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diff --git a/20668.txt b/20668.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1f72475 --- /dev/null +++ b/20668.txt @@ -0,0 +1,25578 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tribes and Castes of the Central +Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV, 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 IV of IV + Kumhar-Yemkala + +Author: R.V. Russell + +Release Date: February 25, 2007 [EBook #20668] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TRIBES AND CASTES OF INDIA *** + + + + +Produced by Jeroen Hellingman and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net/ (This file was +produced partly from images generously made available by +The Internet Archive/Million Book Project) + + + + + + + + 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. IV. + + Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin's Street, London. + + 1916 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS OF VOLUME IV + + +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 + + + Kumhar (Potter) 3 + Kunbi (Cultivator) 16 + Kunjra (Greengrocer) 50 + Kuramwar (Shepherd) 52 + Kurmi (Cultivator) 55 + Lakhera (Worker in lac) 104 + Lodhi (Landowner and cultivator) 112 + Lohar (Blacksmith) 120 + Lorha (Growers of san-hemp) 126 + Mahar (Weaver and labourer) 129 + Mahli (Forest tribe) 146 + Majhwar (Forest tribe) 149 + Mal (Forest tribe) 153 + Mala (Cotton-weaver and labourer) 156 + Mali (Gardener and vegetable-grower) 159 + Mallah (Boatman and fisherman) 171 + Mana (Forest tribe, cultivator) 172 + Manbhao (Religious mendicant) 176 + Mang (Labourer and village musician) 184 + Mang-Garori (Criminal caste) 189 + Manihar (Pedlar) 193 + Mannewar (Forest tribe) 195 + Maratha (Soldier, cultivator and service) 198 + Mehtar (Sweeper and scavenge) 215 + Meo (Tribe) 233 + Mina or Deswali (Non-Aryan tribe, cultivator) 235 + Mirasi (Bard and genealogist) 242 + Mochi (Shoemaker) 244 + Mowar (Cultivator) 250 + Murha (Digger and navvy) 252 + Nagasia (Forest tribe) 257 + Nahal (Forest tribe) 259 + Nai (Barber) 262 + Naoda (Boatman and fisherman) 283 + Nat (Acrobat) 286 + Nunia (Salt-refiner; digger and navvy) 294 + Ojha (Augur and soothsayer) 296 + Oraon (Forest tribe) 299 + Paik (Soldier, cultivator) 321 + Panka (Labourer and village watchman) 324 + Panwar Rajput (Landowner and cultivator) 330 + Pardhan (Minstrel and priest) 352 + Pardhi (Hunter and fowler) 359 + Parja (Forest tribe) 371 + Pasi (Toddy-drawer and labourer) 380 + Patwa (Maker of silk braid and thread) 385 + Pindari (Freebooter) 388 + Prabhu (Writer and clerk) 399 + Raghuvansi (Cultivator) 403 + Rajjhar (Agricultural labourer) 405 + Rajput (Soldier and landowner) 410 + Rajput Clans + + Baghel. + Bagri. + Bais. + Baksaria. + Banaphar. + Bhadauria. + Bisen. + Bundela. + Chandel. + Chauhan. + Dhakar. + Gaharwar. + Gaur. + Haihaya. + Huna. + Kachhwaha. + Nagvansi. + Nikumbh. + Paik. + Parihar. + Rathor. + Sesodia. + Solankhi. + Somvansi. + Surajvansi. + Tomara. + Yadu. + + Rajwar (Forest tribe) 470 + Ramosi (Village watchmen and labourers, formerly thieves) 472 + Rangrez (Dyer) 477 + Rautia (Forest tribe and cultivators, formerly soldiers) 479 + Sanaurhia (Criminal thieving caste) 483 + Sansia (Vagrant criminal tribe) 488 + Sansia (Uria) (Mason and digger) 496 + Savar (Forest tribe) 500 + Sonjhara (Gold-washer) 509 + Sudh (Cultivator) 514 + Sunar (Goldsmith and silversmith) 517 + Sundi (Liquor distiller) 534 + Tamera (Coppersmith) 536 + Taonla (Soldier and labourer) 539 + Teli (Oilman) 542 + Thug (Criminal community of murderers by strangulation) 558 + Turi (Bamboo-worker) 588 + Velama (Cultivator) 593 + Vidur (Village accountant, clerk and writer) 596 + Waghya (Religious mendicant) 603 + Yerukala (Criminal thieving caste) 606 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOLUME IV + + + 97. Potter and his wheel 4 + 98. Group of Kunbis 16 + 99. Figures of animals made for Pola festival 40 + 100. Hindu boys on stilts 42 + 101. Throwing stilts into the water at the Pola festival 46 + 102. Carrying out the dead 48 + 103. Pounding rice 60 + 104. Sowing 84 + 105. Threshing 86 + 106. Winnowing 88 + 107. Women grinding wheat and husking rice 90 + 108. Group of women in Hindustani dress 92 + 109. _Coloured Plate_: Examples of spangles worn by women on the + forehead 106 + 110. Weaving: sizing the warp 142 + 111. Winding thread 144 + 112. Bride and bridegroom with marriage crowns 166 + 113. Bullocks drawing water with _mot_ 170 + 114. Mang musicians with drums 186 + 115. Statue of Maratha leader, Bimbaji Bhonsla, in armour 200 + 116. Image of the god Vishnu as Vithoba 248 + 117. Coolie women with babies slung at the side 256 + 118. Hindu men showing the _choti_ or scalp-lock 272 + 119. Snake-charmer with cobras 292 + 120. Transplanting rice 340 + 121. Group of Pardhans 352 + 122. Little girls playing 400 + 123. Gujarati girls doing figures with strings and sticks 402 + 124. Ornaments 524 + 125. Teli's oil-press 544 + 126. The Goddess Kali 574 + 127. Waghya mendicants 604 + + + + +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 e in _ecarte_ 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 + + KUMHAR--YEMKALA + + VOL. IV + + + + + +Kumhar + + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Traditions of origin_. + 2. _Caste subdivisions_. + 3. _Social Customs_. + 4. _The Kumhar as a village menial_. + 5. _Occupation_. + 6. _Breeding pigs for sacrifices_. + 7. _The goddess Demeter_. + 8. _Estimation of the pig in India_. + 9. _The buffalo as a corn-god._ + 10. _The Dasahra festival_. + 11. _The goddess Devi_. + + + + +1. Traditions of origin + +_Kumhar, Kumbhar_.--The caste of potters, the name being derived +from the Sanskrit _kumbh_, a water-pot. The Kumhars numbered +nearly 120,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911 and were +most numerous in the northern and eastern or Hindustani-speaking +Districts, where earthen vessels have a greater vogue than in the +south. The caste is of course an ancient one, vessels of earthenware +having probably been in use at a very early period, and the old +Hindu scriptures consequently give various accounts of its origin +from mixed marriages between the four classical castes. "Concerning +the traditional parentage of the caste," Sir H. Risley writes, [1] +"there seems to be a wide difference of opinion among the recognised +authorities on the subject. Thus the Brahma Vaivartta Purana says +that the Kumbhakar or maker of water-jars (_kumbka_), is born of +a Vaishya woman by a Brahman father; the Parasara Samhita makes +the father a Malakar (gardener) and the mother a Chamar; while the +Parasara Padhati holds that the ancestor of the caste was begotten +of a Tili woman by a Pattikar or weaver of silk cloth." Sir Monier +Williams again, in his Sanskrit Dictionary, describes them as the +offspring of a Kshatriya woman by a Brahman. No importance can of +course be attached to such statements as the above from the point of +view of actual fact, but they are interesting as showing the view taken +of the formation of castes by the old Brahman writers, and also the +position given to the Kumhar at the time when they wrote. This varies +from a moderately respectable to a very humble one according to the +different accounts of his lineage. The caste themselves have a legend +of the usual Brahmanical type: "In the Kritayuga, when Maheshwar (Siva) +intended to marry the daughter of Hemvanta, the Devas and Asuras [2] +assembled at Kailas (Heaven). Then a question arose as to who should +furnish the vessels required for the ceremony, and one Kulalaka, +a Brahman, was ordered to make them. Then Kulalaka stood before the +assembly with folded hands, and prayed that materials might be given +to him for making the pots. So Vishnu gave his Sudarsana (discus) to +be used as a wheel, and the mountain of Mandara was fixed as a pivot +beneath it to hold it up. The scraper was Adi Kurma the tortoise, +and a rain-cloud was used for the water-tub. So Kulalaka made the +pots and gave them to Maheshwar for his marriage, and ever since his +descendants have been known as Kumbhakar or maker of water-jars." + + + + +2. Caste sub-divisions + +The Kumhars have a number of subcastes, many of which, as might +be expected, are of the territorial type and indicate the different +localities from which they migrated to the Central Provinces. Such are +the Malwi from Malwa, the Telenga from the Telugu country in Hyderabad, +the Pardeshi from northern India and the Maratha from the Maratha +Districts. Other divisions are the Lingayats who belong to the sect of +this name, the Gadhewal or Gadhere who make tiles and carry them about +on donkeys (_gadha_), the Bardia who use bullocks for transport and the +Sungaria who keep pigs (_suar_). Certain endogamous groups have arisen +simply from differences in the method of working. Thus the Hathgarhia +[3] mould vessels with their hands only without using the wheel; the +Goria [4] make white or red pots only and not black ones; the Kurere +mould their vessels on a stone slab revolving on a stick and not on +a wheel; while the Chakere are Kumhars who use the wheel (_chak_) +in localities where other Kumhars do not use it. The Chhutakia and +Rakhotia are illegitimate sections, being the offspring of kept women. + + + + +3. Social Customs + +Girls are married at an early age when their parents can afford it, +the matches being usually arranged at caste feasts. In Chanda parents +who allow a daughter to become adolescent while still unwed are put +out of caste, but elsewhere the rule is by no means so strict. The +ceremony is of the normal type and a Brahman usually officiates, +but in Betul it is performed by the Sawasa or husband of the bride's +paternal aunt. After the wedding the couple are given kneaded flour +to hold in their hands and snatch from each other as an emblem of +their trade. In Mandla a bride price of Rs. 50 is paid. + +The Kumhars recognise divorce and the remarriage of widows. If an +unmarried girl is detected in criminal intimacy with a member of +the caste, she has to give a feast to the caste-fellows and pay a +fine of Rs. 1-4 and five locks of her hair are also cut off by way +of purification. The caste usually burn the dead, but the Lingayat +Kumhars always bury them in accordance with the practice of their +sect. They worship the ordinary Hindu deities and make an offering to +the implements of their trade on the festival of Deothan Igaras. The +village Brahman serves as their priest. In Balaghat a Kumhar is put +out of caste if a dead cat is found in his house. At the census of +1901 the Kumhar was ranked with the impure castes, but his status is +not really so low. Sir D. Ibbetson said of him: "He is a true village +menial; his social standing is very low, far below that of the Lohar +and not much above the Chamar. His association with that impure beast, +the donkey, the animal sacred to Sitala, the smallpox goddess, pollutes +him and also his readiness to carry manure and sweepings." As already +seen there are in the Central Provinces Sungaria and Gadheria subcastes +which keep donkeys and pigs, and these are regarded as impure. But in +most Districts the Kumhar ranks not much below the Barhai and Lohar, +that is in what I have designated the grade of village menials above +the impure and below the cultivating castes. In Bengal the Kumhars +have a much higher status and Brahmans will take water from their +hands. But the gradation of caste in Bengal differs very greatly from +that of other parts of India. + + + + +4. The Kumhar as a village menial + +The Kumhar is not now paid regularly by dues from the cultivators +like other village menials, as the ordinary system of sale has no +doubt been found more convenient in his case. But he sometimes takes +the soiled grass from the stalls of the cattle and gives pots free +to the cultivator in exchange. On Akti day, at the beginning of the +agricultural year, the village Kumhar of Saugor presents five pots with +covers on them to each cultivator and receives 2 1/2 lbs. of grain +in exchange. One of these the tenant fills with water and presents +to a Brahman and the rest he reserves for his own purposes. On the +occasion of a wedding also the bridegroom's party take the bride to +the Kumharin's house as part of the _sohag_ ceremony for making the +marriage propitious. The Kumhar seats the bride on his wheel and turns +it round with her seven times. The Kumharin presents her with seven new +pots, which are taken back to the house and used at the wedding. They +are filled with water and are supposed to represent the seven seas. If +any two of these pots accidentally clash together it is supposed that +the bride and bridegroom will quarrel during their married life. In +return for this the Kumharin receives a present of clothes. At a +funeral also the Kumhar must supply thirteen vessels which are known as +_ghats_, and must also replace the broken earthenware. Like the other +village menials at the harvest he takes a new vessel to the cultivator +in his field and receives a present of grain. These customs appear to +indicate his old position as one of the menials or general servants +of the village ranking below the cultivators. Grant-Duff also includes +the potter in his list of village menials in the Maratha villages. [5] + + + + +5. Occupation + +The potter is not particular as to the clay he uses and does not go +far afield for the finer qualities, but digs it from the nearest place +in the neighbourhood where he can get it free of cost. Red and black +clay are employed, the former being obtained near the base of hills +or on high-lying land, probably of the laterite formation, and the +latter in the beds of tanks or streams. When the clay is thoroughly +kneaded and ready for use a lump of it is placed on the centre of the +wheel. The potter seats himself in front of the wheel and fixes his +stick or _chakrait_ into the slanting hole in its upper surface. With +this stick the wheel is made to revolve very rapidly, and sufficient +impetus is given to it to keep it in motion for several minutes. The +potter then lays aside the stick and with his hands moulds the lump +of clay into the shape required, stopping every now and then to give +the wheel a fresh spin as it loses its momentum. When satisfied with +the shape of his vessel he separates it from the lump with a piece of +string, and places it on a bed of ashes to prevent it sticking to the +ground. The wheel is either a circular disc cut out of a single piece +of stone about a yard in diameter, or an ordinary wooden wheel with +spokes forming two diameters at right angles. The rim is then thickened +with the addition of a coating of mud strengthened with fibre. [6] The +articles made by the potter are ordinary circular vessels or _gharas_ +used for storing and collecting water, larger ones for keeping grain, +flour and vegetables, and _surahis_ or amphoras for drinking-water. In +the manufacture of these last salt and saltpetre are mixed with the +clay to make them more porous and so increase their cooling capacity. A +very useful thing is the small saucer which serves as a lamp, being +filled with oil on which a lighted wick is floated. These saucers +resemble those found in the excavations of Roman remains. Earthen +vessels are more commonly used, both for cooking and eating purposes +among the people of northern India, and especially by Muhammadans, than +among the Marathas, and, as already noticed, the Kumhar caste musters +strong in the north of the Province. An earthen vessel is polluted if +any one of another caste takes food or drink from it and is at once +discarded. On the occasion of a death all the vessels in the house are +thrown away and a new set obtained, and the same measure is adopted at +the Holi festival and on the occasion of an eclipse, and at various +other ceremonial purifications, such as that entailed if a member of +the household has had maggots in a wound. On this account cheapness is +an indispensable quality in pottery, and there is no opening for the +Kumhar to improve his art. Another product of the Kumhar's industry +is the _chilam_ or pipe-bowl. This has the usual opening for inhaling +the smoke but no stem, an impromptu stem being made by the hands and +the smoke inhaled through it. As the _chilam_ is not touched by the +mouth, Hindus of all except the impure castes can smoke it together, +passing it round, and Hindus can also smoke it with Muhammadans. + +It is a local belief that, if an earthen pot is filled with salt and +plastered over, the rains will stop until it is opened. This device is +adopted when the fall is excessive, but, on the other hand, if there +is drought, the people sometimes think that the potter has used it +to keep off the rain, because he cannot pursue his calling when the +clay is very wet. And on occasions of a long break in the rains, +they have been known to attack his shop and break all his vessels +under the influence of this belief. The potter is sometimes known +as Prajapati or the 'The Creator,' in accordance with the favourite +comparison made by ancient writers of the moulding of his pots with +the creation of human beings, the justice of which will be recognised +by any one who watches the masses of mud on a whirling wheel growing +into shapely vessels in the potter's creating hands. + + + + +6. Breeding pigs for sacrifices + +Certain Kumhars as well as the Dhimars make the breeding of pigs a +means of subsistence, and they sell these pigs for sacrifices at prices +varying from eight annas (8d.) to a rupee. The pigs are sacrificed by +the Gonds to their god Bura Deo and by Hindus to the deity Bhainsasur, +or the buffalo demon, for the protection of the crops. Bhainsasur is +represented by a stone in the fields, and when crops are beaten down +at night by the wind it is supposed that Bhainsasur has passed over +them and trampled them down. Hindus, usually of the lower castes, offer +pigs to Bhainsasur to propitiate him and preserve their crops from his +ravages, but they cannot touch the impure pig themselves. What they +have to do, therefore, is to pay the Kumhar the price of the pig and +get him to offer it to Bhainsasur on their behalf. The Kumhar goes +to the god and sacrifices the pig and then takes the body home and +eats it, so that his trade is a profitable one, while conversely to +sacrifice a pig without partaking of its flesh must necessarily be +bitter to the frugal Hindu mind, and this indicates the importance +of the deity who is to be propitiated by the offering. The first +question which arises in connection with this curious custom is +why pigs should be sacrificed for the preservation of the crops; +and the reason appears to be that the wild pig is the animal which, +at present, mainly damages the crops. + + + + +7. The goddess Demeter + +In ancient Greece pigs were offered to Demeter, the corn-goddess, +for the protection of the crops, and there is good reason to suppose +that the conceptions of Demeter herself and the lovely Proserpine +grew out of the worship of the pig, and that both goddesses were +in the beginning merely the deified pig. The highly instructive +passage in which Sir J. G. Frazer advances this theory is reproduced +almost in full [7]: "Passing next to the corn-goddess Demeter, and +remembering that in European folklore the pig is a common embodiment +of the corn-spirit, we may now ask whether the pig, which was so +closely associated with Demeter, may not originally have been the +goddess herself in animal form? The pig was sacred to her; in art +she was portrayed carrying or accompanied by a pig; and the pig was +regularly sacrificed in her mysteries, the reason assigned being that +the pig injures the corn and is therefore an enemy of the goddess. But +after an animal has been conceived as a god, or a god as an animal, +it sometimes happens, as we have seen, that the god sloughs off his +animal form and becomes purely anthropomorphic; and that then the +animal which at first had been slain in the character of the god, +comes to be viewed as a victim offered to the god on the ground of its +hostility to the deity; in short, that the god is sacrificed to himself +on the ground that he is his own enemy. This happened to Dionysus and +it may have happened to Demeter also. And in fact the rites of one of +her festivals, the Thesmophoria, bear out the view that originally the +pig was an embodiment of the corn-goddess herself, either Demeter or +her daughter and double Proserpine. The Thesmophoria was an autumn +festival celebrated by women alone in October, and appears to have +represented with mourning rites the descent of Proserpine (or Demeter) +into the lower world, and with joy her return from the dead. Hence the +name Descent or Ascent variously applied to the first, and the name +_Kalligeneia_ (fair-born) applied to the third day of the festival. Now +from an old scholium on Lucian we learn some details about the mode +of celebrating the Thesmophoria, which shed important light on the +part of the festival called the Descent or the Ascent. The scholiast +tells us that it was customary at the Thesmophoria to throw pigs, +cakes of dough, and branches of pine-trees into 'the chasms of Demeter +and Proserpine,' which appear to have been sacred caverns or vaults. + +"In these caverns or vaults there were said to be serpents, which +guarded the caverns and consumed most of the flesh of the pigs and +dough-cakes which were thrown in. Afterwards--apparently at the +next annual festival--the decayed remains of the pigs, the cakes, +and the pine-branches were fetched by women called 'drawers,' who, +after observing, rules of ceremonial purity for three days, descended +into the caverns, and, frightening away the serpents by clapping their +hands, brought up the remains and placed them on the altar. Whoever +got a piece of the decayed flesh and cakes, and sowed it with the +seed-corn in his field, was believed to be sure of a good crop. + +"To explain this rude and ancient rite the following legend was +told. At the moment when Pluto carried off Proserpine, a swineherd +called Eubuleus chanced to be herding his swine on the spot, and +his herd was engulfed in the chasm down which Pluto vanished with +Proserpine. Accordingly, at the Thesmophoria pigs were annually +thrown into caverns to commemorate the disappearance of the swine +of Eubuleus. It follows from this that the casting of the pigs +into the vaults at the Thesmophoria formed part of the dramatic +representation of Proserpine's descent into the lower world; and +as no image of Proserpine appears to have been thrown in, we may +infer that the descent of the pigs was not so much an accompaniment +of her descent as the descent itself, in short, that the pigs were +Proserpine. Afterwards, when Proserpine or Demeter (for the two are +equivalent) became anthropomorphic, a reason had to be found for the +custom of throwing pigs into caverns at her festival; and this was +done by saying that when Pluto carried off Proserpine, there happened +to be some swine browsing near, which were swallowed up along with +her. The story is obviously a forced and awkward attempt to bridge +over the gulf between the old conception of the corn-spirit as a +pig and the new conception of her as an anthropomorphic goddess. A +trace of the older conception survived in the legend that when the +sad mother was searching for traces of the vanished Proserpine, the +footprints of the lost one were obliterated by the footprints of a +pig; originally, we may conjecture, the footprints of the pig were the +footprints of Proserpine and of Demeter herself. A consciousness of +the intimate connection of the pig with the corn lurks in the legend +that the swineherd Eubuleus was a brother of Triptolemus, to whom +Demeter first imparted the secret of the corn. Indeed, according to +one version of the story, Eubuleus himself received, jointly with his +brother Triptolemus, the gift of the corn from Demeter as a reward +for revealing to her the fate of Proserpine. Further, it is to be +noted that at the Thesmophoria the women appear to have eaten swine's +flesh. The meal, if I am right, must have been a solemn sacrament or +communion, the worshippers partaking of the body of the god." + + + + +8. Estimation of the pig in India + +We thus see how the pig in ancient Greece was worshipped as a +corn-deity because it damaged the crops and subsequently became +an anthropomorphic goddess. It is suggested that pigs are offered +to Bhainsasur by the Hindus for the same reason. But there is no +Hindu deity representing the pig, this animal on the contrary being +regarded as impure. It seems doubtful, however, whether this was +always so. In Rajputana on the stone which the Regent of Kotah set up +to commemorate the abolition of forced taxes were carved the effigies +of the sun, the moon, the cow and the hog, with an imprecation on +whoever should revoke the edict. [8] Colonel Tod says that the pig +was included as being execrated by all classes, but this seems very +doubtful. It would scarcely occur to any Hindu nowadays to associate +the image of the impure pig with those of the sun, moon and cow, +the representations of three of his greatest deities. Rather it +gives some reason for supposing that the pig was once worshipped, +and the Rajputs still do not hold the wild boar impure, as they hunt +it and eat its flesh. Moreover, Vishnu in his fourth incarnation was +a boar. The Gonds regularly offer pigs to their great god Bura Deo, +and though they now offer goats as well, this seems to be a later +innovation. The principal sacrifice of the early Romans was the +Suovetaurilia or the sacrifice of a pig, a ram and a bull. The order +of the words, M. Reinach remarks, [9] is significant as showing the +importance formerly attached to the pig or boar. Since the pig was +the principal sacrificial animal of the primitive tribes, the Gonds +and Baigas, its connection with the ritual of an alien and at one +time hostile religion may have strengthened the feeling of aversion +for it among the Hindus, which would naturally be engendered by its +own dirty habits. + + + + +9. The buffalo as a corn-god + +It seems possible then that the Hindus reverenced the wild boar in +the past as one of the strongest and fiercest animals of the forest +and also as a destroyer of the crops. And they still make sacrifices +of the pig to guard their fields from his ravages. These sacrifices, +however, are not offered to any deity who can represent a deified +pig but to Bhainsasur, the deified buffalo. The explanation seems +to be that in former times, when forests extended over most of +the country, the cultivator had in the wild buffalo a direr foe +than the wild pig. And one can well understand how the peasant, +winning a scanty subsistence from his poor fields near the forest, +and seeing his harvest destroyed in a night by the trampling of a herd +of these great brutes against whom his puny weapons were powerless, +looked on them as terrible and malignant deities. The sacrifice of a +buffalo would be beyond the means of a single man, and the animal is +now more or less sacred as one of the cow tribe. But the annual joint +sacrifice of one or more buffaloes is a regular feature of the Dasahra +festival and extends over a great part of India. In Betul and other +districts the procedure is that on the Dasahra day, or a day before, +the Mang and Kotwar, two of the lowest village menials, take a buffalo +bull and bring it to the village proprietor, who makes a cut on its +nose and draws blood. Then it is taken all round the village and +to the shrines of the gods, and in the evening it is killed and the +Mang and Kotwar eat the flesh. It is now believed that if the blood +of a buffalo does not fall at Dasahra some epidemic will attack the +village, but as there are no longer any wild buffaloes except in the +denser forests of one or two Districts, the original meaning of the +rite might naturally have been forgotten. [10] + + + + +10. The Dasahra festival + +The Dasahra festival probably marks the autumnal equinox and also the +time when the sowing of wheat and other spring crops begins. Many +Hindus still postpone sowing the wheat until after Dasahra, even +though it might be convenient to begin before, especially as the +festival goes by the lunar month and its date varies in different +years by more than a fortnight. The name signifies the tenth day, +and prior to the festival a fast of nine days is observed, when the +pots of wheat corresponding to the gardens of Adonis are sown and +quickly sprout up. This is an imitation of the sowing and growth of +the real crop and is meant to ensure its success. During these nine +days it is said that the goddess Devi was engaged in mortal combat +with the buffalo demon Mahisasur or Bhainsasur, and on the tenth day +or the Dasahra she slew him. The fast is explained as being observed +in order to help her to victory, but it is really perhaps a fast in +connection with the growing of the crops. A similar nine daysfast +for the crops was observed by the Greeks. [11] + + + + +11. The goddess Devi + +Devi signifies '_the_ goddess' _par excellence_. She is often the +tutelary goddess of the village and of the family, and is held to have +been originally Mother Earth, which may be supposed to be correct. In +tracts where the people of northern and southern India meet she is +identified with Anna Purna, the corn-goddess of the Telugu country; +and in her form of Gauri or 'the Yellow One' she is perhaps herself +the yellow corn. As Gauri she is worshipped at weddings in conjunction +with Ganesh or Ganpati, the god of Good Fortune; and it is probably +in honour of the harvest colour that Hindus of the upper castes +wear yellow at their weddings and consider it lucky. A Brahman also +prefers to wear yellow when eating his food. It has been seen [12] +that red is the lucky colour of the lower castes of Hindus, and the +reason probably is that the shrines of their gods are stained red with +the blood of the animals sacrificed. High-caste Hindus no longer make +animal sacrifices, and their offerings to Siva, Vishnu and Devi consist +of food, flowers and blades of corn. Thus yellow would be similarly +associated with the shrines of the gods. All Hindu brides have their +bodies rubbed with yellow turmeric, and the principal religious flower, +the marigold, is orange-yellow. Yellow is, however, also lucky as being +the colour of Vishnu or the Sun, and a yellow flag is waved above +his great temple at Ramtek on the occasion of the fair. Thus Devi +as the corn-goddess perhaps corresponds to Demeter, but she is not +in this form an animal goddess. The Hindus worshipping Mother Earth, +as all races do in the early stage of religion, may by a natural and +proper analogy have ascribed the gift of the corn to her from whom +it really comes, and have identified her with the corn-goddess. This +is by no means a full explanation of the goddess Devi, who has many +forms. As Parvati, the hill-maiden, and Durga, the inaccessible one, +she is the consort of Siva in his character of the mountain-god of +the Himalayas; as Kali, the devourer of human flesh, she is perhaps +the deified tiger; and she may have assimilated yet more objects of +worship into her wide divinity. But there seems no special reason +to hold that she is anywhere believed to be the deified buffalo; and +the probable explanation of the Dasahra rite would therefore seem to +be that the buffalo was at first venerated as the corn-god because, +like the pig in Greece, he was most destructive to the crops, and +a buffalo was originally slaughtered and eaten sacramentally as an +act of worship. At a later period the divinity attaching to the corn +was transferred to Devi, an anthropomorphic deity of a higher class, +and in order to explain the customary slaughter of the buffalo, which +had to be retained, the story became current that the beneficent +goddess fought and slew the buffalo-demon which injured the crops, +for the benefit of her worshippers, and the fast was observed and +the buffalo sacrificed in commemoration of this event. It is possible +that the sacrifice of the buffalo may have been a non-Aryan rite, as +the Mundas still offer a buffalo to Deswali, their forest god, in the +sacred grove; and the Korwas of Sarguja nave periodical sacrifices to +Kali in which many buffaloes are slaughtered. In the pictures of her +fight with Bhainsasur, Devi is shown as riding on a tiger, and the +uneducated might imagine the struggle to have resembled that between +a tiger and a buffalo. As the destroyer of buffaloes and deer which +graze on the crops the tiger may even be considered the cultivator's +friend. But in the rural tracts Bhainsasur himself is still venerated +in the guise of a corn-deity, and pig are perhaps offered to him as +the animals which nowadays do most harm to the crops. + + + + + +Kunbi + +[This article is based on the information collected for the District +Gazetteers of the Central Provinces, manuscript notes furnished by +Mr. A.K. Smith, C.S., and from papers by Pandit Pyare Lal Misra and +Munshi Kanhya Lal. The Kunbis are treated in the _Poona_ and _Khandesh_ +volumes of the _Bombay Gazetteer_. The caste has been taken as typical +of the Marathi-speaking Districts, and a fairly full description +of the marriage and other ceremonies has therefore been given, some +information on houses, dress and food being also reproduced from the +_Wardha_ and _Yeotmal District Gazetteers_.] + + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Distribution of the caste and origin of name_. + 2. _Settlement in the Central Provinces_. + 3. _Sub castes_. + 4. _The cultivating status_. + 5. _Exogamous septs_. + 6. _Restrictions on marriage of relatives_. + 7. _Betrothal and marriage_. + 8. _Polygamy and divorce_. + 9. _Widow-marriage_. + 10. _Customs at birth_. + 11. _Sixth- and twelfth-day ceremonies_. + 12. _Devices for procuring children_. + 13. _Love charms_. + 14. _Disposal of the dead_. + 15. _Mourning_. + 16. _Religion_. + 17. _The Pola festival_. + 18. _Muhammadan tendencies of Berar Kunbis_. + 19. _Villages and houses_. + 20. _Furniture_. + 21. _Food_. + 22. _Clothes and ornaments_. + 23. _The Kunbi as cultivator_. + 24. _Social and moral characteristics_. + + + + +1. Distribution of the caste and origin of name + +_Kunbi_--The great agricultural caste of the Maratha country. In +the Central Provinces and Berar the Kunbis numbered nearly 1,400,000 +persons in 1911; they belong to the Nagpur, Chanda, Bhandara, Wardha, +Nimar and Betul Districts of the Central Provinces. In Berar their +strength was 800,000, or nearly a third of the total population. Here +they form the principal cultivating class over the whole area except +in the jungles of the north and south, but muster most strongly in +the Buldana District to the west, where in some taluks nearly half the +population belongs to the Kunbi caste. In the combined Province they +are the most numerous caste except the Gonds. The name has various +forms in Bombay, being Kunbi or Kulambi in the Deccan, Kulwadi in +the south Konkan, Kanbi in Gujarat, and Kulbi in Belgaum. In Sanskrit +inscriptions it is given as Kutumbika (householder), and hence it has +been derived from _kutumba_, a family. A chronicle of the eleventh +century quoted by Forbes speaks of the Kutumbiks or cultivators of +the _grams,_ or small villages. [13] Another writer describing the +early Rajput dynasties says: [14] "The villagers were Koutombiks +(householders) or husbandmen (Karshuks); the village headmen were +Putkeels (patels)." Another suggested derivation is from a Dravidian +root _kul_ a husbandman or labourer; while that favoured by the caste +and their neighbours is from _kun_, a root, or _kan_ grain, and _bi_, +seed; but this is too ingenious to be probable. + + + + +2. Settlement in the Central Provinces + +It is stated that the Kunbis entered Khandesh from Gujarat in the +eleventh century, being forced to leave Gujarat by the encroachments +of Rajput tribes, driven south before the early Muhammadan invaders +of northern India. [15] From Khandesh they probably spread into Berar +and the adjoining Nagpur and Wardha Districts. It seems probable that +their first settlement in Nagpur and Wardha took place not later than +the fourteenth century, because during the subsequent period of Gond +rule we find the offices of Deshmukh and Deshpandia in existence in +this area. The Deshmukh was the manager or headman of a circle of +villages and was responsible for apportioning and collecting the land +revenue, while the Deshpandia was a head _patwari_ or accountant. The +Deshmukhs were usually the leading Kunbis, and the titles are still +borne by many families in Wardha and Nagpur. These offices [16] belong +to the Maratha country, and it seems necessary to suppose that their +introduction into Wardha and Berar dates from a period at least as +early as the fourteenth century, when these territories were included +in the dominions of the Bahmani kings of Bijapur. A subsequent large +influx of Kunbis into Wardha and Nagpur took place in the eighteenth +century with the conquest of Raghuji Bhonsla and the establishment of +the Maratha kingdom of Nagpur. Traces of these separate immigrations +survive in the subdivisions of the caste, which will now be mentioned. + + + + +3. Subcastes + +The internal structure of the Kunbi caste in the Central Provinces +shows that it is a mixed occupational body recruited from different +classes of the population. The Jhare or jungly [17] Kunbis are +the oldest immigrants and have no doubt an admixture of Gond +blood. They do not break their earthen vessels after a death in +the house. With them may be classed the Manwa Kunbis of the Nagpur +District; these appear to be a group recruited from the Manas, a +primitive tribe who were dominant in Chanda perhaps even before the +advent of the Gonds. The Manwa Kunbi women wear their cloths drawn +up so as to expose the thigh like the Gonds, and have some other +primitive practices. They do not employ Brahmans at their marriages, +but consult a Mahar Mohturia or soothsayer to fix the date of the +ceremony. Other Kunbis will not eat with the Manwas, and the latter +retaliate in the usual manner by refusing to accept food from them; +and say that they are superior to other Kunbis because they always +use brass vessels for cooking and not earthen ones. Among the other +subcastes in the Central Provinces are the Khaire, who take their name +from the _khair_ [18] or catechu tree, presumably because they formerly +prepared catechu; this is a regular occupation of the forest tribes, +with whom it may be supposed that the Khaire have some affinity. The +Dhanoje are those who took to the occupation of tending _dhan_ [19] +or small stock, and they are probably an offshoot of the Dhangar +or shepherd caste whose name is similarly derived. Like the Dhangar +women they wear cocoanut-shell bangles, and the Manwa Kunbis also do +this; these bangles are not broken when a child is born, and hence +the Dhanojes and Manwas are looked down on by the other subcastes, +who refuse to remove their leaf-plates after a feast. The name of the +Khedule subcaste may be derived from _kheda_ a village, while another +version given by Mr. Kitts [20] is that it signifies 'A beardless +youth.' The highest subcaste in the Central Provinces are the Tirole +or Tilole, who now claim to be Rajputs. They say that their ancestors +came from Therol in Rajputana, and, taking to agriculture, gradually +became merged with the Kunbis. Another more probable derivation of +the name is from the _til_ or sesamum plant. The families who held +the hereditary office of Deshmukh, which conferred a considerable +local position, were usually members of the Tirole subcaste, and they +have now developed into a sort of aristocratic branch of the caste, +and marry among themselves when matches can be arranged. They do not +allow the remarriage of widows nor permit their women to accompany +the wedding procession. The Wandhekars are another group which also +includes some Deshmukh families, and ranks next to the Tiroles in +position. Mr. Kitts records a large number of subcastes in Berar. [21] +Among them are some groups from northern India, as the Hindustani, +Pardesi, Dholewar, Jaiswar and Singrore; these are probably Kurmis who +have settled in Berar and become amalgamated with the Kunbis. Similarly +the Tailanges and Munurwars appear to be an offshoot of the great Kapu +caste of cultivators in the Telugu country. The Wanjari subcaste is +a fairly large one and almost certainly represents a branch of the +Banjara caste of carriers, who have taken to agriculture and been +promoted into the Kunbi community. The Lonhare take their name from +Lonar Mehkar, the well-known bitter lake of the Buldana District, +whose salt they may formerly have refined. The Ghatole are those who +dwelt above the _ghats_ or passes of the Saihadri range to the south +of the Berar plain. The Baone are an important subcaste both in Berar +and the Central Provinces, and take their name from the phrase Bawan +Berar, [22] a term applied to the province by the Mughals because it +paid fifty-two lakhs of revenue, as against only eight lakhs realised +from the adjoining Jhadi or hill country in the Central Provinces. In +Chhindwara is found a small local subcaste called Gadhao because they +formerly kept donkeys, though they no longer do so; they are looked +down on by the others who will not even take water from their hands. In +Nimar is a group of Gujarati Kunbis who are considered to have been +originally Gujars. [23] Their local subdivisions are Leve and Karwa and +many of them are also known as Dalia, because they made the _dal_ or +pulse of Burhanpur, which had a great reputation under native rule. It +is said that it was formerly despatched daily to Sindhia's kitchen. + + + + +4. The cultivating status + +It appears then that a Kunbi has in the past been synonymous with +a cultivator, and that large groups from other castes have taken to +agriculture, have been admitted into the community and usually obtained +a rise in rank. In many villages Kunbis are the only ryots, while below +them are the village menials and artisans, several of whom perform +functions at weddings or on other occasions denoting their recognition +of the Kunbi as their master or employer; and beneath these again are +the impure Mahars or labourers. Thus at a Kunbi betrothal the services +of the barber and washerman must be requisitioned; the barber washes +the feet of the boy and girl and places vermilion on the foreheads of +the guests. The washerman spreads a sheet on the ground on which the +boy and girl sit. At the end of the ceremony the barber and washerman +take the bride and bridegroom on their shoulders and dance to music +in the marriage-shed; for this they receive small presents. After +a death has occurred at a Kunbi's house the impurity is not removed +until the barber and washerman have eaten in it. At a Kunbi's wedding +the Gurao or village priest brings the leafy branches of five trees, +the mango, _jamun_ [24] _umar_ [25] and two others and deposits them +at Maroti's temple, whence they are removed by the parents of the +bride. Before a wedding again a Kunbi bride must go to the potter's +house and be seated on his wheel while it is turned round seven times +for good luck. At seed-time and harvest all the village menials go +to the cultivator's field and present him with a specimen of their +wares or make obeisance to him, receiving in return a small present +of grain. This state of things seems to represent the primitive form +of Hindu society from which the present widely ramified system, of +castes may have expanded, and even now the outlines of the original +structure may be discernible under all subsequent accretions. + + + + +5. Exogamus septs + +Each subcaste has a number of exogamous septs or clans which serve +as a table of affinities in regulating marriage. The vernacular +term for these is _kul_. Some of the septs are named after natural +objects or animals, others from titles or nicknames borne by the +reputed founder of the group, or from some other caste to which he +may have belonged, while others again are derived from the names +of villages which maybe taken to have been the original home of the +sept or clan. The following are some septs of the Tirole subcaste: +Kole, jackal; Wankhede, a village; Kadu, bitter; Jagthap, famous; +Kadam, a tree; Meghe, a cloud; Lohekari, a worker in iron; Ughde, +a child who has been exposed at birth; Shinde, a palm-tree; Hagre, +one who suffers from diarrhoea; Aglawe, an incendiary; Kalamkar, +a writer; Wani (Bania), a caste; Sutar, a carpenter, and so on, +A few of the groups of the Baone subcaste are:--Kantode, one with a +torn ear; Dokarmare, a killer of pigs; Lute, a plunderer; Titarmare, +a pigeon-killer; and of the Khedule: Patre, a leaf-plate; Ghoremare, +one who killed a horse; Bagmare, a tiger-slayer; Gadhe, a donkey; +Burade, one of the Burud or Basor caste; Naktode, one with a broken +nose, and so on. Each subcaste has a number of septs, a total of 66 +being recorded for the Tiroles alone. The names of the septs confirm +the hypothesis arrived at from a scrutiny of the subcastes that +the Kunbis are largely recruited from the pre-Aryan or aboriginal +tribes. Conclusions as to the origin of the caste can better be +made in its home in Bombay, but it may be noted that in Canara, +according to the accomplished author of _A Naturalist on the Prowl_ +[26] the Kunbi is quite a primitive forest-dweller, who only a few +years back lived by scattering his seed on patches of land burnt clear +of vegetation, collecting myrobalans and other fruits, and snaring +and trapping animals exactly like the Gonds and Baigas of the Central +Provinces. Similarly in Nasik it is stated that a large proportion +of the Kunbi caste are probably derived from the primitive tribes +[27]. Yet in the cultivated plains which he has so largely occupied, +he is reckoned the equal in rank of the Kurmi and other cultivating +castes of Hindustan, who in theory at any rate are of Aryan origin and +of so high a grade of social purity that Brahmans will take water from +them. The only reasonable explanation of this rise in status appears to +be that the Kunbi has taken possession of the land and has obtained the +rank which from time immemorial belongs to the hereditary cultivator +as a member and citizen of the village community. It is interesting +to note that the Wanjari Kunbis of Berar, who, being as already seen +Banjaras, are of Rajput descent at any rate, now strenuously disclaim +all connection with the Banjara caste and regard their reception into +the Kunbi community as a gain in status. At the same time the refusal +of the Maratha Brahmans to take water to drink from Kunbis may perhaps +have been due to the recognition of their non-Aryan origin. Most of +the Kunbis also eat fowls, which the cultivating castes of northern +India would not usually do. + + + + +6. Restrictions on marriage of relatives + +A man is forbidden to marry within his own sept or _kul_, or in that +of his mother or either of his grandmothers. He may marry his wife's +younger sister but not her elder sister. Alliances between first and +second cousins are also prohibited except that a sister's son may be +married to a brother's daughter. Such marriages are also favoured +by the Maratha Brahmans and other castes, and the suitability of +the match is expressed in the saying _Ato ghari bhasi sun_, or 'At +a sister's house her brother's daughter is a daughter-in-law.' The +sister claims it as a right and not unfrequently there are quarrels +if the brother decides to give his daughter to somebody else, while +the general feeling is so strongly in favour of these marriages that +the caste committee sometimes imposes a fine on fathers who wish to +break through the rule. The fact that in this single case the marriage +of near relatives is not only permitted but considered almost as an +obligation, while in all other instances it is strictly prohibited, +probably points to the conclusion that the custom is a survival of the +matriarchate, when a brother's property would pass to his sister's +son. Under such a law of inheritance he would naturally desire that +his heir should be united to his own daughter, and this union might +gradually become customary and at length almost obligatory. The +custom in this case may survive when the reasons which justified it +have entirely vanished. And while formerly it was the brother who +would have had reason to desire the match for his daughter, it is now +the sister who insists on it for her son, the explanation being that +among the Kunbis as with other agricultural castes, to whom a wife's +labour is a valuable asset, girls are expensive and a considerable +price has to be paid for a bride. + + + + +7. Betrothal and marriage + +Girls are usually married between the ages of five and eleven and boys +between ten and twenty. The Kunbis still think it a mark of social +distinction to have their daughters married as young as possible. The +recognised bride-price is about twenty rupees, but much larger sums are +often paid. The boy's father goes in search of a girl to be married +to his son, and when the bride-price has been settled and the match +arranged the ceremony of Mangni or betrothal takes place. In the first +place the boy's father proceeds to his future daughter-in-law's house, +where he washes her feet, smears her forehead with red powder and +gives her a present of a rupee and some sweetmeats. All the party +then eat together. This is followed by a visit of the girl's father +to the boy's house where a similar ceremony is enacted and the boy +is presented with a cocoanut, a _pagri_ and cloth, and a silver +or gold ring. Again the boy's relatives go to the girl's house +and give her more valuable presents of jewellery and clothing. A +Brahman is afterwards consulted to fix the date of the marriage, +but the poorer Kunbis dispense with his services as he charges two +or three rupees. Prior to the ceremony the bodies of the bride and +bridegroom are well massaged with vegetable oil and turmeric in their +respective houses, partly with a view to enhance their beauty and also +perhaps to protect them during the trying period of the ceremony when +maleficent spirits are particularly on the alert. The marriage-shed is +made of eleven poles festooned with leaves, and inside it are placed +two posts of the _saleh_ (_Boswellia serrata_) or _umar_ (_Ficus +glomerata_) tree, one longer than the other, to represent the bride +and bridegroom. Two jars filled with water are set near the posts, +and a small earthen platform called _baola_ is made. The bridegroom +wears a yellow or white dress, and has a triangular frame of bamboo +covered with tinsel over his forehead, which is known as _basing_ +and is a substitute for the _maur_ or marriage-crown of the Hindustani +castes. Over his shoulder he carries a pickaxe as the representative +implement of husbandry with one or two wheaten cakes tied to it. This +is placed on the top of the marriage-shed and at the end of the five +days' ceremonies the members of the families eat the dried cakes +with milk, no outsider being allowed to participate. The _barat_ +or wedding procession sets out for the bride's village, the women +of the bridegroom's family accompanying it except among the Tirole +Kunbis, who forbid the practice in order to demonstrate their higher +social position. It is received on the border of the girl's village +by her father and his friends and relatives, and conducted to the +_janwasa_ or temporary lodging prepared for it, with the exception +of the bridegroom, who is left alone before the shrine of Maroti or +Hanuman. The bridegroom's father goes to the marriage-shed where he +washes the bride's feet and gives her another present of clothes, +and her relatives then proceed to Maroti's temple where they worship +and make offerings, and return bringing the bridegroom with them. As +he arrives at the marriage pavilion he touches it with a stick, on +which the bride's brother who is seated above the shed pours down +some water and is given a present of money by the bridegroom. The +bridegroom's feet are then washed by his father-in-law and he is +given a yellow cloth which he wears. The couple are made to stand on +two wooden planks opposite each other with a curtain between them, +the bridegroom facing east and the bride west, holding some Akshata +or rice covered with saffron in their hands. As the sun sets the +officiating Brahman gets on to the roof of the house and repeats the +marriage texts from there. At his signal the couple throw the rice over +each other, the curtain between them is withdrawn, and they change +their seats. The assembled party applaud and the marriage proper is +over. The Brahman marks their foreheads with rice and turmeric and +presses them together. He then seats them on the earthen platform +or _baola_, and ties their clothes together, this being known as the +Brahma Ganthi or Brahman's knot. The wedding usually takes place on the +day after the arrival of the marriage procession and another two days +are consumed in feasting and worshipping the deities. When the bride +and bridegroom return home after the wedding one of the party waves a +pot of water round their heads and throws it away at a little distance +on the ground, and after this some grain in the same manner. This is +a provision of food and drink to any evil spirits who may be hovering +round the couple, so that they may stop to consume it and refrain +from entering the house. The expenses of the bride's family may vary +from Rs. 60 to Rs. 100 and those of the bridegroom's from Rs. 160 to +Rs. 600. A wedding carried out on a lavish scale by a well-to-do man +is known as Lal Biah or a red marriage, but when the parties are poor +the expenses are curtailed and it is then called Safed Biah or a white +marriage. In this case the bridegroom's mother does not accompany the +wedding procession and the proceedings last only two days. The bride +goes back with the wedding procession for a few days to her husband's +house and then returns home. When she arrives at maturity her parents +give a feast to the caste and send her to her husband's house, this +occasion being known as Bolvan (the calling). The Karwa Kunbis of +Nimar have a peculiar rule for the celebration of marriages. They +have a _guru_ or priest in Gujarat who sends them a notice once in +every ten or twelve years, and in this year only marriages can be +performed. It is called _Singhast ki sal_ and is the year in which the +planet Guru (Jupiter) comes into conjunction with the constellation +Sinh (Leo). But the Karwas themselves think that there is a large +temple in Gujarat with a locked door to which there is no key. But +once in ten or twelve years the door unlocks of itself, and in that +year their marriages are celebrated. A certain day is fixed and all +the weddings are held on it together. On this occasion children from +infants in arms to ten or twelve years are married, and if a match +cannot be arranged for them they will have to wait another ten or +twelve years. A girl child who is born on the day fixed for weddings +may, however, be married twelve days afterwards, the twelfth night +being called Mando Rat, and on this occasion any other weddings which +may have been unavoidably postponed owing to a death or illness in +the families may also be completed. The rule affords a loophole of +escape for the victims of any such _contretemps_ and also insures +that every girl shall be married before she is fully twelve years +old. Rather than not marry their daughter in the _Singhast ki sal_ +before she is twelve the parents will accept any bridegroom, even +though he be very poor or younger than the bride. This is the same year +in which the celebration of marriages is forbidden among the Hindus +generally. The other Kunbis have the general Hindu rule that weddings +are forbidden during the four months from the 11th Asarh Sudi (June) +to the 11th Kartik Sudi (October). This is the period of the rains, +when the crops are growing and the gods are said to go to sleep, and +it is observed more or less as a time of abstinence and fasting. The +Hindus should properly abstain from eating sugarcane, brinjals, +onions, garlic and other vegetables for the whole four months. On +the 12th of Kartik the marriage of Tulsi or the basil plant with the +Saligram or ammonite representing Vishnu is performed and all these +vegetables are offered to her and afterwards generally consumed. Two +days afterwards, beginning from the 14th of Kartik, comes the Diwali +festival. In Betul the bridal couple are seated in the centre of a +square made of four plough yokes, while a leaf of the pipal tree and +a piece of turmeric are tied by a string round both their wrists. The +untying of the string by the local Brahman constitutes the essential +and binding portion of the marriage. Among the Lonhare subcaste a +curious ceremony is performed after the wedding. A swing is made, and +a round pestle, which is supposed to represent a child, is placed on +it and swung to and fro. It is then taken off and placed in the lap +of the bride, and the effect of performing this symbolical ceremony +is supposed to be that she will soon become a mother. + + + + +8. Polygamy and divorce + +Polygamy is permitted but rarely practised, a second wife being only +taken if the first be childless or of bad character, or destitute of +attractions. Divorce is allowed, but in some localities at any rate +a divorced woman cannot marry again unless she is permitted to do so +in writing by her first husband. If a girl be seduced before marriage +a fine is imposed on both parties and they are readmitted to social +intercourse, but are not married to each other. Curiously enough, +in the Tirole and Wandhekar, the highest subcastes, the keeping of +a woman is not an offence entailing temporary exclusion from caste, +whereas among the lower subcastes it is. [28] + + + + +9. Widow-marriage + +The Kunbis permit the remarriage of widows, with the exception of the +Deshmukh families of the Tirole subcaste who have forbidden it. If a +woman's husband dies she returns to her father's house and he arranges +her second marriage, which is called _choli-patal,_ or giving her new +clothes. He takes a price for her which may vary from twenty-five +to five hundred rupees according to the age and attractions of the +woman. A widow may marry any one outside the family of her deceased +husband, but she may not marry his younger brother. This union, +which among the Hindustani castes is looked upon as most suitable +if not obligatory, is strictly forbidden among the Maratha castes, +the reason assigned being that a wife stands in the position of a +mother to her husband's younger brothers. The contrast is curious. The +ceremony of widow-marriage is largely governed by the idea of escaping +or placating the wrath of the first husband's ghost, and also of its +being something to be ashamed of and contrary to orthodox Hinduism. It +always takes place in the dark fortnight of the month and always at +night. Sometimes no women are present, and if any do attend they must +be widows, as it would be the worst of omens for a married woman or +unmarried girl to witness the ceremony. This, it is thought, would +lead to her shortly becoming a widow herself. The bridegroom goes to +the widow's house with his male friends and two wooden seats are set +side by side. On one of these a betel-nut is placed which represents +the deceased husband of the widow. The new bridegroom advances with +a small wooden sword, touches the nut with its tip, and then kicks it +off the seat with his right toe. The barber picks up the nut and burns +it. This is supposed to lay the deceased husband's spirit and prevent +his interference with the new union. The bridegroom then takes the seat +from which the nut has been displaced and the woman sits on the other +side to his left. He puts a necklace of beads round her neck and the +couple leave the house in a stealthy fashion and go to the husband's +village. It is considered unlucky to see them as they go away because +the second husband is regarded in the light of a robber. Sometimes +they stop by a stream on the way home, and, taking off the woman's +clothes and bangles, bury them by the side of the stream. An exorcist +may also be called in, who will confine the late husband's spirit in +a horn by putting in some grains of wheat, and after sealing up the +horn deposit it with the clothes. When a widower or widow marries a +second time and is afterwards attacked by illness, it is ascribed to +the illwill of their former partner's spirit. The metal image of the +first husband or wife is then made and worn as an amulet on the arm or +round the neck. A bachelor who wishes to marry a widow must first go +through a mock ceremony with an _akra_ or swallow-wort plant, as the +widow-marriage is not considered a real one, and it is inauspicious for +any one to die without having been properly married once. A similar +ceremony must be gone through when a man is married for the third +time, as it is held that if he marries a woman for the third time he +will quickly die. The _akra_ or swallow-wort (_Calotropis gigantea_) +is a very common plant growing on waste land with mauve or purple +flowers. When cut or broken a copious milky juice exudes from the +stem, and in some places parents are said to poison children whom +they do not desire to keep alive by rubbing this on their lips. + + + + +10. Customs at birth + +During her monthly impurity a woman stays apart and may not cook +for herself nor touch anybody nor sleep on a bed made of cotton +thread. As soon as she is in this condition she will untie the cotton +threads confining her hair and throw them away, letting her hair hang +down. This is because they have become impure. But if there is no +other woman in the house and she must continue to do the household +work herself, she does not throw them away until the last day. [29] +Similarly she must not sleep on a cotton sheet or mattress during +this time because she would defile it, but she may sleep on a woollen +blanket as wool is a holy material and is not defiled. At the end of +the period she proceeds to a stream and purifies herself by bathing +and washing her head with earth. When a woman is with child for the +first time her women friends come and give her new green clothes and +bangles in the seventh month; they then put her into a swing and sing +songs. While she is pregnant she is made to work in the house so as +not to be inactive. After the birth of a child the mother remains +impure for twelve days. A woman of the Mang or Mahar caste acts as +midwife, and always breaks her bangles and puts on new ones after she +has assisted at a birth. If delivery is prolonged the woman is given +hot water and sugar or camphor wrapped in a betel-leaf, or they put +a few grains of gram into her hand and then someone takes and feeds +them to a mare, as it is thought that the woman's pregnancy has been +prolonged by her having walked behind the tethering-ropes of a mare, +which is twelve months in foal. Or she is given water to drink in +which a Sulaimani onyx or a rupee of Akbar's time has been washed; +in the former case the idea is perhaps that a passage will be made +for the child like the hole through the bead, while the virtue of the +rupee probably consists in its being a silver coin and having the image +or device of a powerful king like Akbar. Or it may be thought that as +the coin has passed from hand to hand for so long, it will facilitate +the passage of the child from the womb. A pregnant woman must not +look on a dead body or her child may be still-born, and she must not +see an eclipse or the child may be born maimed. Some believe that if +a child is born during an eclipse it will suffer from lung-disease; +so they make a silver model of the moon while the eclipse lasts and +hang it round the child's neck as a charm. Sometimes when delivery +is delayed they take a folded flower and place it in a pot of water +and believe that as its petals unfold so the womb will be opened +and the child born; or they seat the woman on a wooden bench and +pour oil on her head, her forehead being afterwards rubbed with it +in the belief that as the oil falls so the child will be born. If a +child is a long time before learning to speak they give it leaves of +the pipal tree to eat, because the leaves of this tree make a noise +by rustling in the wind; or a root which is very light in weight, +because they think that the tongue is heavy and the quality of +lightness will thus be communicated to it. Or the mother, when she +has kneaded dough and washed her hands afterwards, will pour a drop +or two of the water down the child's throat. And the water which +made her hands clean and smooth will similarly clear the child's +throat of the obstruction which prevented it from speaking. If a +child's neck is weak and its head rolls about they make it look at a +crow perching on the house and think this will make its neck strong +like the crow's. If he cannot walk they make a little triangle on +wheels with a pole called _ghurghuri_, and make him walk holding on +to the pole. The first teeth of the child are thrown on to the roof +of the house, because the rats, who have especially good and sharp +teeth, live there, and it is hoped that the child's second teeth may +grow like theirs. A few grains of rice are also thrown so that the +teeth may be hard and pointed like the rice; the same word, _kani_, +being used for the end of a grain of rice and the tip of a tooth. Or +the teeth are placed under a water-pot in the hope that the child's +second teeth may grow as fast as the grass does under water-pots. If +a child is lean some people take it to a place where asses have lain +down and rolled in ashes; they roll the child in the ashes similarly +and believe that it will get fat like the asses are. Or they may lay +the child in a pigsty with the same idea. People who want to injure +a child get hold of its coat and lay it out in the sun to dry, in +the belief that the child's body will dry up in a similar manner. In +order to avert the evil eye they burn some turmeric and juari flour +and hold the newly-born child in the smoke. It is also branded on +the stomach with a burning piece of turmeric, perhaps to keep off +cold. For the first day or two after birth a child is given cow's +milk mixed with water or honey and a little castor oil, and after +this it is suckled by the mother. But if she is unable to nourish it +a wet-nurse is called in, who may be a woman of low caste or even a +Muhammadan. The mother is given no regular food for the first two days, +but only some sugar and spices. Until the child is six months old its +head and body are oiled every second or third day and the body is well +hand-rubbed and bathed. The rubbing is meant to make the limbs supple +and the oil to render the child less susceptible to cold. If a child +when sitting soon after birth looks down through its legs they think +it is looking for its companions whom it has left behind and that more +children will be born. It is considered a bad sign if a child bites +its upper teeth on its underlip; this is thought to prognosticate +illness and the child is prevented from doing so as far as possible. + + + + +11. Sixth and twelfth day ceremonies + +On the sixth day after birth they believe that Chhathi or Satwai Devi, +the Sixth-day Goddess, comes at midnight and writes on the child's +forehead its fate in life, which writing, it is said, may be seen +on a man's skull when the flesh has come off it after death. On this +night the women of the family stay awake all night singing songs and +eating sweetmeats. A picture of the goddess is drawn with turmeric +and vermilion over the mother's bed. The door of the birth-room is +left open, and at midnight she comes. Sometimes a Sunar is employed +to make a small image of Chhathi Devi, for which he is paid Rs. 1-4, +and it is hung round the child's neck. On this day the mother is +given to eat all kinds of grain, and among flesh-eating castes the +soup of fish and meat, because it is thought that every kind of food +which the mother eats this day will be easily digested by the child +throughout its life. On this day the mother is given a second bath, +the first being on the day of the birth, and she must not bathe in +between. Sometimes after childbirth a woman buys several bottles of +liquor and has a bath in it; the stimulating effect of the spirit is +supposed to remedy the distension of the body caused by the birth. If +the child is a boy it is named on the twelfth and if a girl on the +thirteenth day. On the twelfth day the mother's bangles are thrown +away and new ones put on. The Kunbis are very kind to their children, +and never harsh or quick-tempered, but this may perhaps be partly due +to their constitutional lethargy. They seldom refuse a child anything, +but taking advantage of its innocence will by dissimulation make it +forget what it wanted. The time arrives when this course of conduct +is useless, and then the child learns to mistrust the word of its +parents. Minute quantities of opium are generally administered to +children as a narcotic. + + + + +12. Devices for procuring children + +If a woman is barren and has no children one of the remedies prescribed +by the Sarodis or wandering soothsayers is that she should set fire +to somebody's house, going alone and at night to perform the deed. So +long as some small part of the house is burnt it does not matter if +the fire be extinguished, but the woman should not give the alarm +herself. It is supposed that the spirit of some insect which is burnt +will enter her womb and be born as a child. Perhaps she sets fire +to someone else's house so as to obtain the spirit of one of the +family's dead children, which may be supposed to have entered the +insects dwelling on the house. Some years ago at Bhandak in Chanda +complaints were made of houses being set on fire. The police officer +[30] sent to investigate found that other small fires continued +to occur. He searched the roofs of the houses, and on two or three +found little smouldering balls of rolled-up cloth. Knowing of the +superstition he called all the childless married women of the place +together and admonished them severely, and the fires stopped. On +another occasion the same officer's wife was ill, and his little son, +having fever, was sent daily to the dispensary for medicine in charge +of a maid. One morning he noticed on one of the soles of the boy's +feet a stain of the juice of the _bhilawa_ [31] or marking-nut tree, +which raises blisters on the skin. On looking at the other foot he +found six similar marks, and on inquiry he learned that these were +made by a childless woman in the expectation that the boy would soon +die and be born again as her child. The boy suffered no harm, but his +mother, being in bad health, nearly died of shock on learning of the +magic practised against her son. + +Another device is to make a _pradakshana_ or pilgrimage round a pipal +tree, going naked at midnight after worshipping Maroti or Hanuman, and +holding a necklace of _tulsi_ beads in the hand. The pipal is