will not touch a
lamp with unclean hands. Those of the _mahumachhi_ or bee sept will
not take honey from a comb or eat it. Those of the _gaj_ sept will
not join an elephant kheddah. Some of the septs have an Ishta Devata
or tutelary Hindu deity to whom worship is paid. Thus the elephant
sept worship Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, and also do not kill
rats because Ganesh rides on this animal. Similarly the _harin_ or
deer sept have Pawan, the god of the wind, as their Ishta Devata,
because a deer is considered to be as swift as the wind. It would
appear then that the septs, each having its totem, were the original
divisions for the restriction of marriage, but as these increased in
size they were felt to debar the union of persons who had no real
relationship and hence the smaller family groups were substituted
for them; while in the case of the old septs, the substitution of the
Hindu god representing the animal worshipped by the sept for the animal
itself as the object of veneration is an instance of the process of
abandoning totem or animal worship and conforming to Hinduism. In one
or two cases the _vargas_ themselves have been further subdivided for
the purpose of marriage. Thus certain families of the Padhan (leader,
chief) _varga_ were entrusted with the duty of readmitting persons
temporarily put out of caste to social intercourse, for which they
received the remuneration of a rupee and a piece of cloth in each
case. These families were called the Parichha or 'Scrutinisers' and
have now become a separate _varga_, so that a Parichha Padhan may
marry another Padhan. This is a further instance of the process of
subdivision of exogamous groups which must take place as the groups
increase in size and numbers, and the original idea of the common
ancestry of the group vanishes. Until finally the primitive system of
exogamy disappears and is replaced by the modern and convenient method
of prohibition of marriage within certain degrees of relationship.
3. Status and customs of the caste.
The Chasas do not marry within the same _varga,_ but a man may usually
take a wife from his mother's _varga_. A girl must always be wedded
before arriving at adolescence, the penalty for breach of this rule
being the driving out of the girl to seclusion in the forest for a
day and a half, and a feast to the caste-fellows. If no husband is
available she may be married to an arrow or a flower, or she goes
through the form of marriage with any man in the caste, and when a
suitable partner is subsequently found, is united with him by the
form of widow-marriage. Widows may marry again and divorce is also
allowed. The dead are usually buried if unmarried, and burnt when
married. The Chasas worship the Hindu deities and also the village
god Gramsiri, who is represented by a stone outside the village. At
festivals they offer animal sacrifices to their agricultural
implements, as hoes and hatchets. They employ Brahmans for religious
ceremonies. They have an aversion to objects of a black colour, and
will not use black umbrellas or clothes woven with black thread. They
do not usually wear shoes or ride horses, even when they can afford
these latter. Cultivation is the traditional occupation of the caste,
and they are tenants, farmservants and field-labourers. They take food
from Rajputs and Brahmans, and sometimes from Koltas and Sudhs. They
eat flesh and fish, but abjure liquor, beef, pork and fowls. Their
social position is a little below that of the good agricultural castes,
and they are considered somewhat stupid, as shown by the proverb:
Chasa, ki jane pasar katha,
Padili bolai dons;
or 'What does the Chasa know of the dice? At every throw he calls out
"twenty."'
Chauhan
_Chauhan._ [471]--A small caste of village watchmen and labourers
in the Chhattisgarh Division. They are also known as Chandel by
outsiders. In 1911 the Chauhans numbered 7000 persons in the Raipur
and Bilaspur Districts, and the adjoining Feudatory States. The
caste claim themselves to be of Rajput origin, and say that their
ancestors came from Mainpuri, which is the home of the Chauhan clan of
Rajputs. A few of their section names are taken from those of Rajput
clans, but the majority are of a totemistic nature, being called
after animals and plants, as Nag the cobra, Neora the mongoose,
Kolhia the jackal, Kamal the lotus, Pat silk, Chanwar rice, Khanda
a sword, and so on. Members of each sept worship the object after
which it is named at the time of marriage, and if the tree or animal
itself is not readily available, they make a representation of it
in flour and pay their respects to that. Thus members of the Bedna
or sugarcane sept make a stick of flour and worship it. They will
not kill or eat their sept totem, but in some cases, as in that of
the Chanwar or rice sept, this rule is impossible of observance, so
the members of this sept content themselves with abstaining from a
single variety of rice, the kind called Nagkesar. Families who belong
to septs named after heroic ancestors make an image in flour of the
ancestral saint or hero and worship it. The caste employ Brahmans
for their marriage and other ceremonies, and will not take food from
any caste except Brahmans and their Bairagi _gurus_ or spiritual
preceptors. But their social position is very low, as none except
the most debased castes will take food or water from their hands, and
their hereditary calling of village watchman would not be practised
by any respectable caste. By outsiders they are considered little,
if at all, superior to the Pankas and Gandas, and the most probable
theory of their origin is that they are the descendants of irregular
alliances between immigrant Rajput adventurers and the women of the
country. Their social customs resemble those of other low castes in
Chhattisgarh. Before the bridegroom starts for a wedding, they have
a peculiar ceremony known as Naodori. Seven small earthen cups full
of water are placed on the boy's head, and then poured over him in
succession. A piece of new cloth is laid on his head, and afterwards
placed seven times in contact with the earth. During this ritual the
boy keeps his eyes shut, and it is believed that if he should open
them before its completion, his children would be born blind. When
the bride leaves her father's house she and all her relatives mourn
and weep noisily, and the bride continues doing so until she is well
over a mile from her own village. Similarly on the first three or
four visits which she pays to her parents after her wedding, she
begins crying loudly a mile away from their house, and continues
until she reaches it. It is the etiquette also that women should
cry whenever they meet relatives from a distance. In such cases
when two women see each other they cry together, each placing her
head on the other's shoulder and her hands at her sides. While they
cry they change the position of their heads two or three times, and
each addresses the other according to their relationship, as mother,
sister, and so on. Or if any member of the family has recently died,
they call upon him or her, exclaiming 'O my mother! O my sister! O
my father! Why did not I, unfortunate one, die instead of thee?' A
woman when weeping with a man holds to his sides and rests her head
against his breast. The man exclaims at intervals, 'Stop crying,
do not cry.' When two women are weeping together it is a point of
etiquette that the elder should stop first and then beg her companion
to do so, but if it is doubtful which is the elder, they sometimes
go on crying for an hour at a time, exciting the younger spectators
to mirth, until at length some elder steps forward and tells one of
them to stop. The Chauhans permit the remarriage of widows, and a
woman is bound by no restrictions as to her choice of a second husband.
The goddess Durga or Devi is chiefly revered by the caste, who observe
fasts in her honour in the months of Kunwar (September) and Chait
(March). When they make a _badna_ or vow, they usually offer goats
to the goddess, and sow the _Jawaras_ or Gardens of Adonis in her
name, but except on such occasions they present less costly articles,
as cocoanuts, betel-leaves, areca-nuts and flowers. On the Dasahra
festival they worship the _lathi_ or stick which is the badge of
office of the village watchman. They were formerly addicted to petty
theft, and it is said that they worshipped the _khunta_ or pointed
rod for digging through the wall of a house. The caste usually burn
the dead, but children whose ears or noses have not been pierced are
buried. Children who die before they have begun to eat grain are not
mourned at all, while for older children the period of mourning is
three to seven days, and for adults ten days. On the tenth day they
clean their houses, shave themselves and offer balls of rice to the
dead under the direction of a Brahman, to whom they present eating
and drinking vessels, clothes, shoes and cattle with the belief that
the articles will thus become available for the use of the dead man
in the other world. The Chauhans will not eat fowls, pork or beef,
and in some places they abstain from drinking liquor.
Chhipa
1. Constitution of the caste.
_Chhipa, Rangari, Bhaosar, Nirali, Nilgar._--The Hindu caste of cotton
printers and dyers. They are commonly known as Chhipa in the northern
Districts and Rangari or Bhaosar in the Maratha country. The Chhipas
and Rangaris together number about 23,000 persons. In the south of
the Central Provinces and Berar cotton is a staple crop, and the
cotton-weaving industry is much stronger than in the north, and as a
necessary consequence the dyers also would be more numerous. Though the
Chhipas and Rangaris do not intermarry or dine together, no essential
distinction exists between them. They are both of functional origin,
pursue exactly the same occupation, and relate the same story about
themselves, and no good reason therefore exists for considering them
as separate castes. Nilgar or Nirali is a purely occupational term
applied to Chhipas or Rangaris who work in indigo (_nil_); while
Bhaosar is another name for the Rangaris in the northern Districts.
2. Its origin and position.
The Rangaris say that when Parasurama, the Brahman, was slaying the
Kshatriyas, two brothers of the warrior caste took refuge in a temple
of Devi. One of them, called Bhaosar, threw himself upon the image,
while the other hid behind it. The goddess saved them both and told
them to adopt the vocation of dyers. The Rangaris are descended from
the brother who was called Bhaosar and the Chhipas from the other
brother, because he hid behind the image (_chhipna_, to hide). The word
is really derived from _chhapna_, to print, because the Chhipas print
coloured patterns on cotton cloths with wooden stamps. Rangari comes
from the common word _rang_ or colour. The Chhipas have a slightly
different version of the same story, according to which the goddess
gave one brother a needle and a piece of thread, and the other some
red betel-leaf which she spat at him out of her mouth; and told one to
follow the vocation of a tailor, and the other that of a dyer. Hence
the first was called Chhipi or Shimpi and the second Chhipa. This
story indicates a connection between the dyeing and tailoring castes
in the Maratha Districts, which no doubt exists, as one subcaste of
the Rangaris is named after Namdeo, the patron saint of the Shimpis
or tailors. Both the dyeing and tailoring industries are probably of
considerably later origin than that of cotton-weaving, and both are
urban rather than village industries. And this consideration perhaps
accounts for the fact that the Chhipas and Rangaris rank higher than
most of the weaving castes, and no stigma or impurity attaches to them.
3. Caste subdivisions.
The caste have a number of subdivisions, such as the Malaiyas or
immigrants from Malwa, the Gujrati who come from Gujarat, the Golias
or those who dye cloth with _goli ka rang_, the fugitive aniline dyes,
the Namdeos who belong to the sect founded by the Darzi or tailor of
that name, and the Khatris, these last being members of the Khatri
caste who have adopted the profession.
4. Marriage and other customs.
Marriage is forbidden between persons so closely connected as to have a
common ancestor in the third generation. In Bhandara it is obligatory
on all members of the caste, who know the bride or bridegroom, to
ask him or her to dine. The marriage rite is that prevalent among
the Hindustani castes, of walking round the sacred post. Divorce
and the marriage of widows are permitted. In Narsinghpur, when a
bachelor marries a widow, he first goes through a mock ceremony by
walking seven times round an earthen vessel filled with cakes; this
rite being known as Langra Biyah or the lame marriage. The caste burn
their dead, placing the head to the north. On the day of Dasahra the
Chhipas worship their wooden stamps, first washing them and then making
an offering to them of a cocoanut, flowers and an image consisting
of a bottle-gourd standing on four sticks, which is considered to
represent a goat. The Chhipas rank with the lower artisan castes,
from whose hands Brahmans will not take water. Nevertheless some of
them wear the sacred thread and place sect-marks on their foreheads.
5. Occupation.
The bulk of the Chhipas dye cloths in red, blue or black, with
ornamental patterns picked out on them in black and white. Formerly
their principal agent was the _al_ or Indian mulberry (_Morinda
citrifolia_), from which a rich red dye is obtained. But this
indigenous product has been ousted by alizarin, a colouring agent
made from coal-tar, which is imported from Germany, and is about
thirty per cent cheaper than the native dye. Chhipas prepare _saris_
or women's wearing-cloths, and floor and bed cloths. The dye stamps
are made of teakwood by an ordinary carpenter, the flat surface of
the wood being hollowed out so as to leave ridges which form either
a design in curved lines or the outlines of the figures of men,
elephants and tigers. There is a great variety of patterns, as many
as three hundred stamps having been found in one Chhipa's shop. The
stamps are usually covered with a black ink made of sulphate of iron,
and this is fixed by myrobalans; the Nilgars usually dye a plain blue
with indigotin. No great variety or brilliancy of colours is obtained
by the Hindu dyers, who are much excelled in this branch of the art
by the Muhammadan Rangrez. In Gujarat dyeing is strictly forbidden
by the caste rules of the Chhipas or Bhaosars during the four rainy
months, because the slaughter of insects in the dyeing vat adds to
the evil and ill-luck of that sunless time. [472]
Chitari
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin and traditions._
2. _Social customs._
3. _Birth and childhood._
4. _The evil eye._
5. _Cradle-songs._
6. _Occupation._
1. Origin and traditions.
_Chitari, Chiter, Chitrakar, Maharana._--A caste of painters on
wood and plaster. Chiter is the Hindustani, and Chitari the Marathi
name, both being corruptions of the Sanskrit Chitrakar. Maharana
is the term used in the Uriya country, where the caste are also
known as Phal-Barhai, or a carpenter who only works on one side of
the wood. Chitari is further an occupational term applied to Mochis
and Jingars, or leather-workers, who have adopted the occupation of
wall-painting, and there is no reason to doubt that the Chitaris were
originally derived from the Mochis, though they have now a somewhat
higher position. In Mandla the Chitrakars and Jingars are separate
castes, and do not eat or intermarry with one another. Neither branch
will take water from the Mochis, who make shoes, and some Chitrakars
even refuse to touch them. They say that the founder of their caste
was Biskarma, [473] the first painter, and that their ancestors
were Rajputs, whose country was taken by Akbar. As they were without
occupation Akbar then assigned to them the business of making saddles
and bridles for his cavalry and scabbards for their swords. It is not
unlikely that the Jingar caste did really originate or first become
differentiated from the Mochis and Chamars in Rajputana owing to the
demand for such articles, and this would account for the Mochis and
Jingars having adopted Rajput names for their sections, and making
a claim to Rajput descent. The Chitrakars of Mandla say that their
ancestors belonged to Garha, near Jubbulpore, where the tomb of a
woman of their family who became _sati_ is still to be seen. Garha,
which was once the seat of an important Gond dynasty with a garrison,
would also naturally have been a centre for their craft.
Another legend traces their origin from Chitrarekha, a nymph who
was skilled in painting and magic. She was the friend of a princess
Usha, whose father was king of Sohagpur in Hoshangabad. Usha fell
in love with a beautiful young prince whom she saw in a dream,
and Chitrarekha drew the portraits of many gods and men for her,
until finally Usha recognised the youth of her dream in the portrait
of Aniruddha, the grandson of Krishna. Chitrarekha then by her magic
power brought Aniruddha to Usha, but when her father found him in the
palace he bound him and kept him in prison. On this Krishna appeared
and rescued his grandson, and taking Usha from her father married
them to each other. The Chitaris say that as a reward to Chitrarekha,
Krishna promised her that her descendants should never be in want,
and hence members of their caste do not lack for food even in famine
time. [474] The Chitaris are declining in numbers, as their paintings
are no longer in demand, the people preferring the cheap coloured
prints imported from Germany and England.
2. Social customs.
The caste is a mixed occupational group, and those of Maratha,
Telugu and Hindustani extraction marry among themselves. A few wear
the sacred thread, and abstain from eating flesh or drinking liquor,
while the bulk of them do not observe these restrictions.
Among the Jingars women accompany the marriage procession, but not
with the Chitaris.
Widow-marriage is allowed, but among the Maharanas a wife who has lived
with her husband may not marry any one except his younger brother,
and if there are none she must remain a widow. In Mandla, if a widow
marries her younger brother-in-law, half her first husband's property
goes to him finally, and half to the first husband's children. If she
marries an outsider she takes her first husband's property and children
with her. Formerly if a wife misbehaved the Chitari sometimes sold
her to the highest bidder, but this custom has fallen into abeyance,
and now if a man divorces his wife her father usually repays to him
the expenses of his marriage. These he realises in turn from any
man who takes his daughter. A second wife worships the spirit of
the dead first wife on the day of Akhatij, offering some food and a
breast-cloth, so that the spirit may not trouble her.
3. Birth and childhood.
A pregnant woman must stay indoors during an eclipse; if she goes out
and sees it they believe that her child will be born deformed. They
think that a woman in this condition must be given any food which
she takes a fancy for, so far as may be practicable, as to thwart her
desires would affect the health of the child. Women in this condition
sometimes have a craving for eating earth; then they will eat either
the scrapings or whitewash from the walls, or black clay soil, or
the ashes of cowdung cakes to the extent of a small handful a day. A
woman's first child should be born in her father-in-law's or husband's
house if possible, but at any rate not in her father's house. And if
she should be taken with the pangs of travail while on a visit to her
own family, they will send her to some other house for her child to be
born. The ears of boys and the ears and nostrils of girls are pierced,
and until this is done they are not considered to be proper members
of the caste and can take food from any one's hand. The Chitaris of
Mandla permit a boy to do this until he is married. A child's hair is
not shaved when it is born, but this should be done once before it is
three years old, whether it be a boy or girl. After this the hair may
be allowed to grow, and shaved off or simply cut as they prefer. Except
in the case of illness a girl's hair is only shaved once, and that
of an adult woman is never cut, unless she becomes a widow and makes
a pilgrimage to a sacred place, when it is shaved off as an offering.
4. The evil eye.
In order to avert the evil eye they hang round a child's neck a nut
called _bajar-battu_, the shell of which they say will crack and
open if any one casts the evil eye on the child. If it is placed in
milk the two parts will come together again. They also think that
the nut attracts the evil eye and absorbs its effect, and the child
is therefore not injured. If they think that some one has cast the
evil eye on a child, they say a charm, '_Ishwar, Gauri, Parvati ke an
nazar dur ho jao_,' or 'Depart, Evil Eye, in the name of Mahadeo and
Parvati,' and as they say this they blow on the child three times;
or they take some salt, chillies and mustard in their hand and wave
it round the child's head and say, '_Telin ki lagi ho, Tamolin ki
lagi ho, Mararin ki ho, Gorania (Gondin) ki ho, oke, oke, parparake
phut jawe_,' 'If it be a Telin, Tambolin, Mararin or Gondin who has
cast the evil eye, may her eyes crack and fall out.' And at the same
time they throw the mustard, chillies and salt on the fire so that
the eyes of her who cast the evil eye may crack and fall out as these
things crackle in the fire.
If tiger's claws are used for an amulet, the points must be turned
outwards. If any one intends to wish luck to a child, he says, '_Tori
balayan leun_,' and waves his hands round the child's head several
times to signify that he takes upon himself all the misfortunes which
are to happen to the child. Then he presses the knuckles of his hands
against the sides of his own head till they crack, which is a lucky
omen, averting calamity. If the knuckles do not crack at the first
attempt, it is repeated two or three times. When a man sneezes he will
say 'Chatrapati,' which is considered to be a name of Devi, but is
only used on this occasion. But some say nothing. After yawning they
snap their fingers, the object of which, they say, is to drive away
sleep, as otherwise the desire will become infectious and attack others
present. But if a child yawns they sometimes hold one of their hands
in front of his mouth, and it is probable that the original meaning
of the custom was to prevent evil spirits from entering through the
widely opened mouth, or the yawner's own soul or spirit from escaping;
and the habit of holding the hand before the mouth from politeness
when yawning inadvertently may be a reminiscence of this.
5. Cradle-songs.
The following are some cradle-songs taken down from a Chitrakar,
but probably used by most of the lower Hindu castes:
1. Mother, rock the cradle of your pretty child. What is the
cradle made of, and what are its tassels made of?
The cradle is made of sandalwood, its tassels are of silk.
Some Gaolin (milkwoman) has overlooked the child, he vomits up
his milk.
Dasoda [475] shall wave salt and mustard round his head, and he
shall play in my lap.
My baby is making little steps. O Sunar, bring him tinkling
anklets!
The Sunar shall bring anklets for him, and my child will go to
the garden and there we will eat oranges and lemons.
2. My Krishna's tassel is lost, Tell me, some one, where it is. My
child is angry and will not come into my arms.
The tears are falling from his eyes like blossoms from the _bela_
[476] flower.
He has bangles on his wrists and anklets on his feet, on his head
a golden crown and round his waist a silver chain.
The _jhumri_ or tassel referred to above is a tassel adorned with
cowries and hung from the top of the cradle so that the child may
keep his eyes on it while the cradle is being rocked.
3. Sleep, sleep, my little baby; I will wave my hands round your
head [477] on the banks of the Jumna. I have cooked hot cakes
for you and put butter in them; all the night you lay awake,
now take your fill of sleep.
The little mangoes are hanging on the tree; the rope is in the
well; sleep thou till I go and come back with water.
I will hang your cradle on the banyan tree, and its rope to the
pipal tree; I will rock my darling gently so that the rope shall
never break.
The last song may be given in the vernacular as a specimen:
4. Ram ki Chireya, Ram ko khet.
Khaori Chireya, bhar, bhar pet.
Tan munaiyan kha lao khet,
Agao, labra, gali det;
Kahe ko, labra, gali de;
Apni bhuntia gin, gin le.
or--
The field is Rama's, the little birds are Rama's; O birds, eat
your fill; the little birds have eaten up the corn.
The surly farmer has come to the field and scolds them; the little
birds say, 'O farmer, why do you scold us? count your ears of
maize, they are all there.'
This song commemorates a favourite incident in the life of Tulsi Das,
the author of the Ramayana, who when he was a little boy was once
sent by his _guru_ to watch the crop. But after some time the _guru_
came and found the field full of birds eating the corn and Tulsi Das
watching them. When asked why he did not scare them away, he said,
'Are they not as much the creatures of Rama as I am? how should I
deprive them of food?'
6. Occupation.
The Chitaris pursue their old trade, principally in Nagpur city,
where the taste for wall-paintings still survives; and they decorate
the walls of houses with their crude red and blue colours. But
they have now a number of other avocations. They paint pictures
on paper, making their colours from the tins of imported aniline
dyeing-powders which are sold in the bazar; but there is little
demand for these. They make small pictures of the deities which
the people hang on their walls for a day and then throw away. They
also paint the bodies of the men who pretend to be tigers at the
Muharram festival, for which they charge a rupee. They make the clay
paper-covered masks of monkeys and demons worn by actors who play the
Ramlila or story of Rama on the Ramnaomi festival in Chait (March);
they also make the _tazias_ or representations of the tomb of Hussain
and paper figures of human beings with small clay heads, which are
carried in the Muharram procession. They make marriage crowns; the
frames of these are of conical shape with a half-moon at the top,
made from strips of bamboo; they are covered with red paper picked
out with yellow and green and with tinfoil, and are ornamented with
borders of date-palm leaves. The crowns cost from four annas to a
rupee each. They make the artificial flowers used at weddings; these
are stuck on a bamboo stick and at the arrival and departure of the
bridegroom are scrambled for by the guests, who take them home as
keepsakes or give them to their children for playthings. The flowers
copied are the lotus, rose and chrysanthemum, and the imitations are
quite good. Sometimes the bridegroom is surrounded by trays or boxes
of flowers, carried in procession and arranged so as to look as if
they were planted in beds. Other articles made by the Chitrakar are
paper fans, paper globes for hanging to the roofs of houses, Chinese
lanterns made either of paper or of mica covered with paper, and
small caps of velvet embroidered with gold lace. At the Akti festival
[478] they make pairs of little clay dolls, dressing them as male and
female, and sell them in red lacquered bamboo baskets, and the girls
take them to the jungle and pretend that they are married. Formerly
the Chitrakars made clay idols for temples, but these have been
supplanted by marble images imported from Jaipur. The Jingars make
the cloth saddles on which natives ride, and some of them bind books,
the leather for which is made from goat-skin, and is not considered so
impure as that made from the hides of cattle. But one class of them,
who are considered inferior, make leather harness from cow-hide and
buffalo-hide.
Chitrakathi
_Chitrakathi, Hardas._ [479]--A small caste of religious mendicants
and picture showmen in the Maratha Districts. In 1901 they numbered 200
persons in the Central Provinces and 1500 in Berar, being principally
found in the Amraoti District. The name, Mr. Enthoven writes, [480]
is derived from _chitra,_ a picture, and _katha_, a story, and the
professional occupation of the caste is to travel about exhibiting
pictures of heroes and gods, and telling stories about them. The
community is probably of mixed functional origin, for in Bombay
they have exogamous section-names taken from those of the Marathas,
as Jadhow, More, Powar and so on, while in the Central Provinces
and Berar an entirely different set is found. Here several sections
appear to be named after certain offices held or functions performed
by their members at the caste feasts. Thus the Atak section are the
caste headmen; the Mankari appear to be a sort of substitute for the
Atak or their grand viziers, the word Mankar being primarily a title
applied to Maratha noblemen, who held an official position at court;
the Bhojni section serve the food at marriage and other ceremonies;
the Kakra arrange for the lighting; the Kotharya are store-keepers; and
the Ghoderao (from _ghoda_, a horse) have the duty of looking after the
horses and bullock-carts of the castemen who assemble. The Chitrakathis
are really no doubt the same caste as the Chitaris or Chitrakars
(painters) of the Central Provinces, and, like them, a branch of the
Mochis (tanners), and originally derived from the Chamars. But as the
Berar Chitrakathis are migratory instead of settled, and in other
respects differ from the Chitaris, they are treated in a separate
article. Marriage within the section is forbidden, and, besides this,
members of the Atak and Mankari sections cannot intermarry as they are
considered to be related, being divisions of one original section. The
social customs of the caste resemble those of the Kunbis, but they
bury their dead in a sitting posture, with the face to the east, and
on the eighth day erect a platform over the grave. At the festival
of Akhatij (3rd of light Baisakh) [481] they worship a vessel of
water in honour of their dead ancestors, and in Kunwar (September)
they offer oblations to them. Though not impure, the caste occupy a
low social position, and are said to prostitute their married women
and tolerate sexual licence on the part of unmarried girls. Mr. Kitts
[482] describes them as "Wandering mendicants, sometimes suspected
of associating with Kaikaris for purposes of crime; but they seem
nevertheless to be a comparatively harmless people. They travel about
in little huts like those used by the Waddars; the men occasionally
sell buffaloes and milk; the women beg, singing and accompanying
themselves on the _thali_. The old men also beg, carrying a flag in
their hand, and shouting the name of their god, Hari Vithal (from
which they derive their name of Hardas). They are fond of spirits,
and, when drunk, become pot-valiant and troublesome." The _thali_
or plate on which their women play is also known as _sarthada_, and
consists of a small brass dish coated with wax in the centre; this is
held on the thigh and a pointed stick is moved in a circle so as to
produce a droning sound. The men sometimes paint their own pictures,
and in Bombay they have a caste rule that every Chitrakathi must have
in his house a complete set of sacred pictures; this usually includes
forty representations of Rama's life, thirty-five of that of the sons
of Arjun, forty of the Pandavas, forty of Sita and Rawan, and forty
of Harishchandra. The men also have sets of puppets representing the
above and other deities, and enact scenes with them like a Punch and
Judy show, sometimes aided by ventriloquism.
Cutchi
1. General notice.
_Cutchi_ or _Meman, Kachhi, Muamin._--A class of Muhammadan merchants
who come every year from Gujarat and Cutch to trade in the towns of
the Central Provinces, where they reside for eight months, returning to
their houses during the four months of the rainy season. In 1911 they
numbered about 2000 persons, of whom five-sixths were men, this fact
indicating the temporary nature of their settlements. Nevertheless a
large proportion of the trade of the Province is in their hands. The
caste is fully and excellently described by Khan Bahadur Fazalullah
Lutfullah Faridi, Assistant Collector of Customs, Bombay, in the
_Bombay Gazetteer_. [483] He remarks of them: "As shopkeepers and
miscellaneous dealers Cutchis are considered to be the most successful
of Muhammadans. They owe their success in commerce to their freedom
from display and their close and personal attention to and keen
interest in business. The richest Meman merchant does not disdain to
do what a Parsi in his position would leave to his clerks. Their hope
and courage are also excellent endowments. They engage without fear in
any promising new branch of trade and are daring in their ventures,
a trait partly inherited from their Lohana ancestors, and partly due
to their faith in the luck which the favour of their saints secures
them." Another great advantage arises from their method of trading
in small corporations or companies of a number of persons either
relations or friends. Some of these will have shops in the great
centres of trade, Bombay and Calcutta, and others in different places
in the interior. Each member then acts as correspondent and agent for
all the others, and puts what business he can in their way. Many are
also employed as assistants and servants in the shops; but at the end
of the season, when all return to their native Gujarat, the profits
from the different shops are pooled and divided among the members
in varying proportion. By this method they obtain all the advantages
which are recognised as attaching to co-operative trading.
2. Origin of the caste.
According to Mr. Faridi, from whose description the remainder of
this article is mainly taken, the Memans or more correctly Muamins or
'Believers' are converts from the Hindu caste of Lohanas of Sind. They
venerate especially Maulana Abdul Kadir Gilani who died at Baghdad in
A.D. 1165. His sixth descendant, Syed Yusufuddin Kordiri, was in 1421
instructed in a dream to proceed to Sind and guide its people into
the way of Islam. On his arrival he was received with honour by the
local king, who was converted, and the ruler's example was followed
by one Manikji, the head of one of the _nukhs_ or clans of the Lohana
community. He with his three sons and seven hundred families of the
caste embraced Islam, and on their conversion the title of Muamin or
'Believer' was conferred on them by the saint. It may be noted that
Colonel Tod derives the Lohanas from the Rajputs, remarking of them:
[484] "This tribe is numerous both in Dhat and Talpura; formerly
they were Rajputs, but betaking themselves to commerce have fallen
into the third class. They are scribes and shopkeepers, and object
to no occupation that will bring a subsistence; and as to food, to
use the expressive idiom of this region where hunger spurns at law,
'Excepting their cats and their cows they will eat anything.'" In his
account of Sind, Postans says of the Lohanas: "The Hindu merchants and
bankers have agents in the most remote parts of Central Asia and could
negotiate bills upon Candahar, Khelat, Cabul, Khiva, Herat, Bokhara or
any other marts of that country. These agents, in the pursuit of their
calling, leave Sind for many years, quitting their families to locate
themselves among the most savage and intolerant tribes." This account
could equally apply to the Khatris, who also travel over Central Asia,
as shown in the article on that caste; and if, as seems not improbable,
the Lohanas and Khatris are connected, the hypothesis that the former,
like the latter, are derived from Rajputs would receive some support.
The present Pir or head of the community is Sayyid Jafir Shah, who is
nineteenth in descent from Yusufuddin and lives partly in Bombay and
partly in Mundra of South Cutch. "At an uncertain date," Mr. Faridi
continues, "the Lohana or Cutchi Memans passed from Cutch south through
Kathiawar to Gujarat. They are said to have been strong and wealthy
in Surat during the period of its prosperity (1580-1680). As Surat
sank the Cutchi Memans moved to Bombay. Outside Cutch and Kathiawar,
which may be considered their homes, the Memans are scattered over the
cities of north and south Gujarat and other Districts of Bombay. Beyond
that Presidency they have spread as traders and merchants and formed
settlements in Calcutta, Madras, the Malabar Coast, South Burma,
Siam, Singapore and Java; in the ports of the Arabian Peninsula,
except Muscat, where they have been ousted by the Khojas; and in
Mozambique, Zanzibar and the East African Coast." [485] They have
two divisions in Bombay, known as Cutchi or Kachhi and Halai.
