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diff --git a/22010-8.txt b/22010-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa15773 --- /dev/null +++ b/22010-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,22894 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tribes and Castes of the Central +Provinces of India, by R. V. Russell + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +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 + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIBES AND CASTES *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ + + + + + + + + + + + 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. + + + /-------\ + / +---+ \ + | | | |--------------------- + \ +---+ / + \-------/ + + + + + + +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. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tribes and Castes of the Central +Provinces of India, by R. V. 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