of course +a sacred tree, and is the abode of Brahma, the original creator of the +world. Brahma has no consort, and it is believed that while all other +trees are both male and female the pipal is only male, and is capable +of impregnating a woman and rendering her fertile. A variation of this +belief is that pipal trees are inhabited by the spirits of unmarried +Brahman boys, and hence a woman sometimes takes a piece of new thread +and winds it round the tree, perhaps with the idea of investing the +spirit of the boy with the sacred thread. She will then walk round the +tree as a symbol of the wedding ceremony of walking round the sacred +post, and hopes that the boy, being thus brought to man's estate +and married, will cause her to bear a son. But modest women do not +go naked round the tree. The Amawas or New Moon day, if it falls on +a Monday, is specially observed by married women. On this day they +will walk 108 times round a pipal tree, and then give 108 mangoes or +other fruits to a Brahman, choosing a different fruit every time. The +number 108 means a hundred and a little more to show there is no stint, +'Full measure and flowing over,' like the customary present of Rs. 1-4 +instead of a rupee. This is also no doubt a birth-charm, fruit being +given so that the woman may become fruitful. Or a childless woman will +pray to Hanuman or Mahabir. Every morning she will go to his shrine +with an offering of fruit or flowers, and every evening will set a +lamp burning there; and morning and evening, prostrating herself, she +makes her continuous prayer to the god: '_Oh, Mahabir, Maharaj! hamko +ek batcha do, sirf ek batcha do_.' [32] Then, after many days, Mahabir, +as might be anticipated, appears to her in a dream and promises her a +child. It does not seem that they believe that Mahabir himself directly +renders the woman fertile, because similar prayers are made to the +River Nerbudda, a goddess. But perhaps he, being the god of strength, +lends virile power to her husband. Another prescription is to go to +the burying-ground, and, after worshipping it, to take some of the +bone-ash of a burnt corpse and wear this wrapped up in an amulet on +the body. Occasionally, if a woman can get no children she will go +to the father of a large family and let him beget a child upon her, +with or without the connivance of her husband. But only the more +immodest women do this. Or she cuts a piece off the breast-cloth of +a woman who has children, and, after burning incense on it, wears +it as an amulet For a stronger charm she will take a piece of such +a woman's cloth and a lock of her hair and some earth which her feet +have pressed and bury these in a pot before Devi's shrine, sometimes +fashioning an image of the woman out of them. Then, as they rot away, +the child-bearing power of the fertile woman will be transferred to +her. If a woman's first children have died and she wishes to preserve a +later one, she sometimes weighs the child against sugar or copper and +distributes the amount in charity. Or she gives the child a bad name, +such as Dagharia (a stone), Kachria (sweepings), Ukandia (a dunghill). + + + + +13. Love charms + +If a woman's husband is not in love with her, a prescription of a +_Mohani_ or love-charm given by the wise women is that she should kill +an owl and serve some of its flesh to her husband as a charm. "It has +not occurred," Mr. Kipling writes, "to the oriental jester to speak +of a boiled owl in connection with intoxication, but when a husband +is abjectly submissive to his wife her friends say that she has given +him boiled owl's flesh to eat." [33] If a man is in love with some +woman and wishes to kindle a similar sentiment in her the following +method is given: On a Saturday night he should go to a graveyard and +call out, 'I am giving a dinner tomorrow night, and I invite you all +to attend.' Then on the Sunday night he takes cocoanuts, sweetmeats, +liquor and flowers to the cemetery and sets them all out, and all the +spirits or Shaitans come and partake. The host chooses a particularly +big Shaitan and calls to him to come near and says to him, 'Will you +go with me and do what I ask you.' If the spirit assents he follows +the man home. Next night the man again offers cocoanuts and incense +to the Shaitan, whom he can see by night but not by day, and tells +him to go to the woman's house and call her. Then the spirit goes +and troubles her heart, so that she falls in love with the man and +has no rest till she goes to him. If the man afterwards gets tired of +her he will again secretly worship and call up the Shaitan and order +him to turn the woman's inclination away. Another method is to fetch +a skull from a graveyard and go to a banyan tree at midnight. There, +divesting himself of his clothes, the operator partially cooks some +rice in the skull, and then throws it against the tree; he gathers +all the grains that stick to the trunk in one box and those that fall +to the ground in another box, and the first rice given to the woman +to eat will turn her inclination towards him, while the second will +turn it away from him. This is a sympathetic charm, the rice which +sticks to the tree having the property of attracting the woman. + + + + +14. Disposal of the dead + +The Kunbis either bury or burn the dead. In Berar sepulture is +the more common method of disposal, perhaps in imitation of the +Muhammadans. Here the village has usually a field set apart for +the disposal of corpses, which is known as Smashan. Hindus fill +up the earth practically level with the ground after burial and +erect no monument, so that after a few years another corpse can be +buried in the same place. When a Kunbi dies the body is washed in +warm water and placed on a bier made of bamboos, with a network of +_san-_hemp. [34] Ordinary rope must not be used. The mourners then take +it to the grave, scattering almonds, sandalwood, dates, betel-leaf +and small coins as they go. These are picked up by the menial Mahars +or labourers. Halfway to the grave the corpse is set down and the +bearers change their positions, those behind going in front. Here +a little wheat and pulse which have been tied in the cloth covering +the corpse are left by the way. On the journey to the grave the body +is covered with a new unwashed cloth. The grave is dug three or four +feet deep, and the corpse is buried naked, lying on its back with the +head to the south. After the burial one of the mourners is sent to +get an earthen pot from the Kurnhar; this is filled with water at a +river or stream, and a small piece is broken out of it with a stone; +one of the mourners then takes the pot and walks round the corpse +with it, dropping a stream of water all the way. Having done this, +he throws the pot behind him over his shoulder without looking round, +and then all the mourners go home without looking behind them. The +stone with which the hole has been made in the earthen pot is held to +represent the spirit of the deceased. It is placed under a tree or on +the bank of a stream, and for ten days the mourners come and offer it +_pindas_ or balls of rice, one ball being offered on the first day, +two on the second, and so on, up to ten on the tenth. On this last +day a little mound of earth is made, which is considered to represent +Mahadeo. Four miniature flags are planted round, and three cakes of +rice are laid on it; and all the mourners sit round the mound until +a crow comes and eats some of the cake. Then they say that the dead +man's spirit has been freed from troubling about his household and +mundane affairs and has departed to the other world. But if no real +crow comes to eat the cake, they make a representation of one out +of the sacred _kusha_ grass, and touch the cake with it and consider +that a crow has eaten it. After this the mourners go to a stream and +put a little cow's urine on their bodies, and dip ten times in the +water or throw it over them. The officiating Brahman sprinkles them +with holy water in which he has dipped the toe of his right foot, +and they present to the Brahman the vessels in which the funeral cakes +have been cooked and the clothes which the chief mourner has worn for +ten days. On coming home they also give him a stick, umbrella, shoes, +a bed and anything else which they think the dead man will want in +the next world. On the thirteenth day they feed the caste-fellows and +the head of the caste ties a new _pagri_ on the chief mourner's head +backside foremost; and the chief mourner breaking an areca-nut on +the threshold places it in his mouth and spits it out of the door, +signifying the final ejectment of the deceased's spirit from the +house. Finally, the chief mourner goes to worship at Maroti's shrine, +and the household resumes its ordinary life. The different relatives +of the deceased man usually invite the bereaved family to their house +for a day and give them a feast, and if they have many relations this +may go on for a considerable time. The complete procedure as detailed +above is observed only in the case of the head of the household, and +for less important members is considerably abbreviated. The position +of chief mourner is occupied by a man's eldest son, or in the absence +of sons by his younger brother, or failing him by the eldest son of +an elder brother, or failing male relations by the widow. The chief +mourner is considered to have a special claim to the property. He has +the whole of his head and face shaved, and the hair is tied up in a +corner of the grave-cloth. If the widow is chief mourner a small lock +of her hair is cut off and tied up in the cloth. When the corpse is +being carried out for burial the widow breaks her _mangalsutram_ or +marriage necklace, and wipes off the _kunku_ or vermilion from her +forehead. This necklace consists of a string of black glass beads +with a piece of gold, and is always placed on the bride's neck at +the wedding. The widow does not break her glass bangles at all, +but on the eleventh day changes them for new ones. + + + + +15. Mourning + +The period of mourning for adults of the family is ten days, and +for children three, while in the case of distant relatives it is +sufficient to take a bath as a mark of respect for them. The male +mourners shave their heads, the walls of the house are whitewashed +and the floor spread with cowdung. The chief mourner avoids social +intercourse and abstains from ordinary work and from all kinds of +amusements. He debars himself from such luxuries as betel-leaf and +from visiting his wife. Oblations are offered to the dead on the +third day of the light fortnight of Baisakh (June) and on the last +day of Bhadrapad (September). The Kunbi is a firm believer in the +action of ghosts and spirits, and never omits the attentions due to +his ancestors. On the appointed day he diligently calls on the crows, +who represent the spirits of ancestors, to come and eat the food which +he places ready for them; and if no crow turns up, he is disturbed at +having incurred the displeasure of the dead. He changes the food and +goes on calling until a crow comes, and then concludes that their +previous failure to appear was due to the fact that his ancestors +were not pleased with the kind of food he first offered. In future +years, therefore, he changes it, and puts out that which was eaten, +until a similar _contretemps_ of the non-appearance of crows again +occurs. The belief that the spirits of the dead pass into crows is no +doubt connected with that of the crow's longevity. Many Hindus think +that a crow lives a thousand years, and others that it never dies of +disease, but only when killed by violence. Tennyson's 'many-wintered +crow' may indicate some similar idea in Europe. Similarly if the Gonds +find a crow's nest they give the nestlings to young children to eat, +and think that this will make them long-lived. If a crow perches in +the house when a woman's husband or other relative is away, she says, +'Fly away, crow; fly away and I will feed you'; and if the crow then +flies away she thinks that the absent one will return. Here the idea +is no doubt that if he had been killed his spirit might have come home +in the shape of the crow perching on the house. If a married woman +sees two crows breeding it is considered a very bad omen, the effect +being that her husband will soon die. It is probably supposed that +his spirit will pass into the young crow which is born as a result +of the meeting which she has seen. + +Mr. A. K. Smith states that the omen applies to men also, and +relates a story of a young advocate who saw two crows thus engaged +on alighting from the train at some station. In order to avert the +consequences he ran to the telegraph office and sent messages to all +his relatives and friends announcing his own death, the idea being +that this fictitious death would fulfil the omen, and the real death +would thus become unnecessary. In this case the belief would be that +the man's own spirit would pass into the young crow. + + + + +16. Religion + +The principal deities of the caste are Maroti or Hanuman, Mahadeo or +Siva, Devi, Satwai and Khandoba. Maroti is worshipped principally on +Saturdays, so that he may counteract the evil influences exercised by +the planet Saturn on that day. When a new village is founded Maroti +must first be brought and placed in the village and worshipped, and +after this houses are built. The name Maroti is derived from Marut, +the Vedic god of the wind, and he is considered to be the son of +Vayu, the wind, and Anjini. Khandoba is an incarnation of Siva as a +warrior, and is the favourite deity of the Marathas. Devi is usually +venerated in her Incarnation of Marhai Mata, the goddess of smallpox +and cholera--the most dreaded scourges of the Hindu villager. They +offer goats and fowls to Marhai Devi, cutting the throat of the +animal and letting its blood drop over the stone, which represents +the goddess; after this they cut off a leg and hang it to the tree +above her shrine, and eat the remainder. Sometimes also they offer +wooden images of human beings, which are buried before the shrine +of the goddess and are obviously substitutes for a human sacrifice; +and the lower castes offer pigs. If a man dies of snake-bite they +make a little silver image of a snake, and then kill a real snake, +and make a platform outside the village and place the image on it, +which is afterwards regularly worshipped as Nagoba Deo. They may +perhaps think that the spirit of the snake which is killed passes +into the silver image. Somebody afterwards steals the image, but +this does not matter. Similarly if a man is killed by a tiger he +is deified and worshipped as Baghoba Deo, though they cannot kill a +tiger as a preliminary. The Kunbis make images of their ancestors in +silver or brass, and keep them in a basket with their other household +deities. But when these get too numerous they take them on a pilgrimage +to some sacred river and deposit them in it. A man who has lost +both parents will invite some man and woman on Akshaya Tritiya, +[35] and call them by the names of his parents, and give them a +feast. Among the mythological stories known to the caste is one of +some interest, explaining how the dark spots came on the face of the +moon. They say that once all the gods were going to a dinner-party, +each riding on his favourite animal or _vahan_ (conveyance). But +the _vahan_ of Ganpati, the fat god with the head of an elephant, +was a rat, and the rat naturally could not go as fast as the other +animals, and as it was very far from being up to Ganpati's weight, +it tripped and fell, and Ganpati came off. The moon was looking on, +and laughed so much that Ganpati was enraged, and cursed it, saying, +'Thy face shall be black for laughing at me.' Accordingly the moon +turned quite black; but the other gods interfered, and said that the +curse was too hard, so Ganpati agreed that only a part of the moon's +face should be blackened in revenge for the insult. This happened +on the fourth day of the bright fortnight of Bhadon (September), +and on that day it is said that nobody should look at the moon, as +if he does, his reputation will probably be lowered by some false +charge or libel being promulgated against him. As already stated, +the Kunbi firmly believes in the influence exercised by spirits, and +a proverb has it, 'Brahmans die of indigestion, Sunars from bile, and +Kunbis from ghosts'; because the Brahman is always feasted as an act of +charity and given the best food, so that he over-eats himself, while +the Sunar gets bilious from sitting all day before a furnace. When +somebody falls ill his family get a Brahman's cast-off sacred thread, +and folding it to hold a little lamp, will wave this to and fro. If +it moves in a straight line they say that the patient is possessed +by a spirit, but if in a circle that his illness is due to natural +causes. In the former case they promise an offering to the spirit +to induce it to depart from the patient. The Brahmans, it is said, +try to prevent the Kunbis from getting hold of their sacred threads, +because they think that by waving the lamp in them, all the virtue +which they have obtained by their repetitions of the Gayatri or sacred +prayer is transferred to the sick Kunbi. They therefore tear up their +cast-off threads or sew them into clothes. + + + + +17. The Pola festival + +The principal festival of the Kunbis is the Pola, falling at about +the middle of the rainy season, when they have a procession of +plough-bullocks. An old bullock goes first, and on his horns is +tied the _makhar_, a wooden frame with pegs to which torches are +affixed. They make a rope of mango-leaves stretched between two posts, +and the _makhar_ bullock is made to break this and stampede back to +the village, followed by all the other cattle. It is said that the +_makhar_ bullock will die within three years. Behind him come the +bullocks of the proprietors and then those of the tenants in the order, +not so much of their wealth, but of their standing in the village and +of the traditional position held by their families. A Kunbi feels it +very bitterly if he is not given what he considers to be his proper +rank in this procession. It has often been remarked that the feudal +feeling of reverence for hereditary rights and position is as strong +among the Maratha people as anywhere in the world. + + + + +18. Muhammadan tendencies of Berar Kunbis + +In Wardha and Berar the customs of the Kunbis show in several +respects the influence of Islam, due no doubt to the long period +of Muhammadan dominance in the country. To this may perhaps be +attributed the prevalence of burial of the dead instead of cremation, +the more respectable method according to Hindu ideas. The Dhanoje +Kunbis commonly revere Dawal Malik, a Muhammadan saint, whose tomb +is at Uprai in Amraoti District. An _urus_ or fair is held here on +Thursdays, the day commonly sacred to Muhammadan saints, and on this +account the Kunbis will not be shaved on Thursdays. They also make +vows of mendicancy at the Muharram festival, and go round begging for +rice and pulse; they give a little of what they obtain to Muhammadan +beggars and eat the rest. At the Muharram they tie a red thread +on their necks and dance round the _alawa_, a small hole in which +fire is kindled in front of the _tasias_ or tombs of Hussain. At the +Muharram [36] they also carry horseshoes of silver or gilt tinsel on +the top of a stick decorated with peacock's feathers. The horseshoe +is a model of that of the horse of Hussain. The men who carry these +horseshoes are supposed to be possessed by the spirit of the saint, +and people make prayers to them for anything they want. If one of +the horseshoes is dropped the finder will keep it in his house, +and next year if he feels that the spirit moves him will carry it +himself. In Wardha the Kunbis worship Khwaja Sheikh Farid of Girar, +and occasionally Sheikh Farid appears to a Kunbi in a dream and +places him under a vow. Then he and all his household make little +imitation beggars' wallets of cloth and dye them with red ochre, +and little hoes on the model of those which saises use to drag out +horses' dung, this hoe being the badge of Sheikh Farid. Then they +go round begging to all the houses in the village, saying, '_Dam_, +[37] _Sahib_, _dam_.' With the alms given them they make cakes of +_malida_, wheat, sugar and butter, and give them to the priest of the +shrine. Sometimes Sheikh Farid tells the Kunbi in the dream that he +must buy a goat of a certain Dhangar (shepherd), naming the price, +while the Dhangar is similarly warned to sell it at the same price, +and the goat is then purchased and sacrificed without any haggling: +At the end of the sacrifice the priest releases the Kunbi from his vow, +and he must then shave the whole of his head and distribute liquor to +the caste-fellows in order to be received back into the community. The +water of the well at Sheikh Farid's shrine at Girar is considered +to preserve the crops against insects, and for this purpose it is +carried to considerable distances to be sprinkled on them. + + + + +19. Villages and houses + +An ordinary Kunbi village [38] contains between 70 and 80 houses or +some 400 souls. The village generally lies on a slight eminence near a +_nullah_ or stream, and is often nicely planted with tamarind or pipal +trees. The houses are now generally tiled for fear of fire, and their +red roofs may be seen from a distance forming a little cluster on high +lying ground, an elevated site being selected so as to keep the roads +fairly dry, as the surface tracks in black-soil country become almost +impassable sloughs of mud as soon as the rains have broken. The better +houses stand round an old mud fort, a relic of the Pindari raids, +when, on the first alarm of the approach of these marauding bands, the +whole population hurried within its walls. The village proprietor's +house is now often built inside the fort. It is an oblong building +surrounded by a compound wall of unbaked bricks, and with a gateway +through which a cart can drive. Adjoining the entrance on each side +are rooms for the reception of guests, in which constables, chuprassies +and others are lodged when they stay at night in the village. _Kothas_ +or sheds for keeping cattle and grain stand against the walls, and the +dwelling-house is at the back. Substantial tenants have a house like +the proprietor's, of well-laid mud, whitewashed and with tiled roof; +but the ordinary cultivator's house is one-roomed, with an _angan_ +or small yard in front and a little space for a garden behind, in +which vegetables are grown during the rains. The walls are of bamboo +matting plastered over with mud. The married couples sleep inside, +the room being partitioned off if there are two or more in the +family, and the older persons sleep in the verandahs. In the middle +of the village by the biggest temple will be an old pipal tree, the +trunk encircled by an earthen or stone platform, which answers to +the village club. The respectable inhabitants will meet here while +the lower classes go to the liquor-shop nearly every night to smoke +and chat. The blacksmith's and carpenter's shops are also places of +common resort for the cultivators. Hither they wend in the morning +and evening, often taking with them some implement which has to be +mended, and stay to talk. The blacksmith in particular is said to +be a great gossip, and will often waste much of his customer's time, +plying him for news and retailing it, before he repairs and hands back +the tool brought to him. The village is sure to contain two or three +little temples of Maroti or Mahadeo. The stones which do duty for the +images are daily oiled with butter or _ghi_, and a miscellaneous store +of offerings will accumulate round the buildings. Outside the village +will be a temple of Devi or Mata Mai (Smallpox Goddess) with a heap of +little earthen horses and a string of hens' feet and feathers hung up +on the wall. The little platforms which are the shrines of the other +village gods will be found in the fields or near groves. In the evening +the elders often meet at Maroti's temple and pay their respects to +the deity, bowing or prostrating themselves before him. A lamp before +the temple is fed by contributions of oil from the women, and is kept +burning usually up to midnight. Once a year in the month, of Shrawan +(July) the villagers subscribe and have a feast, the Kunbis eating +first and the menial and labouring castes after them. In this month +also all the village deities are worshipped by the Joshi or priest and +the villagers. In summer the cultivators usually live in their fields, +where they erect temporary sheds of bamboo matting roofed with juari +stalks. In these most of the household furniture is stored, while at a +little distance in another funnel-shaped erection of bamboo matting is +kept the owner's grain. This system of camping out is mainly adopted +for fear of fire in the village, when the cultivator's whole stock +of grain and his household goods might be destroyed in a few minutes +without possibility of saving them. The women stay in the village, +and the men and boys go there for their midday and evening meals. + + + + +20. Furniture + +Ordinary cultivators have earthen pots for cooking purposes and brass +ones for eating from, while the well-to-do have all their vessels of +brass. The furniture consists of a few stools and cots. No Kunbi will +lie on the ground, probably because a dying man is always laid on the +ground to breathe his last; and so every one has a cot consisting of +a wooden frame with a bed made of hempen string or of the root-fibres +of the _palas_ tree (_Butea frondosa_). These cots are always too +short for a man to lie on them at full length, and are in consequence +supremely uncomfortable. The reason may perhaps be found in the +belief that a man should always lie on a bed a little shorter than +himself so that his feet project over the end. Because if the bed is +longer than he is, it resembles a bier, and if he lies on a bier once +he may soon die and lie on it a second time. For bathing they make a +little enclosure in the compound with mats, and place two or three flat +stones in it. Hot water is generally used and they rub the perspiration +off their bodies with a flat stone called Jhawar. Most Kunbis bathe +daily. On days when they are shaved they plaster the head with soft +black earth, and then wash it off and rub their bodies with a little +linseed or sesamum oil, or, if they can afford it, with cocoanut oil. + + + + +21. Food + +The Kunbis eat three times a day, at about eight in the morning, +at midday and after dark. The morning meal is commonly eaten in the +field and the two others at home. At midday the cultivator comes home +from work, bathes and takes his meal, having a rest for about two +hours in all. After finishing work he again comes home and has his +evening meal, and then, after a rest, at about ten o'clock he goes +again to the fields, if the crops are on the ground, and sleeps on the +_mara_ or small elevated platform erected in the field to protect the +grain from birds and wild animals; occasionally waking and emitting +long-drawn howls or pulling the strings which connect with clappers +in various parts of the field. Thus for nearly eight months of the +year the Kunbi sleeps in his fields, and only during the remaining +period at home. Juari is the staple food of the caste, and is eaten +both raw and cooked. The raw pods of juari were the provision carried +with them on their saddles by the marauding Maratha horsemen, and the +description of Sivaji getting his sustenance from gnawing at one of +these as he rode along is said to have struck fear into the heart +of the Nizam. It is a common custom among well-to-do tenants and +proprietors to invite their friends to a picnic in the fields when +the crop is ripe to eat _hurda_ or the pods of juari roasted in hot +ashes. For cooking purposes juari is ground in an ordinary handmill +and then passed through a sieve, which separates the finer from the +coarser particles. The finer flour is made into dough with hot water +and baked into thick flat _chapatis_ or cakes, weighing more than half +a pound each; while the coarse flour is boiled in water like rice. The +boiled pulse of _arhar_ (_Cajanus indicus_) is commonly eaten with +juari, and the _chapatis_ are either dipped into cold linseed oil +or consumed dry. The sameness of this diet is varied by a number of +green vegetables, generally with very little savour to a European +palate. These are usually boiled and then mixed into a salad with +linseed or sesamum oil and flavoured with salt or powdered chillies, +these last being the Kunbi's indispensable condiment. He is also +very fond of onions and garlic, which are either chopped and boiled, +or eaten raw. Butter-milk when available is mixed with the boiled +juari after it is cooked, while wheat and rice, butter and sugar are +delicacies reserved for festivals. As a rule only water is drunk, +but the caste indulge in country liquor on festive occasions. Tobacco +is commonly chewed after each meal or smoked in leaf cigarettes, +or in _chilams_ or clay pipe-bowls without a stem. Men also take +snuff, and a few women chew tobacco and take snuff, though they +do not smoke. It is noticeable that different subdivisions of the +caste will commonly take food from each other in Berar, whereas in +the Central Provinces they refuse to do so. The more liberal usage +in Berar is possibly another case of Muhammadan influence. Small +children eat with their father and brothers, but the women always +wait on the men, and take their own food afterwards. Among the Dalia +Kunbis of Nimar, however, women eat before men at caste feasts in +opposition to the usual practice. It is stated in explanation that +on one occasion when the men had finished their meal first and gone +home, the women on returning were waylaid in the dark and robbed of +their ornaments. And hence it was decided that they should always eat +first and go home before nightfall. The Kunbi is fairly liberal in +the matter of food. He will eat the flesh of goats, sheep and deer, +all kinds of fish and fowls, and will drink liquor. In Hoshangabad +and Nimar the higher subcastes abstain from flesh and wine. The caste +will take food cooked without water from Brahmans, Banias and Sunars, +and that mixed with water only from Maratha Brahmans. All castes +except Maratha Brahmans will take water from the hands of a Kunbi. + + + + +22. Clothes and ornaments + +The dress of the ordinary cultivator is most common-place and consists +only of a loin-cloth, another cloth thrown over the shoulders and +upper part of the body, which except for this is often bare, and a +third rough cloth wound loosely round the head. All these, originally +white, soon assume a very dingy hue. There is thus no colour in a +man's everyday attire, but the gala dress for holidays consists of a +red _pagri_ or turban, a black, coloured or white coat, and a white +loin-cloth with red silk borders if he can afford it. The Kunbi is +seldom or never seen with his head bare; this being considered a +bad omen because every one bares his head when a death occurs. Women +wear _lugras_, or a single long cloth of red, blue or black cotton, +and under this the _choli_, or small breast-cloth. They have one +silk-bordered cloth for special occasions. A woman having a husband +alive must not wear a white cloth with no colour in it, as this is +the dress of widows. A white cloth with a coloured border may be +worn. The men generally wear shoes which are open at the back of +the heel, and clatter as they move along. Women do not, as a rule, +wear shoes unless these are necessary for field work, or if they go +out just after their confinement. But they have now begun to do so +in towns. Women have the usual collection of ornaments on all parts +of the person. The head ornaments should be of gold when this metal +can be afforded. On the finger they have a miniature mirror set in a +ring; as a rule not more than one ring is worn, so that the hands may +be free for work. For a similar reason glass bangles, being fragile, +are worn only on the left wrist and metal ones on the right. But the +Dhanoje Kunbis, as already stated, have cocoanut shell bangles on +both wrists. They smear a mark of red powder on the forehead or have +a spangle there. Girls are generally tattooed in childhood when the +skin is tender, and the operation is consequently less painful. They +usually have a small crescent and circle between the brows, small +circles or dots on each temple and on the nose, cheeks and chin, and +five small marks on the back of the hands to represent flies. Some +of the Deshmukh families have now adopted the sacred thread; they +also put caste marks on the forehead, and wear the shape of _pagri_ +or turban formerly distinctive of Maratha Brahmans. + + + + +23. The Kunbi as cultivator + +The Kunbi has the stolidity, conservative instincts, dulness and +patience of the typical agriculturist. Sir R. Craddock describes +him as follows [39]: "Of the purely agricultural classes the Kunbis +claim first notice. They are divided into several sections or classes, +and are of Maratha origin, the Jhari Kunbis (the Kunbis of the wild +country) being the oldest settlers, and the Deshkar (the Kunbis +from the Deccan) the most recent. The Kunbi is certainly a most +plodding, patient mortal, with a cat-like affection for his land, +and the proprietary and cultivating communities, of both of which +Kunbis are the most numerous members, are unlikely to fail so long +as he keeps these characteristics. Some of the more intelligent and +affluent of the caste, who have risen to be among the most prosperous +members of the community, are as shrewd men of business in their way +as any section of the people, though lacking in education. I remember +one of these, a member of the Local Board, who believed that the land +revenue of the country was remitted to England annually to form part +of the private purse of the Queen Empress. But of the general body of +the Kunbi caste it is true to say that in the matter of enterprise, +capacity to hold their own with the moneylender, determination to +improve their standard of comfort, or their style of agriculture, +they lag far behind such cultivating classes as the Kirar, the Raghvi +and the Lodhi. While, however, the Kunbi yields to these classes +in some of the more showy attributes which lead to success in life, +he is much their superior in endurance under adversity, he is more +law-abiding, and he commands, both by reason of his character and his +caste, greater social respect among the people at large. The wealthy +Kunbi proprietor is occasionally rather spoilt by good fortune, +or, if he continues a keen cultivator, is apt to be too fond of +land-grabbing. But these are the exceptional cases, and there is +generally no such pleasing spectacle as that afforded by a village +in which the cultivators and the proprietors are all Kunbis living in +harmony together." The feeling [40] of the Kunbi towards agricultural +improvements has hitherto probably been something the same as that of +the Sussex farmer who said, 'Our old land, it likes our old ploughs' +to the agent who was vainly trying to demonstrate to him the advantages +of the modern two-horse iron plough over the great wooden local tool; +and the emblem ascribed to old Sussex--a pig couchant with the motto +'I wun't be druv'--would suit the Kunbi equally well. But the Kunbi, +too, though he could not express it, knows something of the pleasure +of the simple outdoor life, the fresh smell of the soil after rain, +the joy of the yearly miracle when the earth is again carpeted with +green from the bursting into life of the seed which he has sown, +and the pleasure of watching the harvest of his labours come to +fruition. He, too, as has been seen, feels something corresponding to +"That inarticulate love of the English farmer for his land, his mute +enjoyment of the furrow crumbling from the ploughshare or the elastic +tread of his best pastures under his heel, his ever-fresh satisfaction +at the sight of the bullocks stretching themselves as they rise from +the soft grass." + + + + +24. Social and moral characteristics + +Some characteristics of the Maratha people are noticed by Sir +R. Jenkins as follows [41]: "The most remarkable feature perhaps in the +character of the Marathas of all descriptions is the little regard they +pay to show or ceremony in the common intercourse of life. A peasant +or mechanic of the lowest order, appearing before his superiors, +will sit down of his own accord, tell his story without ceremony, +and converse more like an equal than an inferior; and if he has a +petition he talks in a loud and boisterous tone and fearlessly sets +forth his claims. Both the peasantry and the better classes are often +coarse and indelicate in their language, and many of the proverbs, +which they are fond of introducing into conversation, are extremely +gross. In general the Marathas, and particularly the cultivators, +are not possessed of much activity or energy of character, but they +have quick perception of their own interest, though their ignorance +of writing and accounts often renders them the dupes of the artful +Brahmans." "The Kunbi," Mr. Forbes remarks, [42] "though frequently all +submission and prostration when he makes his appearance in a revenue +office, is sturdy and bold enough among his own people. He is fond +of asserting his independence and the helplessness of others without +his aid, on which subject he has several proverbs, as: 'Wherever it +thunders there the Kunbi is a landholder,' and 'Tens of millions are +dependent on the Kunbi, but the Kunbi depends on no man.'" This sense +of his own importance, which has also been noticed among the Jats, +may perhaps be ascribed to the Kunbi's ancient status as a free and +full member of the village community. "The Kunbi and his bullocks are +inseparable, and in speaking of the one it is difficult to dissociate +the other. His pride in these animals is excusable, for they are most +admirably suited to the circumstances in which nature has placed them, +and possess a very wide-extended fame. But the Kunbi frequently +exhibits his fondness for them in the somewhat peculiar form of +unmeasured abuse. 'May the Kathis [43] seize you!' is his objurgation +if in the peninsula of Surat; if in the Idar district or among the +mountains it is there 'May the tiger kill you!' and all over Gujarat, +'May your master die!' However, he means by this the animal's former +owner, not himself; and when more than usually cautious he will word +his chiding thus--'May the fellow that sold you to me perish.'" But now +the Kathis raid no more and the tiger, though still taking good toll +of cattle in the Central Provinces, is not the ever-present terror +that once he was. But the bullock himself is no longer so sacrosanct +in the Kunbi's eyes, and cannot look forward with the same certainty +to an old age of idleness, threatened only by starvation in the hot +weather or death by surfeit of the new moist grass in the rains; and +when therefore the Kunbi's patience is exhausted by these aggravating +animals, his favourite threat at present is, 'I will sell you to the +Kasais' (butchers); and not so very infrequently he ends by doing +so. It may be noted that with the development of the cotton industry +the Kunbi of Wardha is becoming much sharper and more capable of +protecting his own interests, while with the assistance and teaching +which he now receives from the Agricultural Department, a rapid and +decided improvement is taking place in his skill as a cultivator. + + +Kunjra + +_Kunjra_. [44]--A caste of greengrocers, who sell country vegetables +and fruit and are classed as Muhammadans. Mr. Crooke derives the +name from the Sanskrit _kunj_, 'a bower or arbour.' They numbered +about 1600 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, principally in +the Jubbulpore Division. The customs of the Kunjras appear to combine +Hindu and Muhammadan rites in an indiscriminate medley. It is reported +that marriage is barred only between real brothers and sisters and +foster brothers and sisters, the latter rule being known as _Dudh +bachana_, or 'Observing the tie of the milk.' At their betrothal +presents are given to the parties, and after this a powder of henna +leaves is sent to the boy, who rubs it on his fingers and returns +it to the girl that she may do the same. As among the Hindus, the +bodies of the bridal couple are anointed with oil and turmeric at +their respective houses before the wedding. A marriage-shed is made +and the bridegroom goes to the bride's house wearing a cotton quilt +and riding on a bullock. The barber holds the umbrella over his +head and must be given a present before he will fold it, but the +wedding is performed by the Kazi according to the Nikah ceremony +by the repetition of verses from the Koran. The wedding is held at +four o'clock in the morning, and as a preliminary to it the bride +is presented with some money by the boy's father, which is known as +the Meher or dowry. On its conclusion a cup of sherbet is given to +the bridegroom, of which he drinks half and hands the remainder to +the bride. The gift of the Meher is considered to seal the marriage +contract. When a widow is married the Kazi is also employed, and he +simply recites the Kalama or Muhammadan profession of belief, and the +ceremony is completed by the distribution of dates to the elders of +the caste. Divorce is permitted and is known as _talaq_. The caste +observe the Muhammadan festivals, and have some favourite saints of +their own to whom they make offerings of _gulgula_ a kind of pudding, +with sacrifices of goats and fowls. Participation in these rites is +confined to members of the family. Children are named on the day of +their birth, the Muhammadan Kazi or a Hindu Brahman being employed +indifferently to select the name. If the parents lose one or more +children, in order to preserve the lives of those subsequently born, +they will allow the _choti_ or scalp-lock to grow on their heads in the +Hindu fashion, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan saints. Others +will put a _hasli_ or silver circlet round the neck of the child +and add a ring to this every year; a strip of leather is sometimes +also tied round the neck. When the child reaches the age of twelve +years the scalp-lock is shaved, the leather band thrown into a river +and the silver necklet sold. Offerings are made to the saints and +a feast is given to the friends of the family. The dead are buried, +camphor and attar of roses being applied to the corpse. On the _Tija_ +and _Chalisa_, or third and fortieth days after a death, a feast is +given to the caste-fellows, but no mourning is observed, neither +do the mourners bathe nor perform ceremonies of purification. On +the _Tija_ the Koran is also read and fried grain is distributed to +children. For the death of a child the ordinary feasts need not be +given, but prayers are offered for their souls with those of the other +dead once a year on the night of Shab-i-Barat or the fifteenth day +of the month Shaban, [45] which is observed as a vigil with prayer, +feasts and illuminations and offerings to the ancestors. Kunjra men +are usually clean-shaven with the exception of the beard, which is +allowed to grow long below the chin. Their women are not tattooed. In +the cities, Mr. Crooke remarks, [46] their women have an equivocal +reputation, as the better-looking girls who sit in the shops are said +to use considerable freedom of manners to attract customers. They are +also very quarrelsome and abusive when bargaining for the sale of their +wares or arguing with each other. This is so much the case that men +who become very abusive are said to be behaving like Kunjras; while +in Dacca Sir H. Risley states [47] that the word Kunjra has become a +term of abuse, so that the caste are ashamed to be known by it, and +call themselves Mewa-farosh, Sabzi-farosh or Bepari. When two women +are having an altercation, their husbands and other male relatives +are forbidden to interfere on pain of social degradation. The women +never sit on the ground, but on small wooden stools or _pirhis_. The +Kunjras belong chiefly to the north of the Province, and in the +south their place is taken by the Marars and Malis who carry their +own produce for sale to the markets. The Kunjras sell sugarcane, +potatoes, onions and all kinds of vegetables, and others deal in the +dried fruits imported by Kabuli merchants. + + +Kuramwar + +_Kuramwar_. [48]--The shepherd caste of southern India, who are +identical with the Tamil Kurumba and the Telugu Kuruba. The caste is an +important one in Madras, but in the Central Provinces is confined to +the Chanda District where it numbered some 4000 persons in 1911. The +Kuramwars are considered to be the modern representatives of the +ancient Pallava tribe whose kings were powerful in southern India in +the seventh century. [49] + +The marriage rules of the Kuramwars are interesting. If a girl +reaches adolescence while still single, she is finally expelled +from the caste, her parents being also subjected to a penalty for +readmission. Formerly it is said that such a girl was sacrificed to +the river-goddess by being placed in a small hut on the river-bank +till a flood came and swept her away. Now she is taken to the river +and kept in a hut, while offerings are made to the river-goddess, +and she may then return and live in the village though she is out of +caste. In Madras, as a preliminary to the marriage, the bridegroom's +father observes certain marks or 'curls' on the head or hair of the +bride proposed. Some of these are believed to forecast prosperity +and others misery to the family into which she enters. They are +therefore very cautious in selecting only such girls as possess curls +(_suli_) of good fortune. The writer of the _North Arcot Manual_ [50] +after recording the above particulars, remarks: "This curious custom +obtaining among this primitive tribe is observed by others only in +the case of the purchase of cows, bulls and horses." In the Central +Provinces, however, at least one parallel instance can be given from +the northern Districts where any mark resembling the V on the head +of a cobra is considered to be very inauspicious. And it is told +that a girl who married into one well-known family bore it, and to +this fact the remarkable succession of misfortunes which has attended +the family is locally attributed. Among the Kuramwars marriages can +be celebrated only on four days in the year, the fifth day of both +fortnights of Phagun (February), the tenth day of the second fortnight +of the same month and the third day of Baisakh (April). At the marriage +the bride and bridegroom are seated together under the canopy, with +the shuttle which is used for weaving blankets between them, and they +throw coloured rice at each other. After this a miniature swing is put +up and a doll is placed in it in imitation of a child and swung to and +fro. The bride then takes the doll out and gives it to the bridegroom, +saying: 'Here, take care of it, I am now going to cook food'; while +after a time the boy returns the doll to the girl, saying, 'I must +now weave the blanket and go to tend the flock.' The proceeding +seems a symbolic enactment of the cares of married life and the +joint tending of the baby, this sort of symbolism being particularly +noticeable in the marriage ceremonies of the people of Madras. Divorce +is not permitted even though the wife be guilty of adultery, and if +she runs away to her father's house her husband cannot use force to +bring her back if she refuses to return to him. The Kuramwars worship +the implements of their calling at the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, +and if any family fails to do this it is put out of caste. They also +revere annually Mallana Deva and Mallani Devi who guard their flocks +respectively from attacks of tigers and epidemics of murrain. The +shrines of these deities are generally built under a banyan tree +and open to the east. The caste are shepherds and graziers and also +make blankets. They are poor and ignorant, and the Abbe Dubois [51] +says of them: "Being confined to the society of their woolly charge, +they seem to have contracted the stupid nature of the animal, and from +the rudeness of their nature they are as much beneath the other castes +of Hindus as the sheep by their simplicity and imperfect instruction +are beneath the other quadrupeds." Hence the proverbial comparison +'As stupid as a Kuramwar.' When out of doors the Kuramwar retains the +most primitive method of eating and drinking; he takes his food in a +leaf and licks it up with his tongue, and sucks up water from a tank +or river with his mouth. They justify this custom by saying that on one +occasion their god had taken his food out of the house on a leaf-plate +and was proceeding to eat it with his hands when his sheep ran away +and he had to go and fetch them back. In the meantime a crow came and +pecked at the food and so spoilt it. It was therefore ordained that +all the caste should eat their food straight off the leaf, in order +to do which they would have to take it from the cooking-pot in small +quantities and there would be no chance of leaving any for the crows +to spoil. The story is interesting as showing how very completely +the deity of the Kuramwars is imagined on the principle that god +made man in his own image. Or, as a Frenchman has expressed the idea, +'_Dieu a fait l'homme a son image, mais l'homme le lui a bein rendu._' +The caste are dark in colour and may be distinguished by their caps +made from pieces of blankets, and by their wearing a woollen cord +round the waist over the loin-cloth. They speak a dialect of Canarese. + + + + + +Kurmi + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Numbers and derivation of name._ + 2. _Functional character of the caste._ + 3. _Sub castes._ + 4. _Exogamous groups._ + 5. _Marriage rules. Betrothal_. + 6. _The marriage-shed or pavillion._ + 7. _The marriage cakes_. + 8. _Customs at the wedding_. + 9. _Walking round the sacred post_. + 10. _Other ceremonies_. + 11. _Polygamy, widow-marriage and divorce_. + 12. _Impurity of women_. + 13. _Pregnancy rites_. + 14. _Earth-eating._ + 15. _Customs at birth_. + 16. _Treatment of mother and child_. + 17. _Ceremonies after birth_. + 18. _Suckling children_. + 19. _Beliefs about twins_. + 20. _Disposal of the dead_. + 21. _Funeral rites_. + 22. _Burning the dead_. + 23. _Burial_. + 24. _Return of the soul_. + 25. _Mourning_. + 26. _Shaving, and presents to Brahmans_. + 27. _End of mourning_. + 28. _Anniversaries of the dead_. + 29. _Beliefs in the hereafter_. + 30. _Religion. Village gods_. + 31. _Sowing the Jawaras or gardens of Adonis_. + 32. _Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation_. + 33. _Agricultural superstitions_. + 34. _Houses_. + 35. _Superstitions about houses_. + 36. _Furniture._ + 37. _Clothes_. + 38. _Women's clothes_. + 39. _Bathing_. + 40. _Food_. + 41. _Caste feasts_. + 42. _Hospitality_. + 43. _Social customs. Tattooing_. + 44. _Caste penalties_. + 45. _The cultivating status_. + 46. _Occupation_. + _Appendix. List of exogamous clans._ + + + + +1. Numbers and derivation of name + +_Kurmi_. [52]--The representative cultivating caste of Hindustan or +the country comprised roughly in the United Provinces, Bihar arid the +Central Provinces north of the Nerbudda. In 1911 the Kurmis numbered +about 300,000 persons in the Central Provinces, of whom half belonged +to the Chhattisgarh Division and a third to the Jubbulpore Division; +the Districts in which they were most numerous being Saugor, Damoh, +Jubbulpore, Hoshangabad, Raipur, Bilaspur and Drug. The name is +considered to be derived from the Sanskrit _krishi_, cultivation, +or from _kurma_, the tortoise incarnation of Vishnu, whether because +it is the totem of the caste or because, as suggested by one writer, +the Kurmi supports the population of India as the tortoise supports +the earth. It is true that many Kurmis say they belong to the Kashyap +_gotra_, Kashyap being the name of a Rishi, which seems to have been +derived from _kachhap_, the tortoise; but many other castes also +say they belong to the Kashyap _gotra_ or worship the tortoise, +and if this has any connection with the name of the caste it is +probable that the caste-name suggested the _gotra_-name and not the +reverse. It is highly improbable that a large occupational caste should +be named after an animal, and the metaphorical similitude can safely +be rejected. The name seems therefore either to come from _krishi_, +cultivation, or from some other unknown source. + + + + +2. Functional character of the caste + +There seems little reason to doubt that the Kurmis, like the Kunbis, +are a functional caste. In Bihar they show traces of Aryan blood, +and are a fine-looking race. But in Chota Nagpur Sir H. Risley +states: "Short, sturdy and of very dark complexion, the Kurmis +closely resemble in feature the Dravidian tribes around them. It +is difficult to distinguish a Kurmi from a Bhumij or Santal, and +the Santals will take cooked food from them." [53] In the Central +Provinces they are fairly dark in complexion and of moderate height, +and no doubt of very mixed blood. Where the Kurmis and Kunbis meet the +castes sometimes amalgamate, and there is little doubt that various +groups of Kurmis settling in the Maratha country have become Kunbis, +and Kunbis migrating to northern India have become Kurmis. Each caste +has certain subdivisions whose names belong to the other. It has +been seen in the article on Kunbi that this caste is of very diverse +origin, having assimilated large bodies of persons from several other +castes, and is probably to a considerable extent recruited from the +local non-Aryan tribes; if then the Kurmis mix so readily with the +Kunbis, the presumption is that they are of a similar mixed origin, +as otherwise they should consider themselves superior. Mr. Crooke +gives several names of subcastes showing the diverse constitution of +the Kurmis. Thus three, Gaharwar, Jadon and Chandel are the names of +Rajput clans; the Kori subcaste must be a branch of the low weaver +caste of that name; and in the Central Provinces the names of such +subcastes as the Agaria or iron-workers, the Lonhare or salt-refiners, +and the Khaira or catechu-collectors indicate that these Kurmis are +derived from low Hindu castes or the aboriginal tribes. + + + + +3. Subcastes + +The caste has a large number of subdivisions. The Usrete belonged +to Bundelkhand, where this name is found in several castes; they are +also known as Havelia, because they live in the rich level tract of +the Jubbulpore Haveli, covered like a chessboard with large embanked +wheat-fields. The name Haveli seems to have signified a palace or +headquarters of a ruler, and hence was applied to the tract surrounding +it, which was usually of special fertility, and provided for the +maintenance of the chief's establishment and household troops. Thus in +Jubbulpore, Mandia and Betul we find the forts of the old Gond rulers +dominating an expanse of rich plain-country. The Usrete Kurmis abstain +from meat and liquor, and may be considered as one of the highest +subcastes. Their name may be derived from _a-sreshtha,_ or not the +best, and its significance would be that formerly they were considered +to be of mixed origin, like most castes in Bundelkhand. The group of +Sreshtha or best-born Kurmis has now, however, died out if it ever +existed, and the Usretes have succeeded in establishing themselves in +its place. The Chandnahes of Jubbulpore or Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh +are another large subdivision. The name may be derived from the village +Chandnoha in Bundelkhand, but the Chandnahus of Chhattisgarh say that +three or four centuries ago a Rajput general of the Raja of Ratanpur +had been so successful in war that the king allowed him to appear +in Durbar in his uniform with his forehead marked with sandalwood, +as a special honour. When he died his son continued to do the same, +and on the king's attention being drawn to it he forbade him. But +the son did not obey, and hence the king ordered the sandalwood to be +rubbed from his forehead in open Durbar. But when this was done the +mark miraculously reappeared through the agency of the goddess Devi, +whose favourite he was. Three times the king had the mark rubbed +out and three times it came again. So he was allowed to wear it +thereafter, and was called Chandan Singh from _chandan_, sandalwood; +and his descendants are the Chandnahu Kurmis. Another derivation is +from Chandra, the moon. In Jubbulpore these Chandnahes sometimes kill +a pig under the palanquin of a newly married bride. In Bilaspur they +are prosperous and capable cultivators, but are generally reputed to +be stingy, and therefore are not very popular. Here they are divided +into the Ekbahinyas and Dobahinyas, or those who wear glass bangles +on one or both arms respectively. The Chandraha Kurmis of Raipur +are probably a branch of the Chandnahus. They sprinkle with water +the wood with which they are about to cook their food in order to +purify it, and will eat food only in the _chauka_ or sanctified place +in the house. At harvest when they must take meals in the fields, +one of them prepares a patch of ground, cleaning and watering it, +and there cooks food for them all. + +The Singrore Kurmis derive their name from Singror, a place near +Allahabad. Singror is said to have once been a very important town, +and the Lodhis and other castes have subdivisions of this name. The +Desha Kurmis are a group of the Mungeli tahsil of Bilaspur. Desh +means one's native country, but in this case the name probably +refers to Bundelkhand. Mr. Gordon states [54] that they do not rear +poultry and avoid residing in villages in which their neighbours keep +poultry. The Santore Kurmis are a group found in several Districts, +who grow _san_-hemp, [55] and are hence looked down upon by the +remainder of the caste. In Raipur the Manwa Kurmis will also do +this; Mana is a word sometimes applied to a loom, and the Manwa +Kurmis may be so called because they grow hemp and weave sacking +from the fibres. The Pataria are an inferior group in Bilaspur, who +are similarly despised because they grow hemp and will take their +food in the fields in _patris_ or leaf-plates. The Gohbaiyan are +considered to be an illegitimate group; the name is said to signify +'holding the arm.' The Bahargaiyan, or 'those who live outside the +town,' are another subcaste to which children born out of wedlock +are relegated. The Palkiha subcaste of Jubbulpore are said to be +so named because their ancestors were in the service of a certain +Raja and spread his bedding for him; hence they are somewhat looked +down on by the others. The name may really be derived from _palal_, +a kind of vegetable, and they may originally have been despised for +growing this vegetable, and thus placing themselves on a level with +the gardening castes. The Masuria take their name from the _masur_ +or lentil, a common cold-weather crop in the northern Districts, +which is, however, grown by all Kurmis and other cultivators; and the +Agaria or iron-workers, the Kharia or catechu-makers, and the Lonhare +or salt-makers, have already been mentioned. There are also numerous +local or territorial subcastes, as the Chaurasia or those living +in a Chaurasi [56] estate of eighty-four villages, the Pardeshi or +foreigners, the Bundelkhandi or those who came from Bundelkhand, the +Kanaujias from Oudh, the Gaur from northern India, and the Marathe and +Telenge or Marathas and Telugus; these are probably Kunbis who have +been taken into the caste. The Gabel are a small subcaste in Sakti +State, who now prefer to drop the name Kurmi and call themselves simply +Gabel. The reason apparently is that the other Kurmis about them sow +_san_-hemp, and as they have ceased doing this they try to separate +themselves and rank above the rest. But they call the bastard group +of their community Rakhaut Kurmis, and other people speak of all of +them as Gabel Kurmis, so that there is no doubt that they belong to +the caste. It is said that formerly they were pack-carriers, but have +now abandoned this calling in favour of cultivation. + + + + +4. Exogamous groups + +Each subcaste has a number of exogamous divisions and these present +a large variety of all types. Some groups have the names of Brahman +saints as Sandil, Bharadwaj, Kausil and Kashyap; others are called +after Rajput septs, as Chauhan, Rathor, Panwar and Solanki; other +names are of villages, as Khairagarhi from Khairagarh, Pandariha from +Pandaria, Bhadaria, and Harkotia from Harkoti; others are titular, +as Sondeha, gold-bodied, Sonkharchi, spender of gold, Bimba Lohir, +stick-carrier, Banhpagar, one wearing a thread on the arm, Bhandari, +a store-keeper, Kumaria, a potter, and Shikaria, a hunter; and a +large number are totemistic, named after plants, animals or natural +objects, as Sadaphal, a fruit; Kathail from _kath_ or catechu; Dhorha, +from _dhor_, cattle; Kansia, the _kans_ grass; Karaiya, a frying-pan; +Sarang, a peacock; Samundha, the ocean; Sindia, the date-palm tree; +Dudhua from _dudh_, milk, and so on. Some sections are subdivided; +thus the Tidha section, supposed to be named after a village, is +divided into three subsections named Ghurepake, a mound of cowdung, +Dwarparke, door-jamb, and Jangi, a warrior, which are themselves +exogamous. Similarly the Chaudhri section, named after the title of +the caste headman, is divided into four subsections, two, Majhgawan +Bamuria, named after villages, and two, Purwa Thok and Pascham Thok, +signifying the eastern and western groups. Presumably when sections +get so large as to bar the marriage of persons not really related to +each other at all, relief is obtained by subdividing them in this +manner. A list of the sections of certain subcastes so far as they +have been obtained is given at the end of the article. + + + + +5. Marriage rules. Betrothal + +Marriage is prohibited between members of the same section and between +first and second cousins on the mother's side. But the Chandnahe +Kurmis permit the wedding of a brother's daughter to a sister's +son. Most Kurmis forbid a man to marry his wife's sister during her +lifetime. The Chhattisgarh Kurmis have the practice of exchanging +girls between two families. There is usually no objection to marriage +on account of religious differences within the pale of Hinduism, +but the difficulty of a union between a member of a Vaishnava sect +who abstains from flesh and liquor, and a partner who does not, +is felt and expressed in the following saying: + + + Vaishnava purush avaishnava nari + Unt beil ki jot bichari, + + +or 'A Vaishnava husband with a non-Vaishnava wife is like a camel +yoked with a bullock.' Muhammadans and Christians are not retained +in the caste. Girls are usually wedded between nine and eleven, but +well-to-do Kurmis like other agriculturists, sometimes marry their +daughters when only a few months old. The people say that when a +Kurmi gets rich he will do three things: marry his daughters very +young and with great display, build a fine house, and buy the best +bullocks he can afford. The second and third methods of spending his +money are very sensible, whatever may be thought of the first. No +penalty is imposed for allowing a girl to exceed the age of puberty +before marriage. Boys are married between nine and fifteen years, +but the tendency is towards the postponement of the ceremony. The +boy's father goes and asks for a bride and says to the girl's father, +'I have placed my son with you,' that is, given him in adoption; +if the match be acceptable the girl's father replies, 'Yes, I will +give my daughter to collect cowdung for you'; to which the boy's +father responds, 'I will hold her as the apple of my eye.' Then the +girl's father sends the barber and the Brahman to the boy's house, +carrying a rupee and a cocoanut. The boy's relatives return the +visit and perform the '_God bharna_,' or 'Filling the lap of the +girl.' They take some sweetmeats, a rupee and a cocoanut, and place +them in the girl's lap, this being meant to induce fertility. The +ceremony of betrothal succeeds, when the couple are seated together +on a wooden plank and touch the feet of the guests and are blessed +by them. The auspicious date of the wedding is fixed by the Brahman +and intimation is given to the boy's family through the _lagan_ +or formal invitation, which is sent on a paper coloured yellow with +powdered rice and turmeric. A bride-price is paid, which in the case +of well-to-do families may amount to as much as Rs. 100 to Rs. 400. + + + + +6. The marriage-shed or pavilion + +Before the wedding the women of the family go out and fetch new earth +for making the stoves on which the marriage feast will be cooked. When +about to dig they worship the earth by sprinkling water over it and +offering flowers and rice. The marriage-shed is made of the wood of +the _saleh_ tree, [57] because this wood is considered to be alive. If +a pole of _saleh_ is cut and planted in the ground it takes root and +sprouts, though otherwise the wood is quite useless. The wood of the +_kekar_ tree has similar properties and may also be used. The shed is +covered with leaves of the mango or _jamun_ [58] trees, because these +trees are evergreen and hence typify perpetual life. The marriage-post +in the centre of the shed is called Magrohan or Kham; the women go and +worship it at the carpenter's house; two pice, a piece of turmeric and +an areca-nut are buried below it in the earth and a new thread and a +_toran_ or string of mango-leaves is wound round it. Oil and turmeric +are also rubbed on the marriage-post at the same time as on the bride +and bridegroom. In Saugor the marriage-post is often a four-sided +wooden frame or a pillar with four pieces of wood suspended from +it. The larger the marriage-shed is made the greater honour accrues to +the host, even though the guests may be insufficient to fill it. In +towns it has often to be made in the street and is an obstacle to +traffic. There may be eight or ten posts besides the centre one. + + + + +7. The marriage-cakes + +Another preliminary ceremony is the family sacrament of the Meher or +marriage-cakes. Small balls of wheat-flour are kneaded and fried in +an earthen pan with sesamum oil by the eldest woman of the family. No +metal vessel may be used to hold the water, flour or oil required for +these cakes, probably because earthen vessels were employed before +metal ones and are therefore considered more sacred. In measuring the +ingredients a quarter of a measure is always taken in excess, such +as a seer [59] and a quarter for a seer of wheat, to foreshadow the +perpetual increase of the family. When made the cakes are offered to +the Kul Deo or household god. The god is worshipped and the bride and +bridegroom then first partake of the cakes and after them all members +of the family and relatives. Married daughters and daughters-in-law +may eat of the cakes, but not widows, who are probably too impure +to join in a sacred sacrament Every person admitted to partake of +the marriage-cakes is held to belong to the family, so that all +other members of it have to observe impurity for ten days after a +birth or death has occurred in his house and shave their heads for +a death. When the family is so large that this becomes irksome it is +cut down by not inviting persons beyond seven degrees of relationship +to the Meher sacrament This exclusion has sometimes led to bitter +quarrels and actions for defamation. It seems likely that the Meher +may be a kind of substitute for the sacrificial meal, at which all +the members of the clan ate the body of the totem or divine animal, +and some similar significance perhaps once attached to the wedding-cake +in England, pieces of which are sent to relatives unable to be present +at the wedding. + + + + +8. Customs at the wedding + +Before the wedding the women of each party go and anoint the village +gods with oil and turmeric, worshipping them, and then similarly +anoint the bride and bridegroom at their respective houses for three +days. The bridegroom's head is shaved except for his scalp-lock; +he wears a silver necklet on his neck, puts lamp-black on his eyes, +and is dressed in new yellow and white clothes. Thus attired he goes +round and worships all the village gods and visits the houses of his +relatives and friends, who mark his forehead with rice and turmeric +and give him a silver piece. A list of the money thus received is +made and similar presents are returned to the donors when they have +weddings. The bridegroom goes to the wedding either in a litter or +on a horse, and must not look behind him. After being received at +the bride's village and conducted to his lodging, he proceeds to the +bride's house and strikes a grass mat hung before the house seven +times with a reed-stick. On entering the bride's house the bridegroom +is taken to worship her family gods, the men of the party usually +remaining outside. Then, as he goes through the room, one of the +women who has tied a long thread round her toe gets behind him and +measures his height with the thread without his seeing. She breaks +off the thread at his height and doubling it once or twice sews it +round the top of the bride's skirt, and they think that as long as +the bride wears this thread she will be able to make her husband do +as she likes. If the girls wish to have a joke they take one of the +bridegroom's shoes which he has left outside the house, wrap it up +in a piece of cloth, and place it on a shelf or in a cupboard, where +the family god would be kept, with two lamps burning before it. Then +they say to the bridegroom, 'Come and worship our household god'; +and if he goes and does reverence to it they unwrap the cloth and +show him his own shoe and laugh at him. But if he has been to one or +two weddings and knows the joke he just gives it a kick. The bride's +younger brother steals the bridegroom's other shoe and hides it, and +will not give it back without a present of a rupee or two. The bride +and bridegroom are seated on wooden seats, and while the Brahman +recites texts, they make the following promises. The bridegroom +covenants to live with his wife and her children, to support them +and tell her all his concerns, consult her, make her a partner of +his religious worship and almsgiving, and be with her on the night +following the termination of her monthly impurity. The bride promises +to remain faithful to her husband, to obey his wishes and orders, +to perform her household duties as well as she can, and not to go +anywhere without his permission. The last promise of the bridegroom has +reference to the general rule among Hindus that a man should always +sleep with his wife on the night following the termination of her +menses because at this time she is most likely to conceive and the +prospect of a child being born must not be lost. The Shastras lay it +down that a man should not visit his wife before going into battle, +this being no doubt an instance of the