3. Social customs.
Cutchis and Memans retain some non-Muhammadan usages. The principal
of these is that they do not allow their daughters and widows to
inherit according to the rule of Muhammadan law. [486] They conduct
their weddings by the Nikah form and the _mehar_ or dowry is always
the same sum of a hundred and twenty-five rupees, whatever may be the
position of the parties and in the case of widows also. They say that
either party may be divorced by the other for conjugal infidelity, but
the _mehar_ or dowry must always be paid to the wife in the case of a
divorce. The caste eat flesh and fowls and abstain from liquor. Most
of them also decline to eat beef as a consequence of their Hindu
ancestry and they will not take food from Hindus of low caste.
Dahait [487]
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin of the caste._
2. _Internal structure: totemism._
3. _Marriage and other customs._
4. _Social position._
5. _Former occupations, door-keeper and mace-bearer._
6. _The umbrella._
7. _Significance of the umbrella._
1. Origin of the caste.
_Dahait, Dahayat._--A mixed caste of village watchmen of the Jubbulpore
and Mandla Districts, who are derived from the cognate caste of
Khangars and from several of the forest tribes. In 1911 the Dahaits
numbered about 15,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom the
large majority were found in the Jubbulpore District and the remainder
in Bilaspur, Damoh and Seoni. Outside the Province they reside only
in Bundelkhand. According to one story the Dahaits and Khangars had a
common ancestor, and in Mandla again they say that their ancestors were
the door-keepers of the Rajas of Mahoba, and were known as Chhadidar or
Darwan; and they came to Mandla about 200 years ago, during the time
of Raja Nizam Shah of the Raj-Gond dynasty of that place. In Mandla
the names of their subdivisions are given as Rawatia or Rautia, Kol,
Mawasi, Sonwani and Rajwaria. Of these Kol and Rajwar are the names
of separate tribes; Mawasi is commonly used as a synonym for Korku,
another tribe; Sonwani is the name of a sept found among several of
the primitive tribes; while Rawat is a title borne by the Saonrs and
Gonds. The names Rautia and Rajwaria are found as subdivisions of the
Kol tribe in Mirzapur, [488] and it is not improbable that the Dahaits
are principally derived from this tribe. The actual name Dahait is also
given by Mr. Crooke as a subdivision of the Kols, and he states it to
have the meaning of 'villager,' from _dehat_, a village. The Dahaits
were a class of personal attendants on the chief or Raja, as will be
seen subsequently. They stood behind the royal cushion and fanned him,
ran in front of his chariot or litter to clear the way, and acted as
door-keepers and ushers. Service of this kind is of a menial nature
and, further, demands a considerable degree of physical robustness;
and hence members of the non-Aryan forest tribes would naturally
be selected for it. And it would appear that these menial servants
gradually formed themselves into a caste in Bundelkhand and became the
Dahaits. They obtained a certain rise in status, and now rank in the
position of village menials above their parent tribes. In the Central
Provinces the Dahaits have commonly been employed as village watchmen,
a post analogous to that of door-keeper or porter. The caste are also
known as Bhaldar or spearmen, and Kotwar or village watchmen.
2. Internal structure: totemism.
The subcastes returned from the Mandla District have already been
mentioned. In Bilaspur they have quite different ones, of which two,
Joharia and Pailagia, are derived from methods of greeting. Johar
is the salutation which a Rajput prince sends to a vassal or chief
of inferior rank, and Pailagi or 'I fall at your feet' is that with
which a member of a lower caste accosts a Brahman. How such names
came to be adopted as subcastes cannot be explained. The caste have
a number of exogamous groups named after plants and animals. Members
of the Bel, [489] Rusallo and Chheola [490] septs revere the trees
after which these septs are named. They will not cut or injure
the tree, and at the time of marriage they go and invite it to be
present at the ceremony. They offer to the tree the _maihar_ cake,
which is given only to the members of the family and the husbands
and children of daughters. Those belonging to the Nagotia sept [491]
will not kill a snake, and at the time of marriage they deposit the
_maihar_ cake at a snake-hole. Members of the Singh (lion) and Bagh
(tiger) septs will not kill a tiger, and at their weddings they draw
his image on a wall and offer the cake to it, being well aware that
if they approached the animal himself, he would probably repudiate
the relationship and might not be satisfied with the cake for his meal.
3. Marriage and other customs.
Prior to a marriage a bride-price, known as _sukh_ or _chari_,
and consisting of six rupees with some sugar, turmeric and sesamum
oil, must be paid by the parents of the bridegroom to those of the
bride; and in the absence of this they will decline to perform the
ceremony. At the wedding the couple go round the sacred post, and then
the bridegroom mingles the flames of two burning lamps and pierces the
nose of the image of a bullock made in flour. This rite is performed
by several castes, and is said to be in commemoration of Krishna's
having done so on different occasions. It is probably meant to excuse
or legitimise the real operation, which should properly be considered
as sinful in view of the sacred character of the animal. And it may
be mentioned here that the people of the Vindhyan or Bundelkhand
Districts where the Dahaits live do not perforate the nostrils of
bullocks, and drive them simply by a rope tied round the mouth. In
consequence they have little control over them and are quite unable
to stop a cart going downhill, which simply proceeds at the will
of the animals until it reaches the level or bangs up against some
obstacle. In Bilaspur a widow is expected to remain single for five
years after her husband's death, and if she marries within that time
she is put out of caste. Divorce is permitted, but is not of frequent
occurrence. The caste will excuse a married woman caught in adultery
once, but on a second offence she must be expelled. If a woman leaves
her husband and goes to live with another man, the latter must repay to
her husband the amount expended on his marriage. But in such a case,
if the woman was already a widow or _kari aurat_, [492] no penalty
is incurred by a man who takes her from her second husband. A man of
any good cultivating caste who has a _liaison_ with a Dahait woman
will be admitted into the community. An outsider who desires to
become a member of the caste must clean his house, break his earthen
cooking-pots and buy new ones, and give a meal to the caste-fellows
at his house. He sits and takes food with them, and when the meal
is over he takes a grain of rice from the leaf-plate of each guest
and eats it, and drinks a drop of water from his leaf-cup. This act
is equivalent to eating the leavings of food, and after it he cannot
re-enter his own caste. On such occasions a rupee and a piece of cloth
must be given to the headman of the caste, and a piece of cloth to
each member of the _panchayat_ or committee. The headman is known
as Mirdhan, and a member of the committee as Diwan, the offices of
both being hereditary. The caste worship the Hindu and village gods
of the locality. They have a curious belief that the skull of a man
of the Kayasth (writer) caste cannot be burnt in fire, and that if
it is placed in a dwelling-house the inmates will quarrel. A child's
first teeth, if found, are thrown into a sacred river or on to the
roof of a house with a few grains of rice, in order that the second
teeth may grow white and pointed like the rice. The Jhalar or first
hair of a boy or girl is cut between two and ten years of age and is
wrapped in a piece of dough and thrown into a sacred river. Women are
tattooed on the back of the hands, and also sometimes on the shoulder
and the arms above the elbow, but not on the feet or face.
4. Social position.
The Dahaits are now commonly employed as village watchmen and as guards
or porters (_chaukidar_) of houses. In Bilaspur they also carry litters
and work as navvies and stonebreakers like the Kols. Here they will
eat pork, but in Jubbulpore greater regard is paid to Hindu prejudice,
and they have given up pork and fowls and begun to employ Brahmans
for their ceremonies. The men of the caste will accept cooked food
from any man of the higher castes or those cultivators from whom a
Brahman will take water, but the women are more strict and will only
accept it from a Brahman, Bania, Lodhi or Kurmi.
5. Former occupations: door-keeper and mace-bearer.
In past times the Dahaits were the personal attendants on the
king. They fanned him with the _chaur_ or yak-tail whisk when he sat in
state on the royal cushion. This implement is held sacred and is also
used by Brahmans to fan the deities. On ordinary occasions the Raja
was fanned by a pankha made of _khaskhas_ grass and wetted, but not
so that the water fell on his head. They also acted as gate-keepers
of the palace, and had the title of Darwan. The gate-keeper's post
was a responsible one, as it lay on him to see that no one with evil
intentions or carrying secret arms was admitted to the palace. Whenever
a chief or noble came to visit the king he deposited his arms with
the porter or door-keeper. The necessity of a faithful door-keeper is
shown in the proverb: "With these five you must never quarrel: your
Guru, your wife, your gate-keeper, your doctor and your cook." The
reasons for the inclusion of the others are fairly clear. On the
other hand the gate-porter had usually to be propitiated before
access was obtained to his master, like the modern chuprassie; and the
resentment felt at his rapacity is shown in the proverb: "The broker,
the octroi moharrir, the door-keeper and the bard: these four will
surely go to hell." The Darwan or door-keeper would be given the
right to collect dues, equivalent to those of a village watchman,
from forty or fifty villages. The Dahaits also carried the _chob_
or silver mace before the king. This was about five feet long with
a knob at the upper end as thick as a man's wrist. The mace-bearer
was known as Chobdar, and it was his duty to carry messages and
announce visitors; this latter function he performed with a degree of
pomposity truly Asiatic, dwelling with open mouth very audibly on some
of the most sounding and emphatic syllables in a way that appeared to
strangers almost ludicrous, [493] as shown in the following instance:
"On advancing, the Chobdars or heralds proclaimed the titles of this
princely cow-keeper in the usual hyperbolical style. One of the most
insignificant-looking men I ever saw then became the destroyer of
nations, the leveller of mountains, the exhauster of the ocean. After
commanding every inferior mortal to make way for this exalted prince,
the heralds called aloud to the animal creation, 'Retire, ye serpents;
fly, ye locusts; approach not, iguanas, lizards and reptiles, while
your lord and master condescends to set his foot on the earth.'" [494]
The Dahaits ran before the Raja's chariot or litter to clear the way
for him and announce his coming; and it was also a principal business
of the caste to carry the royal umbrella above the head of the king.
6. The umbrella.
The umbrella was the essential symbol of sovereignty in Asia like the
crown in Europe. "Among the ancient Egyptians the umbrella carried
with it a mark of distinction, and persons of quality alone could use
it. The Assyrians reserved it for royal personages only. The umbrella
or parasol, says Layard, that emblem of royalty so universally
adopted by Eastern nations, was generally carried over the king in
time of peace and sometimes even in war. In shape it resembled very
closely those now in common use; but it is always seen open in the
sculptures. It was edged with tassels and usually decorated at the top
by a flower or some other ornament. The Greeks used it as a mystic
symbol in some of their sacred festivals, and the Romans introduced
the custom of hanging an umbrella in the basilican churches as a part
of the insignia of office of the judge sitting in the basilica. It is
said that on the judgment hall being turned into a church the umbrella
remained, and in fact occupied the place of the canopy over thrones
and the like; and Beatian, an Italian herald, says that a vermilion
umbrella in a field argent symbolises dominion. It is also believed
that the cardinal's hat is a modification of the umbrella in the
basilican churches. The king of Burma is proud to call himself The Lord
of Twenty-four Umbrellas, and the Emperor of China carries that number
even to the hunting-field." [495] In Buddhist architecture the 'Wheel
of Light' symbolising Buddha is overshadowed by an umbrella, itself
adorned with garlands. At Sanchi we find sculptured representations
of two and even three umbrellas placed one above the other over the
temples, the double and triple canopies of which appear to be fixed
to the same handle or staff as in the modern state umbrellas of China
and Burma. Thus we have the primary idea of the accumulated honour of
stone or metal discs which subsequently became such a prominent feature
of Buddhist architecture, culminating in the many-storied pagodas of
China and Japan. [496] Similarly in Hindu temples the pinnacle often
stands on a circular stone base, probably representing an umbrella.
The umbrella of state was apparently not black like its successor of
commerce, but of white or another colour, though the colour is seldom
recorded. Sometimes it was of peacock's feathers, the symbol of the
Indian war-god, and as seen above, in Italy it was of red, the royal
colour. It has been suggested that the halo originally represented
an umbrella, and there is no reason to doubt that the umbrella was
the parent of the state canopy.
7. Significance of the umbrella.
It has been supposed that the reason for carrying the umbrella above
the king's head was to veil his eyes from his subjects, and prevent
them from being injured by the magical power of his glance. [497]
But its appearance on temples perhaps rather militates against this
view. Possibly it may have merely served as a protection or covering
to the king's head, the head being considered especially sacred
as the seat of life. The same idea is perhaps at the root of the
objection felt by Hindus to being seen abroad without a covering on
the head. It seems likely that the umbrella may have been held to be
a representation of the sky or firmament. The Muhammadans conjoined
with it an _aftada_ or sun-symbol; this was an imitation of the sun,
embroidered in gold upon crimson velvet and fixed on a circular
framework which was borne aloft upon a gold or silver staff. [498]
Both were carried over the head of any royal personage, and the
association favours the idea that the umbrella represents the sky,
while the king's head might be considered analogous to the sun. When
one of the early Indian monarchs made extensive conquests, the annexed
territories were described as being brought under his umbrella;
of the king Harsha-Vardhana (606-648 A.D.) it is recorded that he
prosecuted a methodical scheme of conquest with the deliberate object
of bringing all India under one umbrella, that is, of constituting
it into one state. This phrase seems to support the idea that the
umbrella symbolised the firmament. Similarly, when Visvamitra sent
beautiful maidens to tempt the good king Harischandra he instructed
them to try and induce the king to marry them, and if he would not do
this, to ask him for the Puchukra Undi or State Umbrella, which was
the emblem of the king's protecting power over his kingdom, with the
idea that that power would be destroyed by its loss. Chhatrapati or
Lord of the Umbrella was the proudest title of an Indian king. When
Sivaji was enthroned in 1674 he proclaimed himself as Pinnacle
of the Kshatriya race and Lord of the Royal Umbrella. All these
instances seem to indicate that some powerful significance, such as
that already suggested, attached to the umbrella. Several tribes,
as the Gonds and Mundas, have a legend that their earliest king was
born of poor parents, and that one day his mother, having left the
child under some tree while she went to her work, returned to find a
cobra spreading its hood over him. The future royal destiny of the
boy was thus predicted. It is commonly said that the cobra spread
its hood over the child to guard it from the heat of the sun, but
such protection would perhaps scarcely seem very important to such
a people as the Gonds, and the mother would naturally also leave the
child in the shade. It seems a possible hypothesis that the cobra's
hood really symbolised the umbrella, the principal emblem of royal
rank, and it was in this way that the child's great destiny was
predicted. In this connection it may be noticed that one of the Jain
Tirthakars, Parasnath, is represented in sculpture with an umbrella
over his head; but some Jains say that the carving above the saint's
head is not an umbrella but a cobra's hood. Even after it had ceased
to be the exclusive appanage of the king, the umbrella was a sign of
noble rank, and not permitted to the commonalty.
The old Anglo-Indian term for an umbrella was 'roundel,' an early
English word, applied to a variety of circular objects, as a mat
under a dish, or a target, and in its form of 'arundel' to the conical
handguard on a lance. [499] An old Indian writer says: "Roundels are
in these warm climates very necessary to keep the sun from scorching
a man, they may also be serviceable to keep the rain off; most men
of account maintain one, two or three roundeliers, whose office
is only to attend their master's motion; they are very light but
of exceeding stiffness, being for the most part made of rhinoceros
hide, very decently painted and guilded with what flowers they best
admire. Exactly in the midst thereof is fixed a smooth handle made
of wood, by which the Roundelier doth carry it, holding it a foot or
more above his master's head, directing the centre thereof as opposite
to the sun as possibly he may. Any man whatever that will go to the
charge of it, which is no great matter, may have one or more Katysols
to attend him but not a Roundel; unless he be a Governor or one of
the Council. The same custom the English hold good amongst their own
people, whereby they may be distinguished by the natives." [500] The
Katysol was a Chinese paper and bamboo sunshade, and the use of them
was not prohibited. It was derived from the Portuguese _quito-sol_,
or that which keeps off the sun. [501] An extract from the _Madras
Standing Orders_, 1677-78, prescribed: "That except by the members
of this Council, those that have formerly been in that quality,
Chiefs of Factories, Commanders of Ships out of England, and the
Chaplains, Rundells shall not be worn by any men in this town, and
by no woman below the degree of Factors' Wives and Ensigns' Wives,
except by such as the Governor shall permit." [502] Another writer
in 1754 states: "Some years before our arrival in the country, they
(the E. I. Co.) found such sumptuary laws so absolutely necessary,
that they gave the strictest orders that none of these young gentlemen
should be allowed even to hire a Roundel boy, whose business it is
to walk by his master and defend him with his Roundel or umbrella
from the heat of the sun. A young fellow of humour, upon this last
order coming over, altered the form of his Umbrella from a round to
a square, called it a Squaredel instead of a Roundel, and insisted
that no order yet in force forbade him the use of it." [503] The fact
that the Anglo-Indians called the umbrella a roundel and regarded it
as a symbol of sovereignty or nobility indicates that it was not yet
used in England; and this Mr. Skeat shows to be correct. "The first
umbrella used in England by a man in the open street for protection
against rain is usually said to have been that carried by Jonas Hanway,
a great traveller, who introduced it on his return from Paris about
1750, some thirty years before it was generally adopted.
"Some kind of umbrella was, however, occasionally used by ladies at
least so far back as 1709; and a fact not generally known is that
from about the year 1717 onwards, a 'parish' umbrella, resembling the
more recent 'family' umbrella of the nineteenth century, was employed
by the priest at open-air funerals, as the church accounts of many
places testify." [504] This ecclesiastical use of the umbrella may
have been derived from its employment as a symbol in Italian churches,
as seen above. The word umbrella is derived through the Italian from
the Latin _umbra_, shade, and in mediaeval times a state umbrella
was carried over the Doge or Duke at Venice on the occasion of any
great ceremony. [505]
Even recently it is said that in Saugor no Bania dare go past a Bundela
Rajput's house without getting down from his pony and folding up his
umbrella. In Hindu slang a 'Chhatawali' or carrier of an umbrella was a
term for a smart young man; as in the line, 'An umbrella has two kinds
of ribs; two women are quarrelling for the love of him who carries
it.' Now that the umbrella is free to all, and may be bought for a
rupee or less in the bazar, the prestige which once attached to it
has practically disappeared. But some flavour of its old associations
may still cling to it in the minds of the sais and ayah who proudly
parade to a festival carrying umbrellas spread over them to shade
their dusky features from the sun; though the Raja, in obedience to
the dictates of fashion, has discarded the umbrella for a _sola-topi_.
Daharia
1. Origin and traditions.
_Daharia._ [506]--A caste of degraded Rajputs found in Bilaspur and
Raipur, and numbering about 2000 persons. The Daharias were originally
a clan of Rajputs but, like several others in the Central Provinces,
they have now developed into a caste and marry among themselves, thus
transgressing the first rule of Rajput exogamy. Colonel Tod included
the Daharias among the thirty-six royal races of Rajasthan. [507]
Their name is derived from Dahar or Dahal, the classical term for
the Jubbulpore country at the period when it formed the dominion
of the Haihaya or Kalachuri Rajput kings of Tripura or Tewar near
Jubbulpore. This dynasty had an era of their own, commencing in
A.D. 248, and their line continued until the tenth or eleventh
century. The Arabian geographer Alberuni (born a.d. 973) mentions the
country of Dahal and its king Gangeya Deva. His son Karna Daharia is
still remembered as the builder of temples in Karanbel and Bilahri
in Jubbulpore, and it is from him that the Daharia Rajputs take
their name. The Haihaya dynasty of Ratanpur were related to the
Kalachuri kings of Tewar, and under them the ancestors of the Daharia
Rajputs probably migrated from Jubbulpore into Chhattisgarh. But
they themselves have forgotten their illustrious origin, and tell a
different story to account for their name. They say that they came from
Baghelkhand or Rewah, which may well be correct, as Rewah lies between
Chhattisgarh and Jubbulpore, and a large colony of Kalachuri Rajputs
may still be found about ten miles north-east of Rewah town. The
Daharias relate that when Parasurama, the great Brahman warrior, was
slaying the Kshatriyas, a few of them escaped towards Ratanpur and were
camping in the forest by the wayside. Parasurama came up and asked
them who they were, and they said they were _Daharias_ or wayfarers,
from _dahar_ the Chhattisgarhi term for a road or path; and thus they
successfully escaped the vengeance of Parasurama. This futile fiction
only demonstrates the real ignorance of their Brahman priests, who, if
they had known a little history, need not have had recourse to their
invention to furnish the Daharias with a distinguished pedigree. A
third derivation is from a word _dahri_ or gate, and they say that the
name of Dahria or Daharia was conferred on them by Bimbaji Bhonsla,
because of the bravery with which they held the gates of Ratanpur
against his attack. But history is against them here, as it records
that Ratanpur capitulated to the Marathas without striking a blow.
2. Sept and subsept.
As already stated, the Daharias were originally a clan of Rajputs,
whose members must take wives or husbands from other clans. They
have now become a caste and marry among themselves, but within the
caste they still have exogamous groups or septs, several of which are
named after Rajput clans as Bais, Chandel, Baghel, Bundela, Mainpuri
Chauhan, Parihar, Rathor and several others. Certain names are not of
Rajput origin, and probably record the admission of outsiders into the
caste. Like the Rajputs, within the sept they have also subsepts, some
of which are taken from the Brahmans, as Parasar, Bharadwaj, Sandilya,
while others are nicknames, as Kachariha (one who does not care about
a beating), Atariha, Hiyas and others. The divisions of the septs and
subsepts are very confused, and seem to indicate that at different
times various foreign elements have been received into the community,
including Rajputs of many different clans. According to rule, a man
should not take a wife whose sept or subsept are the same as his own,
but this is not adhered to; and in some cases the Daharias, on account
of the paucity of their numbers and the difficulty of arranging
matches, have been driven to permit the marriage of first cousins,
which among proper Rajputs is forbidden. They also practise hypergamy,
as members of the Mainpuri Chauhan, Hiyas, Bisen, Surkhi and Bais septs
or subsepts will take girls in marriage from families of other septs,
but will not give their daughters to them. This practice leads to
polygamy among the five higher septs, whose daughters are all married
in their own circle, while in addition they receive girls from the
other groups. Members of these latter also consider it an honour to
marry a daughter into one of the higher septs, and are willing to pay
a considerable price for such a distinction. It seems probable that the
small Daraiha caste of Bilaspur are an inferior branch of the Daharias.
3. Social customs.
The Daharias, in theory at any rate, observe the same rules in
regard to their women as Brahmans and Rajputs. Neither divorce nor
the marriage of widows is permitted, and a woman who goes wrong is
finally expelled from the caste. Their social customs resemble those
of the higher Hindustani castes. When the bridegroom starts for the
wedding he is dressed in a long white gown reaching to the ankles,
with new shoes, and he takes with him a dagger; this serves the
double purpose of warding off evil spirits, always prone to attack
the bridal party, and also of being a substitute for the bridegroom
himself, as in case he should for some unforeseen reason be rendered
unable to appear at the ceremony, the bride could be married to the
dagger as his representative. It may also be mentioned that, before
the bridegroom starts for the wedding, after he has been rubbed with
oil and turmeric for five days he is seated on a wooden plank over
a hole dug in the courtyard and bathed. He then changes his clothes,
and the women bring twenty-one small _chukias_ or cups full of water
and empty them over him. His head is then covered with a piece of
new cloth, and a thread wound round it seven times by a Brahman. The
thread is afterwards removed, and tied round an iron ring with some
mango leaves, and this ring forms the _kankan_ which is tied to the
bridegroom's wrist, a similar one being worn by the bride. Before the
wedding the bride goes round to the houses of her friends, accompanied
by the women of her party singing songs, and by musicians. At each
house the mistress appears with her forehead and the parting of
her hair profusely smeared with vermilion. She rubs her forehead
against the bride's so as to colour it also with vermilion, which
is now considered the symbol of a long and happy married life. The
barber's wife applies red paint to the bride's feet, the gardener's
wife presents her with a garland of flowers, and the carpenter's
wife gives her a new wooden doll. She must also visit the potter's
and washerman's wives, whose benisons are essential; they give her a
new pot and a little rice respectively. When the bridegroom comes to
touch the marriage-shed with his dagger he is resisted by the bride's
sister, to whom he must give a rupee as a present. The binding portion
of the marriage consists in the couple walking seven times round the
marriage-post. At each turn the bridegroom seizes the bride's right
toe and with it upsets one of seven little cups of rice placed near
the marriage-post. This is probably a symbol of fertility. After
it they worship seven pairs of little wooden boxes smeared with
vermilion and called _singhora_ and _singhori_ as if they were male
and female. The bridegroom's father brings two little dough images
of Mahadeo and Parvati as the ideal married pair, and gives them to
the couple. The new husband applies vermilion to his wife's forehead,
and covers and uncovers her head seven times, to signify to her that,
having become a wife, she should henceforth be veiled when she goes
abroad. The bride's maid now washes her face, which probably requires
it, and the wedding is complete. The Daharias usually have a _guru_ or
spiritual preceptor, but husband and wife must not have the same one,
as in that case they would be in the anomalous position of brother and
sister, a _guru's_ disciples being looked upon as his children. The
Daharias were formerly warriors in the service of the Ratanpur kings,
and many families still possess an old sword which they worship on
the day of Dasahra. Their names usually end in Singh or Lal. They
are now engaged in cultivation, and many of them are proprietors of
villages, and tenants. Some of them are employed as constables and
chuprassies, but few are labourers, as they may not touch the plough
with their own hands. They eat the flesh of clean animals, but do not
drink liquor, and avoid onions and tomatoes. They have good features
and fair complexions, the traces of their Rajput blood being quite
evident. Brahmans will take water from them, but they now rank below
Rajputs, on a level with the good cultivating castes.
Dangi
1. Origin and traditions.
_Dangi._--A cultivating caste found almost exclusively in the
Saugor District, which contained 23,000 persons out of a total of
24,000 of the caste in the Central Provinces in 1911. There are also
considerable numbers of them in Rajputana and Central India, from
which localities they probably immigrated into the Saugor District
during the eleventh century. The Dangis were formerly dominant in
Saugor, a part of which was called Dangiwara after them. The kings of
Garhpahra or old Saugor were Dangis, and their family still remains at
the village of Bilehra, which with a few other villages they hold as
a revenue-free grant. The name of the caste is variously derived. The
traditional story is that the Rajput king of Garhpahra detained the
palanquins of twenty-two married women of different castes and kept
them as his wives. The issue of the illicit intercourse were named
Dangis, and there are thus twenty-two subdivisions of the caste,
besides three other subdivisions who are held to be descended from
pure Rajputs. The name is said to be derived from _dang_, fraud,
on account of the above deception. A more plausible derivation is
from the Persian _dang_, a hill, the Dangis being thus hillmen; and
they may not improbably have been a set of robbers and freebooters in
the Vindhyan Hills, like the Gujars and Mewatis in northern India,
naturally recruiting their band from all classes of the population,
as is shown by ingenious implication in this story itself. '_Khet men
bami, gaon men Dangi_,' or 'A Dangi in the village is like the hole
of a snake in one's field' is a proverb which shows the estimation
in which they were formerly held. The three higher septs may have
been their leaders and may well have been Rajputs. Since they have
settled down as respectable cultivators and enjoy a good repute among
their neighbours, the Dangis have disowned the above story, and now
say that they are descended from Raja Dang, a Kachhwaha Rajput king
of Narwar in Central India. Nothing is known of Raja Dang except a
rude couplet which records how he was cheated by a horse-dealer:
Jitki ghori tit gayi
Dang hath karyari rahi,
'The mare bolted to the seller again, leaving in Dang's hand nothing
except the reins.'
The Dangis have a more heroic version of this story to the effect
that the mare was a fairy of Indra's court, who for some reason had
been transformed into this shape and was captured by Raja Dang. He
refused to give her up to Indra and a battle was about to ensue,
when the mare besought them to place her on a pyre and sacrifice her
instead of fighting. They agreed to do this, and out of the flames
of the pyre the fairy emerged and floated up to heaven, leaving only
the reins and bridle of the mare in Raja Dang's hand. Yet a third
story is that their original ancestor was Raja Nipal Singh of Narwar,
and when he was fighting with Indra over the fairy, Krishna came to
Indra's assistance. But Nipal Singh refused to bow down to Krishna,
and being annoyed at this and wishing to teach him a lesson the god
summoned him to his court. At the gate through which Nipal Singh
had to pass, Krishna fixed a sword at the height of a man's neck,
so that he must bend or have his head cut off. But Nipal Singh saw
the trick, and, sitting down, propelled himself through the doorway
with his head erect. The outwitted god remarked, '_Tum bare dandi
ho_,' or 'You are very cunning,' and the name Dandi stuck to Nipal
Singh and was afterwards corrupted to Dangi. There can be little
doubt that the caste are an offshoot of Rajputs of impure blood,
and with a large admixture of other classes of the population. Some
of their sept names indicate their mixed descent, as Rakhya, born
of a potter woman, Dhoniya, born of a washerwoman, and Pavniya, born
of a weaver woman. In past times the Dangis served in the Rajput and
Maratha armies, and a small isolated colony of them is found in one
village of Indora in the Nagpur District, the descendants of Dangis
who engaged in military service under the Bhonsla kings.
2. Caste subdivisions.
The Dangis have no subcastes distinguished by separate names, but they
are divided into three classes, among whom the principle of hypergamy
prevails. As already seen, there were formerly twenty-five clans, of
whom the three highest, the Nahonias, Bhadonias and Nadias, claimed
to be pure Rajputs. The other twenty-two clans are known as Baisa (22)
or Prithwipat Dangis, after the king who is supposed to have been the
ancestor of all the clans. Each of his twenty-two wives is said to have
been given a village for her maintenance, and the clans are named after
these villages. But there are now only thirteen of these local clans
left, and below them is a miscellaneous group of clans, representing
apparently later accretions to the caste. Some of them are named from
the places from which they came, as Mahobia, from Mahoba, Narwaria,
from Narwar, and so on. The Solakhia sept is named after the Solanki
Rajputs, of whom they may be the partly illegitimate descendants. The
Parnami sept are apparently those who have the creed of the Dhamis,
the followers of Prannath of Panna. And as already seen, some are named
from women of low caste, from whom by Dangi fathers they are supposed
to be descended. The whole number of septs is thus divided into three
groups, the highest containing the three quasi-Rajput septs already
mentioned, the next highest the thirteen septs of Prithwipat Dangis,
and the lowest all the other septs. Pure Rajputs will take daughters
in marriage from the highest group, and this in turn takes girls of
the Prithwipat Dangis of the thirteen clans, though neither will give
daughters in return; and the Prithwipat Dangis will similarly accept
the daughters of the miscellaneous septs below them in marriage with
their sons. Matches are, however, not generally arranged according to
the above system of hypergamy, but each group marries among its own
members. Girls who are married into a higher group have to be given
a larger dowry, the fathers often being willing to pay Rs. 500 or
Rs. 1000 for the social distinction which such an alliance confers
on the family. Among the highest septs there is a further difference
between those whose ancestors accepted food from Raja Jai Singh,
the founder of Jaisinghnagar, and those who refused it. The former
are called Sakrodia or those who ate the leavings of others, and
the latter _Deotaon ki sansar_, or the divine Dangis. Pure Rajputs
will take daughters only from the members of the latter group in each
sept. Marriage within the sept or _baink_ is prohibited, and as a rule
a man does not marry a wife belonging to the same sept as his mother
or grandmother. Marriage by exchange also is not allowed, that is,
a girl cannot be married into the same family as that in which her
brother has married.