common custom of abstinence from +conjugal intercourse prior to some important business or undertaking; +but it is stated that if on such an occasion she should have just +completed a period of impurity and have bathed and should desire him +to come in to her, he should do so, even with his armour on, because +by refusing, in the event of his being killed in battle, the chance of +a child being born would be finally lost. To Hindu ideas the neglect +to produce life is a sin of the same character, though in a minor +degree, as that of destroying life; and it is to be feared that it +will be some time before this ingrained superstition gives way to +any considerations of prudential restraint Some people say that for +a man not to visit his wife at this time is as great a sin as murder. + + + + +9. Walking round the sacred post + +The binding ceremony of the marriage is the walking seven times round +the marriage-post in the direction of the sun. The post probably +represents the sun and the walk of the bridal couple round it may +be an imitation of the movement of the planets round the sun. The +reverence paid to the marriage-post has already been noticed. During +the procession the bride leads and the bridegroom puts his left hand +on her left shoulder. The household pounding-slab is near the post +and on it are placed seven little heaps of rice, turmeric, areca-nut, +and a small winnowing-fan. Each time the bride passes the slab the +bridegroom catches her right foot and with it makes her brush one of +the little heaps off the slab. These seven heaps represent the seven +Rishis or saints who are the seven large stars of the constellation +of the Great Bear. + + + + +10. Other ceremonies + +After the wedding the bride and bridegroom resume their seats and +the parents of the bride wash their feet in a brass tray, marking +their foreheads with rice and turmeric. They put some silver in +the tray, and other relations and friends do the same. The presents +thus collected go to the bridegroom. The Chandnahu Kurmis then have +a ceremony known as _palkachar_. The bride's father provides a bed +on which a mattress and quilt are laid and the bride and bridegroom +are seated on it, while their brother and sister sprinkle parched +rice round them. This is supposed to typify the consummation of the +marriage, but the ceremony is purely formal as the bridal couple are +children. The bridegroom is given two lamps and he has to mix their +flames, probably to symbolise the mixing of the spirits of his wife and +himself. He requires a present of a rupee or two before he consents to +do so. During the wedding the bride is bathed in the same water as the +bridegroom, the joint use of the sacred element being perhaps another +symbolic mark of their union. At the feasts the bride eats rice and +milk with her husband from one dish, once at her own house and once +after she goes to her husband's house. Subsequently she never eats +with her husband but always after him. She also sits and eats at the +wedding-feasts with her husband's relations. This is perhaps meant +to mark her admission into her husband's clan. After the wedding +the Brahmans on either side recite Sanskrit verses, praising their +respective families and displaying their own learning. The competition +often becomes bitter and would end in a quarrel, but that the elders +of the party interfere and stop it. + +The expenses of an ordinary wedding on the bridegroom's side +may be Rs. 100 in addition to the bride-price, and on the bride's +Rs. 200. The bride goes home for a day or two with the bridegroom's +party in Chhattisgarh but not in the northern Districts, as women +accompany the wedding procession in the former but not in the latter +locality. If she is too small to go, her shoes and marriage-crown +are sent to represent her. When she attains maturity the _chauk_ or +_gauna_ ceremony is performed, her husband going to fetch her with +a few friends. At this time her parents give her clothes, food and +ornaments in a basket called _jhanpi_ or _tipara_ specially prepared +for the occasion. + + + + +11. Polygamy widow-marriage and divorce + +A girl who becomes pregnant by a man of the caste before marriage is +wedded to him by the rite used for widows. If the man is an outsider +she is expelled from the community. Women are much valued for the +sake of their labour in the fields, and the transgressions of a +wife are viewed with a lenient eye. In Damoh it is said that a man +readily condones his wife's adultery with another Kurmi, and if it +becomes known and she is put out of caste, he will give the penalty +feasts himself for her admission. If she is detected in a _liaison_ +with an outsider she is usually discarded, but the offence may be +condoned should the man be a Brahman. And one instance is mentioned +of a malguzar's wife who had gone wrong with a Gond, and was forgiven +and taken back by her husband and the caste. But the leniency was +misplaced as she subsequently eloped with an Ahir. Polygamy is usual +with those who can afford to pay for several wives, as a wife's labour +is more efficient and she is a more profitable investment than a hired +servant. An instance is on record of a blind Kurmi in Jubbulpore, who +had nine wives. A man who is faithful to one wife, and does not visit +her on fast-days, is called a Brahmachari or saint and it is thought +that he will go to heaven. The remarriage of widows is permitted and is +usual. The widow goes to a well on some night in the dark fortnight, +and leaving her old clothes there puts on new ones which are given to +her by the barber's wife. She then fills a pitcher with water and takes +it to her new husband's house. He meets her on the threshold and lifts +it from her head, and she goes into the house and puts bangles on her +wrists. The following saying shows that the second marriage of widows +is looked upon as quite natural and normal by the cultivating castes: + +"If the clouds are like partridge feathers it will rain, and if a +widow puts lamp-black on her eyes she will marry again; these things +are certain." [60] + +A bachelor marrying a widow must first go through the ceremony with +a ring which he thereafter wears on his finger, and if it is lost he +must perform a funeral ceremony as if a wife had died. If a widower +marries a girl she must wear round her neck an image of his first +wife. A girl who is twice married by going round the sacred post is +called Chandelia and is most unlucky. She is considered as bad or +worse than a widow, and the people sometimes make her live outside +the village and forbid her to show them her face. Divorce is open to +either party, to a wife on account of the impotency or ill-treatment +of her husband, and to a husband for the bad character, ill-health +or quarrelsome disposition of his wife. A deed of divorce is executed +and delivered before the caste committee. + + + + +12. Impurity of women + +During her periodical impurity, which lasts for four or five days, a +woman should not sleep on a cot. She must not walk across the shadow +of any man not her husband, because it is thought that if she does +so her next child will be like that man. Formerly she did not see +her husband's face for all these days, but this rule was too irksome +and has been abandoned. She should eat the same kind of food for the +whole period, and therefore must take nothing special on one day which +she cannot get on other days. At this time she will let her hair hang +loose, taking out all the cotton strings by which it is tied up. [61] +These strings, being cotton, have become impure, and must be thrown +away. But if there is no other woman to do the household work and she +has to do it herself, she will keep her hair tied up for convenience, +and only throw away the strings on the last day when she bathes. All +cotton things are rendered impure by her at this time, and any cloth +or other article which she touches must be washed before it can be +touched by anybody else; but woollen cloth, being sacred, is not +rendered impure, and she can sleep on a woollen blanket without its +thereby becoming a defilement to other persons. When bathing at the +end of the period a woman should see no other face but her husband's; +but as her husband is usually not present, she wears a ring with a +tiny mirror and looks at her own face in this as a substitute. + +If a woman desires to procure a miscarriage she eats a raw _papaya_ +fruit, and drinks a mixture of ginger, sugar, bamboo leaves and milk +boiled together. She then has her abdomen well rubbed by a professional +_masseuse_, who comes at a time when she can escape observation. After +a prolonged course of this treatment it is said that a miscarriage is +obtained. It would seem that the rubbing is the only treatment which +is directly effective. The _papaya_, which is a very digestible fruit, +can hardly be of assistance, but may be eaten from some magical idea of +its resemblance to a foetus. The mixture drunk is perhaps designed to +be a tonic to the stomach against the painful effects of the massage. + + + + +13. Pregnancy rites + +As regards pregnancy Mr. Marten writes as follows: [62] "A woman +in pregnancy is in a state of taboo and is peculiarly liable to the +influence of magic and in some respects dangerous to others. She is +exempt from the observance of fasts, is allowed any food she fancies, +and is fed with sweets and all sorts of rich food, especially in the +fifth month. She should not visit her neighbour's houses nor sleep +in any open place. Her clothes are kept separate from others. She +is subject to a large number of restrictions in her ordinary life +with a view of avoiding everything that might prejudice or retard her +delivery. She should eschew all red clothes or red things of any sort, +such as suggest blood, till the third or fourth month, when conception +is certain. She will be careful not to touch the dress of any woman +who has had a miscarriage. She will not cross running water, as it +might cause premature delivery, nor go near a she-buffalo or a mare +lest delivery be retarded, since a mare is twelve months in foal. If +she does by chance approach these animals she must propitiate them +by offerings of grain. Nor in some cases will she light a lamp, +for fear the flame in some way may hurt the child. She should not +finish any sowing, previously begun, during pregnancy, nor should her +husband thatch the house or repair his axe. An eclipse is particularly +dangerous to the unborn child and she must not leave the house during +its continuance, but must sit still with a stone pestle in her lap and +anoint her womb with cowdung. Under no circumstances must she touch any +cutting instrument as it might cause her child to be born mutilated. + +"During the fifth month of pregnancy the family gods are worshipped +to avoid generally any difficulties in her labour. Towards the end of +that month and sometimes in the seventh month she rubs her body with +a preparation of gram-flour, castor-oil and turmeric, bathes herself, +and is clothed with new garments and seated on a wooden stool in a +space freshly cleaned and spread with cowdung. Her lap is then filled +with sweets called _pakwan_ made of cocoanut. A similar ceremony +called Boha Jewan is sometimes performed in the seventh or eighth +month, when a new _sari_ is given to her and grain is thrown into her +lap. Another special rite is the _Pansavan_ ceremony, performed to +remove all defects in the child, give it a male form, increase its size +and beauty, give it wisdom and avert the influence of evil spirits." + + + + +14. Earth-eating + +Pregnant women sometimes have a craving for eating earth. They eat +the earth which has been mixed with wheat on the threshing-floor, +or the ashes of cowdung cakes which have been used for cooking. They +consider it as a sort of medicine which will prevent them from +vomiting. Children also sometimes get the taste for eating earth, +licking it up from the floor, or taking pieces of lime-plaster from +the walls. Possibly they may be attracted by the saltish taste, but +the result is that they get ill and their stomachs are distended. The +Panwar women of Balaghat eat red and white clay in order that their +children may be born with red and white complexions. + + + + +15. Customs at birth + +During the period of labour the barber's wife watches over the case, +but as delivery approaches hands it over to a recognised midwife, +usually the Basorin or Chamarin, who remains in the lying-in room +till about the tenth day after delivery. "If delivery is retarded," +Mr. Marten continues, [63] "pressure and massage are used, but coffee +and other herbal decoctions are given, and various means, mostly +depending on sympathetic magic, are employed to avert the adverse +spirits and hasten and ease the labour. She may be given water to +drink in which the feet of her husband [64] or her mother-in-law or a +young unmarried girl have been dipped, or she is shown the _swastik_ +or some other lucky sign, or the _chakra-vyuha_, a spiral figure +showing the arrangement of the armies of the Pandavas and Kauravas +which resembles the intestines with the exit at the lower end." + +The menstrual blood of the mother during child-birth is efficacious as +a charm for fertility. The Nain or Basorin will sometimes try and dip +her big toe into it and go to her house. There she will wash her toe +and give the water to a barren woman, who by drinking it will transfer +to herself the fertility of the woman whose blood it is. The women +of the family are in the lying-in room and they watch her carefully, +while some of the men stand about outside. If they see the midwife +coming out they examine her, and if they find any blood exclaim, +'You have eaten of our salt and will you play us this trick'; and +they force her back into the room where the blood is washed off. All +the stained clothes are washed in the birth-room, and the water as +well as that in which the mother and child are bathed is poured into +a hole dug inside the room, so that none of it may be used as a charm. + + + + +16. Treatment of mother and child + +The great object of the treatment after birth is to prevent the mother +and child from catching cold. They appear to confuse the symptoms of +pneumonia and infantile lockjaw in a disease called _sanpat_, to the +prevention of which their efforts are directed. A _sigri_ or stove +is kept alight under the bed, and in this the seeds of _ajwain_ or +coriander are burnt. The mother eats the seeds, and the child is waved +over the stove in the smoke of the burning _ajwain_. Raw asafoetida +is put in the woman's ears wrapped in cotton-wool, and she eats a +little half-cooked. A freshly-dried piece of cowdung is also picked +up from the ground and half-burnt and put in water, and some of this +water is given to her to drink, the process being repeated every day +for a month. Other details of the treatment of the mother and child +after birth are given in the articles on Mehtar and Kunbi. For the +first five days after birth the child is given a little honey and +calf's urine mixed. If the child coughs it is given _bans-lochan_, +which is said to be some kind of silicate found in bamboos. The mother +does not suckle the child for three days, and for that period she is +not washed and nobody goes near her, at least in Mandla. On the third +day after the birth of a girl, or the fourth after that of a boy, the +mother is washed and the child is then suckled by her for the first +time, at an auspicious moment pointed out by the astrologer. Generally +speaking the whole treatment of child-birth is directed towards the +avoidance of various imaginary magical dangers, while the real sanitary +precautions and other assistance which should be given to the mother +are not only totally neglected, but the treatment employed greatly +aggravates the ordinary risks which a woman has to take, especially +in the middle and higher castes. + + + + +17. Ceremonies after birth + +When a boy is born the father's younger brother or one of his friends +lets off a gun and beats a brass plate to proclaim the event The women +often announce the birth of a boy by saying that it is a one-eyed +girl. This is in case any enemy should hear the mention of the boy's +birth, and the envy felt by him should injure the child. On the sixth +day after the birth the Chhathi ceremony is performed and the mother is +given ordinary food to eat, as described in the article on Kunbi. The +twelfth day is known as Barhon or Chauk. On this day the father is +shaved for the first time after the child's birth. The mother bathes +and cuts the nails of her hands and feet; if she is living by a river +she throws them into it, otherwise on to the roof of the house. The +father and mother sit in the _chauk_ or space marked out for worship +with cowdung and flour; the woman is on the man's left side, a woman +being known as Bamangi or the left limb, either because the left limb +is weak or because woman is supposed to have been made from man's left +side, as in Genesis. The household god is brought into the _chauk_ +and they worship it. The Bua or husband's sister brings presents to +the mother known as _bharti_, for filling her lap: silver or gold +bangles if she can afford them, a coat and cap for the boy; dates, +rice and a breast-cloth for the mother; for the father a rupee and a +cocoanut. These things are placed in the mother's lap as a charm to +sustain her fertility. The father gives his sister back double the +value of the presents if he can afford it. He gives her husband a +head-cloth and shoulder-cloth; he waves two or three pice round his +wife's head and gives them to the barber's wife. The latter and the +midwife take the clothes worn by the mother at child-birth, and the +father gives them each a new cloth if he can afford it. The part of +the navel-string which falls off the child's body is believed to have +the power of rendering a barren woman fertile, and is also intimately +connected with the child's destiny. It is therefore carefully preserved +and buried in some auspicious place, as by the bank of a river. + +In the sixth month the Pasni ceremony is performed, when the child is +given grain for the first time, consisting of rice and milk. Brahmans +or religious mendicants are invited and fed. The child's hair and +nails are cut for the first time on the Shivratri or Akti festival +following the birth, and are wrapped up in a ball of dough and thrown +into a sacred river. If a child is born during an eclipse they think +that it will suffer from lung disease; so a silver model of the moon +is made immediately during the eclipse, and hung round the child's +neck, and this is supposed to preserve it from harm. + + + + +18. Suckling children + +A Hindu woman will normally suckle her child for two to three years +after its birth, and even beyond this up to six years if it sleeps +with her. But they think that the child becomes short of breath if +suckled for so long, and advise the mother to wean it. And if she +becomes pregnant again, when she has been three or four months in this +condition, she will wean the child by putting _nim_ leaves or some +other bitter thing on her breasts. A Hindu should not visit his wife +for the last six months of her pregnancy nor until the child has been +fed with grain for the first time six months after its birth. During +the former period such action is thought to be a sin, while during +the latter it may have the effect of rendering the mother pregnant +again too quickly, and hence may not allow her a sufficiently long +period to suckle the first child. + + + + +19. Beliefs about twins + +Twins, Mr. Marten states, are not usually considered to be +inauspicious. [65] "It is held that if they are of the same sex they +will survive, and if they are of a different sex one of them will +die. Boy twins are called Rama and Lachhman, a boy and a girl Mahadeo +and Parvati, and two girls Ganga and Jamuni or Sita and Konda. They +should always be kept separate so as to break the essential connection +which exists between them and may cause any misfortune which happens +to the one to extend to the other. Thus the mother always sleeps +between them in bed and never carries both of them nor suckles both +at the same time. Again, among some castes in Chhattisgarh, when the +twins are of different sex, they are considered to be _pap_ (sinful) +and are called Papi and Papin, an allusion to the horror of a brother +and sister sharing the same bed (the mother's womb)." Hindus think +that if two people comb their hair with the same comb they will lose +their affection for each other. Hence the hair of twins is combed with +the same comb to weaken the tie which exists between them, and may +cause the illness or death of either to follow on that of the other. + + + + +20. Disposal of the dead + +The dead are usually burnt with the head to the north. Children whose +ears have not been bored and adults who die of smallpox or leprosy are +buried, and members of poor families who cannot afford firewood. If a +person has died by hanging or drowning or from the bite of a snake, +his body is burnt without any rites, but in order that his soul +may be saved, the _hom_ sacrifice is performed subsequently to the +cremation. Those who live near the Nerbudda and Mahanadi sometimes +throw the bodies of the dead into these rivers and think that this will +make them go to heaven. The following account of a funeral ceremony +among the middle and higher castes in Saugor is mainly furnished +by Major W. D. Sutherland, I.M.S., with some additions from Mandla, +and from material furnished by the Rev. E. M. Gordon: [66] "When a +man is near his end, gifts to Brahmans are made by him, or by his son +on his behalf. These, if he is a rich man, consist of five cows with +their calves, marked on the forehead and hoofs with turmeric, and +with garlands of flowers round their necks. Ordinary people give the +price of one calf, which is fictitiously taken at Rs. 3-4, Rs. 1-4, +ten annas or five annas according to their means. By holding on to +the tail of this calf the dead man will be able to swim across the +dreadful river Vaitarni, the Hindu Styx. This calf is called Bachra +Sankal or 'the chain-calf,' as it furnishes a chain across the river, +and it may be given three times, once before the death and twice +afterwards. When near his end the dying man is taken down from his +cot and laid on a woollen blanket spread on the ground, perhaps with +the idea that he should at death be in contact with the earth and not +suspended in mid-air as a man on a cot is held to be. In his mouth +are placed a piece of gold, some leaves of the _tulsi_ or basil plant, +or Ganges water, or rice cooked in Jagannath's temple. The dying man +keeps on repeating 'Ram, Ram, Sitaram.'" + + + + +21. Funeral rites + +As soon as death occurs the corpse is bathed, clothed and smeared +with a mixture of powdered sandalwood, camphor and spices. A bier is +constructed of planks, or if this cannot be afforded the man's cot +is turned upside down and the body is carried out for burial on it +in this fashion, with the legs of the cot pointing upwards. Straw +is laid on the bier, and the corpse, covered with fine white cloth, +is tied securely on to it, the hands being crossed on the breast, with +the thumbs and great toes tied together. When a married woman dies she +is covered with a red cloth which reaches only to the neck, and her +face is left open to the view of everybody, whether she went abroad +unveiled in her life or not. It is considered a highly auspicious +thing for a woman to die in the lifetime of her husband and children, +and the corpse is sometimes dressed like a bride and ornaments put on +it. The corpse of a widow or girl is wrapped in a white cloth with +the head covered. At the head of the funeral procession walks the +son of the deceased, or other chief mourner, and in his hand he takes +smouldering cowdung cakes in an earthen pot, from which the pyre will +be kindled. This fire is brought from the hearth of the house by the +barber, and he sometimes also carries it to the pyre. On the way the +mourners change places so that each may assist in bearing the bier, +and once they set the bier on the ground and leave two pice and some +grain where it lay, before taking it up again. After the funeral each +person who has helped to carry it takes up a clod of earth and with it +touches successively the place on his shoulder where the bier rested, +his waist and his knee, afterwards dropping the clod on the ground. It +is believed that by so doing he removes from his shoulder the weight +of the corpse, which would otherwise press on it for some time. + + + + +22. Burning the dead + +At the cremation-ground the corpse is taken from the bier and placed on +the pyre. The cloth which covered it and that on which it lay are given +to a sweeper, who is always present to receive this perquisite. To the +corpse's mouth, eyes, ears, nostrils and throat is applied a mixture +of barley-flour, butter, sesamum seeds and powdered sandalwood. Logs +of wood and cowdung cakes are then piled on the body and the pyre is +fired by the son, who first holds a burning stick to the mouth of the +corpse as if to inform it that he is about to apply the fire. The pyre +of a man is fired at the head and of a woman at the foot. Rich people +burn the corpse with sandalwood, and others have a little of this, +and incense and sweet-smelling gum. Nowadays if the rain comes on +and the pyre will not burn they use kerosine oil. When the body is +half-consumed the son takes up a piece of wood and with it strikes +the skull seven times, to break it and give exit to the soul. This, +however, is not always done. The son then takes up on his right +shoulder an earthen pot full of water, at the bottom of which is a +small hole. He walks round the pyre three times in the direction of +the sun's course and stands facing to the south, and dashes the pot +on the ground, crying out in his grief, 'Oh, my father.' While this +is going on _mantras_ or sacred verses are recited by the officiating +Brahman. When the corpse is partly consumed each member of the assembly +throws the _Panch lakariya_ (five pieces of wood or sprigs of basil) +on to the pyre, making obeisance to the deceased and saying, '_Swarg ko +jao_,' or 'Ascend to heaven.' Or they may say, 'Go, become incarnate +in some human being.' They stay by the corpse for 1 1/4 _pahars_ +or watches or some four hours, until either the skull is broken by +the chief mourner or breaks of itself with a crack. Then they bathe +and come home and after some hours again return to the corpse, to +see that it is properly burnt. If the pyre should go out and a dog +or other animal should get hold of the corpse when it is half-burnt, +all the relatives are put out of caste, and have to give a feast to +all the caste, costing for a rich family about Rs. 50 and for a poor +one Rs. 10 to Rs. 15. Then they return home and chew _nim_ leaves, +which are bitter and purifying, and spit them out of their mouth, +thus severing their connection with the corpse. When the mourners +have left the deceased's house the women of the family bathe, the +bangles of the widow are broken, the vermilion on the parting of her +hair and the glass ornament (_tikli_) on her forehead are removed, +and she is clad in white clothing of coarse texture to show that +henceforth she is only a widow. + +On the third day the mourners go again and collect the ashes and throw +them into the nearest river. The bones are placed in a silken bag or +an earthen pot or a leaf basket, and taken to the Ganges or Nerbudda +within ten days if possible, or otherwise after a longer interval, +being buried meantime. Some milk, salt and calfs urine are sprinkled +over the place where the corpse was burnt. These will cool the place, +and the soul of the dead will similarly be cooled, and a cow will +probably come and lick up the salt, and this will sanctify the place +and also the soul. When the bones are to be taken to a sacred river +they are tied up in a little piece of cloth and carried at the end of +a stick by the chief mourner, who is usually accompanied by several +caste-fellows. At night during the journey this stick is planted in +the ground, so that the bones may not touch the earth. + + + + +23. Burial + +Graves are always dug from north to south. Some people say that heaven +is to the north, being situated in the Himalayas, and others that +In the Satyug or Golden Age the sun rose to the north. The digging +of the grave only commences on the arrival of the funeral party, so +there is of necessity a delay of several hours at the site, and all +who attend a funeral are supposed to help in digging. It is considered +to be meritorious to assist at a burial, and there is a saying that a +man who has himself conducted a hundred funerals will become a Raja in +his next birth. When the grave has been filled in and a mound raised +to mark the spot, each person present makes five small balls of earth +and places them in a heap at the head of the grave. This custom is also +known as _Panch lakariya_, and must therefore be an imitation of the +placing of the five sticks on the pyre; its original meaning in the +latter case may have been that the mourners should assist the family +by bringing a contribution of wood to the pyre. As adopted in burial +it seems to have no special significance, but somewhat resembles the +European custom of the mourners throwing a little dust into the grave. + + + + +24. Return of the soul + +On the third day the _pindas_ or sacrificial cakes are offered and +this goes on till the tenth day. These cakes are not eaten by the +priest or Maha-Brahman, but are thrown into a river. On the evening +of the third day the son goes, accompanied by a Brahman and a barber, +and carrying a key to avert evil, to a pipal [67] tree, on whose +branches he hangs two earthen pots: one containing water, which +trickles out through a hole in the bottom, and the other a lamp. On +each succeeding night the son replenishes the contents of these pots, +which are intended to refresh the spirit of the deceased and to light +it on its way to the lower world. In some localities on the evening +of the third day the ashes of the cooking-place are sifted, and laid +out on a tray at night on the spot where the deceased died, or near +the cooking-place. In the morning the layer of ashes is inspected, +and if what appears to be a hand- or footprint is seen, it is held +that the spirit of the deceased has visited the house. Some people +look for handprints, some for footprints, and some for both, and the +Nais look for the print of a cow's hoof, which when seen is held to +prove that the deceased in consideration of his singular merits has +been reborn a cow. If a woman has died in child-birth, or after the +birth of a child and before the performance of the sixth-day ceremony +of purification, her hands are tied with a cotton thread when she is +buried, in order that her spirit may be unable to rise and trouble +the living. It is believed that the souls of such women become evil +spirits or _Churels_. Thorns are also placed over her grave for the +same purpose. + + + + +25. Mourning + +During the days of mourning the chief mourner sits apart and does +no work. The others do their work but do not touch any one else, +as they are impure. They leave their hair unkempt, do not worship +the gods nor sleep on cots, and abjure betel, milk, butter, curds, +meat, the wearing of shoes, new clothes and other luxuries. In these +days the friends of the family come and comfort the mourners with +conversation on the shortness and uncertainty of human life and +kindred topics. During the period of mourning when the family go +to bathe they march one behind the other in Indian file. And on the +last day all the people of the village accompany them, the men first +and after they have returned the women, all marching one behind the +other. They also come back in this manner from the actual funeral, +and the idea is perhaps to prevent the dead man's spirit from following +them. He would probably feel impelled to adopt the same formation and +fall in behind the last of the line, and then some means is devised, +such as spreading thorns in the path, for leaving him behind. + + + + +26. Shaving, and presents to Brahmans + +On the ninth, tenth or eleventh day the males of the family have the +front of the head from the crown, and the beard and moustaches, shaved +in token of mourning. The Maha-Brahman who receives the gifts for the +dead is shaved with them. This must be done for an elder relation, +but a man need not be shaved on the death of his wife, sister or +children. The day is the end of mourning and is called Gauri Ganesh, +Gauri being Parvati or the wife of Siva, and Ganesh the god of good +fortune. On the occasion the family give to the Maha-Brahman [68] +a new cot and bedding with a cloth, an umbrella to shield the spirit +from the sun's rays, a copper vessel full of water to quench its +thirst, a brass lamp to guide it on its journey, and if the family +is well-to-do a horse and a cow, All these things are meant to be for +the use of the dead man in the other world. It is also the Brahman's +business to eat a quantity of cooked food, which will form the dead +man's food. It is of great spiritual importance to the dead man's +soul that the Brahman should finish the dish set before him, and if +he does not do so the soul will fare badly. He takes advantage of +this by stopping in the middle of the meal, saying that he has eaten +all he is capable of and cannot go on, so that the relations have +to give him large presents to induce him to finish the food. These +Maha-Brahmans are utterly despised and looked down on by all other +Brahmans and by the community generally, and are sometimes made to +live outside the village. The regular priest, the Malai or Purohit, +can accept no gifts from the time of the death to the end of the period +of mourning. Afterwards he also receives presents in money according +to the means of his clients, which it is supposed will benefit the +dead man's soul in the next world; but no disgrace attaches to the +acceptance of these. + + + + +27. End of mourning + +When the mourning is complete on the Gauri-Ganesh day all the relatives +take their food at the chief mourner's house, and afterwards the +_panchayat_ invest him with a new turban provided by a relative. On +the next bazar day the members of the _panchayat_ take him to the +bazar and tell him to take up his regular occupation and earn his +livelihood. Thereafter all his relatives and friends invite him to +take food at their houses, probably to mark his accession to the +position of head of the family. + + + + +28. Anniversaries of the dead + +Three months, six months and twelve months after the death presents +are made to a Brahman, consisting of Sidha, or butter, wheat and rice +for a day's food. The anniversaries of the dead are celebrated during +Pitripaksh or the dark fortnight of Kunwar (September-October). If a +man died on the third day of any fortnight in the year, his anniversary +is celebrated on the third day of this fortnight and so on. On that +day it is supposed that his spirit will visit his earthly house where +his relatives reside. But the souls of women all return to their homes +on the ninth day of the fortnight, and on the thirteenth day come the +souls of all those who have met with a violent death, as by a fall, +or have been killed by wild animals or snakes. The spirits of such +persons are supposed, on account of their untimely end, to entertain +a special grudge against the living. + + + + +29. Beliefs in the hereafter + +As regards the belief in the hereafter Mr. Gordon writes: [69] "That +they have the idea of hell as a place of punishment may be gathered +from the belief that when 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 vessel. There +is a belief that the spirit of the deceased hovers round familiar +scenes and places, and on this account, whenever possible, a house +in which any one has died is destroyed or deserted. After the spirit +has wandered round restlessly for a certain time it is said that it +will again become incarnate and take the form either of man or of +one of the lower animals." In Mandla they think that the soul after +death is arraigned and judged before Yama, and is then chained to +a flaming pillar for a longer or shorter period according to its +sins. The gifts made to Brahmans for the dead somewhat shorten the +period. After that time it is born again with a good or bad body and +human or animal according to its deserts. + + + + +30. Religion. Village gods + +The caste worship the principal Hindu deities. Either Bhagwan or +Parmeshwar is usually referred to as the supreme deity, as we speak +of God. Bhagwan appears to be Vishnu or the Sun, and Parmeshwar is +Siva or Mahadeo. There are few temples to Vishnu in villages, but +none are required as the sun is daily visible. Sunday or Raviwar +is the day sacred to him, and some people fast in his honour on +Sundays, eating only one meal without salt. A man salutes the sun +after he gets up by joining his hands and looking towards it, again +when he has washed his face, and a third time when he has bathed, +by throwing a little water in the sun's direction. He must not spit +in front of the sun nor perform the lower functions of the body in +its sight. Others say that the sun and moon are the eyes of God, and +the light of the sun is the effulgence of God, because by its light +and heat all moving and immobile creatures sustain their life and +all corn and other products of the earth grow. In his incarnations +of Rama and Krishna there are temples to Vishnu in large villages +and towns. Khermata, the mother of the village, is the local form of +Devi or the earth-goddess. She has a small hut and an image of Devi, +either black or red. She is worshipped by a priest called Panda, who +may be of any caste except the impure castes. The earth is worshipped +in various ways. A man taking medicine for the first time in an +illness sprinkles a few drops on the earth in its honour. Similarly +for the first three or four times that a cow is milked after the +birth of a calf the stream is allowed to fall on the ground. A man +who is travelling offers a little food to the earth before eating +himself. Devi is sometimes considered to be one of seven sisters, but +of the others only two are known, Marhai Devi, the goddess of cholera, +and Sitala Devi, the goddess of smallpox. When an epidemic of cholera +breaks out the Panda performs the following ceremony to avert it. He +takes a kid and a small pig or chicken, and some cloth, cakes, glass +bangles, vermilion, an earthen lamp, and some country liquor, which is +sprinkled all along the way from where he starts to where he stops. He +proceeds in this manner to the boundary of the village at a place where +there are cross-roads, and leaves all the things there. Sometimes +the animals are sacrificed and eaten. While the Panda is doing this +every one collects the sweepings of his house in a winnowing-fan and +throws them outside the village boundary, at the same time ringing a +bell continuously. The Panda must perform his ceremony at night and, +if possible, on the day of the new moon. He is accompanied by a few +other low-caste persons called Gunias. A Gunia is one who can be +possessed by a spirit in the temple of Khermata. When possessed he +shakes his head up and down violently and foams at the mouth, and +sometimes strikes his head on the ground. Another favourite godling +is Hardaul, who was the brother of Jujhar Singh, Raja of Orchha, +and was suspected by Jujhar Singh of loving the latter's wife, +and poisoned in consequence by his orders. Hardaul has a platform +and sometimes a hut with an image of a man on horseback carrying a +spear in his hand. His shrine is outside the village, and two days +before a marriage the women of the family visit his shrine and cook +and eat their food there and invite him to the wedding. Clay horses +are offered to him, and he is supposed to be able to keep off rain +and storms during the ceremony. Hardaul is perhaps the deified Rajput +horseman. Hanuman or Mahabir is represented by an image of a monkey +coloured with vermilion, with a club in his hand and a slain man +beneath his feet. He is principally worshipped on Saturdays so that he +may counteract the evil influences exercised by the planet Saturn on +that day. His image is painted with oil mixed with vermilion and has +a wreath of flowers of the cotton tree; and _gugal_ or incense made of +resin, sandalwood and other ingredients is burnt before him. He is the +deified ape, and is the god of strength and swiftness, owing to the +exploits performed by him during Rama's invasion of Ceylon. Dulha Deo +is another godling whose shrine is in every village. He was a young +bridegroom who was carried off by a tiger on his way to his wedding, +or, according to another account, was turned into a stone pillar by +a flash of lightning. Before the starting of a wedding procession the +members go to Dulha Deo and offer a pair of shoes and a miniature post +and marriage-crown. On their return they offer a cocoanut. Dulha Deo +has a stone and platform to the east of the village, or occasionally +an image of a man on horseback like Hardaul. Mirohia is the god +of the field boundary. There is no sign of him, but every tenant, +when he begins sowing and cutting the crops, offers a little curds +and rice and a cocoanut and lays them on the boundary of the field, +saying the name of Mirohia Deo. It is believed among agriculturists +that if this godling is neglected he will flatten the corn by a wind, +or cause the cart to break on its way to the threshing-floor. + + + + +31. Sowing the _Jawaras_ or Gardens of Adonis + +The sowing of the Jawaras, corresponding to the gardens of Adonis, +takes place during the first nine days of the months of Kunwar +and Chait (September and March). The former is a nine days' fast +preceding the Dasahra festival, and it is supposed that the goddess +Devi was during this time employed In fighting the buffalo-demon +(Bhainsasur), whom she slew on the tenth day. The latter is a nine +days' fast at the new year, preceding the triumphant entry of Rama +into Ajodhia on the tenth day on his return from Ceylon. The first +period comes before the sowing of the spring crop of wheat and other +grains, and the second is at the commencement of the harvest of the +same crop. In some localities the Jawaras are also grown a third time +in the rains, probably as a preparation for the juari sowings, [70] +as juari is planted in the baskets or 'gardens' at this time. On the +first day a small room is cleared and whitewashed, and is known as the +_diwala_ or temple. Some earth is brought from the fields and mixed +with manure in a basket, and a male member of the family sows wheat +in it, bathing before he does so. The basket is kept in the _diwala_ +and the same man attends on it throughout the nine days, fasting all +day and eating only milk and fruit at night. A similar nine days' fast +was observed by the Eleusinians before the sacramental eating of corn +and the worship of the Corn Goddess, which constituted the Eleusinian +mysteries. [71] During the period of nine days, called the Naoratra, +the plants are watered, and long stalks spring up. On the eighth day +the _hom_ or fire offering is performed, and the Gunias or devotees are +possessed by Devi. On the evening of the ninth day the women, putting +on their best clothes, walk out of the houses with the pots of grain +on their heads, singing songs in praise of Devi. The men accompany +them beating drums and cymbals. The devotees pierce their cheeks with +long iron needles and walk in the procession. High-caste women, who +cannot go themselves, hire the barber's or waterman's wife to go for +them. The pots are taken to a tank and thrown in, the stalks of grain +being kept and distributed as a mark of amity. The wheat which is sown +in Kunwar gives a forecast of the spring crops. A plant is pulled out, +and the return of the crop will be the same number of times the seed as +it has roots. The woman who gets to the tank first counts the number +of plants in her pot, and this gives the price of wheat in rupees +per _mani_. [72] Sometimes marks of red rust appear on the plants, +and this shows that the crop will suffer from rust. The ceremony +performed in Chait is said to be a sort of harvest thanksgiving. On +the ninth day of the autumn ceremony another celebration called +'Jhinjhia' or 'Norta' takes place in large villages. A number of +young unmarried girls take earthen pots and, making holes in them and +placing lamps inside, carry them on their heads through the village, +singing and dancing. They receive presents from the villagers, with +which they hold a feast. At this a small platform is erected and two +earthen dolls, male and female, are placed on it; rice and flowers +are offered to them and their marriage is celebrated. + +The following observances in connection with the crops are practised +by the agricultural castes in Chhattisgarh: + + + + +32. Rites connected with the crops. Customs of cultivation + +The agricultural year begins on Akti or the 3rd day of Baisakh +(April-May). On that day a cup made of _palas_ [73] leaves and filled +with rice is offered to Thakur Deo. In some villages the boys sow +rice seeds before Thakur Deo's shrine with little toy ploughs. The +cultivator then goes to his field, and covering his hand with +wheat-flour and turmeric, stamps it five times on the plough. The +malguzar takes five handfuls of the seed consecrated to Thakur Deo and +sows it, and each of the cultivators also sows a little. After this +regular cultivation may begin on any day, though Monday and Friday +are considered auspicious days for the commencement of sowing. On the +Hareli, or festival of the fresh verdure, which falls on the 15th day +of Shrawan (July-August), balls of flour mixed with salt are given to +the cattle. The plough and all the implements of agriculture are taken +to a tank and washed, and are then set up in the courtyard of the house +and plastered with cowdung. The plough is set facing towards the sun, +and butter and sugar are offered to it. An earthen pot is whitewashed +and human figures are drawn on it with charcoal, one upside down. It is +then hung over the entrance to the house and is believed to avert the +evil eye. All the holes in the cattle-sheds and courtyards are filled +and levelled with gravel. While the rice is growing, holidays are +observed on five Sundays and no work is done. Before harvest Thakur +Deo must be propitiated with an offering of a white goat or a black +fowl. Any one who begins to cut his crop before this offering has +been made to Thakur Deo is fined the price of a goat by the village +community. Before threshing his corn each cultivator offers a separate +sacrifice to Thakur Deo of a goat, a fowl or a broken cocoanut. Each +evening, on the conclusion of a day's threshing, a wisp of straw is +rubbed on the forehead of each bullock, and a hair is then pulled +from its tail, and the hairs and straw made into a bundle are tied +to the pole of the threshing-floor. The cultivator prays, 'O God +of plenty! enter here full and go out empty.' Before leaving the +threshing-floor for the night some straw is burnt and three circles are +drawn with the ashes, one round the heap of grain and the others round +the pole. Outside the circles are drawn pictures of the sun, the moon, +a lion and a monkey, or of a cart and a pair of bullocks. Next morning +before sunrise the ashes are swept away by waving a winnowing-fan over +them. This ceremony is called _anjan chadhana_ or placing lamp-black +on the face of the threshing-floor to avert the evil eye, as women put +it on their eyes. Before the grain is measured it must be stacked in +the form of a trapezium with the shorter end to the south, and not in +that of a square or oblong heap. The measurer stands facing the east, +and having the shorter end of the heap on his left hand. On the larger +side of the heap are laid the _kalara_ or hook, a winnowing-fan, the +_dauri_, a rope by which the bullocks are tied to the threshing-pole, +one or three branches of the _ber_ or wild plum tree, and the twisted +bundle of straw and hair of the bullocks which had been tied to the +pole. On the top of the heap are placed five balls of cowdung, and +the _hom_ or fire sacrifice is offered to it. The first _katha_ [74] +of rice measured is also laid by the heap. The measurer never quite +empties his measure while the work is going on, as it is feared that if +he does this the god of abundance will leave the threshing-floor. While +measuring he should always wear a turban. It is considered unlucky for +any one who has ridden on an elephant to enter the threshing-floor, +but a person who has ridden on a tiger brings luck. Consequently +the Gonds and Baigas, if they capture a young tiger and tame it, +will take it round the country, and the cultivators pay them a little +to give their children a ride on it. To enter a threshing-floor with +shod feet is also unlucky. Grain is not usually measured at noon but +in the morning or evening. + + + + +33. Agricultural superstitions + +The cultivators think that each grain should bear a hundredfold, +but they do not get this as Kuvera, the treasurer of the gods, +or Bhainsasur, the buffalo demon who lives in the fields, takes +it. Bhainsasur is worshipped when the rice is coming into ear, and +if they think he is likely to be mischievous they give him a pig, but +otherwise a smaller offering. When the standing corn in the fields is +beaten down at night they think that Bhainsasur has been passing over +it. He also steals the crop while it is being cut and is lying on the +ground. Once Bhainsasur was absent while the particular field in the +village from which he stole his supply of grain was cut and the crop +removed, and afterwards he was heard crying that all his provision for +the year had been lost. Sometimes the oldest man in the house cuts +the first five bundles of the crop, and they are afterwards left in +the field for the birds to eat. And at the end of harvest the last one +or two sheaves are left standing in the field, and any one who likes +can cut and carry them away. In some localities the last stalks are +left standing in the field and are known as _barhona_ or the giver +of increase. Then all the labourers rush together at this last patch +of corn and tear it up by the roots; everybody seizes as much as he +can and keeps it, the master having no share in this patch. After +the _barhona_ has been torn up all the labourers fall on their faces +to the ground and worship the field. In other places the _barhona_ +is left standing for the birds to eat. This custom, arises from the +belief demonstrated by Sir J. G. Frazer in _The Golden Bough_ that the +corn-spirit takes refuge in the last patch of grain, and that when +it is cut he flies away or his life is extinguished. And the idea +is supported by the fact that the rats and other vermin, who have +been living in the field, seek shelter in the last patch of corn, +and when this is cut have to dart out in front of the reapers. In +some countries it is thought, as shown by Sir J. G. Frazer, that the +corn-spirit takes refuge in the body of one of these animals. + + + + +34. Houses + +The house of a malguzar or good tenant stands in a courtyard or _angan_ +45 to 60 feet square and surrounded by a brick or mud wall. The plan +of a typical house is shown below:-- + +The _dalan_ or hall is for the reception of visitors. One of the +living-rooms is set apart for storing grain. Those who keep their +women secluded have a door at the back of the courtyard for their +use. Cooking is done in one of the rooms, and there are no chimneys, +the smoke escaping through the tiles. They bathe either in the _chauk_ +or central courtyard, or go out and bathe in a tank or river or at +a well. The family usually sleep inside the house in the winter and +outside in the hot weather. A poor malguzar or tenant has only two +rooms with a veranda in front, one of which is used by the family, +while cattle are kept in the other; while the small tenants and +labourers have only one room in which both men and cattle reside. The +walls are of bamboo matting plastered on both sides with mud, and +the roof usually consists of single small tiles roughly baked in an +improvised kiln. The house is surrounded by a mud wall or hedge, and +sometimes has a garden behind in which tobacco, maize or vegetables +are grown. The interior is dark, for light is admitted only by the +low door, and the smoke-stained ceiling contributes to the gloom. The +floor is of beaten earth well plastered with cowdung, the plastering +being repeated weekly. + + + + +35. Superstitions about houses + +The following are some superstitious beliefs and customs about +houses. A house should face north or east and not south or west, as the +south is the region of Yama, the god of death, who lives in Ceylon, +and the west the quarter of the setting sun. A Muhammadan's house, +on the other hand, should face south or west because Mecca lies to +the south-west. A house may have verandas front and back, or on the +front and two sides, but not on all four sides. The front of a house +should be lower than the back, this shape being known as _gai-mukh_ +or cow-mouthed, and not higher than the back, which is _singh-mukh_ +or tiger-mouthed. The front and back doors should not be in a straight +line, which would enable one to look right through the house. The +_angan_ or compound of a house should be a little longer than it is +wide, no matter how little. Conversely the building itself should be a +little wider along the front than it is long from front to rear. The +kitchen should always be on the right side if there is a veranda, or +else behind. When an astrologer is about to found a house he calculates +the direction in which Shesh Nag, the snake on whom the world reposes, +is holding his head at that time, and plants the first brick or stone +to the left of that direction, because snakes and elephants do not turn +to the left but always to the right. Consequently the house will be +more secure and less likely to be shaken down by Shesh Nag's movements, +which cause the phenomenon known to us as an earthquake. Below the +foundation-stone or brick are buried a pice, an areca-nut and a +grain of rice, and it is lucky if the stone be laid by a man who +has been faithful to his wife. There should be no echo in a house, +as an echo is considered to be the voice of evil spirits. The main +beam should be placed in position on a lucky day, and the carpenter +breaks a cocoanut against it and receives a present. The width of the +rooms along the front of a house should be five cubits each, and if +there is a staircase it must have an uneven number of steps. The door +should be low so that a man must bend his head on entering and thus +show respect to the household god. The floor of the verandas should be +lower than that of the room inside; the Hindus say that the compound +should not see the veranda nor the veranda the house. But this rule +has of course also the advantage of keeping the house-floor dry. If +the main beam of a house breaks it is a very bad omen, as also for +a vulture or kite to perch on the roof; if this should happen seven +days running the house will inevitably be left empty by sickness or +other misfortune. A dog howling in front of the house is very unlucky, +and if, as may occasionally happen, a dog should get on to the roof +of the house and bark, the omen is of the worst kind. Neither the +pipal nor banyan trees should be planted in the yard of a house, +because the leavings of food might fall upon them, and this would +be an insult to the deities who inhabit the sacred trees. Neither +is it well to plant the _nim_ tree, because the _nim_ is the tree +of anchorites, and the frequent contemplation of it will take away +from a man the desire of offspring and lead to the extinction of his +family. Bananas should not be grown close to the house, because the +sound of this fruit bursting the pod is said to be audible, and to +hear it is most unlucky. It is a good thing to have a _gular_ [75] +tree in the yard, but at a little distance from the house so that +the leavings of food may not fall upon it; this is the tree of the +saint Dattatreya, and will cause wealth to increase in the house. A +plant of the sacred _tulsi_ or basil is usually kept in the yard, +and every morning the householder pours a vessel of water over it +as he bathes, and in the evening places a lamp beside it. This holy +plant sanctifies the air which passes over it to the house. + +No one should ever sit on the threshold of a house; this is the seat +of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, and to sit on it is disrespectful +to her. A house should never be swept at twilight, because it is then +that Lakshmi makes her rounds, and she would curse it and pass by. At +this time a lamp should be lighted, no one should be allowed to sleep, +and even if a man is sick he should sit up on his bed. At this time the +grinding-mill should not be turned nor grain be husked, but reverence +should be paid to ancestors and to the household deities. No one +must sit on the grinding-mill; it is regarded as a mother because +it gives out the flour by which the family is fed. No one must sit +on cowdung cakes because they are the seat of Saturn, the Evil One, +and their smell is called _Sanichar ke bas_. No one must step on the +_chulka_ or cooking-hearth nor jar it with his foot. At the midday +meal, when food is freshly cooked, each man will take a little fire +from the hearth and place it in front of him, and will throw a little +of everything he eats on to the fire, and some _ghi_ as an offering +to Agni, the god of fire. And he will also walk round the hearth, +taking water in his hand and then throwing it on the ground as an +offering to Agni. A man should not sleep with his feet to the south, +because a corpse is always laid in that direction. He should not +sleep with his feet to the east, nor spit out water from his mouth +in the direction of the east. + + + + +36. Furniture + +Of furniture there is very little. Carefully arranged in their +places are the brass cooking-pots, water-pots and plates, well +polished with mud and water applied with plenty of elbow-grease +by the careful housewife. Poor tenants frequently only have one or +two brass plates and cups and an iron girdle, while all the rest of +their vessels are of earthenware. Each house has several _chulhas_ +or small horseshoe erections of earth for cooking. Each person in +the house has a sleeping-cot if the family is comfortably off, and a +spare one is also kept. These must be put out and exposed to the sun at +least once a week to clear them of fleas and bugs. It is said that the +Jains cannot adopt this method of disinfecting their beds owing to the +sacrifice of insect life thereby involved; and that there are persons +in Calcutta who make it their profession to go round and offer to lie +on these cots for a time; they lie on them for some hours, and the +little denizens being surfeited with their blood subsequently allow +the owner of the cot to have a quiet night. A cot should always be +shorter than a man's length, so that his legs project over the end; +if it is so long as to contain his whole length it is like a bier, +and it is feared that lying on a cot of this kind will cause him +shortly to lie on a bier. Poor tenants do not usually have cots, but +sleep on the ground, spreading kodon-straw on it for warmth. They +have no bedding except a _gudri_ or mattress made of old rags and +clothes sewn together. In winter they put it over them, and sleep on +it in summer. They will have a wooden log to rest their heads on when +sleeping, and this will also serve as a seat for a guest. Malguzars +have a _razai_ or quilt, and a _doria_ or thick cloth like those used +for covering carts. Clothes and other things are kept in _jhampis_ or +round bamboo baskets. For sitting on there are _machnis_ or four-legged +stools about a foot high with seats of grass rope or _pirhis_, little +wooden stools only an inch or two from the ground. For lighting, +wicks are set afloat in little earthen saucers filled with oil. + + + + +37. Clothes + +Landowners usually have a long coat known as _angarkha_ reaching to the +knees, with flaps folding over the breasts and tied with strings. The +_bandi_ is a short coat like this but coming only to the hips, and is +more popular with cultivators. In the cold weather it is frequently +stuffed with cotton and dyed dark green or dark blue so as not to +show the dirt. For visits of ceremony a pair of _paijamas_ are kept, +but otherwise the _dhoti_ or loin-cloth is commonly worn. Wearing +the _dhoti_ pulled half-way up to the thighs is called 'cultivator's +fashion.' A shirt may be worn under the coat; but cultivators usually +have only one garment, nowadays often a sleeveless coat with buttons in +front. The proper head-dress is the _pagri_, a piece of coloured cloth +perhaps 30 feet long and a foot wide, twisted tightly into folds, which +is lifted on and off the head and is only rarely undone. Twisting the +_pagri_ is an art, and a man is usually hired to do it and paid four +annas. The _pagris_ have different shapes in different parts of the +country, and a Hindu can tell by the shape of a man's _pagri_ where he +comes from. But nowadays cultivators usually wear a _dupatta_ or short +piece of cloth tied, loosely round the head. The tenant arranges his +head-cloth with a large projection on one side, and in it he carries +his _chilam_ or pipe-bowl, and also small quantities of vegetables, +salt or condiments purchased at the bazar. In case of necessity +he can transform it into a loin-cloth, or tie up a bundle of grass +with it, or tie his _lota_ to it to draw water from a well. 