3. Marriage.
Girls are generally married between seven and twelve and boys
between ten and twenty, but no stigma attaches to a family allowing
an unmarried girl to exceed the age of puberty. The bridegroom should
always be older than the bride. Matches are arranged by the parents,
the horoscopes of the children being compared among the well-to-do. The
zodiacal sign of the boy's horoscope should be stronger than that of
the girl's, so that she may be submissive to him in after-life. Thus
a girl whose zodiac sign is the lion should not be married to a boy
whose sign is the ram, because in that case the wife would dominate
the husband. There is no special rule as to the time of the betrothal,
and the ceremony is very simple, consisting in the presentation of a
cocoanut by the bride's father to the bridegroom's father, and the
distribution of sweets to the caste-fellows. The betrothal is not
considered to have any particularly binding force and either party may
break through it. Among the Dangis a bridegroom-price is usually paid,
which varies according to the social respectability of the boy's sept,
as much as Rs. 2000 having been given for a bridegroom of higher
class according to the rule of hypergamy already described. But no
value is placed on educational qualifications, as is the case among
Brahmans and Kayasths. The marriage ceremony is conducted according
to the ritual prevalent in the northern Districts, and presents no
special features. Two feasts are given by the bride's father to the
caste-fellows, one consisting of _katchi_ food or that which is cooked
with water, and another of _pakki_ food cooked with _ghi_ (butter). If
the bride is of marriageable age the _gauna_ or sending away ceremony
is performed at once, otherwise it takes place in the third or fifth
year after marriage. At the _gauna_ ceremony the bride's cloth is tied
to that of the bridegroom, and they change seats. Widow-marriage is not
fashionable, and the caste say that it is not permitted, but several
instances are known of its having occurred. Divorce is not allowed,
and a woman who goes wrong is finally expelled from the caste. Polygamy
is allowed, and many well-to-do persons have more than one wife.
4. Religious and social customs.
The Dangis pay special reverence to the goddess Durga or Devi as the
presiding deity of war. They worship her during the months of Kunwar
(September) and Chait (March), and at the same time pay reverence to
their weapons of war, their swords and guns, or if they have not got
these, to knives and spears. They burn their dead, but children are
usually buried. They observe mourning for three days for a child and
for ten days for an adult, and on the 13th day the caste-fellows are
feasted. Their family priests, who are Jijhotia Brahmans, used formerly
to shave the head and beard when a death occurred among their clients
as if they belonged to the family, but this practice was considered
derogatory by other Brahmans, and they have now stopped it. The Dangis
perform the _shradhh_ ceremony in the month of Kunwar. The caste wear
the sacred thread, but it is said that they were formerly not allowed
to do so in Bundelkhand. They eat fish and flesh, including that of
wild boars, but not fowls or beef, and they do not drink liquor. They
take _pakki_ food or that cooked without water from Kayasths and
Gahoi Banias, and _katchi_ food, cooked with water, from Jijhotia
and Sanadhya Brahmans. Jijhotia Brahmans formerly took _pakki_ food
from Dangis, but have now ceased to do so. The Dangis require the
services of Brahmans at all ceremonies. They have a caste _panchayat_
or committee. A person who changes his religion or eats with a low
caste is permanently expelled, while temporary exclusion is awarded
for the usual delinquencies. In the case of the more serious offences,
as murder or killing of a cow, the culprit must purify himself by a
pilgrimage to a sacred river.
5. Occupation and character.
The Dangis were formerly, as already stated, of a quarrelsome
temperament, but they have now settled down and, though spirited,
are of a good disposition, and hard-working cultivators. They rank
slightly above the representative cultivating castes owing to their
former dominant position, and are still considered to have a good
conceit of themselves, according to the saying:
Tin men neh terah men,
Mirdang bajawe dere men,
or 'Though he belong neither to the three septs nor the thirteen septs,
yet the Dangi blows his own trumpet in his own house.' They are still,
too, of a fiery disposition, and it is said that the favourite dish
of gram-flour cooked with curds, which is known as _karhi_, is never
served at their weddings. Because the word _karhi_ also signifies
the coming out of a sword from its sheath, and when addressed to
another man has the equivalent of the English word 'Draw' in the
duelling days. So if one Dangi said it to another, meaning to ask
him for the dish, it might result in a fight. They are very backward
in respect of education and set no store by it. They consider their
traditional occupation to be military service, but nearly all of them
are now engaged in agriculture. At the census of 1901 over 2000 were
returned as supported by the ownership of land and 3000 as labourers
and farmservants. Practically all the remainder are tenants. They
are industrious, and their women work in the fields. The only crops
which they object to grow are _kusum_ or safflower and san-hemp. The
Nahonia Dangis, being the highest subcaste, refuse to sell milk or
_ghi_. The men usually have Singh as a termination to their names,
like Rajputs. Their dress and ornaments are of the type common in
the northern Districts. The women tattoo their bodies.
Dangri
_Dangri._ [508]--A small caste of melon and vegetable growers, whose
name is derived from _dangar_ or _dangra_, a water-melon. They reside
in the Wardha and Bhandara Districts, and numbered about 1800 persons
in 1911. The caste is a mixed one of functional origin, and appears to
be an offshoot from the Kunbis with additions from other sources. In
Wardha they say that their ancestor was one of two brothers to whom
Mahadeo gave the seeds of a juari plant and a water-melon respectively
for sowing. The former became the ancestor of the Kunbis and the latter
of the Dangris. On one occasion when Mahadeo, assuming the guise of a
beggar, asked the Dangri brother for a water-melon, he refused to give
it, and on this account his descendants were condemned to perpetual
poverty. In fact, the Dangris, like the other market-gardening castes,
are badly off, possibly on account of their common habit of marrying
a number of wives, whom they utilise as labourers in their vegetable
gardens; for though a wife is better than a hired labourer for their
particular method of cultivation, where supervision is difficult
and the master may be put to serious loss from bad work and petty
pilfering, while there is also much scope for women workers; yet on
the other hand polygamy tends to the breeding of family quarrels and
to excessive subdivision of property. The close personal supervision
which is requisite perhaps also renders it especially difficult to
carry on the business of market-gardening on a large scale. In any
case the agricultural holdings of the Malis and Dangris are as a
rule very small. The conclusion indicated by the above story that the
Dangris are an offshoot from the Kunbi caste of cultivators appears
to be correct; and it is supported by the fact that they will accept
food cooked with water from the Baone Kunbis. But their subcastes
show that even this small body is of very heterogeneous composition;
for they are divided into the Teli, the Kalar, the Kunbi and the
Gadiwan Dangris, thus showing that the caste has received recruits
from the Telis or oilmen and the Kalars or liquor-sellers. The
Gadiwan, as their name denotes, are a separate section who have
adopted the comparatively novel occupation of cart-driving for a
livelihood. In Wardha there is also a small class of Panibhar or
waterman Dangris who are employed as water-bearers, this occupation
arising not unnaturally from that of growing melons and other crops
in river-beds. And a few members of the caste have taken to working
in iron. The bulk of the Dangris, however, grow melons, chillies and
brinjals on the banks or in the beds of rivers; but as the melon crop
is raised in a period of six weeks during the hot season, they can
also undertake some ordinary cultivation. When the melons ripen the
first fruits are offered to Mahadeo and given to a Brahman to ensure
the success of the crop. When the melon plants are in flower, a woman
must not enter the field during the period of her monthly impurity,
as it is believed that she would cause the crop to wither. While it
may safely be assumed that the Dangris originated from the great Kunbi
caste, it may be noted that some of them tell a story to the effect
that their original home was Benares, and that they came from there
into the Central Provinces; hence they call themselves Kashi Dangri,
Kashi being the classical name for Benares. This legend appears to
be entirely without foundation, as their family names, speech and
customs are alike of purely Marathi origin. But it is found among
other castes also that they like to pretend that they came from
Benares, the most sacred centre of Hinduism. The social customs of
the Dangris resemble those of the Kunbis, and it is unnecessary to
describe them in detail. Before their weddings they have a curious
ceremony known as Dewat Puja. The father of the bridegroom, with an
axe over his shoulder and accompanied by his wife, goes to a well
or a stream. Here they clean a small space with cow-dung and make
an offering of rice, flowers, turmeric and incense, after which
the man, breaking his bangle from off his wrist, throws it into the
water, apparently as a propitiatory offering for the success of the
marriage. It is not stated what the bangle is made of, but it may be
assumed that a valuable one would not thus be thrown away. As among
some of the other Maratha castes, the bridegroom must be wrapped in a
blanket on his journey to the bride's village. If a bachelor desires
to espouse a widow he must first go through the ceremony of marriage
with a swallow-wort plant. Polygamy is freely permitted, and some
Dangris are known to have as many as five wives. As already stated,
wives are of great assistance in gardening work, which demands much
hand-labour. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are allowed. The
Dangris commonly bury the dead, and they place cotton leaves over the
eyes and ears of the corpse. In Bhandara they say that this is done
when it is believed the dead person was possessed by an evil spirit,
and there is possibly some idea of preventing the escape of the spirit
from the body. In Wardha the Dangris have rather a bad reputation,
and a saying current about them is '_Dangri beta puha chor_,' or
'A Dangri will steal even a shred of cotton'; but this may be a libel.
Darzi
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice._
2. _Subdivisions._
3. _Sewn clothes not formerly worn._
4. _Occupation._
5. _Religion._
1. General notice.
_Darzi, Shimpi, Chhipi, Suji._--The occupational caste of tailors. In
1911 a total of 51,000 persons were returned as belonging to the caste
in the Central Provinces and Berar. The Darzis are an urban caste and
are most numerous in Districts with large towns. Mr. Crooke derives
the word Darzi from the Persian _darz_, meaning a seam. The name Suji
from _sui_, a needle, was formerly more common. Shimpi is the Maratha
name, and Chhipi, from Chhipa a calico-printer or dyer, is another
name used for the caste, probably because it is largely recruited from
the Chhipas. In Bombay they say that when Parasurama was destroying
the Kshatriyas, two Rajput brothers hid themselves in a temple and
were protected by the priest, who set one of them to sew dresses for
the idol and the other to dye and stamp them. The first brother was
called Chhipi and from him the Darzis are descended, the name being
corrupted to Shimpi, and the second was called Chhipa and was the
ancestor of the dyers. The common title of the Darzis is Khalifa, an
Arabic word meaning 'The Successor of the Prophet.' Colonel Temple
says that it is not confined to them but is also used by barbers,
cooks and monitors in schools. [509] The caste is of comparatively
recent formation. In fact Sir D. Ibbetson wrote [510] that "Darzi,
or its Hindi equivalent Suji, is purely an occupational term, and
though there is a Darzi guild in every town, there is no Darzi caste
in the proper acceptation of the word. The greater number of Darzis
belong perhaps to the Dhobi and Chhimba castes, more especially to
the latter."
2. Subdivisions.
The Darzis, however, are now recognised as a distinct caste, but
their mixed origin is shown by the names of their subcastes and
exogamous sections. Thus they have a Baman subdivision named after the
Brahman caste. These will not take food from any other caste except
Brahmans and are probably an offshoot from them. They are considered
to be the highest subdivision, and next to them come the Rai or
Raj Darzis. Another subcaste is named Kaithia, after the Kayasths,
and a third Srivastab, which is the name of a well-known subcaste
of Kayasths derived from the town of Sravasti, now Sahet Mahet in
the Gonda District. [511] In Betul the Srivastab Darzis are reported
to forbid the remarriage of widows, thus showing that they desire to
live up to their distinguished ancestry. A third subcaste is known as
Chamarua and appears to be derived from the Chamars. Other subcastes
are of the territorial type as Malwi, Khandeshi, Chhattisgarhi,
Mathuria and so on, and the section or family names are usually
taken from villages. Among them, however, we find Jugia from Jogi,
Thakur or Rajput, Gujar, Khawas or barber, and Baroni, the title of
a female Dhimar. Mr. Crooke gives several other names.
3. Sewn clothes not formerly worn.
It may thus reasonably be concluded that the Darzis are a caste
of comparatively recent origin, and the explanation is probably
that the use of the needle and thread in making clothes is a new
fashion. Buchanan remarks: "The needle indeed seems to have been
totally unknown to the Hindus, and I have not been able to learn
any Hindi word for sewing except that used to express passing the
shuttle in the act of weaving...." "Cloth composed of several pieces
sewn together is an abomination to the Hindus, so that every woman of
rank when she eats, cooks or prays, must lay aside her petticoat and
retain only the wrapper made without the use of scissors or needle";
and again, "The dress of the Hindu men of rank has become nearly the
same with that of the Muhammadans [512] who did not allow any officer
employed by them to appear at their _levées_ (Durbars) except in proper
dress. At home, however, the Hindu men, and on all occasions their
women, retain almost entirely their native dress, which consists of
various pieces of cloth wrapped round them without having been sewn
together in any form, and only kept in their place by having their
ends thrust under the folds." And elsewhere he states: "The flowering
of cotton cloth with the needle has given a good deal of employment
to the Muhammadan women of Maldeh as the needle has never been used by
the Hindus." [513] Darzi, as has been seen, is a Persian word, and in
northern India many tailors are Muhammadans. And it seems, therefore,
a possible hypothesis that the needle and the art of sewing were
brought into general use by the Moslem invaders. It is true that in
his _Indo-Aryans_ [514] Mr. Rajendra Lal Mitra combats this hypothesis
and demonstrates that made-up clothes were known to the Aryans of
the Rig-Veda and are found in early statuary. But he admits that the
instances are not numerous, and it seems likely that the use of such
clothes may have been confined to royal and aristocratic families. It
is possible also that the Scythian invasions of the fifth century
brought about a partial relapse from civilisation, during which certain
arts and industries, and among them that of cutting and sewing cloth,
were partially or completely lost. The tailor is not the familiar
figure in Hindu social life that he is, for example, in England. Here
he is traditionally an object or butt for ridicule as in the saying,
'Nine tailors make a man,' and so on; and his weakness is no doubt
supposed to be due to the fact that he pursues a sedentary indoor
occupation and one more adapted to women than men, the needle being
essentially a feminine implement. A similar ridicule, based no doubt
on exactly the same grounds, attaches in India to the village weaver,
as is evidenced by the proverbs given in the articles on Bhulia, Kori,
and Jolaha. No reason exists probably for the contempt in which the
weaver class is held other than that their work is considered to be
more fitting for women than men. Thus in India the weaver appears to
take the place of the tailor, and this leads to the conclusion that
woven and not sewn clothes have always been commonly worn.
In the Central Provinces, at least, the Darzi caste is practically
confined to the towns, and though cotton jackets are worn even by
labourers and shirts by the better-to-do, these are usually bought
ready-made at the more important markets. Women, more conservative in
their dress than men, have only one garment prepared with the needle,
the small bodice known as _choli_ or _angia_. And in Chhattisgarh,
a landlocked tract very backward in civilisation, the _choli_ has
hitherto not been worn and is only now being introduced. Though he
first copied the Muhammadan and now shows a partiality for the English
style of dress for outdoor use, the Hindu when indoors still reverts to
the one cloth round the waist and a second over the shoulders, which
was probably once the regular garb of his countrymen. For meals the
latter is discarded, and this costume, so strange to English ideas,
while partly based on considerations of ceremonial purity, may also
be due to a conservative adherence to the ancient fashion, when sewn
clothes were not worn. It is noticeable also that high-caste Hindus,
though they may wear a coat of cloth or tasar silk and cotton trousers,
copying the English, still often carry the _dupatta_ or shoulder-cloth
hanging round the neck. This now appears a useless encumbrance, but
may be the relic of the old body-cloth and therefore interesting as a
survival in dress, like the buttons on the back of our tail-coats to
which the flaps were once hooked up for riding, or the seams on the
backs of gloves, a relic of the time when the glove consisted simply
of finger-lengths sewn together. [515] More recently the _dupatta_ has
been made to fulfil the function of a pocket-handkerchief, while the
educated are now discarding the _dupatta_ and carry their handkerchiefs
in their pockets. The old dress of ceremony for landowners is the
_angarkha_, a long coat reaching to the knees and with flaps folding
over the breast and tied with strings. This is worn with pyjamas and is
probably the Muhammadan ceremonial costume as remarked by Buchanan. In
its correct form, at, least it has no buttons, and recalls the time
when a similar state of things prevailed in English dress and the
'trussing of his points' was a laborious daily task for every English
gentleman. The _ghundis_ or small pieces of cloth made up into a ball,
which were the precursors of the button, may still be seen on the
cotton coats of rustics in the rural area.
The substitution of clothes cut and sewn to fit the body for draped
clothes is a matter of regret from an artistic or picturesque point
of view, as the latter have usually a more graceful appearance. This
is shown by the difficulty of reproducing modern clothes in statuary,
trousers being usually the despair of the sculptor. But sewn clothes,
when once introduced, must always prevail from considerations of
comfort. When a Hindu pulls his _dhoti_ or loin-cloth up his legs and
tucks it in round his hips in order to run or play a game he presumably
performs the act described in the Bible as 'girding up his loins.'
4. Occupation.
The social customs of the Darzis present no features of special
interest and resemble those of the lower castes in their locality. They
rank below the cultivating castes, and Brahmans will not take water
from their hands. Though not often employed by the Hindu villager
the Darzi is to Europeans one of the best known of all castes. He is
on the whole a capable workman and especially good at copying from a
pattern. His proficiency in this respect attracted notice so long ago
as 1689, as shown in an interesting quotation in the _Bombay Gazetteer_
referring to the tailors of Surat: [516] "The tailors here fashion
clothes for the Europeans, either men or women, according to every mode
that prevails, and fit up the commodes and towering head-dresses for
the women with as much skill as if they had been an Indian fashion,
or themselves had been apprenticed at the Royal Exchange. (The commode
was a wire structure to raise the cap and hair.)" Since then the Darzi
has no doubt copied in turn all the changes of English fashions. He
is a familiar figure in the veranda of the houses of Europeans,
and his idiosyncrasies have been delightfully described by Eha in
_Behind the Bungalow_. His needles and pins are stuck into the folds
of his turban, and Eha says that he is bandy-legged because of the
position in which he squats on his feet while sewing. In Gujarat
the tailor is often employed in native households. "Though even in
well-to-do families," Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam writes, [517] "women sew
their bodices and young children's clothes for everyday wear, every
family has its own tailor. As a rule tailors sew in their own houses,
and in the tailor's shop may be seen workmen squatting in rows on a
palm-leaf mat or on cotton-stuffed quilts. The wives and sons' wives
of the head of the establishment sit and work in the shop along with
the men. Their busy time is during the marriage season from November
to June. A village tailor is paid either in cash or grain and is not
infrequently a member of the village establishment. During the rains,
the tailor's slack season, he supplements his earnings by tillage,
holding land which Government has continued to him on payment of
one-half the ordinary rental. In south Gujarat, in the absence of
Brahmans, a Darzi officiates at Bhawad marriages, and in some Brahman
marriages a Darzi is called with some ceremony to sew a bodice for the
bride. On the other hand, in the Panch Mahals and Rewa Kantha, besides
tailoring Darzis blow trumpets at marriage and other processions and
hold so low a position that even Dhedas object to eat their food." It
seems clear that in Gujarat the Darzi caste is of older standing
than in northern India, and it is possible that the art of sewing
may have been acquired through the sea trade which was carried on
between the western coast and Arabia and the Persian Gulf. Here the
Darzi has become a village menial, which he is not recorded as being
in any other part of India.
5. Religion.
Like the weaver, the Darzi is of a somewhat religious turn of mind,
probably on account of his sedentary calling which gives him plenty
of time for reflection. Many of them belong to the Namdeo sect,
originated by a Chhipa or dyer, Namdeo Sadhu. Namdeo is said to have
been a contemporary of Kabir and to have flourished in the twelfth
or thirteenth century. He was a great worshipper of the god Vithoba
of Pandharpur and is considered by the Marathas to be their oldest
writer, being the author of many Abhangs, or sacred hymns. [518] He
preached the unity of God, recognising apparently Vithoba or Vishnu
as the one deity, and the uselessness of ceremonial. His followers
are mainly Dhobis and Chhipas, the two principal castes from whom
the Darzis have originated. [519] Namdeo's sect was thus apparently a
protest on the part of the Chhipas and Dhobis against their inferior
position in the caste system and the tyranny of the Brahmans, and
resembled the spiritual revolt of the weavers under Kabir and of the
Chamars under Ghasi Das and Jagjiwan Das.
In Berar it is stated [520] that "the Simpi caste has twelve and a
half divisions; of these the chief are known as the Jain, Marathi
and Telugu Simpis. The Jain Simpis claim the hero Riminath as a
caste-fellow, while the Marathas are often Lingayats and the Telugu
division generally Vaishnavas." Before beginning work in the morning
the Darzi bows to his scissors or needle and prays to them for his
livelihood for that day.
The Darzi's occupation, Mr. Crooke remarks, is a poor one and held
rather in contempt. The village proverb runs, '_Darzi ka put jab tak
jita tab tak sita_,' 'The tailor's boy will do nothing but sew all his
life long.' Another somewhat more complimentary saying is, '_Tanak si
suiya tak tak kare aur lakh taka ko banj kare_,' or 'The tiny needle
goes _tuk tuk_, and makes merchandise worth a lakh of rupees.' The
Hindustani version of both proverbs is obviously intended to give the
sound of a needle passing through cloth, and it is possible that our
word 'tuck' has the same origin.
Dewar
1. General notice.
_Dewar._ [521]--(Derived from Devi, whom they worship, or from Diabar,
'One who lights a lamp,' because they always practise magic with
a lighted lamp.) A Dravidian caste of beggars and musicians. They
numbered about 2500 persons in 1911 and are residents of the
Chhattisgarh plain. The Dewars themselves trace their origin from a
Binjhia named Gopal Rai, who accompanied Raja Kalyan Sai of Ratanpur
on a visit to the Court of Delhi in Akbar's time. Gopal Rai was
a great wrestler, and while at Delhi he seized and held a _mast_
elephant belonging to the Emperor. When the latter heard of it he
ordered a wrestling match to be arranged between Gopal Rai and his
own champion wrestler. Gopal Rai defeated and killed his opponent,
and Kalyan Sai ordered him to compose a triumphal song and sing it in
honour of the occasion. He composed his song in favour of Devi Maha
Mai, or Devi the Great Mother, and the composition and recitation of
similar songs has ever since been the profession of his descendants
the Dewars. The caste is, as is shown by the names of its sections,
of mixed origin, and its members are the descendants of Gonds and
Kawars reinforced probably by persons who have been expelled from
their own caste and have become Dewars. They will still admit persons
of any caste except the very lowest.
2. Subdivisions.
The caste has two principal divisions according to locality, named
Raipuria and Ratanpuria, Raipur and Ratanpur having been formerly
the two principal towns of Chhattisgarh. Within these are several
other local subdivisions, _e.g._ Navagarhia or those belonging to
Nawagarh in Bilaspur, Sonakhania from Sonakhan south of the Mahanadi,
Chatarrajiha from Chater Raj, in Raipur, and Sarangarhia from Sarangarh
State. Some other divisions are either occupational or social; thus
the Baghurra Dewars are those who tame tigers and usually live in
the direction of Bastar, the Baipari Dewars are petty traders in
brass or pewter ornaments which they sell to Banjara women, and the
Lohar and Jogi Dewars may be so called either because their ancestors
belonged to these castes, or because they have adopted the profession
of blacksmiths and beggars respectively. Probably both reasons are
partly applicable. These subdivisions are not strictly endogamous,
but show a tendency to become so. The two main subcastes, Raipuria
and Ratanpuria, are distinguished by the musical instruments which
they play on while begging. That of the Raipurias is a sort of rude
fiddle called _sarangi_, which has a cocoanut shell as a resonator
with horsehair strings, and is played with a bow. The Ratanpurias
have an instrument called _dhungru_, which consists of a piece of
bamboo about three feet long with a hollow gourd as a resonator and
catgut strings. In the latter the resonator is held uppermost and
rests against the shoulder of the player, while in the former it is
at the lower end and is placed against his waist. The section names
of the Dewars are almost all of Dravidian origin. Sonwania, Markam,
Marai, Dhurwa, Ojha, Netam, Salam, Katlam and Jagat are the names of
well-known Gond septs which are also possessed by the Dewars, and
Telasi, Karsayal, Son-Mungir and others are Kawar septs which they
have adopted. They admit that their ancestors were members of these
septs among the Gonds and Kawars. Where the name of the ancestor
has a meaning which they understand, some totemistic observances
survive. Thus the members of the Karsayal sept will not kill or eat
a deer. The septs are exogamous, but there is no other restriction
on marriage and the union of first cousins is permissible.
3. Marriage customs.
Adult marriage is usual, and if a husband cannot be found for a
girl who has reached maturity she is given to her sister's husband
as a second wife, or to any other married person who will take her
and give a feast to the caste. In some localities the boy who is
to be married is sent with a few relatives to the girl's house. On
arrival he places a pot of wine and a nut before the girl's father,
who, if he is willing to carry out the marriage, orders the nut to
be pounded up. This is always done by a member of the Sonwani sept,
a similar respect being paid to this sept among some of the Dravidian
tribes. The foreheads of the betrothed couple are smeared with the nut
and with some yellow-coloured rice and they bow low to the elders of
the caste. Usually a bride-price of Rs. 5 or 10 is then paid to the
parents of the girl together with two pieces of cloth intended for
their use. A feast follows, which consists merely of the distribution
of uncooked food, as the Dewars, like some other low castes, will
not take cooked food from each other. Pork and wine are essential
ingredients in the feast or the ceremony cannot be completed. If
liquor is not available, water from the house of a Kalar (distiller)
will do instead, but there is no substitute for pork. This, however,
is as a rule easily supplied as nearly all the Dewars keep pigs,
which are retailed to the Gonds for their sacrifices. The marriage
ceremony is performed within three or four months at most after
the betrothal. Before entering the Mandwa or marriage-shed the
bridegroom must place a jar of liquor in front of his prospective
father-in-law. The bridegroom must also place a ring on the little
finger of the bride's right hand, while she resists him as much as
she can, her hand having previously been smeared with castor oil in
order to make the task more difficult. Before taking the bride away
the new husband must pay her father Rs. 20, and if he cannot do this,
and in default of arrangements for remission which are sometimes made,
must remain domiciled in his house for a certain period. As the bride
is usually adult there is no necessity for a _gauna_ ceremony, and
she leaves for her husband's house once for all. Thereafter when she
visits the house of her parents she does so as a stranger, and they
will not accept cooked food at her hands nor she at theirs. Neither
will her husband's parents accept food from her, and each couple with
their unmarried children form an exclusive group in this respect. Such
a practice is found only among the low castes of mixed origin where
nobody is certain of his neighbour's standing. If a woman has gone
wrong before marriage, most of the ceremonies are omitted. In such a
case the bridegroom catches hold of the bride by the hair and gives
her a blow by way of punishment for her sin, and they then walk
seven times round the sacred pole, the whole ceremony taking less
than an hour. The bride-price is under these circumstances reduced to
Rs. 15. Widow-marriage is permitted, and while in some localities the
new husband need give nothing, in others he must pay as much as Rs. 50
to the relatives of the deceased husband. If a woman runs away from
her husband to another man, the latter must pay to the husband double
the ordinary amount payable for a widow. If he cannot afford this, he
must return the woman with Rs. 10 as compensation for the wrong he has
done. The Dewars are also reported to have the practice of mortgaging
their wives or making them over temporarily to a creditor in return
for a loan. Divorce is allowed for the usual causes and by mutual
consent. The husband must give a feast to the caste, which is looked
on as the funeral ceremony of the woman so far as he is concerned;
thereafter she is dead to him and he cannot marry her again on pain
of the permanent exclusion of both from the caste. But a divorced
woman can marry any other Dewar. Polygamy is freely allowed.
4. Religion and social practices.
The Dewars especially worship Devi Maha Mai and Dulha Deo. To the
former they offer a she-goat and to the latter a he-goat which must be
of a dark colour. They worship their _dhungru_ or musical instrument
on the day of Dasahra. They consider the sun and the moon to be brother
and sister, and both to be manifestations of the deity. They bury their
dead, but those who are in good circumstances dig up the bones after a
year or two and burn them, taking the ashes to a sacred river. Mourning
lasts for seven or ten days according as the deceased is unmarried or
married, and during this time they abjure flesh and oil. Their social
rules are peculiar. Though considered impure by the higher castes,
they will not take cooked food from a Brahman, whom they call a
Kumhati Kida, or an insect which effects the metamorphosis of others
into his own form, and who will therefore change them into his own
caste. Nor will they take cooked food from members of their own caste,
but they accept it from several of the lower castes including Gonds,
whose leavings they will eat. This is probably because they beg from
Gonds and attend their weddings. They keep pigs and pork is their
favourite food, but they do not eat beef. They have a tribal council
with a headman called Gaontia or Jemadar, who always belongs either
to the Sonwani or Telasi section. Among offences for which a man is
temporarily put out of caste is that of naming his younger brother's
wife. He must also abstain from going into her room or touching her
clothes. This rule does not apply to an elder brother's wife.
5. Occupation.
The Dewars are professional beggars, and play on the musical
instruments called _dhungru_ and _sarangi_ which have already been
described. The Ratanpurias usually celebrate in an exaggerated style
the praises of Gopal Rai, their mythical ancestor. One of his exploits
was to sever with a single sword-stroke the stalk of a plantain
inside which the Emperor of Delhi had caused a solid bar of iron to be
placed. The Raipurias prefer a song, called Gujrigit, about curds and
milk. They also sing various songs relating how a woman is beloved by
a Raja who tries to seduce her, but her chastity is miraculously saved
by some curious combination of circumstances. They exorcise ghosts,
train monkeys, bears and tigers for exhibition, and sell ornaments
of base metal. In Raipur the men take about performing monkeys and
the women do tattooing, for which they usually receive payment in the
shape of an old or new cloth. A few have settled down to cultivation,
but as a rule they are wanderers, carrying from place to place their
scanty outfit of a small tent and mattress, both made of old rags,
and a few vessels. They meet at central villages during the Holi
festival. The family is restricted to the parents and unmarried
children, separation usually taking place on marriage.