'What +can the washerman do in a village where the people live naked?' is +a Chhattisgarhi proverb which aptly indicates that scantiness is +the most prominent feature of the local apparel. Here a cloth round +the loins, and this usually of meagre dimensions, constituted, until +recently, the full dress of a cultivator. Those who have progressed +a stage farther throw a cloth loosely over one shoulder, covering +the chest, and assume an apology for a turban by wrapping another +small rag carelessly round the head, leaving the crown generally +bare, as if this part of the person required special sunning and +ventilation. Hindus will not be seen out-of-doors with the head bare, +though the Gonds and other tribes only begin to wear head-cloths when +they are adopting Hinduism. The Gondi fashion was formerly prevalent +in Chhattisgarh. Some sanctity attaches to the turban, probably because +it is the covering of the head. To knock off a man's turban is a great +insult, and if it drops off or he lets it fall, it is a very bad omen. + + + + +38. Women's clothes + +Women, in the northern Districts wear a skirt made of coarse +cloth, usually red or blue, and a shoulder-cloth of the same +material. Hand-woven cloth is still commonly used in the interior. The +skirt is sometimes drawn up through the legs behind so as to give it +a divided appearance; this is called _kachhota_. On the upper part of +the body they wear an _angia_ or breast-cloth, that is a short, tight, +sleeveless jacket reaching only to below the breasts. The _angia_ is +tied behind, while the Maratha _choli_, which is the same thing, is +buttoned or tied in front. High-caste women draw their shoulder-cloth +right over the head so that the face cannot be seen. When a woman goes +before a person of position she covers her head, as it is considered +immodest to leave it bare. Women of respectable families wear a +sheet of fine white, yellow, or red cloth drawn over the head and +reaching to the ankles when they go on a journey, this being known +as _pichhora_. In Chhattisgarh all the requirements of fashion among +women are satisfied by one cloth from 8 to 12 yards long and about a +yard wide, which envelops the person in one fold from the waist to +below the knee, hanging somewhat loosely. It is tied at the waist, +and the remaining half is spread over the breast and drawn across the +right shoulder, the end covering the head like a sheet and falling over +the left shoulder. The simplicity of this solitary garment displays a +graceful figure to advantage, especially on festival days, when those +who can afford it are arrayed in tasar silk. When a girl is married the +bridegroom's family give her expensive clothes to wear at festivals +and her own people give her ordinary clothes, but usually not more +than will last a year. Whenever she goes back to her father's house +after her marriage, he gives her one or two cloths if he can afford +it. Women of the middle and lower classes wear ornaments of bell-metal, +a mixture of copper and zinc, which are very popular. Some women wear +brass and zinc ornaments, and well-to-do persons have them of silver +or gold. + + + + +39. Bathing + +Hot water is not used for bathing in Saugor, except by invalids, +but is customary in Betul and other Districts. The bathing-place in +the courtyard is usually a large square stone on which the bather +sits; he has a big circular brass vessel by him called _gangal_, +[76] and from this he takes water either in a cup or with his hands +and throws it over himself, rubbing his body. Where there is a tank +or stream people go to bathe in it, and if there is none the poorer +classes sometimes bathe at the village well. Each man or woman has +two body-or loin-cloths, and they change the cloth whenever they +bathe--going into the water in the one which they have worn from the +previous day, and changing into the other when they come out; long +practice enables them to do this in public without any undue exposure +of the body. A good tank or a river is a great amenity to a village, +especially if it has a _ghat_ or flight of stone steps. Many people +will spend an hour or so here daily, disporting themselves in the +water or on the bank, and wedding and funeral parties are held by it, +owing to the facilities for ceremonial bathing. + + + + +40. Food + +People who do not cultivate with their own hands have only two +daily meals, one at midday and the other at eight or nine in the +evening. Agriculturists require a third meal in the early morning +before going out to the fields. Wheat and the millets juari and kodon +are the staple foods of the cultivating classes in the northern +Districts, and rice is kept for festivals. The millets are made +into thick _chapatis_ or cakes, their flour not being sufficiently +adhesive for thin ones, and are eaten with the pulses, lentils, arhar, +[77] mung [78] and urad. [79] The pulses are split into half and +boiled in water, and when they get soft, chillies, salt and turmeric +are mixed with them. Pieces of _chapati_ are broken off and dipped +into this mixture. Various vegetables are also eaten. When pulse is +not available the _chapatis_ are simply dipped into buttermilk. If +_chapatis_ cannot be afforded at both meals, _ghorna_ or the flour of +kodon or juar boiled into a paste with water is substituted for them, a +smaller quantity of this being sufficient to allay hunger. Wheat-cakes +are fried in _ghi_ (clarified butter) as a luxury, and at other times +in sesamum oil. Rice or ground gram boiled in buttermilk are other +favourite foods. + +In Chhattisgarh rice is the common food: it is eaten with pulses +at midday and with vegetables cooked in _ghi_ in the evening. In +the morning they drink a rice-gruel, called _basi>_ which consists +of the previous night's repast mixed with water and taken cold. On +festivals rice is boiled in milk. Milk is often drunk at night, and +there is a saying, "He who drinks water in the morning and milk at +night and takes _harra_ before he sleeps will never need a doctor." A +little powdered _harra_ or myrobalan acts as an aperient. The food of +landowners and tenants is much the same, except that the former have +more butter and vegetables, according to the saying, '_Raja praja ka +ekhi khana_' or 'The king and peasant eat the same food.' Those who +eat flesh have an occasional change of food, but most Kurmis abstain +from it. Farmservants eat the gruel of rice or kodon boiled in water +when they can afford it, and if not they eat mahua flowers. These +are sometimes boiled in water, and the juice is then strained off and +mixed with half-ground flour, and they are also pounded and made into +_chapatis_ with flour and water. The leaves of the young gram-plants +make a very favourite vegetable and are eaten raw, either moist or +dried. In times of scarcity the poorer classes eat tamarind leaves, +the pith of the banyan tree, the seeds of the bamboo, the bark of +the _semar_ tree, [80] the fruit of the _babul_, [81] and other +articles. A cultivator will eat 2 lbs. of grain a day if he can get +it, or more in the case of rice. Their stomachs get distended owing +to the large quantities of boiled rice eaten at one time. The leaves +of the _chirota_ or _chakora_ a little plant [82] which grows thickly +at the commencement of the rains near inhabited sites, are also a +favourite vegetable, and a resource in famine time. The people call it +'_Gaon ka thakur_,' or 'lord of the village,' and have a saying: + + + Amarbel aur kamalgata, + Gaon ka thakur, gai ka matha, + Nagar sowasan, unmen milai, + Khaj, dad, sehua mit jawe. + + +_Amarbel_ is an endless creeper, with long yellow strings like +stalks, which infests and destroys trees; it is called _amarbel_ +or the immortal, because it has no visible root. _Kamalgata_ is the +seed of the lotus; _gai ka matha_ is buttermilk; _nagar sowasan_, +'the happiness of the town,' is turmeric, because married women whose +husbands are alive put turmeric on their foreheads every day; _khaj, +dad_ and _sehua_ are itch, ringworm and some kind of rash, perhaps +measles; and the verse therefore means: + +"Eat _amarbel_, lotus seeds, chirota, buttermilk and turmeric mixed +together, and you will keep off itch, ringworm and measles." Chirota +is good for the itch. + + + + +41. Caste-feasts + +At the commencement of a marriage or other ceremonial feast the host +must wash the feet of all the guests himself. If he does not do this +they will be dissatisfied, and, though they will eat at his house, +will consider they have not been properly welcomed. He takes a large +brass plate and placing the feet of his guest on it, pours water +over them and then rubs and dries them; the water is thrown away +and fresh water poured out for the next guest unless they should be +brothers. Little flat stools about three inches high are provided for +the guests, and if there are not enough of them a carpet is spread; +or _baithkis_ or sitting-mats plaited from five or six large leaves +are set out. These serve as a mark of attention, as it would be +discourteous to make a man sit on the ground, and they also prevent +the body-cloth from getting wet. The guests sit in the _chauk_ or +yard of the house inside, or in the _angan_ or outside yard, either +in lines or in a circle; members of the same caste sit with their +crossed knees actually touching those of the man on either side of +them to emphasise their brotherhood; if a man sat even a few inches +apart from his fellows people would say he was out of caste--and +this is how a man who is put out of caste actually does sit. Before +each guest may be set two plates of leaves and eight _donas_ or +leaf-cups. On the plates are heaped rice, cakes of wheat fried in +butter, and of husked urad pulse cooked with tilli or sesamum oil, +and the pulse of gram and lentils. In the cups will be sugar, _ghi_, +_dahi_ or curded milk, various vegetables, pumpkins, and _besin_ or +ground gram cooked with buttermilk. All the male members of the host's +family serve the food and they take it round, heaping and pouring it +into each man's plates or cups until he says enough; and they continue +to give further helpings as required. All the food is served at once +in the different plates and cups, but owing to the number of guests +a considerable time elapses before all are fully served, and the +dinner lasts about two hours. The guests eat all the different dishes +together with their fingers, taking a little of each according to their +fancy. Each man has his _lota_ or vessel of water by him and drinks +as he eats. When the meal is finished large brass plates are brought +in, one being given to about ten guests, and they wash their hands +over these, pouring water on them from their vessels. A fresh carpet +is then spread in the yard and the guests sit on it, and betel-leaf +and tobacco are distributed. The huqqa is passed round, and _chilams_ +and _chongis_ (clay pipe-bowls and leaf-pipes) are provided for those +who want them. The women do not appear at the feast but stay inside, +sitting in the _angan_ or inner court, which is behind the _purda_. + + + + +42. Hospitality + +The people still show great hospitality, and it is the custom of +many malguzars, at least in Chhattisgarh, to afford food and a +night's rest to all travellers who may require it. When a Brahman +comes to the village such malguzars will give him one or two annas, +and to a Pandit or learned man as much as a rupee. Formerly it is +said that when any stranger came through the village he was at once +offered a cup of milk and told to drink it or throw it away. But +this custom has died out in Chhattisgarh, though one has met with +it once or twice in Sambalpur. When District Officers go on tour, +well-to-do landowners ask to be allowed to supply free provisions +for the whole camp at least for a day, and it is difficult to refuse +them gracefully. In Mandla, Banias and malguzars in villages near +the Nerbudda sometimes undertake to give a pound of grain to every +_parikramawasi_ or pilgrim perambulating the Nerbudda. And as the +number of these steadily increases in consequence, they often become +impoverished as a result of such indiscriminate charity. + + + + +43. Social customs. Tattooing + +The Kurmis employ Brahmans for their ceremonies. They have _gurus_ +or spiritual preceptors who may be Brahmans or Bairagis; the _guru_ +is given from 8 annas to Rs. 5 when he initiates a neophyte, as +well as his food and a new white cloth. The _guru_ is occasionally +consulted on some religious question, but otherwise he does nothing +for his disciple except to pay him an occasional visit, when he is +hospitably entertained. The Kurmis of the northern Districts do not +as a rule eat meat and also abstain from alcohol, but in Chhattisgarh +they eat the flesh of clean animals and fish, and also of fowls, +and drink country liquor. Old men often give up flesh and wine as a +mark of piety, when they are known as Bhagat or holy. They will take +food cooked with water only from Brahmans, and that cooked without +water from Rajputs, Banias and Kayasths as well. Brahmans and Rajputs +will take water from Kurmis in the northern Districts though not in +Chhattisgarh. Here the Kurmis do not object to eating cooked food +which has been carried from the house to the fields. This is called +_rengai roti_, and castes which will eat it are considered inferior +to those who always take their food in the _chauka_ or purified +place in the house. They say 'Ram, Ram' to each other in greeting, +and the Raipur Kurmis swear by a dog or a pig. Generally they do not +plough on the new or full moon days. Their women are tattooed after +marriage with dots on the cheeks, marks of flies on the fingers, +scorpions on the arms, and other devices on the legs. + + + + +44. Caste penalties + +Permanent expulsion from caste is inflicted for a change of religion, +taking food or having sexual intercourse with a member of an impure +caste, and for eating beef. For killing a man, a cow, a buffalo, +an ass, a horse, a squirrel, a cat or a monkey a man must purify +himself by bathing in the Ganges at Allahabad or Benares and giving +a feast to the caste. It will be seen that all these are domestic +animals except the monkey, who is the god Hanuman. The squirrel is +counted as a domestic animal because it is always about the house, +and the souls of children are believed to go into squirrels. One +household animal, the dog, is omitted, and he appears to be less +sacred than the others. For getting maggots in a wound the offender +must bathe in a sacred river, such as the Nerbudda or Mahanadi, and +give a feast to the caste. For eating or having intercourse with a +member of any caste other than the impure ones, or for a _liaison_ +within the caste, or for divorcing a wife or marrying a widow, or in +the case of a woman for breaking her bangles in a quarrel with her +husband, a penalty feast must be given. If a man omits to feast the +caste after a death in his family a second feast is imposed, and if +he insults the _panchayat_ he is fined. + + + + +45. The cultivating status + +The social status of the Kurmi appears to be that of the cultivator. He +is above the menial and artisan castes of the village and the impure +weaving and labouring castes; he is theoretically equal to the +artisan castes of towns, but one or two of these, such as the Sunar +or goldsmith and Kasar or brass-worker, have risen in the world owing +to the prosperity or importance of their members, and now rank above +the Kurmi. The Kurmi's status appears to be that of the cultivator +and member of the village community, but a large proportion of the +Kurmis are recruited from the non-Aryan tribes, who have obtained +land and been admitted into the caste, and this tends to lower the +status of the caste as a whole. In the Punjab Kurmis apparently do +not hold land and are employed in grass-cutting, weaving, and tending +horses, and are even said to keep pigs. [83] Here their status is +necessarily very low as they follow the occupations of the impure +castes. The reason why the Kurmi as cultivator ranks above the village +handicraftsmen may perhaps be that industrial pursuits were despised +in early times and left to the impure Sudras and to the castes of +mixed descent; while agriculture and trade were the occupations of +the Vaishya. Further, the village artisans and menials were supported +before the general use of current coin by contributions of grain from +the cultivators and by presents of grain at seed-time and harvest; +and among the Hindus it is considered very derogatory to accept a +gift, a man who does so being held to admit his social inferiority to +the giver. Some exception to this is made in the case of Brahmans, +though even with them the rule partly applies. Of these two reasons +for the cultivator's superiority to the menial and artisan castes +the former has to a large extent lost its force. The handicrafts are +no longer considered despicable, and, as has been seen, some of the +urban tradesmen, as the Sunar and Kasar, now rank above the Kurmi, or +are at least equal to him. Perhaps even in ancient times these urban +artificers were not despised like the village menials, as their skill +was held in high repute. But the latter ground is still in full force +and effect in the Central Provinces at least: the village artisans are +still paid by contributions from the cultivator and receive presents +from him at seed-time and harvest. The remuneration of the village +menials, the blacksmith, carpenter, washerman, tanner, barber and +waterman is paid at the rate of so much grain per plough of land +according to the estimated value of the work done by them for the +cultivators during the year. Other village tradesmen, as the potter, +oilman and liquor-vendor, are no longer paid in grain, but since the +introduction of currency sell their wares for cash; but there seems +no reason to doubt that in former times when no money circulated +in villages they were remunerated in the same manner. They still +all receive presents, consisting of a sowing-basketful of grain at +seed-time and one or two sheaves at harvest. The former are known as +_Bijphuti_, or 'the breaking of the seed,' and the latter as _Khanvar_, +or 'that which is left.' In Bilaspur the Kamias or village menials also +receive as much grain as will fill a winnowing-fan when it has been +threshed. When the peasant has harvested his grain all come and beg +from him. The Dhimar brings waternut, the Kachhi or market-gardener +some chillies, the Teli oil and tobacco, the Kalar some liquor if he +drinks it, the Bania some sugar, and all receive grain in excess of +the value of their gifts. The village menials come for their customary +dues, and the Brahman, the Nat or acrobat, the Gosain or religious +mendicant, and the Fakir or Muhammadan beggar solicit alms. On that +day the cultivator is like a little king in his fields, and it is +said that sometimes a quarter of the crop may go in this way; but +the reference must be only to the spring crop and not to the whole +holding. In former times grain must have been the principal source +of wealth, and this old custom gives us a reason for the status of +the cultivator in Hindu society. There is also a saying: + + + Uttam kheti, madhyam ban, + Kanisht chakri, bhik nidan, + + +or 'Cultivation is the best calling, trade is respectable, service +is menial, and begging is degraded.' + + + + +46. Occupation + +The Kurmi is the typical cultivator. He loves his land, and to lose +it is to break the mainspring of his life. His land gives him a +freedom and independence of character which is not found among the +English farm-labourers. He is industrious and plodding, and inured to +hardship. In some Districts the excellent tilth of the Kurmi's fields +well portrays the result of his persevering labour, which he does not +grudge to the land because it is his own. His wife is in no way behind +him; the proverb says, "Good is the caste of the Kurmin; with a hoe +in her hand she goes to the fields and works with her husband." The +Chandnahu Kurmi women are said to be more enterprising than the men, +keeping them up to their work, and managing the business of the farm +as well as the household. + + + + +Appendix + +List of Exogamous Clans + + +Sections of the Chandnahu subcaste: + + + Chanwar bambar Fly fan. + Sandil Name of a Rishi. + Gaind Ball. + Sadaphal A fruit. + Sondeha Gold-bodied. + Sonkharchi Spender of gold. + Kathail Kath, wood, or kaththa, catechu. + Kashi enares. The Desha Kurmis are all of + this gotra. It may also be a + corruption of Kachhap, tortoise. + Dhorha Dhor, cattle. + Sumer A mountain. + Chatur Midalia Chatur, clever. + Bharadwaj After the Rishi of that name; also + a bird. + Kousil Name of a Rishi. + Ishwar God. + Samund Karkari A particle in an ocean. + Akalchuwa Akal, famine. + Padel Fallow. + Baghmar Tiger-slayer. + Harduba Green grass. + Kansia Kans, a kind of grass. + Ghiu Sagar Ocean of ghi + Dharam Dhurandar Most charitable. + Singnaha Singh, a lion. + Chimangarhia Belonging to Chimangarh. + Khairagarhia Belonging to Khairagarh. + Gotam A Rishi. + Kaskyap A Rishi. + Pandariha From Pandaria, a village. + Paipakhar One who washes feet. + Banhpakhar One who washes arms. + Chauria Chaurai, a vegetable. + Sand Sathi Sand, bullock. + Singhi Singh, lion or horn. + Agra--Chandan Sandalwood. + Tek Sanichar Saturday. + Karaiya Frying-pan. + Pukharia Pond. + Dhubinha Dhobi, a caste. + Pawanbare Pawan, air. + Modganga Ganges. + + +Sections of the Gabel subcaste: + + + Gangajal Ganges water. + Bimba Lohir Bearer of a lathi (stick). + Sarang Peacock. + Raja Rawat Royal prince. + Singur Beauty. + Bank pagar With a thread on the arm. + Samundha Ocean. + Parasram, Rishi + Katarmal Katar, dagger. + Chaultan Sept of Rajputs. + Patan Village. + Gajmani Elephant. + Deori Sumer Village. + Lahura Samudra Small sea. + Hansbimbraon Hans, goose. + Sunwani Purifier. + + +Sections of the Santora subcaste: + + + Narvaria Narwar, a town in Gwalior State. + Mundharia Mundhra, a village. + Naigaiyan Naogaon, a town in Bundelkhand. + Pipraiya Piparia, a village. + Dindoria Dindori, a village in Mandla District. + Baheria A village. + Bandha Bandh, embankment. + Ktmusar Wooden pestle. + + +Sections of the Tirole subcaste: + + + Baghele Bagh, tiger, or a sept of Rajputs. + Rathor Clan of Rajputs. + Panwar Clan of Rajputs. + Solanki Clan of Rajputs. + Aulia Aonla, a fruit-bearing tree. + Sindia Sindi, date-palm tree. + Khusia Khusi, happiness. + Sanoria San, hemp. + Gora Fair-coloured. + Bhakrya Bhakar, a thick bread. + + +Sections of the Gaur subcaste: + + + Bhandari Storekeeper. + Dudhua Dudh, milk. + Patele A headman. + Lonia Salt-maker. + Kumaria A potter. + Sionia Seoni town. + Chhaparia Chhapara, a town. + Bijoria A tree. + Simra A village. + Ketharia Keth, a fruit. + Usarguiyan Perhaps a village. + Bhadoria Village. + Rurgaiyan Village. + Musrele Musar, a pestle. + + +Sections of the Usrete subcaste: + + + Shikare Hunter. + Nahar Tiger. + Gursaraiyan Gursarai, a town. + Bardia A village. + Sandia Sand, a bull. + Sirwaiyan Sirwai, a village. + Itguhan A village. + Sengaiyan or Singaiyan Sengai, a village. + Harkotia Harkoti, a village. + Noria Norai, a village. + Larent Lareti, a village. + Rabia Rabai, a village. + Lakhauria (Lakori village. It is said that whoever + utters the name of this section early in + the morning is sure to remain hungry the + whole day, or at least will get into some + trouble that day.) + Dhandkonya Dhandakna, to roll. + Badgaiyan Badagaon, a large village. + Kotia Kot, a fort + Bilwar Billi, cat + Thutha Stump of a tree. + + +Sections of the Kanaujia subcaste: + + + Tidha.--From Tidha, a village. This section is subdivided into + (a) Ghureparke (of the cow-dung hill); (b) Dwarparke + (of the door); and (c) Jangi (warrior). + + Chamania--From Chamyani (village). This is also subdivided into: + + (a) Gomarkya + (b) Mathuria (Muttra town). + + Chaudhri (caste headman). This is divided as follows: + + (a) Majhgawan A village. + (b) Purva thok Eastern group. + (c) Pashchim thok Western group. + (d) Bamurya A village. + + Rawat Title. + Malha Perhaps sailor or wrestler. + Chilolian Chiloli, a village. + Dhanuiyan Dhanu Kheda, a village. + + + + + +Lakhera + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice_. + 2. _Social customs_. + 3. _The lac industry_. + 4. _Lac bangles_. + 5. _Red, a lucky colour_. + 6. _Vermilion and spangles_. + 7. _Red dye on the feet_. + 8. _Red threads_. + 9. _Lac toys_. + + + + +1. General notice + +_Lakhera, Laheri._--The small caste whose members make bangles and +other articles of lac. About 3000 persons were shown as belonging to +the caste in the Central Provinces in 1911, being most numerous in the +Jubbulpore, Chhindwara and Betul Districts. From Berar 150 persons were +returned, chiefly from Amraoti. The name is derived from the Sanskrit +_laksha-kara_, a worker in lac. The caste are a mixed functional +group closely connected with the Kacheras and Patwas; no distinction +being recognised between the Patwas and Lakheras in some localities +of the Central Provinces. Mr. Baillie gives the following notice of +them in the _Census Report of the North-Western Provinces_ (1891): +"The accounts given by members of the caste of their origin are very +various and sometimes ingenious. One story is that like the Patwas, +with whom they are connected, they were originally Kayasths. According +to another account they were made from the dirt washed from Parvati +before her marriage with Siva, being created by the god to make bangles +for his wife, and hence called Deobansi. Again, it is stated, they +were created by Krishna to make bangles for the Gopis or milkmaids. The +most elaborate account is that they were originally Yaduvansi Rajputs, +who assisted the Kurus to make a fort of lac, in which the Pandavas +were to be treacherously burned. For this traitorous conduct they +were degraded and compelled eternally to work in lac or glass." + + + + +2. Social customs + +The bulk of these artisan and manufacturing castes tell stories showing +that their ancestors were Kayasths and Rajputs, but no importance +can be attached to such legends, which are obviously manufactured +by the family priests to minister to the harmless vanity of their +clients. To support their claim the Lakheras have divided themselves +like the Rajputs into the Surajvansi and Somvansi subcastes or those +who belong to the Solar and Lunar races. Other subdivisions are the +Marwari or those coming from Marwar in Rajputana, and the Tarkhera +or makers of the large earrings which low-caste women wear. These +consist of a circular piece of wood or fibre, nearly an inch across, +which is worked through a large hole in the lobe of the ear. It +is often the stalk of the _ambari_ fibre, and on the outer end is +fixed a slab decorated with little pieces of glass. The exogamous +sections of the Lakheras are generally named after animals, plants +and natural objects, and indicate that the caste is recruited from the +lower classes of the population. Their social customs resemble those +of the middle and lower Hindustani castes. Girls are married at an +early age when the parents can afford the expense of the ceremony, +but no penalty is incurred if the wedding is postponed for want of +means. The remarriage of widows and divorce are permitted. They eat +flesh, but not fowls or pork, and some of them drink liquor, while +others abstain. Rajputs and Banias will take water from them, but not +Brahmans. In Bombay, however, they are considered to rank above Kunbis. + + + + +3. The lac industry + +The traditional occupation of the Lakheras is to make and sell bangles +and other articles of lac. Lac is regarded with a certain degree +of superstitious repugnance by the Hindus because of its red colour, +resembling blood. On this account and also because of the sin committed +in killing them, no Hindu caste will propagate the lac insect, and +the calling is practised only by Gonds, Korkus and other primitive +tribes. Even Gonds will often refuse employment in growing lac if +they can make their living by cultivation. Various superstitions +attach to the propagation of the insects to a fresh tree. This is +done in Kunwar (September) and always by men, the insects being +carried in a leaf-cup and placed on a branch of an uninfected tree, +usually the _kusum_. [84] It is said that the work should be done +at night and the man should be naked when he places the insects on +the tree. The tree is fenced round and nobody is allowed to touch +it, as it is considered that the crop would thus be spoiled. If a +woman has lost her husband and has to sow lac, she takes her son +in her arms and places the cup containing the insects on his head; +on arriving at the tree she manages to apply the insects by means of +a stick, not touching the cup with her own hands. All this ritual +attaches simply to the infection of the first tree, and afterwards +in January or February the insects are propagated on to other trees +without ceremony. The juice of onions is dropped on to them to make +them healthy. The stick-lac is collected by the Gonds and Korkus +and sold to the Lakheras; they clear it of wood as far as possible +and then place the incrusted twigs and bark in long cotton bags and +heat them before a fire, squeezing out the gum, which is spread out +on flat plates so as to congeal into the shape of a pancake. This is +again heated and mixed with white clay and forms the material for the +bangles. They are coloured with _chapra_, the pure gum prepared like +sealing-wax, which is mixed with vermilion, or arsenic and turmeric +for a yellow colour. In some localities at least only the Lakheras +and Patwas and no higher caste will sell articles made of lac. + + + + +4. Lac bangles + +The trade in lac bangles has now greatly declined, as they have been +supplanted by the more ornamental glass bangles. They are thick and +clumsy and five of them will cover a large part of the space between +the elbow and the wrist. They may be observed on Banjara women. Lac +bangles are also still used by the Hindus, generally on ceremonial +occasions, as at a marriage, when they are presented to and worn by the +bride, and during the month of Shrawan (July), when the Hindus observe +a fast on behalf of the growing crops and the women wear bangles of +lac. For these customs Mr. Hira Lal suggests the explanation that lac +bangles were at one time generally worn by the Hindus, while glass ones +are a comparatively recent fashion introduced by the Muhammadans. In +support of this it may be urged that glass bangles are largely made by +the Muhammadan Turkari or Sisgar, and also that lac bangles must have +been worn prior to glass ones, because if the latter had been known the +clumsy and unornamental bracelet made of lac and clay could never have +come into existence. The wearing of lac bangles on the above occasions +would therefore be explained according to the common usage of adhering +on religious and ceremonial occasions to the more ancient methods and +accessories, which are sanctified by association and custom. Similarly +the Holi pyre is often kindled with fire produced by the friction of +wood, and temples are lighted with vegetable instead of mineral oil. + + + + +5. Red, a lucky colour + +It may be noted, however, that lac bangles are not always worn +by the bride at a wedding, the custom being unknown in some +localities. Moreover, it appears that glass was known to the Hindus +at a period prior to the Muhammadan invasions, though bangles may not +have been made from it. Another reason for the use of lac bangles +on the occasions noticed is that lac, as already seen, represents +blood. Though blood itself is now repugnant to the Hindus, yet red +is pre-eminently their lucky colour, being worn at weddings and +generally preferred. It is suggested in the _Bombay Gazetteer_ [85] +that blood was lucky as having been the first food of primitive man, +who learnt to suck the blood of animals before he ate their flesh. But +it does not seem necessary to go back quite so far as this. The +earliest form of sacrifice, as shown by Professor Robertson Smith, +[86] was that in which the community of kinsmen ate together the flesh +of their divine or totem animal god and drank its blood. When the god +became separated from the animal and was represented by a stone at the +place of worship and the people had ceased to eat raw flesh and drink +blood, the blood was poured out over the stone as an offering to the +god. This practice still obtains among the lower castes of Hindus and +the primitive tribes, the blood of animals offered to Devi and other +village deities being allowed to drop on to the stones representing +them. But the higher castes of Hindus have abandoned animal sacrifices, +and hence cannot make the blood-offering. In place of it they smear the +stone with vermilion, which seems obviously a substitute for blood, +since it is used to colour the stones representing the deities in +exactly the same manner. Even vermilion, however, is not offered to +the highest deities of Neo-Hinduism, Siva or Mahadeo and Vishnu, to +whom animal sacrifices would be abhorrent. It is offered to Hanuman, +whose image is covered with it, and to Devi and Bhairon and to the +many local and village deities. In past times animal sacrifices were +offered to Bhairon, as they still are to Devi, and though it is not +known that they were made to Hanuman, this is highly probable, as he +is the god of strength and a mighty warrior. The Manbhao mendicants, +who abhor all forms of bloodshed like the Jains, never pass one of +these stones painted with vermilion if they can avoid doing so, and +if they are aware that there is one on their road will make a circuit +so as not to see it. [87] There seems, therefore, every reason to +suppose that vermilion is a substitute for blood in offerings and +hence probably on other occasions. As the places of the gods were +thus always coloured red with blood, red would come to be the divine +and therefore the propitious colour among the Hindus and other races. + + + + +6. Vermilion and spangles + +Among the constituents of the Sohag or lucky _trousseau_ without +which no Hindu girl of good caste can be married are _sendur_ or +vermilion, _kunku_ or red powder or a spangle (_tikli_), and _mahawar_ +or red balls of cotton-wool. In Chhattisgarh and Bengal the principal +marriage rite is usually the smearing of vermilion by the bridegroom +on the parting of the bride's hair, and elsewhere this is commonly +done as a subsidiary ceremony. Here also there is little reason to +doubt that vermilion is a substitute for blood; indeed, in some castes +in Bengal, as noted by Sir H. Risley, the blood of the parties is +actually mixed. [88] This marking of the bride with blood is a result +of the sacrifice and communal feast of kinsmen already described; +only those who could join in the sacrificial meal and eat the flesh +of the sacred animal god were kin to it and to each other; but in +quite early times the custom prevailed of taking wives from outside +the clan; and consequently, to admit the wife into her husband's +kin, it was necessary that she also should drink or be marked with +the blood of the god. The mixing of blood at marriage appears to be +a relic of this, and the marking of the forehead with vermilion is +a substitute for the anointing with blood. _Kunku_ is a pink powder +made of turmeric, lime-juice and borax, which last is called by the +Hindus 'the milk of Anjini,' the mother of Hanuman. It seems to be +a more agreeable substitute for vermilion, whose constant use has +probably an injurious effect on the skin and hair. _Kunku_ is used in +the Maratha country in the same way as vermilion, and a married woman +will smear a little patch on her forehead every day and never allow her +husband to see her without it. She omits it only during the monthly +period of impurity. The _tikli_ or spangle is worn in the Hindustani +Districts and not in the south. It consists of a small piece of lac +over which is smeared vermilion, while above it a piece of mica or +thin glass is fixed for ornament. Other adornments may be added, +and women from Rajputana, such as the Marwari Banias and Banjaras, +wear large spangles set in gold with a border of jewels if they can +afford it. The spangle is made and sold by Lakheras and Patwas; it is +part of the Sohag at marriages and is affixed to the girl's forehead +on her wedding and thereafter always worn; as a rule, if a woman has a +spangle it is said that she does not smear vermilion on her forehead, +though both may occasionally be seen. The name _tikli_ is simply a +corruption of _tika_, which means a mark of anointing or initiation on +the forehead; as has been seen, the basis of the _tikli_ is vermilion +smeared on lac-clay, and it is made by Lakheras; and there is thus +good reason to suppose that the spangle is also a more ornamental +substitute for the smear of vermilion, the ancient blood-mark by which +a married woman was admitted into her husband's clan. At her marriage +a bride must always receive the glass bangles and the vermilion, +_kunku_, or spangle from her husband, the other ornaments of the +Sohag being usually given to her by her parents. Unmarried girls +now also sometimes wear small ornamental spangles, and put _kunku_ +on their foreheads. But before marriage it is optional and afterwards +compulsory. A widow may not wear vermilion, _kunku_, or spangles. + + + + +7. Red dye on the feet + +The Lakheras also sell balls of red cotton-wool known as _mahur +ki guleli_ or _mahawar_. The cotton-wool is dipped in the melted +lac-gum and is rubbed on to the feet of women to colour them red +or pink at marriages and festivals. This is done by the barber's +wife, who will colour the feet of the whole party, at the same +time drawing lines round the outside of the foot and inward from +the toes. The _mahawar_ is also an essential part of the Sohag of +marriage. Instead of lac the Muhammadans use _mehndi_ or henna, the +henna-leaves being pounded with catechu and the mixture rubbed on to +the feet and hands. After a little time it is washed off and a red +dye remains on the skin. It is supposed that the similar custom which +prevailed among the ancient Greeks is alluded to in the epithet of +'rosy-fingered Aurora.' The Hindus use henna dye only in the month +Shrawan (July), which is a period of fasting; the auspicious _kunku_ +and _mahawar_ are therefore perhaps not considered suitable at such +a time, but as special protection is needed against evil spirits, +the necessary red colouring is obtained from henna. When a married +woman rubs henna on her hands, if the dye comes out a deep red tinge, +the other women say that her husband is not in love with her; but if +of a pale yellowish tinge, that he is very much in love. + + + + +8. Red threads + +The Lakheras and Patwas also make the _kardora_ or waist-band of +red thread. This is worn by Hindu men and women, except Maratha +Brahmans. After he is married, if a man breaks this thread he must not +take food until he has put on a fresh one, and the same rule applies +to a woman all her life. Other threads are the _rakhis_ tied round the +wrists for protection against evil spirits on the day of Rakshabandhan, +and the necklets of silk or cotton thread wound round with thin silver +wire, which the Hindus put on at Anant Chaudas and frequently retain +for the whole year. The colour of all these threads is generally red in +the first place, but they soon get blackened by contact with the skin. + + + + +9. Lac toys + +Toys of lac are especially made during the fast of Shrawan (July). At +this time for five years after her marriage a Hindu bride receives +annually from her husband a present called Shraoni, or that which +is given in Shrawan. It consists of a _chakri_ or reel, to which +a string is attached, and the reel is thrown up into the air and +wound and unwound on the string; a _bhora_ or wooden top spun by a +string; a _bansuli_ or wooden flute; a stick and ball, lac bangles +and a spangle, and cloth, usually of red chintz. All these toys are +made by the carpenter and coloured red with lac by the Lakhera, with +the exception of the bangles which may be yellow or green. For five +years the bride plays with the toys, and then they are sent to her no +longer as her childhood has passed. It is probable that some, if not +all of them, are in a manner connected with the crops, and supposed +to have a magical influence, because during the same period it is the +custom for boys to walk on stilts and play at swinging themselves; +and in these cases the original idea is to make the crops grow as +high as the stilts or swing. As in the other cases, the red colour +appears to have a protective influence against evil spirits, who are +more than usually active at a time of fasting. + + + + + +Lodhi + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin and traditions_. + 2. _Position in the Central Provinces_. + 3. _Subdivisions_. + 4. _Exogamous groups_. + 5. _Marriage customs_. + 6. _The Gauna ceremony. Fertility rites_. + 7. _Widow-marriage and puberty rite_. + 8. _Mourning impurity_. + 9. _Social customs_. + 10. _Greetings and method of address_. + 11. _Sacred thread and social status_. + + + + +1. Origin and traditions + +_Lodhi, Lodha._--An important agricultural caste residing principally +in the Vindhyan Districts and Nerbudda valley, whence they have spread +to the Wainganga valley and the Khairagarh State of Chhattisgarh. Their +total strength in the Province is 300,000 persons. The Lodhis +are immigrants from the United Provinces, in whose Gazetteers it +is stated that they belonged originally to the Ludhiana District +and took their name from it. Their proper designation is Lodha, +but it has become corrupted to Lodhi in the Central Provinces. A +number of persons resident in the Harda tahsil of Hoshangabad are +called Lodha and say that they are distinct from the Lodhis. There is +nothing to support their statement, however, and it is probable that +they simply represent the separate wave of immigration which took +place from Central India into the Hoshangabad and Betul Districts +in the fifteenth century. They spoke a different dialect of the +group known as Rajasthani, and hence perhaps the caste-name did +not get corrupted. The Lodhis of the Jubbulpore Division probably +came here at a later date from northern India. The Mandla Lodhis +are said to have been brought to the District by Raja Hirde Sah of +the Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla in the seventeenth century, +and they were given large grants of the waste land in the interior in +order that they might clear it of forest. [89] The Lodhis are a good +instance of a caste who have obtained a great rise in social status +on migrating to a new area. In northern India Mr. Nesfield places +them lowest among the agricultural castes and states that they are +little better than a forest tribe. He derives the name from _lod_, +a clod, according to which Lodhi would mean clodhopper. [90] Another +suggestion is that the name is derived from the bark of the _lodh_ +tree, [91] which is collected by the Lodhas in northern India and sold +for use as a dyeing agent. In Bulandshahr they are described as "Of +short stature and uncouth appearance, and from this as well as from +their want of a tradition of immigration from other parts they appear +to be a mixed class proceeding from aboriginal and Aryan parents. In +the Districts below Agra they are considered so low that no one drinks +water touched by them; but this is not the case in the Districts above +Agra." [92] In Hamirpur they appear to have some connection with the +Kurmis, and a story told of them in Saugor is that the first Lodhi +was created by Mahadeo from a scarecrow in a Kurmi woman's field +and given the vocation of a farmservant But the Lodhis themselves +claim Rajput ancestry and say that they are descended from Lava, +the eldest of the two sons of Raja Ramchandra of Ajodhya. + + + + +2. Position in the central Provinces + +In the Central Provinces they have become landholders and are +addressed by the honorific title of Thakur, ranking with the higher +cultivating castes. Several Lodhi landholders in Damoh and Saugor +formerly held a quasi-independent position under the Muhammadans, +and subsequently acknowledged the Raja of Panna as their suzerain, +who conferred on some families the titles of Raja and Diwan. They +kept up a certain amount of state, and small contingents of soldiery, +attended by whom they went to pay their respects to the representative +of the ruling power. "It would be difficult," says Grant, [93] "to +recognise the descendants of the peaceful cultivators of northern +India in the strangely accoutred Rajas who support their style and +title by a score of ragged matchlock-men and a ruined mud fort on a +hill-side." Sir B. Fuller's _Damoh Settlement Report_ says of them: +"A considerable number of villages had been for long time past in the +possession of certain important families, who held them by prescription +or by a grant from the ruling power, on a right which approximated +as nearly to the English idea of proprietorship as native custom +permitted. The most prominent of these families were of the Lodhi +caste. They have developed tastes for sport and freebooting and have +become decidedly the most troublesome item in the population. During +the Mutiny the Lodhis as a class were openly disaffected, and one of +their proprietors, the Talukdar of Hindoria, marched on the District +headquarters and looted the treasury." Similarly the Ramgarh family +of Mandla took to arms and lost the large estates till then held +by them. On the other hand the village of Imjhira in Narsinghpur +belonging to a Lodhi malguzar was gallantly defended against a band +of marauding rebels from Saugor. Sir R. Craddock describes them as +follows: "They are men of strong character, but their constant family +feuds and love of faction militate against their prosperity. A cluster +of Lodhi villages forms a hotbed of strife and the nearest relations +are generally divided by bitter animosities. The Revenue Officer who +visits them is beset by reckless charges and counter-charges and no +communities are less amenable to conciliatory compromises. Agrarian +outrages are only too common in some of the Lodhi villages." [94] +The high status of the Lodhi caste in the Central Provinces as +compared with their position in the country of their origin may be +simply explained by the fact that they here became landholders and +ruling chiefs. + + + + +3. Sub-divisions + +In the northern Districts the landholding Lodhis are divided into +a number of exogamous clans who marry with each other in imitation +of the Rajputs. These are the Mahdele, Kerbania, Dongaria, Narwaria, +Bhadoria and others. The name of the Kerbanias is derived from Kerbana, +a village in Damoh, and the Balakote family of that District are +the head of the clan. The Mahdeles are the highest clan and have +the titles of Raja and Diwan, while the others hold those of Rao and +Kunwar, the terms Diwan and Kunwar being always applied to the younger +brother of the head of the house. These titles are still occasionally +conferred by the Raja of Panna, whom the Lodhi clans looked on as +their suzerain. The name of the Mahdeles is said to be derived from the +_mehndi_ or henna plant. The above clans sometimes practise hypergamy +among themselves and also with the other Lodhis, taking daughters +from the latter on receipt of a large bridegroom-price for the honour +conferred by the marriage. This custom is now, however, tending to +die out. There are also several endogamous subcastes ranking below +the clans, of whom the principal are the Singrore, Jarha, Jangra and +Mahalodhi. The Singrore take their name from the old town of Singraur +or Shrengera in northern India, Singrore, like Kanaujia, being a common +subcaste name among several castes. It is also connected more lately +with the Singram Ghat or ferry of the Ganges in Allahabad District, +and the title of Rawat is said to have been conferred on the Singrore +Lodhis by the emperor Akbar on a visit there. The Jarha Lodhis belong +to Mandla. The name is probably a form of Jharia or jungly, but since +the leading members of the caste have become large landholders they +repudiate this derivation. The Jangra Lodhis are of Chhattisgarh, and +the Mahalodhis or 'Great Lodhis' are an inferior group to which the +offspring of irregular unions are or were relegated. The Mahalodhis +are said to condone adultery either by a man or woman on penalty of a +feast to the caste. Other groups are the Hardiha, who grow turmeric +(_haldi_), and the Gwalhare or cowherds. The Lodhas of Hoshangabad +may also be considered a separate subcaste. They disclaim connection +with the Lodhis, but the fact that the parent caste in the United +Provinces is known as Lodha appears to establish their identity. They +abstain from flesh and liquor, which most Lodhis consume. + +This division of the superior branch of a caste into large exogamous +clans and the lower one into endogamous subcastes is only found, so +far as is known, among the Rajputs and one or two landholding castes +who have imitated them. Its origin is discussed in the Introduction. + + + + +4. Exogamous groups + +The subcastes are as usual divided into exogamous groups of the +territorial, titular and totemistic classes. Among sections named +after places may be mentioned the Chandpuria from Chandpur, the +Kharpuria from Kharpur, and the Nagpuriha, Raipuria, Dhamonia, +Damauha and Shahgariha from Nagpur, Raipur, Dhamoni, Damoh and +Shahgarh. Two-thirds of the sections have the names of towns or +villages. Among titular names are Saulakhia, owner of 100 lakhs, +Bhainsmar, one who killed a buffalo, Kodonchor, one who stole kodon, +[95] Kumharha perhaps from Kumhar a potter, and Rajbhar and Barhai +(carpenter), names of castes. Among totemistic names are Baghela, +tiger, also the name of a Rajput sept; Kutria, a dog; Khajuria, the +date-palm tree; Mirchaunia, chillies; Andwar, from the castor-oil +plant; Bhainsaiya, a buffalo; and Nak, the nose. + + + + +5. Marriage customs + +A man must not marry in his own section nor in that of his mother. He +may marry two sisters. The exchange of girls between families is +only in force among the Bilaspur Lodhis, who say, 'Eat with those +who have eaten with you and marry with those who have married with +you.' Girls are usually wedded before puberty, but in the northern +Districts the marriage is sometimes postponed from desire to marry +into a good family or from want of funds to pay a bridegroom-price, +and girls of twenty or more may be unmarried. A case is known of a +man who had two daughters unmarried at twenty-two and twenty-three +years old, because he had been waiting for good _partis_, with the +result that one of them went and lived with a man and he then married +off the other in the Singhast [96] year, which is forbidden among the +Lodhis, and was put out of caste. The marriage and other ceremonies +of the Lodhis resemble those of the Kurmis, except in Chhattisgarh +where the Maratha fashion is followed. Here, at the wedding, the bride +and bridegroom hold between them a doll made of dough with 21 cowries +inside, and as the priest repeats the marriage texts they pull it apart +like a cracker and see how many cowries each has got. It is considered +auspicious if the bridegroom has the larger number. The priest is on +the roof of the house, and before the wedding he cries out: + +'Are the king and queen here?' And a man below answers, 'Yes.' + +'Have they shoes on their feet?' 'Yes.' + +'Have they bracelets on their hands?' 'Yes.' + +'Have they rings in their ears?' 'Yes.' + +'Have they crowns on their heads?' 'Yes.' + +'Has she glass beads round her neck?' 'Yes.' + +'Have they the doll in their hands?' 'Yes.' + +And the priest then repeats the marriage texts and beats a brass +dish while the doll is pulled apart In the northern Districts after +the wedding the bridegroom must untie one of the festoons of the +marriage-shed, and if he refuses to do this, it is an indelible +disgrace on the bride's party. Before doing so he requires a valuable +present, such as a buffalo. + + + + +6. The gauna ceremoney. Fertility rites + +When the girl becomes mature the Gauna or going-away ceremony is +performed. In Chhattisgarh before leaving her home the bride goes out +with her sister and worships a _palas_ tree. [97] Her sister waves +a lighted lamp seven times over it, and the bride goes seven times +round it in imitation of the marriage ceremony. At her husband's +house seven pictures of the family gods are drawn on a wall inside +the house and the bride worships these, placing a little sugar and +bread on the mouth of each and bowing before them. She is then seated +before the family god while an old woman brings a stone rolling-pin +[98] wrapped up in a piece of cloth, which is supposed to be a baby, +and the old woman imitates a baby crying. She puts the roller in +the bride's lap saying, 'Take this and give it milk.' The bride is +abashed and throws it aside. The old woman picks it up and shows +it to the assembled women saying, 'The bride has just had a baby,' +amid loud laughter. Then she gives the stone to the bridegroom who +also throws it aside. This ceremony is meant to induce fertility, +and it is supposed that by making believe that the bride has had a +baby she will quickly have one. + + + + +7. Widow-marriage and puberty rite + +The higher clans of Lodhis in Damoh and Saugor prohibit the remarriage +of widows, but instances of it occur. It is said that a man who marries +a widow is relegated to the Mahalodhi subcaste or the Lahuri Sen, an +illegitimate group, and the Lodhis of his clan no longer acknowledge +his family. But if a girl's husband dies before she has lived with him +she may marry again. The other Lodhis freely permit widow-marriage +and divorce. When a girl first becomes mature she is secluded, +and though she may stay in the house cannot enter the cook-room. At +the end of the period she is dressed in red cloth, and a present of +cocoanuts stripped of their shells, sweetmeats, and a little money, +is placed in her lap, while a few women are invited to a feast. This +rite is also meant to induce fertility, the kernel of the cocoanut +being held to resemble an unborn baby. + + + + +8. Mourning impurity + +The higher clans consider themselves impure for a period of 12 days +after a birth, and if the birth falls in the Mul asterism or Nakshatra, +for 27 days. After death they observe mourning for 10 days; on the +10th day they offer ten _pindas_ or funeral cakes, and on the 11th +day make one large _pinda_ or cake and divide it into eleven parts; +on the 12th day they make sixteen _pindas_ and unite the spirit of the +dead man with the ancestors; and on the 13th day they give a feast +and feed Brahmans and are clean. The lower subcastes only observe +impurity for three days after a birth and a death. Their funeral +rites are the same as those of the Kurmis. + + + + +9. Social customs + +The caste employ Brahmans for weddings, but not necessarily for +birth and death ceremonies. They eat flesh and fish, and the bulk +of the caste eat fowls and drink liquor, but the landowning section +abjures these practices. They will take food cooked with water from +Brahmans, and that cooked without water also from Rajputs, Kayasths and +Sunars. In Narsinghpur they also accept cooked food from such a low +caste as Rajjahrs, [99] probably because the Rajjhars are commonly +employed by them as farmservants, and hence have been accustomed +to carry their master's food. A similar relation has been found to +exist between the Panwar Rajputs and their Gond farmservants. The +higher class Lodhis make an inordinate show of hospitality at their +weddings. The plates of the guests are piled up profusely with food, +and these latter think it a point of honour never to refuse it or say +enough. When melted butter is poured out into their cups the stream +must never be broken as it passes from one guest to the other, or it +is said that they will all get up and leave the feast. Apparently a +lot of butter must be wasted on the ground. The higher clans seclude +their women, and these when they go out must wear long clothes +covering the head and reaching to the feet. The women are not allowed +to wear ornaments of a cheaper metal than silver, except of course +their glass bangles. The Mahalodhis will eat food cooked with water +in the cook-room and carried to the fields, which the higher clans +will not do. Their women wear the _sari_ drawn through the legs and +knotted behind according to the Maratha fashion, but whenever they +meet their husband's elder brother or any other elder of the family +they must undo the knot and let the cloth hang down round their legs +as a mark of respect. They wear no breast-cloth. Girls are tattooed +before adolescence with dots on the chin and forehead, and marks on +one hand. Before she is tattooed the girl is given sweets to eat, +and during the process the operator sings songs in order that her +attention may be diverted and she may not feel the pain. After she +has finished the operator mutters a charm to prevent evil spirits +from troubling the girl and causing her pain. + + + + +10. Greetings and method of address + +The caste have some strict taboos on names and on conversation +between the sexes. A man will only address his wife, sister, daughter, +paternal aunt or niece directly. If he has occasion to speak to some +other woman he will take his daughter or other female relative with +him and do his business through her. He will not speak even to his own +women before a crowd. A woman will similarly only speak to her father, +son or nephew, and father-, son- or younger brother-in-law. She will +not speak to her elder brother-in-law, and she will not address her +husband in the presence of his father, elder brother or any other +relative whom he reveres. A wife will never call her husband by his +name, but always address him as father of her son, and, if she has no +son, will sometimes speak to him through his younger brother. Neither +the father nor mother will call their eldest son by his name, but will +use some other name. Similarly a daughter-in-law is given a fresh +name on coming into the house, and on her arrival her mother-in-law +looks at her for the first time through a _guna_ or ring of baked +gram-flour. A man meeting his father or elder brother will touch his +feet in silence. One meeting his sister's husband, sister's son or +son-in-law, will touch his feet and say, '_Sahib, salaam_.' + + + + +11. Sacred thread and social status + +The higher clans invest boys with the sacred thread either when they +are initiated by a Guru or spiritual preceptor, or when they are +married. The thread is made by a Brahman and has five knots. Recently +a large landholder in Mandla, a Jarha Lodhi, has assumed the sacred +thread himself for the first time and sent round a circular to his +caste-men enjoining them also to wear it. His family priest has +produced a legend of the usual type showing how the Jarha Lodhis +are Rajputs whose ancestors threw away their sacred threads in order +to escape the vengeance of Parasurama. Generally in social position +the Lodhis may be considered to rank with, but slightly above, the +ordinary cultivating castes, such as the Kurmis. This superiority +in no way arises from their origin, since, as already seen, they are +a very low caste in their home in northern India, but from the fact +that they have become large landholders in the Central Provinces and +in former times their leaders exercised quasi-sovereign powers. Many +Lodhis are fine-looking men and have still some appearance of having +been soldiers. They are passionate and quarrelsome, especially in the +Jubbulpore District. This is put forcibly in the saying that 'A Lodhi's +temper is as crooked as the stream of a bullock's urine.' They are +generally cultivators, but the bulk of them are not very prosperous +as they are inclined to extravagance and display at weddings and on +other ceremonial occasions. + + + + +Lohar + + + + +1. Legends of the caste + +_Lohar_, _Khati_, _Ghantra_, _Ghisari_, _Panchal._--The occupational +caste of blacksmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit +_Lauha-kara>_, a worker in iron. In the Central Provinces the Loharhas +in the past frequently combined the occupations of carpenter and +blacksmith, and in such a capacity he is known as Khati. The honorific +designations applied to the caste are Karigar, which means skilful, +and Mistri, a corruption of the English 'Master' or 'Mister.' In 1911 +the Lohars numbered about 180,000 persons in the Central Provinces +and Berar. The Lohar is indispensable to the village economy, and +the caste is found over the whole rural area of the Province. + +"Practically all the Lohars," Mr. Crooke writes [100], "trace +their origin to Visvakarma, who is the later representative of the +Vedic Twashtri, the architect and handicraftsman of the gods, 'The +fashioner of all ornaments, the most eminent of artisans, who formed +the celestial chariots of the deities, on whose craft men subsist, +and whom, a great and immortal god, they continually worship,' One +[101] tradition tells that Visvakarma was a Brahman and married the +daughter of an Ahir, who in her previous birth had been a dancing-girl +of the gods. By her he had nine sons, who became the ancestors of +various artisan castes, such as the Lohar, Barhai, Sunar, and Kasera." + +The Lohars of the Uriya country in the Central Provinces tell a similar +story, according to which Kamar, the celestial architect, had twelve +sons. The eldest son was accustomed to propitiate the family god with +wine, and one day he drank some of the wine, thinking that it could +not be sinful to do so as it was offered to the deity. But for this +act his other brothers refused to live with him and left their home, +adopting various professions; but the eldest brother became a worker +in iron and laid a curse upon the others that they should not be able +to practise their calling except with the implements which he had +made. The second brother thus became a woodcutter (Barhai), the third a +painter (Maharana), the fourth learnt the science of vaccination and +medicine and became a vaccinator (Suthiar), the fifth a goldsmith, +the sixth a brass-smith, the seventh a coppersmith, and the eighth a +carpenter, while the ninth brother was weak in the head and married +his eldest sister, on account of which fact his descendants are known +as Ghantra. [102] The Ghantras are an inferior class of blacksmiths, +probably an offshoot from some of the forest tribes, who are looked +down on by the others. It is said that even to the present day the +Ghantra Lohars have no objection to eating the leavings of food of +their wives, whom they regard as their eldest sisters. + + + + +2. Social position of the Lohar + +The above story is noticeable as indicating that the social position +of the Lohar is somewhat below that of the other artisan castes, or +at least of those who work in metals. This fact has been recorded in +other localities, and has been explained by some stigma arising from +his occupation, as in the following passage: "His social position +is low even for a menial, and he is classed as an impure caste, in +so far that Jats and others of similar standing will have no social +communion with him, though not as an outcast like the scavenger. His +impurity, like that of the barber, washerman and dyer, springs solely +from the nature of his employment; perhaps because it is a dirty one, +but more probably because black is a colour of evil omen. It is not +improbable that the necessity under which he labours of using bellows +made of cowhide may have something to do with his impurity," [103] + +Mr. Nesfield also says: "It is owing to the ubiquitous industry of +the Lohar that the stone knives, arrow-heads and hatchets of the +indigenous tribes of Upper India have been so entirely superseded +by iron-ores. The memory of the stone age has not survived even in +tradition. In consequence of the evil associations which Hinduism has +attached to the colour of black, the caste of Lohar has not been able +to raise itself to the same social level as the three metallurgic +castes which follow." The following saying also indicates that the +Lohar is of evil omen: + + + Ar, Dhar, Chuchkar + In tinon se bachawe Kartar. + + +Here _Ar_ means an iron goad and signifies the Lohar; _Dhar_ represents +the sound of the oil falling from the press and means a Teli or oilman; +_Chuchkar_ is an imitation of the sound of clothes being beaten against +a stone and denotes the Dhobi or washerman; and the phrase thus runs, +'My Friend, beware of the Lohar, Teli, and Dhobi, for they are of evil +omen.' It is not quite clear why this disrepute should attach to the +Lohar, because iron itself is lucky, though its colour, black, may be +of bad omen. But the low status of the Lohar may partly arise from the +fact of his being a village menial and a servant of the cultivators; +whereas the trades of the goldsmith, brass-smith and carpenter are of +later origin than the blacksmith's, and are urban rather than rural +industries; and thus these artisans do not commonly occupy the position +of village menials. Another important consideration is that the iron +industry is associated with the primitive tribes, who furnished the +whole supply of the metal prior to its importation from Europe: and it +is hence probable that the Lohar caste was originally constituted from +these and would thus naturally be looked down upon by the Hindus. In +Bengal, where few or no traces of the village community remain, the +Lohar ranks as the equal of Koiris and Kurmis, and Brahmans will take +water from his hands; [104] and this somewhat favours the argument that +his lower status elsewhere is not due to incidents of his occupation. + + + + +3. Caste subdivisions + +The constitution of the Lohar caste is of a heterogeneous nature. In +some localities Gonds who work as blacksmiths are considered to +belong to the caste and are known as Gondi Lohars. But Hindus who +work in Gond villages also sometimes bear this designation. Another +subdivision returned consists of the Agarias, also an offshoot of the +Gonds, who collect and smelt iron-ore in the Vindhyan and Satpura +hills. The Panchals are a class of itinerant smiths in Berar. The +Ghantras or inferior blacksmiths of the Uriya country have already +been noticed. The Ghisaris are a similar low class of smiths in the +southern Districts who do rough work only, but sometimes claim Rajput +origin. Other subcastes are of the usual local or territorial type, +as Mahulia, from Mahul in Berar; Jhade or Jhadia, those living in +the jungles; Ojha, or those professing a Brahmanical origin; Maratha, +Kanaujia, Mathuria, and so on. + + + + +4. Marriage and other customs + +Infant-marriage is the custom of the caste, and the ceremony is +that prevalent among the agricultural castes of the locality. The +remarriage of widows is permitted, and they have the privilege of +selecting their own husbands, or at least of refusing to accept any +proposed suitor. A widow is always married from her father's house, +and never from that of her deceased husband. The first husband's +property is taken by his relatives, if there be any, and they also +assume the custody of his children as soon as they are old enough to +dispense with a mother's care. The dead are both buried and burnt, +and in the eastern Districts some water and a tooth-stick are daily +placed at a cross-road for the use of the departed spirit during +the customary period of mourning, which extends to ten days. On the +eleventh day the relatives go and bathe, and the chief mourner puts +on a new loin-cloth. Some rice is taken and seven persons pass it from +hand to hand. They then pound the rice, and making from it a figure to +represent a human being, they place some grain in its mouth and say +to it, 'Go and become incarnate in some human being,' and throw the +image into the water. After this the impurity caused by the death is +removed, and they go home and feast with their friends. In the evening +they make cakes of rice, and place them seven times on the shoulder +of each person who has carried the corpse to the cemetery or pyre, to +remove the impurity contracted from touching it. It is also said that +if this be not done the shoulder will feel the weight of the coffin +for a period of six months. The caste endeavour to ascertain whether +the spirit of the dead person returns to join in the funeral feast, +and in what shape it will be born again. For this purpose rice-flour +is spread on the floor of the cooking-room and covered with a brass +plate. The women retire and sit in an adjoining room while the chief +mourner with a few companions goes outside the village, and sprinkles +some more rice-flour on the ground. They call to the deceased person +by name, saying, 'Come, come,' and then wait patiently till some +worm or insect crawls on to the floor. Some dough is then applied +to this and it is carried home and let loose in the house. The flour +under the brass plate is examined, and it is said that they usually +see the footprints of a person or animal, indicating the corporeal +entity in which the deceased soul has found a resting-place. During +the period of mourning members of the bereaved family do not follow +their ordinary business, nor eat flesh, sweets or other delicate +food. They may not make offerings to their deities nor touch any +persons outside the family, nor wear head-cloths or shoes. In the +eastern Districts the principal deities of the Lohars are Dulha Deo +and Somlai or Devi, the former being represented by a knife set in the +ground inside the house, and the latter by the painting of a woman on +the wall. Both deities are kept in the cooking-room, and here the head +of the family offers to them rice soaked in milk, with sandal-paste, +flowers, vermilion and lamp-black. He burns some melted butter in an +earthen lamp and places incense upon it. If a man has been affected by +the evil eye an exorcist will place some salt on his hand and burn it, +muttering spells, and the evil influence is removed. They believe that +a spell can be cast on a man by giving him to eat the bones of an owl, +when he will become an idiot. + + + + +5. Occupation + +In the rural area of the Province the Lohar is still a village menial, +making and mending the iron implements of agriculture, such as the +ploughshare, axe, sickle, goad and other articles. For doing this he +is paid in Saugor a yearly contribution of twenty pounds of grain +per plough of land [105] held by each cultivator, together with a +handful of grain at sowing-time and a sheaf at harvest from both the +autumn and spring crops. In Wardha he gets fifty pounds of grain per +plough of four bullocks or forty acres. For making new implements the +Lohar is sometimes paid separately and is always supplied with the +iron and charcoal. The hand-smelting iron industry has practically +died out in the Province and the imported metal is used for nearly +all purposes. The village Lohars are usually very poor, their income +seldom exceeding that of an unskilled labourer. In the towns, owing +to the rapid extension of milling and factory industries, blacksmiths +readily find employment and some of them earn very high wages. In +the manufacture of cutlery, nails and other articles the capital is +often found by a Bhatia or Bohra merchant, who acts as the capitalist +and employs the Lohars as his workmen. The women help their husbands +by blowing the bellows and dragging the hot iron from the furnace, +while the men wield the hammer. The Panchals of Berar are described +as a wandering caste of smiths, living in grass mat-huts and using as +fuel the roots of thorn bushes, which they batter out of the ground +with the back of a short-handled axe peculiar to themselves. They +move from place to place with buffaloes, donkeys and ponies to carry +their kit. [106] Another class of wandering smiths, the Ghisaris, are +described by Mr. Crooke as follows: "Occasional camps of these most +interesting people are to be met with in the Districts of the Meerut +Division. They wander about with small carts and pack-animals, and, +being more expert than the ordinary village Lohar, their services +are in demand for the making of tools for carpenters, weavers and +other craftsmen. They are known in the Punjab as Gadiya or those who +have carts (_gadi, gari_). Sir D. Ibbetson [107] says that they come +up from Rajputana and the North-Western Provinces, but their real +country is the Deccan. In the Punjab they travel about with their +families and implements in carts from village to village, doing the +finer kinds of iron-work, which are beyond the capacity of the village +artisan. In the Deccan [108] this class of wandering blacksmiths are +called Saiqalgar, or knife-grinders, or Ghisara, or grinders (Hindi, +_ghisana_ 'to rub'). They wander about grinding knives and tools." + + +Lorha + +_Lorha._ [109]--A small caste of cultivators in the Hoshangabad and +Nimar Districts, whose distinctive occupation is to grow _san_-hemp +(_Crotalaria juncea_) and to make sacking and gunny-bags from the +fibre. A very strong prejudice against this crop exists among the +Hindus, and those who grow it are usually cut off from their parent +caste and become a separate community. Thus we have the castes known +as Kumrawat, Patbina and Dangur in different parts of the Province, +who are probably offshoots from the Kurmis and Kunbis, but now rank +below them because they grow this crop; and in the Kurmi caste itself +a subcaste of Santora (hemp-picking) Kurmis has grown up. In Bilaspur +the Patharia Kurmis will grow _san_-hemp and ret it, but will not spin +or weave the fibre; while the Atharia Kurmis will not grow the crop, +but will spin the fibre and make sacking. The Saugor Kewats grow this +fibre, and here Brahmans and other high castes will not take water +from Kewats, though in the eastern Districts they will do so. The +Narsinghpur Mallahs, a branch of the Kewats, have also adopted the +cultivation of _san_-hemp as a regular profession. The basis of the +prejudice against the _san_-hemp plant is not altogether clear. The +Lorhas themselves say that they are looked down upon because they use +wheat-starch (_lapsi_) for smoothing the fibre, and that their name +is somehow derived from this fact. But the explanation does not seem +satisfactory. Many of the country people appear to think that there +is something uncanny about the plant because it grows so quickly, +and they say that on one occasion a cultivator went out to sow hemp +in the morning, and his wife was very late in bringing his dinner to +the field. He grew hungry and angry, and at last the shoots of the +hemp-seeds which he had sown in the morning began to appear above the +ground. At this he was so enraged that when his wife finally came +he said she had kept him waiting so long that the crop had come up +in the meantime, and murdered her. Since then the Hindus have been +forbidden to grow _san_-hemp lest they should lose their tempers in +the same manner. This story makes a somewhat excessive demand on the +hearer's credulity. One probable cause of the taboo seems to be that +the process of soaking and retting the stalks of the plant pollutes +the water, and if carried on in a tank or in the pools of a stream +might destroy the village supply of drinking-water. In former times +it may have been thought that the desecration of their sacred element +was an insult to the deities of rivers and streams, which would bring +down retribution on the offender. It is also the case that the proper +separation of the fibres requires a considerable degree of dexterity +which can only be acquired by practice. Owing to the recent increase in +the price of the fibre and the large profits which can now be obtained +from hemp cultivation, the prejudice against it is gradually breaking +down, and the Gonds, Korkus and lower Hindu castes have waived their +religious scruples and are glad to turn an honest penny by sowing hemp +either on their own account or for hire. Other partially tabooed crops +are turmeric and _al_ or Indian madder (_Morinda citrifolia_), while +onions and garlic are generally eschewed by Hindu cultivators. For +growing turmeric and _al_ special subcastes have been formed, as the +Alia Kunbis and the Hardia Malis and Kachhis (from _haldi_, turmeric), +just as in the case of _san_-hemp. The objection to these two crops is +believed to lie in the fact that the roots which yield the commercial +product have to be boiled, and by this process a number of insects +contained in them are destroyed. But the preparation of the hemp-fibre +does not seem to involve any such sacrifice of insect life. The Lorhas +appear to be a mixed group, with a certain amount of Rajput blood in +them, perhaps an offshoot of the Kirars, with whose social customs +their own are said to be identical. According to another account, they +are a lower or illegitimate branch of the Lodha caste of cultivators, +of whose name their own is said to be a corruption. The Nimar Gujars +have a subcaste named Lorha, and the Lorhas of Hoshangabad may be +connected with these. They live in the Seoni and Harda tahsils of +Hoshangabad, the _san_-hemp crop being a favourite one in villages +adjoining the forests, because it is not subject to the depredations +of wild animals. Cultivators are often glad to sublet their fields +for the purpose of having a crop of hemp grown upon them, because +the stalks are left for manure and fertilise the ground. String and +sacking are also made from the hemp-fibre by vagrant and criminal +castes like the Banjaras and Bhamtas, who formerly required the bags +for carrying their goods and possessions about with them. + + + + + +Mahar + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General Notice._ + 2. _Length of residence in the Central Provinces._ + 3. _Legend of origin._ + 4. _Sub castes._ + 5. _Exogamous groups and marriage customs._ + 6. _Funeral rites._ + 7. _Childbirth._ + 8. _Names._ + 9. _Religion._ + 10. _Adoption of foreign religions._ + 11. _Superstitions._ + 12. _Social rules_. + 13. _Social subjection_. + 14. _Their position improving_. + 15. _Occupation_. + + + + +1. General Notice. + +_Mahar, Mehra, Dhed._--The impure caste of menials, labourers and +village watchmen of the Maratha country, corresponding to the Chamars +and Koris of northern India. They numbered nearly 1,200,000 persons in +the combined Province in 1911, and are most numerous in the Nagpur, +Bhandara, Chanda and Wardha Districts of the Central Provinces, +while considerable colonies are also found in Balaghat, Chhindwara +and Betul. Their distribution thus follows largely that of the +Marathi language and the castes speaking it. Berar contained 400,000, +distributed over the four Districts. In the whole Province this caste +is third in point of numerical strength. In India the Mahars number +about three million persons, of whom a half belong to Bombay. I am not +aware of any accepted derivation for the word Mahar, but the balance +of opinion seems to be that the native name of Bombay, Maharashtra, +is derived from that of the caste, as suggested by Wilson. Another +derivation which holds it to be a corruption of Maha Rastrakuta, and +to be so called after the Rashtrakuta Rajput dynasty of the eighth +and ninth centuries, seems less probable because countries are very +seldom named after ruling dynasties. [110] Whereas in support of +Maharashtra as 'The country of the Mahars,' we have Gujarashtra or +Gujarat, 'the country of the Gujars,' and Saurashtra or Surat, 'the +country of the Sauras.' According to Platts' Dictionary, however, +Maharashtra means 'the great country,' and this is what the Maratha +Brahmans themselves say. Mehra appears to be a variant of the name +current in the Hindustani Districts, while Dheda, or Dhada, is said +to be a corruption of Dharadas or billmen. [111] In the Punjab it is +said to be a general term of contempt meaning 'Any low fellow.' [112] + +Wilson considers the Mahars to be an aboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe, +and all that is known of the caste seems to point to the correctness +of this hypothesis. In the _Bombay Gazetteer_ the writer of the +interesting Gujarat volume suggests that the Mahars are fallen Rajputs; +but there seems little to support this opinion except their appearance +and countenance, which is of the Hindu rather than the Dravidian +type. In Gujarat they have also some Rajput surnames, as Chauhan, +Panwar, Rathor, Solanki and so on, but these may have been adopted by +imitation or may indicate a mixture of Rajput blood. Again, the Mahars +of Gujarat are the farmservants and serfs of the Kunbis. "Each family +is closely connected with the house of some landholder or _pattidar_ +(sharer). For his master he brings in loads from the fields and cleans +out the stable, receiving in return daily allowances of buttermilk and +the carcases of any cattle that die. This connection seems to show +traces of a form of slavery. Rich _pattidars_ have always a certain +number of Dheda families whom they speak of as ours (_hamara_) and +when a man dies he distributes along with his lands a certain number +of Dheda families to each of his sons. An old tradition among Dhedas +points to some relation between the Kunbis and Dhedas. Two brothers, +Leva and Deva, were the ancestors, the former of the Kunbis, the latter +of the Dhedas." [113] Such a relation as this in Hindu society would +imply that many Mahar women held the position of concubines to their +Kunbi masters, and would therefore account for the resemblance of +the Mahar to Hindus rather than the forest tribes. But if this is +to be regarded as evidence of Rajput descent, a similar claim would +have to be allowed to many of the Chamars and sweepers. Others of the +lowest castes also have Rajput sept names, as the Pardhis and Bhils; +but the fact can at most be taken, I venture to think, to indicate a +connection of the 'Droit de Seigneur' type. On the other hand, the +Mahars occupy the debased and impure position which was the lot of +those non-Aryan tribes who became subject to the Hindus and lived in +their villages; they eat the flesh of dead cattle and this and other +customs appear to point decisively to a non-Aryan origin. + + + + +2. Length of residence in the Central Provinces + +Several circumstances indicate that the Mahar is recognised as the +oldest resident of the plain country of Berar and Nagpur. In Berar +he is a village servant and is the referee on village boundaries and +customs, a position implying that his knowledge of them is the most +ancient. At the Holi festival the fire of the Mahars is kindled first +and that of the Kunbis is set alight from it. The Kamdar Mahar, who +acts as village watchman, also has the right of bringing the _toran_ or +rope of leaves which is placed on the marriage-shed of the Kunbis; and +for this he receives a present of three annas. In Bhandra the Telis, +Lohars, Dhimars and several other castes employ a Mahar _Mohturia_ or +wise man to fix the date of their weddings. And most curious of all, +when the Panwar Rajputs of this tract celebrate the festival of Narayan +Deo, they call a Mahar to their house and make him the first partaker +of the feast before beginning to eat themselves. Again in Berar [114] +the Mahar officiates at the killing of the buffalo on Dasahra. On the +day before the festival the chief Mahar of the village and his wife +with their garments knotted together bring some earth from the jungle +and fashioning two images set one on a clay elephant and the other on +a clay bullock. The images are placed on a small platform outside the +village site and worshipped; a young he-buffalo is bathed and brought +before the images as though for the same object. The Patel wounds +the buffalo in the nose with a sword and it is then marched through +the village. In the evening it is killed by the head Mahar, buried in +the customary spot, and any evil that might happen during the coming +year is thus deprecated and, it is hoped, averted. The claim to take +the leading part in this ceremony is the occasion of many a quarrel +and an occasional affray or riot Such customs tend to show that the +Mahars were the earliest immigrants from Bombay into the Berar and +Nagpur plain, excluding of course the Gonds and other tribes, who have +practically been ousted from this tract. And if it is supposed that +the Panwars came here in the tenth century, as seems not improbable, +[115] the Mahars, whom the Panwars recognise as older residents than +themselves, must have been earlier still, and were probably numbered +among the subjects of the old Hindu kingdoms of Bhandak and Nagardhan. + + + + +3. Legend of origin + +The Mahars say they are descended from Mahamuni, who was a foundling +picked up by the goddess Parvati on the banks of the Ganges. At this +time beef had not become a forbidden food; and when the divine cow, +Tripad Gayatri, died, the gods determined to cook and eat her body +and Mahamuni was set to watch the pot boiling. He was as inattentive +as King Alfred, and a piece of flesh fell out of the pot. Not wishing +to return the dirty piece to the pot Mahamuni ate it; but the gods +discovered the delinquency, and doomed him and his descendants to +live on the flesh of dead cows. [116] + + + + +4. Sub-castes + +The caste have a number of subdivisions, generally of a local or +territorial type, as Daharia, the residents of Dahar or the Jubbulpore +country, Baonia (52) of Berar, Nemadya or from Nimar, Khandeshi from +Khandesh, and so on; the Katia group are probably derived from that +caste, Katia meaning a spinner; the Barkias are another group whose +name is supposed to mean spinners of fine thread; while the Lonarias +are salt-makers. The highest division are the Somvansis or children +of the moon; these claim to have taken part with the Pandavas against +the Kauravas in the war of the Mahabharata, and subsequently to have +settled in Maharashtra. [117] But the Somvansi Mahars consent to groom +horses, which the Baone and Kosaria subcastes will not do. Baone and +Somvansi Mahars will take food together, but will not intermarry. The +Ladwan subcaste are supposed to be the offspring of kept women of +the Somvansi Mahars; and in Wardha the Dharmik group are also the +descendants of illicit unions and their name is satirical, meaning +'virtuous.' As has been seen, the caste have a subdivision named Katia, +which is the name of a separate Hindustani caste; and other subcastes +have names belonging to northern India, as the Mahobia, from Mahoba +in the United Provinces, the Kosaria or those from Chhattisgarh, +and the Kanaujia from Kanauj. This may perhaps be taken to indicate +that bodies of the Kori and Katia weaving castes of northern India +have been amalgamated with the Mahars in Districts where they have +come together along the Satpura Hills and Nerbudda Valley. + + + + +5. Exogamous groups and marriage customs + +The caste have also a large number of exogamous groups, the names of +which are usually derived from plants, animals, and natural objects. A +few may be given as examples out of fifty-seven recorded in the Central +Provinces, though this is far from representing the real total; all +the common animals have septs named after them, as the tiger, cobra, +tortoise, peacock, jackal, lizard, elephant, lark, scorpion, calf, and +so on; while more curious names are--Darpan, a mirror; Khanda Phari, +sword and shield; Undrimaria, a rat-killer; Aglavi, an incendiary; +Andhare, a blind man; Kutramaria, a dog-killer; Kodu Dudh, sour milk; +Khobragade, cocoanut-kernel; Bhajikhai, a vegetable eater, and so on. + +A man must not marry in his own sept, but may take a wife from his +mother's or grandmother's. A sister's son may marry a brother's +daughter, but not vice versa. A girl who is seduced before marriage +by a man of her own caste or any higher one can be married as if +she were a widow, but if she has a child she must first get some +other family to take it off her hands. The custom of _Lamjhana_ or +serving for a wife is recognised, and the expectant bridegroom will +live with his father-in-law and work for him for a period varying +from one to five years. The marriage ceremony follows the customary +Hindustani or Maratha ritual [118] as the case may be. In Wardha the +right foot of the bridegroom and the left one of the bride are placed +together in a new basket, while they stand one on each side of the +threshold. They throw five handfuls of coloured rice over each other, +and each time, as he throws, the bridegroom presses his toe on the +bride's foot; at the end he catches the girl by the finger and the +marriage is complete. In the Central Provinces the Mohturia or caste +priest officiates at weddings, but in Berar, Mr. Kitts states [119] +the caste employ the Brahman Joshi or village priest. But as he will +not come to their house they hold the wedding on the day that one +takes place among the higher castes, and when the priest gives the +signal the dividing cloth (Antarpat) between the couple is withdrawn, +and the garments of the bride and bridegroom are knotted, while the +bystanders clap their hands and pelt the couple with coloured grain. As +the priest frequently takes up his position on the roof of the house +for a wedding it is easy for the Mahars to see him. In Mandla some +of the lower class of Brahmans will officiate at the weddings of +Mahars. In Chhindwara the Mahars seat the bride and bridegroom in +the frame of a loom for the ceremony, and they worship the hide of a +cow or bullock filled with water. They drink together ceremoniously, +a pot of liquor being placed on a folded cloth and all the guests +sitting round it in a circle. An elder man then lays a new piece +of cloth on the pot and worships it. He takes a cup of the liquor +himself and hands round a cupful to every person present. + +In Mandla at a wedding the barber comes and cuts the bride's nails, +and the cuttings are rolled up in dough and placed in a little +earthen pot beside the marriage-post. The bridegroom's nails and hair +are similarly cut in his own house and placed in another vessel. A +month or two after the wedding the two little pots are taken out and +thrown into the Nerbudda. A wedding costs the bridegroom's party +about Rs. 40 or Rs. 50 and the bride's about Rs. 25. They have no +going-away ceremony, but the occasion of a girl's coming to maturity +is known as Bolawan. She is kept apart for six days and given new +clothes, and the caste-people are invited to a meal. When a woman's +husband dies the barber breaks her bangles, and her anklets are taken +off and given to him as his perquisite. Her brother-in-law or other +relative gives her a new white cloth, and she wears this at first, +and afterwards white or coloured clothes at her pleasure. Her hair +is not cut, and she may wear _patelas_ or flat metal bangles on the +forearm and armlets above the elbow, but not other ornaments. A widow +is under no obligation to marry her first husband's younger brother; +when she marries a stranger he usually pays a sum of about Rs. 30 to +her parents. When the price has been paid the couple exchange a ring +and a bangle respectively in token of the agreement. When the woman is +proceeding to her second husband's house, her old clothes, necklace +and bangles are thrown into a river or stream and she is given new +ones to wear. This is done to lay the first husband's spirit, which +may be supposed to hang about the clothes she wore as his wife, and +when they are thrown away or buried the exorcist mutters spells over +them in order to lay the spirit. No music is allowed at the marriage +of a widow except the crooked trumpet called _singara_. A bachelor +who marries a widow must first go through a mock ceremony with a +cotton-plant, a sword or a ring. Divorce must be effected before the +caste _panchayat_ or committee, and if a divorced woman marries again, +her first husband performs funeral and mourning ceremonies as if +she were dead. In Gujarat the practice is much more lax and "divorce +can be obtained almost to an indefinite extent. Before they finally +settle down to wedded life most couples have more than once changed +their partners." [120] But here also, before the change takes place, +there must be a formal divorce recognised by the caste. + + + + +6. Funeral rites + +The caste either burn or bury the dead and observe mourning for three +days, [121] having their houses whitewashed and their faces shaved. On +the tenth day they give a feast to the caste-fellows. On the Akshaya +Tritia [122] and the 30th day of Kunwar (September) they offer rice +and cakes to the crows in the names of their ancestors. In Berar +Mr. Kitts writes: [123] "If a Mahar's child has died, he will on the +third day place bread on the grave; if an infant, milk; if an adult, +on the tenth day, with five pice in one hand and five betel-leaves in +the other, he goes into the river, dips himself five times and throws +these things away; he then places five lighted lamps on the tomb, +and after these simple ceremonies gets himself shaved as though he +were an orthodox Hindu." + + + + +7. Childbirth + +In Mandla the mother is secluded at childbirth in a separate house if +one is available, and if not they fence in a part of the veranda for +her use with bamboo screens. After the birth the mother must remain +impure until the barber comes and colours her toe-nails and draws a +line round her feet with red _mahur_ powder. This is indispensable, +and if the barber is not immediately available she must wait until his +services can be obtained. When the navel-string drops it is buried +in the place on which the mother sat while giving birth, and when +this has been done the purification may be effected. The Dhobi is +then called to wash the clothes of the household, and their earthen +pots are thrown away. The head of the newborn child is shaved clean, +as the birth-hair is considered to be impure, and the hair is wrapped +up in dough and thrown into a river. + + + + +8. Names + +A child is named on the seventh or twelfth day after its birth, the +name being chosen by the Mohturia or caste headman. The ordinary Hindu +names of deities for men and sacred rivers or pious and faithful wives +for women are employed; instances of the latter being Ganga, Godavari, +Jamuna, Sita, Laxmi and Radha. Opprobrious names are sometimes given +to avert ill-luck, as Damdya (purchased for eight cowries), Kauria +(a cowrie), Bhikaria (a beggar), Ghusia (from _ghus_, a mallet for +stamping earth), Harchatt (refuse), Akali (born in famine-time), +Langra (lame), Lula (having an arm useless); or the name of another +low caste is given, as Bhangi (sweeper), Domari (Dom sweeper), Chamra +(tanner), Basori (basket-maker). Not infrequently children are named +after the month or day when they were born, as Pusau, born in Pus +(December), Chaitu, born in Chait (March), Manglu (born on Tuesday), +Buddhi (born on Wednesday), Sukka (born on Friday), Sanichra (born +on Saturday). One boy was called Mulua or 'Sold' (_mol-dena_). His +mother had no other children, so sold him for one pice (farthing) +to a Gond woman. After five or six months, as he did not get fat, +his name was changed to Jhuma or 'lean,' probably as an additional +means of averting ill-luck. Another boy was named Ghurka, from the +noise he made when being suckled. A child born in the absence of its +father is called Sonwa, or one born in an empty house. + + + + +9. Religion + +The great body of the caste worship the ordinary deities Devi, +Hanuman, Dulha Deo, and others, though of course they are not allowed +to enter Hindu temples. They principally observe the Holi and Dasahra +festivals and the days of the new and full moon. On the festival of +Nag-Panchmi they make an image of a snake with flour and sugar and +eat it. At the sacred Ambala tank at Ramtek the Mahars have a special +bathing-ghat set apart for them, and they may enter the citadel and +go as far as the lowest step leading up to the temples; here they +worship the god and think that he accepts their offerings. They are +thus permitted to traverse the outer enclosures of the citadel, which +are also sacred. In Wardha the Mahars may not touch the shrines of +Mahadeo, but must stand before them with their hands joined. They may +sometimes deposit offerings with their own hands on those of Bhimsen, +originally a Gond god, and Mata Devi, the goddess of smallpox. + + + + +10. Adoption of foreign religions + +In Berar and Bombay the Mahars have some curious forms of belief. "Of +the confusion which obtains in the Mahar theogony the names of six +of their gods will afford a striking example. While some Mahars +worship Vithoba, the god of Pandharpur, others revere Varuna's twin +sons, Meghoni and Deghoni, and his four messengers, Gabriel, Azrael, +Michael and Anadin, all of whom they say hail from Pandharpur." [124] +The names of archangels thus mixed up with Hindu deities may most +probably have been obtained from the Muhammadans, as they include +Azrael; but in Gujarat their religion appears to have been borrowed +from Christianity. "The Karia Dhedas have some rather remarkable +beliefs. In the Satya Yug the Dhedas say they were called Satyas; +in the Dvapar Yug they were called Meghas; in the Treta Yug, Elias; +and in the Kali Yug, Dhedas. The name Elias came, they say, from +a prophet Elia, and of him their religious men have vague stories; +some of them especially about a famine that lasted for three years +and a half, easily fitting into the accounts of Elijah in the Jewish +Scriptures. They have also prophecies of a high future in store for +their tribe. The king or leader of the new era, Kuyam Rai by name, +will marry a Dheda woman and will raise the caste to the position of +Brahmans. They hold religious meetings or _ochhavas_, and at these +with great excitement sing songs full of hope of the good things in +store for them. When a man wishes to hold an _ochhava_ he invites +the whole caste, and beginning about eight in the evening they often +spend the night in singing. Except perhaps for a few sweetmeats +there is no eating or drinking, and the excitement is altogether +religious and musical. The singers are chiefly religious Dhedas or +Bhagats, and the people join in a refrain '_Avore Kuyam Rai Raja_', +'Oh! come Kuyam Rai, our king.'" [125] It seems that the attraction +which outside faiths exercise on the Mahars is the hope held out of +ameliorating the social degradation under which they labour, itself +an outcome of the Hindu theory of caste. Hence they turn to Islam, +or to what is possibly a degraded version of the Christian story, +because these religions do not recognise caste, and hold out a promise +to the Mahar of equality with his co-religionists, and in the case of +Christianity of a recompense in the world to come for the sufferings +which he has to endure in this one. Similarly, the Mahars are the +warmest adherents of the Muhammadan saint Sheikh Farid, and flock +to the fairs held in his honour at Girar in Wardha and Partapgarh in +Bhandara, where he is supposed to have slain a couple of giants. [126] +In Berar [127] also they revere Muhammadan tombs. The remains of the +Muhammadan fort and tank on Pimpardol hill in Jalgaon taluk are now +one of the sacred places of the Mahars, though to the Muhammadans they +have no religious associations. Even at present Mahars are inclined to +adopt Islam, and a case was recently reported when a body of twenty +of them set out to do so, but turned back on being told that they +would not be admitted to the mosque. [128] A large proportion of the +Mahars are also adherents of the Kabirpanthi sect, one of the main +tenets of whose founder was the abolition of caste. And it is from +the same point of view that Christianity appeals to them, enabling +European missionaries to draw a large number of converts from this +caste. But even the Hindu attitude towards the Mahars is not one of +unmixed intolerance. Once in three or four years in the southern +Districts, the Panwars, Mahars, Pankas and other castes celebrate +the worship of Narayan Deo or Vishnu, the officiating priest being a +Mahar. Members of all castes come to the Panwar's house at night for +the ceremony, and a vessel of water is placed at the door in which they +wash their feet and hands as they enter; and when inside they are all +considered to be equal, and they sit in a line and eat the same food, +and bind wreaths of flowers round their heads. After the cock crows the +equality of status is ended, and no one who goes out of the house can +enter again. At present also many educated Brahmans recognise fully +the social evils resulting from the degraded position of the Mahars, +and are doing their best to remove the caste prejudices against them. + + + + +11. Superstitions + +They have various spells to cure a man possessed of an evil spirit, +or stung by a snake or scorpion, or likely to be in danger from tigers +or wild bears; and in the Morsi taluk of Berar it is stated that they +so greatly fear the effect of an enemy writing their name on a piece of +paper and tying it to a sweeper's broom that the threat to do this can +be used with great effect by their creditors. [129] To drive out the +evil eye they make a small human image of powdered turmeric and throw +it into boiled water, mentioning as they do so the names of any persons +whom they suspect of having cast the evil eye upon them. Then the pot +of water is taken out at midnight of a Wednesday or a Sunday and placed +upside down on some cross-roads with a shoe over it, and the sufferer +should be cured. Their belief about the sun and moon is that an old +woman had two sons who were invited by the gods to dinner. Before they +left she said to them that as they were going out there would be no one +to cook, so they must remember to bring back something for her. The +elder brother forgot what his mother had said and took nothing away +with him; but the younger remembered her and brought back something +from the feast. So when they came back the old woman cursed the elder +brother and said that as he had forgotten her he should be the sun +and scorch and dry up all vegetation with his beams; but the younger +brother should be the moon and make the world cool and pleasant at +night. The story is so puerile that it is only worth reproduction +as a specimen of the level of a Mahar's intelligence. The belief in +evil spirits appears to be on the decline, as a result of education +and accumulated experience. Mr. C. Brown states that in Malkapur of +Berar the Mahars say that there are no wandering spirits in the hills +by night of such a nature that people need fear them. There are only +tiny _pari_ or fairies, small creatures in human form, but with the +power of changing their appearance, who do no harm to any one. + + + + +12. Social rules + +When an outsider is to be received into the community all the hair on +his face is shaved, being wetted with the urine of a boy belonging +to the group to which he seeks admission. Mahars will eat all kinds +of food including the flesh of crocodiles and rats, but some of them +abstain from beef. There is nothing peculiar in their dress except that +the men wear a black woollen thread round their necks. [130] The women +may be recognised by their bold carriage, the absence of nose-rings and +the large irregular dabs of vermilion on the forehead. Mahar women do +not, as a rule, wear the _choli_ or breast-cloth. An unmarried girl +does not put on vermilion nor draw her cloth over her head. Women +must be tattooed with dots on the face, representations of scorpions, +flowers and snakes on the arms and legs, and some dots to represent +flies on the hands. It is the custom for a girl's father or mother +or father-in-law to have her tattooed in one place on the hand or +arm immediately on her marriage. Then when girls are sitting together +they will show this mark and say, 'My mother or father-in-law had this +done,' as the case may be. Afterwards if a woman so desires she gets +herself tattooed on her other limbs. If an unmarried girl or widow +becomes with child by a man of the Mahar caste or any higher one she +is subjected after delivery to a semblance of the purification by fire +known as Agnikasht. She is taken to the bank of a river and there five +stalks of juari are placed round her and burnt. Having fasted all day, +at night she gives a feast to the caste-men and eats with them. If she +offends with a man of lower caste she is finally expelled. Temporary +exclusion from caste is imposed for taking food or drink from the +hands of a Mang or Chamar or for being imprisoned in jail, or on a +Mahar man if he lives with a woman of any higher caste; the penalty +being the shaving of a man's face or cutting off a lock of a woman's +hair, together with a feast to the caste. In the last case it is said +that the man is not readmitted until he has put the woman away. If a +man touches a dead dog, cat, pony or donkey, he has to be shaved and +give a feast to the caste. And if a dog or cat dies in his house, +or a litter of puppies or kittens is born, the house is considered +to be defiled; all the earthen pots must be thrown away, the whole +house washed and cleaned and a caste feast given. The most solemn oath +of a Mahar is by a cat or dog and in Yeotmal by a black dog. [131] +In Berar, the same paper states, the pig is the only animal regarded +as unclean, and they must on no account touch it. This is probably +owing to Muhammadan influence. The worst social sin which a Mahar can +commit is to get vermin in a wound, which is known as Deogan or being +smitten by God. While the affliction continues he is quite ostracised, +no one going to his house or giving him food or water; and when it +is cured the Mahars of ten or twelve surrounding villages assemble +and he must give a feast to the whole community. The reason for this +calamity being looked upon with such peculiar abhorrence is obscure, +but the feeling about it is general among Hindus. + + + + +13. Social subjection + +The social position of the Mahars is one of distressing +degradation. Their touch is considered to defile and they live in +a quarter by themselves outside the village. They usually have a +separate well assigned to them from which to draw water, and if +the village has only one well the Mahars and Hindus take water +from different sides of it. Mahar boys were not until recently +allowed to attend school with Hindu boys, and when they could not +be refused admission to Government schools, they were allotted a +small corner of the veranda and separately taught. When Dher boys +were first received into the Chanda High School a mutiny took place +and the school was boycotted for some time. The people say, '_Mahar +sarva jaticha bahar_' or 'The Mahar is outside all castes.' Having +a bad name, they are also given unwarrantably a bad character; and +'_Mahar jaticha_' is a phrase used for a man with no moral or kindly +feelings. But in theory at least, as conforming to Hinduism, they +were supposed to be better than Muhammadans and other unbelievers, +as shown by the following story from the Rasmala: [132] A Muhammadan +sovereign asked his Hindu minister which was the lowest caste. The +minister begged for leisure to consider his reply and, having obtained +it, went to where the Dhedas lived and said to them: "You have given +offence to the Padishah. It is his intention to deprive you of caste +and make you Muhammadans." The Dhedas, in the greatest terror, pushed +off in a body to the sovereign's palace, and standing at a respectful +distance shouted at the top of their lungs: "If we've offended your +majesty, punish us in some other way than that. Beat us, fine us, hang +us if you like, but don't make us Muhammadans." The Padishah smiled, +and turning to his minister who sat by him affecting to hear nothing, +said, 'So the lowest caste is that to which I belong.' But of course +this cannot be said to represent the general view of the position of +Muhammadans in Hindu eyes; they, like the English, are regarded as +distinguished foreigners, who, if they consented to be proselytised, +would probably in time become Brahmans or at least Rajputs. A repartee +of a Mahar to a Brahman abusing him is: The Brahman, '_Jare Maharya_' +or 'Avaunt, ye Mahar'; the Mahar, '_Kona diushi nein tumchi goburya_' +or 'Some day I shall carry cowdung cakes for you (at his funeral)'; +as in the Maratha Districts the Mahar is commonly engaged for carrying +fuel to the funeral pyre. Under native rule the Mahar was subjected +to painful degradations. He might not spit on the ground lest a Hindu +should be polluted by touching it with his foot, but had to hang an +earthen pot round his neck to hold his spittle. [133] He was made to +drag a thorny branch with him to brush out his footsteps, and when a +Brahman came by had to lie at a distance on his face lest his shadow +might fall on the Brahman. In Gujarat [134] they were not allowed +to tuck up the loin-cloth but had to trail it along the ground. Even +quite recently in Bombay a Mahar was not allowed to talk loudly in the +street while a well-to-do Brahman or his wife was dining in one of the +houses. In the reign of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat, +the Dheras were for a time at any rate freed from such disabilities +by the sacrifice of one of their number. [135] The great tank at +Anhilvada Patan in Gujarat had been built by the Ods (navvies), +but Sidhraj desired Jusma Odni, one of their wives, and sought to +possess her. But the Ods fled with her and when he pursued her she +plunged a dagger into her stomach, cursing Sidhraj and saying that +his tank should never hold water. The Raja, returning to Anhilvada, +found the tank dry, and asked his minister what should be done that +water might remain in the tank. The Pardhan, after consulting the +astrologers, said that if a man's life were sacrificed the curse might +be removed. At that time the Dhers or outcastes were compelled to +live at a distance from the towns; they wore untwisted cotton round +their heads and a stag's horn as a mark hanging from their waists so +that people might be able to avoid touching them. The Raja commanded +that a Dher named Mayo should be beheaded in the tank that water might +remain. Mayo died, singing the praises of Vishnu, and the water after +that began to remain in the tank. At the time of his death Mayo had +begged as a reward for his sacrifice that the Dhers should not in +future be compelled to live at a distance from the towns nor wear +a distinctive dress. The Raja assented and these privileges were +afterwards permitted to the Dhers for the sake of Mayo. + + + + +14. Their position improving + +From the painful state of degradation described above the Mahars are +gradually being rescued by the levelling and liberalising tendency +of British rule, which must be to these depressed classes an untold +blessing. With the right of acquiring property they have begun to +assert themselves, and the extension of railways more especially +has a great effect in abolishing caste distinctions. The Brahman who +cannot afford a second-class fare must either not travel or take the +risk of rubbing shoulders with a Mahar in a third-class carriage, +and if he chooses to consider himself defiled will have to go hungry +and thirsty until he gets the opportunity of bathing at his journey's +end. The observance of the rules of impurity thus becomes so irksome +that they are gradually falling into abeyance. + + + + +15. Occupation + +The principal occupations of the Mahars are the weaving of coarse +country cloth and general labour. They formerly spun their own +yarn, and their fabrics were preferred by the cultivators for their +durability. But practically all thread is now bought from the mills; +and the weaving industry is also in a depressed condition. Many +Mahars have now taken to working in the mills, and earn better wages +than they could at home. In Bombay a number of them are employed +as police-constables. [136] They are usually the village watchmen +of the Maratha Districts, and in this capacity were remunerated +by contributions of grain from the tenants, the hides and flesh of +animals dying in the village, and plots of rent-free land. For these +have now been substituted in the Central Provinces a cash payment +fixed by Government. In Berar the corresponding official is known as +the Kamdar Mahar. Mr. Kitts writes of him: [137] As fourth _balutedar_ +on the village establishment the Mahar holds a post of great importance +to himself and convenience to the village. To the patel (headman), +patwari and big men of the village, he acts often as a personal +servant and errand-runner; for a smaller cultivator he will also at +times carry a torch or act as escort. He had formerly to clean the +horses of travellers, and was also obliged, if required, to carry their +baggage. [138] For the services which he thus renders as _pandhewar_ +the Mahar receives from the cultivators certain grain-dues. When +the cut juari is lying in the field the Mahars go round and beg for +a measure of the ears (_bhik payali_). But the regular payment is +made when the grain has been threshed. Another duty performed by +the Mahar is the removal of the carcases of dead animals. The flesh +is eaten and the skin retained as wage for the work. The patel and +his relatives, however, usually claim to have the skins of their own +animals returned; and in some places where half the agriculturists of +the village claim kinship with the patel, the Mahars feel and resent +the loss. A third duty is the opening of grain-pits, the noxious gas +from which sometimes produces asphyxia. For this the Mahars receive the +tainted grain. They also get the clothes from a corpse which is laid +on the pyre, and the pieces of the burnt wood which remain when the +body has been consumed. Recent observations in the Nagpur country show +that the position of the Mahars is improving. In Nagpur it is stated: +[139] "Looked down upon as outcastes by the Hindus they are hampered +by no sense of dignity or family prejudice. They are fond of drink, +but are also hard workers. They turn their hands to anything and +everything, but the great majority are agricultural labourers. At +present the rural Mahar is in the background. If there is only one +well in the village he may not use it, but has to get his water where +he can. His sons are consigned to a corner in the village school, and +the schoolmaster, if not superior to caste prejudices, discourages +their attendance. Nevertheless, Mahars will not remain for years +downtrodden in this fashion, and are already pushing themselves up +from this state of degradation. In some places they have combined to +dig wells, and in Nagpur have opened a school for members of their +own community. Occasionally a Mahar is the most prosperous man in the +village. Several of them are moneylenders in a small way, and a few +are malguzars." Similarly in Bhandara Mr. Napier writes that a new +class of small creditors has arisen from the Mahar caste. These people +have given up drinking, and lead an abstemious life, wishing to raise +themselves in social estimation. Twenty or more village kotwars were +found to be carrying on moneylending transactions on a small scale, +and in addition many of the Mahars in towns were exceedingly well off. + + + + + +Mahli + + + +1. Origin of the caste + +_Mahli, Mahili_. [140]--A small caste of labourers, palanquin-bearers +and workers in bamboo belonging to Chota Nagpur. In 1911 about 300 +Mahlis were returned from the Feudatory States in this tract. They +are divided into five subcastes: the Bansphor-Mahli, who make baskets +and do all kinds of bamboo-work; the Pahar-Mahli, basket-makers and +cultivators; the Sulunkhi, cultivators and labourers; the Tanti who +carry litters; and the Mahli-Munda, who belong to Lohardaga. Sir +H. Risley states that a comparison of the totemistic sections of the +Mahlis given in the Appendix to his _Tribes and Castes_ with those +of the Santals seems to warrant the conjecture that the main body of +the caste are merely a branch of the Santals. Four or five septs, +Hansda a wild goose, Hemron, Murmu the nilgai, Saren or Sarihin, +and perhaps Tudu or Turu are common to the two tribes. The Mahlis are +also closely connected with the Mundas. Seven septs of the main body +of the Mahlis, Dumriar the wild fig, Gundli a kind of grain, Kerketa +a bird, Mahukal a bird (long-tail), Tirki, Tunduar and Turu are also +Munda septs; and the three septs given of the Mahli-Munda subcaste, +Bhuktuar, Lang Chenre, and Sanga are all found among the Mundas; +while four septs, Hansda a wild goose, Induar a kind of eel, as well +as Kerketa and Tirki, already mentioned, are common to the Mahlis +and Turis who are also recognised by Sir H. Risley as an offshoot of +the Munda tribe with the same occupation as the Mahlis, of making +baskets. [141] The Santals and Mundas were no doubt originally one +tribe, and it seems that the Mahlis are derived from both of them, +and have become a separate caste owing to their having settled in +villages more or less of the open country, and worked as labourers, +palanquin-bearers and bamboo-workers much in the same manner as the +Turis. Probably they work for hire for Hindus, and hence their status +may have fallen lower than that of the parent tribe, who remained +in their own villages in the jungles. Colonel Dalton notes [142] +that the gipsy Berias use Manjhi and Mahali as titles, and it is +possible that some of the Mahlis may have joined the Beria community. + + + + +2. Social customs + +Only a very few points from Sir H. Risley's account of the caste need +be recorded here, and for further details the reader may be referred +to his article in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. A bride-price +of Rs. 5 is customary, but it varies according to the means of the +parties. On the wedding day, before the usual procession starts to +escort the bridegroom to the bride's house, he is formally married to +a mango tree, while the bride goes through the same ceremony with a +mahua. At the entrance to the bride's house the bridegroom, riding on +the shoulders of some male relation and bearing on his head a vessel +of water, is received by the bride's brother, equipped in similar +fashion, and the two cavaliers sprinkle one another with water. At +the wedding the bridegroom touches the bride's forehead five times +with vermilion and presents her with an iron armlet. The remarriage +of widows and divorce are permitted. When a man divorces his wife he +gives her a rupee and takes away the iron armlet which was given her +at her wedding. The Mahlis will admit members of any higher caste into +the community. The candidate for admission must pay a small sum to the +caste headman, and give a feast to the Mahlis of the neighbourhood, at +which he must eat a little of the leavings of food left by each guest +on his leaf-plate. After this humiliating rite he could not, of course, +be taken back into his own caste, and is bound to remain a Mahli. + + + + + +Majhwar + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin of the tribe_. + 2. _The Mirzapur Majhwars derived from the Gonds_. + 3. _Connection with the Kawars_. + 4. _Exogamy and totemism_. + 5. _Marriage customs_. + 6. _Birth and funeral rites_. + 7. _Religious dance_. + + + + +1. Origin of the tribe + +_Majhwar, Manjhi, Majhia_. [143]--A small mixed tribe who have +apparently originated from the Gonds, Mundas and Kawars. About 14,000 +Majhwars were returned in 1911 from the Raigarh, Sarguja and Udaipur +States. The word Manjhi means the headman of a tribal subdivision, +being derived from the Sanskrit _madhya_, or he who is in the +centre. [144] In Bengal Manjhi has the meaning of the steersman of a +boat or a ferryman, and this may have been its original application, +as the steersman might well be he who sat in the centre. [145] +When a tribal party makes an expedition by boat, the leader would +naturally occupy the position of steersman, and hence it is easy to +see how the term Manjhi came to be applied to the leader or head of +the clan and to be retained as a title for general use. Sir H. Risley +gives it as a title of the Kewats or fishermen and many other castes +and tribes in Bengal. But it is also the name for a village headman +among the Santals, and whether this meaning is derived from the +prior signification of steersman or is of independent origin is, +uncertain. In Raigarh Mr. Hira Lal states that the Manjhis or Majhias +are fishermen and are sometimes classed, with the Kewats. They appear +to be Kols who have taken to fishing and, being looked down on by +the other Kols on this account, took the name of Majhia or Manjhi, +which they now derive from Machh, a fish. "The appearance of the +Majhias whom I saw and examined was typically aboriginal and their +language was a curious mixture of Mundari, Santal and Korwa, though +they stoutly repudiated connection with any of these tribes. They +could count only up to three in their own language, using the Santal +words _mit, baria, pia_. Most of their terms for parts of the body +were derived from Mundari, but they also used some Santali and Korwa +words. In their own language they called themselves Hor, which means +a man, and is the tribal name of the Mundas." + + + + +2. The Mirzapur Majhwars derived from the Gonds + +On the other hand the Majhwars of Mirzapur, of whom Mr. Crooke gives a +detailed and interesting account, clearly appear to be derived from the +Gonds. They have five subdivisions, which they say are descended from +the five sons of their first Gond ancestor. These are Poiya, Tekam, +Marai, Chika and Oiku. Four of these names are those of Gond clans, +and each of the five subtribes is further divided into a number of +exogamous septs, of which a large proportion bear typical Gond names, +as Markam, Netam, Tekam, Masham, Sindram and so on. The Majhwars +of Mirzapur also, like the Gonds, employ Patharis or Pardhans as +their priests, and there can thus be no doubt that they are mainly +derived from the Gonds. They would appear to have come to Mirzapur +from Sarguja and the Vindhyan and Satpura hills, as they say that +their ancestors ruled from the forts of Mandla, Garha in Jubbulpore, +Sarangarh, Raigarh and other places in the Central Provinces. [146] +They worship a deified Ahir, whose legs were cut off in a fight with +some Raja, since when he has become a troublesome ghost. "He now lives +on the Ahlor hill in Sarguja, where his petrified body may still be +seen, and the Manjhis go there to worship him. His wife lives on +the Jhoba hill in Sarguja. Nobody but a Baiga dares to ascend the +hill, and even the Raja of Sarguja when he visits the neighbourhood +sacrifices a black goat. Manjhis believe that if these two deities are +duly propitiated they can give anything they need." The story makes +it probable that the ancestors of these Manjhis dwelt in Sarguja. The +Manjhis of Mirzapur are not boatmen or fishermen and have no traditions +of having ever been so. They are a backward tribe and practise shifting +cultivation on burnt-out patches of forest. It is possible that they +may have abandoned their former aquatic profession on leaving the +neighbourhood of the rivers, or they may have simply adopted the name, +especially since it has the meaning of a village headman and is used +as a title by the Santals and other castes and tribes. Similarly +the term Munda, which at first meant the headman of a Kol village, +is now the common name for the Kol tribe in Chota Nagpur. + + + + +3. Connection with the Kawars + +Again the Manjhis appear to be connected with the Kawar tribe. Mr. Hira +Lal states that in Raigarh they will take food with Kewats, Gonds, +Kawars and Rawats or Ahirs, but they will not eat rice and pulse, +the most important and sacred food, with any outsiders except Kawars; +and this they explain by the statement that their ancestors and those +of the Kawars were connected. In Mirzapur the Kaurai Ahirs will take +food and water from the Majhwars, and these Ahirs are not improbably +derived from the Kawars. [147] Here the Majhwars also hold an oath +taken when touching a broadsword as most binding, and the Kawars +of the Central Provinces worship a sword as one of their principal +deities. [148] Not improbably the Manjhis may include some Kewats, +as this caste also use Manjhi for a title; and Manjhi is both a +subcaste and title of the Khairwars. The general conclusion from the +above evidence appears to be that the caste is a very heterogeneous +group whose most important constituents come from the Gond, Munda, +Santal and Kawar tribes. Whether the original bond of connection +among the various people who call themselves Manjhi was the common +occupation of boating and fishing is a doubtful point. + + + + +4. Exogamy and totemism + +The Manjhis of Sarguja, like those of Raigarh, appear to be of Munda +and Santal rather than of Gond origin. They have no subdivisions, +but a number of totemistic septs. Those of the Bhainsa or buffalo sept +are split into the Lotan and Singhan subsepts, _lotan_ meaning a place +where buffaloes wallow and _singh_ a horn. The Lotan Bhainsa sept say +that their ancestor was born in a place where a buffalo had wallowed, +and the Singhan Bhainsa that their ancestor was born while his mother +was holding the horn of a buffalo. These septs consider the buffalo +sacred and will not yoke it to a plough or cart, though they will drink +its milk. They think that if one of them killed a buffalo their clan +would become extinct. The Baghani Majhwars, named after the _bagh_ +or tiger, think that a tiger will not attack any member of their sept +unless he has committed an offence entailing temporary excommunication +from caste. Until this offence has been expiated his relationship with +the tiger as head of his sept is in abeyance and the tiger will eat +him as he would any other stranger. If a tiger meets a member of the +sept who is free from sin, he will run away. When the Baghani sept +hear that any Majhwar has killed a tiger they purify their houses by +washing them with cowdung and water. Members of the Khoba or peg sept +will not make a peg or drive one into the ground. Those of the Dumar +[149] or fig-tree sept say that their first ancestor was born under +this tree. They consider the tree to be sacred and never eat its +fruit, and worship it once a year. Members of the sept named after +the _shiroti_ tree worship the tree every Sunday. + + + + +5. Marriage customs. + +Marriage within the sept is prohibited and for three generations +between persons related through females. Marriage is adult, but matches +are arranged by the parents of the parties. At betrothal the elders of +the caste must be regaled with _cheora_ or parched rice and liquor. A +bride-price of Rs. 10 is paid, but a suitor who cannot afford this may +do service to his father-in-law for one or two years in lieu of it. At +the wedding the bridegroom puts a copper ring on the bride's finger and +marks her forehead with vermilion. The couple walk seven times round +the sacred post, and seven little heaps of rice and pieces of turmeric +are arranged so that they may touch one of them with their big toes at +each round. The bride's mother and seven other women place some rice +in the skirts of their cloths and the bridegroom throws this over his +shoulder. After this he picks up the rice and distributes it to all +the women present, and the bride goes through the same ceremony. The +rice is no doubt an emblem of fertility, and its presentation to the +women may perhaps be expected to render them fertile. + + + + +6. Birth and funeral rites + +On the birth of a child the navel-string is buried in front of the +house. When a man is at the point of death they place a little +cooked rice and curds in his mouth so that he may not go hungry +to the other world, in view of the fact that he has probably eaten +very little during his illness. Some cotton and rice are also placed +near the head of the corpse in the grave so that he may have food +and clothing in the next world. Mourning is observed for five days, +and at the end of this period the mourners should have their hair cut, +but if they cannot get it done on this day, the rite may be performed +on the same day in the following year. + + + + +7. Religious dance + +The tribe worship Dulha Deo, the bridegroom god, and also make +offerings to their ploughs at the time of eating the new rice and +at the Holi and Dasahra festivals. They dance the _karma_ dance in +the months of Asarh and Kunwar or at the beginning and end of the +rains. When the time has come the Gaontia headman or the Baiga priest +fetches a branch of the _karma_ tree from the forest and sets it up in +his yard as a notice and invitation to the village. After sunset all +the people, men, women and children, assemble and dance round the tree, +to the accompaniment of a drum known as Mandar. The dancing continues +all night, and in the morning the host plucks up the branch of the +_karma_ tree and consigns it to a stream, at the same time regaling +the dancers with rice, pulse and a goat. This dance is a religious +rite in honour of Karam Raja, and is believed to keep sickness from +the village and bring it prosperity. The tribe eat flesh, but abstain +from beef and pork. Girls are tattooed on arrival at puberty with +representations of the _tulsi_ or basil, four arrow-heads in the form +of a cross, and the foot-ornament known as _pairi_. + + +Mal + +_Mal, Male, Maler, Mal Paharia._ [150]--A tribe of the Rajmahal +hills, who may be an isolated branch of the Savars. In 1911 about +1700 Mals were returned from the Chota Nagpur Feudatory States +recently transferred to the Central Provinces. The customs of the +Mals resemble those of the other hill tribes of Chota Nagpur. Sir +H. Risley states that the average stature is low, the complexion +dark and the figure short and sturdy. The following particulars are +reproduced from Colonel Dalton's account of the tribe: + +"The hill lads and lasses are represented as forming very romantic +attachments, exhibiting the spectacle of real lovers 'sighing +like furnaces,' and the cockney expression of 'keeping company' +is peculiarly applicable to their courtship. If separated only for +an hour they are miserable, but there are apparently few obstacles +to the enjoyment of each other's society, as they work together, go +to market together, eat together, and sleep together! But if it be +found that they have overstepped the prescribed limits of billing and +cooing, the elders declare them to be out of the pale, and the blood +of animals must be shed at their expense to wash away the indiscretion +and obtain their readmission into society. + +"On the day fixed for a marriage the bridegroom with his relations +proceeds to the bride's father's house, where they are seated on cots +and mats, and after a repast the bride's father takes his daughter's +hand and places it in that of the bridegroom, and exhorts him to be +loving and kind to the girl that he thus makes over to him. The groom +then with the little finger of his right hand marks the girl on the +forehead with vermilion, and then, linking the same finger with the +little finger of her right hand, he leads her away to his own house. + +"The god of hunting is called Autga, and at the close of every +successful expedition a thank-offering is made to him. This is the +favourite pastime, and one of the chief occupations of the Malers, +and they have their game laws, which are strictly enforced. If a man, +losing an animal which he has killed or wounded, seeks for assistance +to find it, those who aid are entitled to one-half of the animal when +found. Another person accidentally coming on dead or wounded game and +appropriating it, is subjected to a severe fine. The Manjhi or headman +of the village is entitled to a share of all game killed by any of his +people. Any one who kills a hunting dog is fined twelve rupees. Certain +parts of an animal are tabooed to females as food, and if they infringe +this law Autga is offended and game becomes scarce. When the hunters +are unsuccessful it is often assumed that this is the cause, and the +augur never fails to point out the transgressing female, who must +provide a propitiatory offering. The Malers use poisoned arrows, +and when they kill game the flesh round the wound is cut off and +thrown away as unfit for food. Cats are under the protection of the +game laws, and a person found guilty of killing one is made to give +a small quantity of salt to every child in the village. + +"I nowhere find any description of the dances and songs of the +Paharias. Mr. Atkinson found the Malers extremely reticent on the +subject, and with difficulty elicited that they had a dancing-place +in every village, but it is only when under the influence of God +Bacchus that they indulge in the amusement. All accounts agree in +ascribing to the Paharias an immoderate devotion to strong drink, and +Buchanan tells us that when they are dancing a person goes round with +a pitcher of the home-brew and, without disarranging the performers, +who are probably linked together by circling or entwining arms, pours +into the mouth of each, male and female, a refreshing and invigorating +draught. The beverage is the universal _pachwai_, that is, fermented +grain. The grain, either maize, rice or _janera_ (_Holcus sorghum_), +is boiled and spread out on a mat to cool. It is then mixed with a +ferment of vegetables called _takar_, and kept in a large earthen +vessel for some days; warm water may at any time be mixed with it, +and in a few hours it ferments and is ready for use." + +When the attention of English officers was first drawn to them in 1770 +the Males of the Rajmahal hills were a tribe of predatory freebooters, +raiding and terrorising the plain country from the foot of the hills to +the Ganges. It was Mr. Augustus Cleveland, Collector of Bhagalpur, who +reduced them to order by entering into engagements with the chiefs for +the prevention and punishment of offences among their own tribesmen, +confirming them in their estates and jurisdiction, and enrolling a +corps of Males, which became the Bhagalpur Hill Rangers, and was not +disbanded till the Mutiny. Mr. Cleveland died at the age of 29, having +successfully demonstrated the correct method of dealing with the wild +forest tribes, and the Governor-General in Council erected a tomb and +inscription to his memory, which was the original of that described +by Mr. Kipling in _The Tomb of his Ancestors_, though the character +of the first John Chinn in the story was copied from Outram. [151] + + +Mala + +_Mala._--A low Telugu caste of labourers and cotton-weavers. They +numbered nearly 14,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, +belonging mainly to the Chanda, Nagpur, Jubbulpore, and Yeotmal +Districts, and the Bastar State. The Marathas commonly call them Telugu +Dhers, but they themselves prefer to be known as 'Telangi Sadar Bhoi,' +which sounds a more respectable designation. They are also known as +Mannepuwar and Netkani. They are the Pariahs of the Telugu country, +and are regarded as impure and degraded. They may be distinguished +by their manner of tying the head-cloth more or less in a square +shape, and by their loin-cloths, which are worn very loose and not +knotted. Those who worship Narsinghswami, the man-lion incarnation +of Vishnu, are called Namaddar, while the followers of Mahadeo are +known as Lingadars. The former paint their foreheads with vertical +lines of sandal-paste, and the latter with horizontal ones. The Malas +were formerly zealous partisans of the right-handed sect in Madras, +and the description of this curious system of faction given by the +Abbe Dubois more than a century ago may be reproduced: [152] + +"Most castes belong either to the left-hand or right-hand faction. The +former comprises the Vaishyas or trading classes, the Panchalas or +artisan classes and some of the low Sudra castes. It also contains +the lowest caste, viz. the Chaklas or leather-workers, who are looked +upon as its chief support. To the right-hand faction belong most of +the higher castes of Sudras. The Pariahs (Malas) are also its great +support, as a proof of which they glory in the title of _Valangai +Maugattar_ or Friends of the Right Hand. In the disputes and conflicts +which so often take place between the two factions it is always the +Pariahs who make the most disturbance and do the most damage. The +Brahmans, Rajas and several classes of Sudras are content to remain +neutral and take no part in these quarrels. The opposition between the +two factions arises from certain exclusive privileges to which both +lay claim. But as these alleged privileges are nowhere clearly defined +and recognised, they result in confusion and uncertainty, and are with +difficulty capable of settlement. When one faction trespasses on the +so-called right of the other, tumults arise which spread gradually +over large tracts of territory, afford opportunity for excesses of all +kinds, and generally end in bloody conflicts. The Hindu, ordinarily so +timid and gentle in all other circumstances of life, seems to change +his nature completely on occasions like these. There is no danger that +he will not brave in maintaining what he calls his rights, and rather +than sacrifice a little of them he will expose himself without fear +to the risk of losing his life. The rights and privileges for which +the Hindus are ready to fight such sanguinary battles appear highly +ridiculous, especially to a European. Perhaps the sole cause of the +contest is the right to wear slippers or to ride through the streets +in a palanquin or on horseback during marriage festivals. Sometimes +it is the privilege of being escorted on certain occasions by armed +retainers, sometimes that of having a trumpet sounded in front of +a procession, or of being accompanied by native musicians at public +ceremonies." The writer of the _Madras Census Report_ of 1871 states: +[153] "It is curious that the females of two of the inferior castes +should take different sides to their husbands in these disputes. The +wives of the agricultural labourers side with the left hand, while +their husbands help in fighting the battles of the right, and the +shoemakers' wives also take the side opposed to their husbands. During +these festival disturbances, the ladies who hold political views +opposed to those of their husbands deny to the latter all the +privileges of the connubial state." The same writer states that the +right-hand castes claimed the prerogative of riding on horseback in +processions, of appearing with standards bearing certain devices, +and of erecting twelve pillars to sustain their marriage booths; +while the left-hand castes might not have more than eleven pillars, +nor use the same standards as the right. The quarrels arising out of +these small differences of opinion were so frequent and serious in the +seventeenth century that in the town of Madras it was found necessary +to mark the respective boundaries of the right- and left-hand castes, +and to forbid the right-hand castes in their processions from occupying +the streets of the left hand and vice versa. These disturbances have +gradually tended to disappear under the influence of education and +good government, and no instance of them is known to have occurred +in the Central Provinces. The division appears to have originated +among the members of the Sakta sect or the worshippers of Sakti as +the female principle of life in nature. Dr. L. D. Barnett writes: +[154]--"The followers of the sect are of two schools. The 'Walkers +in the Right Way' (_Dakshinachari_) pay a service of devotion to +the deity in both male and female aspects, and except in their more +pronounced tendency to dwell upon the horrific aspects of the deity +(as Kali, Durga, etc.), they differ little from ordinary Saivas +and Vaishnavas. The 'Walkers in the Left Way' (_Vamachari_), on the +other hand, concentrate their thought upon the godhead in its sexually +maternal aspect, and follow rites of senseless magic and--theoretically +at least--promiscuous debauchery." As has been seen, the religious +differences subsequently gave rise to political factions. + + + + + +Mali + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice of the caste, and its social position_. + 2. _Caste legend_. + 3. _Flowers offered to the gods_. + 4. _Custom of wearing garlands_. + 5. _Subcastes_. + 6. _Marriage_. + 7. _Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy_. + 8. _Disposal of the dead_. + 9. _Religion_. + 10. _Occupation_. + 11. _Traits and characters_. + 12. _Other functions of the Mali_. + 13. _Physical appearance_. + + + + +1. General notice of the caste, and its social position + +_Mali, Marar, Maral_. [155]--The functional caste of vegetable +and flower-gardeners. The terms Mali and Marar appear to be used +indifferently for the same caste, the former being more common in the +west of the Province and the latter in the eastern Satpura Districts +and the Chhattisgarh plain. In the Nerbudda valley and on the Vindhyan +plateau the place of both Mali and Marar is taken by the Kachhi of +Upper India. [156] Marar appears to be a Marathi name, the original +term, as pointed out by Mr. Hira Lal, being Malal, or one who grows +garden-crops in a field; but the caste is often called Mali in the +Maratha country and Marar in the Hindi Districts. The word Mali is +derived from the Sanskrit _mala_, a garland. In 1911 the Malis numbered +nearly 360,000 persons in the present area of the Central Provinces, +and 200,000 in Berar. A German writer remarks of the caste [157] +that: "It cannot be considered to be a very ancient one. Generally +speaking, it may be said that flowers have scarcely a place in the +Veda. Wreaths of flowers, of course, are used as decorations, but +the separate flowers and their beauty are not yet appreciated. That +lesson was first learned later by the Hindus when surrounded by +another flora. Amongst the Homeric Greeks, too, in spite of their +extensive gardening and different flowers, not a trace of horticulture +is yet to be found." It seems probable that the first Malis were not +included among the regular cultivators of the village but were a lower +group permitted to take up the small waste plots of land adjoining the +inhabited area and fertilised by its drainage, and the sandy stretches +in the beds of rivers, on which they were able to raise the flowers +required for offerings and such vegetables as were known. They still +hold a lower rank than the ordinary cultivator. Sir D. Ibbetson writes +[158] of the gardening castes: "The group now to be discussed very +generally hold an inferior position among the agricultural community +and seldom if ever occupy the position of the dominant tribe in any +considerable tract of country. The cultivation of vegetables is looked +upon as degrading by the agricultural classes, why I know not, unless +it be that night-soil is generally used for their fertilisation; and +a Rajput would say: 'What! Do you take me for an Arain?' if anything +was proposed which he considered derogatory." But since most Malis +in the Central Provinces strenuously object to using night-soil as +a manure the explanation that this practice has caused them to rank +below the agricultural castes does not seem sufficient. And if the +use of night-soil were the real circumstance which determined their +social position, it seems certain that Brahmans would not take water +from their hands as they do. Elsewhere Sir D. Ibbetson remarks: [159] +"The Malis and Sainis, like all vegetable growers, occupy a very +inferior position among the agricultural castes; but of the two the +Sainis are probably the higher, as they more often own land or even +whole villages, and are less generally mere market-gardeners than +are the Malis." Here is given what may perhaps be the true reason +for the status of the Mali caste as a whole. Again Sir C. Elliot +wrote in the _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_: "Garden crops are +considered as a kind of fancy agriculture and the true cultivator, +the Kisan, looks on them with contempt as little peddling matters; +what stirs his ambition is a fine large wheat-field eighty or a +hundred acres in extent, as flat as a billiard-table and as black as +a Gond." Similarly Mr. Low [160] states that in Balaghat the Panwars, +the principal agricultural caste, look down on the Marars as growers +of petty crops like _sama_ and kutki. In Wardha the Dangris, a small +caste of melon and vegetable growers, are an offshoot of the Kunbis; +and they will take food from the Kunbis, though these will not accept +it from them, their social status being thus distinctly lower than that +of the parent caste. Again the Kohlis of Bhandara, who grow sugarcane +with irrigation, are probably derived from an aboriginal tribe, the +Kols, and, though they possess a number of villages, rank lower than +the regular cultivating castes. It is also worth noting that they do +not admit tenant-right in their villages among their own caste, and +allot the sugarcane plots among the cultivators at pleasure. [161] In +Nimar the Malis rank below the Kunbis and Gujars, the good agricultural +castes, and it is said that they grow the crops which the cultivators +proper do not care to grow. The Kachhis, the gardening caste of the +northern Districts, have a very low status, markedly inferior to that +of the Lodhis and Kurmis and little if any better than the menial +Dhimars. Similarly, as will be seen later, the Marars themselves +have customs pointing clearly to a non-Aryan origin. The Bhoyars of +Betul, who grow sugarcane, are probably of mixed origin from Rajput +fathers and mothers of the indigenous tribes; they eat fowls and are +much addicted to liquor and rank below the cultivating castes. The +explanation seems to be that the gardening castes are not considered +as landholders, and have not therefore the position which attaches +to the holding of land among all early agricultural peoples, and +which in India consisted in the status of a constituent member of +the village community. So far as ceremonial purity goes there is no +difference between the Malis and the cultivating castes, as Brahmans +will take water from both. It may be surmised that this privilege +has been given to the Malis because they grow the flowers required +for offerings to the gods, and sometimes officiate as village priests +and temple servants; and their occupation, though not on a level with +regular agriculture, is still respectable. But the fact that Brahmans +will take water from them does not place the Malis on an equality with +the cultivating castes, any more than it does the Nais (barbers) and +Dhimars (watermen), the condemned menial servants of the cultivators, +from whom Brahmans will also take water from motives of convenience. + + + + +2. Caste legend + +The Malis have a Brahmanical legend of the usual type indicating +that their hereditary calling was conferred and ratified by divine +authority. [162] This is to the effect that the first Mali was a +garland-maker attached to the household of Raja Kansa of Mathura. One +day he met with Krishna, and, on being asked by him for a chaplet of +flowers, at once gave it. On being told to fasten it with string, +he, for want of any other, took off his sacred thread and tied it, +on which Krishna most ungenerously rebuked him for his simplicity +in parting with his _paita_, and announced that for the future his +caste would be ranked among the Sudras. + +The above story, combined with the derivation of Mali from _mala_, +a garland, makes it a plausible hypothesis that the calling of the +first Malis was to grow flowers for the adornment of the gods, and +especially for making the garlands with which their images were and +still are decorated. Thus the Malis were intimately connected with the +gods and naturally became priests of the village temples, in which +capacity they are often employed. Mr. Nesfield remarks of the Mali: +[163] "To Hindus of all ranks, including even the Brahmans, he acts +as a priest of Mahadeo in places where no Gosain is to be found, +and lays the flower offerings on the _lingam_ by which the deity is +symbolised. As the Mali is believed to have some influence with the god +to whose temple he is attached, none objects to his appropriating the +fee which is nominally presented to the god himself. In the worship +of those village godlings whom the Brahmans disdain to recognise +and whom the Gosain is not permitted to honour the Mali is sometimes +employed to present the offering. He is thus the recognised hereditary +priest of the lower and more ignorant classes of the population." In +the Central Provinces Malis are commonly employed in the temples of +Devi because goats are offered to the goddess and hence the worship +cannot be conducted by Brahmans. They also work as servants in Jain +temples under the priest. They sweep the temple, clean the utensils, +and do other menial business. This service, however, does not affect +their religion and they continue to be Hindus. + +His services in providing flowers for the gods would be remunerated +by contributions of grain from the cultivators, the acceptance +of which would place the Mali below them in the rank of a village +menial, though higher than most of the class owing to the purity of +his occupation. His status was probably much the same as that of the +Guraos or village priests of Mahadeo in the Maratha country. And though +he has now become a cultivator, his position has not improved to the +level of other cultivating castes for the reasons already given. It +was probably the necessity of regularly watering his plants in order +to obtain a longer and more constant supply of blooms which first +taught the Mali the uses of irrigation. + + + + +3. Flowers offered to the gods + +Flowers are _par excellence_ suited for the offerings and adornment +of the gods, and many Hindus have rose or other plants in their houses +whose flowers are destined to the household god. There is little reason +to doubt that this was the purpose for which cultivated flowers were +first grown. The marigold, lotus and champak are favourite religious +flowers, while the _tulsi_ or basil is itself worshipped as the +consort of Vishnu; in this case, however, the scent is perhaps the more +valued feature. In many Hindu households all flowers brought into the +house are offered to the household god before being put to any other +use. A Brahman school-boy to whom I had given some flowers to copy +in drawing said that his mother had offered them to the god Krishna +before he used them. When faded or done with they should be consigned +to the sacred element, water, in any stream or river. The statues of +the gods are adorned with sculptured garlands or hold them in their +hands. A similar state of things prevailed in classical antiquity: + + + Who are these coming to the sacrifice? + To what green altar, O mysterious priest, + Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, + And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? + +And, + + Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none, + Nor altar decked with flowers, + Nor virgin choir to make delicious moan + Upon the midnight hours. + + +M. Fustel de Coulanges describes the custom of wearing crowns +or garlands of flowers in ancient Rome and Greece as follows: "It +is clear that the communal feasts were religious ceremonies. Each +guest had a crown on the head; it was an ancient custom to crown +oneself with leaves or flowers for any solemn religious act." "The +more a man is adorned with flowers," they said, "the more pleasing +he is to the gods; but they turn away from him who wears no crown at +his sacrifice." And again, 'A crown is the auspicious herald which +announces a prayer to the gods.' [164] + +Among the Persians the flowers themselves are worshipped: [165] "When +a pure Iranian sauntered through (the Victoria Gardens in Bombay) +... he would stand awhile and meditate over every flower in his path, +and always as in a vision; and when at last the vision was fulfilled, +and the ideal flower found, he would spread his mat or carpet before +it, and sit before it to the going down of the sun, when he would arise +and pray before it, and then refold his mat or carpet and go home; and +the next night, and night after night, until that bright particular +flower faded away, he would return to it, bringing his friends with +him in ever-increasing numbers, and sit and sing and play the guitar or +lute before it--and anon they all would arise together and pray before +it; and after prayers, still sit on, sipping sherbet and talking the +most hilarious and shocking scandal, late into the moonlight." + + + + +4. Custom of wearing garlands + +From the custom of placing garlands on the gods as a mark of honour +has no doubt arisen that of garlanding guests. This is not confined +to India but obtained in Rome and probably in other countries. The +word 'chaplet' [166] originally meant a garland or wreath to be worn +on the head; and a garland of leaves with four flowers at equal +distances. Dryden says, 'With chaplets green upon their foreheads +placed.' The word _mala_ originally meant a garland, and subsequently +a rosary or string of beads. From this it seems a legitimate deduction +that rosaries or strings of beads of a sacred wood were substituted +for flower-garlands as ornaments for the gods in view of their more +permanent nature. Having been thus sanctified they may have come to +be worn as a mark of holiness by saints or priests in imitation of +the divine images, this being a common or universal fashion of Hindu +ascetics. Subsequently they were found to serve as a useful means +of counting the continuous repetition of prayers, whence arose the +phrase 'telling one's beads.' Like the Sanskrit _mala_, the English +word rosary at first meant a garland of roses and subsequently a +string of beads, probably made from rose-wood, on which prayers were +counted. From this it may perhaps be concluded that the images of +the deities were decorated with garlands of roses in Europe, and the +development of the rosary was the same as the Indian _mala_. If the +rose was a sacred flower we can more easily understand its importance +as a badge in the Wars of the Roses. + + + + +5. Sub-castes + +The caste has numerous endogamous groups, varying in different +localities. The Phulmalis, who derive their name from their +occupation of growing and selling flowers (_phul_), usually rank as +the highest. The Ghase Malis are the only subcaste which will grow +and prepare turmeric in Wardha; but they will not sell milk or curds, +an occupation to which the Phulmalis, though the highest subcaste, +have no objection. In Chanda the Kosaria Malis, who take their name +from Kosala, the classical designation of the Chhattisgarh country, +are the sole growers of turmeric, while in Berar the Halde subcaste, +named after the plant, occupy the same position. The Kosaria or Kosre +subcaste abstain from liquor, and their women wear glass bangles only +on one hand and silver ones on the other. The objection entertained to +the cultivation of turmeric by Hindus generally is said to be based +on the fact that when the roots are boiled numbers of small insects +are necessarily destroyed; but the other Malis relate that one of the +ancestors of the caste had a calf called Hardulia, and one day he said +to his daughter, _Haldi paka_, or 'Cook turmeric.' But the daughter +thought that he said 'cook Hardulia,' so she killed and roasted the +calf, and in consequence of this her father was expelled from the +caste, and his descendants are the Ghase or Halde subcaste. Ever +since this happened the shape of a calf may be seen in the flower of +turmeric. This legend has, however, no real value and the meaning of +the superstition attaching to the plant is obscure. Though the growing +of turmeric is tabooed yet it is a sacred plant, and no Hindu girl, at +least in the Central Provinces, can be married without having turmeric +powder rubbed on her body. Mr. Gordon remarks in _Indian Folk-Tales_: +"I was once speaking to a Hindu gardener of the possibility of turmeric +and garlic being stolen from his garden. 