Dhakar
1. Origin and subdivisions.
_Dhakar._ [522]--A small caste belonging solely to the Bastar State. In
1911 they numbered 5500 persons in Bastar, and it is noticeable
that there were nearly twice as many women as men. The term Dhakar
connotes a man of illegitimate descent and is applied to the Kirars
of the Central Provinces and perhaps to other castes of mixed Rajput
origin. But in Bastar it is the special designation of a considerable
class of persons who are the descendants of alliances between Brahman
and Rajput immigrants and women of the indigenous tribes. They are
divided, like the Halbas, into two groups--Purait or pure, and Surait
or mixed. The son of a Brahman or Rajput father by a Rawat (herdsman)
or Halba mother is a Purait, but one born from a woman of the Muria,
Marar, Nai or Kalar castes is a Surait. But these latter can become
Puraits after two or three generations, and the same rule applies to
the son of a Dhakar father by a Halba or Rawat woman, who also ranks in
the first place as a Surait. Descendants of a Dhakar father by a Muria
or other low-caste woman, however, always remain Suraits. The Puraits
and Suraits form endogamous groups, and the latter will accept cooked
food from the former. The more respectable Dhakars round Jagdalpur
are now tending, however, to call themselves Rajputs and refuse to
admit any one of mixed birth into their community.
One legend of their origin is that the first Dhakar was the offspring
of a Brahman cook of the Raja of Bastar with a Kosaria Rawat woman;
and though this is discredited by the Dhakars it is probably a fairly
correct version of the facts. An inferior branch of the caste exists
which is known as Chikrasar; it is related of them that their ancestors
once went out hunting and set the forest on fire as a method of driving
the game, as they occasionally do still. They came across the roasted
body of a dog in the forest and ate it without knowing what animal it
was. In the stomach, however, some cooked rice was found, and hence it
was known as a dog and they were branded as dog-eaters. As a penalty
the Raja imposed on them the duty of thatching a hut for him at the
Dasahra festival, which their descendants still perform. The other
Dhakars refuse to marry or eat with them, and it is clear from the
custom of thatching the Raja's hut that they are a primitive and
jungly branch of the caste.
2. Marriage.
If a girl becomes with child by a member of the caste she is made over
to him without a marriage, or to the man to whom she was previously
betrothed if he is still willing to take her. Neither is she expelled
if the same event occurs with a man of any higher caste, but if he
be of lower caste she is thrown out. Marriages are usually arranged
by the parents but an adult girl may choose her own husband, and she
is then wedded to him with abbreviated rites so that her family may
avoid the disgrace of her entering his house like a widow or kept
woman. Formerly a Dhakar might marry his granddaughter, but this is
no longer done. When the signs of puberty first appear in a girl she
is secluded and must not see or be seen by any man. They think that
the souls of dead ancestors are reborn in children, and if a child
refuses to suck they ask which of their ancestors he is and what
he wants, or they offer it some present such as a silver bangle,
and if the child then takes to the breast they give away the bangle
to a Brahman. The sixth day after a child is born the paternal aunt
prepares lamp-black from a lamp fed with melted butter and rubs it
on the child's eyes and receives a small present.
3. Funeral rites.
The period of mourning or impurity after a death must terminate
with a feast to the caste-men, and it continues until this is
given. Consequently the other caste-men subscribe for a poor member,
so that he may give the feast and resume his ordinary avocations. On
this occasion one of the guests puts a small fish in a leaf-cup full
of water, which no doubt represents the spirit of the deceased, and
all the mourners touch this cup and are freed from their impurity. A
Brahman is also invited, who lights a lamp fed with melted butter and
then asks for a cow or some other valuable present as a recompense for
his service of blowing out the lamp. Until this is done the Dhakars
think that the soul of the departed is tortured by the flame of the
lamp. If the Brahman is pleased, he pours some curds over the lamp
and this acts as a cooling balm to the soul. When a member of the
family dies the mourners shave the whole head with beard and moustache.
4. Occupation and social status.
The Dhakars are mainly engaged in cultivation as farmservants and
labourers. Like the Halbas, they consider it a sin to heat or forge
iron, looking upon the metal as sacred. They eat the flesh of clean
animals, but abstain from both pigs and chickens, and some also do not
eat the peacock. A man as well as a woman is permanently expelled for
adultery with a person of lower caste, the idea of this rule being
no doubt to prevent degradation in the status of the caste from the
admission of the offspring of such unions. If one Dhakar beats another
with a shoe, both are temporarily put out of caste. But if a man
seduces a caste-man's wife and is beaten with a shoe by the husband,
he is permanently expelled, while the husband is readmitted after
a feast. On being received back into caste intercourse an offender
is purified by drinking water in which the image of a local god has
been dipped or the Raja of Bastar has placed his toe. Like other low
castes of mixed origin, they are very particular about each other's
status and will only accept cooked food from families who are well
known to them. At caste feasts each family or group of families cooks
for itself, and in some cases parents refuse to eat with the family
into which their daughter has married and hence cannot do so with
the girl herself.
Dhangar
1. Traditions and structure of the caste.
_Dhangar._ [523]--The Maratha caste of shepherds and blanket-weavers,
numbering 96,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar. They
reside principally in the Nagpur, Wardha, Chanda and Nimar Districts
of the Central Provinces and in all Districts of Berar. The Dhangars
are a very numerous caste in Bombay and Hyderabad. The name is derived
either from the Sanskrit _dhenu_, a cow, or more probably from _dhan_,
[524] wealth, a term which is commonly applied to flocks of sheep
and goats. It is said that the first sheep and goats came out of an
ant-hill and scattering over the fields began to damage the crops of
the cultivators. They, being helpless, prayed to Mahadeo to rescue
them from this pest and he thereupon created the first Dhangar to tend
the flocks. The Dhangars consequently revere an ant-hill, and never
remove one from their fields, while they worship it on the Diwali day
with offerings of rice, flowers and part of the ear of a goat. When
tending and driving sheep and goats they ejaculate 'Har, Har,' which
is a name of Mahadeo used by devotees in worshipping him. The Dhangars
furnished a valuable contingent to Sivaji's guerilla soldiery, and
the ruling family of Indore State belong to this caste. It is divided
into the following subcastes: Varadi or Barade, belonging to Berar;
Kanore or Kanade, of Kanara; Jhade, or those belonging to the Bhandara,
Balaghat and Chhindwara Districts, called the Jhadi or hill country;
Ladse, found in Hyderabad; Gadri, from _gadar_, a sheep, a division
probably consisting of northerners, as the name for the cognate
caste of shepherds in Hindustan is Gadaria; Telange, belonging to
the Telugu country; Marathe, of the Maratha country; Mahurai from
Mahur in Hyderabad, and one or two others. Eleven subcastes in all
are reported. For the purposes of marriage a number of exogamous
groups or septs exist which may be classified according to their
nomenclature as titular and totemistic, many having also the names
of other castes. Examples of sept names are: Powar, a Rajput sept;
Dokra, an old man; Marte, a murderer or slayer; Sarodi, the name of
a caste of mendicants; Mhali, a barber; Kaode, a crow; Chambhade, a
Chamar; Gujde, a Gujar; Juade, a gambler; Lamchote, long-haired; Bodke,
bald-headed; Khatik, a butcher; Chandekar, from Chanda; Dambhade, one
having pimples on the body; Halle, a he-buffalo; Moya, a grass, and
others. The sept names show that the caste is a functional one of very
mixed composition, partly recruited from members of other castes who
have taken to sheep-tending and generally from the non-Aryan tribes.
2. Marriage.
A man must not marry within his own sept or that of his mother,
nor may he marry a first cousin. He may wed a younger sister
of his wife during her lifetime, and the practice of marrying a
girl and boy into the same family, called Anta Santa or exchange,
is permitted. Occasionally the husband does service for his wife
in his father-in-law's house. In Wardha the Dhangars measure the
heights of a prospective bride and bridegroom with a piece of string
and consider it a suitable match if the husband is taller than the
wife, whether he be older or not. Marriages may be infant or adult,
and polygamy is permitted, no stigma attaching to the taking of a
second wife. Weddings may be celebrated in the rains up to the month
of Kunwar (September), this provision probably arising from the fact
that many Dhangars wander about the country during the open season,
and are only at home during the rainy months. Perhaps for the same
reason the wedding may, if the officiating priest so directs, be held
at the house of a Brahman. This happens only when the Brahman has sown
an offering of rice, called Gag, in the name of the goddess Rana Devi,
the favourite deity of the Dhangars. On his way to the bride's house
the bridegroom must be covered with a black blanket. Nowadays the
wedding is sometimes held at the bridegroom's house and the bride
comes for it. The caste say that this is done because there are not
infrequently among the members of the bridegroom's family widows who
have remarried or women who have been kept by men of higher castes or
been guilty of adultery. The bride's female relatives refuse to wash
the feet of these women and this provokes quarrels. To meet such cases
the new rule has been introduced. At the wedding the priest sits on the
roof of the house facing the west, and the bride and bridegroom stand
below with a curtain between them. As the sun is half set he claps his
hands and the bridegroom takes the clasped hands of the bride within
his own, the curtain being withdrawn. The bridegroom ties round the
bride's neck a yellow thread of seven strands, and when this is done
she is married. Next morning a black bead necklace is substituted for
the thread. The expenses of the bridegroom's party are about Rs. 50,
and of the bride's about Rs. 30. The remaining procedure follows the
customary usage of the Maratha Districts. Widows are permitted to
marry again, but must not take a second husband from the sept to which
the first belonged. A considerable price is paid for a widow, and it
is often more expensive to marry one than a girl. A Brahman and the
malguzar (village proprietor) should be present at the ceremony. If a
bachelor marries a widow he must first go through the ceremony with
a silver ring, and if the ring is subsequently lost or broken, its
funeral rites must be performed. Divorce is allowed in the presence of
the caste _panchayat_ at the instance of either party for sufficient
reason, as the misconduct or bad temper of the wife or the impotency
of the husband.
3. Religion.
Mahadeo is the special deity of the Dhangars, and they also observe
the ordinary Hindu festivals. At Diwali they worship their goats by
dyeing their horns and touching their feet. One Bahram of Nachangaon
near Pulgaon is the tutelary deity of the Wardha Dhangars and the
protector of their flocks. On the last day of the month of Magh
they perform a special ceremony called the Deo Puja. A Dhimar acts
as priest to the caste on this occasion and fashions some figures
of idols out of rice to which vermilion and flowers are offered. He
then distributes the grains of rice to the Dhangars who are present,
pronouncing a benediction. The Dhimar receives his food and a present,
and it is essential that the act of worship should be performed by
one of this caste. In their houses they have Kul-Devi and Khandoba
the Maratha hero, who are the family deities. But in large families
they are kept only in the house of the eldest brother. Kul-Devi or the
goddess of the family is worshipped at weddings, and a goat is offered
to her in the month of Chait (March). The head is buried beneath her
shrine inside the house and the body is consumed by members of the
family only. Khandoba is worshipped on Sundays and they identify him
with the sun. Vithoba, a form of Vishnu, is revered on Wednesdays,
and Balaji, the younger brother of Rama, on Fridays. Many families
also make a representation of some deceased bachelor relative, which
they call Munjia, and of some married woman who is known as Mairni
or Sasin, and worship them daily.
4. Birth, death and social status.
The Dhangars burn their dead unless they are too poor to purchase wood
for fuel, in which case burial is resorted to. Unmarried children and
persons dying from smallpox, leprosy, cholera and snake-bite are also
buried. At the pyre the widow breaks her bangles and throws her glass
beads on to her husband's body. On returning from the burning _ghat_
the funeral party drink liquor. Some ganja, tobacco and anything else
which the deceased may have been fond of during his life are left
near the grave on the first day. Mourning is observed during ten days
on the death of an adult and for three days for a child. Children are
usually named on the twelfth day after birth, the well-to-do employing
a Brahman for the purpose. On this day the child must not see a lamp,
as it is feared that if he should do so he will afterwards have a
squint. Only one name is given as a rule, but subsequently when the
child comes to be married, if the Brahman finds that its name does not
make the marriage auspicious, he substitutes another and the child
is afterwards known by this new name. The caste employ Brahmans for
ceremonies at birth and marriage. They eat flesh including fowls and
wild pig, and drink liquor, but abstain from other unclean food. They
will take food from a Kunbi, Phulmali or a Sunar, and water from any
of the good cultivating castes. A Kunbi will take water from them. The
women of the caste wear bracelets of lead or brass on the right wrist
and glass bangles on the left. Permanent or temporary excommunication
from caste is imposed for the usual offences, and among those visited
with the minor penalty are selling shoes, touching the carcase of
a dog or cat, and killing a cow or buffalo, or allowing one to die
with a rope round its neck. No food is cooked for five weeks in a
house in which a cat has died. The social standing of the caste is low.
5. Occupation.
The traditional occupation of the Dhangars is to tend sheep and goats,
and they also sell goats' milk, make blankets from the wool of sheep,
and sometimes breed and sell stock for slaughter. They generally
live near tracts of waste land where grazing is available. Sheep are
kept in open and goats in roofed folds. Like English shepherds they
carry sticks or staffs and have dogs to assist in driving the flocks,
and they sometimes hunt hares with their dogs. Their dress consists
frequently only of a loin-cloth and a blanket, and having to bear
exposure to all weathers, they are naturally strong and hardy. In
appearance they are dark and of medium size. They eat three times
a day and bathe in the evening on returning from work, though their
ablutions are sometimes omitted in the cold weather.
Dhanuk
1. Original and classical records.
_Dhanuk._--A low caste of agriculturists found principally in the
Narsinghpur District, which contained three-fourths of the total
of nearly 7000 persons returned in 1911. The headquarters of the
caste are in the United Provinces, which contains more than a lakh
of Dhanuks. The name is derived from the Sanskrit _dhanuska_, an
archer, and the caste is an ancient one, its origin as given in
the Padma Purana, quoted by Sir Henry Elliot, being from a Chamar
father and a Chandal or sweeper mother. Another pedigree makes the
mother a Chamar and the father an outcaste Ahir. Such statements,
Sir H. Risley remarks in commenting on this genealogy, [525] serve
to indicate in a general way the social rank held by the Dhanuks at
the time when it was first thought necessary to enrol them among the
mixed castes. Dr. Buchanan [526] says that the Dhanuks were in former
times the militia of the country. He states that all the Dhanuks were
at one time probably slaves and many were recruited to fill up the
military ranks--a method of security which had long been prevalent
in Asia, the armies of the Parthians having been composed entirely
of slaves. A great many Dhanuks, at the time when Buchanan wrote,
were still slaves, but some annually procured their liberty by the
inability of their masters to maintain them and their unwillingness to
sell their fellow-creatures. It may be concluded, therefore, that the
Dhanuks were a body of servile soldiery, recruited as was often the
case from the subject Dravidian tribes; following the all-powerful
tendency of Hindu society they became a caste, and owing to the
comparatively respectable nature of their occupation obtained a rise
in social position from the outcaste status of the subject Dravidians
to the somewhat higher group of castes who were not unclean but from
whom a Brahman would not accept water. They did not advance so far
as the Khandaits, another caste formed from military service, who
were also, Sir H. Risley shows, originally recruited from a subject
tribe, probably because the position of the Dhanuks was always more
subordinate and no appreciable number of them came to be officers
or leaders. The very debased origin of the caste already mentioned
as given in the Padma Purana may be supposed as in other cases to be
an attempt on the part of the priestly chronicler to repress what he
considered to be unfounded claims to a rise in rank. But the Dhanuks,
not less than the other soldier castes, have advanced a pretension
to be Kshatriyas, those of Narsinghpur sometimes calling themselves
Dhankarai Rajputs, though this claim is of course in their case
a pure absurdity. It is not necessary to suppose that the Dhanuks
of the Central Provinces are the lineal descendants of the caste
whose genealogy is given in the Puranas; they may be a much more
recent offshoot from a main caste, formed in a precisely similar
manner from military service. [527] Mr. Crooke [528] surmises that
they belonged to the large impure caste of Basors or basket-makers,
who took to bow-making and thence to archery; and some connection
is traceable between the Dhanuks and Basors in Narsinghpur. Such a
separation must probably have occurred in comparatively recent times,
inasmuch as some recollection of it still remains. The fact that
Lodhis are the only caste besides Brahmans from whom the Dhanuks of
Narsinghpur will take food cooked without water may indicate that
they formed the militia of Lodhi chieftains in the Nerbudda valley,
a hypothesis which is highly probable on general grounds.
2. Marriage.
In the Central Provinces the Dhanuks have no subcastes. [529] The
names of their _gotras_ or family groups, though they themselves
cannot explain them, are apparently territorial: as Maragaiyan from
Maragaon, Benaikawar from Benaika village, Pangarya from Panagar,
Binjharia from Bindhya or Vindhya, Barodhaya from Barodha village, and
so on. Marriages within the same _gotra_ and between first cousins are
prohibited, and child-marriage is usual. The father of the boy always
takes the initiative in arranging a match, and if a man wants to find
a husband for his daughter he must ask the assistance of his relatives
to obtain a proposal, as it would be derogatory to move in the matter
himself. The contract for marriages is made at the boy's house and is
not inviolable. Before the departure of the bridegroom for the bride's
village, he stands at the entrance of the marriage-shed, and his mother
comes up and places her breast to his mouth and throws rice balls and
ashes over him. The former action signifies the termination of his
boyhood, while the latter is meant to protect him on his important
journey. The bridegroom in walking away treads on a saucer in which
a little rice is placed. Widow-marriage and divorce are permitted.
3. Social rank and customs.
A few members of the caste are tenants and the bulk of them
farmservants and field-labourers. They also act as village
watchmen. The Dhanuks eat flesh and fish, but not fowls, beef or pork,
and they abstain from liquor. They will take food cooked without water
from a Brahman and a Lodhi, but not from a Rajput; but in Nimar the
status of the caste is distinctly lower, and they eat pig's flesh
and the leavings of Brahmans and Rajputs. The mixed nature of the
caste is shown by the fact that they will receive into the community
illegitimate children born of a Dhanuk father and a woman of a higher
caste such as Lodhi or Kurmi. They rank as already indicated just
above the impure castes.
Dhanwar
List of Paragraphs
1. _Origin and traditions._
2. _Exogamous septs._
3. _Marriage._
4. _Festivities of the women of the bridegroom's party._
5. _Conclusion of the marriage._
6. _Widow-marriage and divorce._
7. _Childbirth._
8. _Disposal of the dead._
9. _Religion._
10. _Magic and witchcraft._
11. _Social rules._
12. _Dress and tattooing._
13. _Names of children._
14. _Occupation._
1. Origin and traditions.
_Dhanwar, Dhanuhar._ [530]--A primitive tribe living in the wild hilly
country of the Bilaspur zamindari estates, adjoining Chota Nagpur. They
numbered only 19,000 persons in 1911. The name Dhanuhar means a bowman,
and the bulk of the tribe have until recently been accustomed to
obtain their livelihood by hunting with bow and arrows. The name is
thus merely a functional term and is analogous to those of Dhangar,
or labourer, and Kisan, or cultivator, which are applied to the
Oraons, and perhaps Halba or farmservant, by which another tribe
is known. The Dhanwars are almost certainly not connected with the
Dhanuks of northern India, though the names have the same meaning. They
are probably an offshoot of either the Gond or the Kawar tribe or a
mixture of both. Their own legend of their origin is nearly the same
as that of the Gonds, while the bulk of their sept or family names are
identical with those of the Kawars. Like the Kawars, the Dhanwars have
no language of their own and speak a corrupt form of Chhattisgarhi
Hindi. Mr. Jeorakhan Lal writes of them:--"The word Dhanuhar is a
corrupt form of Dhanusdhar or a holder of a bow. The bow consists of
a cleft piece of bamboo and the arrow is made of wood of the _dhaman_
tree. [531] The pointed end is furnished with a piece or a nail of
iron called _phani_, while to the other end are attached feathers
of the vulture or peacock with a string of tasar silk. Dhanuhar boys
learn the use of the bow at five years of age, and kill birds with it
when they are seven or eight years old. At their marriage ceremony
the bridegroom carries an arrow with him in place of a dagger as
among the Hindus, and each household has a bow which is worshipped at
every festival." According to their own legend the ancestors of the
Dhanuhars were two babies whom a tigress unearthed from the ground when
scratching a hole in her den, and brought up with her own young. They
were named Naga Lodha and Nagi Lodhi, _Naga_ meaning naked and _Lodha_
being the Chhattisgarhi word for a wild dog. Growing up they lived
for some time as brother and sister, until the deity enjoined them
to marry. But they had no children until Naga Lodha, in obedience to
the god's instructions, gave his wife the fruit of eleven trees to
eat. From these she had eleven sons at a birth, and as she observed
a fortnight's impurity for each of them the total period was five and
a half months. In memory of this, Dhanuhar women still remain impure
for five months after delivery, and do not worship the gods for that
period. Afterwards the couple had a twelfth son, who was born with
a bow and arrows in his hand, and is now the ancestral hero of the
tribe, being named Karankot. One day in the forest when Karankot was
not with them, the eleven brothers came upon a wooden palisade, inside
which were many deer and antelope tended by twelve Gaoli (herdsmen)
brothers with their twelve sisters. The Lodha brothers attacked the
place, but were taken prisoners by the Gaolis and forced to remove
dung and other refuse from the enclosure. After a time Karankot
went in search of his brothers and, coming to the place, defeated
the Gaolis and rescued them and carried off the twelve sisters. The
twelve brothers subsequently married the twelve Gaoli girls, Karankot
himself being wedded to the youngest and most beautiful, whose name
was Maswasi. From each couple is supposed to be descended one of the
tribes who live in this country, as the Binjhwar, Bhumia, Korwa,
Majhi, Kol, Kawar and others, the Dhanuhars themselves being the
progeny of Karankot and Maswasi. The bones of the animals killed by
Karankot were thrown into ditches dug round the village and form the
pits of _chhui mithi_ or white clay now existing in this tract.
2. Exogamous septs.
The Dhanuhars, being a small tribe, have no endogamous divisions,
but are divided into a number of totemistic exogamous septs. Many of
the septs are called after plants or animals, and members of the sept
refrain from killing or destroying the animal or plant after which it
is named. The names of the septs are generally Chhattisgarhi words,
though a few are Gondi. Out of fifty names returned twenty are also
found in the Kawar tribe and four among the Gonds. This makes it
probable that the Dhanuhars are mainly an offshoot from the Kawars
with an admixture of Gonds and other tribes. A peculiarity worth
noticing is that one or two of the septs have been split up into a
number of others. The best instance of this is the Sonwani sept,
which is found among several castes and tribes in Chhattisgarh;
its name is perhaps derived from _Sona pani_ (Gold water), and its
members have the function of readmitting those temporarily expelled
from social intercourse by pouring on them a little water into which
a piece of gold has been dipped. Among the Dhanuhars the Sonwani
sept has become divided into the Son-Sonwani, who pour the gold
water over the penitent; the Rakat Sonwani, who give him to drink
a little of the blood of the sacrificial fowl; the Hardi Sonwani,
who give turmeric water to the mourners when they come back from
a funeral; the Kari Sonwani, who assist at this ceremony; and one
or two others. The totem of the Kari Sonwani sept is a black cow,
and when such an animal dies in the village members of the sept
throw away their earthen pots. All these are now separate exogamous
septs. The Deswars are another sept which has been divided in the
same manner. They are, perhaps, a more recent accession to the tribe,
and are looked down on by the others because they will eat the flesh
of bison. The other Dhanwars refuse to do this because they say that
when Sita, Rama's wife, was exiled in the jungles, she could not find
a cow to worship and so revered a bison in its stead. And they say
that the animal's feet are grey because of the turmeric water which
Sita poured on them, and that the depression on its forehead is the
mark of her hand when she placed a _tika_ or sign there with coloured
rice. The Deswars are also called Dui Duaria or 'Those having two
doors,' because they have a back door to their huts which is used
only by women during their monthly period of impurity and kept shut
at all other times. One of the septs is named Manakhia, which means
'man-eater,' and it is possible that its members formerly offered human
sacrifices. Similarly, the Rakat-bund or 'Drop of blood Deswars' may
be so called because they shed human blood. A member of the Telasi or
'Oil' sept, when he has killed a deer, will cut off the head and bring
it home; placing it in his courtyard, he suspends a burning lamp over
the head and places grains of rice on the forehead of the deer; and
he then considers that he is revering the oil in the lamp. Members of
the Surajgoti or sun sept are said to have stood as representatives
of the sun in the rite of the purification of an offender.
3. Marriage.
Marriage within the sept is prohibited, and usually also between
first cousins. Girls are commonly married a year or two after they
arrive at maturity. The father of the boy looks out for a suitable
girl for his son and sends a friend to make the proposal. If this
is accepted a feast is given, and is known as Phul Phulwari or 'The
bursting of the flower.' The betrothal itself is called Phaldan or
'The gift of the fruit'; on this occasion the contract is ratified
and the usual presents are exchanged. Yet a third ceremony, prior to
the marriage, is that of the Barokhi or inspection, when the bride
and bridegroom are taken to see each other. On this occasion they
exchange copper rings, placing them on each other's finger, and the
boy offers vermilion to the earth, and then rubs it on the bride's
forehead. When the girl is mature the date of the wedding is fixed,
a small bride-price of six rupees and a piece of cloth being usually
paid. If the first signs of puberty appear in the girl during the
bright fortnight of the month, the marriage is held during the dark
fortnight and vice versa. The marriage-shed is built in the form of
a rectangle and must consist of either seven or nine posts in three
lines. The bridegroom's party comprises from twenty to forty persons of
both sexes. When they arrive at the bride's village her father comes
out to meet them and gives them leaf-pipes to smoke. He escorts them
inside the village where a lodging has been prepared for them. The
ceremony is based on that of the local Hindus with numerous petty
variations in points of detail. In the actual ceremony the bride and
bridegroom are first supported on the knees of two relatives. A sheet
is held between them and each throws seven handfuls of parched rice
over the other. They are then made to stand side by side; a knot
is made of their cloths containing a piece of turmeric, and the
bride's left hand is laid over the bridegroom's right one, and on
it a _sendhaura_ or wooden box for vermilion is placed. The bride's
mother moves seven times round the pair holding a lighted lamp, at
which she warms her hand and then touches the marriage-crowns of the
bride and bridegroom seven times in succession. And finally the couple
walk seven times round the marriage-post, the bridegroom following
the bride. The marriage is held during the day, and not, as is usual,
at night or in the early morning. Afterwards, the pair are seated in
the marriage-shed, the bridegroom's leg being placed over that of the
bride, with their feet in a brass dish. The bride's mother then washes
their great toes with milk and the rest of their feet with water. The
bridegroom applies vermilion seven times to the marriage-post and to
his wife's forehead at the parting of her hair. The couple are fed
with rice and pulses one after the other out of the same leaf-plates,
and the parties have a feast. Next morning, before their departure,
the father of the bride asks the bridegroom to do his best to put up
with his daughter, who is thievish, gluttonous and so slovenly that
she lets her food drop on to the floor; but if he finds he cannot
endure her, to send her home. In the same manner the father of the
boy apologises for his son, saying that he cares only for mischief
and pleasure. The party then returns to the bridegroom's house.
4. Festivities of the women of the bridegroom's party.
During the absence of the wedding party the women of the bridegroom's
house with others in the village sing songs at night in the
marriage-shed constructed at his house. These are known as Dindwa, a
term applied to a man who has no wife, whether widower or bachelor. As
they sing, the women dance in two lines with their arms interlaced,
clapping their hands as they move backwards and forwards. The songs are
of a lewd character, treating of intrigues in love mingled with abuse
of their relatives and of other men who may be watching the proceedings
by stealth. No offence is taken on such occasions, whatever may be
said. In Upper India, Mr. Jeorakhan Lal states such songs are sung
at the time of the marriage and are called _Naktoureki louk_ or the
ceremony of the useless or shameless ones, because women, however shy
and modest, become at this time as bold and shameless as men are at the
Holi festival. The following are a few lines from one of these songs:
The wheat-cake is below and the urad-cake is above. Do you see
my brother's brother-in-law watching the dance in the narrow
lane. [532]
A sweetmeat is placed on the wheat-cake; a handsome young
black-guard has climbed on to the top of the wall to see the dance.
When a woman sees a man from afar he looks beautiful and
attractive: but when he comes near she sees that he is not worth
the trouble.
I went to the market and came back with my salt. Oh, I looked
more at you than at my husband who is wedded to me.
5. Conclusion of the marriage.
Several of the ceremonies are repeated at the bridegroom's house
after the return of the wedding party. On the day following them the
couple are taken to a tank walking under a canopy held up by their
friends. Here they throw away their marriage-crowns, and play at
hiding a vessel under the water. When they return to the house a goat
is sacrificed to Dulha Deo and the bride cooks food in her new house
for the first time, her husband helping her, and their relatives and
friends in the village are invited to partake of it. After this the
conjugal chamber is prepared by the women of the household, and the
bride is taken to it and told to consider her husband's house as her
own. The couple are then left together and the marriage is consummated.
6. Widow-marriage and divorce.
The remarriage of widows is permitted but it is not considered as a
real marriage, according to the saying: "A woman cannot be anointed
twice with the marriage oil, as a wooden cooking-vessel cannot be put
twice on the fire." A widow married again is called a _Churiyahi Dauki_
or 'Wife made by bangles,' as the ceremony may be completed by putting
bangles on her wrists. When a woman is going to marry again she leaves
her late husband's house and goes and lives with her own people or
in a house by herself. The second husband makes his proposal to her
through some other women. If accepted he comes with a party of his
male friends, taking with him a new cloth and some bangles. They are
received by the widow's guardian, and they sit in her house smoking and
chewing tobacco while some woman friend retires with her and invests
her with the new cloth and bangles. She comes out and the new husband
and wife bow to all the Dhanwars, who are subsequently regaled with
liquor and goats' flesh, and the marriage is completed. Polygamy is
permitted but is not common. A husband may divorce his wife for failing
to bear him issue, for being ugly, thievish, shrewish or a witch, or
for an intrigue with another man. If a married woman commits adultery
with another man of the tribe they are pardoned with the exaction
of one feast. If her paramour is a Gond, Rawat, Binjhwar or Kawar,
he is allowed to become a Dhanwar and marry her on giving several
feasts, the exact number being fixed by the village Baiga or priest
in a _panchayat_ or committee. With these exceptions a married woman
having an intrigue with a man of another caste is finally expelled. A
wife who desires to divorce her husband without his agreement is also
turned out of the caste like a common woman.
7. Childbirth.
After the birth of a child the mother receives no food for the first
and second, and fourth and fifth days, while on the third she is given
only a warm decoction to drink. On the sixth day the men of the house
are shaved and their impurity ceases. But the mother cooks no food
for two months after bearing a female child and for three months
if it is a male. The period has thus been somewhat reduced from the
traditional one of five and a half months, [533] but it must still
be highly inconvenient. At the expiration of the time of impurity
the earthen pots are changed and the mother prepares a meal for the
whole household. During her monthly period of impurity a woman cooks
no food for six days. On the seventh day she bathes and cleans her
hair with clay, and is then again permitted to touch the drinking
water and cook food.
8. Disposal of the dead.
The tribe bury the dead. The corpse is wrapped in an old cloth and
carried to the grave on a cot turned upside down. On arrival there
it is washed with turmeric and water and wrapped in a new cloth. The
bearers carry the corpse seven times round the open grave, saying,
'This is your last marriage,' that is, with the earth. The male
relatives and friends fill in the grave with earth, working with
their hands only and keep their backs turned to the grave so as to
avoid seeing the corpse. It is said that each person should throw
only five handfuls. Other people then come up and fill in the grave,
trampling down the surface as much as possible. For three days after a
death the bereaved family do not cook for themselves but are supplied
with food by their friends. These, however, do not give them any salt
as it is thought that the craving for salt will divert their minds
from dwelling on their loss. The tribe do not perform the _shraddh_
ceremony, but in the month of Kunwar, on the day corresponding to that
on which his father died, a man feeds the caste-fellows in memory of
him. And at this period he offers libations to his ancestors, pouring
a double handful of water on the ground for each one that he can
remember and then one for all the others. While doing this he stands
facing the east and does not turn to three different directions as the
Hindu custom is. The spirit of a man who has been killed by a tiger
becomes Baghia Masan or the tiger imp, and that of a woman who dies in
childbirth becomes a Churel. Both are very troublesome to the living.
9. Religion.
The principal deities of the Dhanwars are Thakur Deo, the god of
agriculture, and Dulha Deo, the deity of the family and hearth. Twice
a year the village Baiga or medicine-man, who is usually a Gond,
offers a cocoanut to Thakur Deo. He first consecrates it to the
god by placing it in contact with water and the small heap of rice
which lies in front of his shrine, and then splits it asunder on a
stone, saying, '_Jai Thakur Deo_,' or 'Victory to Thakur Deo.' When
any serious calamity befalls the tribe a goat is offered to the
deity. It must also be first consecrated to him by eating his rice;
its body is then washed in water and some of the sacred _dub_ [534]
grass is placed on it, and the Baiga severs the head from the body
with an axe. Dulha Deo is the god of the family and the marriage-bed,
and when a Dhanwar is married or his first son is born, a goat is
offered to the deity. Another interesting deity is Maiya Andhiyari,
or the goddess of the dark fortnight of the month. She is worshipped
in the house conjointly by husband and wife on any Tuesday in the
dark fortnight of Magh (January-February), all the relatives of the
family being invited. On the day of worship the husband and wife
observe a fast, and all the water which is required for use in the
house during the day and night must be brought into it in the early
morning. A circular pit is dug inside the house, about three feet deep
and as many wide. A she-goat which has borne no young is sacrificed
to the goddess in the house in the same manner as in the sacrifice to
Thakur Deo. The goat is skinned and cut up, the skin, bones and other
refuse being thrown into the hole. The flesh is cooked and eaten
with rice and pulse in the evening, all the family and relatives,
men and women, eating together at the same time. After the meal,
all the remaining food and the water including that used for cooking,
and the new earthen pots used to carry water on that day are thrown
into the pit. The mouth of the pit is then covered with wooden boards
and plastered over with mud with great care to prevent a child falling
into it; as it is held that nothing which has once gone into the pit
may be taken out, even if it were a human being. It is said that
once in the old days a man who happened to fall into the pit was
buried alive, its mouth being covered over with planks of wood; and
he was found alive when the pit was reopened next year. This is an
instance of the sacrificial meal, common to many primitive peoples,
at which the sacred animal was consumed by the worshippers, skin,
bones and all. But now that such a course has become repugnant to
their more civilised digestions, the refuse is considered sacred
and disposed of in some such manner as that described. The goddess
is also known as Rat Devi or the goddess of the night; or Rat Mai,
the night mother. The goddess Maswasi was the mythical ancestress of
the Dhanwars, the wife of Karankot, and also the daughter of Maiya
Andhiyari or Rat Mai. She too is worshipped every third year in the
dark fortnight of the month of Magh on any Tuesday. Her sacrifice is
offered in the morning hours in the forest by men only, and consists
also of a black she-goat. A site is chosen under a tree and cleaned
with cowdung, the bones of animals being placed upon it in a heap
to represent the goddess. The village Baiga kills the goat with an
axe and the body is eaten by the worshippers. Maswasi is invoked by
the Dhanwars before they go hunting, and whenever they kill a wild
boar or a deer they offer it to her. She is thus clearly the goddess
of hunting. The tribe also worship the spirits of hills and woods
and the ghosts of the illustrious dead. The ghosts of dead Baigas
or medicine-men are believed to become spirits attending on Thakur
Deo, and when he is displeased with the Dhanwars they intervene
to allay his anger. The brothers of Maswasi, the twelve Gaolis,
are believed to be divine hunters and to haunt the forests, where
they kill beasts and occasionally men. Six of them take post and the
other six drive the beasts or men towards these through the forest,
when they are pierced as with an arrow. The victim dies after a few
days, but if human he may go to a sorcerer, who can extract the arrow,
smaller than a grain of rice, from his body. In the month of Aghan
(November), when the grass of the forests is to be cut, the members
of the village collectively offer a goat to the grass deity, in order
that none of the grass-cutters may be killed by a tiger or bitten by
a snake or other wild animal.
10. Magic and witchcraft.
The Dhanwars are fervent believers in all kinds of magic and
witchcraft. Magic is practised both by the Baiga, the village priest
or medicine-man, who is always a man and who conducts the worship of
the deities mentioned above, and by the _tonhi_, the regular witch,
who may be a man or woman. Little difference appears to exist in the
methods of the two classes of magicians, but the Baiga's magic is
usually exercised for the good of his fellow-creatures, which indeed
might be expected as he gets his livelihood from them, and he is also
less powerful than the _tonhi_. The Baiga cures ordinary maladies and
the bites of snakes and scorpions by mesmeric passes fortified by the
utterance of charms. He raises the dead in much the same manner as a
witch does, but employs the spirit of the dead person in casting out
other evil spirits by which his clients may be possessed. One of the
miracles performed by the Baiga is to make his wet cloth stand in the
air stiff and straight, holding only the two lower ends. He can cross
a river walking on leaves, and change men into beasts. Witches are
not very common among the Dhanwars. A witch, male or female, maybe
detected by a sunken and gloomy appearance of the eyes, a passionate
temperament, or by being found naked in a graveyard at night, as
only a witch would go there to raise a corpse from the dead. The
Dhanwars eat nearly all kinds of food except beef and the leavings
of others. They will take cooked food from the hands of Kawars, and
the men also from Gonds, but not the women. In some places they will
accept food from Brahmans, but not everywhere. They are not an impure
caste, but usually live in a separate hamlet of their own, and are
lower than the Gonds and Kawars, who will take water from them but
not food. They are a very primitive people, and it is stated that at
the census several of them left their huts and fled into the jungle,
and were with difficulty induced to return. When an elder man dies
his family usually abandon their hut, as it is believed that his
spirit haunts it and causes death to any one who lives there.
11. Social rules.
A Kawar is always permitted to become a Dhanwar, and a woman of
the Gond, Binjhwar and Rawat tribes, if such a one is living with a
Dhanwar, may be married to him with the approval of the tribe. She does
not enjoy the full status of membership herself, but it is accorded
to her children. When an outsider is to be admitted a _panchayat_
of five Dhanwars is assembled, one of whom must be of the Majhi
sept. The members of the _panchayat_ hold out their right hands, palm
upwards, one below the other, and beneath them the candidate and his
wife place their hands. The Majhi pours water from a brass vessel on
to the topmost hand, and it trickles down from one to the other on to
those of the candidate and his wife. The blood of a slaughtered goat is
mixed with the water in their palms and they sip it, and after giving
a feast to the caste are considered as Dhanwars. Permanent exclusion
from caste is imposed only for living with a man or woman of another
caste other than those who may become Dhanwars, or for taking food
from a member of an impure caste, the only ones which are lower than
the Dhanwars. Temporary exclusion for an indefinite period is awarded
for an irregular connection between a Dhanwar man and woman, or of
a Dhanwar with a Kawar, Binjhwar, Rawat or Gond; on a family which
harbours any one of its members who has been permanently expelled;
and on a woman who cuts the navel-cord of a newly-born child, whether
of her own caste or not. Irregular sexual intimacies are usually
kept secret and condoned by marriage whenever possible. A person
expelled for any of the above offences cannot claim readmission as a
right. He must first please the members of the caste, and to do this
he attends every caste feast without being invited, removes their
leaf-plates with the leavings of food, and waits on them generally,
and continually proffers his prayer for readmission. When the other
Dhanwars are satisfied with his long and faithful service they take
him back into the community. Temporary exclusion from caste, with the
penalty of one or more feasts for readmission, is imposed for killing
a cow or a cat accidentally, or in the course of giving it a beating;
for having a cow or bullock in one's possession whose nostrils or ears
get split; for getting maggots in a wound; for being beaten except by
a Government official; for taking food from any higher caste other
than those from whom food is accepted; and in the case of a woman
for saying her husband's name aloud. This list of offences shows that
the Dhanwars have almost completely adopted the Hindu code in social
matters, while retaining their tribal religion. A person guilty of one
of the above offences must have his or her head shaved by a barber,
and make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Narsingh Nath in Bodasamar
zamindari; after having accomplished this he is purified by one of
the Sonwani sept, being given water in which gold has been dipped
to drink through a bamboo tube, and he provides usually three feasts
for the caste-fellows.
12. Dress and tattooing.
The tribe dress in the somewhat primitive fashion prevalent
in Chhattisgarh, and there is nothing distinctive about their
clothing. Women are tattooed at their parents' house before or just
after marriage. It is said that the tattoo marks remain on the soul
after death, and that she shows them to God, probably for purposes of
identification. There is a saying, 'All other pleasures are transient,
but the tattoo marks are my companions through life.' A Dhanwar will
not take water from a woman who is not tattooed.
13. Names of children.
Children are named on the _chathi_ or sixth day after birth, and
the parents always ascertain from a wise man whether the soul of
any dead relative has been born again in the child so that they may
name it after him. It is also thought that the sex may change in
transmigration, for male children are sometimes named after women
relatives and female after men. Mr. Hira Lal notes the following
instance of the names of four children in a family. The eldest was
named after his grandfather; the second was called Bhalu or bear,
as his maternal uncle who had been eaten by a bear was reborn in him;
the third was called Ghasi, the name of a low caste of grass-cutters,
because the two children born before him had died; and the fourth
was called Kausi, because the sorcerer could not identify the spirit
of any relative as having been born again in him. The name Kausi
is given to any one who cannot remember his sept, as in the saying,
'_Bhule bisare kausi got_,' or 'A man who has got no _got_ belongs
to the Kausi _got_.' Kausi is said to mean a stranger. Bad names
are commonly given to avert ill-luck or premature death, as Boya, a
liar; Labdu, one smeared with ashes; Marha, a corpse; or after some
physical defect as Lati, one with clotted hair; Petwa, a stammerer;
Lendra, shy; Ghundu, one who cannot walk; Ghunari, stunted; or from
the place of birth, as Dongariha or Paharu, born on a hill; Banjariha,
born in brushwood, and so on. A man will not mention the names of his
wife, his son's wife or his sister's son's wife, and a woman will not
name her husband or his elder brother or parents. As already stated,
a woman saying her husband's name aloud is temporarily put out of
caste, the Hindu custom being thus carried to extremes, as is often
the case among the lower castes.
14. Occupation.
The tribe consider hunting to have been their proper calling, but
many of them are now cultivators and labourers. They also make bamboo
matting and large baskets for storing grain, but they will not make
small bamboo baskets or fans, because this is the calling of the Turis,
on whom the Dhanwar looks down. The women collect the leaves of _sal_
[535] trees and sell them at the rate of about ten bundles for a pice
(farthing) for use as _chongis_ or leaf-pipes. As already stated,
the tribe have no language of their own, but speak a corrupt form
of Chhattisgarhi.
Dhimar [536]
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice._
2. _Subcastes._
3. _Exogamous groups._
4. _Marriage._
5. _Childbirth._
6. _Disposal of the dead._
7. _Religion._
8. _Occupation: fisherman._
9. _Water-carrier._
10. _Palanquin-bearer and personal servant._
11. _Other occupations._
12. _Social status._
13. _Legend of the caste._
1. General notice.
_Dhimar, Kahar, Bhoi, Palewar, Baraua, Machhandar._--The caste of
fishermen and palanquin-bearers. In 1911 the Dhimars numbered 284,000
persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, being most numerous in the
Maratha Districts. In the north of the Province we find in place of
the Dhimars the Kahars and Mullahs, and in the east or Chhattisgarh
country the Kewats. But the distinction between these castes is no
more than nominal, for in some localities both Kahar and Kewat are
returned as subcastes of Dhimar. In some parts of India the Bhois
and Dhimars are considered as separate castes, but in the Central
Provinces they are not to be distinguished, both names being applied
indiscriminately to the same persons. The name of Bhoi perhaps belongs
more particularly to those who carry litters or palanquins, and that
of Dhimar to the fishermen. The word Dhimar is a corruption of the
Sanskrit Dhivara, a fisherman. Bhoi is a South Indian word (Telugu
and Malayalam _boyi_, Tamil _bovi_), and in the Konkan people of this
class are known as Kahar Bhui. Among the Gonds Bhoi is considered as
an honorific name or title; and this indicates that a large number of
Gonds have become enrolled in the Dhimar or Kahar caste, and consider
it a rise in status. Palewar is the name of the Telugu fishermen of
Chanda. Machhandar signifies one who catches fish.
2. Subcastes.
The caste has a large number of subdivisions of a local or occupational
nature; among occupational names may be mentioned the Singaria or those
who cultivate the _singara_ nut, the Nadha or those who live on the
banks of streams, the Tankiwalas or sharpeners of grindstones, the
Jhingas or prawn-catchers, the Bansias and Saraias or anglers (from
_bansi_ or _sarai_, a bamboo fishing-rod), the Bandhaiyas or those
who make ropes and sacking of hemp and fibre, and the Dhurias who sell
parched rice. These last say that their original ancestors were created
by Mahadeo out of a handful of dust (_dhur_) for carrying the palanquin
of Parvati when she was tired. They are probably the same people as
the Dhuris who also parch grain, and in Chhattisgarh are considered
as a separate caste. Similarly the Sonjhara Dhimars wash for gold,
the calling of the separate Sonjhara caste. The Kasdhonia Dhimars wash
the sands of the sacred rivers to find the coins which pious pilgrims
frequently drop or throw into the river as an offering when they bathe
in it. The Gondia subcaste is clearly an offshoot from the Gond tribe,
but a large proportion of the whole caste in the Central Provinces
is probably derived from the Gonds or Kols, members of this latter
tribe being especially proficient as palanquin-bearers. The Suvarha
subcaste is named after the _suar_ or pig, because members of this
subcaste breed and eat the unclean animal; they are looked down on
by the others. Similarly the Gadhewale Dhimars keep donkeys, and are
despised by the other subcastes who will not take food from them. They
use donkeys for carrying loads of wood, and the bridegroom rides to
his wedding on this animal; and among them a donkey is the only animal
the corpse of which can be touched without conveying pollution. The
Bhanare Dhimars appear to be named after the town of Bhandara.
3. Exogamous groups.
A large number of exogamous groups are also returned, either of a
titular or totemistic nature: such are Baghmar, a tiger-slayer; Ojhwa,
from Ojha, or sorcerer; Guru pahchan, one who knows his teacher;
Midoia, a guardian of boundaries, from _med_, a boundary or border;
Gidhwe, a vulture; Kolhe, or jackal; Gadhekhaya, a donkey-eater; and
Kasture, musk; a few names are from towns or villages, as Tumsare
from Tumsar, Nagpurkar from Nagpur; and a few from other castes as
Madgi, Bhoyar, Pindaria from Pindari, a freebooter; Gondia (Gond)
and Gondhali; and Kachhwaha, a sept of Rajputs.
4. Marriage.
Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and also
between first cousins. In many localities families do not intermarry so
long as they remember any relationship to have existed between them. In
Mandla, Mr. Govind Moreshwar states, the Nadha and Kehera subcastes
do not intermarry; but if a man desires a girl of the other subcaste
he can be admitted into it on giving a feast to the caste-fellows
according to his means, and thus marry her. Two families may exchange
daughters in marriage. A maiden who goes wrong with a man of the
caste or of any higher caste may be readmitted to the community under
penalty of a feast to the caste and of having a lock of her hair cut
off. In the Hindustani Districts women do not accompany the marriage
procession, but in the Maratha Districts they do. Among the Bhanara
Dhimars of Chanda the wedding may be held either at the bride's or the
bridegroom's house. In the former case a bride-price of Rs. 16 is paid,
and in the latter one of Rs. 20, because the expenses of the bride's
family are increased if the wedding is held at her house. A custom
exists among the poorer Dhimars in Chanda of postponing the marriage
ceremony to avoid expense; a man will thus simply take a girl for his
wife, making a payment of Rs. 1-4 or twenty pence to her father and
giving a feast to the community. She will then live in his house as his
wife, and at some subsequent date, perhaps in old age, the religious
ceremony will be held so that the couple may have been properly married
before they die. In this fashion the weddings of grandparents, parents
and children have all been celebrated simultaneously. The Singaria
Dhimars of Chhindwara grow _singara_ or water-nut in tanks, and at
their weddings a crocodile must be killed and eaten. The Sonjharas
or gold-washers must also have a crocodile, but they keep it alive
and worship it, and when the ceremony is concluded let it go back
again to the river. It is natural that castes whose avocations are
connected with rivers and tanks should in a manner deify the most
prominent or most ferocious animal contained in their waters. And
the ceremonial eating of a sacred animal has been recorded among
divers peoples all over the world. At a Dhimar marriage in Bhandara
a net is given to the bridegroom, and _sidori_ or cooked food, tied
in a piece of cloth, to the bride, and they walk out together as if
going to a river to fish, but the bride's brother comes up and stops
them. After a wedding in Mandla they kill a pig and bury it before the
door of the bridegroom's house, covering it with earth, and the bride
and bridegroom step over its body into the house. Widow-marriage is
freely permitted; in Mandla the marriage of a widow may be held on
the night of any day except Sunday, Tuesday and Saturday. Divorce is
allowed, but is of rare occurrence. Adultery on the part of a wife
will be frequently overlooked, and the extreme step of divorcing her
is only taken if she creates a public scandal. In such a case the
parties appear before a meeting of the caste, and the headman asks
them whether they have determined to separate. He then breaks a straw
in token of the disruption of the union, and the husband and wife
must pronounce each other's names in an audible voice. [537] A fee of
Rs. 1-4 is paid to the headman, and the divorce is completed. [538]
In some localities the woman's bangles are also broken. In Jhansi
the fine for keeping a widow is ten rupees and for living with the
wife of another man sixty rupees.
5. Childbirth
Children are named either on the day of birth or the twelfth day
afterwards. The women place the child in a cradle, spreading boiled
wheat and gram over its body, and after swinging it to and fro the
name is given. Sweets or boiled wheat and gram are distributed to those
present. In Berar on the third day after a birth cakes of juari flour
and buttermilk are distributed to other children; on the fifth day
the slab and roller used for grinding the household corn are washed,
anointed and worshipped; on the twelfth day the child is named and
shortly after this its head is shaved. [539]
6. Disposal of the dead.
The bodies of the dead are usually buried, cremation being beyond the
means of Dhimars. Children whose ears have not been pierced are mourned
only for one day, and others for ten days. When a body has been burnt
the ashes are consigned to a tank or river on the third day, or if
the third day be a Sunday or a Wednesday, then on the fifth day. In
Berar, Mr. Kitts remarks, [540] the funeral ceremony of the Dhimars
resembles that of the Gonds. After a burial the mourners repair to the
deceased's house to drink; and subsequently each fetches his own dinner
and dines with the chief mourner. At this time he and his family are
impure and the others cannot take food prepared by him; but ten days
afterwards when the mourning is over and the chief mourner has bathed
and shaved they again dine with him, and on the next day the caste is
feasted. During the period of mourning a lighted lamp is daily placed
outside the house. When the period of mourning expires all the clothes
of the family are washed and their house is newly whitewashed. There is
no subsequent annual performance of funeral rites as among the higher
Hindus; but at the Akshayatritiya or commencement of the agricultural
year the head of the household throws at each meal a little food into
the fire, in honour of his dead ancestors.
7. Religion.
One of the principal deities of the Dhimars [541] as of other low
castes is Dulha Deo, the deified bridegroom. They fashion his image of
_kadamb_ [542] wood and besmear it with red lead. In Berar they also
pray to Anna Purna, the Corn-giving goddess of Madras corresponding
to Durga or Devi, whose form with that of her horse is engraved on
a brass plate and anointed with yellow and red turmeric. When about
to enter a river or tank for fishing or other purposes they pray to
the water-god to save them from being drowned or molested by its
denizens. They address a river as Ganga Mai or 'Mother Ganges' in
order to propitiate it by this flattery. Those who are employed on
ferry-boats especially venerate Ghatoia [543] Deo, the god of ferries
and river-crossings. His shrine is near the place where the boats are
tied up, and ferry contractors keep a live chicken in their boat to be
offered to Ghatoia on the first occasion when the river is sufficiently
in flood to be crossed by ferry after the breaking of the rains. Other
local godlings are the Bare Purakh or Great men, a collective term for
their deceased ancestors, of whom they make silver images; Parihar,
the soul of the village priest; Baram Deo, the spirit of the banyan
tree; and Gosain Deo, a deified ascetic. To the goddess Devi they
offer a black she-goat which is eaten ceremonially, and when they have
finished, the bones, skin and all the other remains of the animal are
placed in a pit inside the house. If anything should fall into this
pit it must be buried with the remains of the offering and not taken
out. And they relate that on one occasion a child fell into the pit,
and the parents, setting obedience to the law of the goddess above
the life of their child, buried it alive. But next year when the
sacrifice was again made and the pit was opened, the child was found
in it alive and playing. So they say that the goddess will save the
life of any one who is buried in the pit with her offering. When a
widower marries a second time his wife sometimes wears a _tawiz_ or
amulet in the shape of a silver box containing charms round her neck
in order to ward off the evil machinations of her predecessor's spirit.
8. Occupation: fisherman.
The occupations of the Dhimar are many and various. He is primarily
a fisherman and boatman, and has various kinds of nets for taking
fish. One of these is of triangular shape about 150 feet wide at
the base and 80 feet in height to the apex. The meshes vary from
an inch wide at the top to three inches at the bottom. The ends of
the base are weighted with stones and the net is then sunk into a
river so that the base rests on its bed and the top is held by men
in boats at the surface. Then other Dhimars beat the surface of the
water for some distance with long bamboos on both sides of the net,
driving the fish towards it. They call this a _kheda_, the term used
for a beat of the forest for game.
Another method is to stretch a long rope or cord across the river,
secured on either bank, with baited hooks attached to it at short
intervals. It is left for some hours and then drawn in. When the river
is shallow one wide-bottomed boat will be paddled up the stream and a
line of men will wade on each side beating the water with bamboos so
as to make the small fish jump into the boat. Or they put a little
cotton-seed on a stone in shallow water, and when the fish collect
to eat the seed a long circular net weighted with pieces of iron
is let down over the stone. Then the upper end is drawn tight and
the fishermen put their hands inside and seize the little fish. The
Dhimar is also regularly employed as a worker on ferries. His primitive
boat made from the hollowed trunk of a tree and sometimes lashed in
couples for greater stability may still be seen on all rivers. He makes
his own fishing-nets, knitting them on a stick at his leisure while
he is walking along or sitting down to smoke and talk. He worships
his fishing-nets at the Diwali festival, and his reverence for the
knitted thread is such that he will not touch or wear a shoe made of
thread, because he thinks that the sacred article is debased by being
sewn into leather. When engaged in road-work the Dhimars have unsewn
sandals secured to the feet with strips of leather. It is a special
degradation to a Dhimar to be struck with a shoe. He has a monopoly
of growing _singara_ [544] or water-nuts in tanks. The fruit of this
plant has a taste somewhat between a cocoanut and a potato, with a
flavour of soap. It can be taken raw and is therefore a favourite
comestible for fast days when cooked food is forbidden. It is also
sold at railway stations and the fresh fruit is prescribed by village
doctors as easy of digestion. The Dhimar grows melons, cucumbers and
other vegetables on the sandy stretches along the banks of streams,
but at agriculture proper he does not excel.
9. Water-carrier.
The Dhimar's connection with water has led to his becoming the
water-carrier for Hindus, or that section of the community which
can afford to employ one. This is more especially the case in the
Hindustani Districts where women are frequently secluded and therefore
cannot draw water for the household, while in the Maratha Districts
where the women go to the well no water-bearer is required. In this
capacity the Dhimar is usually the personal servant of the village
proprietor, but in large villages every house has a _ghinochi_, either
an earthen platform or wooden stand just outside the house, on which
four or five earthen water-pots are kept. These the Dhimar fills up
morning and evening and receives two or three annas or pence a month
for doing so. He also brings water for Government servants when they
come to the village, and cleans their cooking-vessels and prepares
the hearth with fresh cowdung and water in order to cleanse it.
If he cleans the malguzar's vessels he gets his food for doing so. When
the tenants have marriages he performs the same duties for the whole
wedding party and receives a present of one or two rupees and some
clothes if the families are well off, and also his food every day
while the marriage is in progress. In his capacity of waterman the
title Baraua is used to him as an honorific method of address; and to
his wife Baroni. In a hot country like India water is revered as the
source of relief, comfort and life itself, like fire in cold countries,
and the waterman participates in the regard paid to his element.
Another business of the Dhimar's is to take sweet potatoes and
boiled plums to the fields at harvest-time and sell them. He supplies
water for drinking to the reapers and receives three sheaves a day
in payment. On the fifteenth of Jesth (May) the Dhimar goes round
to the cultivators, throwing his fishing-net over their heads and
receives a small present.
10. Palanquin-bearer and personal servant.
At the period prior to the introduction of wheeled transport when
palanquins or litters were largely used for travelling, the carriers
belonged to the Kahar caste in northern India and to the Dhimars
or Bhois in the south. Though litters are now practically not used
for travelling except occasionally by high-caste women, a survival
of the old custom is retained in the marriage ceremony, the bride
and bridegroom being always carried back from the marriage-shed to
the temporary lodging of the bridegroom in a _palki_, though for
the longer journey to the bridegroom's village some less cumbrous
conveyance is utilised. Four Dhimars carry the _palki_ and receive
Rs. 1-4. Well-to-do people will be carried in procession round the
town. When employed by the village proprietor the Dhimar accompanies
him on his journey, carrying his cooking-vessels and other necessaries
in a _banhgi_ or wooden cross-bar slung across the shoulders, from
which two baskets are suspended by loops of rope. Water he will
always carry in a _banhgi_ and never on his head or shoulders. From
waterman and litter-carrier the Dhimar has become a personal servant;
it is he to whom the term 'bearer' as designating a body-servant was
first applied because he bears or carries his master in a _palki_
and his clothes in a _banhgi_. He is commonly so employed in native
houses, but rarely by Europeans, whether because he is too stupid
or on account of caste objections of his own. When employed as a
cook the Dhimar or his wife is permitted to knead flour with water
and make it into a cake which the Brahman will then take and put on
to the girdle with his own hands. He can also boil water and pour
pulse into the cooking-pot from above so long as he does not touch
the vessel after the food has been placed in it. He or she will also
take any remains of food which is left in the cooking-pot as this
is not considered to be polluted, food only becoming polluted when
the hand touches it on the dish after having touched the mouth. When
this has happened all the food on the dish becomes _jutha_ or leavings
of food, and as a general rule no caste except the sweepers will eat
the leavings of food of another caste or of another person of their
own. Only the wife, whose meal follows her husband's, will eat his
leavings. As a servant the Dhimar is very familiar with his master;
he may enter any part of the house, including the cooking-place and
the women's rooms, and he addresses his mistress as 'Mother.' In
northern India Mr. Crooke states that the Kahars are sometimes known
as Mahra, from the Sanskrit Mahila, a woman, because they have the
entry of the female apartments. When he lights his master's pipe he
takes the first pull himself to show that it has not been tampered
with, and then presents it to him with his left hand placed under
his right elbow in token of respect. Maid-servants also frequently
belong to the Dhimar caste, and it often happens that the master of
the household has illicit intercourse with them. Hence there is a
proverb, 'The king's son draws water and the water-bearer's son sits
on the throne,' similar intrigues on the part of high-born women with
their servants being not unknown. The Dhimar often acts as a pimp,
this being an incident of his profession of indoor servant.
11. Other occupations.
Another occupation of the Dhimar's is to sell parched grain and rice
to travellers in markets and railway stations like the Bharbhunja
and Dhuri. This he can do because of his comparative social
purity, as all castes will take water and cakes and sweetmeats
from his hands. Some Dhimars and Kewats also weave hemp-matting
and gunny-bags, but such members of the caste rank lower than the
others and Brahmans will not take water from them. Another calling
by which a few Dhimars find support is that of breeding pigs. One
would think it a difficult matter to make a living out of the village
pig, an animal abhorred by both Hindus and Muhammadans as the most
unclean of the brute creation, and equally abjured by Europeans as
unfit for food. But the pig is in considerable demand by the forest
tribes for sacrifice to their deities. The Dhimar participates in the
sacrifice to Narayan Deo described in the article on Mahar, when a
pig is eaten in concert by several of the lower castes. Lastly, the
business of rearing the cocoons of the tasar silk-worm is usually in
the hands of Dhimars and Kewats. While the caterpillars are feeding
on leaves and spinning their cocoons these men live in the forests
for two months together and watch the _kosa-baris_ or silk-gardens,
that is the blocks of trees which are set apart for the purpose of
rearing the caterpillars. During this period they eat only once a day,
abstain from meat and lentils, do not get shaved and do not visit their
wives. When the eggs of the caterpillars are to be placed on the trees
they tie a silk thread round the first tree to be used and worship it
as Pat Deo or the god of silk thread. On this subject Mr. Ball writes:
[545] "The trees which it is intended to stock are carefully pollarded
before the rains, and in early spring the leaves are stocked with young
caterpillars which have been hatched in the houses. The men in charge
erect wigwams and remain on the spot, isolated from their families,
who regard them for the time being as unclean. During the daytime
they have full occupation in guarding the large green caterpillars
from the attacks of kites and other birds. The cocoons are collected
soon after they are spun and boiled in a lye of wood-ash, and the
extracted chrysalids must then be eaten by the caretakers, who have
to undergo certain ceremonial rites before they are readmitted into
the society of their fellows. The effect of the boiling in the lye
is the removal of the glutinous matter, which renders it possible
to wind off the silk." The eating of the caterpillars is no doubt a
ceremonial observance like that of the crocodile at weddings. They
are killed by the boiling of the cocoons and on this account members
of good castes will not engage in the business of rearing them. The
abstention from conjugal intimacy while engaged in some important
business is a very common phenomenon.
12. Social status.
The social status of the Dhimar is somewhat peculiar. Owing to his
employment as palanquin-bearer, cook and household servant he has
been promoted to the group of castes who are ceremonially clean,
so that Brahmans in northern India will take water and food cooked
in butter from his hands. But by origin he no doubt belongs to the
primitive or non-Aryan tribes, a fact which he shows by his appearance
and also by his customs. In diet he is the reverse of fastidious,
eating crocodiles, tortoises and crabs, and also pork in the Maratha
Districts, though in the north where he is employed by Brahmans
as a personal servant he abstains from this food. With all this,
however, the Dhimars practise in some social matters a pharasaical
strictness. In Jubbulpore Mr. Pancham Lal records that among the four
subcastes of Rekwar, Bant, Barmaian and Pabeha a woman of one subcaste
will not partake of any food cooked by one of another division. A man
will take any kind of food cooked by a man of another subcaste, but
from a woman only such as is not mixed with water. A woman will drink
the water held in the metal vessel of a woman of another division,
but not in an earthen vessel; and in a metal vessel only provided
that it is brought straight from the well and not taken from the
_ghinochi_ or water-stand of such woman's house. A man will take water
to drink from the metal or earthen vessel of any other Dhimar, male or
female. In Berar again Mr. Kitts states [546] that a Bhoi considers
it pollution to eat or drink at the house of a Lohar (blacksmith),
a Sutar (carpenter), a Bhat (bard), a washerman or a barber; he will
not even carry their palanquins at a marriage.