'These two vegetables +are never stolen,' he replied, 'for we Hindus believe that he who +steals turmeric and garlic will appear with six fingers in the next +birth, and this deformity is always considered the birth-mark of a +thief.'" The Jire Malis are so named because they were formerly the +only subcaste who would grow cumin (_jira_), but this distinction +no longer exists as other Malis, except perhaps the Phulmalis, now +grow it. Other subcastes have territorial names, as Baone from Berar, +Jaipuria, Kanaujia, and so on. The caste have also exogamous septs or +_bargas_, with designations taken from villages, titles or nicknames +or inanimate objects. + + + + +6. Marriage + +Marriage is forbidden between members of the same sept and between +first and second cousins. Girls are generally betrothed in childhood +and should be married before maturity. In the Uriya country if no +suitable husband can be found for a girl she is sometimes made to go +through the marriage ceremony with a peg of mahua wood driven into +the ground and covered over with a cloth. She is then tied to a tree +in the forest and any member of the caste may go and release her, +when she becomes his wife. The Marars of Balaghat and Bhandara have +the _lamjhana_ form of marriage, in which the prospective husband +serves for his wife; this is a Dravidian custom and shows their +connection with the forest tribes. The marriage ceremony follows +the standard form prevalent in the locality. In Betul the couple +go seven times round a slab on which a stone roller is placed, with +their clothes knotted together and holding in their hands a lighted +lamp. The slab and roller may be the implements used in powdering +turmeric. "Among the Marars of Balaghat [167] the maternal uncle +of the bridegroom goes to the village of the bride and brings back +with him the bridal party. The bride's party do not at once cross +the boundary of the bridegroom's village, but will stay outside it +for a few hours. Word is sent and the bridegroom's party will bring +out cooked food, which they eat with the bride's party. This done, +they go to the house of the bridegroom and the bride forthwith walks +five times round a pounding-stone. Next day turmeric is applied to +the couple, and the caste people are given a feast. The essential +portion of the ceremony consists in the rubbing of vermilion on the +foreheads of the couple under the cover of a cloth. The caste permit +the practice of _ralla-palla_ or exchanging sisters in marriage. They +are said to have a custom at weddings known as _kondia_, according +to which a young man of the bridegroom's party, called the _Sand_ +or bull, is shut up in a house at night with all the women of the +bride's party; he is at liberty to seize and have intercourse with +any of them he can catch, while they are allowed to beat him as much +as they like. It is said that he seldom has much cause to congratulate +himself." But the caste have now become ashamed of this custom and it +is being abandoned. In Chhattisgarh the Marars, like other castes, +have the forms of marriage known as the _Badi Shadi_ and _Chhoti +Shadi_ or great and small weddings. The former is an elaborate form +of marriage, taking place at the house of the bride. Those who cannot +afford the expense of this have a 'Small Wedding' at the house of +the bridegroom, at which the rites are curtailed and the expenditure +considerably reduced. + + + + +7. Widow-marriage, divorce and polygamy + +Widow-marriage is permitted. The widower, accompanied by his relatives +and a horn-blower, goes to the house of the widow, and here a space +is plastered with cowdung and the couple sit on two wooden boards +while their clothes are knotted together. In Balaghat [168] the +bridegroom and bride bathe in a tank and on emerging the widow throws +away her old cloth and puts on a new one. After this they walk five +times round a spear planted in the ground. Divorce is permitted and +can be effected by mutual consent of the parties. Like other castes +practising intensive cultivation the Malis marry several wives when +they can afford it, in order to obtain the benefit of their labour +in the vegetable garden; a wife being more industrious and honest +than a hired labourer. But this practice results in large families +and household dissensions, leading to excessive subdivision of +property, and wealthy members of the caste are rare. The standard +of sexual morality is low, and if an unmarried girl goes wrong her +family conceal the fact and sometimes try to procure an abortion. If +these efforts are unsuccessful a feast must be given to the caste and +a lock of the woman's hair is cut off by way of punishment. A young +hard-working wife is never divorced, however bad her character may be, +but an old woman is sometimes abandoned for very little cause. + + + + +8. Disposal of the dead + +The dead may be either buried or burnt; in the former case the corpse +is laid with the feet to the north. Mourning is observed only for +three days and propitiatory offerings are made to the spirits of the +dead. If a man is killed by a tiger his family make a wooden image +of a tiger and worship it. + + + + +9. Religion + +Devi is the principal deity of the Malis. Weddings are celebrated +before her temple and large numbers of goats are sacrificed to the +favourite goddess at her festival in the month of Magh (January). Many +of the Marars of Balaghat are Kabirpanthis and wear the necklace of +that sect; but they appear none the less to intermarry freely with +their Hindu caste-fellows. [169] After the birth of a child it is +stated that all the members of the sept to which the parents belong +remain impure for five days, and no one will take food or water +from them. + + + + +10. Occupation + +The Mali combines the callings of a gardener and nurseryman. "In laying +out a flower-garden and in arranging beds," Mr. Shearing remarks, [170] +"the Mali is exceedingly expert. His powers in this respect are hardly +surpassed by gardeners in England. He lacks of course the excellent +botanical knowledge of many English gardeners, and also the peculiar +skill displayed by them in grafting and crossing, and in watching +the habits of plants. Yet in manipulative labour, especially when +superintended by a European, he is, though much slower in execution, +almost if not quite equal to gardeners at home." They are excellent +and very laborious cultivators, and show much skill in intensive +cultivation and the use of water. Malis are the best sugarcane growers +of Betul and their holdings usually pay a higher rental than those of +other castes. "In Balaghat," Mr. Low remarks, [171] "they are great +growers of tobacco and sugarcane, favouring the alluvial land on the +banks of rivers. They mostly irrigate by a _dhekli_ or dipping lift, +from temporary wells or from water-holes in rivers. The pole of the +lift has a weight at one end and a kerosene tin suspended from the +other. Another form of lift is a hollowed tree trunk worked on a +fulcrum, but this only raises the water a foot or two. The Marars +do general cultivation as well; but as a class are not considered +skilled agriculturists. The proverb about their cultivating status is: + + + Marar, Mali jote tali + Tali margayi, dhare kudali + + +or, 'The Marar yokes cows; if the cow dies he takes to the pickaxe'; +implying that he is not usually rich enough to keep bullocks." The +saying has also a derogatory sense, as no good Hindu would yoke +a cow to the plough. Another form of lift used by the Kachhis is +the Persian wheel. In this two wheels are fixed above the well or +tank and long looped ropes pass over them and down into the well, +between which a line of earthen pots is secured. As the ropes move +on the wheels the pots descend into the well, are filled with water, +brought up, and just after they reach the apex of the wheel and turn +to descend again, the water pours out to a hollow open tree-trunk, +from which a channel conveys it to the field. The wheel which turns +the rope is worked by a man pedalling, but he cannot do more than +about three hours a day. The common lift for gardens is the _mot_ or +bag made of the hide of a bullock or buffalo. This is usually worked +by a pair of bullocks moving forwards down a slope to raise the _mot_ +from the well and backwards up the slope to let it down when empty. + + + + +11. Traits and character + +"It is necessary," the account continues, "for the Marar's business for +one member at least of his family to go to market with his vegetables; +and the Mararin is a noteworthy feature in all bazars, sitting with +her basket or garment spread on the ground, full of white onions and +garlic, purple brinjals and scarlet chillies, with a few handfuls of +strongly flavoured green stuff. Whether from the publicity which it +entails on their women or from whatever cause, the Mararin does not +bear the best of reputations for chastity; and is usually considered +rather a bold, coarse creature. The distinctive feature of her attire +is the way in which she ties up her body-cloth so as to leave a tail +sticking up behind; whence the proverb shouted after her by rude little +boys: 'Jump from roof to roof, Monkey. Pull the tail of the Mararin, +Monkey,' She also rejoices in a very large _tikli_ or spangle on her +forehead and in a peculiar kind of _angia_ (waistcoat). The caste are +usually considered rather clannish and morose. They live in communities +by themselves, and nearly always inhabit a separate hamlet of the +village. The Marars of a certain place are said to have boycotted a +village carpenter who lost an axe belonging to one of their number, +so that he had to leave the neighbourhood for lack of custom." + + + + +12. Other functions of the Mali + +Many Malis live in the towns and keep vegetable- or flower-gardens +just outside. They sell flowers, and the Mali girls are very good +flower-sellers, Major Sutherland says, being famous for their +coquetry. A saying about them is: "The crow among birds, the jackal +among beasts, the barber among men and the Malin among women; all +these are much too clever." The Mali also prepares the _maur_ or +marriage-crown, made from the leaves of the date-palm, both for the +bride and bridegroom at marriages. In return he gets a present of a +rupee, a piece of cloth and a day's food. He also makes the garlands +which are used for presentation at entertainments, and supplies +the daily bunches of flowers which are required as offerings for +Mahadeo. The Mali keeps garlands for sale in the bazar, and when a +well-to-do person passes he goes up and puts a garland round his neck +and expects a present of a pice or two. + + + + +13. Physical appearance + +"Physically," Mr. Low states, "the Marar is rather a poor-looking +creature, dark and undersized; but the women are often not bad looking, +and dressed up in their best at a wedding, rattling their castanets +and waving light-coloured silk handkerchiefs, give a very graceful +dance. The caste are not as a rule celebrated for their cleanliness. A +polite way of addressing a Marar is to call him Patel." + + +Mallah + +_Mallah, Malha_. [172]--A small caste of boatmen and fishermen in +the Jubbulpore and Narsinghpur Districts, which numbered about 5000 +persons in 1911. It is scarcely correct to designate the Mallahs as a +distinct caste, as in both these Districts it appears from inquiry that +the term is synonymous with Kewat. Apparently, however, the Mallahs +do form a separate endogamous group, and owing to many of them having +adopted the profession of growing hemp, a crop which respectable Hindu +castes usually refuse to cultivate, it is probable that they would +not be allowed to intermarry with the Kewats of other Districts. In +the United Provinces Mr. Crooke states that the Mallahs, though, as +their Arabic name indicates, of recent origin, have matured into a +definite social group, including a number of endogamous tribes. The +term Mallah has nothing to do with the Mulla or Muhammadan priest +among the frontier tribes, but comes from an Arabic word meaning +'to be salt,' or, according to another derivation, 'to move the wings +as a bird.' [173] The Mallahs of the Central Provinces are also, in +spite of their Arabic name, a purely Hindu caste. In Narsinghpur they +say that their original ancestor was one Bali or Baliram, who was a +boatman and was so strong that he could carry his boat to the river +and back under his armpit. On one occasion he ferried Rama across the +Ganges in Benares, and it is said that Rama gave him a horse to show +his gratitude; but Baliram was so ignorant that he placed the bridle on +the horse's tail instead of the head. And from this act of Baliram's +arose the custom of having the rudder of a boat at the stern instead +of at the bow. The Mallahs in the Central Provinces appear from their +family names to be immigrants from Bundelkhand. Their customs resemble +those of lower-class Hindus. Girls are usually married under the age +of twelve years, and the remarriage of widows is permitted, while +divorce may be effected in the presence of the _panchayat_ or caste +committee by the husband and wife breaking a straw between them. They +are scantily clothed and are generally poor. A proverb about them says: + + + Jahan bethen Malao + Tahan lage alao, + + +or, 'Where Mallahs sit, there is always a fire.' This refers to their +custom of kindling fires on the river-bank to protect themselves from +cold. In Narsinghpur the Mallahs have found a profitable opening +in the cultivation of hemp, a crop which other Hindu castes until +recently tabooed on account probably of the dirty nature of the process +of cleaning out the fibre and the pollution necessarily caused to +the water-supply. They sow and cut hemp on Sundays and Wednesdays, +which are regarded as auspicious days. They also grow melons, and +will not enter a melon-field with their shoes on or allow a woman +during her periodical impurity to approach it. The Mallahs are poor +and illiterate, but rank with Dhimars and Kewats, and Brahmans will +take water from their hands. + + +Mana + +_Mana_. [174]--A Dravidian caste of cultivators and labourers +belonging to the Chanda District, from which they have spread to +Nagpur, Bhandara and Balaghat. In 1911 they numbered nearly 50,000 +persons, of whom 34,000 belonged to Chanda. The origin of the caste is +obscure. In the _Chanda Settlement Report_ of 1869 Major Lucie Smith +wrote of them: "Tradition asserts that prior to the Gond conquest +the Manas reigned over the country, having their strongholds at +Surajgarh in Ahiri and at Manikgarh in the Manikgarh hills, now of +Hyderabad, and that after a troubled rule of two hundred years they +fell before the Gonds. In appearance they are of the Gond type, and +are strongly and stoutly made; while in character they are hardy, +industrious and truthful. Many warlike traditions still linger among +them, and doubtless in days gone by they did their duty as good +soldiers, but they have long since hung up sword and shield and now +rank among the best cultivators of rice in Chanda." Another local +tradition states that a line of Mana princes ruled at Wairagarh. The +names of three princes are remembered: Kurumpruhoda, the founder of +the line; Surjat Badwaik, who fortified Surjagarh; and Gahilu, who +built Manikgarh. As regards the name Manikgarh, it may be mentioned +that the tutelary deity of the Nagvansi kings of Bastar, who ruled +there before the accession of the present Raj-Gond dynasty in the +fourteenth century, was Manikya Devi, and it is possible that the +chiefs of Wairagarh were connected with the Bastar kings. Some of +the Manas say that they, as well as the Gowaris, are offshoots of +the Gond tribe; and a local saying to the effect that 'The Gond, +the Gowari and the Mana eat boiled juari or beans on leaf-plates' +shows that they are associated together in the popular mind. Hislop +states that the Ojhas, or soothsayers and minstrels of the Gonds, +have a subdivision of Mana Ojhas, who lay claim to special sanctity, +refusing to take food from any other caste. [175] The Gonds have a +subdivision called Mannewar, and as _war_ is only a Telugu suffix +for the plural, the proper name Manne closely resembles Mana. It is +shown in the article on the Parja tribe that the Parjas were a class +of Gonds or a tribe akin to them, who were dominant in Bastar prior +to the later immigration under the ancestors of the present Bastar +dynasty. And the most plausible hypothesis as to the past history of +the Manas is that they were also the rulers of some tracts of Chanda, +and were displaced like the Parjas by a Gond invasion from the south. + +In Bhandara, where the Manas hold land, it is related that in former +times a gigantic kite lived on the hill of Ghurkundi, near Sakoli, +and devoured the crops of the surrounding country by whole fields at +a time. The king of Chanda proclaimed that whoever killed the kite +would be granted the adjoining lands. A Mana shot the kite with an +arrow and its remains were taken to Chanda in eight carts, and as his +reward he received the grant of a zamindari. In appearance the Manas, +or at least some of them, are rather fine men, nor do their complexion +and features show more noticeable traces of aboriginal descent than +those of the local Hindus. But their neighbours in Chanda and Bastar, +the Maria Gonds, are also taller and of a better physical type than +the average Dravidian, so that their physical appearance need not +militate against the above hypothesis. They retained their taste +for fighting until within quite recent times, and in Katol and other +towns below the Satpura hills, Manas were regularly enlisted as a town +guard for repelling the Pindari raids. Their descendants still retain +the ancestral matchlocks, and several of them make good use of these +as professional _shikaris_ or hunters. Many of them are employed as +servants by landowners and moneylenders for the collection of debts or +the protection of crops, and others are proprietors, cultivators and +labourers, while a few even lend money on their own account. Manas hold +three zamindari estates in Bhandara and a few villages in Chanda; here +they are considered to be good cultivators, but have the reputation +as a caste of being very miserly, and though possessed of plenty, +living only on the poorest and coarsest food. [176] The Mana women +are proverbial for the assistance which they render to their husbands +in the work of cultivation. + +Owing to their general adoption of Maratha customs, the Manas are now +commonly regarded as a caste and not a forest tribe, and this view may +be accepted. They have two subcastes, the Badwaik Manas, or soldiers, +and the Khad Manas, who live in the plains and are considered to be of +impure descent. Badwaik or 'The Great Ones' is a titular term applied +to a person carrying arms, and assumed by certain Rajputs and also by +some of the lower castes. A third group of Manas are now amalgamated +with the Kunbis as a regular subdivision of that caste, though they +are regarded as somewhat lower than the others. They have also a +number of exogamous septs of the usual titular and totemistic types, +the few recognisable names being Marathi. It is worth noticing that +several pairs of these septs, as Jamare and Gazbe, Narnari and Chudri, +Wagh and Rawat, and others are prohibited from intermarriage. And this +may be a relic of some wider scheme of division of the type common +among the Australian aborigines. The social customs of the Manas are +the same as those of the other lower Maratha castes, as described in +the articles on Kunbi, Kohli and Mahar. A bride-price of Rs. 12-8 is +usually paid, and if the bridegroom's father has the money, he takes it +with him on going to arrange for the match. Only one married woman of +the bridegroom's family accompanies him to the wedding, and she throws +rice over him five times. Four days in the year are appointed for the +celebration of weddings, the festivals of Shivratri and of Akhatij, and +a day each in the months of Magh (January) and Phagun (February). This +rule, however, is not universal. Brahmans do not usually officiate at +their ceremonies, but they employ a Brahman to prepare the rice which +is thrown over the couples. Marriage within the sept is forbidden, +as well as the union of the children of two sisters. But the practice +of marrying a brother's daughter to a sister's son is a very favourite +one, being known as Mahunchar, and in this respect the Manas resemble +the Gonds. When a widow is to be remarried, she stops on the way by the +bank of a stream as she is proceeding to her new husband's house, and +here her clothes are taken off and buried by an exorcist with a view +to laying the first husband's spirit and preventing it from troubling +the new household. If a woman goes wrong with a man of another caste +she is not finally cast out, but if she has a child she must first +dispose of it to somebody else after it is weaned. She may then be +re-admitted into caste by having her hair shaved off and giving three +feasts; the first is prepared by the caste and eaten outside her house, +the second is prepared by her relatives and eaten within her house, +and at the third the caste reinstate her by partaking of food cooked +by herself. The dead are either buried or burnt; in the former case a +feast is given immediately after the burial and no further mourning +is observed; in the latter the period of mourning is three days. As +among the Gonds, the dead are laid with feet to the north. A woman +is impure for seven days after child-birth. + +The Manas have Bhats or genealogists of their own caste, a separate +one being appointed for each sept. The Bhat of any sept can only accept +gifts from members of that sept, though he may take food from any one +of the caste. The Bhats are in the position of beggars, and the other +Manas will not take food from them. Every man must have a Bhat for +his family under penalty of being temporarily put out of caste. It +is said that the Bhats formerly had books showing the pedigrees of +the different families, but that once in a spirit of arrogance they +placed their shoes upon the books; and the other Manas, not brooking +this insolence, burnt the books. The gravity of such an act may be +realised when it is stated that if anybody even threatens to hit a +Mana with a shoe, the indignity put upon him is so great that he is +temporarily excluded from caste and penalised for readmission. Since +this incident the Bhats have to address the Manas as 'Brahma,' to show +their respect, the Mana replying 'Ram, Ram.' Their women wear short +loin-cloths, exposing part of the thigh, like the Gonds. They eat +pork and drink liquor, but will take cooked food only from Brahmans. + + + + + +Manbhao + + + +1. History and nature of the sect + +_Manbhao_. [177]--A religious sect or order, which has now become a +caste, belonging to the Maratha Districts of the Central Provinces and +to Berar. Their total strength in India in 1911 was 10,000 persons, +of whom the Central Provinces and Berar contained 4000. The name +would appear to have some such meaning as 'The reverend brothers.' The +Manbhaos are stated to be a Vaishnavite order founded in Berar some +two centuries ago. [178] They themselves say that their order is a +thousand years old and that it was founded by one Arjun Bhat, who lived +at Domegaon, near Ahmadnagar. He was a great Sanskrit scholar and a +devotee of Krishna, and preached his doctrines to all except the Impure +castes. Ridhpur, in Berar, is the present headquarters of the order, +and contains a monastery and three temples, dedicated to Krishna and +Dattatreya, [179] the only deities recognised by the Manbhaos. Each +temple is named after a village, and is presided over by a Mahant +elected from the celibate Manbhaos. There are other Mahants, also +known after the names of villages or towns in which the monasteries +over which they preside are located. Among these are Sheone, from +the village near Chandur in Amraoti District; Akulne, a village near +Ahmadnagar; Lasorkar, from Lasor, near Aurangabad; Mehkarkar, from +Mehkar in Buldana; and others. The order thus belongs to Berar and +the adjoining parts of India. Colonel Mackenzie describes Ridhpur as +follows: "The name is said to be derived from _ridh_, meaning blood, +a Rakshas or demon having been killed there by Parasurama, and it +owes its sanctity to the fact that the god lived there. Black stones +innumerable scattered about the town show where the god's footsteps +became visible. At Ridhpur Krishna is represented by an ever-open, +sleeplessly watching eye, and some Manbhaos carry about a small black +stone disk with an eye painted on it as an amulet." Frequently their +shrines contain no images, but are simply _chabutras_ or platforms +built over the place where Krishna or Dattatreya left marks of their +footprints. Over the platform is a small veranda, which the Manbhaos +kiss, calling upon the name of the god. Sukli, in Bhandara, is also +a headquarters of the caste, and contains many Manbhao tombs. Here +they burn camphor in honour of Dattatreya and make offerings of +cocoanuts. They make pilgrimages to the different shrines at the full +moons of Chait (March) and Kartik (October). They pay reverence to no +deities except Krishna and Dattatreya, and observe the festivals of +Gokul Ashtami in August and Datta-Jayantri in December. They consider +the month of Aghan (November) as holy, because Krishna called it +so in the Bhagavat-Gita. This is their sacred book, and they reject +the other Hindu scriptures. Their conception of Krishna is based on +his description of himself to Arjun in the Bhagavat-Gita as follows: +"'Behold things wonderful, never seen before, behold in this my body +the whole world, animate and inanimate. But as thou art unable to +see with these thy natural eyes, I will give thee a heavenly eye, +with which behold my divine connection.' + +"The son of Pandu then beheld within the body of the god of gods +standing together the whole universe divided forth into its vast +variety. He was overwhelmed with wonder and every hair was raised +on end. 'But I am not to be seen as thou hast seen me even by +the assistance of the Vedas, by mortification, by sacrifices, by +charitable gifts: but I am to be seen, to be known in truth, and to +be obtained by that worship which is offered up to me alone: and he +goeth unto me whose works are done for me: who esteemeth me supreme: +who is my servant only: who hath abandoned all consequences, and who +liveth amongst all men without hatred.'" + +Again: "He my servant is dear to me who is free from enmity, the friend +of all nature, merciful, exempt from all pride and selfishness, the +same in pain and in pleasure, patient of wrong, contented, constantly +devout, of subdued passions and firm resolves, and whose mind and +understanding are fixed on me alone." + + + + +2. Divisions of the order + +The Manbhaos are now divided into three classes: the Brahmachari; the +Gharbari; and the Bhope. The Brahmachari are the ascetic members of +the sect who subsist by begging and devote their lives to meditation, +prayer and spiritual instruction. The Gharbari are those who, while +leading a mendicant life, wearing the distinctive black dress of the +order and having their heads shaved, are permitted to get married with +the permission of their Mahant or _guru_. The ceremony is performed in +strict privacy inside a temple. A man sometimes signifies his choice of +a spouse by putting his _jholi_ or beggar's wallet upon hers; if she +lets it remain there, the betrothal is complete. A woman may show her +preference for a man by bringing a pair of garlands and placing one on +his head and the other on that of the image of Krishna. The marriage +is celebrated according to the custom of the Kunbis, but without +feasting or music. Widows are permitted to marry again. Married women +do not wear bangles nor toe-rings nor the customary necklace of beads; +they put on no jewellery, and have no _choli_ or bodice. The Bhope +or Bhoall, the third division of the caste, are wholly secular and +wear no distinctive dress, except sometimes a black head-cloth. They +may engage in any occupation that pleases them, and sometimes act as +servants in the temples of the caste. In Berar they are divided into +thirteen _bas_ or orders, named after the disciples of Arjun Bhat, who +founded the various shrines. The Manbhaos are recruited by initiation +of both men and women from any except the impure castes. Young children +who have been vowed by their parents to a religious life or are left +without relations, are taken into the order. Women usually join it +either as children or late in life. The celibate members, male or +female, live separately in companies like monks and nuns. They do +not travel together, and hold services in their temples at different +times. A woman admitted into the order is henceforward the disciple of +the woman who initiated her by whispering the _guru mantra_ or sacred +verse into her ear. She addresses her preceptress as mother and the +other women as sisters. The Manbhaos are intelligent and generally +literate, and they lead a simple and pure life. They are respectable +and are respected by the people, and a _guru_ or spiritual teacher is +often taken from them in place of a Brahman or Gosain. They often act +as priests or _gurus_ to the Mahars, for whom Brahmans will not perform +these services. Their honesty and humility are proverbial among the +Kunbis, and are in pleasing contrast to the character of many of the +Hindu mendicant orders. They consider it essential that all their +converts should be able to read the Bhagavat-Gita or a commentary +on it, and for this purpose teach them to read and write during the +rainy season when they are assembled at one of their monasteries. + + + + +3. Religious observances and customs + +One of the leading tenets of the Manbhaos is a respect for all forms +of animal and even vegetable life, much on a par with that of the +Jains. They strain water through a cloth before drinking it, and then +delicately wipe the cloth to preserve any insects that may be upon +it. They should not drink water in, and hence cannot reside in, any +village where animal sacrifices are offered to a deity. They will not +cut down a tree nor break off a branch, or even a blade of grass, nor +pluck a fruit or an ear of corn. Some, it is said, will not even bathe +in tanks for fear of destroying insect-life. For this reason also they +readily accept cooked food as alms, so that they may avoid the risk +of the destruction of life involved in cooking. The Manbhaos dislike +the din and noise of towns, and live generally in secluded places, +coming into the towns only to beg. Except in the rains they wander +about from place to place. They beg in the morning, and then return +home and, after bathing and taking their food, read their religious +books. They must always worship Krishna before taking food, and for +this purpose when travelling they carry an image of the deity about +with them. They will take food and water from the higher castes, but +they must not do so from persons of low caste on pain of temporary +excommunication. They neither smoke nor chew tobacco. Both men and +women shave the head clean, and men also the face. This is first done +on initiation by the village barber. But the _sendhi_ or scalp-lock +and moustaches of the novice must be cut off by his _guru_, this being +the special mark of his renunciation of the world. The scalp-locks of +the various candidates are preserved until a sufficient quantity of +hair has been collected, when ropes are made of it, which they fasten +round their loins. This may be because Hindus attach a special efficacy +to the scalp-lock, perhaps as being the seat of a man's strength or +power. The nuns also shave their heads, and generally eschew every kind +of personal adornment. Both monks and nuns usually dress in black or +ashen-grey clothes as a mark of humility, though some have discarded +black in favour of the usual Hindu mendicant colour of red ochre. The +black colour is in keeping with the complexion of Krishna, their +chief god. They dye their cloths with lamp-black mixed with a little +water and oil. They usually sleep on the ground, with the exception of +those who are Mahants, and they sometimes have no metal vessels, but +use bags made of strong cloth for holding food and water. Men's names +have the suffix _Boa_, as Datto Boa, Kesho Boa, while those of boys +end in _da_, as Manoda, Raojida, and those of women in _Bai_, as Gopa +Bai, Som Bai. The dead are buried, not in the common burial-grounds, +but in some waste place. The corpse is laid on its side, facing the +east, with head to the north and feet to the south. A piece of silk +or other valuable cloth is placed on it, on which salt is sprinkled, +and the earth is then filled in and the ground levelled so as to leave +no trace of the grave. No memorial is erected over a Manbhao tomb, +and no mourning nor ceremony of purification is observed, nor are +oblations offered to the spirits of the dead. If the dead man leaves +any property, it is expended on feeding the brotherhood for ten days; +and if not, the Mahant of his order usually does this in his name. + + + + +4. Hostility between Manbhaos and Brahmans + +The Manbhaos are dissenters from orthodox Hinduism, and have thus +naturally incurred the hostility of the Brahmans. Mr. Kitts remarks +of them: [180] "The Brahmans hate the Manbhaos, who have not only +thrown off the Brahmanical yoke themselves, but do much to oppose +the influence of Brahmans among the agriculturists. The Brahmans +represent them as descended from one Krishna Bhat, a Brahman who was +outcasted for keeping a beautiful Mang woman as his mistress. His +four sons were called the _Mang-bhaos_ or Mang brothers." This is an +excellent instance of the Brahman talent for pressing etymology into +their service as an argument, in which respect they resemble the +Jesuits. By asserting that the Manbhaos are descended from a Mang +woman, one of the most despised castes, they attempt to dispose of +these enemies of a Brahman hegemony without further ado. + +Another story about their wearing black or ashen-coloured clothes +related by Colonel Mackenzie is that Krishna Bhat's followers, +refusing to believe the aspersions cast on their leader by the +Brahmans, but knowing that some one among them had been guilty of the +sin imputed to him, determined to decide the matter by the ordeal of +fire. Having made a fire, they cast into it their own clothes and +those of their _guru_, each man having previously written his name +on his garments. The sacred fire made short work of all the clothes +except those of Krishna Bhat, which it rejected and refused to burn, +thereby forcing the unwilling disciples to believe that the finger +of God pointed to their revered _guru_ as the sinner. In spite of the +shock of thus discovering that their idol had feet of very human clay, +they still continued to regard Krishna Bhat's precepts as good and +worthy of being followed, only stipulating that for all time Manbhaos +should wear clothes the colour of ashes, in memory of the sacred fire +which had disclosed to them their _guru's_ sin. + +Captain Mackintosh also relates that "About A.D. 1780, a Brahman named +Anand Rishi, an inhabitant of Paithan on the Godavari, maltreated +a Manbhao, who came to ask for alms at his door. This Manbhao, +after being beaten, proceeded to his friends in the vicinity, and +they collected a large number of brethren and went to the Brahman +to demand satisfaction; Anand Rishi assembled a number of Gosains +and his friends, and pursued and attacked the Manbhaos, who fled and +asked Ahalya Bai, Rani of Indore, to protect them; she endeavoured to +pacify Anand Rishi by telling him that the Manbhaos were her _gurus_; +he said that they were Mangs, but declared that if they agreed to +his proposals he would forgive them; one of them was that they were +not to go to a Brahman's house to ask for alms, and another that if +any Brahman repeated Anand Rishi's name and drew a line across the +road when a Manbhao was advancing, the Manbhao, without saying a +word, must return the road he came. Notwithstanding this attempt to +prevent their approaching a Brahman's house, they continue to ask +alms of the Brahmans, and some Brahmans make a point of supplying +them with provisions." + +This story endeavours to explain a superstition still observed by +the caste. This is that when a Manbhao is proceeding along a road, +if any one draws a line across the road with a stick in front of him +the Manbhao will wait without passing the line until some one else +comes up and crosses it before him. In reality this is probably a +primitive superstition similar to that which makes a man stop when +a snake has crossed the road in front of him and efface its track +before proceeding. It is said that the members of the order also +carry their sticks upside down, and a saying is repeated about them: + + + Manbhao hokar kale kapre darhi muchi mundhata hai, + Ulti lakri hath men pakri woh kya Sahib milta hai; + + +or, "The Manbhao wears black clothes, shaves his face and holds his +stick upside down, and thinks he will find God that way." + +This saying is attributed to Kabir. + + + + + +Mang + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin and traditions_. + 2. _Subdivisions_. + 3. _Marriage_. + 4. _Widow-marriage._ + 5. _Burial_. + 6. _Occupation_. + 7. _Religion and social status_. + + + + +1. Origin and traditions + +_Mang._ [181]--A low impure caste of the Maratha Districts, who +act as village musicians and castrate bullocks, while their women +serve as midwives. The Mangs are also sometimes known as Vajantri +or musician. They numbered more than 90,000 persons in 1911, of whom +30,000 belonged to the Nagpur and Nerbudda Divisions of the Central +Provinces, and 60,000 to Berar. The real origin of the Mangs is +obscure, but they probably originated from the subject tribes and +became a caste through the adoption of the menial services which +constitute their profession. In a Maratha book called the Shudra +Kamlakar [182], it is stated that the Mang was the offspring of +the union of a Vaideh man and an Ambashtha woman. A Vaideh was the +illegitimate child of a Vaishya father and a Brahman mother, and an +Ambashtha of a Brahman father and a Vaishya mother. The business +of the Mang was to play on the flute and to make known the wishes +of the Raja to his subjects by beat of drum. He was to live in the +forest or outside the village, and was not to enter it except with +the Raja's permission. He was to remove the dead bodies of strangers, +to hang criminals, and to take away and appropriate the clothes and +bedding of the dead. The Mangs themselves relate the following legend +of their origin as given by Mr. Sathe: Long ago before cattle were used +for ploughing, there was so terrible a famine upon the earth that all +the grain was eaten up, and there was none left for seed. Mahadeo took +pity on the few men who were left alive, and gave them some grain for +sowing. In those days men used to drag the plough through the earth +themselves. But when a Kunbi, to whom Mahadeo had given some seed, went +to try and sow it, he and his family were so emaciated by hunger that +they were unable, in spite of their united efforts, to get the plough +through the ground. In this pitiable case the Kunbi besought Mahadeo +to give him some further assistance, and Mahadeo then appeared, and, +bringing with him the bull Nandi, upon which he rode, told the Kunbi to +yoke it to the plough. This was done, and so long as Mahadeo remained +present, Nandi dragged the plough peaceably and successfully. But as +soon as the god disappeared, the bull became restive and refused to +work any longer. The Kunbi being helpless, again complained to Mahadeo, +when the god appeared, and in his wrath at the conduct of the bull, +great drops of perspiration stood upon his brow. One of these fell to +the ground, and immediately a coal-black man sprang up and stood ready +to do Mahadeo's bidding. He was ordered to bring the bull to reason, +and he went and castrated it, after which it worked well and quietly; +and since then the Kunbis have always used bullocks for ploughing, +and the descendants of the man, who was the first Mang, are employed +in the office for which he was created. It is further related that +Nandi, the bull, cursed the Mang in his pain, saying that he and +his descendants should never derive any profit from ploughing with +cattle. And the Mangs say that to this day none of them prosper by +taking to cultivation, and quote the following proverb: '_Keli kheti, +Zhali mati_,' or, 'If a Mang sows grain he will only reap dust.' + + + + +2. Subdivisions + +The caste is divided into the following subcastes: Dakhne, Khandeshe +and Berarya, or those belonging to the Deccan, Khandesh and Berar; +Ghodke, those who tend horses; Dafle, tom-tom players; Uchle, +pickpockets; Pindari, descendants of the old freebooters; Kakarkadhe, +stone-diggers; Holer, hide-curers; and Garori. The Garoris [183] are +a sept of vagrant snake-charmers and jugglers. Many are professional +criminals. + + + + +3. Marriage + +The caste is divided into exogamous family groups named after animals +or other objects, or of a titular nature. One or two have the names +of other castes. Members of the same group may not intermarry. Those +who are well-to-do marry their daughters very young for the sake +of social estimation, but there is no compulsion in this matter. In +families which are particularly friendly, Mr. Sathe remarks, children +may be betrothed before birth if the two mothers are with child +together. Betel is distributed, and a definite contract is made, +on the supposition that a boy and girl will be born. Sometimes the +abdomen of each woman is marked with red vermilion. A grown-up girl +should not be allowed to see her husband's face before marriage. The +wedding is held at the bride's house, but if it is more convenient +that it should be in the bridegroom's village, a temporary house is +found for the bride's party, and the marriage-shed is built in front +of it. The bride must wear a yellow bodice and cloth, yellow and red +being generally considered among Hindus as the auspicious colours +for weddings. When she leaves for her husband's house she puts on +another or going-away dress, which should be as fine as the family +can afford, and thereafter she may wear any colour except white. The +distinguishing marks of a married woman are the _mangal-sutram_ or holy +thread, which her husband ties on her neck at marriage; the _garsoli_ +or string of black beads round the neck; the silver toe-rings and glass +bangles. If any one of these is lost, it must be replaced at once, or +she is likely soon to be a widow. The food served at the wedding-feast +consists of rice and pulse, but more essential than these is an ample +provision of liquor. It is a necessary feature of a Mang wedding +that the bridegroom should go to it riding on a horse. The Mahars, +another low caste of the Maratha Districts, worship the horse, and +between them and the Mangs there exists a long-standing feud, so that +they do not, if they can help it, drink of the same well. The sight +of a Mang riding on a horse is thus gall and wormwood to the Mahars, +who consider it a terrible degradation to the noble animal, and this +fact inflaming their natural enmity, formerly led to riots between +the castes. Under native rule the Mangs were public executioners, +and it was said to be the proudest moment of Mang's life when he +could perform his office on a Mahar. + +The bride proceeds to her husband's house for a short visit immediately +after the marriage, and then goes home again. Thereafter, till such +time as she finally goes to live with him, she makes brief visits for +festivals or on other social occasions, or to help her mother-in-law, +if her assistance is required. If the mother-in-law is ill and requires +somebody to wait on her, or if she is a shrew and wants some one to +bully, or if she has strict ideas of discipline and wishes personally +to conduct the bride's training for married life, she makes the girl +come more frequently and stay longer. + + + + +4. Widow marriage + +The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow may marry any one +except persons of her own family group or her husband's elder brother, +who stands to her in the light of a father. She is permitted, but +not obliged, to marry her husband's younger brother, but if he has +performed the dead man's obsequies, she may not marry him, as this act +has placed him in the relation of a son to her deceased husband. More +usually the widow marries some one in another village, because the +remarriage is always held in some slight disrepute, and she prefers +to be at a distance from her first husband's family. Divorce is said +to be permitted only for persistent misconduct on the part of the wife. + + + + +5. Burial + +The caste always bury the dead and observe mourning only for three +days. On returning from a burial they all get drunk, and then go to +the house of the deceased and chew the bitter leaves of the _nim_ +tree (_Melia indica_). These they then spit out of their mouths to +indicate their complete severance from the dead man. + + + + +6. Occupation + +The caste beat drums at village festivals, and castrate cattle, +and they also make brooms and mats of date-palm and keep leeches for +blood-letting. Some of them are village watchmen and their women act +as midwives. As soon as a baby is born, the midwife blows into its +mouth, ears and nose in order to clear them of any impediments. When +a man is initiated by a _guru_ or spiritual preceptor, the latter +blows into his ear, and the Mangs therefore say that on account of +this act of the midwife they are the _gurus_ of all Hindus. During +an eclipse the Mangs beg, because the demons Rahu and Ketu, who +are believed to swallow the sun and moon on such occasions, were +both Mangs, and devout Hindus give alms to their fellow-castemen in +order to appease them. Those of them who are thieves are said not to +steal from the persons of a woman, a bangle-seller, a Lingayat Mali +or another Mang. [184] In Maratha villages they sometimes take the +place of Chamars, and work in leather, and one writer says of them: +"The Mang is a village menial in the Maratha villages, making all +leather ropes, thongs and whips, which are used by the cultivators; +he frequently acts as watchman; he is by profession a thief and +executioner; he readily hires himself as an assassin, and when he +commits a robbery he also frequently murders." In his menial capacity +he receives presents at seed-time and harvest, and it is said that the +Kunbi will never send the Mang empty away, because he represents the +wrath of Mahadeo, being made from the god's sweat when he was angry. + + + + +7. Religion and social status + +The caste especially venerate the goddess Devi. They apparently +identify Devi with Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom, and they have a +story to the effect that once Brahma wished to ravish his daughter +Saraswati. She fled from him and went to all the gods, but none of +them would protect her for fear of Brahma. At last in despair she +came to a Mang's house, and the Mang stood in the door and kept off +Brahma with a wooden club. In return for this Saraswati blessed him +and said that he and his descendants should never lack for food. They +also revere Mahadeo, and on every Monday they worship the cow, placing +vermilion on her forehead and washing her feet. The cat is regarded as +a sacred animal, and a Mang's most solemn oath is sworn on a cat. A +house is defiled if a cat or a dog dies or a cat has kittens in it, +and all the earthen pots must be broken. If a man accidentally kills +a cat or a dog a heavy penance is exacted, and two feasts must be +given to the caste. To kill an ass or a monkey is a sin only less +heinous. A man is also put out of caste if kicked or beaten with a +shoe by any one of another caste, even a Brahman, or if he is struck +with the _kathri_ or mattress made of rags which the villagers put +on their sleeping-cots. Mr. Gayer remarks [185] that "The Mangs show +great respect for the bamboo; and at a marriage the bridal couple +are made to stand in a bamboo basket. They also reverence the _nim_ +tree, and the Mangs of Sholapur spread _hariali_ [186] grass and _nim_ +leaves on the spot where one of their caste dies." The social status +of the Mangs is of the lowest. They usually live in a separate quarter +of the village and have a well for their own use. They may not enter +temples. It is recorded that under native rule the Mahars and Mangs +were not allowed within the gates of Poona between 3 P.M. and 9 A.M., +because before nine and after three their bodies cast too long a +shadow; and whenever their shadow fell upon a Brahman it polluted him, +so that he dare not taste food or water until he had bathed and washed +the impurity away. So also no low-caste man was allowed to live in +a walled town; cattle and dogs could freely enter and remain but not +the Mahar or Mang. [187] The caste will eat the flesh of pigs, rats, +crocodiles and jackals and the leavings of others, and some of them +will eat beef. Men may be distinguished by the _senai_ flute which they +carry and by a large ring of gold or brass worn in the lobe of the +ear. A Mang's sign-manual is a representation of his _bhall-singara_ +or castration-knife. Women are tattooed before marriage, with dots on +the forehead, nose, cheeks and chin, and with figures of a date-palm +on the forearm, a scorpion on the palm of the hand, and flies on the +fingers. The caste do not bear a good character, and it is said of +a cruel man, '_Mang-Nirdayi_,' or 'Hardhearted as a Mang.' + + +Mang-Garori + +_Mang-Garori._--This is a criminal subdivision of the Mang caste, +residing principally in Berar. They were not separately recorded at +the census. The name Garori appears to be a corruption of Garudi, +and signifies a snake-charmer. [188] Garuda, the Brahminy kite, the +bird on which Vishnu rides, was the great subduer of snakes, and hence +probably snake-charmers are called Garudi. Some of the Mang-Garoris are +snake-charmers, and this may have been the original occupation of the +caste, though the bulk of them now appear to live by dealing in cattle +and thieving. The following notice of them is abstracted from Major +Gunthorpe's _Notes on Criminal Tribes_. [189] They usually travel about +with small _pals_ or tents, taking their wives, children, buffaloes +and dogs with them. The men are well set up and tall. Their costume +is something like that worn by professional gymnasts, consisting +of light and short reddish-brown drawers (_chaddi_), a waistband +with fringe at either end (_katchhe_), and a sheet thrown over the +shoulders. The Naik or headman of the camp may be recognised by his +wearing some red woollen cloth about his person or a red shawl over his +shoulders. The women have short _saris_ (body-cloths), usually of blue, +and tied in the Telugu fashion. They are generally very violent when +any attempt is made to search an encampment, especially if there is +stolen property concealed in it. Instances have been known of their +seizing their infants by the ankles and swinging them round their +heads, declaring they would continue doing so till the children died, +if the police did not leave the camp. Sometimes also the women of a +gang have been known to throw off all their clothing and appear in a +perfect state of nudity, declaring they would charge the police with +violating their modesty. Men of this tribe are expert cattle-lifters, +but confine themselves chiefly to buffaloes, which they steal while out +grazing and very dexterously disguise by trimming the horns and firing, +so as to avoid recognition by their rightful owners. To steal goats +and sheep is also one of their favourite occupations, and they will +either carry the animals off from their pens at night or kill them +while out grazing, in the following manner: having marked a sheep or +goat which is feeding farthest away from the flock, the thief awaits +his opportunity till the shepherd's back is turned, when the animal is +quickly captured. Placing his foot on the back of the neck near the +head, and seizing it under the chin with his right hand, the thief +breaks the animal's neck by a sudden jerk; he then throws the body +into a bush or in some dip in the ground to hide it, and walks away, +watching from a distance. The shepherd, ignorant of the loss of one +of his animals, goes on leisurely driving his flock before him, and +when he is well out of sight the Mang-Garori removes the captured +carcase to his encampment. Great care is taken that the skin, horns +and hoofs should be immediately burnt so as to avoid detection. Their +ostensible occupation is to trade in barren half-starved buffaloes +and buffalo calves, or in country ponies. They also purchase from +Gaoli herdsmen barren buffaloes, which they profess to be able to make +fertile; if successful they return them for double the purchase-money, +but if not, having obtained if possible some earnest-money, they +abscond and sell the animals at a distance. [190] Like the Bhamtas, +the Mang-Garoris, Major Gunthorpe states, make it a rule not to give +a girl in marriage until the intended husband has proved himself +an efficient thief. Mr. Gayer [191] writes as follows of the caste: +"I do not think Major Gunthorpe lays sufficient emphasis on the part +taken by the women in crimes, for they apparently do by far the major +part of the thieving, Sherring says the men never commit house-breaking +and very seldom rob on the highway: he calls them 'wanderers, showmen, +jugglers and conjurors,' and describes them as robbers who get their +information by performing before the houses of rich bankers and +others. Mang-Garori [192] women steal in markets and other places of +public resort. They wait to see somebody put down his clothes or bag +of rupees and watch till his attention is attracted elsewhere, when, +walking up quietly between the article and its owner, they drop their +petticoat either over or by it, and manage to transfer the stolen +property into their basket while picking up the petticoat. If an +unfavourable omen occurs on the way when the women set out to pilfer +they place a stone on the ground and dash another on to it saying, +'If the obstacle is removed, break'; if the stone struck is broken, +they consider that the obstacle portended by the unfavourable omen +is removed from their path, and proceed on their way; but if not, +they return. Stolen articles are often bartered at liquor-shops for +drink, and the Kalars act as receivers of stolen property for the +Mang-Garoris." + +The following are some particulars taken from an old account of the +criminal Mangs; [193] Their leader or headman was called the _naik_ +and was elected by a majority of votes, though considerable regard +was paid to heredity. The _naik's_ person and property were alike +inviolable; after a successful foray each of the gang contributed a +quarter of his share to the _naik_, and from the fund thus made up +were defrayed the expenses of preparation, religious offerings and +the triumphal feast. A pair of shoes were usually given to a Brahman +and alms to the poor. To each band was attached an informer, who was +also receiver of the stolen goods. These persons were usually bangle- +or perfume-sellers or jewellers. In this capacity they were admitted +into the women's apartments and so enabled to form a correct notion +of the topography of a house and a shrewd guess as to the wealth +of its inmates. Like all barbarous tribes and all persons addicted +to criminal practices the Mangs were extremely superstitious. They +never set out on an expedition on a Friday. After the birth of a child +the mother and another woman stood on opposite sides of the cradle, +and the former tossed her child to the other, commending it to the +mercy of Jai Gopal, and waited to receive it back in like manner in +the name of Jai Govind. Both Gopal and Govind are names of Krishna, +The Mangs usually married young in life. If a girl happened to hang +heavy on hand she was married at the age of puberty to the deity. In +other words, she was attached as a prostitute to the temple of the god +Khandoba or the goddess Yellama. Those belonging to the service of +the latter were wont in the month of February to parade the streets +in a state of utter nudity. When a bachelor wished to marry a widow +he was first united to a swallow-wort plant, and this was immediately +dug up and transplanted, and withering away left him at liberty to +marry the widow. If a lady survived the sorrow caused by the death +of two or three husbands she could not again enter the holy state +unless she consented to be married with a fowl under her armpit; +the unfortunate bird being afterwards killed to appease the manes of +her former consorts. + + +Manihar + +_Manihar._ [194]--A small caste of pedlars and hawkers. In northern +India the Manihars are makers of glass bangles, and correspond to the +Kachera caste of the Central Provinces. Mr. Nesfield remarks [195] +that the special industry of the Manihars of the United Provinces is +the making of glass bangles or bracelets. These are an indispensable +adjunct to the domestic life of the Hindu woman; for the glass bangle +is not worn for personal ornament, but as the badge of the matrimonial +state, like the wedding-ring in Europe. But in the Central Provinces +glass bangles are made by the Kacheras and the Muhammadan Turkaris +or Sisgars, and the Manihars are petty hawkers of stationery and +articles for the toilet, such as miniature looking-glasses, boxes, +stockings, needles and thread, spangles, and imitation jewellery; and +Hindu Jogis and others who take to this occupation are accustomed to +give their caste as Manihar. In 1911 nearly 700 persons belonging to +the caste were returned from the northern Districts of the Central +Provinces. The Manihars are nominally Muhammadans, but they retain +many Hindu customs. At their weddings they erect a marriage-tent, +anoint the couple with oil and turmeric and make them wear a _kankan_ +or wrist-band, to which is attached a small purse containing a little +mustard-seed and a silver ring. The mustard is intended to scare away +the evil spirits. When the marriage procession reaches the bride's +village it is met by her people, one of whom holds a bamboo in his +hands and bars the advance of the procession. The bridegroom's father +thereupon makes a present of a rupee to the village _panchayat_, +and his people are allowed to proceed. When the bridegroom reaches +the bride's house he finds her younger sister carrying a _kalas_ +or pot of water on her head; he drops a rupee into it and enters the +house. The bride's sister then comes holding above her head a small +frame like a _tazia_ [196] with a cocoanut core hanging inside. She +raises the frame as high as she can to prevent the bridegroom from +plucking out the cocoanut core, which, however, he succeeds in doing +in the end. The girl applies powdered _mehndi_ or henna to the little +finger of the boy's right hand, in return for which she receives a +rupee and a piece of cloth. The Kazi then recites verses from the +Koran which the bridegroom repeats after him, and the bride does the +same in her turn. This is the Nikah or marriage proper, and before +it takes place the bridegroom's father must present a nose-ring to +the bride. The parents also fix the Meher or dowry, which, however, +is not a dowry proper, but a stipulation that if the bridegroom +should put away his wife after marriage he will pay her a certain +agreed sum. After the Nikah the bridegroom is given some spices, +which he grinds on a slab with a roller. He must do the grinding very +slowly and gently so as to make no noise, or it is believed that +the married life of the couple will be broken by quarrels. A widow +is permitted to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband, +but not his elder brother. The caste bury their dead with the head to +the north. The corpse is first bathed and wrapped in a new white sheet, +with another sheet over it, and is then laid on a cot or in a _janaza_ +or coffin. While it is being carried to the cemetery the bearers are +changed every few steps, so that every man who accompanies the funeral +may carry the corpse for a short distance. When it is lowered into +the grave the sheet is taken off and given to a Fakir or beggar. When +the body is covered with earth the priest reads the funeral verses +at a distance of forty steps from the grave. Feasts are given to the +caste-fellows on the third, tenth, twentieth and fortieth days after +the death. The Manihars observe the Shabrat festival by distributing to +the caste-fellows _halua_ or a mixture of melted butter and flour. The +Shabrat is the middle night of the month Shaban, and Muhammad declared +that on this night God registers the actions which every man will +perform during the following year, and all those who are fated to die +and the children who are to be born. Like Hindu widows the Manihar +women break their bangles when their husband's corpse is removed to +the burial-ground. The Manihars eat flesh, but not beef or pork; and +they also abstain from alcoholic liquor. If a girl is seduced and made +pregnant before marriage either by a man of the caste or an outsider, +she remains in her father's house until her child has been born, +and may then be married either to her paramour or any other man of +the caste by the simple repetition of the Nikah or marriage verses, +omitting all other ceremonies. The Manihars will admit into their +community converted Hindus belonging even to the lowest castes. + + +Mannewar + +_Mannewar._ [197]--A small tribe belonging to the south or +Telugu-speaking portion of the Chanda District, where they mustered +about 1600 persons in 1911. The home of the tribe is the Hyderabad +State, where it numbers 22,000 persons, and the Mannewars are said +to have once been dominant over a part of that territory. The name +is derived from a Telugu word _mannem_, meaning forest, while _war_ +is the plural termination in Telugu, Mannewar thus signifying 'the +people of the forest.' The tribe appear to be the inferior branch +of the Koya Gonds, and they are commonly called Mannewar Koyas as +opposed to the Koya Doras or the superior branch, Dora meaning 'lord' +or master. The Koya Doras thus correspond to the Raj-Gonds of the +north of the Province and the Mannewar Koyas to the Dhur or 'dust' +Gonds. [198] The tribe is divided into three exogamous groups: the +Nalugu Velpulu worshipping four gods, the Ayidu Velpulu worshipping +five, and the Anu Velpulu six. A man must marry a woman of one of +the divisions worshipping a different number of gods from his own, +but the Mannewars do not appear to know the names of these gods, and +consequently no veneration can be paid to them at present, and they +survive solely for the purpose of regulating marriage. When a betrothal +is made a day is fixed for taking an omen. In the early morning the +boy who is to be married has his face washed and turmeric smeared +on his feet, and is seated on a wooden seat inside the house. The +elders of the village then proceed outside it towards the rising +sun and watch for any omen given by an animal or bird crossing their +path. If this is good the marriage is celebrated, and if bad the match +is broken off. In the former case five of the elders take their food on +returning from the search for the omen and immediately proceed to the +bride's village. Here they are met by the Pesamuda or village priest, +and stay for three days, when the amount of the dowry is settled and +a date fixed for the wedding. The marriage ceremony resembles that +of the low Telugu castes. The couple are seated on a plough-yoke, +and coloured rice is thrown on to their heads, and the bridegroom +ties the _mangalya_ or bead necklace, which is the sign of marriage, +round the neck of the bride. If a girl is deformed, or has some other +drawback which prevents her from being sought in marriage, she is +given away with her sister to a first cousin [199] or some other near +relative, the two sisters being married to him together. A widow may +marry any man of the tribe except her first husband's brothers. If +a man takes a widow to his house without marrying her he is fined +three rupees, while for adultery with a married woman the penalty is +twenty rupees. A divorce can always be obtained, but if the husband +demands it he is mulcted of twenty rupees by the caste committee, +while a wife who seeks a divorce must pay ten rupees. The Mannewars +make an offering of a fowl and some liquor to the ploughshare on the +festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. After the picking of the flowers of +the mahua [200] they worship that tree, offering to it some of the +liquor distilled from the new flowers, with a fowl and a goat. This +is known as the Burri festival. At the Holi feast the Mannewars make +two human figures to represent Kami and Rati, or the god of love and +his wife. The male figure is then thrown on to the Holi fire with a +live chicken or an egg. This may be a reminiscence of a former human +sacrifice, which was a common custom in many parts of the world at the +spring festival. The caste usually bury the dead, but are beginning +to adopt cremation. They do not employ Brahmans for their ceremonies +and eat all kinds of food, including the flesh of pigs, fowls and +crocodiles, but in view of their having nominally adopted Hinduism, +they abstain from beef. + + + + + +Maratha + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Numerical statistics_. + 2. _Double meaning of the term Maratha_. + 3. _Origin and position of the caste_. + 4. _Exogamous clans_. + 5. _Other subdivisions_. + 6. _Social customs_. + 7. _Religion_. + 8. _Present position of the caste_. + 9. _Nature of the Maratha insurrection_. + 10. _Maratha women in past times_. + 11. _The Maratha horseman_. + 12. _Cavalry in the field_. + 13. _Military administration_. + 14. _Sitting Dharna_. + 15. _The infantry_. + 16. _Character of the Maratha armies_. + + + + +1. Numerical statistics + +_Maratha, Mahratta._--The military caste of southern India which manned +the armies of Sivaji, and of the Peshwa and other princes of the +Maratha confederacy. In the Central Provinces the Marathas numbered +34,000 persons in 1911, of whom Nagpur contained 9000 and Wardha +8000, while the remainder were distributed over Raipur, Hoshangabad +and Nimar. In Berar their strength was 60,000 