Once a year at the Muharram festival the Dhimars will eat at the
hands of Muhammadans. They go round and beg for offerings of food
and take them to the Fakir, who places a little before the _tazia_ or
tomb of Husain and distributes the remainder to the Dhimars and other
Hindus and Muhammadans who have been begging. Except on this occasion
they will eat nothing touched by a Muhammadan. The Dhimar, the Nai or
barber, and the Bari or indoor servant are the three household menials
of the northern Districts, and are known as Pauni Parja. Sometimes
the Ahir or grazier is an indoor servant and takes the place of the
Dhimar or the Bari. These menials are admitted to the wedding and
other family feasts and allowed to eat at them. They sit in a line
apart from the members of the caste and one member of the family is
deputed to wait on them. Their food is brought to them in separate
dishes and no food from these dishes is served to guests of the caste.
Permanent expulsion [547] from caste is inflicted only for marrying,
or eating regularly, with a man or woman of some other low caste;
but in the case of unmarried persons the latter offence may also be
expiated. Temporary exclusion is imposed for killing a cat, dog or
squirrel, getting maggots in a wound, being sentenced to imprisonment
[548] or committing adultery with a person of any low caste. One
who has committed any of the above offences must be purified by the
Batta of the caste, that is a person who takes the sins of others
upon himself. The Batta conducts the culprit to a river and then
causes him to bathe, cuts off a lock of his hair, breaks a cocoanut
as a sacrifice, and gives him a little cowdung and milk to eat. Then
they proceed to eat together; the Batta eats five mouthfuls first
and declares that he has taken the sin of the offender on himself;
the latter gives the Batta Rs. 1-4 as his fee, and is once more a
proper member of the community. In Berar a Bhoi who has been put
out of caste is received back by his fellows when he has drunk the
water touched by a Brahman's toe, and has feasted them with a bout
of liquor. In towns the caste are generally addicted to drink, and
no marriage or other social function is held without a sufficient
supply of liquor. They also smoke _ganja_ (Indian hemp).
13. Legend of the caste.
The Dhimars are proverbially of a cheerful disposition, though simple
and easily cheated. When carrying _palkis_ or litters at night they
talk continually or sing monotonous songs to lighten the tedium of the
way. In illustration of these qualities the following story is told:
One day when Mahadeo and Parvati were travelling the goddess became
very tired, so Mahadeo created four men from the dust, who bore her
in a litter. On the way they talked and laughed, and Parvati was very
pleased with them, so when she got home she told them to wait while she
sent them out a reward. The Bhois found that they could get plenty of
liquor, so they went on drinking it and forgot all about going for the
reward. In the meantime a Marwari Bania who had heard what the goddess
said, waited at the door of the palace, and when the servants brought
out a bag of money he pretended that he was one of the Bhois and got
them to give him the money, with which he made off. After a time the
Bhois remembered about the reward and went to the door of the palace to
get it, when the goddess came out and found out what had happened. The
Bhois then wept and asked for another reward, but the goddess refused
and said that as they had been so stupid their caste would always be
poor, but at the same time they would be cheerful and happy.
Dhoba
List of Paragraphs
1. _General notice._
2. _Exogamous divisions._
3. _Marriage customs._
4. _Funeral rites._
5. _Caste panchayat and social penalties._
6. _Occupation and social customs._
1. General notice.
_Dhoba._ [549]--A small caste belonging to the Mandla District and
apparently an offshoot from one of the primitive tribes. They have
never been separately classified at the census but always amalgamated
with the Dhobi or washerman caste. But the Mandla Dhobas acknowledge
no connection with Dhobis, nor has any been detected. One Dhoba has
indeed furnished a story to the Rev. E. Price that the first ancestor
of the caste was a foundling boy, by appearance of good lineage,
who was brought up by some Dhobis, and, marrying a Dhobi girl, made
a new caste. But this is not sufficient to demonstrate the common
origin of the Dhobas and Dhobis. The Dhobas reside principally in a
few villages in the upper valley of the Burhner River, and members
of the caste own two or three villages. They are dark in complexion
and have, though in a less degree, the flat features, coarse nose
and receding forehead of the Gond; but they are taller in stature
and not so strongly built, and are much less capable of exertion.
2. Exogamous divisions.
The caste has twelve exogamous septs, though the list is probably
not complete. These appear to be derived from the names of
villages. Marriage is forbidden between the Baghmar and Baghcharia
septs, the Maratha and Khatnagar and Maralwati septs and the Sonwani
and Sonsonwani septs. These septs are said to have been subdivided and
to be still related. The names Baghmar and Baghcharia are both derived
from the tiger; Sonnwani is from Sona-pani or gold-water, and the
Sonsonwani sept seems therefore to be the aristocratic branch or _crême
de la crême_ of the Sonwanis. The children of brothers and sisters
may marry but not those of two sisters, because a man's maternal aunt
or _mausi_ is considered as equivalent to his mother. A man may also
marry his step-sister on the mother's side, that is the daughter of
his own mother by another husband either prior to or subsequent to
his father, the step-sister being of a different sept. This relaxation
may have been permitted on account of the small numbers of the caste
and the consequent difficulty of arranging marriages.
3. Marriage customs.
The bridegroom goes to the bride's house for the wedding, which
is conducted according to the Hindu ritual of walking round the
sacred post. The cost of a marriage in a fairly well-to-do family,
including the betrothal, may be about Rs. 140, of which a quarter
falls on the bride's people. Divorce and the remarriage of widows
are permitted. A pregnant woman stops working after six months and
goes into retirement. After a birth the woman is impure for five or
six days. She does not appear in public for a month, and takes no
part in outdoor occupations or field-work until the child is weaned,
that is six months after its birth.
4. Funeral rites.
The dead are usually buried, and all members of the dead man's sept
are considered to be impure. After the funeral they bathe and come
home and have their food cooked for them by other Dhobas, partaking of
it in the dead man's house. On the ninth, eleventh or thirteenth day,
when the impurity ends, the male members of the sept are shaved on the
bank of a river and the hair is left lying there. When they start home
they spread some thorns and two stones across the path. Then, as the
first man steps over the thorns, he takes up one of the stones in his
hand and passes it behind him to the second, and each man successively
passes it back as he steps over the thorns, the last man throwing the
stone behind the thorns. Thus the dead man's spirit in the shape of
the stone is separated from the living and prevented from accompanying
them home. Then a feast is held, all the men of the dead man's sept
sitting opposite to the _panchayat_ at a distance of three feet. Next
day water in which gold has been dipped is thrown over the dead man's
house and each member of the sept drinks a little and is pure.
5. Caste _panchayat_ and social penalties.
The head of the caste is always a member of the Sonwani sept and is
known as Raja. It is his business to administer water in which gold has
been dipped (_sona-pani_) to offenders as a means of purification, and
from this the name of the sept is derived. The Raja has no deputy, and
officiates in all ceremonies of the caste; he receives no contribution
from the caste, but a double share of food and sweetmeats when they
are distributed. The other members of the Panch he is at liberty
to choose from any _got_ or sept he likes. When a man has been put
out of caste for a serious offence he has to give three feasts for
readmission. The first meal consists of a goat with rice and pulse,
and is eaten on the bank of a stream; on this occasion the head of the
offender is shaved clean and all the hair thrown into the stream. The
second meal is eaten in the yard of his house, and consists of cakes
fried in butter with rice and pulse. The offender is not allowed
to partake of either the first or second meal. On the third day the
Raja gives the offender gold-water, and he is then considered to be
purified and cooks food himself, which the caste-people eat with him
in his house. A man is not put out of caste when he is sent to jail,
as this is considered to be an order of the Government. A man keeping
a woman of another caste is expelled and not reinstated until he has
put her away, and even then it is said that they will consider his
character before taking him back. A man who gets maggots in a wound
may be readmitted to caste only during the months of Chait and Pus.
6. Occupation and social customs.
The Dhobas act as priests of the Gonds and are also cultivators. Their
social position is distinctly higher than that of the Gonds and some
of them have begun to employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. They
will eat the flesh of most animals, except those of the cow-tribe,
and also field-mice, and most of them drink liquor, though the more
prominent members have begun to abstain. The origin of the caste is
very obscure, but it would appear that they must be an offshoot of
one of the Dravidian tribes. In this connection it is interesting
to note that Chhattisgarh contains a large number of Dhobis, though
the people of this tract have until recently worn little in the way
of clothing, and usually wash it themselves when this operation is
judged necessary. Many of the Dhobis of Chhattisgarh are cultivators,
and it seems possible that a proportion of them may also really belong
to this Dhoba caste.
Dhobi
List of Paragraphs
1. _Character and structure of the caste._
2. _Marriage customs._
3. _Other social customs._
4. _Religion._
5. _Occupation: washing clothes._
6. _Social position._
7. _Proverbs about the Dhobi._
8. _Wearing and lending the clothes of customers._
1. Character and structure of the caste.
_Dhobi, Warthi, Baretha, Chakla, Rajak, Parit._--The professional
caste of washermen. The name is derived from the Hindi _dhona_,
and the Sanskrit _dhav_, to wash. Warthi is the Maratha name for the
caste, and Bareth or Baretha is an honorific or complimentary term of
address. Rajak and Parit are synonyms, the latter being used in the
Maratha Districts. The Chakla caste of Madras are leather-workers,
but in Chanda a community of persons is found who are known as Chakla
and are professional washermen. In 1911 the Dhobis numbered 165,000
persons in the Central Provinces and Berar, or one to every hundred
inhabitants. They are numerous in the Districts with large towns and
also in Chhattisgarh, where, like the Dhobas of Bengal, they have to
a considerable extent abandoned their hereditary profession and taken
to cultivation and other callings. No account worth reproduction has
been obtained of the origin of the caste. In the Central Provinces
it is purely functional, as is shown by its subdivisions; these
are generally of a territorial nature, and indicate that the Dhobis
like the other professional castes have come here from all parts of
the country. Instances of the subcastes are: Baonia and Beraria from
Berar; Malwi, Bundelkhandi, Nimaria, Kanaujia, Udaipuria from Udaipur;
Madrasi, Dharampuria from Dharampur, and so on. A separate subcaste
is formed of Muhammadan Dhobis. The exogamous groups known as _khero_
are of the usual low-caste type, taking their names from villages or
titular or professional terms.
2. Marriage customs.
Marriage within the _khero_ is prohibited and also the union of first
cousins. It is considered disgraceful to accept a price for a bride,
and it is said that this is not done even by the parents of poor girls,
but the caste will in such cases raise a subscription to defray the
expenses of her marriage. In the northern Districts the marriages of
Dhobis are characterised by continuous singing and dancing at the
houses of the bridegroom and bride, these performances being known
as _sajnai_ and _birha_. Some man also puts on a long coat, tight
down to the waist and loose round the hips, to have the appearance
of a dancing-girl, and dances before the party, while two or three
other men play. Mr. Crooke considers that this ritual, which is
found also among other low castes, resembles the European custom of
the False Bride and is intended to divert the evil eye from the real
bride. He writes: [550] "Now there are numerous customs which have
been grouped in Europe under the name of the False Bride. Thus among
the Esthonians the false bride is enacted by the bride's brother
dressed in woman's clothes; in Polonia by a bearded man called the
Wilde Braut; in Poland by an old woman veiled in white and lame;
again among the Esthonians by an old woman with a brickwork crown;
in Brittany, where the substitutes are first a little girl, then the
mistress of the house, and lastly the grandmother.
"The supposition may then be hazarded in the light of the Indian
examples that some one assumes on this occasion the part of the
bride in order to divert on himself from her the envious glance of
the evil eye." Any further information on this interesting custom
would be welcome.
The remarriage of widows is allowed, and in Betul the bridegroom goes
to the widow's house on a dark night wrapped up in a black blanket,
and presents the widow with new clothes and bangles, and spangles and
red lead for the forehead. Divorce is permitted with the approval of
the caste headman by the execution of a deed on stamped paper.
3. Other social customs.
After a birth the mother is allowed no food for some days except
country sugar and dates. The child is given some honey and castor-oil
for the first two days and is then allowed to suckle the mother. A
pit is dug inside the lying-in room, and in this are deposited water
and the first cuttings of the nails and hair of the child. It is
filled up and on her recovery the mother bows before it, praying for
similar safe deliveries in future and for the immunity of the child
from physical ailments. After the birth of a male child the mother
is impure for seven days and for five days after that of a female.
4. Religion.
The principal deity of the Dhobis is Ghatoia, the god of the
_ghat_ or landing-place on the river to which they go to wash their
clothes. Libations of liquor are made to him in the month of Asarh
(June), when the rains break and the rivers begin to be flooded. Before
entering the water to wash the clothes they bow to the stone on which
these are beaten out, asking that their work may be quickly finished;
and they also pray to the river deity to protect them from snakes and
crocodiles. They worship the stone on the Dasahra festival, making
an offering to it of flowers, turmeric and cooked food. The Dhobi's
washing-stone is believed to be haunted by the ghosts of departed
Dhobis when revisiting the glimpses of the moon, and is held to have
magical powers. If a man requires a love-charm he should steal a
_supari_ or areca-nut from the bazar at night or on the occasion of
an eclipse. The same night he goes to the Dhobi's stone and sets the
nut upon it. He breaks an egg and a cocoanut over the stone and burns
incense before it. Then he takes the nut away and gives it to the woman
of his fancy, wrapped up in betel-leaf, and she will love him. Their
chief festivals are the Holi and Diwali, at which they drink a great
deal. The dead are buried or burnt as may be convenient, and mourning
is observed for three days only, the family being purified on the
Sunday or Wednesday following the death. They have a caste committee
whose president is known as Mehtar, while other officials are the
Chaudhri or vice-president, and the Badkur, who appoints dates for
the penal feasts and issues the summons to the caste-fellows. These
posts are hereditary and their holders receive presents of a rupee
and a cloth when members of the caste have to give expiatory feasts.
5. Occupation: washing clothes.
Before washing his clothes the Dhobi steams them, [551] hanging
them in a bundle for a time over a cauldron of boiling water. After
this he takes them to a stream or pond and washes them roughly with
fuller's earth. The washerman steps nearly knee-deep into the water,
and taking a quantity of clothes by one end in his two hands he raises
them aloft in the air and brings them down heavily upon a huge stone
slab, grooved, at his feet. This threshing operation he repeats until
his clothes are perfectly clean. In Saugor the clothes are rubbed
with wood-ashes at night and beaten out in water with a stick in the
morning. Silk clothes are washed with the nut of the _ritha_ tree
(_Sapindus emarginatus_) which gives a lather like soap. Sir H. Risley
writes of the Dacca washermen: [552] "For washing muslins and other
coloured garments well or spring water is alone used; but if the
articles are the property of a poor man or are commonplace, the water
of the nearest tank or river is accounted sufficiently good. Indigo is
in as general use as in England for removing the yellowish tinge and
whitening the material. The water of the wells and springs bordering
on the red laterite formation on the north of the city has been for
centuries celebrated, and the old bleaching fields of the European
factories were all situated in this neighbourhood. Various plants
are used by the Dhobis to clarify water such as the _nirmali_
(_Strychnos potatorum_), the _piu_ (_Basella_), the _nagphani_
(_Cactus indicus_) and several plants of the mallow family. Alum,
though not much valued, is sometimes used." In most Districts of
the Central Provinces the Dhobi is employed as a village servant and
is paid by annual contributions of grain from the cultivators. For
ordinary washing he gets half as much as the blacksmith or carpenter,
or 13 to 20 lbs. of grain annually from each householder, with
about another 10 lbs. at seedtime or harvest. When he brings the
clothes home he also receives a meal or a _chapati_, and well-to-do
persons give him their old clothes as a present. In return for this
he washes all the clothes of the family two or three times a month,
except the loin-cloths and women's bodices which they themselves wash
daily. The Dhobi is also employed on the occasion of a birth or a
death. These events cause impurity and hence all the clothes of all
the members of the family must be washed when the impurity ceases. In
Saugor when a man dies the Dhobi receives eight annas and for a woman
four annas, and similar rates in the case of the birth of a male or
female child. When the first son is born in a family the Dhobi and
barber place a brass vessel on the top of a pole and tie a flag to
it as a cloth and take it round to all the friends and relations of
the family, announcing the event. They receive presents of grain and
money which they expend on a drinking-bout.
6. Social position.
The Dhobi is considered to be impure, and he is not allowed
to come into the houses of the better castes nor to touch their
water-vessels. In Saugor he may come as far as the veranda but not into
the house. His status would in any case be low as a village menial, but
he is specially degraded, Mr. Crooke states, by his task of washing the
clothes of women after child-birth and his consequent association with
puerperal blood, which is particularly abhorred. Formerly a Brahman
did not let the Dhobi wash his clothes, or, if he did, they were
again steeped in water in the house as a means of purification. Now
he contents himself with sprinkling the clean clothes with water in
which a piece of gold has been dipped. The Dhobi is not so impure as
the Chamar and Basor, and if a member of the higher castes touches
him inadvertently it is considered sufficient to wash the face and
hands only and not the clothes.
Colonel Tod writes [553] that in Rajputana the washermen's wells dug at
the sides of streams are deemed the most impure of all receptacles. And
one of the most binding oaths is that a man as he swears should drop
a pebble into one of these wells, saying, "If I break this oath may
all the good deeds of my forefathers fall into the washerman's well
like this pebble." Nevertheless the Dhobi refuses to wash the clothes
of some of the lowest castes as the Mang, Mahar and Chamar. Like
the Teli the Dhobi is unlucky, and it is a bad omen to see him when
starting on a journey or going out in the morning. But among some of
the higher castes on the occasion of a marriage the elder members of
the bridegroom's family go with the bride to the Dhobi's house. His
wife presents the bride with betel-leaf and in return is given clothes
with a rupee. This ceremony is called _sohag_ or good fortune, and
the present from the Dhobin is supposed to be lucky. In Berar the
Dhobi is also a Balutedar or village servant. Mr. Kitts writes of him:
[554] "At a wedding he is called upon to spread the clothes on which
the bridegroom and his party alight on coming to the bride's house;
he also provides the cloth on which the bride and bridegroom are to
sit and fastens the _kankan_ (bracelet) on the girl's hand. In the
Yeotmal District the barber and the washerman sometimes take the place
of the maternal uncle in the _jhenda_ dance; and when the bridegroom,
assisted by five married women, has thrown the necklace of black beads
round the bride's neck and has tied it with five knots, the barber
and the washerman advance, and lifting the young couple on their
thighs dance to the music of the _wajantri_, while the bystanders
besprinkle them with red powder."
In Chhattisgarh the Dhobis appear to have partly abandoned
their hereditary profession and taken to agriculture and other
callings. Sir Benjamin Robertson writes of them: [555] "The caste
largely preponderates in Chhattisgarh, a part of the country where,
at least to the superficial observer, it would hardly seem as if its
services were much availed of; the number of Dhobis in Raipur and
Bilaspur is nearly 40,000. In both Districts the washerman is one
of the recognised village servants, but as a rule he gets no fixed
payment, and the great body of cultivators dispense with his services
altogether. According to the _Raipur Settlement Report_ (Mr. Hewett),
he is employed by the ryots only to wash the clothes of the dead, and
he is never found among a population of Satnamis. It may therefore
be assumed that in Chhattisgarh the Bareth caste has largely taken
to cultivation." In Bengal Sir H. Risley states [556] that "the Dhobi
often gives up his caste trade and follows the profession of a writer,
messenger or collector of rent (_tahsildar_), and it is an old native
tradition that a Bengali Dhobi was the first interpreter the English
factory at Calcutta had, while it is further stated that our early
commercial transactions were carried on solely through the agency of
low-caste natives. The Dhobi, however, will never engage himself as
an indoor servant in the house of a European."
7. Proverbs about the Dhobi.
Like the other castes who supply the primary needs of the people,
the Dhobi is not regarded with much favour by his customers, and they
revenge themselves in various sarcasms at his expense for the injury
caused to their clothes by his drastic measures. The following are
mentioned by Sir G. Grierson: [557] '_Dhobi par Dhobi base, tab kapre
par sabun pare_', or 'When many Dhobis compete, then some soap gets
to the clothes,' and 'It is only the clothes of the Dhobi's father
that never get torn.' The Dhobi's donkey is a familiar sight as
one meets him on the road still toiling as in the time of Issachar
between two bundles of clothes each larger than himself, and he has
also become proverbial, '_Dhobi ka gadha neh ghar ka neh ghat ka_,'
'The Dhobi's donkey is always on the move'; and 'The ass has only
one master (a washerman), and the washerman has only one steed (an
ass).' The resentment felt for the Dhobi by his customers is not
confined to his Indian clients, as may be seen from Eha's excellent
description of the Dhobi in _Behind the Bungalow_; and it may perhaps
be permissible to introduce here the following short excerpt, though
it necessarily loses in force by being detached from the context:
"Day after day he has stood before that great black stone and wreaked
his rage upon shirt and trouser and coat, and coat and trouser and
shirt. Then he has wrung them as if he were wringing the necks of
poultry, and fixed them on his drying line with thorns and spikes,
and finally he has taken the battered garments to his torture chamber
and ploughed them with his iron, longwise and crosswise and slantwise,
and dropped glowing cinders on their tenderest places. Son has followed
father through countless generations in cultivating this passion for
destruction, until it has become the monstrous growth which we see
and shudder at in the Dhobi."
8. Wearing and lending the clothes of customers.
It is also currently believed that the Dhobi wears the clothes of his
customers himself. Thus, 'The Dhobi looks smart in other people's
clothes'; and '_Rajache shiri, Paritache tiri_,' or 'The king's
headscarf is the washerman's loin-cloth.' On this point Mr. Thurston
writes of the Madras washerman: "It is an unpleasant reflection
that the Vannans or washermen add to their income by hiring out
the clothes of their customers for funeral parties, who lay them
on the path before the pall-bearers, so that they may not step upon
the ground. On one occasion a party of Europeans, when out shooting
near the village of a hill tribe, met a funeral procession on its
way to the burial-ground. The bier was draped in many folds of clean
cloth, which one of the party recognised by the initials as one of
his bed-sheets. Another identified as his sheet the cloth on which
the corpse was lying. He cut off the corner with the initial, and a
few days later the sheet was returned by the Dhobi, who pretended
ignorance of the mutilation, and gave as an explanation that it
must have been done in his absence by one of his assistants." [558]
And Eha describes the same custom in the following amusing manner:
"Did you ever open your handkerchief with the suspicion that you had
got a duster into your pocket by mistake, till the name of De Souza
blazoned on the corner showed you that you were wearing some one
else's property? An accident of this kind reveals a beneficent branch
of the Dhobi's business, one in which he comes to the relief of needy
respectability. Suppose yourself (if you can) to be Mr. Lobo, enjoying
the position of first violinist in a string band which performs at
Parsi weddings and on other festive occasions. _Noblesse oblige_; you
cannot evade the necessity for clean shirt-fronts, ill able as your
precarious income may be to meet it. In these circumstances a Dhobi
with good connections is what you require. He finds you in shirts of
the best quality at so much an evening, and you are saved all risk and
outlay of capital; you need keep no clothes except a greenish-black
surtout and pants and an effective necktie. In this way the wealth
of the rich helps the want of the poor without their feeling it
or knowing it--an excellent arrangement. Sometimes, unfortunately,
Mr. Lobo has a few clothes of his own, and then, as I have hinted,
the Dhobi may exchange them by mistake, for he is uneducated and
has much to remember; but if you occasionally suffer in this way you
gain in another, for Mr. Lobo's family are skilful with the needle,
and I have sent a torn garment to the wash which returned carefully
repaired." [559]
Dhuri
1. Origin and Subdivisions.
_Dhuri._ [560]--A caste belonging exclusively to Chhattisgarh, which
numbered 3000 persons in 1911. Dhuri is an honorific abbreviation
from Dhuriya as Bani from Bania. The special occupation of the caste
is rice-parching, and they are an offshoot from Kahars, though in
Chhattisgarh the Dhuris now consider the Kahars as a subcaste of
their own. In Bengal the Dhuriyas are a subcaste of the Kandus or
Bharbhunjas. Sir H. Risley states that "the Dhurias rank lowest of
all the subcastes of Kandus, owing either to their having taken up
the comparatively menial profession of palanquin-bearing, or to their
being a branch of the Kahar caste who went in for grain-parching and
thus came to be associated with the Kandus." [561] The caste have
immigrated to Chhattisgarh from the United Provinces. In Kawardha
they believe that the Raja of that State brought them back with him
on his return from a pilgrimage. In Bilaspur and Raipur they say
they came from Badhar, a pargana in the Mirzapur District, adjoining
Rewah. Badhar is mentioned in one of the Rajim inscriptions, and is a
place remembered by other castes of Chhattisgarh as their ancestral
home. The Dhuris of Chhattisgarh relate their origin as follows:
Mahadeo went once to the jungle and the damp earth stuck to his
feet. He scraped it off and made it into a man, and asked him what
caste he would like to belong to. The man said he would leave it to
Mahadeo, who decided that he should be called Dhuri from _dhur,_
dust. The man then asked Mahadeo to assign him an occupation, and
Mahadeo said that as he was made from dust, which is pounded earth,
his work should be to prepare _cheora_ or pounded rice, and added as a
special distinction that all castes including Brahmans should eat the
pounded rice prepared by him. All castes do eat _cheora_ because it is
not boiled with water. The Dhuris have two subcastes, a higher and a
lower, but they are known by different names in different tracts. In
Kawardha they are called Raj Dhuri and Cheorakuta, the Raj Dhuris
being the descendants of personal servants in the Raja's family and
ranking above the Cheorakutas or rice-pounders. In Bilaspur they are
called Badharia and Khawas, and in Raipur Badharia and Desha. The
Khawas and Desha subcastes do menial household service and rank
below the Badharias, who are perhaps later immigrants and refuse to
engage in this occupation. The names of their exogamous sections are
nearly all territorial, as Naugahia from Naogaon in Bilaspur District,
Agoria from Agori, a pargana in Mirzapur District, Kashi or Benares,
and a number of other names derived from villages in Bilaspur. But the
caste do not strictly enforce the rule forbidding marriage within the
_gotra_ or section, and are content with avoiding three generations
both on the father's and mother's side. They have probably been driven
to modify the rule on account of the paucity of their numbers and the
difficulty of arranging marriages. For the same reason perhaps they
look with indulgence on the practice, as a rule strictly prohibited,
of marriage with a woman of another caste of lower social rank, and
will admit the children of such a marriage into the caste, though
not the woman herself.
2. Marriage.
Infant-marriage is in vogue, and polygamy is permitted only if the
first wife be barren. The betrothal is cemented by an exchange of
betel-leaves and areca-nuts between the fathers of the engaged
couple. A bride-price of from ten to twenty rupees is usually
paid. Some rice, a pice coin, 21 cowries and 21 pieces of turmeric
are placed in the hole in which the marriage post is erected. When
the wedding procession arrives at the girl's house the bridegroom
goes to the marriage-shed and pulls out the festoons of mango
leaves, the bride's family trying to prevent him by offering him
a winnowing-fan. He then approaches the door of the house, behind
which his future mother-in-law is standing, and slips a piece of
cloth through the door for her. She takes this and retires without
being seen. The wedding consists of the _bhanwar_ ceremony or walking
round the sacred pole. During the proceedings the women tie a new
thread round the bridegroom's neck to avert the evil eye. After
the wedding the bride and bridegroom, in opposition to the usual
custom, must return to the latter's house on foot. In explanation
of this they tell a story to the effect that the married couple
were formerly carried in a palanquin. But on one occasion when a
wedding procession came to a river, everybody began to catch fish,
leaving the bride deserted, and the palanquin-bearers, seeing this,
carried her off. To prevent the recurrence of such a mischance the
couple now have to walk. Widow-marriage is permitted, and the widow
usually marries her late husband's younger brother. Divorce is only
permitted for misconduct on the part of the wife.
3. Religious beliefs.
The Dhuris principally worship the goddess Devi. Nearly all members
of the caste belong to the Kabirpanthi sect. They believe that the
sun on setting goes through the earth, and that the milky way is the
path by which the elephant of the heavens passes from south to north
to feed on the young bamboo shoots, of which he is very fond. They
think that the constellation of the Great Bear is a cot with three
thieves tied to it. The thieves came to steal the cot, which belonged
to an old woman, but God caught them and tied them down there for
ever. Orion is the plough left by one of the Pandava brothers after
he had finished tilling the heavens. The dead are burnt. They observe
mourning during nine or ten days for an adult and make libations to the
dead at the usual period in the month of Kunwar (September-October).
4. Occupation and social status.
The proper occupation of the caste is to parch rice. The rice is husked
and then parched in an earthen pan, and subsequently bruised with a
mallet in a wooden mortar. When prepared in this manner it is called
_cheora_. The Dhuris also act as _khidmatgars_ or household servants,
but the members of the Badharia subcaste refuse to do this work. Some
members of the caste are fishermen, and others grow melons and sweet
potatoes. Considering that they live in Chhattisgarh, the caste are
somewhat scrupulous in the matter of food, neither eating fowls nor
drinking liquor. The Kawardha Dhuris, however, who are later immigrants
than the others, do not observe these restrictions, the reason for
which may be that the Dhuris think it necessary to be strict in the
matter of food, so that no one may object to take parched rice from
them. Rawats and Gonds take food from their hands in some places,
and their social status in Chhattisgarh is about equivalent to that
of the Rawats or Ahirs. A man of the caste who kills a cow or gets
vermin in a wound must go to Amarkantak to bathe in the Nerbudda.
Dumal
1. Origin and traditions.
_Dumal._ [562]--An agricultural caste found in the Uriya country
and principally in the Sonpur State, recently transferred to Bihar
and Orissa. In 1901, 41,000 Dumals were enumerated in the Central
Provinces, but only a few persons now remain. The caste originally
came from Orissa. They themselves say that they were formerly a branch
of the Gaurs, with whom they now have no special connection. They
derive their name from a village called Dumba Hadap in the Athmalik
State, where they say that they lived. Another story is that Dumal
is derived from Duma, the name of a gateway in Baud town, near which
they dwelt. Sir H. Risley says: "The Dumals or Jadupuria Gaura seem to
be a group of local formation. They cherish the tradition that their
ancestors came to Orissa from Jadupur, but this appears to be nothing
more than the name of the Jadavas or Yadavas, the mythical progenitors
of the Goala caste transformed into the name of an imaginary town."