persons, the total for +the combined province being thus 94,000. The caste is found in large +numbers in Bombay and Hyderabad, and in 1901 the India Census tables +show a total of not less than five million persons belonging to it. + + + + +2. Double meaning of the term Maratha + +It is difficult to avoid confusion in the use of the term Maratha, +which signifies both an inhabitant of the area in which the +Marathi language is spoken, and a member of the caste to which +the general name has in view of their historical importance been +specifically applied. The native name for the Marathi-speaking +country is Maharashtra, which has been variously interpreted as +'The great country' or 'The country of the Mahars.' [201] A third +explanation of the name is from the Rashtrakuta dynasty which was +dominant in this area for some centuries after A.D. 750. The name +Rashtrakuta was contracted into Rattha, and with the prefix of Maha +or Great might evolve into the term Maratha. The Rashtrakutas have +been conjecturally identified with the Rathor Rajputs. The _Nasik +Gazetteer_ [202] states that in 246 B.C. Maharatta is mentioned as +one of the places to which Asoka sent an embassy, and Maharashtraka +is recorded in a Chalukyan inscription of A.D. 580 as including three +provinces and 99,000 villages. Several other references are given +in Sir J. Campbell's erudite note, and the name is therefore without +doubt ancient. But the Marathas as a people do not seem to be mentioned +before the thirteenth or fourteenth century. [203] The antiquity of +the name would appear to militate against the derivation from the +Rashtrakuta dynasty, which did not become prominent till much later, +and the most probable meaning of Maharashtra would therefore seem to +be 'The country of the Mahars.' Maharatta and Maratha are presumably +derivatives from Maharashtra. + + + + +3. Origin and position of the caste + +The Marathas are a caste formed from military service, and it seems +probable that they sprang mainly from the peasant population of Kunbis, +though at what period they were formed into a separate caste has not +yet been determined. Grant-Duff mentions several of their leading +families as holding offices under the Muhammadan rulers of Bijapur and +Ahmadnagar in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as the Nimbhalkar, +Gharpure and Bhonsla; [204] and presumably their clansmen served in the +armies of those states. But whether or no the designation of Maratha +had been previously used by them, it first became prominent during the +period of Sivaji's guerilla warfare against Aurangzeb. The Marathas +claim a Rajput origin, and several of their clans have the names of +Rajput tribes, as Chauhan, Panwar, Solanki and Suryavansi. In 1836 +Mr. Enthoven states, [205] the Sesodia Rana of Udaipur, the head of +the purest Rajput house, was satisfied from inquiries conducted by an +agent that the Bhonslas and certain other families had a right to be +recognised as Rajputs. Colonel Tod states that Sivaji was descended +from a Rajput prince Sujunsi, who was expelled from Mewar to avoid +a dispute about the succession about A.D. 1300. Sivaji is shown as +13th in descent from Sujunsi. Similarly the Bhonslas of Nagpur were +said to derive their origin from one Bunbir, who was expelled from +Udaipur about 1541, having attempted to usurp the kingdom. [206] +As Rajput dynasties ruled in the Deccan for some centuries before +the Muhammadan conquest, it seems reasonable to suppose that a Rajput +aristocracy may have taken root there. This was Colonel Tod's opinion, +who wrote: "These kingdoms of the south as well as the north were +held by Rajput sovereigns, whose offspring, blending with the original +population, produced that mixed race of Marathas inheriting with the +names the warlike propensities of their ancestors, but who assume the +names of their abodes as titles, as the Nimalkars, the Phalkias, the +Patunkars, instead of their tribes of Jadon, Tuear, Puear, etc." [207] +This statement would, however, apply only to the leading houses and +not to the bulk of the Maratha caste, who appear to be mainly derived +from the Kunbis. In Sholapur the Marathas and Kunbis eat together, +and the Kunbis are said to be bastard Marathas. [208] In Satara the +Kunbis have the same division into 96 clans as the Marathas have, and +many of the same surnames. [209] The writer of the _Satara Gazetteer_ +says: [210] "The census of 1851 included the Marathas with the Kunbis, +from whom they do not form a separate caste. Some Maratha families +may have a larger strain of northern or Rajput blood than the Kunbis, +but this is not always the case. The distinction between Kunbis +and Marathas is almost entirely social, the Marathas as a rule being +better off, and preferring even service as a constable or messenger to +husbandry." Exactly the same state of affairs prevails in the Central +Provinces and Berar, where the body of the caste are commonly known +as Maratha Kunbis. In Bombay the Marathas will take daughters from +the Kunbis in marriage for their sons, though they will not give +their daughters in return. But a Kunbi who has got on in the world +and become wealthy may by sufficient payment get his sons married into +Maratha families, and even be adopted as a member of the caste. [211] +In 1798 Colonel Tone, who commanded a regiment of the Peshwa's army, +wrote [212] of the Marathas: "The three great tribes which compose the +Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, the Dhangar or shepherd, and the +Goala or cowherd; to this original cause may perhaps be ascribed that +great simplicity of manner which distinguishes the Maratha people." + +It seems then most probable that, as already stated, the Maratha +caste was of purely military origin, constituted from the various +castes of Maharashtra who adopted military service, though some of +the leading families may have had Rajputs for their ancestors. Sir +D. Ibbetson thought that a similar relation existed in past times +between the Rajputs and Jats, the landed aristocracy of the Jat caste +being gradually admitted to Rajput rank. The Khandaits or swordsmen of +Orissa are a caste formed in the same manner from military service. In +the _Imperial Gazetteer_ Sir H. Risley suggests that the Maratha +people were of Scythian origin: + +"The physical type of the people of this region accords fairly +well with this theory, while the arguments derived from language +and religion do not seem to conflict with it.... On this view the +wide-ranging forays of the Marathas, their guerilla methods of warfare, +their unscrupulous dealings with friend and foe, their genius for +intrigue and their consequent failure to build up an enduring dominion, +might well be regarded as inherited from their Scythian ancestors." + + + + +4. Exogamous clans + +In the Central Provinces the Marathas are divided into 96 exogamous +clans, known as the Chhanava Kule, which marry with one another. During +the period when the Bhonsla family were rulers of Nagpur they +constituted a sort of inner circle, consisting of seven of the +leading clans, with whom alone they intermarried; these are known +as the Satghare or Seven Houses, and consist of the Bhonsla, Gujar, +Ahirrao, Mahadik, Sirke, Palke and Mohte clans. These houses at one +time formed an endogamous group, marrying only among themselves, but +recently the restriction has been relaxed, and they have arranged +marriages with other Maratha families. It may be noted that the +present representatives of the Bhonsla family are of the Gujar clan +to which the last Raja of Nagpur, Raghuji III., belonged prior to +his adoption. Several of the clans, as already noted, have Rajput +sept names; and some are considered to be derived from those of +former ruling dynasties; as Chalke, from the Chalukya Rajput kings +of the Deccan and Carnatic; More, who may represent a branch of the +great Maurya dynasty of northern India; Salunke, perhaps derived +from the Solanki kings of Gujarat; and Yadav, the name of the kings +of Deogiri or Daulatabad. [213] Others appear to be named after +animals or natural objects, as Sinde from _sindi_ the date-palm tree, +Ghorpade from _ghorpad_ the iguana; or to be of a titular nature, as +Kale black, Pandhre white, Bhagore a renegade, Jagthap renowned, and +so on. The More, Nimbhalkar, Ghatge, Mane, Ghorpade, Dafle, Jadav and +Bhonsla clans are the oldest, and held prominent positions in the old +Muhammadan kingdoms of Bijapur and Ahmadnagar. The Nimbhalkar family +were formerly Panwar Rajputs, and took the name of Nimbhalkar from +their ancestral village Nimbalik. The Ghorpade family are an offshoot +of the Bhonslas, and obtained their present name from the exploit of +one of their ancestors, who scaled a fort in the Konkan, previously +deemed impregnable, by passing a cord round the body of a _ghorpad_ +or iguana. [214] A noticeable trait of these Maratha houses is the +fondness with which they clung to the small estates or villages in +the Deccan in which they had originally held the office of a patel or +village headman as a _watan_ or hereditary right, even after they had +carved out for themselves principalities and states in other parts +of India. The present Bhonsla Raja takes his title from the village +of Deor in the Poona country. In former times we read of the Raja of +Satara clinging to the _watans_ he had inherited from Sivaji after +he had lost his crown in all but the name; Sindhia was always termed +patel or village headman in the revenue accounts of the villages he +acquired in Nimar; while it is said that Holkar and the Panwar of Dhar +fought desperately after the British conquest to recover the _pateli_ +rights of Deccan villages which had belonged to their ancestors. [215] + + + + +5. Other subdivisions + +Besides the 96 clans there are now in the Central Provinces some local +subcastes who occupy a lower position and do not intermarry with the +Marathas proper. Among these are the Deshkar or 'Residents of the +country'; the Waindesha or those of Berar and Khandesh; the Gangthade +or those dwelling on the banks of the Godavari and Wainganga; and the +Ghatmathe or residents of the Mahadeo plateau in Berar. It is also +stated that the Marathas are divided into the _Khasi_ or 'pure' and +the _Kharchi_ or the descendants of handmaids. In Bombay the latter +are known as the Akarmashes or 11 _mashas_, meaning that as twelve +_mashas_ make a tola, a twelfth part of them is alloy. + + + + +6. Social customs + +A man must not marry in his own clan or that of his mother. A +sister's son may be married to a brother's daughter, but not vice +versa. Girls are commonly married between five and twelve years of age, +and the ceremony resembles that of the Kunbis. The bridegroom goes +to the bride's house riding on horseback and covered with a black +blanket When a girl first becomes mature, usually after marriage, +the Marathas perform the Shantik ceremony. The girl is secluded for +four days, after which she is bathed and puts on new clothes and +dresses her hair and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. Sometimes +the bridegroom comes and is asked whether he has visited his wife +before she became mature, and if he confesses that he has done so a +small fine is imposed on him. Such cases are, however, believed to +be rare. The Marathas proper forbid widow-marriage, but the lower +groups allow it. If a maiden is seduced by one of the caste she may +be married to him as if she were a widow, a fine being imposed on +her family; but if she goes wrong with an outsider she is finally +expelled. Divorce is not ostensibly allowed but may be concluded by +agreement between the parties. A wife who commits adultery is cast off +and expelled from the caste. The caste burn their dead when they can +afford it and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony in the month of _Kunwar_ +(September), when oblations are offered to the dead and a feast is +given to the caste-fellows. Sometimes a tomb is erected as a memorial +to the dead, but without his name, and is surmounted usually by an +image of Mahadeo. The caste eat the flesh of clean animals and of +fowls and wild pig, and drink liquor. Their rules about food are +liberal like those of the Rajputs, a too great stringency being no +doubt in both cases incompatible with the exigencies of military +service. They make no difference between food cooked with or without +water, and will accept either from a Brahman, Rajput, Tirole Kunbi, +Lingayat Bania or Phulmali. + +The Marathas proper observe the _parda_ system with regard to their +women, and will go to the well and draw water themselves rather than +permit their wives to do so. The women wear ornaments only of gold +or glass and not of silver or any baser metal. They are not permitted +to spin cotton as being an occupation of the lower classes. The women +are tattooed in the centre of the forehead with a device resembling a +trident. The men commonly wear a turban made of many folds of cloth +twisted into a narrow rope and large gold rings with pearls in the +upper part of the ear. Like the Rajputs they often have their hair +long and wear beards and whiskers. They assume the sacred thread and +invest a boy with it when he is seven or eight years old or on his +marriage. Till then they let the hair grow on the front of his head, +and when the thread ceremony is performed they cut this off and let +the _choti_ or scalp-lock grow at the back. In appearance the men +are often tall and well-built and of a light wheat-coloured complexion. + + + + +7. Religion + +The principal deity of the Marathas is Khandoba, a warrior incarnation +of Mahadeo. He is supposed to have been born in a field of millet +near Poona and to have led the people against the Muhammadans in +early times. He had a watch-dog who warned him of the approach of +his enemies, and he is named after the _khanda_ or sword which he +always carried. In Bombay [216] he is represented on horseback with +two women, one of the Bania caste, his wedded wife, in front of him, +and another, a Dhangarin, his kept mistress, behind. He is considered +the tutelary deity of the Maratha country, and his symbol is a bag +of turmeric powder known as _bhandar_. The caste worship Khandoba on +Sundays with rice, flowers and incense, and also on the 21st day of +Magh (January), which is called _Champa Sashthi_ and is his special +festival. On this day they will catch hold of any dog, and after +adorning him with flowers and turmeric give him a good feed and let +him go again. The Marathas are generally kind to dogs and will not +injure them. At the Dasahra festival the caste worship their horses +and swords and go out into the field to see a blue-jay in memory of +the fact that the Maratha marauding expeditions started on Dasahra. On +coming back they distribute to each other leaves of the _shami_ tree +(_Bauhinia racemosa_) as a substitute for gold. It was formerly held +to be fitting among the Hindus that the warrior should ride a horse +(geldings being unknown) and the zamindar or landowner a mare, as more +suitable to a man of peace. The warriors celebrated their Dasahra, +and worshipped their horses on the tenth day of the light fortnight +of _Kunwar_ (September), while the cultivators held their festival +and worshipped their mares on the ninth day. It is recorded that the +great Raghuji Bhonsla, the first Raja of Nagpur, held his Dasahra on +the ninth day, in order to proclaim the fact that he was by family +an agriculturist and only incidentally a man of arms. [217] + + + + +8. Present position of the caste + +The Marathas present the somewhat melancholy spectacle of an +impoverished aristocratic class attempting to maintain some semblance +of their former position, though they no longer have the means +to do so. They flourished during two or three centuries of almost +continuous war, and became a wealthy and powerful caste, but they +find a difficulty in turning their hands to the arts of peace. Sir +R. Craddock writes of them in Nagpur: + +"Among the Marathas a large number represent connections of the Bhonsla +family, related by marriage or by illegitimate descent to that house. A +considerable proportion of the Government political pensioners are +Marathas. Many of them own villages or hold tenant land, but as a +rule they are extravagant in their living; and several of the old +Maratha nobility have fallen very much in the world. Pensions diminish +with each generation, but the expenditure shows no corresponding +decrease. The sons are brought up to no employment and the daughters +are married with lavish pomp and show. The native army does not much +attract them, and but few are educated well enough for the dignified +posts in the civil employ of Government. It is a question whether +their pride of race will give way before the necessity of earning +their livelihood soon enough for them to maintain or regain some of +their former position. Otherwise those with the largest landed estates +may be saved by the intervention of Government, but the rest must +gradually deteriorate till the dignities of their class have become +a mere memory. The humbler members of the caste find their employment +as petty contractors or traders, private servants, Government peons, +_sowars_ and hangers-on in the retinue of the more important families. + +"What [218] little display his means afford a Maratha still tries to +maintain. Though he may be clad in rags at home, he has a spare dress +which he himself washes and keeps with great care and puts on when he +goes to pay a visit. He will hire a boy to attend him with a lantern +at night, or to take care of his shoes when he goes to a friend's +house and hold them before him when he comes out. Well-to-do Marathas +have usually in their service a Brahman clerk known as _divanji_ or +minister, who often takes advantage of his master's want of education +to defraud him. A Maratha seldom rises early or goes out in the +morning. He will get up at seven or eight o'clock, a late hour for +a Hindu, and attend to business if he has any or simply idle about +chewing or smoking tobacco and talking till ten o'clock. He will +then bathe and dress in a freshly-washed cloth and bow before the +family gods which the priest has already worshipped. He will dine, +chew betel and smoke tobacco and enjoy a short midday rest. Rising at +three, he will play cards, dice or chess, and in the evening will go +out walking or riding or pay a visit to a friend. He will come back +at eight or nine and go to bed at ten or eleven. But Marathas who +have estates to manage lead regular, fairly busy lives." + + + + +9. Nature of the Maratha insurrection + +Sir D. Ibbetson drew attention to the fact that the rising of the +Marathas against the Muhammadans was almost the only instance in +Indian history of what might correctly be called a really national +movement. In other cases, as that of the Sikhs, though the essential +motive was perhaps of the same nature, it was obscured by the fact +that its ostensible tendency was religious. The _gurus_ of the Sikhs +did not call on their followers to fight for their country but for a +new religion. This was only in accordance with the Hindu intellect, +to which the idea of nationality has hitherto been foreign, while its +protests against both alien and domestic tyrannies tend to take the +shape of a religious revolt. A similar tendency is observable even in +the case of the Marathas, for the rising was from its inception largely +engineered by the Maratha Brahmans, who on its success hastened to +annex for themselves a leading position in the new Poona state. And it +has been recorded that in calling his countrymen to arms, Sivaji did +not ask them to defend their hearths and homes or wives and children, +but to rally for the protection of the sacred persons of Brahmans +and cows. + + + + +10. Maratha women in past times + +Although the Marathas have now in imitation of the Rajputs and +Muhammadans adopted the _parda_ system, this is not a native custom, +and women have played quite an important part in their history. The +women of the household have also exercised a considerable influence +and their opinions are treated with respect by the men. Several +instances occur in which women of high rank have successfully acted +as governors and administrators. In the Bhonsla family the Princess +Baka Bai, widow of Raghuji II., is a conspicuous instance, while the +famous or notorious Rani of Jhansi is another case of a Maratha lady +who led her troops in person, and was called the best man on the +native side in the Mutiny. + + + + +11. The Maratha horseman + +This article may conclude with one or two extracts to give an idea +of the way in which the Maratha soldiery took the field. Grant Duff +describes the troopers as follows: + +"The Maratha horsemen are commonly dressed in a pair of light breeches +covering the knee, a turban which many of them fasten by passing a +fold of it under the chin, a frock of quilted cotton, and a cloth +round the waist, with which they generally gird on their swords in +preference to securing them with their belts. The horseman is armed +with a sword and shield; a proportion in each body carry matchlocks, +but the great national weapon is the spear, in the use of which and +the management of their horse they evince both grace and dexterity. The +spearmen have generally a sword, and sometimes a shield; but the latter +is unwieldy and only carried in case the spear should be broken. The +trained spearmen may always be known by their riding very long, the +ball of the toe touching the stirrup; some of the matchlockmen and +most of the Brahmans ride very short and ungracefully. The bridle +consists of a single headstall of cotton-rope, with a small but very +severe flexible bit" + + + + +12. Cavalry in the field + +The following account of the Maratha cavalry is given in General +Hislop's _Summary of the Maratha and Pindari Campaigns_ of 1817-1819: + +"The Marathas possess extraordinary skill in horsemanship, and so +intimate an acquaintance with their horses, that they can make their +animals do anything, even in full speed, in halting, wheeling, etc.; +they likewise use the spear with remarkable dexterity, sometimes in +full gallop, grasping their spears short and quickly sticking the +point in the ground; still holding the handles, they turn their horse +suddenly round it, thus performing on the point of a spear as on a +pivot the same circle round and round again. Their horses likewise +never leave the particular class or body to which they belong; so +that if the rider should be knocked off, away gallops the animal +after its fellows, never separating itself from the main body. Every +Maratha brings his own horse and his own arms with him to the field, +and possibly in the interest they possess in this private equipment we +shall find their usual shyness to expose themselves or even to make a +bold vigorous attack. But if armies or troops could be frightened by +appearances these horses of the Marathas would dishearten the bravest, +actually darkening the plains with their numbers and clouding the +horizon with dust for miles and miles around. A little fighting, +however, goes a great way with them, as with most others of the native +powers in India." + +On this account the Marathas were called _razah-bazan_ or +lance-wielders. One Muhammadan historian says: "They so use the lance +that no cavalry can cope with them. Some 20,000 or 30,000 lances are +held up against their enemy so close together as not to leave a span +between their heads. If horsemen try to ride them down the points of +the spears are levelled at the assailants and they are unhorsed. While +cavalry are charging them they strike their lances against each +other and the noise so frightens the horses of the enemy that they +turn round and bolt." [219] The battle-cries of the Marathas were, +'_Har, Har Mahadeo_,' and '_Gopal, Gopal_.' [220] + + + + +13. Military administration + +An interesting description of the internal administration of +the Maratha cavalry is contained in the letter on the Marathas by +Colonel Tone already quoted. But his account must refer to a period +of declining efficiency and cannot represent the military system at +its best: + +"In the great scale of rank and eminence which is one peculiar feature +of Hindu institutions the Maratha holds a very inferior situation, +being just removed one degree above those castes which are considered +absolutely unclean. He is happily free from the rigorous observances +as regards food which fetter the actions of the higher castes. He can +eat of all kinds of food with the exception of beef; can dress his meal +at all times and seasons; can partake of all victuals dressed by any +caste superior to his own; washing and praying are not indispensable +in his order and may be practised or omitted at pleasure. The three +great tribes which compose the Maratha caste are the Kunbi or farmer, +the Dhangar or shepherd and the Goala or cowherd; to this original +cause may perhaps be ascribed that great simplicity of manner which +distinguishes the Maratha people. Homer mentions princesses going in +person to the fountain to wash their household linen. I can affirm +having seen the daughters of a prince who was able to bring an army +into the field much larger than the whole Greek confederacy, making +bread with their own hands and otherwise employed in the ordinary +business of domestic housewifery. I have seen one of the most powerful +chiefs of the Empire, after a day of action, assisting in kindling a +fire to keep himself warm during the night, and sitting on the ground +on a spread saddle-cloth dictating to his secretaries. + +"The chief military force of the Marathas consists in their cavalry, +which may be divided into four distinct classes: First the Khasi +Pagah or household forces of the prince; these are always a fine +well-appointed body, the horses excellent, being the property of the +Sirkar, who gives a monthly allowance to each trooper of the value +of about eight rupees. The second class are the cavalry furnished by +the Silladars, [221] who contract to supply a certain number of horse +on specified terms, generally about Rs. 35 a month, including the +trooper's pay. The third and most numerous description are volunteers, +who join the camp bringing with them their own horse and accoutrements; +their pay is generally from Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 a month in proportion to +the value of their horse. There is a fourth kind of native cavalry +called Pindaris, who are mere marauders, serve without any pay and +subsist but by plunder, a fourth part of which they give to the Sirkar; +but these are so very licentious a body that they are not employed +but in one or two of the Maratha services. + +"The troops collected in this manner are under no discipline whatever +and engage for no specific period, but quit the army whenever they +please; with the exception of furnishing a picquet while in camp, +they do no duty but in the day of battle. + +"The Maratha cavalry is always irregularly and badly paid; the +household troops scarcely ever receive money, but are furnished with +a daily allowance of coarse flour and some other ingredients from the +bazar which just enable them to exist. The Silladar is very nearly as +badly situated. In his arrangements with the State he has allotted +to him a certain proportion of jungle where he pastures his cattle; +here he and his family reside, and his sole occupation when not on +actual service is increasing his Pagah or troop by breeding out of his +mares, of which the Maratha cavalry almost entirely consist. There +are no people in the world who understand the method of rearing and +multiplying the breed of cattle equal to the Marathas. It is by no +means uncommon for a Silladar to enter a service with one mare and +in a few years be able to muster a very respectable Pagah. They have +many methods of rendering the animal prolific; they back their colts +much earlier than we do and they are consequently more valuable as +they come sooner on the effective strength. + +"When called upon for actual service the Silladar is obliged to give +muster. Upon this occasion it is always necessary that the Brahman +who takes it should have a bribe; and indeed the Hazri, as the muster +is termed, is of such a nature that it could not pass by any fair or +honourable means. Not only any despicable _tattus_ are substituted +in the place of horses but animals are borrowed to fill up the +complement. Heel-ropes and grain-bags are produced as belonging to +cattle supposed to be at grass; in short every mode is practised to +impose on the Sirkar, which in turn reimburses itself by irregular and +bad payments; for it is always considered if the Silladars receive +six months' arrears out of the year that they are exceedingly well +paid. The Volunteers who join the camp are still worse situated, as +they have no collective force, and money is very seldom given in a +Maratha State without being extorted. In one word, the native cavalry +are the worst-paid body of troops in the world. But there is another +grand error in this mode of raising troops which is productive of the +worst effects. Every man in a Maratha camp is totally independent; he +is the proprietor of the horse he rides, which he is never inclined to +risk, since without it he can get no service. This single circumstance +destroys all enterprise and spirit in the soldier, whose sole business, +instead of being desirous of distinguishing himself, is to keep out +of the way of danger; for notwithstanding every horseman on entering +a service has a certain value put upon his horse, yet should he lose +it even in action he never receives any compensation or at least none +proportioned to his loss. If at any time a Silladar is disgusted with +the service he can go away without meeting any molestation even though +in the face of an enemy. In fact the pay is in general so shamefully +irregular that a man is justified in resorting to any measure, however +apparently unbecoming, to attain it. It is also another very curious +circumstance attending this service that many great Silladars have +troops in the pay of two or three chiefs at the same time, who are +frequently at open war with each other. + + + + +14. Sitting Dharna + +"To recover an arrear of pay there is but one known mode which is +universally adopted in all native services, the Mughal as well as the +Maratha; this is called Dharna, [222] which consists in putting the +debtor, be he who he will, into a state of restraint or imprisonment, +until satisfaction be given or the money actually obtained. Any person +in the Sirkar's service has a right to demand his pay of the Prince +or his minister, and to sit in Dharna if it be not given; nor will +he meet with the least hindrance in doing so; for none would obey +an order that interfered with the Dharna, as it is a common cause; +nor does the soldier incur the slightest charge of mutiny for his +conduct, or suffer in the smallest manner in the opinion of his +Chief, so universal is the custom. The Dharna is sometimes carried +to very violent lengths and may either be executed on the Prince or +his minister indifferently, with the same effect; as the Chief always +makes it a point of honour not to eat or drink while his Diwan is in +duress; sometimes the Dharna lasts for many days, during which time +the party upon whom it is exercised is not suffered to eat or drink +or wash or pray, or in short is not permitted to move from the spot +where he sits, which is frequently bare-headed in the sun, until the +money or security be given; so general is this mode of recovery that +I suppose the Maratha Chiefs may be said to be nearly one-half of +their time in a state of Dharna. + + + + +15. The infantry + +"In the various Maratha services there are very little more than a +bare majority who are Marathas by caste, and very few instances occur +of their ever entering into the infantry at all. The sepoys in the pay +of the different princes are recruited in Hindustan, and principally +of the Rajput and Purbia caste; these are perhaps the finest race of +men in the world for figure and appearance; of lofty stature, strong, +graceful and athletic; of acute feelings, high military pride, quick, +apprehensive, brave, prudent and economic; at the same time it must be +confessed they are impatient of discipline, and naturally inclined to +mutiny. They are mere soldiers of fortune and serve only for their +pay. There are also a great number of Musalmans who serve in the +different Maratha armies, some of whom have very great commands. + + + + +16. Character of the Maratha armies + +"The Maratha cavalry at times make very long and rapid marches, in +which they do not suffer themselves to be interrupted by the monsoon or +any violence of weather. In very pressing exigencies it is incredible +the fatigue a Maratha horseman will endure; frequently many days pass +without his enjoying one regular meal, but he depends entirely for +subsistence on the different corn-fields through which the army passes: +a few heads of juari, which he chafes in his hands while on horseback, +will serve him for the day; his horse subsists on the same fare, and +with the addition of opium, which the Marathas frequently administer +to their cattle, is enabled to perform incredible marches." + +The above analysis of the Maratha troops indicates that their real +character was that of freebooting cavalry, largely of the same type +as, though no doubt greatly superior in tone and discipline to the +Pindaris. Like them they lived by plundering the country. "The +Marathas," Elphinstone remarked, "are excellent foragers. Every +morning at daybreak long lines of men on small horses and ponies +are seen issuing from their camps in all directions, who return +before night loaded with fodder for the cattle, with firewood torn +down from houses, and grain dug up from the pits where it had been +concealed by the villagers; while other detachments go to a distance +for some days and collect proportionately larger supplies of the same +kind." [223] They could thus dispense with a commissariat, and being +nearly all mounted were able to make extraordinarily long marches, +and consequently to carry out effectively surprise attacks and when +repulsed to escape injury in the retreat. Even at Panipat where their +largest regular force took the field under Sadasheo Rao Bhao, he had +70,000 regular and irregular cavalry and only 15,000 infantry, of whom +9000 were hired sepoys under a Muhammadan leader. The Marathas were at +their best in attacking the slow-moving and effeminate Mughal armies, +while during their period of national ascendancy under the Peshwa +there was no strong military power in India which could oppose their +forays. When they were by the skill of their opponents at length +brought to a set battle, their fighting qualities usually proved +to be distinctly poor. At Panipat they lost the day by a sudden +panic and flight after Ibrahim Khan Gardi had obtained for them a +decided advantage; while at Argaon and Assaye their performances +were contemptible. After the recovery from Panipat and the rise of +the independent Maratha states, the assistance of European officers +was invoked to discipline and train the soldiery. [224] + + + + + +Mehtar + +[_Bibliography_: Mr. R. Greeven's _Knights of the Broom, Benares_ +1894 (pamphlet); Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhangi; Sir +H. Risley's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Hari; Sir E. Maclagan's _Punjab +Census Report_, 1891 (Sweeper Sects); Sir D. Ibbetson's _Punjab Census +Report_, 1881 (art. Chuhra); _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_, +Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Introductory notice_. + 2. _Caste subdivisions_. + 3. _Social organisation_. + 4. _Caste punishments_. + 5. _Admission of outsiders_. + 6. _Marriage customs_. + 7. _Disposal of the dead_. + 8. _Devices for procuring children_. + 9. _Divination of sex_. + 10. _Childbirth_. + 11. _Treatment of the mother_. + 12. _Protecting the lives of children_. + 13. _Infantile diseases_. + 14. _Religion. Valmiki_. + 15. _Lalbeg_. + 16. _Adoption of foreign religions_. + 17. _Social status_. + 18. _Occupation_. + 19. _Occupation_ (_continued_). + + + + +1. Introductory notice + +_Mehtar, Bhangi, Hari, [225] Dom, Lalbegi._--The caste of sweepers and +scavengers. In 1911 persons returning themselves as Mehtar, Bhangi +and Dom were separately classified, and the total of all three was +only 30,000. In this Province they generally confine themselves to +their hereditary occupation of scavenging, and are rarely met with +outside the towns and large villages. In most localities the supply +of sweepers does not meet the demand. The case is quite different in +northern India, where the sweeper castes--the Chuhra in the Punjab, the +Bhangi in the United Provinces and the Dom in Bengal--are all of them +of great numerical strength. With these castes only a small proportion +are employed on scavengers' work and the rest are labourers like +the Chamars and Mahars of the Central Provinces. The present sweeper +caste is made up of diverse elements, and the name Mehtar, generally +applied to it, is a title meaning a prince or leader. Its application +to the caste, the most abject and despised in the Hindu community, +is perhaps partly ironical; but all the low castes have honorific +titles, which are used as a method of address either from ordinary +politeness or by those requiring some service, on the principle, as +the Hindus say, that you may call an ass your uncle if you want him to +do something for you. The regular caste of sweepers in northern India +are the Bhangis, whose name is derived by Mr. Crooke from the Sanskrit +_bhanga,_ hemp, in allusion to the drunken habits of the caste. In +support of this derivation he advances the Beria custom of calling +their leaders Bhangi or hemp-drinker as a title of honour. [226] In +Mr. Greeven's account also, Lalbeg, the patron saint of the sweepers, +is described as intoxicated with the hemp drug on two occasions. [227] +Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam suggests [228] that Bhangia means broken, and +is applied to the sweepers because they split bamboos. In Kaira, +he states, the regular trade of the Bhangias is the plaiting of +baskets and other articles of split bamboo, and in that part of +Gujarat if a Koli is asked to split a bamboo he will say, 'Am I to +do Bhangia's work?' The derivation from the hemp-plant is, however, +the more probable. In the Punjab, sweepers are known as Chuhra, and +this, name has been derived from their business of collecting and +sweeping up scraps (_chura-jharna_) Similarly, in Bombay they are +known as Olganas or scrap-eaters. The Bengal name Hari is supposed +to come from _haddi_, a bone; the Hari is the bone-gatherer, and was +familiar to early settlers of Calcutta under the quaint designation +of the 'harry-wench,' [229] In the Central Provinces sections of the +Ghasia, Mahar and Dom castes will do sweepers' work, and are therefore +amalgamated with the Mehtars. The caste is thus of mixed constitution, +and also forms a refuge for persons expelled from their own societies +for social offences. But though called by different names, the +sweeper community in most provinces appears to have the same stock of +traditions and legends. The name of Mehtar is now generally employed, +and has therefore been taken as the designation of the caste. + + + + +2. Caste subdivisions + +Mr. Greeven gives seven main subdivisions, of which the Lalbegis or +the followers of Lalbeg, the patron saint of sweepers, are the most +important. The Rawats appear to be an aristocratic subdivision of the +Lalbegis, their name being a corruption of the Sanskrit Rajputra, +a prince. The Shaikh Mehtars are the only real Muhammadan branch, +for though the Lalbegis worship a Musalman saint they remain +Hindus. The Haris or bone-gatherers, as already stated, are the +sweepers of Bengal. The Helas may either be those who carry baskets +of sweepings, or may derive their name from _hela_, a cry; and in +that case they are so called as performing the office of town-criers, +a function which the Bhangi usually still discharges in northern India +[230]. The other subcastes in his list are the Dhanuks or bowmen and +the Bansphors or cleavers of bamboos. In the Central Provinces the +Shaikh Mehtars belong principally to Nagpur, and another subcaste, +the Makhia, is also found in the Maratha Districts and in Berar; those +branches of the Ghasia and Dom castes who consent to do scavengers' +work now form separate subcastes of Mehtars in the same locality, +and another group are called Narnolia, being said to take their name +from a place called Narnol in the Punjab. The Lalbegis are often +considered here as Muhammadans rather than Hindus, and bury their +dead. In Saugor the sweepers are said to be divided into Lalbegis or +Muhammadans and Doms or Hindus. The Lalbegi, Dom or Dumar and the +Hela are the principal subcastes of the north of the Province, and +Chuhra Mehtars are found in Chhattisgarh. Each subcaste is divided +into a number of exogamous sections named after plants and animals. + + + + +3. Social organisation + +In Benares each subdivision, Mr. Greeven states, has an elaborate +and quasi-military organisation. Thus the Lalbegi sweepers have eight +companies or _berhas_, consisting of the sweepers working in different +localities; these are the Sadar, or those employed by private residents +in cantonments; the Kali Paltan, who serve the Bengal Infantry; the +Lal Kurti, or Red-coats, who are employed by the British Infantry; +the Teshan (station), or those engaged at the three railway stations +of the town; the Shahar, or those of the city; the Ramnagar, taking +their name from the residence of the Maharaja of Benares, whom they +serve; the Kothiwal, or Bungalow men, who belong to residents in +the civil lines; and lastly the Genereli, who are the descendants +of sweepers employed at the military headquarters when Benares was +commanded by a General of Division. This special organisation is +obviously copied from that of the garrison and is not found in other +localities, but deserves mention for its own interest. All the eight +companies are commanded by a Brigadier, the local head of the caste, +whose office is now almost hereditary; his principal duty is to give +two dinners to the whole caste on election, with sweetmeats to the +value of fourteen rupees. Each company has four officers--a Jamadar +or president, a Munsif or spokesman, a Chaudhari or treasurer and +a Naib or summoner. These offices are also practically hereditary, +if the candidate entitled by birth can afford to give a dinner to the +whole subcaste and a turban to each President of a company. All the +other members of the company are designated as Sipahis or soldiers. A +caste dispute is first considered by the inferior officers of each +company, who report their view to the President; he confers with +the other Presidents, and when an agreement has been reached the +sentence is formally confirmed by the Brigadier. When any dispute +arises, the aggrieved party, depositing a process-fee of a rupee and +a quarter, addresses the officers of his company. Unless the question +is so trivial that it can be settled without caste punishments, the +President fixes a time and place, of which notice is given to the +messengers of the other companies; each of these receives a fee of +one and a quarter annas and informs all the Sipahis in his company. + + + + +4. Caste punishments + +Only worthy members of the caste, Mr. Greeven continues, are allowed +to sit on the tribal matting and smoke the tribal pipe (huqqa). The +proceedings begin with the outspreading (usually symbolic) of +a carpet and the smoking of a water-pipe handed in turn to each +clansman. For this purpose the members sit on the carpet in three +lines, the officers in front and the private soldiers behind. The +parties and their witnesses are heard and examined, and a decision +is pronounced. The punishments imposed consist of fines, compulsory +dinners and expulsion from the caste; expulsion being inflicted for +failure to comply with an order of fine or entertainment. The formal +method of outcasting consists in seating the culprit on the ground +and drawing the tribal mat over his head, from which the turban is +removed; after this the messengers of the eight companies inflict a +few taps with slippers and birch brooms. It is alleged that unfaithful +women were formerly tied naked to trees and flogged with birch brooms, +but that owing to the fatal results that occasionally followed such +punishment, as in the case of the five kicks among Chamars (tanners) +and the scourging with the clothes line which used to prevail among +Dhobis (washer men), the caste has now found it expedient to abandon +these practices. When an outcaste is readmitted on submission, +whether by paying a fine or giving a dinner, he is seated apart +from the tribal mat and does penance by holding his ears with his +hands and confessing his offence. A new huqqa, which he supplies, +is carried round by the messenger, and a few whiffs are taken by +all the officers and Sipahis in turn. The messenger repeats to the +culprit the council's order, and informs him that should he again +offend his punishment will be doubled. With this warning he hands +him the water-pipe, and after smoking this the offender is admitted +to the carpet and all is forgotten in a banquet at his expense. + + + + +5. Admission of outsiders + +The sweepers will freely admit outsiders into their community, and the +caste forms a refuge for persons expelled from their own societies +for sexual or moral offences. Various methods are employed for the +initiation of a neophyte; in some places he, or more frequently she, +is beaten with a broom made of wood taken from a bier, and has to give +a feast to the caste; in others a slight wound is made in his body and +the blood of another sweeper is allowed to flow on to it so that they +mix; and a glass of sherbet and sugar, known as the cup of nectar, +is prepared by the priest and all the members of the committee put +their fingers into it, after which it is given to the candidate to +drink; or he has to drink water mixed with cowdung into which the +caste-people have dipped their little fingers, and a lock of his +hair is cut off. Or he fasts all day at the shrine of Lalbeg and +in the evening drinks sherbet after burning incense at the shrine; +and gives three feasts, the first on the bank of a tank, the second +in his courtyard and the third in his house, representing his gradual +purification for membership; at this last he puts a little water into +every man's cup and receives from him a piece of bread, and so becomes +a fully qualified caste-man. Owing to this reinforcement from higher +castes, and perhaps also to their flesh diet, the sweepers are not +infrequently taller and stronger as well as lighter in colour than +the average Hindu. + + + + +6. Marriage customs + +The marriage ceremony in the Central Provinces follows the ordinary +Hindu ritual. The _lagan_ or paper fixing the date of the wedding +is written by a Brahman, who seats himself at some distance from the +sweeper's house and composes the letter. This paper must not be seen +by the bride or bridegroom, nor may its contents be read to them, +as it is believed that to do so would cause them to fall ill during +the ceremony. Before the bridegroom starts for the wedding his mother +waves a wooden pestle five times over his head, passing it between his +legs and shoulders. After this the bridegroom breaks two lamp-saucers +with his right foot, steps over the rice-pounder and departs for the +bride's house without looking behind him. The _sawasas_ or relatives +of the parties usually officiate at the ceremony, but the well-to-do +sometimes engage a Brahman, who sits at a distance from the house +and calls out his instructions. When a man wishes to marry a widow +he must pay six rupees to the caste committee and give a feast to +the community. Divorce is permitted for incompatibility of temper, +or immorality on the part of the wife, or if the husband suffers +from leprosy or impotence. Among the Lalbegis, when a man wishes to +get rid of his wife he assembles the brethren and in their presence +says to her, 'You are as my sister,' and she answers, 'You are as my +father and brother.' [231] + + + + + +7. Disposal of the dead + +The dead are usually buried, but the well-to-do sometimes cremate +them. In Benares the face or hand of the corpse is scorched with fire +to symbolise cremation and it is then buried. In the Punjab the ghosts +of sweepers are considered to be malevolent and are much dreaded; +and their bodies are therefore always buried or burnt face downwards +to prevent the spirit escaping; and riots have taken place and the +magistrates have been appealed to to prevent a Chuhra from being +buried face upwards. [232] In Benares as the body is lowered into the +grave the sheet is withdrawn for a moment from the features of the +departed to afford him one last glimpse of the heavens, while with +Muhammadans the face is turned towards Mecca. Each clansman flings +a handful of dust over the corpse, and after the earth is filled in +crumbles a little bread and sugar-cake and sprinkles water upon the +grave. A provision of bread, sweetmeats and water is also left upon +it for the soul of the departed. [233] In the Central Provinces the +body of a man is covered with a white winding-sheet and that of a +woman with a red one. If the death occurs during the lunar conjunction +known as Panchak, four human images of flour are made and buried with +the dead man, as they think that if this is not done four more deaths +will occur in the family. + + + + +8. Devices for procuring children + +If a woman greatly desires a child she will go to a shrine and lay a +stone on it which she calls the _dharna_ or deposit or pledge. Then +she thinks that she has put the god under an obligation to give her a +child. She vows that if she becomes pregnant within a certain period, +six or nine months, she will make an offering of a certain value. If +the pregnancy comes she goes to the temple, makes the offering and +removes the stone. If the desired result does not happen, however, +she considers that the god has broken his obligation and ceases to +worship him. If a barren woman desires a child she should steal on a +Sunday or a Wednesday a strip from the body-cloth of a fertile woman +when it is hung out to dry; or she may steal a piece of rope from +the bed in which a woman has been delivered of a child, or a piece of +the baby's soiled swaddling clothes or a piece of cloth stained with +the blood of a fertile woman. This last she will take and bury in a +cemetery and the others wear round her waist; then she will become +fertile and the fertile woman will become barren. Another device is +to obtain from the midwife a piece of the navel-string of a newborn +child and swallow it. For this reason the navel-string is always +carefully guarded and its disposal seen to. + + + + +9. Divination of sex + +If a pregnant woman is thin and ailing they think a boy will be born; +but if fat and well that it will be a girl. In order to divine the sex +of a coming child they pour a little oil on the stomach of the woman; +if the oil flows straight down it is thought that a boy will be born +and if crooked a girl. Similarly if the hair on the front of her body +grows straight they think the child will be a boy, but if crooked a +girl; and if the swelling of pregnancy is more apparent on the right +side a boy is portended, but if on the left side a girl. If delivery +is retarded they go to a gunmaker and obtain from him a gun which +has been discharged and the soiling of the barrel left uncleaned; +some water is put into the barrel and shaken up and then poured into +a vessel and given to the woman to drink, and it is thought that the +quality of swift movement appertaining to the bullet which soiled +the barrel will be communicated to the woman and cause the swift +expulsion of the child from her womb. + + + + +10. Childbirth + +When a woman is in labour she squats down with her legs apart holding +to the bed in front of her, while the midwife rubs her back. If +delivery is retarded the midwife gets a broom and sitting behind +the woman presses it on her stomach, at the same time drawing back +the upper part of her body. By this means they think the child will +be forced from the womb. Or the mother of the woman in labour will +take a grinding-stone and stand holding it on her head so long as +the child is not born. She says to her daughter, 'Take my name,' +and the daughter repeats her mother's name aloud. Here the idea is +apparently that the mother takes on herself some of the pain which +has to be endured by the daughter, and the repetition of her name +by the daughter will cause the goddess of childbirth to hasten the +period of delivery in order to terminate the unjust sufferings of +the mother for which the goddess has become responsible. The mother's +name exerts pressure or influence on the goddess who is at the time +occupied with the daughter or perhaps sojourning in her body. + + + + +11. Treatment of the mother + +If a child is born in the morning they will give the mother a little +sugar and cocoanut to eat in the evening, but if it is born in the +evening they will give her nothing till next morning. Milk is given +only sparingly as it is supposed to produce coughing. The main idea of +treatment in childbirth is to prevent either the mother or child from +taking cold or chill, this being the principal danger to which they +are thought to be exposed. The door of the birth chamber is therefore +kept shut and a fire is continually burning in it night and day. The +woman is not bathed for several days, and the atmosphere and general +insanitary conditions can better be imagined than described. With +the same end of preventing cold they feed the mother on a hot liquid +produced by cooking thirty-six ingredients together. Most of these +are considered to have the quality of producing heat or warmth in the +body, and the following are a few of them: Pepper, ginger, _azgan_ +(a condiment), turmeric, nutmeg, _ajwain_ (aniseed), dates, almonds, +raisins, cocoanut, wild _singara_ or water-nut, cumin, _chironji_, +[234] the gum of the _babul_ [235] or _khair_, [236] asafoetida, borax, +saffron, clarified butter and sugar. The mixture cannot be prepared for +less than two rupees and the woman is fed on it for five days beginning +from the second day after birth, if the family can afford the expense. + + + + +12. Protecting the lives of children + +If the mother's milk runs dry, they use the dried bodies of the little +fish caught in the shallow water of fields and tanks, and sometimes +supposed to have fallen down with the rain. They are boiled in a little +water and the fish and water are given to the woman to consume. Here +the idea is apparently that as the fish has the quality of liquidness +because it lives in water, so by eating it this will be communicated +to the breasts and the milk will flow again. If a woman's children +die, then the next time she is in labour they bring a goat all of +one colour. When the birth of the child takes place and it falls +from the womb on to the ground no one must touch it, but the goat, +which should if possible be of the same sex as the child, is taken +and passed over the child twenty-one times. Then they take the goat +and the after-birth to a cemetery and here cut the goat's throat by +the _halal_ rite and bury it with the after-birth. The idea is thus +that the goat's life is a substitute for that of the child. By being +passed over the child it takes the child's evil destiny upon itself, +and the burial in a cemetery causes the goat to resemble a human being, +while the after-birth communicates to it some part of the life of +the child. If a mother is afraid her child will die, she sells it for +a few cowries to another woman. Of course the sale is only nominal, +but the woman who has purchased the child takes a special interest +in it, and at the naming or other ceremony she will give it a jewel +or such other present as she can afford. Thus she considers that +the fictitious sale has had some effect and that she has acquired a +certain interest in the child. + + + + +13. Infantile diseases + +If a baby, especially a girl, has much hair on its body, they make +a cake of gram-flour and rub it with sesamum oil all over the body, +and this is supposed to remove the hair. + +If a child's skin dries up and it pines away, they think that an owl +has taken away a cloth stained by the child when it was hung out to +dry. The remedy is to obtain the liver of an owl and hang it round +the child's neck. + +For jaundice they get the flesh of a yellow snake which appears in +the rains, and of the _rohu_ fish which has yellowish scales, and +hang them to its neck; or they get a verse of the Koran written out +by a Maulvi or Muhammadan priest and use this as an amulet; or they +catch a small frog alive, tie it up in a yellow cloth and hang it to +the child's neck by a blue thread until it dies. For tetanus the jaws +are branded outside and a little musk is placed on the mother's breast +so that the child may drink it with the milk. When the child begins to +cut its teeth they put honey on the gums and think that this will make +the teeth slip out early as the honey is smooth and slippery. But as +the child licks the gums when the honey is on them they fear that this +may cause the teeth to grow broad and crooked like the tongue. Another +device is to pass a piece of gold round the child's gums. If they want +the child to have pretty teeth its maternal uncle threads a number of +grains of rice on a piece of string and hangs them round its neck, +so that the teeth may grow like the rice. If the child's navel is +swollen, the maternal uncle will go out for a walk and on his return +place his turban over the navel. For averting the evil eye the liver +of the Indian badger is worn in an amulet, this badger being supposed +to haunt cemeteries and feed on corpses; some hairs of a bear also +form a very favourite amulet, or a tiger's claws set in silver, +or the tail of a lizard enclosed in lac and made into a ring. + + + + +14. Religion. Valmiki + +The religion of the sweepers has been described at length by +Mr. Greeven and Mr. Crooke. It centres round the worship of two saints, +Lalbeg or Bale Shah and Balnek or Balmik, who is really the huntsman +Valmiki, the reputed author of the Ramayana. Balmik was originally a +low-caste hunter called Ratnakar, and when he could not get game he was +accustomed to rob and kill travellers. But one day he met Brahma and +wished to kill him; but he could not raise his club against Brahma, +and the god spoke and convinced him of his sins, directing him to +repeat the name of Rama until he should be purified of them. But the +hunter's heart was so evil that he could not pronounce the divine name, +and instead he repeated '_Mara, Mara_' (_struck, struck_), but in the +end by repetition this came to the same thing. Mr. Greeven's account +continues: "As a small spark of fire burneth up a heap of cotton, so +the word Rama cleaneth a man of all his sins. So the words 'Ram, Ram,' +were taught unto Ratnakar who ever repeated them for sixty thousand +years at the self-same spot with a heart sincere. All his skin was +eaten up by the white ants. Only the skeleton remained. Mud had been +heaped over the body and grass had grown up, yet within the mound +of mud the saint was still repeating the name of Rama. After sixty +thousand years Brahma returned. No man could he see, yet he heard the +voice of Ram, Ram, rising from the mound of mud. Then Brahma bethought +him that the saint was beneath. He besought Indra to pour down rain +and to wash away the mud. Indra complied with his request and the +rain washed away the mud. The saint came forth. Nought save bones +remained. Brahma called aloud to the saint. When the saint beheld +him he prostrated himself and spake: 'Thou hast taught me the words +"Ram, Ram," which have cleansed away all my sins.' Then spake Brahma: +'Hitherto thou wast Ratnakar. From to-day thy name shall be Valmiki +(from _valmik_, an ant-hill). Now do thou compose a Ramayana in seven +parts, containing the deeds and exploits of Rama.'" Valmiki had been +or afterwards became a sweeper and was known as 'cooker of dog's food' +(Swapach), a name applied to sweepers [237], who have adopted him as +their eponymous ancestor and patron saint. + + + + +15. Lalbeg + +Lalbeg, who is still more widely venerated, is considered to have been +Ghazi Miyan, the nephew of Sultan Muhammad of Ghazni, and a saint much +worshipped in the Punjab. Many legends are told of Lalbeg, and his +worship is described by Mr. Greeven as follows: [238] "The ritual +of Lalbeg is conducted in the presence of the whole brotherhood, +as a rule at the festival of the Diwali and on other occasions +when special business arises. The time for worship is after sunset +and if possible at midnight. His shrine consists of a mud platform +surrounded by steps, with four little turrets at the corners and a +spire in the centre, in which is placed a lamp filled with clarified +butter and containing a wick of twisted tow. Incense is thrown into +the flame and offerings of cakes and sweetmeats are made. A lighted +huqqa is placed before the altar and as soon as the smoke rises it +is understood that a whiff has been drawn by the hero." A cock is +offered to Lalbeg at the Dasahra festival. When a man is believed +to have been affected by the evil eye they wave a broom in front of +the sufferer muttering the name of the saint. In the Damoh District +the _guru_ or priest who is the successor of Lalbeg comes from the +Punjab every year or two. He is richly clad and is followed by a +sweeper carrying an umbrella. Other Hindus say that his teaching is +that no one who is not a Lalbegi can go to heaven, but those on whom +the dust raised by a Lalbegi sweeping settles acquire some modicum +of virtue. Similarly Mr. Greeven remarks: [239] "Sweepers by no means +endorse the humble opinion entertained with respect to them; for they +allude to castes such as Kunbis and Chamars as petty (_chhota_), +while a common anecdote is related to the effect that a Lalbegi, +when asked whether Muhammadans could obtain salvation, replied: +'I never heard of it, but perhaps they might slip in behind Lalbeg.'" + + + + +16. Adoption of foreign religions + +On the whole the religion of the Lalbegis appears to be monotheistic +and of a sufficiently elevated character, resembling that of the +Kabirpanthis and other reforming sects. Its claim to the exclusive +possession of the way of salvation is a method of revolt against the +menial and debased position of the caste. Similarly many sweepers have +become Muhammadans and Sikhs with the same end in view, as stated +by Mr. Greeven: [240] "As may be readily imagined, the scavengers +are merely in name the disciples of Nanak Shah, professing in fact +to be his followers just as they are prepared at a moment's notice +to become Christians or Muhammadans. Their object is, of course, +merely to acquire a status which may elevate them above the utter +degradation of their caste. The acquaintance of most of them with the +doctrines of Nanak Shah is at zero. They know little and care less +about his rules of life, habitually disregarding, for instance, the +prohibitions against smoking and hair-cutting. In fact, a scavenger +at Benares no more becomes a Sikh by taking Nanak Shah's motto than he +becomes a Christian by wearing a round hat and a pair of trousers." It +was probably with a similar leaning towards the more liberal religion +that the Lalbegis, though themselves Hindus, adopted a Muhammadan for +their tutelary saint. In the Punjab Muhammadan sweepers who have given +up eating carrion and refuse to remove night-soil rank higher than the +others, and are known as Musalli. [241] And in Saugor the Muhammadans +allow the sweepers to come into a mosque and to stand at the back, +whereas, of course, they cannot approach a Hindu temple. Again in +Bengal it is stated, "The Dom is regarded with both disgust and fear +by all classes of Hindus, not only on account of his habits being +abhorrent and abominable, but also because he is believed to have no +humane or kindly feelings"; and further, "It is universally believed +that Doms do not bury or burn their dead, but dismember the corpse +at night like the inhabitants of Thibet, placing the fragments in a +pot and sinking them in the nearest river or reservoir. This horrid +idea probably originated from the old Hindu law, which compelled +the Doms to bury their dead at night." [242] It is not astonishing +that the sweepers prefer a religion whose followers will treat them +somewhat more kindly. Another Muhammadan saint revered by the sweepers +of Saugor is one Zahir Pir. At the fasts in Chait and Kunwar (March +and September) they tie cocoanuts wrapped in cloth to the top of a +long bamboo, and marching to the tomb of Zahir Pir make offerings of +cakes and sweetmeats. Before starting for his day's work the sweeper +does obeisance to his basket and broom. + + + + +17. Social status + +The sweeper stands at the very bottom of the social ladder of +Hinduism. He is considered to be the representative of the Chandala +of Manu, [243] who was said to be descended of a Sudra father and a +Brahman woman. "It was ordained that the Chandala should live without +the town; his sole wealth should be dogs and asses; his clothes should +consist of the cerecloths of the dead; his dishes should be broken pots +and his ornaments rusty iron. No one who regarded his duties should +hold intercourse with the Chandalas and they should marry only among +themselves. By day they might roam about for the purposes of work, +but should be distinguished by the badges of the Raja, and should +carry out the corpse of any one who died without kindred. They should +always be employed to slay those who by the law were sentenced to be +put to death, and they might take the clothes of the slain, their +beds and their ornaments." Elsewhere the Chandala is said to rank +in impurity with the town boar, the dog, a woman during her monthly +illness and a eunuch, none of whom must a Brahman allow to see him +when eating. [244] Like the Chandala, the sweeper cannot be touched, +and he himself acquiesces in this and walks apart. In large towns +he sometimes carries a kite's wing in his turban to show his caste, +or goes aloof saying _pois_, which is equivalent to a warning. When +the sweeper is in company he will efface himself as far as possible +behind other people. He is known by his basket and broom, and men +of other castes will not carry these articles lest they should +be mistaken for a sweeper. The sweeper's broom is made of bamboo, +whereas the ordinary house-broom is made of date-palm leaves. The +house-broom is considered sacred as the implement of Lakshmi used +in cleaning the house. No one should tread upon or touch it with +his foot. The sweeper's broom is a powerful agent for curing the +evil eye, and mothers get him to come and wave it up and down in +front of a sick child for this purpose. Nevertheless it is lucky +to see a sweeper in the morning, especially if he has his basket +with him. In Gujarat Mr. Bhimbhai Kirparam writes of him: "Though +he is held to be lower and more unclean, the Bhangia is viewed with +kindlier feelings than the Dhed (Mahar). To meet the basket-bearing +Bhangia is lucky, and the Bhangia's blessing is valued. Even now if +a Government officer goes into a Bhangia hamlet the men with hands +raised in blessing say: 'May your rule last for ever.'" A sweeper +will eat the leavings of other people, but he will not eat in their +houses; he will take the food away to his own house. It is related +that on one occasion a sweeper accompanied a marriage party of Lodhis +(cultivators), and the Lodhi who was the host was anxious that all +should share his hospitality and asked the sweeper to eat in his house; +[245] but he repeatedly refused, until finally the Lodhi gave him a +she-buffalo to induce him to eat, so that it might not be said that +any one had declined to share in his feast. No other caste, of course, +will accept food or water from a sweeper, and only a Chamar (tanner) +will take a _chilam_ or clay pipe-bowl from his hand. The sweeper will +eat carrion and the flesh of almost all animals, including snakes, +lizards, crocodiles and tigers, and also the leavings of food of almost +any caste. Mr. Greeven remarks: [246] "Only Lalbegis and Rawats eat +food left by Europeans, but all eat food left either by Hindus or +Muhammadans; the Sheikh Mehtars as Muhammadans alone are circumcised +and reject pig's flesh. Each subcaste eats uncooked food with all the +others, but cooked food alone." From Betul it is reported that the +Mehtars there will not accept food, water or tobacco from a Kayasth, +and will not allow one to enter their houses. + + + + +18. Occupation + +Sweeping and scavenging in the streets and in private houses are the +traditional occupations of the caste, but they have others. In Bombay +they serve as night watchmen, town-criers, drummers, trumpeters and +hangmen. Formerly the office of hangman was confined to sweepers, +but now many low-caste prisoners are willing to undertake it for the +sake of the privilege of smoking tobacco in jail which it confers. In +Mirzapur when a Dom hangman is tying a rope round the neck of a +criminal he shouts out, '_Dohai Maharani, Dohai Sarkar, Dohai Judge +Sahib_,' or 'Hail Great Queen! Hail Government! Hail Judge Sahib!' in +order to shelter himself under their authority and escape any guilt +attaching to the death. [247] In the Central Provinces the hangman was +accompanied by four or five other sweepers of the caste _panchayat_ +the idea being perhaps that his act should be condoned by their +presence and approval and he should escape guilt. In order to free the +executioner from blame the prisoner would also say: "_Dohai Sarkar ke, +Dohai Kampani ke; jaisa maine khun kiya waisa apne khun ko pahunchha_" +or "Hail to the Government and the Company; since I caused the death of +another, now I am come to my own death"; and all the _Panches_ said, +'_Ram, Ram_.' The hangman received ten rupees as his fee, and of this +five rupees were given to the caste for a feast and an offering to +Lalbeg to expiate his sin. In Bundelkhand sweepers are employed as +grooms by the Lodhis, and may put everything on to the horse except a +saddle-cloth. They are also the village musicians, and some of them +play on the rustic flute called _shahnai_ at weddings, and receive +their food all the time that the ceremony lasts. Sweepers are, as +a rule, to be found only in large villages, as in small ones there +is no work for them. The caste is none too numerous in the Central +Provinces, and in villages the sweeper is often not available when +wanted for cleaning the streets. The Chamars of Bundelkhand will not +remove the corpses of a cat or a dog or a squirrel, and a sweeper must +be obtained for the purpose. These three animals are