2. Subdivisions.
The Dumals have no subcastes, but they have a complicated system of
exogamy. This includes three kinds of divisions or sections, the _got_
or sept, the _barga_ or family title and the _mitti_ or earth from
which they sprang, that is, the name of the original village of the
clan. Marriage is prohibited only between persons who have the same
_got_, _barga_ and _mitti_; if any one of these is different it is
allowed. Thus a man of the Nag _got_, Padhan _barga_ and Hindolsai
_mitti_ may marry a girl of the Nag _got_, Padhan _barga_ and Kandhpada
_mitti_; or one of the Nag _got_, Karmi _barga_ and Hindolsai _mitti_;
or one of the Bud _got_, Padhan _barga_ and Hindolsai _mitti_. The
_bargas_ are very numerous, but the _gots_ and _mittis_ are few and
common to many _bargas_; and many people have forgotten the name
of their _mitti_ altogether. Marriage therefore usually depends on
the _bargas_ being different. The following table shows the _got_,
_barga_ and _mitti_ of a few families:
Got. Barga. Mitti.
Nag (cobra) Padhan (chief) Hindolsai
Nag Karmi (manager) Unda (a village in Athmalik)
Nag Behra (Palki-bearer) Kandhpada (a village in Athmalik)
Nag Mahakul (great family) Do. do.
Nag Mesua (shepherd) Dalpur (a village in Baud)
Nag Karan (writer) Kandhpada (a village in Athmalik)
Nag or Nagesh Mahakul (great family) Bamanda (a village in Baud)
Bud (a fish) Kolta (caste) Kandhpada (a village in Athmalik)
Bud (a fish) Baghar (buffalo) Do. do.
Bichhu (scorpion) Mahakul (great family) Bamada (a village in Baud)
The only other _gots_ besides those given above are Kachhap (tortoise),
Uluk (owl) and Limb (_nim_-tree). The _gots_ are thus totemistic,
and the animal or plant giving its name to the _got_ is venerated
and worshipped. The names of _bargas_ are diverse. Some are titles
indicating the position of the founder of the family in life, as Naik
(leader), Padhan (chief), Karmi (manager), Mahakul (great family) and
so on. Others are derived from functions performed in sacrifices,
as Amayat (one who kills the animal in the sacrifice), Gurandi
(one who makes a preparation of sugar for it), Dehri (priest), Barik
(one who carries the god's umbrella), Kamp (one who is in charge of
the baskets containing the sacred articles of the temple). Another
set of _bargas_ are names signifying the performance of menial
functions in household service, as Gejo (kitchen-cleaner), Chaulia
(rice-cleaner), Gadua (_lota_-bearer), Dang (spoon-bearer), Ghusri
(cleaner of the dining-place with cowdung). Other names of _bargas_
are derived from the caste's traditional occupation of grazing cattle,
as Mesua or Mendli (shepherd), Gaigariya (milkman), Chhand (one who
ties a rope to the legs of a cow when milking her). These names are
interesting as showing that the Dumals before taking to their present
occupation of agriculture were temple servants, household menials
and cattle-herds, thus fulfilling the functions now performed by the
Rawat or Gaur caste of graziers in Sambalpur. The names of the _mittis_
or villages show that their original home was in the Orissa Tributary
Mahals, while the totemistic names of _gots_ indicate their Dravidian
origin. The marriage of first cousins is prohibited.
3. Marriage.
Girls must be married before adolescence, and in the event of the
parents failing to accomplish this, the following heavy penalty is
imposed on the girl herself. She is taken to the forest and tied to a
tree with thread, this proceeding signifying her permanent exclusion
from the caste. Any one belonging to another caste can then take her
away and marry her if he chooses to do so. In practice, however, this
penalty is very rarely imposed, as the parents can get out of it by
marrying her to an old man, whether he is already married or not, the
parents bearing all the expenses, while the husband gives two to four
annas as a nominal contribution. After the marriage the old man can
either keep the girl as his wife or divorce her for a further nominal
payment of eight annas to a rupee. She then becomes a widow and can
marry again, while her parents will get ten or twenty rupees for her.
The boy's father makes the proposal for the marriage according to
the following curious formula. Taking some fried grain he goes to the
house of the father of the bride and addresses him as follows in the
presence of the neighbours and the relatives of both parties: "I hear
that the tree has budded and a blossom has come out; I intend to pluck
it." To which the girl's father replies: "The flower is delicate; it is
in the midst of an ocean and very difficult to approach: how will you
pluck it?" To which the reply is: 'I shall bring ships and _dongas_
(boats) and ply them in the ocean and fetch the flower.' And again:
"If you do pluck it, can you support it? Many difficulties may stand in
the way, and the flower may wither or get lost; will it be possible for
you to steer the flower's boat in the ocean of time, as long as it is
destined to be in this world?" To which the answer is: 'Yes, I shall,
and it is with that intention that I have come to you.' On which the
girl's father finally says: 'Very well then, I have given you the
flower.' The question of the bride's price is then discussed. There
are three recognised scales--Rs. 7 and 7 pieces of cloth, Rs. 9 and
9 pieces of cloth, and Rs. 18 and 18 pieces of cloth. The rupees in
question are those of Orissa, and each of them is worth only two-thirds
of a Government rupee. In cases of extreme poverty Rs. 2 and 2 pieces
of cloth are accepted. The price being fixed, the boy's father goes to
pay it after an interval; and on this occasion he holds out his cloth,
and a cocoanut is placed on it and broken by the girl's father, which
confirms the betrothal. Before the marriage seven married girls go out
and dig earth after worshipping the ground, and on their return let it
all fall on to the head of the bridegroom's mother, which is protected
only by a cloth. On the next day offerings are made to the ancestors,
who are invited to attend the ceremony as village gods. The bridegroom
is shaved clean and bathed, and the Brahman then ties an iron ring
to his wrist, and the barber puts the turban and marriage-crown on
his head. The procession then starts, but any barber who meets it on
the way may put a fresh marriage-crown on the bridegroom's head and
receive eight annas or a rupee for it, so that he sometimes arrives
at his destination wearing four or five of them. The usual ceremonies
attend the arrival. At the marriage the couple are blindfolded and
seated in the shed, while the Brahman priest repeats _mantras_ or
verses, and during this time the parents and the parties must continue
placing nuts and pice all over the shed. These are the perquisites
of the Brahman. The hands of the couple are then tied together with
_kusha_ grass (_Eragrostis cynosuroides_), and water is poured over
them. After the ceremony the couple gamble with seven cowries and seven
pieces of turmeric. The boy then presses a cowrie on the ground with
his little finger, and the girl has to take it away, which she easily
does. The girl in her turn holds a cowrie inside her clenched hand,
and the boy has to remove it with his little finger, which he finds
it impossible to do. Thus the boy always loses and has to promise the
girl something, either to give her an ornament or to take her on a
pilgrimage, or to make her the mistress of his house. On the fifth
or last day of the ceremony some curds are placed in a small pot,
and the couple are made to churn them; this is probably symbolical of
the caste's original occupation of tending cattle. The bride goes to
her husband's house for three days, and then returns home. When she
is to be finally brought to her husband's house, his father with some
relatives goes to the parents of the girl and asks for her. It is now
strict etiquette for her father to refuse to send her on the first
occasion, and they usually have to call on him three or four times at
intervals of some days, and selecting the days given by the astrologer
as auspicious. Occasionally they have to go as many as ten times;
but finally, if the girl's father proves very troublesome, they send
an old woman who drags away the girl by force. If the father sends her
away willingly he gives her presents of several basket-loads of grain,
oil, turmeric, cooking-pots, cloth, and if he is well off a cow and
bullocks, the value of the presents amounting to about Rs. 50. The
girl's brother takes her to her husband's house, where a repetition of
the marriage ceremony on a small scale is performed. Twice again after
the consummation of the marriage she visits her parents for periods
of one and six months, but after this she never again goes to their
house unaccompanied by her husband. Widow-marriage is allowed, and the
widow may marry the younger brother of her late husband or not as she
pleases. But if she marries another man he must pay a sum of Rs. 10
to Rs. 20 for her, of which Rs. 5 go to the Panua or headman of the
caste, and Rs. 2 to their tutelary goddess Parmeshwari. The children
by the first husband are kept either by his relatives or the widow's
parents, and do not go to the new husband. When a bachelor marries a
widow, he is first married to a flower or _sahara _tree. A widow who
has remarried cannot take part in any worship or marriage ceremony
in her house, not even in the marriage of her own sons. Divorce is
allowed, and is effected in the presence of the caste _panchayat_
or committee. A divorced woman may marry again.
4. Religious and social customs.
The caste worship the goddess Parmeshwari, the wife of Vishnu, and
Jagannath, the Uriya incarnation of Vishnu. Parmeshwari is worshipped
by Brahmans, who offer bread and _khir_ or rice and milk to her;
goats are also offered by the Dehri or Mahakul, the caste priest,
who receives the heads of the goats as his remuneration. They believe
in witches, who they think drink the blood of children, and employ
sorcerers to exorcise them. They worship a stick on Dasahra day in
remembrance of their old profession of herding cattle, and they worship
cows and buffaloes at the full moon of Shrawan (July-August). During
Kunwar, on the eighth day of each fortnight, two festivals are
held. At the first each girl in the family wears a thread containing
eighteen knots twisted three times round her neck. All the girls fast
and receive presents of cloths and grain from their brothers. This is
called Bhaijiuntia, or the ceremony for the welfare of the brothers. On
the second day the mother of the family does the same, and receives
presents from her sons, this being Puajiuntia, or the ceremony for the
welfare of sons. The Dumals believe that in the beginning water covered
the earth. They think that the sun and moon are the eyes of God, and
that the stars are the souls of virtuous men, who enjoy felicity in
heaven for the period measured by the sum of their virtuous actions,
and when this has expired have to descend again to earth to suffer the
agonies of human life. When a shooting star is seen they think it is
the soul of one of these descending to be born again on earth. They
both burn and bury their dead according to their means. After a body
is buried they make a fire over the grave and place an empty pot on
it. Mourning is observed for twelve days in the case of a married
and for seven in the case of an unmarried person. Children dying
when less than six days old are not mourned at all. During mourning
the persons of the household do not cook for themselves. On the third
day after the death three leaf-plates, each containing a little rice,
sugar and butter, are offered to the spirit of the deceased. On the
fourth day four such plates are offered, and on the fifth day five,
and so on up to the ninth day when the Pindas or sacrificial cakes
are offered, and nine persons belonging to the caste are invited, food
and a new piece of cloth being given to each. Should only one attend,
nine plates of food would be served to him, and he would be given
nine pieces of cloth. If two or more persons in a family are killed
by a tiger, a Sulia or magician is called in, and he pretends to be
the tiger and to bite some one in the family, who is then carried as
a corpse to the burial-place, buried for a short time and taken out
again. All the ceremonies of mourning are observed for him for one
day. This proceeding is believed to secure immunity for the family from
further attacks. In return for his services the Sulia gets a share
of everything in the house corresponding to what he would receive,
supposing he were a member of the family, on a partition. Thus if
the family consisted of only two persons he would get a third part
of the whole property.
The Dumals eat meat, including wild boar's flesh, but not beef,
fowls or tame pigs. They do not drink liquor. They will take food
cooked with water from Brahmans and Sudhs, and even the leavings of
food from Brahmans. This is probably because they were formerly the
household servants of Brahmans, though they have now risen somewhat
in position and rank, together with the Koltas and Sudhs, as a good
cultivating caste. Their women and girls can easily be distinguished,
the girls because the hair is shaved until they are married, and the
women because they wear bangles of glass on one arm and of lac on the
other. They never wear nose-rings or the ornament called _pairi_ on
the feet, and no ornaments are worn on the arm above the elbow. They
do not wear black clothing. The women are tattooed on the hands, feet
and breast. Morality within the caste is lax. A woman going wrong
with a man of her own caste is not punished, because the Dumals live
generally in Native States, where it is the business of the Raja to
find the seducer. But she is permanently excommunicated for a _liaison_
with a man of another caste. Eating with a very low caste is almost
the only offence which entails permanent exclusion for both sexes. The
Dumals have a bad reputation for fidelity, according to a saying:
'You cannot call the jungle a plain, and you should not call the
Dumal a brother,' that is, do not trust a Dumal. Like the Ahirs they
are somewhat stupid, and when enquiry was being made from them as to
what crops they did not grow, one of them replied that they did not
sow salt. They are good cultivators, and will grow anything except
hemp and turmeric. In some places they still follow their traditional
occupation of grazing cattle.
Fakir
1. General notice.
_Fakir._ [563]--The class of Muhammadan beggars. In the Central
Provinces the name is practically confined to Muhammadans, but in
Upper India Hindus also use it. Nearly 9000 Fakirs were returned
in 1911, being residents mainly of Districts with large towns, as
Jubbulpore, Nagpur and Amraoti. Nearly two-fifths of the Muhammadans
of the Central Provinces live in towns, and Muhammadan beggars
would naturally congregate there also. The name is derived from the
Arabic _fakr_, poverty. The Fakirs are often known as Shah, Lord,
or Sain, a corruption of the Sanskrit Swami, master. Muhammad did
not recognise religious ascetism, and expressly discouraged it. But
even during his lifetime his companions Abu Bakr and Ali established
religious orders with Zikrs or special exercises, and all Muhammadan
Fakirs trace their origin to Abu Bakr or Ali subsequently the first
and fourth Caliphs. [564] The Fakirs are divided into two classes,
the Ba Shara or those who live according to the rules of Islam and
marry; and the Be Shara or those without the law. These latter have
no wives or homes; they drink intoxicating liquor, and neither fast,
pray nor rule their passions. But several of the orders contain both
married and celibate groups.
2. Principal orders.
The principal classes of Fakirs in the Central Provinces are
the Madari, Gurujwale or Rafai, Jalali, Mewati, Sada Sohagal and
Nakshbandia. All of these except the Nakshbandia are nominally at
least Be Shara, or without the law, and celibate.
The Madari are the followers of one Madar Shah, a converted Jew
of Aleppo, whose tomb is supposed to be at Makhanpur in the United
Provinces. Their characteristic badge is a pair of pincers. Some, in
order to force people to give them alms, go about dragging a chain or
lashing their legs with a whip. Others are monkey- and bear-trainers
and rope-dancers. The Madaris are said to be proof against snakes and
scorpions, and to have power to cure their bites. They will leap into
a fire and trample it down, crying out, '_Aam Madar, Aam Madar_.' [565]
The Gurujwale or Rafai have as their badge a spiked iron club with
small chains attached to the end. The Fakir rattles the chains of
his club to announce his presence, and if the people will not give
him alms strikes at his own cheek or eye with the sharp point of his
club, making the blood flow. They make prayers to their club once a
year, so that it may not cause them serious injury when they strike
themselves with it.
The Jalalias are named after their founder, Jalal-ud-din of Bokhara,
and have a horse-whip as their badge, with which they sometimes
strike themselves on the hands and feet. They are said to consume
large quantities of _bhang_, and to eat snakes and scorpions; they
shave all the hair on the head and face, including the eyebrows,
except a small scalp-lock on the right side.
The Mewati appear to be a thieving order. They are also known as
Kulchor or thieves of the family, and appear to have been originally
a branch of the Madari, who were perhaps expelled on account of their
thieving habits. Their distinguishing mark is a double bag like a
pack-saddle, which they hang over their shoulders. The Sada or Musa
Sohag are an order who dress like women, put on glass bangles, have
their ears and noses pierced for ornaments, and wear long hair, but
retain their beards and moustaches. They regard themselves as brides
of God or of Hussan, and beg in this guise.
The Nakshbandia are the disciples of Khwaja Mir Muhammad, who was
called Nakshband or brocade-maker. They beg at night-time, carrying an
open brass lamp with a short wick. Children are fond of the Nakshband,
and go out in numbers to give him money. In return he marks them on the
brow with oil from his lamp. They are quiet and well behaved, belonging
to the Ba Shara class of Fakirs, and having homes and families.
The Kalandaria or wandering dervishes, who are occasionally met with,
were founded by Kalandar Yusuf-ul-Andalusi, a native of Spain. Having
been dismissed from another order, he founded this as a new one, with
the obligation of perpetual travelling. The Kalandar is a well-known
figure in Eastern stories. [566]
The Maulawiyah are the well-known dancing dervishes of Constantinople
and Cairo, but do not belong to India.
The different orders of Fakirs are not strictly endogamous, and
marriages can take place between their members, though the Madaris
prefer to confine marriage to their own order. Fakirs as a body
are believed to marry among themselves, and hence to form something
in the nature of a caste, but they freely admit outsiders, whether
Muhammadans or proselytised Hindus.
3. Rules and customs.
Every Fakir must have a Murshid or preceptor, and be initiated by
him. This applies also to boys born in the order, and a father cannot
initiate his son. The rite is usually simple, the novice having
to drink sherbet from the same cup as his preceptor and make him a
present of Rs. 1-4; but some orders insist that the whole body of
a novice should be shaved clean of hair before he is initiated. The
principal religious exercise of Fakirs is known as Zikr, and consists
in the continual repetition of the names of God by various methods, it
being supposed that they can draw the name from different parts of the
body. The exercise is so exhausting that they frequently faint under
it, and is varied by repetition of certain chapters of the Koran. The
Fakir has a _tasbih_ or rosary, often consisting of ninety-nine beads,
on which he repeats the ninety-nine names of God. The Fakirs beg
both from Hindus and Muhammadans, and are sometimes troublesome and
importunate, inflicting wounds on themselves as a means of extorting
alms. One beggar in Saugor said that he would give every one who gave
him alms five strokes with his whip, and attracted considerable custom
by this novel expedient. Some of them are in charge of Muhammadan
cemeteries and receive fees for a burial, while others live at the
tombs of saints. They keep the tomb in good repair, cover it with
a green cloth and keep a lighted lamp on it, and appropriate the
offerings made by visitors. Owing to their solitude and continuous
repetition of prayers many Fakirs fall into a distraught condition,
when they are known as _mast_, and are believed to be possessed of
a spirit. At such a time the people attach the greatest importance
to any utterances which fall from the Fakir's lips, believing that
he has the gift of prophecy, and follow him about with presents to
induce him to make some utterance.
End of vol. II
NOTES
[1] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Mir Padshah, Tahsildar
of Bilaspur, and Kanhya Lal, clerk in the Gazetteer office.
[2] _Basi_ or rice boiled in water the previous day.
[3] A measure containing about 2 1/2 lbs. of grain.
[4] This article is mainly compiled from papers by the late
Mr. Baikunth Nath Pujari, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Sambalpur;
Sitaram, Head Master of the Raigarh English School, and Kanhya Lal,
clerk in the Gazetteer office.
[5] Now transferred to Bengal.
[6] Dalton's _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 322.
[7] This article is mainly based on a paper on _Aghoris
and Aghorpanthis_, by Mr. H. W. Barrow, in the _Journal
Anthr. Soc. Bombay_, iii. p. 197.
[8] Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 392.
[9] _Aghoris and Aghorpanthis_, pp. 224, 226.
[10] Page 208.
[11] _The Tribune_ (Lahore), November 29, 1898, quoted in Oman's
_Mystics, Ascetics and Saints of India_, pp. 164, 165.
[12] _Studies of Indian Life and Sentiment_, p. 44.
[13] The information about birth customs in this article is from a
paper by Mr. Kalika Prasad, Tahsildar, Raj-Nandgaon State.
[14] _Go_, _gau_ or _gai_, an ox or cow, and _pal_ or _palak_,
guardian.
[15] _Ind. Ant._ (Jan. 1911), 'Foreign Elements in the Hindu
Population,' by Mr. D. R. Bhandarkar.
[16] Elliot, _Supplemental Glossary_, _s.v._ Ahir.
[17] _Early History of India_, 3rd ed. p. 286.
[18] Elliot, _ibidem._
[19] _Bombay Monograph on Ahir._
[20] Elliot, _ibidem._
[21] _Central Provinces Gazetteer_ (1871), Introduction.
[22] _Linguistic Survey of India_, vol. ix. part ii. p. 50.
[23] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey._
[24] Quoted in _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Goala.
[25] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 639.
[26] Gokul was the place where Krishna was brought up, and the
Gokulastha Gosains are his special devotees.
[27] _Behind the Bungalow._
[28] _Eastern India_, ii. p. 467.
[29] Buchanan, _Eastern India_, ii. pp. 924, 943.
[30] This article is mainly based on a paper by Mr. W. S. Slaney,
E.A.C., Akola.
[31] _Berar Census Report_ (1881).
[32] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Arakh.
[33] _Cajanus indicus._
[34] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 157.
[35] Based on papers by Mr. Bijai Bahadur Royzada, Naib-Tahsildar
Hinganghat, and Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer office.
[36] A preparation of raisins and other fruits and rice.
[37] The ordinary tola is a rupee weight or two-fifths of an ounce.
[38] _Jasminum zambac._
[39] _Michelia champaca._
[40] _Phyllanthus emblica._
[41] _Report on the Badhak or Bagri Dacoits and the Measures adopted
by the Government of India for their Suppression_, printed in 1849.
[42] Sleeman, p. 10.
[43] Sleeman, p. 10.
[44] Sleeman, p. 57.
[45] Sleeman, p. 95.
[46] Sleeman, p. 231.
[47] Sleeman, p. 217.
[48] Sleeman, p. 20.
[49] Sleeman, p. 21.
[50] Sleeman, p. 81.
[51] Sleeman, p. 82.
[52] Sleeman, p. 152.
[53] Sleeman, p. 127. This passage is from a letter written by a
magistrate, Mr. Ramsay.
[54] Sleeman, p. 129.
[55] Sleeman, p. 112.
[56] Sleeman, p. 124.
[57] Sleeman, p. 125.
[58] Sleeman, p. 147.
[59] Sleeman, p. 104.
[60] Sleeman, p. 110.
[61] Sleeman, p. 131.
[62] Sleeman, p. 205.
[63] Sleeman, p. 106.
[64] Malcolm's _Memoir of Central India_, ii. p. 479.
[65] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bawaria.
[66] _Sirsa Settlement Report._
[67] It would appear that the Gujarat Vaghris are a distinct class
from the criminal section of the tribe.
[68] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Gujarat Hindus_, p. 514.
[69] Art. Bawaria, quoting from _North Indian Notes and Queries_,
i. 51.
[70] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 574.
[71] Gunthorpe's _Criminal Tribes_.
[72] _Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency_, p. 151.
[73] Gunthorpe's _Criminal Tribes_, art. Badhak.
[74] _C. P. Police Lectures_, art. Badhak.
[75] Art. Bawaria, para. 12.
[76] _Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency_, p. 179.
[77] Kennedy, _loc. cit._ p. 208.
[78] Kennedy, _loc. cit._ p. 185.
[79] This article is partly based on a paper by Munshi Kanhya Lal of
the Gazetteer office.
[80] Sir B. Robertson's _C.P. Census Report_ (1891), p. 203.
[81] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), paras. 646, 647.
[82] _Nasik Gazetteer_, pp. 84, 85.
[83] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bahna.
[84] The word Achera is merely a jingle put in to make the rhyme
complete.
Kachera is a maker of glass bangles.
[85] This article is based largely on a monograph by the
Rev. J. Lampard, missionary, Baihar, and also on papers by Muhammad
Hanif Siddiqi, forest ranger, Bilaspur, and Mr. Muhammad Ali Haqqani,
B.A., Tahsildar, Dindori. Some extracts have been made from Colonel
Ward's _Mandla Settlement Report_ (1869), and from Colonel Bloomfield's
_Notes on the Baigas_.
[86] In Bengal the Bhumia or Bhumij are an important tribe.
[87] Colonel Ward's _Mandla Settlement Report_ (1868-69), p. 153.
[88] _Shorea robusta._
[89] Jarrett's _Ain-i-Akbari_, vol. ii. p. 196.
[90] Colonel Ward gives the bride's house as among the Gonds. But
inquiry in Mandla shows that if this custom formerly existed it has
been abandoned.
[91] Forsyth's _Highlands of Central India_, p. 377.
[92] The Great God. The Gonds also worship Bura Deo, resident in a
_saj_ tree.
[93] Opened in 1905.
[94] _Mandla Settlement Report_ (1868-69), p. 153.
[95] _Notes on the Baigas_, p. 4.
[96] Mr. Lampard's monograph.
[97] Farthings.
[98] This article contains material from Sir E. Maclagan's _Punjab
Census Report_ (1891), and Dr. J. N. Bhattacharya's _Hindu Castes
and Sects_ (Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta).
[99] _Dictionary_, s.v.
[100] Sir E. Maclagan's _Punjab Census Report_ (1891), p. 122.
[101] _Memoir of Mathura._
[102] _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 449.
[103] Lit. the birth on the eighth day, as Krishna was born on the
8th of dark Bhadon.
[104] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Vallabhacharya.
[105] _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 457.
[106] From _laskkar_, an army.
[107] This paragraph is taken from Professor Wilson's _Account of
Hindu Sects in the Asiatic Researches_.
[108] This article is based on papers by Mr. Habib Ullah, Pleader,
Burhanpur, Mr. W. Bagley, Subdivisional Officer, and Munsh Kanhya Lal,
of the Gazetteer office.
[109] This legend is probably a vague reminiscence of the historical
fact that a Malwa army was misled by a Gond guide in the Nimar forests
and cut up by the local Muhammadan ruler. The well-known Raja Man of
Jodhpur was, it is believed, never in Nimar.
[110] The _ghat_ or river-bank for the disposal of corpses.
[111] _Madras Census Report_ (1891), p. 277.
[112] _Ibidem_ (1891), p. 226.
[113] _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_, p. 16.
[114] _Madras Census Report_ (1891), p. 277.
[115] See para. 19 below.
[116] See commencement of article.
[117] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), Occupation Chapter, Subsidiary
Table I. p. 234.
[118] For examples, the subordinate articles on Agarwal, Oswal,
Maheshri, Khandelwal, Lad, Agrahari, Ajudhiabasi, and Srimali may be
consulted. The census lists contain numerous other territorial names.
[119] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 76, 109.
[120] That is Marwar. But perhaps the term here is used in the wider
sense of Rajputana.
[121] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 145.
[122] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), p. 293.
[123] _Supplemental Glossary_, p. 110.
[124] _Rasmala_, i. pp. 240, 243.
[125] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 360.
[126] _Ibid._ ii. p. 240.
[127] The Parwars probably belonged originally to Rajputana; see
subordinate article.
[128] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 491.
[129] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 80.
[130] The common brass drinking-vessel.
[131] Sir H. H. Risley's _Peoples of India_, p. 127, and Appendix
I. p. 8.
[132] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), p. 291.
[133] _Nagpur Settlement Report_ (1900), para. 54.
[134] _Nagpur Settlement Report_ (1900), para. 54.
[135] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Agarwala.
[136] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Agarwala.
[137] The information on this subcaste is taken from Mr. Crooke's
article on it in his _Tribes and Castes_.
[138] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Audhia.
[139] Kennedy's _Criminal Classes of the Bombay Presidency_,
art. Audhia.
[140] Kennedy, _ibidem._
[141] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Audhia.
[142] _United Provinces Census Report_ (1901), p. 220.
[143] Atkinson, _Himalayan Gazetteer_, ii. p. 473, quoted in
Mr. Crooke's article Dhusar.
[144] Sherring, _Hindu Castes_, i. p. 293.
[145] This account is based on a paper furnished by Mr. Jeorakhan Lal,
Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bilaspur.
[146] Kashyap was a Brahman saint, but the name is perhaps derived
from Kachhap, a tortoise.
[147] This article is mainly based on a paper by Mr. Pancham Lal,
Naib-Tahsildar Sihora.
[148] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Gahoi.
[149] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Golahre.
[150] The above notice is partly based on a paper by Mr. Sant Prasad,
schoolmaster, Nandgaon.
[151] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Kasaundhan.
[152] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Khandelwal.
[153] _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 209.
[154] See article Bairagi for some notice of the sect.
[155] See separate article on Jangam.
[156] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 70.
[157] A town near Jhalor in Marwar, now called Bhinmal.
[158] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 97.
[159] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 210, footnote.
[160] _Hindus of Gujarat_, _loc. cit._, and _Bombay Gazetteer_,
xvi. 45.
[161] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Oswal.
[162] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xvii. p. 51.
[163] _Ibidem._
[164] Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 207.
[165] This article is based on papers by Mr. Pancham Lal,
Naib-Tahsildar Sihora, and Munshi Kanhya Lal, of the Gazetteer office.
[166] See also notice of Benaikias in article on Vidur.
[167] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xvii. p. 81.
[168] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 99.
[169] _Ibidem._
[170] _Ibidem._ p. 98.
[171] _Merinda citrifolia_, see art. Alia.
[172] See article.
[173] This article is based principally on a _Monograph on the Banjara
Clan_, by Mr. N. F. Cumberlege of the Berar Police, believed to have
been first written in 1869 and reprinted in 1882; notes on the Banjaras
written by Colonel Mackenzie and printed in the _Berar Census Report_
(1881) and the _Pioneer_ newspaper (communicated by Mrs. Horsburgh);
Major Gunthorpe's _Criminal Tribes_; papers by Mr. M. E. Khare,
Extra-Assistant Commissioner, Chanda; Mr. Narayan Rao, Tahr., Betul;
Mr. Mukund Rao, Manager, Pachmarhi Estate; and information on the
caste collected in Yeotmal and Nimar.
[174] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Banjara, para. 1.
[175] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 150.
[176] _Ibidem_, para. 2, quoting Dowson's Elliot, v. 100.
[177] Khan Bahadur Fazalullah Lutfullah Faridi in the _Bombay
Gazetteer_ (_Muhammadans of Gujarat_, p. 86) quoting from General
Briggs (_Transactions Bombay Literary Society_, vol. i. 183) says
that "as carriers of grain for Muhammadan armies the Banjaras have
figured in history from the days of Muhammad Tughlak (A.D. 1340)
to those of Aurangzeb."
[178] Sir H. M. Elliot's _Supplemental Glossary_.
[179] _Monograph on the Banjara Clan_, p. 8.
[180] _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 214 _et seq._
[181] _Rajasthan_, i. 602.
[182] _Ibidem_, ii. 570, 573.
[183] This custom does not necessarily indicate a special connection
between the Banjaras and Charans, as it is common to several
castes in Rajputana; but it indicates that the Banjaras came from
Rajputana. Banjara men also frequently wear the hair long, down to
the neck, which is another custom of Rajputana.
[184] _Jungle Life in India_, p. 517.
[185] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 152.
[186] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat._
[187] _Letter on the Marathas_ (1798), p. 67, _India Office Tracts._
[188] _Army of the Indian Mughals_, p. 192.
[189] _Monograph_, p. 14, and _Berar Census Report_ (1881) (Kitts),
p. 151.
[190] These are held to have been descendants of the Bhika Rathor
referred to by Colonel Mackenzie above.
[191] See note 3, p. 168.
[192] General Briggs quoted by Mr. Faridi in _Bombay Gazetteer,
Muhammadans of Gujarat_, p. 86.
[193] A. Wellesley (1800), quoted in Mr. Crooke's edition of
_Hobson-Jobson_, art. Brinjarry.
[194] Cumberlege, _loc. cit._
[195] Cumberlege, pp. 28, 29.
[196] Elliot's _Races_, quoted by Mr. Crooke, _ibidem._
[197] Cumberlege, pp. 4, 5.
[198] Cumberlege, _l.c._
[199] This custom is noticed in the article on Khairwar.
[200] Cumberlege, p. 18.
[201] Mr. Hira Lal suggests that this custom may have something to
do with the phrase _Athara jat ke gayi_, or 'She has gone to the
eighteen castes,' used of a woman who has been turned out of the
community. This phrase seems, however, to be a euphemism, eighteen
castes being a term of indefinite multitude for any or no caste. The
number eighteen may be selected from the same unknown association
which causes the goat to be cut into eighteen pieces.
[202] _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_, p. 344, quoting from
Moor's _Narrative of Little's Detachment_.
[203] Cumberlege, p. 35.
[204] _Berar Census Report_, 1881.
[205] Cumberlege, p. 21.
[206] The following instance is taken from Mr. Balfour's article,
'Migratory Tribes of Central India,' in _J. A. S. B._, new series,
vol. xiii., quoted in Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_.
[207] From the Sanskrit Hatya-adhya, meaning 'That which it is most
sinful to slay' (Balfour).
[208] _Monograph_, p. 12.
[209] _Asiatic Studies_, i. p. 118 (ed. 1899).
[210] Cumberlege, p. 23 _et seq._ The description of witchcraft is
wholly reproduced from his _Monograph_.
[211] His motive being the fine inflicted on the witch's family.
[212] The fruit of _Buchanania latifolia_.
[213] _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_, p. 507, quoting from
the Rev. J. Cain, _Ind. Ant._ viii. (1879).
[214] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_, p. 70.
[215] _Monograph_, p. 19.
[216] The Patwas are weavers of silk thread and the Nunias are masons
and navvies.
[217] An impure caste of weavers, ranking with the Mahars.
[218] _Semecarpus Anacardium._
[219] Malcolm, _Memoir of Central India_, ii. p. 296.
[220] Cumberlege, p. 16.
[221] Small double shells which are still used to a slight extent as
a currency in backward tracts. This would seem an impossibly cumbrous
method of carrying money about nowadays, but I have been informed by
a comparatively young official that in his father's time, change for
a rupee could not be had in Chhattisgarh outside the two principal
towns. As the cowries were a form of currency they were probably
held sacred, and hence sewn on to clothes as a charm, just as gold
and silver are used for ornaments.
[222] _Jungle Life in India_, p. 516.
[223] Brewer's _Dictionary of Phrase and Fable_ contains the following
notice of horns as an article of dress: "Mr. Buckingham says of a
Tyrian lady, 'She wore on her head a hollow silver horn rearing itself
up obliquely from the forehead. It was some four inches in diameter at
the root and pointed at the extremity. This peculiarity reminded me
forcibly of the expression of the Psalmist: "Lift not up your horn on
high; speak not with a stiff neck. All the horns of the wicked also
will I cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted"
(Ps. lxxv. 5, 10).' Bruce found in Abyssinia the silver horns of
warriors and distinguished men. In the reign of Henry V. the horned
headgear was introduced into England and from the effigy of Beatrice,
Countess of Arundel, at Arundel Church, who is represented with the
horns outspread to a great extent, we may infer that the length of
the head-horn, like the length of the shoe-point in the reign of Henry
VI., etc., marked the degree of rank. To cut off such horns would be
to degrade; and to exalt and extend such horns would be to add honour
and dignity to the wearer." Webb (_Heritage of Dress_, p. 117) writes:
"Mr. Elworthy in a paper to the British Association at Ipswich in
1865 considered the crown to be a development from horns of honour. He
maintained that the symbols found in the head of the god Serapis were
the elements from which were formed the composite head-dress called
the crown into which horns entered to a very great extent." This
seems a doubtful speculation, but still it may be quite possible
that the idea of distinguishing by a crown the leader of the tribe
was originally taken from the antlers of the leader of the herd. The
helmets of the Vikings were also, I believe, decorated with horns.
[224] _Monograph_, p. 40.
[225] _Melia indica._
[226] Author of the _Nimar Settlement Report_.
[227] _Sesamum._
[228] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_, p. 21.
[229] _Report on the Badhak or Bagri Dacoits_, p. 310.
[230] Colonel Mackenzie's notes.
[231] Mr. W. F. Sinclair, C.S., in _Ind. Ant._ iii. p. 184 (1874).
[232] _Notes on Criminal Tribes frequenting Bombay, Berar and the
Central Provinces_ (Bombay, 1882).
[233] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 151.
[234] This notice is compiled principally from a good paper
by Mr. M. C. Chatterji, retired Extra Assistant Commissioner,
Jubbulpore, and from papers by Professor Sada Shiva Jai Ram, M.A.,
Government College, Jubbulpore, and Mr. Bhaskar Baji Rao Deshmukh,
Deputy Inspector of Schools, Nagpur.
[235] Sherring, _Hindu Tribes and Castes_, i. p. 330. Nesfield,
_Brief View_, p. 15. _N.W.P. Census Report_ (1891), p 317.
[236] The name of a superior revenue office; under the Marathas,
now borne as a courtesy title by certain families.
[237] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Agarwal.
[238] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Barui.
[239] Blochmann, _Ain-i-Akbari_, i. p. 72, quoted in Crooke's _Tribes
and Castes_, art. Tamboli.
[240] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 210.
[241] _Ficus glomerata._
[242] _Hindu Castes_, i. p. 316.
[243] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Bari.
[244] Vishnu.
[245] Sherring, _Tribes and Castes_, i. pp. 403, 404.
[246] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. W. N. Maw, Deputy
Commissioner, Damoh, and Murlidhar, Munsiff of Khurai in Saugor.
[247] _Bombay Gazetteer_, xvii. p. 108.
[248] About 100 lbs.
[249] Compiled from papers by Mr. Ram Lal, B. A., Deputy Inspector of
Schools, Saugor; Mr. Vishnu Gangadhar Gadgil, Tahsildar, Narsinghpur;
Mr. Devi Dayal, Tahsildar, Hatta; Mr. Kanhya Lal, B. A., Deputy
Inspector of Schools, Betul; Mr. Keshava Rao, Headmaster, Middle
School, Seoni; and Bapu Gulab Singh, Superintendent, Land Records,
Betul.
[250] Chapter x. 37, and Shudra Kamlakar, p. 284.
[251] A Vaideha was the child of a Vaishya father and a Brahman mother.
[252] Based on a paper by Rao Sahib Dhonduji, retired Inspector of
Police, Akola, and information collected by Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of
the Gazetteer office.
[253] Mr. Marten's _C. P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 212.
[254] This article is based on papers by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S.,
Mr. Khande Rao, Superintendent of Land Records, Raipur, and Munshi
Kanhiya Lal, of the Gazetteer office.
[255] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Beldar.
[256] _The Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, art. Odde.
[257] _Akola District Gazetteer_ (Mr. C. Brown), pp. 132, 133.
[258] _Amraoti District Gazetteer_ (Messrs. Nelson and Fitzgerald),
p. 146.
[259] See article on Badhak.
[260] Kennedy, p. 247.
[261] Crooke, art. Beria.
[262] The following particulars are taken from a note by
Mr. K. N. Date, Deputy Superintendent, Reformatory School, Jubbulpore.
[263] This article is based principally on a paper by Panna Lal,
Revenue Inspector, Bilaspur, and also on papers by Mr. Syed Sher Ali,
Naib-Tahsildar, Mr. Hira Lal and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri of the Gazetteer
office.
[264] For the meaning of the term Baiga and its application to the
tribe, see also article on Bhuiya.
[265] It is or was, of course, a common practice for a husband to
cut off his wife's nose if he suspected her of being unfaithful to
him. But whether the application of the epithet to the goddess should
be taken to imply anything against her moral character is not known.
[266] This article is mainly compiled from a paper by Pyare Lal Misra,
Ethnographic Clerk.
[267] _Bombay Gazetteer_ (Campbell), xviii. p. 464.
[268] The following particulars are taken from Colonel Portman's
_Report on the Bhamtas of the Deccan_ (Bombay, 1887).
[269] Portman, _loc. cit._
[270] _Bombay Gazetteer_ (Campbell), xviii. p. 465.
[271] This article contains some information from a paper by Mr. Gopal
Parmanand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Saugor.
[272] _Memoirs of the Races of the N.W.P._ vol. i. p. 35.
[273] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bharbhunja.
[274] See article on Kurmi. The remainder of this section is taken
from Mr. Gopal Parmanand's notes.
[275] _Ibidem._
[276] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Kandu.
[277] This article is compiled from notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal,
Assistant Gazetteer Superintendent in Jubbulpore, and from a paper
by Ram Lal Sharma, schoolmaster, Bilaspur.
[278] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P._, art. Bhar.
[279] _C.P. Census Report_, 1881, p. 188.
[280] _Dhaya_ means the system of shifting cultivation, which until
prohibited was so injurious to the forests.
[281] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Brahman.
[282] Art. Bhat.
[283] Malcolm, _Central India_, ii. p. 132.
[284] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 406.
[285] Malcolm, ii. p. 135.
[286] _Rajasthan_, ii. pp. 133, 134.
[287] Great King, the ordinary method of address to Brahmans.
[288] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 175.
[289] _Rasmala_, ii. pp. 261, 262.
[290] See later in this article.
[291] This present of a lakh of rupees is known as Lakh Pasaru,
and it is not usually given in cash but in kind. It is made up of
grain, land, carriages, jewellery, horses, camels and elephants,
and varies in value from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 70,000. A living bard,
Mahamahopadhyaya Murar Das, has received three Lakh Pasarus from the
Rajas of Jodhpur and has refused one from the Rana of Udaipur in view
of the fact that he was made _ayachaka_ by the Jodhpur Raja. _Ayachaka_
means literally 'not a beggar,' and when a bard has once been made
_ayachaka_ he cannot accept gifts from any person other than his own
patron. An _ayachaka_ was formerly known as _polpat_, as it became
his bounden duty to sing the praises of his patron constantly from
the gate (_pol_) of the donor's fort or castle. (Mr. Hira Lal.)
[292] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 548.
[293] _Viserva_, lit. poison.
[294] From _dhol_, a drum.
[295] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 184.
[296] Lit. _putli_ or doll.
[297] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhat.
[298] _Ibidem._ Veiling the face is a sign of modesty.
[299] Postans. _Cutch_, p. 172.
[300] Vol. ii. pp. 392-394.
[301] _Rasmala_, ii. pp. 143, 144.
[302] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam,
pp. 217, 219.
[303] In Broach.
[304] Westermarck, _Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas_,
ii. p. 242.
[305] Westermarck, _ibidem_, p. 246.
[306] Westermarck, _ibidem_, p. 248.
[307] The above account of _Dharna_ is taken from Colonel Tone's
_Letter on the Marathas_ (India Office Tracts).
[308] This article is compiled from papers drawn up by Rai Bahadur
Panda Baijnath, Superintendent, Bastar State; Mr. Ravi Shankar,
Settlement Officer, Bastar; and Mr. Gopal Krishna, Assistant
Superintendent, Bastar.
[309] _Bassia latifolia_.
[310] The principal authorities on the Bhils are: _An Account of the
Mewar Bhils_, by Major P. H. Hendley, _J.A.S.B._ vol. xliv., 1875,
pp. 347-385; the _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. ix., _Hindus of Gujarat_;
and notices in Colonel Tod's _Rajasthan_, Mr. A. L. Forbes's _Rasmala_,
and _The Khandesh Bhil Corps_, by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox, C.S.
[311] The old name of the Sesodia clan, Gahlot, is held to be derived
from this Goha. See the article Rajput Sesodia for a notice of the
real origin of the clan.
[312] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 184.
[313] _Ibidem_, p. 186.
[314] Reference may be made to _The Golden Bough_ for the full
explanation and illustration of this superstition.
[315] _Rajasthan_, ii. pp. 320, 321.
[316] _History of the Marathas_, i. p. 28.
[317] See article.
[318] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 466.
[319] Malcolm, _Memoir of Central India_, i. p. 518.
[320] _An Account of the Bhils, J.A.S.B._ (1875), p. 369.
[321] _Hyderabad Census Report_ (1891), p. 218.
[322] _The Khandesh Bhil Corps_, by Mr A. H. A. Simcox.
[323] Forbes, _Rasmala_, i. p. 104.
[324] _Memoir of Central India_, i. pp. 525, 526.
[325] _Ibidem_, i. p. 550.
[326] _Hobson-Jobson_, art. Bhil.
[327] _An Account of the Bhils_, p. 369.
[328] _The Khandesh Bhil Corps_, p. 71.
[329] _Ibidem_, p. 275.
[330] _Eugenia jambolana._
[331] _Soymida febrifuga._
[332] _Phyllanthus emblica._
[333] _Terminalia belerica._
[334] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 309.
[335] See article Kunbi.
[336] _Sorghum vulgare._
[337] _Loc. cit._ p. 347.
[338] _Western India._
[339] _Asiatic Studies_, 1st series, p. 174.
[340] _Asiatic Studies_, 1st series, p. 352.
[341] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 302.
[342] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xii. p. 87.
[343] _An Account of the Bhils_, pp. 362, 363.
[344] _Account of the Mewar Bhils_, pp. 357, 358.
[345] Forbes, _Rasmala_, i. p. 113.
[346] _Nimar Settlement Report_, pp. 246, 247.
[347] Sir G. Grierson, _Linguistic Survey of India_, vol. ix. part
iii. pp. 6-9.
[348] This article is based mainly on Captain Forsyth's _Nimar
Settlement Report_, and a paper by Mr. T. T. Korke, Pleader, Khandwa.
[349] _Eugenia jambolana._
[350] _Bauhinia racemosa._
[351] _Settlement Report_ (1869), para. 411.
[352] Mr. Montgomerie's _Nimar Settlement Report_.
[353] _Memoir of Central India_, ii. p. 156.
[354] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhishti.
[355] Elliott's _Memoirs of the North-Western Provinces_, i. p. 191.
[356] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, ii. p. 100.
[357] Rudyard Kipling, _Barrack-Room Ballads_, 'Gunga Din.'
[358] Thacker and Co., London.
[359] This article is mainly compiled from papers by Mr. Pandurang
Lakshman Bakre, pleader, Betul, and Munshi Pyare Lal, ethnographic
clerk.
[360] This article is compiled partly from Colonel Dalton's _Ethnology
of Bengal_ and Sir H. Risley's _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_; a
monograph has also been furnished by Mr. B. C. Mazumdar, pleader,
Sambalpur, and papers by Mr. A. B. Napier, Deputy Commissioner,
Raipur, and Mr. Hira Lal.
[361] _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 140.
[362] _Linguistic Survey_, vol. xiv. _Munda and Dravidian Languages_,
p. 217.
[363] Page 142.
[364] _Ibidem_, p. 141.
[365] In the article on Binjhwar, it was supposed that the Baigas
migrated east from the Satpura hills into Chhattisgarh. But the
evidence adduced above appears to show that this view is incorrect.
[366] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Binjhia.
[367] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhuiya, para. 4.
[368] _Ibidem_, para. 3.
[369] _Ibidem_, art. Bhuiyar, para. 1.
[370] _Ibidem_, para. 16.
[371] Dalton, p. 147.
[372] Page 142.
[373] The question of the relation of the Baiga tribe to Mr. Crooke's
Bhuiyars was first raised by Mr. E. A. H. Blunt, Census Superintendent,
United Provinces.
[374] Mr. Mazumdar's monograph.
[375] From Mr. Mazumdar's monograph.
[376] This article is compiled from a paper taken by Mr. Hira Lal
at Sonpur.
[377] This article is based on papers by Mr. Hira Lal, Mr. Gokul
Prasad, Tahsildar, Dhamtari, Mr. Pyare Lal Misra of the Gazetteer
office, and Munshi Ganpati Giri, Superintendent, Bindranawagarh estate.
[378] From the _Index of Languages and Dialects_, furnished by Sir
G. Grierson for the census.
[379] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Binjhia.
[380] _Early History of Mankind_, p. 341.
[381] This article is based on a paper by Mr. Mian Bhai Abdul Hussain,
Extra Assistant Commissioner, Sambalpur.
[382] _Bassia latifolia_.
[383] This article is compiled from Mr. Wilson's account of the
Bishnois as reproduced in Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, and from
notes taken by Mr. Aduram Chaudhri in the Hoshangabad District.
[384] The total number of precepts as given above is only twenty-five,
but can be raised to twenty-nine by counting the prohibition of opium,
tobacco, _bhang_, blue clothing, spirits and flesh separately.
[385] Jhuria may be Jharia, jungly; Sain is a term applied to beggars;
the Ahir or herdsman sept may be descended from a man of this caste
who became a Bishnoi.
[386] The day when the sun passes from one zodiacal sign into another.
[387] The New Moon day or the day before.
[388] This article is largely based on Mr. F. L. Faridi's full
description of the sect in the _Bombay Gazetteer, Muhammadans of
Gujarat_, and on a paper by Mr. Habib Ullah, pleader, Burhanpur.
[389] _Bombay Gazetteer, Muhammadans of Gujarat_, p. 30. Sir
H. T. Colebrooke and Mr. Conolly thought that the Bohras were true
Shias and not Ismailias.
[390] _Ibidem_, pp. 30-32.
[391] _J.A.S.B._ vol. vi. (1837), part ii. p. 847.
[392] _Berar Census Report_ (1818), p. 70.
[393] _Castes and Tribes of Southern India_, art. Bohra.
[394] Crooke's edition of _Hobson-Jobson_, art. Bohra.
[395] Moor's _Hindu Infanticide_, p. 168.
[396] _Memoir of Central India_, ii. p. 111.
[397] This article is mainly compiled from a full and excellent account
of the caste by Mr. Gopal Datta Joshi, Civil Judge, Saugor, C.P., to
whom the writer is much indebted. Extracts have also been taken from
Mr. W. Crooke's and Sir H. Risley's articles on the caste in their
works on the _Tribes and Castes_ of the United Provinces and Bengal
respectively; from Mr. J. N. Bhattacharya's _Hindu Castes and Sects_
(Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1896), and from the Rev. W. Ward's
_View of the History, Literature and Religion of the Hindus_ (London,
1817).
[398] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Brahman, quoting Professor
Eggeling in _Encyclopædia Britannica_, s.v. Brahmanism.
[399] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Brahman.
[400] _Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies_, 3rd ed. p. 172.
[401] Muir, _Ancient Sanskrit Texts_, i. 282 _sq._
[402] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Brahman.
[403] Quoted by Mr. Crooke.
[404] _Tribes and Castes of the Punjab_, by Mr. H. A. Rose,
vol. ii. p. 123.
[405] See also article Rajput-Gaur.
[406] See subordinate articles.
[407] A section of the Kanaujia. See above.
[408] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Brahman.
[409] Chap. ix. v. 173.
[410] Ward's _Hindus_, vol. ii. p. 97.
[411] _Ibidem_, pp. 98, 100.
[412] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_, by the Abbé Dubois,
3rd ed. p. 499.
[413] _Ibidem_, p. 500.
[414] London, Heinemann (1897), pp. 84-91.
[415] This is the famous Gayatri.
[416] It is not known how a slip-knot and a garland are connected
with any incarnation of Vishnu. For the incarnations see articles
Vaishnava sect.
[417] In the Central Provinces Ganpati is represented by a round
red stone, Surya by a rock crystal or the Swastik sign, Devi by an
image in brass or by a stone brought from her famous temple at Mahur,
and Vishnu by the round black stone or Saligram. Besides these every
Brahman will have a special family god, who may be one of the above
or another deity, as Rama or Krishna.
[418] _Bipracharanamrita._
[419] _Hindu Castes and Sects_, pp. 19-21.
[420] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 487.
[421] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 698.
[422] At that time £12,500 or more, now about £8000.
[423] _Tribes and Castes of the North-West Provinces and Oudh_, s.v.
[424] _Early History of India_, 3rd ed. p. 376.
[425] _Ibidem_, p. 385.
[426] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Kanaujia.
[427] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 11.
[428] _Bombay Gazetteer, Satara_, p. 54.
[429] Bhattacharya, _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 47.
[430] _Ibidem_, p. 48.
[431] From Mr. Gopal Datta Joshi's paper.
[432] _Rasmala_, ii. p. 233.
[433] _Rasmala_, ii. p. 259.
[434] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Sanadhya.
[435] Crooke, _ibidem_, paras. 3 and 6.
[436] _Eastern India_, ii. 472, quoted in Mr. Crooke's art. Sarwaria.
[437] Stirling's description of Orissa in _As. Res_. vol. xv. p. 199,
quoted in _Hindu Castes and Sects_.
[438] _Hindu Castes and Sects_, p. 63.
[439] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Wali Muhammad,
Tahsildar of Khurai, and Kanhya Lal, clerk in the Gazetteer office.
[440] This article is based on the Rev. E. M. Gordon's _Indian
Folk-Tales_ (London, Elliott & Stock, 1908), and the Central
Provinces _Monograph on the Leather Industry_, by Mr. C. G. Chenevix
Trench, C.S.; with extracts from Sir H. H. Risley's and Mr. Crooke's
descriptions of the caste, and from the _Berar Census Report_ (1881);
on information collected for the District Gazetteers; and papers
by Messrs. Durga Prasad Pande, Tahsildar, Raipur; Ram Lal, Deputy
Inspector of Schools, Saugor; Govind Vithal Kane, Naib-Tahsildar,
Wardha; Balkrishna Ramchandra Bakhle, Tahsildar, Mandla; Sitaram,
schoolmaster, Balaghat; and Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer office. Some
of the material found in Mr. Gordon's book was obtained independently
by the writer in Bilaspur before its publication and is therefore
not specially acknowledged.
[441] There are other genealogies showing the Chamar as the offspring
of various mixed unions.
[442] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xv. Kanara, p. 355.
[443] The Hindus say that there are five classes of women, Padmini,
Hastini, Chitrani and Shunkhini being the first four, and of these
Padmini is the most perfect. No details of the other classes are
given. _Rasmala_, i. p. 160.
[444] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), p. 320.
[445] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Chamar.
[446] _Loc. cit._
[447] From Mr. Gordon's paper.
[448] _Monograph on Leather Industries_, p. 9.
[449] _Ibidem._
[450] See articles on these castes.
[451] _Monograph on Leather Industries_, p. 3.
[452] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 149.
[453] From _mangna_, to beg.
[454] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Chamar.
[455] _Indian Folk-Tales._
[456] _Indian Folk-Tales_, pp. 49, 50.
[457] Shells which were formerly used as money.
[458] _Indian Folk-Tales_, pp. 49, 50.
[459] _Monograph_, p. 3.
[460] _Monograph on Leather Industries_, p. 5.
[461] _Zizyphus xylopera._
[462] _Butea frondosa._
[463] _Anogeissus latifolia._
[464] The above is an abridgment of the description in Mr. Trench's
_Monograph_, to which reference may be made for further details.
[465] _Monograph on the Leather Industries_, pp. 10, 11.
[466] _Melia indica._
[467] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 149.
[468] _Rasmala_, i. 395, quoting from the _Ain-i-Akbari_.
[469] From papers by Mr. Parmeshwar Misra, Settlement Superintendent,
Rairakhol, and Mr. Rasanand, Sireshtedar, Bamra.
[470] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Chasa.
[471] This article is based principally on notes taken by Mr. Hira
Lal at Bhatgaon.
[472] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 178.
[473] A corruption for Viswakarma, the divine artificer and architect.
[474] The story, however, really belongs to northern India. Usha is
the goddess of dawn.
[475] Krishna's mother.
[476] Little white flowers like jasmine. This simile would be unlikely
to occur to the ordinary observer who sees a Hindu child crying.
[477] _Tori balayan leun._ For explanation see above.
[478] Commencement of the agricultural year.
[479] This article is partly based on a paper by Mr. Bijai Bahadur,
Naib-Tahsildar, Balaghat.
[480] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, draft article on Chitrakathi.
[481] May-June. The Akhatij is the beginning of the agricultural year.
[482] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), paragraph 206. The passage is
slightly altered and abridged in reproduction.
[483] Vol. ix. part. ii. _Muhammadans of Gujarat_, p. 57.
[484] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 292.
[485] _Bombay Gazetteer, l.c._
[486] In recording this point Mr. Faridi gives the following note:
"In 1847 a case occurred which shows how firmly the Memans cling
to their original tribal customs. The widow of Haji Nur Muhammad
of the Lakariya family demanded a share of her deceased husband's
property according to Muhammadan law. The _jama-at_ or community
decided that a widow had no claim to share her husband's estates
under the Hindu law. Before the High Court, in spite of the ridicule
of other Sunnis, the elders of the Cutchi Memans declared that their
caste rules denied the widow's claim. The matter caused and is still
(1896) causing agitation, as the doctors of the Sunni law at Mecca
have decided that as the law of inheritance is laid down by the holy
Koran, a wilful departure from it is little short of apostasy. The
Memans are contemplating a change, but so far they have not found
themselves able to depart from their tribal practices."
[487] This article is based on papers by Mr. Vithal Rao,
Naib-Tahsildar, Bilaspur, and Messrs. Kanhya Lal and Pyare Lal Misra
of the Gazetteer office.
[488] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes_, art. Kol.
[489] _Aegle Marmelos._
[490] _Butea frondosa._
[491] _Nag_, a cobra.
[492] Kept woman, a term applied to a widow.
[493] Moor's _Hindu Infanticide_, p. 133.
[494] James Forbes, _Oriental Memoirs_, i. p. 313.
[495] Rajendra Lal Mitra, _Indo-Aryans_, i. p. 263.
[496] _Journal of Indian Art and Industry_, xvi., April 1912, p. 3.
[497] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 60.
[498] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 294.
[499] _Hobson-Jobson, s.v._ 'Roundel.'
[500] Old English manuscript quoted by Sir R. Temple in _Ind. Ant._
(December 1904), p. 316.
[501] _Hobson-Jobson, s.v._ 'Kittysol.'
[502] _Hobson-Jobson, s.v._ 'Roundel.'
[503] _Hobson-Jobson, ibidem._
[504] W. W. Skeat, _The Past at our Doors_.
[505] Skeat, _ibidem_, p. 95.
[506] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Bahmanji Muncherji,
Extra Assistant Commissioner; Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy Inspector of
Schools, and Pandit Pyare Lal Misra, ethnographic clerk. The historical
notice is mainly supplied by Mr. Hira Lal.
[507] Tod's _Rajasthan_, i. p. 128.
[508] This article is based on notes taken by Pandit Pyare Lal Misra
in Wardha, and Mr. Hira Lal in Bhandara.
[509] _Proper Names of the Punjabis_, p. 74.
[510] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 645.
[511] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Darzi.
[512] Buchanan's _Eastern India_, Martin's edition, ii. pp. 417, 699.
[513] _Ibidem_, p. 977.
[514] Vol. i. pp. 178-184.
[515] Webb's _Heritage of Dress_, p. 33.
[516] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 180, quoting from
Ovington, _Voyage to Surat_, p. 280.
[517] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 180.
[518] _Bombay Gazetteer, Nasik_, p. 50.
[519] According to another account Namdeo belonged to
Marwar. Mr. Maclagan's _Punjab Census Report_ (1891), p. 144.
[520] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), para. 231.
[521] This article is partly based on a note by Mr. Gokul Prasad,
Tahsildar, Dhamtari.
[522] This article is based entirely on a paper by Rai Bahadur Panda
Baijnath, Superintendent, Bastar State.
[523] Compiled mainly from a paper by Kanhya Lal, clerk in the
Gazetteer office.
[524] Cf. the two meanings of the word 'stock' in English.
[525] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Dhanuk.
[526] _Eastern India_, i. 166, as quoted in Crooke's _Tribes and
Castes_.
[527] Cf. the two perfectly distinct groups of Paiks or foot-soldiers
found in Jubbulpore and the Uriya country.
[528] _Tribes and Castes of the N. W. P. and Oudh_, art. Basor.
[529] The following particulars are from a paper by Kanhya Lal, a
clerk in the Gazetteer office belonging to the Educational Department.
[530] This article is based almost entirely on a monograph by
Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bilaspur.
[531] _Grewia vestita._
[532] The term brother's brother-in-law is abusive in the same sense
as brother-in-law (_sala_) said by a man.
[533] See commencement of this article.
[534] _Cynodon dactylon._
[535] _Shorea robusta._
[536] This article is based partly on papers by Mr. Govind Moreshwar,
Head Clerk, Mandla, and Mr. Pancham Lal, Naib-Tahsildar, Sihora. Much
of the interesting information about the occupations of the caste
was given to the writer by Babu Kali Prasanna Mukerji, Pleader, Saugor.
[537] As a rule a husband and wife never address each other by name.
[538] Among Hindus it is customary to give a little more than the
proper sum on ceremonial occasions in order to show that there is no
stint. Thus Rs. 1-4 is paid instead of a rupee.
[539] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 133.
[540] _Ibidem_, _l.c._
[541] _Ibidem_, _l.c._
[542] _Anthocephalus kadamba._
[543] From _ghat_, a steep hillside or slope; hence a river-crossing
because of the banks sloping down to it.
[544] _Trapa bispinosa._
[545] _Jungle Life in India_, p. 137.
[546] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 132.
[547] The following notice of caste offences is from Mr. Govind
Moreshwar's paper.
[548] Not probably on account of the commission of a crime, but because
being sentenced to imprisonment involves the eating of ceremonially
impure food. These rules are common to most Hindu castes, and the
Dhimars are taken only as a typical example. They seem to have little
or no connection with ordinary morality. But in Jhansi Mr. Crooke
remarks that a Kahar is put out of caste for theft in his master's
house. This again, however, might be considered as an offence against
the community, tending to lower their corporate character in their
business, and as such deserving of social punishment.
[549] This article is partly based on an account of the caste
furnished by Mr. H. F. E. Bell and drawn up by Mr. F. R. R. Rudman
in the _Mandla District Gazetteer_.
[550] _Folklore of Northern India_, vol. ii. p. 8.
[551] Sherring's _Hindu Castes_, i. 342-3.
[552] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Dhobi.
[553] _Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan._
[554] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 155.
[555] _Central Provinces Census Report_ (1891), p. 202.
[556] _Loc. cit._
[557] _Bihar Peasant Life, s.v._ Dhobi.
[558] _Ethnographic Notes in Southern India_, p. 226.
[559] _Behind the Bungalow._
[560] This article is mainly compiled from papers by Mr. Gokul
Prasad, Naib-Tahsildar, Dhamtari, and Pyare Lal Misra, a clerk in
the Gazetteer office.
[561] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Kandu.
[562] This article is taken almost entirely from a paper drawn up by
Mr. Hira Lal, Extra Assistant Commissioner.
[563] This article is mainly compiled from Sir E. D. Maclagan's
_Punjab Census Report_ (1891), pp. 192-196, the article on Fakir
in the Rev. T. P. Hughes' _Dictionary of Islam_, and the volume on
_Muhammadans of Gujarat_ in the _Bombay Gazetteer_, pp. 20-24.
[564] Hughes, p. 116.
[565] _Punjab Census Report_ (1891), p. 196.
[566] Hughes' _Dictionary of Islam_, art. Fakir.
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