in a manner holy, +and it is considered a sin to kill any one of them. But their corpses +are unclean. A Chamar also refuses to touch the corpse of a donkey, +but a Kumhar (potter) will sometimes do this; if he declines a sweeper +must be fetched. When a sweeper has to enter a house in order to +take out the body of an animal, it is cleaned and whitewashed after +he has been in. In Hoshangabad an objection appears to be felt to +the entry of a sweeper by the door, as it is stated that a ladder +is placed for him, so that he presumably climbs through a window. Or +where there are no windows it is possible that the ladder may protect +the sacred threshold from contact with his feet. The sweeper also +attends at funerals and assists to prepare the pyre; he receives the +winding-sheet when this is not burnt or buried with the corpse, and +the copper coins which are left on the ground as purchase-money for +the site of the grave. In Bombay in rich families the winding-sheet +is often a worked shawl costing from fifty to a hundred rupees. [248] +When a Hindu widow breaks her bangles after her husband's death, she +gives them, including one or two whole ones, to a Bhangia woman. [249] +A letter announcing a death is always carried by a sweeper. [250] +In Bengal a funeral could not be held without the presence of a Dom, +whose functions are described by Mr. Sherring [251] as follows: +"On the arrival of the dead body at the place of cremation, which +in Benares is at the basis of one of the steep stairs or _ghats_, +called the Burning-Ghat, leading down from the streets above to the +bed of the river Ganges, the Dom supplies five logs of wood, which he +lays in order upon the ground, the rest of the wood being given by the +family of the deceased. When the pile is ready for burning a handful of +lighted straw is brought by the Dom, and is taken from him and applied +by one of the chief members of the family to the wood. The Dom is the +only person who can furnish the light for the purpose; and if for any +reason no Dom is available, great delay and inconvenience are apt to +arise. The Dom exacts his fee for three things, namely, first for the +five logs, secondly for the bunch of straw, and thirdly for the light." + + + + +19. Occupation (continued) + +During an eclipse the sweepers reap a good harvest; for it is believed +that Rahu, the demon who devours the sun and moon and thus causes +an eclipse, was either a sweeper or the deity of the sweepers, +and alms given to them at this time will appease him and cause +him to let the luminaries go. Or, according to another account, +the sun and moon are in Rahu's debt, and he comes and duns them, +and this is the eclipse; and the alms given to sweepers are a means +of paying the debt. In Gujarat as soon as the darkening sets in the +Bhangis go about shouting, '_Garhandan, Vastradan, Rupadan_,' or +'Gifts for the eclipse, gifts of clothes, gifts of silver.' [252] +The sweepers are no doubt derived from the primitive or Dravidian +tribes, and, as has been seen, they also practise the art of making +bamboo mats and baskets, being known as Bansphor in Bombay on +this account. In the Punjab the Chuhras are a very numerous caste, +being exceeded only by the Jats, Rajputs and Brahmans. Only a small +proportion of them naturally find employment as scavengers, and the +remainder are agricultural labourers, and together with the vagrants +and gipsies are the hereditary workers in grass and reeds. [253] +They are closely connected with the Dhanuks, a caste of hunters, +fowlers and village watchmen, being of nearly the same status. [254] +And Dhanuk, again, is in some localities a complimentary term for a +Basor or bamboo-worker. It has been seen that Valmiki, the patron saint +of the sweepers, was a low-caste hunter, and this gives some reason +for the supposition that the primary occupations of the Chuhras and +Bhangis were hunting and working in grass and bamboo. In one of the +legends of the sweeper saint Balmik or Valmiki given by Mr. Greeven, +[255] Balmik was the youngest of the five Pandava brothers, and was +persuaded by the others to remove the body of a calf which had died in +their courtyard. But after he had done so they refused to touch him, +so he went into the wilderness with the body; and when he did not know +how to feed himself the carcase started into life and gave him milk +until he was full grown, when it died again of its own accord. Balmik +burst into tears, not knowing how he was to live henceforward, but a +voice cried from heaven saying, "Of the sinews (of the calf's body) +do thou tie winnows (_sup_), and of the caul do thou plait sieves +(_chalni_)." Balmik obeyed, and by his handiwork gained the name of +Supaj or the maker of winnowing-fans. These are natural occupations +of the non-Aryan forest tribes, and are now practised by the Gonds. + + +Meo + +_Meo, Mewati._--The Muhammadan branch of the Mina tribe belonging to +the country of Mewat in Rajputana which is comprised in the Alwar, +Bharatpur and Jaipur States and the British District of Gurgaon. A +few Meos were returned from the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts in +1911, but it is doubtful whether any are settled here, as they may +be wandering criminals. The origin of the Meo is discussed in the +article on the Mina tribe, but some interesting remarks on them by +Mr. Channing and Major Powlett in the _Rajputana Gazetteer_ may be +reproduced here. Mr. Channing writes: [256] + +"The tribe, which has been known in Hindustan according to the +Kutub Tawarikh for 850 years, was originally Hindu and became +Muhammadan. Their origin is obscure. They themselves claim descent +from the Rajput races of Jadon, Kachhwaha and Tuar, and they may +possibly have some Rajput blood in their veins; but they are probably, +like many other similar tribes, a combination from ruling and other +various stocks and sources, and there is reason to believe them very +nearly allied with the Minas, who are certainly a tribe of the same +structure and species. The Meos have twelve clans or _pals_, the first +six of which are identical in name and claim the same descent as the +first six clans of the Minas. Intermarriage between them both was the +rule until the time of Akbar, when owing to an affray at the marriage +of a Meo with a Mina the custom was discontinued. Finally, their +mode of life is or was similar, as both tribes were once notoriously +predatory. It is probable that the original Meos were supplemented by +converts to Islam from other castes. It is said that the tribe were +conquered and converted in the eleventh century by Masud, son of Amir +Salar and grandson of Sultan Mahmud Subaktagin on the mother's side, +the general of the forces of Mahmud of Ghazni. Masud is still venerated +by the Meos, and they swear by his name. They have a mixture of Hindu +and Muhammadan customs. They practise circumcision, _nikah_ [257] and +the burial of the dead. They make pilgrimages to the tomb of Masud in +Bahraich in Oudh, and consider the oath taken on his banner the most +binding. They also make pilgrimages to Muhammadan shrines in India, +but never perform the _Haj_. Of Hindu customs they observe the Holi +or Diwali; their marriages are never arranged in the same _got_ or +sept; and they permit daughters to inherit. They call their children +indiscriminately by both Muhammadan and Hindu names. They are almost +entirely uneducated, but have bards and musicians to whom they make +large presents. These sing songs known as Ratwai, which are commonly +on pastoral and agricultural subjects. The Meos are given to the use +of intoxicating drinks, and are very superstitious and have great +faith in omens. The dress of the men and women resembles that of the +Hindus. Infanticide was formerly common among them, but it is said to +have entirely died out. They were also formerly robbers by avocation; +and though they have improved they are still noted cattle-lifters." + +In another description of them by Major Powlett it is stated that, +besides worshipping Hindu gods and keeping Hindu festivals, they +employ a Brahman to write the Pili Chhitthi or yellow note fixing +the date of a marriage. They call themselves by Hindu names with the +exception of Ram; and Singh is a frequent affix, though not so common +as Khan. On the Amawas or monthly conjunction of the sun and moon, +Meos, in common with Hindu Ahirs and Gujars, cease from labour; and +when they make a well the first proceeding is to erect a _chabutra_ +(platform) to Bhaironji or Hanuman. However, when plunder was to be +obtained they have often shown little respect for Hindu shrines and +temples; and when the sanctity of a threatened place has been urged, +the retort has been, '_Tum to Deo, Ham Meo_' or 'You may be a Deo +(God), but I am a Meo.' + +Meos do not marry in their _pal_ or clan, but they are lax about +forming connections with women of other castes, whose children they +receive into the community. As already stated, Brahmans take part +in the formalities preceding a marriage, but the ceremony itself is +performed by a Kazi. As agriculturists Meos are inferior to their Hindu +neighbours. The point in which they chiefly fail is in working their +wells, for which they lack patience. Their women, whom they do not +confine, will, it is said, do more field-work than the men; indeed, +one often finds women at work in the crops when the men are lying +down. Like the women of low Hindu castes they tattoo their bodies, +a practice disapproved by Musalmans in general. Abul Fazl writes that +the Meos were in his time famous runners, and one thousand of them +were employed by Akbar as carriers of the post. + + + + + +Mina + + + + +1. The Minas locally termed Deswa + +_Mina, Deswali, Maina._--A well-known caste of Rajputana which is +found in the Central Provinces in the Hoshangabad, Nimar and Saugor +Districts. About 8000 persons of the caste were returned in 1911. The +proper name for them is Mina, but here they are generally known as +Deswali, a term which they probably prefer, as that of Mina is too +notorious. A large part of the population of the northern Districts is +recruited from Bundelkhand and Marwar, and these tracts are therefore +often known among them as 'Desh' or native country. The term Deswali +is applied to groups of many castes coming from Bundelkhand, and +has apparently been specially appropriated as an _alias_ by the +Minas. The caste are sometimes known in Hoshangabad as Maina, which +Colonel Tod states to be the name of the highest division of the +Minas. The designation of Pardeshi or 'foreigner' is also given to +them in some localities. The Deswalis came to Harda about A.D. 1750, +being invited by the Maratha Amil or governor, who gave one family a +grant of three villages. They thus gained a position of some dignity, +and this reaching the ears of their brothers in Jaipur they also +came and settled all over the District. [258] In view of the history +and character of the Minas, of which some account will be given, +it should be first stated that under the _regime_ of British law +and order most of the Deswalis of Hoshangabad have settled down into +steady and honest agriculturists. + + + + +2. Historical notice of the Mina tribe + +The Minas were a famous robber tribe of the country of Mewat in +Rajputana, comprised in the Alwar and Bharatpur States and the +British District of Gurgaon. [259] They are also found in large +numbers in Jaipur State, which was formerly held by them. The Meos +and Minas are now considered to be branches of one tribe, the former +being at least nominally Muhammadans by religion and the latter +Hindus. A favourite story for recitation at their feasts is that of +Darya Khan Meo and Sasibadani Mini, a pair of lovers whose marriage +led to a quarrel between the tribes to which they belonged, in the +time of Akbar. This dispute caused the cessation of the practice of +intermarriage between Meos and Minas which had formerly obtained. Both +the Meos and Minas are divided into twelve large clans called _pal_, +the word _pal_ meaning, according to Colonel Tod, 'a defile in a +valley suitable for cultivation or defence.' In a sandy desert like +Rajputana the valleys of streams might be expected to be the only +favourable tracts for settlement, and the name perhaps therefore +is a record of the process by which the colonies of Minas in these +isolated patches of culturable land developed into exogamous clans +marrying with each other. The Meos have similarly twelve _pals_, and +the names of six of these are identical with those of the Minas. [260] +The names of the _pals_ are taken from those of Rajput clans, [261] +but the recorded lists differ, and there are now many other _gots_ +or septs outside the _pals_. The Minas seem originally to have been an +aboriginal or pre-Aryan tribe of Rajputana, where they are still found +in considerable numbers. The Raja of Jaipur was formerly marked on the +forehead with blood taken from the great toe of a Mina on the occasion +of his installation. Colonel Tod records that the Amber or Jaipur State +was founded by one Dholesai in A.D. 967 after he had slaughtered large +numbers of the Minas by treachery. And in his time the Minas still +possessed large immunities and privileges in the Jaipur State. When +the Rajputs settled in force in Rajputana, reducing the Minas to +subjection, illicit connections would naturally arise on a large scale +between the invaders and the women of the conquered country. For even +when the Rajputs only came as small isolated parties of adventurers, +as into the Central Provinces, we find traces of such connections in +the survival of castes or subcastes of mixed descent from them and +the indigenous tribes. It follows therefore that where they occupied +the country and settled on the soil the process would be still more +common. Accordingly it is generally recognised that the Minas are a +caste of the most mixed and impure descent, and it has sometimes been +supposed that they were themselves a branch of the Rajputs. In the +Punjab when one woman accuses another of illicit intercourse she is +said '_Mina dena_,' or to designate her as a Mina. [262] Further it +is stated [263] that "The Minas are of two classes, the Zamindari or +agricultural and the Chaukidari or watchmen. These Chaukidari Minas +are the famous marauders." The office of village watchman was commonly +held by members of the aboriginal tribes, and these too furnished the +criminal classes. Another piece of evidence of the Dravidian origin +of the tribe is the fact that there exists even now a group of Dhedia +or impure Minas who do not refuse to eat cow's flesh. The Chaukidari +Minas, dispossessed of their land, resorted to the hills, and here they +developed into a community of thieves and bandits recruited from all +the outcastes of society. Sir A. Lyall wrote [264] of the caste as +"a Cave of Adullam which has stood open for centuries. With them a +captured woman is solemnly admitted by a form of adoption into one +circle of affinity, in order that she may be lawfully married into +another." With the conquest of northern India by the Muhammadans, many +of the Minas, being bound by no ties to Hinduism, might be expected +to embrace the new and actively proselytising religion, while their +robber bands would receive fugitive Muhammadans as recruits as well +as Hindus. Thus probably arose a Musalman branch of the community, +who afterwards became separately designated as the Meos. As already +seen, the Meos and Minas intermarried for a time, but subsequently +ceased to do so. As might be expected, the form of Islam professed +by the Meos is of a very bastard order, and Major Powlett's account +of it is reproduced in a short separate notice of that tribe. + + + + +3. Their robberies + +The crimes and daring of the Minas have obtained for them a +considerable place in history. A Muhammadan historian, Zia-ud-din +Bami, wrote of the tribe: [265] "At night they were accustomed to +come prowling into the city of Delhi, giving all kinds of trouble and +depriving people of their rest, and they plundered the country houses +in the neighbourhood of the city. Their daring was carried to such an +extent that the western gates of the city were shut at afternoon prayer +and no one dared to leave it after that hour, whether he travelled +as a pilgrim or with the display of a king. At afternoon prayer they +would often come to the Sarhouy, and assaulting the water-carriers +and girls who were fetching water they would strip them and carry +off their clothes. In turn they were treated by the Muhammadan rulers +with the most merciless cruelty. Some were thrown under the feet of +elephants, others were cut in halves with knives, and others again were +flayed alive from head to foot." Regular campaigns against them were +undertaken by the Muhammadans, [266] as in later times British forces +had to be despatched to subdue the Pindaris. Babar on his arrival at +Agra described the Mewati leader Raja Hasan Khan as 'the chief agitator +in all these confusions and insurrections'; and Firishta mentions two +terrible slaughters of Mewatis in A.D. 1259 and 1265. In 1857 Major +Powlett records that in Alwar they assembled and burnt the State ricks +and carried off cattle, though they did not succeed in plundering any +towns or villages there. In British territory they sacked Firozpur +and other villages, and when a British force came to restore order +many were hanged. Sir D. Ibbetson wrote of them in the Punjab: [267] + +"The Minas are the boldest of our criminal classes. Their headquarters +so far as the Punjab is concerned are in the village of Shahjahanpur, +attached to the Gurgaon District but surrounded on all sides by +Rajputana territory. There they until lately defied our police and even +resisted them with armed force. Their enterprises are on a large scale, +and they are always prepared to use violence if necessary. In Marwar +they are armed with small bows which do considerable execution. They +travel great distances in gangs of from twelve to twenty men, +practising robbery and dacoity even as far as the Deccan. The gangs +usually start off immediately after the Diwali feast and often remain +absent the whole year. They have agents in all the large cities of +Rajputana and the Deccan who give them information, and they are in +league with the carrying castes of Marwar. After a successful foray +they offer one-tenth of the proceeds at the shrine of Kali Devi." + +Like other criminals they were very superstitious, and Colonel Tod +records that the partridge and the _maloli_ or wagtail were their chief +birds of omen. A partridge clamouring on the left when he commenced +a foray was a certain presage of success to a Mina. Similarly, +Mr. Kennedy notes that the finding of a dried goatskin, either whole +or in pieces, among the effects of a suspected criminal is said to +be an infallible indication of his identity as a Mina, the flesh of +the goat's tongue being indispensable in connection with the taking +of omens. In Jaipur the Minas were employed as guards, as a method of +protection against their fellows, for whose misdeeds they were held +responsible. Rent-free lands were given to them, and they were always +employed to escort treasure. Here they became the most faithful and +trusted of the Raja's servants. It is related that on one occasion +a Mina sentinel at the palace had received charge of a basket of +oranges. A friend of the same tribe came to him and asked to be shown +the palace, which he had never seen. The sentinel agreed and took him +over the palace, but when his back was turned the friend stole one +orange from the basket. Subsequently the sentinel counted the oranges +and found one short; on this he ran after his friend and taxed him with +the theft, which being admitted, the Mina said that he had been made +to betray his trust and had become dishonoured, and drawing his sword +cut off his friend's head. The ancient treasure of Jaipur or Amber was, +according to tradition, kept in a secret cave in the hills under a body +of Mina guards who alone knew the hiding-place, and would only permit +any part of it to be withdrawn for a great emergency. Nor would they +accept the orders of the Raja alone, but required the consent of the +heads of the twelve principal noble families of Amber, branches of the +royal house, before they would give up any part of the treasure. The +criminal Minas are said to inhabit a tract of country about sixty-five +miles long and forty broad, stretching from Shahpur forty miles north +of Jaipur to Guraora in Gurgaon on the Rohtak border. The popular idea +of the Mina, Mr. Crooke remarks, [268] is quite in accordance with +his historical character; his niggardliness is shown in the saying, +'The Meo will not give his daughter in marriage till he gets a mortar +full of silver'; his pugnacity is expressed in, 'The Meo's son begins +to avenge his feuds when he is twelve years old'; and his toughness in, +'Never be sure that a Meo is dead till you see the third-day funeral +ceremony performed.' + + + + +4. The Deswalis of the Central Provinces + +As already stated, the Deswalis of the Central Provinces have +abandoned the wild life of their ancestors and settled down as +respectable cultivators. Only a few particulars about them need be +recorded. Girls are usually married before they are twelve years old +and boys at sixteen to twenty. A sum of Rs. 24 is commonly paid for +the bride, and a higher amount up to Rs. 71 may be given, but this +is the maximum, and if the father of the girl takes more he will be +fined by the caste and made to refund the balance. A triangle with +some wooden models of birds is placed on the marriage-shed and the +bridegroom strikes at these with a stick; formerly he fired a gun +at them to indicate that he was a hunter by profession. A Brahman +is employed to celebrate the marriage. A widow is usually taken by +her late husband's younger brother, but if there be none the elder +brother may marry her, contrary to the general rule among Hindus. The +object is to keep the woman in the family, as wives are costly. If +she is unwilling to marry her brother-in-law, however, no compulsion +is exercised and she may wed another man. Divorce is allowed, and +in Rajputana is very simply effected. If tempers do not assimilate +or other causes prompt them to part, the husband tears a shred from +his turban which he gives to his wife, and with this simple bill of +divorce, placing two jars of water on her head, she takes whatever +path she pleases, and the first man who chooses to ease her of her +load becomes her future lord. '_Jehur nikala_,' 'Took the jar and went +forth,' is a common saying among the mountaineers of Merwara. [269] + +The dead are cremated, the corpse of a man being wrapped in a white +and that of a woman in a coloured cloth. They have no _shraddh_ +ceremony, but mourn for the dead only on the last day of Kartik +(October), when they offer water and burn incense. Deswalis employ +the Parsai or village Brahman to officiate at their ceremonies, but +owing to their mixed origin they rank below the cultivating castes, +and Brahmans will not take water from them. In Jaipur, however, +Major Powlett says, their position is higher. They are, as already +seen, the trusted guards of the palace and treasury, and Rajputs will +accept food and water from their hands. This concession is no doubt +due to the familiarity induced by living together for a long period, +and parallel instances of it can be given, as that of the Panwars +and Gonds in the Central Provinces. The Deswalis eat flesh and drink +liquor, but abstain from fowls and pork. When they are invited to a +feast they do not take their own brass vessels with them, but drink +out of earthen pots supplied by the host, having the liquor poured +on to their hands held to the mouth to avoid actual contact with the +vessel. This is a Marwari custom and the Jats also have it. Before the +commencement of the feast the guests wait until food has been given to +as many beggars as like to attend. In Saugor the food served consists +only of rice and pulse without vegetables or other dishes. It is said +that a Mina will not eat salt in the house of another man, because +he considers that to do so would establish the bond of _Nimak-khai_ +or salt-eating between them, and he would be debarred for ever from +robbing that man or breaking into his house. The guests need not +sit down together as among other Hindus, but may take their food in +batches; so that the necessity of awaiting the arrival of every guest +before commencing the feast is avoided. The Deswalis will not kill +a black-buck nor eat the flesh of one, but they assign no reason +for this and do not now worship the animal. The rule is probably, +however, a totemistic survival. The men may be known by their manly +gait and harsh tone of voice, as well as by a peculiar method of tying +the turban; the women have a special ornament called _rakhdi_ on the +forehead and do not wear spangles or toe-rings. They are said also +to despise ornaments of the baser metals as brass and pewter. They +are tattooed with dots on the face to set off the fair-coloured skin +by contrast, in the same manner as patches were carried on the face +in Europe in the eighteenth century. A tattoo dot on a fair face is +likened by a Hindu poet to a bee sitting on a half-opened mango. + + +Mirasi + +_Mirasi._--A Muhammadan caste of singers, minstrels and genealogists, +of which a few members are found in the Central Provinces. General +Cunningham says that they are the bards and singers of the Meos or +Mewatis at all their marriages and festivals. [270] Mr. Crooke is +of opinion that they are undoubtedly an offshoot of the great Dom +caste who are little better than sweepers. [271] The word Mirasi is +derived from the Arabic _miras_, inheritance, and its signification is +supposed to be that the Mirasis are the hereditary bards and singers +of the lower castes, as the Bhat is of the Rajputs. _Miras_ as a +word may, however, be used of any hereditary right, as that of the +village headman or Karnam, or even those of the village watchman or +temple dancing-girl, all of whom may have a _mirasi_ right to fees or +perquisites or plots of land held as remuneration for service. [272] +The Mirasis are also known as Pakhawaji, from the _pakhawaj_ or +timbrel which they play; as Kawwal or one who speaks fluently, that +is a professional, story-teller; and as Kalawant or one possessed +of art or skill. The Mirasis are most numerous in the Punjab, where +they number a quarter of a million. Sir D. Ibbetson says of them: +[273] "The social position of the Mirasi as of all minstrel castes is +exceedingly low, but he attends at weddings and similar occasions to +recite genealogies. Moreover there are grades even among Mirasis. The +outcaste tribes have their Mirasis, who though they do not eat with +their clients and merely render their professional services are +considered impure by the Mirasis of the higher castes. The Mirasi +is generally a hereditary servant like the Bhat, and is notorious +for his exactions, which he makes under the threat of lampooning +the ancestors of him from whom he demands fees. The Mirasi is almost +always a Muhammadan." They are said to have been converted to Islam +in response to the request of the poet Amir Khusru, who lived in the +reign of Ala-ud-din Khilji (A.D. 1295). The Mirasi has two functions, +the men being musicians, storytellers and genealogists, while the women +dance and sing, but only before the ladies of the zenana. Mr. Nesfield +[274] says that they are sometimes regularly entertained as jesters +to help these ladies to kill time and reconcile them to their domestic +prisons. As they do not dance before men they are reputed to be chaste, +as no woman who is not a prostitute will dance in the presence of men, +though singing and playing are not equally condemned. The implements +of the Mirasis are generally the small drum (_dholak_), the cymbals +(_majira_) and the gourd lute (_kingri_). [275] + + + + + +Mochi [276] + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice_. + 2. _Legends of origin_. + 3. _Art among the Hindus_. + 4. _Antagonism of Mochis and Chamars_. + 5. _Exogamous groups_. + 6. _Social customs_. + 7. _Shoes_. + + + + +1. General notice + +_Mochi, Muchi, Jingar, Jirayat, Jildgar, Chitrakar, Chitevari, +Musabir._--The occupational caste of saddlers and cobblers. In 1911 +about 4000 Mochis and 2000 Jingars were returned from the Central +Provinces and Berar, the former residing principally in the Hindustani +and the latter in the Marathi-speaking Districts. The name is derived +from the Sanskrit _mochika_ and the Hindustani _mojna_, to fold, and +the common name _mojah_ for socks and stockings is from the same root +(Platts). By origin the Mochis are no doubt an offshoot of the Chamar +caste, but they now generally disclaim the connection. Mr. Nesfield +observes [277] that, "The industry of tanning is preparatory to and +lower than that of cobblery, and hence the caste of Chamar ranks +decidedly below that of Mochi. The ordinary Hindu does not consider +the touch of a Mochi so impure as that of the Chamar, and there is a +Hindu proverb to the effect that 'Dried or prepared hide is the same +thing as cloth,' whereas the touch of the raw hide before it has been +tanned by the Chamar is considered a pollution. The Mochi does not +eat carrion like the Chamar, nor does he eat swine's flesh; nor does +his wife ever practise the much-loathed art of midwifery." In the +Central Provinces, as in northern India, the caste may be considered +to have two branches, the lower one consisting of the Mochis who +make and cobble shoes and are admittedly descended from Chamars; +while the better-class men either make saddles and harness, when they +are known as Jingar; or bind books, when they are called Jildgar; or +paint and make clay idols, when they are given the designation either +of Chitrakar, Chitevari or Murtikar. In Berar some Jingars have taken +up the finer kinds of iron-work, such as mending guns, and are known +as Jirayat. All these are at great pains to dissociate themselves +from the Chamar caste. They call themselves Thakur or Rajput and have +exogamous sections the names of which are identical with those of the +Rajput septs. The same people have assumed the name of Rishi in Bengal, +and, according to a story related by Sir H. Risley, claim to be debased +Brahmans; while in the United Provinces Mr. Crooke considers them to +be connected with the Srivastab Kayasths, with whom they intermarry +and agree in manners and customs. The fact that in the three Provinces +these workers in leather claim descent from three separate high castes +is an interesting instance of the trouble which the lower-class Hindus +will take to obtain a slight increase in social consideration; but +the very diversity of the accounts given induces the belief that all +Mochis were originally sprung from the Chamars. In Bombay, again, +Mr. Enthoven [278] writes that the caste prefers to style itself +Arya Somavansi Kshatriya or Aryan Kshatriyas of the Moon division; +while they have all the regular Brahmanical _gotras_ as Bharadwaja, +Vasishtha, Gautam and so on. + + + + +2. Legends of origin + +The following interesting legends as to the origin of the caste adduced +by them in support of their Brahmanical descent are related [279] by +Sir H. Risley: "One of the Praja-pati, or mind-born sons of Brahma, +was in the habit of providing the flesh of cows and clarified butter as +a burnt-offering (_Ahuti_) to the gods. It was then the custom to eat +a portion of the sacrifice, restore the victim to life, and drive it +into the forest. On one occasion the Praja-pati failed to resuscitate +the sacrificial animal, owing to his wife, who was pregnant at the +time, having clandestinely made away with a portion. Alarmed at this +he summoned all the other Praja-patis, and they sought by divination +to discover the cause of the failure. At last they ascertained what +had occurred, and as a punishment the wife was cursed and expelled +from their society. The child which she bore was the first Mochi or +tanner, and from that time forth, mankind being deprived of the power +of reanimating cattle slaughtered for food, the pious abandoned the +practice of killing kine altogether. Another story is that Muchiram, +the ancestor of the caste, was born from the sweat of Brahma while +dancing. He chanced to offend the irritable sage Durvasa, who sent a +pretty Brahman widow to allure him into a breach of chastity. Muchiram +accosted the widow as mother, and refused to have anything to do +with her; but Durvasa used the miraculous power he had acquired by +penance to render the widow pregnant so that the innocent Muchiram +was made an outcaste on suspicion. From her two sons are descended +the two main branches of the caste in Bengal." + + + + +3. Art among the Hindus + +In the Central Provinces the term Mochi is often used for the whole +caste in the northern Districts, and Jingar in the Maratha country; +while the Chitrakars or painters form a separate group. Though the +trades of cobbler and book-binder are now widely separated in civilised +countries, the connection between them is apparent since both work +in leather. It is not at first sight clear why the painter should +be of the same caste, but the reason is perhaps that his brushes are +made of the hair of animals, and this is also regarded as impure, as +being a part of the hide. If such be the case a senseless caste rule +of ceremonial impurity has prevented the art of painting from being +cultivated by the Hindus; and the comparatively poor development of +their music may perhaps be ascribed to the same cause, since the use +of the sinews of animals for stringed instruments would also prevent +the educated classes from learning to play them. Thus no stringed +instruments are permitted to be used in temples, but only the gong, +cymbal, horn and conch-shell. And this rule would greatly discourage +the cultivation of music, which art, like all the others, has usually +served in its early period as an appanage to religious services. It +has been held that instruments were originally employed at temples and +shrines in order to scare away evil spirits by their noise while the +god was being fed or worshipped, and not for the purpose of calling +the worshippers together; since noise is a recognised means of driving +away spirits, probably in consequence of its effect in frightening wild +animals. It is for the same end that music is essential at weddings, +especially during the night when the spirits are more potent; and +this is the primary object of the continuous discordant din which +the Hindus consider a necessary accompaniment to a wedding. + +Except for this ceremonial strictness Hinduism should have been +favourable to the development of both painting and sculpture, as being +a polytheistic religion. In the early stages of society religion and +art are intimately connected, as is shown by the fact that images and +paintings are at first nearly always of deities or sacred persons or +animals, and it is only after a considerable period of development +that secular subjects are treated. Similarly architecture is in its +commencement found to be applied solely to sacred buildings, as temples +and churches, and is only gradually diverted to secular buildings. The +figures sculptured by the Mochis are usually images for temples, +and those who practise this art are called Murtikar, from _murti_, +an image or idol; and the pictures of the Chitrakars were until +recently all of deities or divine animals, though secular paintings +may now occasionally be met with. And the uneducated believers in a +polytheistic religion regularly take the image for the deity himself, +at first scarcely conceiving of the one apart from the other. Thus +some Bharewas or brass-workers say that they dare not make metal +images of the gods, because they are afraid that the badness of their +handiwork might arouse the wrath of the gods and move them to take +revenge. The surmise might in fact be almost justifiable that the end +to which figures of men and animals were first drawn or painted, or +modelled in clay or metal was that they might be worshipped as images +of the deities, the savage mind not distinguishing at all between an +image of the god and the god himself. For this reason monotheistic +religions would be severely antagonistic to the arts, and such is in +fact the case. Thus the Muhammadan commentary, the Hadith, has a verse: +"Woe to him who has painted a living creature! At the day of the last +judgment the persons represented by him will come out of the tomb +and join themselves to him to demand of him a soul. Then that man, +unable to give life to his work, will burn in eternal flames." And +in Judaism the familiar prohibition of the Second Commandment appears +to be directed to the same end. + +Hindu sculpture has indeed been fairly prolific, but is not generally +considered to have attained to any degree of artistic merit. Since +sculpture is mainly concerned with the human form it seems clear that +an appreciation of the beauty of muscular strength and the symmetrical +development of the limbs is an essential preliminary to success in +this art; and such a feeling can only arise among a people who set +much store on feats of bodily strength and agility. This has never +been the character of the Hindus, whose religion encourages asceticism +and mortification of the body, and points to mental self-absorption +and detachment from worldly cares and exercises as the highest type +of virtue. + + + + +4. Antagonism of Mochis and Chamars + +As a natural result of the pretensions to nobility made by the Mochis, +there is no love lost between them and the Chamars; and the latter +allege that the Mochis have stolen their _rampi_, the knife with +which they cut leather. On this account the Chamars will neither take +water to drink from the Mochis nor mend their shoes, and will not +even permit them to try on a new pair of shoes until they have paid +the price set on them; for they say that the Mochis are half-bred +Chamars and therefore cannot be permitted to defile the shoes of +a true Chamar by trying them on; but when they have been paid for, +the maker has severed connection with them, and the use to which they +may be put no longer affects him. + + + + +5. Exogamous groups + +In the Central Provinces the Mochis are said to have forty +exogamous sections or _gotras_, of which the bulk are named after +all the well-known Rajput clans, while two agree with those of the +Chamars. And they have also an equal number of _kheras_ or groups named +after villages. The limits of the two groups seem to be identical; +thus members of the sept named after the Kachhwaha Rajputs say that +their _khera_ or village name is Mungavali in Gwalior; those of the +Ghangere sept give Chanderi as their _khera_, the Sitawat sept Dhamoni +in Saugor, the Didoria Chhatarpur, the Narele Narwar, and so on. The +names of the village groups have now been generally forgotten and +they are said to have no influence on marriage, which is regulated +by the Rajput sept names; but it seems probable that the _kheras_ +were the original divisions and the Rajput _gotras_ have been more +recently adopted in support of the claims already noticed. + + + + +6. Social customs + +The Mochis have adopted the customs of the higher Hindu castes. A +man may not take a wife from his own _gotra_, his mother's _gotra_ or +from a family into which a girl from his own family has married. They +usually marry their daughters in childhood and employ Brahmans in +their ceremonies, and no degradation attaches to these latter for +serving as their priests. In minor domestic ceremonies for which the +Brahman is not engaged his place is taken by a relative, who is called +_sawasa_, and is either the sister's husband, daughter's husband, +or father's sister's husband, of the head of the family. They permit +widow-remarriage and divorce, and in the southern Districts effect +a divorce by laying a pestle between the wife and husband. They burn +their dead and observe mourning for the usual period. After a death +they will not again put on a coloured head-cloth until some relative +sets it on their heads for the first time on the expiry of the period +of mourning. They revere the ordinary Hindu deities, and like the +Chamars they have a family god, known as Mair, whose representation +in the shape of a lump of clay is enshrined within the house and +worshipped at marriages and deaths. In Saugor he is said to be the +collective representative of the spirits of their ancestors. In some +localities they eat flesh and drink liquor, but in others abstain from +both. Among the Hindus the Mochis rank considerably higher than the +Chamars; their touch does not defile and they are permitted to enter +temples and take part in religious ceremonies. The name of a Saugor +Mochi is remembered who became a good drawer and painter and was +held in much esteem at the Peshwa's court. In northern India about +half the Mochis are Muhammadans, but in the Central Provinces they +are all Hindus. + + + + +7. Shoes + +In view of the fact that many of the Mochis were Muhammadans and that +slippers are mainly a Muhammadan article of attire Buchanan thought +it probable that they were brought into India by the invaders, the +Hindus having previously been content with sandals and wooden shoes. He +wrote: "Many Hindus now use leather slippers, but some adhere to the +proper custom of wearing sandals, which have wooden soles, a strap +of leather to pass over the instep, and a wooden or horn peg with a +button on its top. The foot is passed through the strap and the peg +is placed between two of the toes." [280] It is certain, however, +that leather shoes and slippers were known to the Hindus from a fairly +early period: "The episode related in the Ramayana of Bharata placing +on the vacant throne of Ajodhya a pair of Rama's slippers, which he +worshipped during the latter's protracted exile, shows that shoes +were important articles of wear and worthy of attention. In Manu and +the Mahabharata slippers are also mentioned and the time and mode of +putting them on pointed out. The Vishnu Purana enjoins all who wish +to protect their persons never to be without leather shoes. Manu +in one place expresses great repugnance to stepping into another's +shoes and peremptorily forbids it, and the Puranas recommend the +use of shoes when walking out of the house, particularly in thorny +places and on hot sand." [281] Thus shoes were certainly worn by the +Hindus before Muhammadan times, though loose slippers may have been +brought into fashion by the latter. And it seems possible that the +Mochis may have adopted Islam, partly to obtain the patronage of the +followers of the new religion, and also to escape from the degraded +position to which their profession of leather-working was relegated +by Hinduism and to dissociate themselves from the Chamars. + + +Mowar + +_Mowar._--A small caste of cultivators found in the Chhattisgarh +country, in the Raipur and Bilaspur Districts and the Raigarh +State. They numbered 2500 persons in 1901. The derivation of the name +is obscure, but they themselves say that it is derived from Mow or +Mowagarh, a town in the Jhansi District of the United Provinces, and +they also call themselves Mahuwar or the inhabitants of Mow. They +say that the Raja of Mowagarh, under whom they were serving, +desired to marry the daughter of one of their Sirdars (headmen), +because she was extremely beautiful, but her father refused, and +when the Raja persisted in his desire they left the place in a body +and came to Ratanpur in the time of Raja Bimbaji, in A.D. 1770. A +Bilaspur writer states that the Mowars are an offshoot from the +Rajwar Rajputs of Sarguja State. Colonel Dalton writes [282] of the +Rajwar Rajputs of Sarguja and other adjoining States that they are +peaceably disposed cultivators, who declare themselves to be fallen +Kshatriyas; but he remarks later that they are probably aborigines, +as they do not conform to Hindu customs, and they are skilled in a +dance called Chailo, which he considers to be of Dravidian origin. In +another place he remarks that the Rajwars of Bengal admit that they +are derived from the miscegenation of Kurmis and Kols. The fact that +the Mowars of Sarangarh make a representation of a bow and arrow on +their documents, instead of signing their names, affords some support +to the theory that they are probably a branch of one of the aboriginal +tribes. The name may be derived from _mowa_, a radish, as the Mowars +of Bilaspur are engaged principally in garden cultivation. + +The Mowars have no subcastes, but are divided into a number of +exogamous groups, principally of a totemistic nature. Those of the +Surajha or sun sept throw away their earthen pots on the occasion of an +eclipse, and those of the Hataia or elephant sept will not ride on an +elephant and worship that animal at the Dasahra festival. Members of +other septs named after the cobra, the crow, the monkey and the tiger +will not kill their totem animal, and when they see the dead body of +one of its species they throw away their earthen cooking-pots as a +sign of mourning. The marriage of persons belonging to the same sept +and also that of first cousins is prohibited. If an unmarried girl is +seduced by a man of the caste she becomes his wife and is not expelled, +but the caste will not eat food cooked by her. But a girl going wrong +with an outsider is finally cast out. The marriage and other social +customs resemble those of the Kurmis. The caste employ Brahmans at +their ceremonies and have a great regard for them. Their _gurus_ or +spiritual preceptors are Bairagis and Gosains. They eat the flesh +of clean animals and a few drink liquor, but most of them abstain +from it. Their women are tattooed on the arms and hands with figures +intended to represent deer, flies and other animals and insects. The +caste say that they were formerly employed as soldiers under the +native chiefs, but they are now all cultivators. They grow all kinds +of grain and vegetables, except turmeric and onions. A few of them +are landowners, and the majority tenants. Very few are constrained +to labour for hire. In appearance the men are generally strong and +healthy, and of a dark complexion. + + + + + +Murha + + + +1. Origin of the caste + +_Murha._--A Dravidian, caste of navvies and labourers found in +Jubbulpore and the adjoining Districts, to the number of about +1500 persons. The name Murha has been held to show that the caste +are connected with the Munda tribe. The Murhas, however, call +themselves also Khare Bind Kewat and Lunia or Nunia (salt-maker), +and in Jubbulpore they give these two names as subdivisions of the +caste. And these names indicate that the caste are an offshoot of +the large Bind tribe of Bengal and northern India, though in parts +of the Central Provinces they have probably been recruited from the +Kols or Mundas. Sir H. Risley [283] records a story related by the +Binds to the effect that they and the Nunias were formerly one, and +that the existing Nunias are descended from a Bind who consented to +dig a grave for a Muhammadan king and was put out of caste for doing +so. And he remarks that the Binds may be a true primitive tribe and +the Nunias a functional group differentiated from them by taking to +the manufacture of earth salt. This explanation of the relationship +of the Binds and Nunias seems almost certainly correct. In the United +Provinces the Binds are divided into the Khare and Dhusia or first and +second subcastes, and the Khare Binds also call themselves Kewat. [284] +And the Murhas of Narsinghpur call themselves Khare Bind Kewats, though +the other Kewats repudiate all connection with them. There seems thus +to be no doubt that the Murhas of these Provinces are another offshoot +of the Bind tribe like the Nunias, who have taken up the profession of +navvies and earthworkers and thus become a separate caste. Mr. Hira +Lal notes that the Narsinghpur District contains a village Nonia, +which is inhabited solely by Murhas who call themselves Khare Bind +Kewat. As the village is no doubt named Nonia or Nunia after them, +we thus have an instance of all the three designations being applied +to the same set of persons. The Murhas say that they came into +Narsinghpur from Rewah, and they still speak the Bagheli dialect, +though the current vernacular of the locality is Bundeli. The Binds +themselves derive their name from the Vindhya (Bindhya) hills. [285] +They relate that a traveller passing by the Vindhya hills heard a +strange flute-like sound coming out of a clump of bamboos. He cut +a shoot and took from it a fleshy substance, which afterwards grew +into a man, the supposed ancestor of the Binds. In Mandla the Murhas +say that the difference between themselves and the Nunias is that the +latter make field-embankments and other earthwork, while the Murhas +work in stone and build bridges. According to their own story they +were brought to Mandla from their home in Eastern Oudh more than ten +generations ago by a Gond king of the Garha-Mandla dynasty for the +purpose of building his fort or castle. He gave them two villages +for their maintenance which they have now lost. The caste has, +however, probably received some local accretions and in Mandla some +Murhas appear to be Kols; members of this tribe are generally above +the average in bodily strength and are in considerable request for +employment on earth- and stone-work. + + + + +2. Marriage customs + +In Narsinghpur the Murhas appear to have no regular exogamous +divisions. Some of them remember the names of their _kheros_ or +ancestral villages and do not marry with families belonging to the +same _khero_, but this is not a regular rule of the caste. Generally +speaking, persons descended through males from a common ancestor do not +intermarry so long as they remember the relationship. In Mandla they +have five divisions, of which the highest is Purbia. The name Purbia +(Eastern) is commonly applied in the Central Provinces to persons +coming from Oudh, and in this case the Purbia Murhas are probably +the latest immigrants from home and have a superior status on this +account. Up till recently they practised hypergamy with the other +groups, taking daughters from them in marriage, but not giving their +daughters to them. This rule is now, however, breaking down on account +of the difficulty they find in getting their daughters married. The +children of brothers and sisters may marry in some places, but in +others neither they nor their children may marry with each other. Anta +Santa or the exchange of girls between two families is permitted. The +bridegroom's father has to pay from five to twenty rupees as a _chari_ +or bride-price to the girl's father, which sum is regarded as the +remuneration of the latter for having brought up his daughter. In +the case of the daughter of a headman the bride-price is sometimes as +high as Rs. 150. In Damoh a curious survival of marriage by capture +remains. The bridegroom's party give a ram or he-goat to the bride's +party and these take it to their shed, cut its head off and hang it +by the side of the _kham_ or marriage-pole. The brother-in-law of the +bridegroom or of his father then sallies forth to bring back the head +of the animal, but is opposed by the women of the bride's party, who +belabour him and his friends with sticks, brooms and rolling-pins. But +in the end the head is always taken away. The binding portion of the +marriage is the _bhanwar_ or walking round the sacred post. When the +bride is leaving for her husband's house the women of her party take +seven balls of flour with burning wicks thrust into them, and place +them in a winnowing-fan. They wave this round the bride's head and +then throw the balls and after them the fan over the litter in which +the bride is seated. The bridegroom's party must catch the fan, and +if they let it fall to the ground they are much laughed at for their +clumsiness. When the pair arrive at the bridegroom's house, the fan is +again waved over their heads; and a cloth is spread before the house, +on which seven burning wicks are placed like the previous ones. The +bride walks quickly over the cloth to the house and the bridegroom +must keep pace with her, picking up the burning flour balls as he +goes. When the pair arrive at the house the bridegroom's sister shuts +the door and will not open it until she is given a present. Divorce +and the remarriage of widows are permitted. + + + + +3. Funeral rites + +The caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities. Well-to-do members +burn their dead and the poorer ones bury them. The corpse is usually +placed with the head to the south as is the custom among the primitive +tribes, but in some localities the Hindu fashion of laying the head to +the north has been adopted. Two pice are thrown down by the grave or +burning-_ghat_ to buy the site, and these are taken by the sweeper. The +ashes are collected on the third day and thrown into a river. The usual +period of mourning is only three days, but it is sometimes extended to +nine days when the chief mourner is unable to feed the caste-fellows +on the third day, and the feast may in case of necessity be postponed +to any time within six months of the death. The chief mourner puts +on a new white cloth and eats nothing but rice and pulse without salt. + + + + +4. Occupation + +The caste are employed on all kinds of earthwork, such as building +walls, excavating trenches, and making embankments in fields. Their +trade implements consist of a pickaxe, a basket, and a thin wooden hod +to fill the earth into the basket. The Murha invokes these as follows: +"Oh! my lord the basket, my lord the pickaxe shaped like a snake, +and my lady the hod, come and eat up those who do not pay me for my +work!" The Murhas are strict in their rules about food and will not +accept cooked food even from a Brahman, but notwithstanding this, +their social position is so low that not even a sweeper would take +food from them. The caste eat flesh and drink liquor, but abstain +from fowls, pork and beef. They engage Brahmans on the occasion of +births and marriages, but not usually for funerals. The women tattoo +their bodies after marriage, and the charge for this should always be +paid by the maternal uncle's wife, the paternal aunt, or some other +similar relation of the girl. The fact that among most Hindus a girl +must be tattooed before leaving for her husband's house, and that +the cost of the operation must always be paid for by her own family, +seems to indicate that tattooing was formerly a rite of puberty for +the female sex. A wife must not mention the name of her husband or of +any person who stands in the relation of father, mother, uncle or aunt +to him. Parents do not call their eldest son by his proper name, but +by some pet name. Women are impure for five days during menstruation +and are not allowed to cook for that period. The Murhas have a caste +_panchayat_ or committee, the head of which is known as Patel or +Mukhia, the office being hereditary. He receives a part of all fines +levied for the commission of social offences. In appearance the caste +are dark and short of stature, and have some resemblance to the Kols. + + + + +5. Women's song + +In conclusion, I reproduce one of the songs which the women sing as +they are carrying the basketfuls of earth or stones at their work; +in the original each line consists of two parts, the last words of +which sometimes rhyme with each other: + + + Our mother Nerbudda is very kind; blow, wind, we are hot with + labour. + He said to the Maina: Go, carry my message to my love. + The red ants climb up the mango-tree; and the daughter follows + her mother's way. + I have no money to give her even lime and tobacco; I am poor, + so how can I tell her of my love. + The boat has gone down on the flood of the Nerbudda; the + fisherwoman is weeping for her husband. + She has no bangles on her arm nor necklace on her neck; she has + no beauty, but seeks her lovers throughout the village. + Bread from the girdle, curry from the _lota_; let us go, beloved, + the moon is shining. + The leaves of gram have been plucked from the plants; I think + much on Dadaria, but she does not come. + The love of a stranger is as a dream; think not of him, beloved, + he cannot be yours. + Twelve has struck and it is thirteen time (past the time of + labour); oh, overseer, let your poor labourers go. + The betel-leaf is pressed in the mouth (and gives pleasure); + attractive eyes delight the heart. + Catechu, areca and black cloves; my heart's secret troubles me + in my dreams. + The Nerbudda came and swept away the rubbish (from the works); + fly away, bees, do not perch on my cloth. + The colour does not come on the wheat; her youth is passing, + but she cannot yet drape her cloth on her body. + Like the sight of rain-drops splashing on the ground; so beautiful + is she to look upon. + It rains and the hidden streams in the woodland are filled (and + come to view); hide as long as you may, some day you must be seen. + The mahua flowers are falling from the trees on the hill; leave + me your cloth so that I may know you will return. + He went to the bazar and brought back a cocoanut; it is green + without, but insects are eating the core. + He went to the hill and cut strings of bamboo; you cannot drape + your cloth, you have wound it round your body. + The coral necklace hangs on the peg; if you become the second + wife of my husband I shall give you clothes. + She put on her clothes and went to the forest; she met her lover + and said you are welcome to me. + He went to the bazar and bought potatoes; but if he had loved me + he would have brought me liquor. + The fish in the river are on the look-out; the Brahman's daughter + is bathing with her hair down. + The arhar-stumps stand in the field; I loved one of another caste, + but must give him up. + He ate betel and coloured his teeth; his beloved came from without + and knew him. + The ploughmen are gone to the field; my clever writer is gone to + the court-house. + The Nerbudda flows like a bent bow; a beautiful youth is standing + in court. [286] + The broken areca-nuts lie in the forest; when a man comes to + misfortune no one will help him. + The broken areca-nuts cannot be mended; and two hearts which are + sundered cannot be joined. + Ask me for five rupees and I will give you twenty-five; but I + will not give my lover for the whole world. + I will put bangles on my arm; when the other wife sees me she + will die of jealousy. + Break the bangles which your husband gave you; and put others on + your wrists in my name. + O my lover, give me bangles; make me armlets, for I am content + with you. + My lover went to the bazar at Lakhanpur; but he has not brought + me even a _choli_ [287] that I liked. + I had gone to the bazar and bought fish; she is so ugly that the + flies would not settle on her. + + + + +Nagasia + +_Nagasia, Naksia._--A primitive tribe found principally in the +Chota Nagpur States. They now number 16,000 persons in the Central +Provinces, being returned almost entirely from Jashpur and Sarguja. The +census returns are, however, liable to be inaccurate as the Nagasias +frequently call themselves Kisan, a term which is also applied to +the Oraons. The Nagasias say that they are the true Kisans whereas +the Oraons are only so by occupation. The Oraons, on the other hand, +call the Nagasias Kisada. The tribe derive their name from the Nag +or cobra, and they say that somebody left an infant in the forest +of Setambu and a cobra came and spread its hood over the child to +protect him from the rays of the sun. Some Mundas happened to pass +by and on seeing this curious sight they thought the child must be +destined to greatness, so they took him home and made him their king, +calling him Nagasia, and from him the tribe are descended. The episode +of the snake is, of course, a stock legend related by many tribes, +but the story appears to indicate that the Nagasias are an offshoot +of the Mundas; and this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact that +Nagbasia is often used as an alternative name for the Mundas by their +Hindu neighbours. The term Nagbasia is supposed to mean the original +settlers (_basia_) in Nag (Chota Nagpur). + +The tribe are divided into the Telha, Dhuria and Senduria groups. The +Telhas are so called because at the marriage ceremony they mark the +forehead of the bride with _tel_ (oil), while the Dhurias instead of +oil use dust (_dhur_) taken from the sole of the bridegroom's foot, +and the Sendurias like most Hindu castes employ vermilion (_sendur_) +for this purpose. The Telhas and Dhurias marry with each other, but +not with the Sendurias, who consider themselves to be superior to +the others and use the term Nagbansia or 'Descendants of the Snake' +as their tribal name. The Telha and Dhuria women do not wear glass +bangles on their arms but only bracelets of brass, while the Sendurias +wear glass bangles and also armlets above the elbow. Telha women do +not wear nose-rings or tattoo their bodies, while the Sendurias do +both. The Telhas say that the tattooing needle and vermilion, which +they formerly employed in their marriages, were stolen from them by +Wagdeo or the tiger god. So they hit upon sesamum oil as a substitute, +which must be pressed for ceremonial purposes in a bamboo basket by +unmarried boys using a plough-yoke. This is probably, Mr. Hira Lal +remarks, merely the primitive method of extracting oil, prior to the +invention of the Teli's _ghani_ or oil-press; and the practice is +an instance of the common rule that articles employed in ceremonial +and religious rites should be prepared by the ancient and primitive +methods which for ordinary purposes have been superseded by more +recent labour-saving inventions. + + + + + +Nahal + + + + +1. The tribe and its subdivisions + +_Nahal, Nihal._ [288]--A forest tribe who are probably a mixture +of Bhils and Korkus. In 1911 they numbered 12,000 persons, of whom +8000 belonged to the Hoshangabad, Nimar and Betul Districts, and +nearly 4000 to Berar. They were classed at the census as a subtribe +of Korkus. According to one story they are descended from a Bhil +father and a Korku mother, and the writer of the _Khandesh Gazetteer_ +calls them the most savage of the Bhils. But in the Central Provinces +their family or sept names are the same as those of the Korkus, +and they speak the Korku language. Mr. Kitts [289] says that the +Korkus who first went to Berar found the Nahals in possession of +the Melghat hills. Gradually the latter caste lost their power and +became the village drudges of the former. He adds that the Nahals +were fast losing their language, and the younger generation spoke only +Korku. The two tribes were very friendly, and the Nahals acknowledged +the superior position of the Korkus. This, if it accurately represents +the state of things prevailing for a long period, and was not merely an +incidental feature of their relative position at the time Mr. Kitts' +observations were made, would tend to show that the Nahals were the +older tribe and had been subjected by the Korkus, just as the Korkus +themselves and the Baigas have given way to the Gonds. Mr. Crosthwaite +also states that the Nahal is the drudge of the Korku and belongs to +a race which is supposed to have been glorious before the Korku star +arose, and which is now fast dying out. In any case there is no doubt +that the Nahals are a very mixed tribe, as they will even now admit +into the community Gonds, Korkus and nearly all the Hindu castes, +though in some localities they will not eat from the other tribes +and the lower Hindu castes and therefore refuse to admit them. There +are, moreover, two subdivisions of the caste called Korku and Marathi +Nahals respectively. The latter are more Hinduised than the former and +disclaim any connection with the Korkus. The Nahals have totemistic +exogamous septs. Those of the Kasa sept worship a tortoise and also +a bell-metal plate, which is their family god. They never eat off a +bell-metal plate except on one day in the month of Magh (January), +when they worship it. The members of the Nagbel sept worship the +betel-vine or 'snake-creeper,' and refrain from chewing betel-leaves, +and they also worship the Nag or cobra and do not kill it, thus having +a sort of double totem. The Bhawaria sept, named after the _bhaunr_ +or black bee, do not eat honey, and if they see a person taking the +honey-comb from a nest they will run away. The Khadia sept worship +the spirits of their ancestors enshrined in a heap of stones (_khad_), +or according to another account they worship a snake which sits on a +heap of pebbles. The Surja sept worship Surya or the sun by offering +him a fowl in the month of Pus (December-January), and some members of +the sept keep a fast every Sunday. The Saoner sept worship the _san_ +or flax plant. + + + + +2. Marriage + +Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept, but there are +no other restrictions and first cousins may marry. Both sexes usually +marry when adult, and sexual license before wedlock is tolerated. A +Brahman is employed only for fixing the date of the ceremony. The +principal part of the marriage is the knotting together of the bride's +and bridegroom's clothes on two successive days. They also gamble with +tamarind seeds, and it is considered a lucky union if the bridegroom +wins. A bride-price is usually paid consisting of Rs. 1-4 to Rs. 5 +in cash, some grain and a piece of cloth for the bride's mother. The +remarriage of widows is allowed, and the couple go five times round +a bamboo stick which is held up to represent a spear, the ceremony +being called _barchhi se bhanwar phirna_ or the marriage of the spear. + + + + +3. Religion + +The Nahals worship the forest god called Jharkhandi in the month +of Chait, and until this rite has been performed they do not use +the leaves or fruits of the _palas_, [290] _aonla_ [291] or mango +trees. When the god is worshipped they collect branches and leaves +of these trees and offer cooked food to them and thereafter commence +using the new leaves, and the fruit and timber. They also worship the +ordinary village godlings. The dead are buried, except in the case +of members of the Surja or sun sept, whose corpses are burnt. Cooked +food is offered at the grave for four days after the death. + + + + +4. Occupation + +The Nahals were formerly a community of hill-robbers, 'Nahal, Bhil, +Koli' being the phrase generally used in old documents to designate the +marauding bands of the western Satpura hills. The Raja of Jitgarh and +Mohkot in Nimar has a long account in his genealogy of a treacherous +massacre of a whole tribe of Nahals by his ancestor in Akbar's time, +in recognition of which the Jitgarh pargana was granted to the +family. Mr. Kitts speaks of the Nahals of Berar as having once been +much addicted to cattle-lifting, and this propensity still exists in +a minor degree in the Central Provinces, accentuated probably by the +fact that a considerable number of Nahals follow the occupation of +graziers. Some of them are also village watchmen, and another special +avocation of theirs is the collection of the oil of the marking-nut +tree (_Semecarpus anacardium_). This is to some extent a dangerous +trade, as the oil causes swellings on the body, besides staining the +skin and leaving a peculiar odour. The workers wrap a fourfold layer +of cloth round their fingers with ashes between each fold, while the +rest of the body is also protected by cloth when gathering the nuts +and pounding them to extract the oil. At the end of the day's work +powdered tamarind and _ghi_ are rubbed on the whole body. The oil +is a stimulant, and is given to women after delivery and to persons +suffering from rheumatism. + + + + +5. Social status + +The social status of the Nahals is very low and they eat the flesh of +almost all animals, while those who graze cattle eat beef. Cow-killing +is not regarded as an offence. They are also dirty and do not bathe +for weeks together. To get maggots in a wound is, however, regarded +as a grave offence, and the sufferer is put out of the village and +has to live alone until he recovers. + + + + + +Nai + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Structure of the caste_. + 2. _Marriage and other customs_. + 3. _Occupation_. + 4. _Other services_. + 5. _Duties at weddings_. + 6. _The barber-surgeon._ + 7. _A barber at the court of Oudh_. + 8. _Character and position of the barber_. + 9. _Beliefs about hair_. + 10. _Hair of kings and priests_. + 11. _The beard_. + 12. _Significance of removal of the hair and shaving the head_. + 13. _Shaving the head by mourners_. + 14. _Hair offerings_. + 15. _Keeping hair unshorn during a vow_. + 16. _Disposal of cut hair and nails_. + 17. _Superstitions about shaving the hair_. + 18. _Reasons why the hair was considered the source of strength._ + + + + + +1. Structure of the caste + +_Nai, Nao, Mhali, Hajjam, Bhanari, Mangala_. [292]--The occupational +caste of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit +_napita_ according to some a corruption of _snapitri_, one who +bathes. In Bundelkhand he is also known as Khawas, which was a +title for the attendant on a grandee; and Birtiya, or 'He that +gets his maintenance (_vritti_) from his constituents.' [293] +Mhali is the Marathi name for the caste, Bhandari the Uriya name +and Mangala the Telugu name. The caste numbered nearly 190,000 +persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, being distributed over +all Districts. Various legends of the usual type are related of +its origin, but, as Sir. H. Risley observes, it is no doubt wholly +of a functional character. The subcastes in the Central Provinces +entirely bear out this view, as they are very numerous and principally +of the territorial type: Telange of the Telugu country, Marathe, +Pardeshi or northerners, Jharia or those of the forest country of the +Wainganga Valley, Bandhaiya or those of Bandhogarh, Barade of Berar, +Bundelkhandi, Marwari, Mathuria from Mathura, Gadhwaria from Garha +near Jubbulpore, Lanjia from Lanji in Balaghat, Malwi from Malwa, +Nimari from Nimar, Deccane, Gujarati, and so on. Twenty-six divisions +in all are given. The exogamous groups are also of different types, +some of them being named after Brahman saints, as Gautam, Kashyap, +Kosil, Sandil and Bharadwaj; others after Rajput clans as Surajvansi, +Jaduvansi, Solanki and Panwar; while others are titular or totemistic, +as Naik, leader; Seth, banker; Rawat, chief; Nagesh, cobra; Bagh, +a tiger; Bhadrawa, a fish. + + + + +2. Marriage and other customs + +The exogamous groups are known as _khero_ or _kul_, and marriage +between members of the same group is prohibited. Girls are usually +wedded between the ages of eight and twelve and boys between fifteen +and twenty. A girl who goes wrong before marriage is finally expelled +from the caste. The wedding ceremony follows the ritual prevalent +in the locality as described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi. At +an ordinary wedding the expenses on the girl's side amount to about +Rs. 150, and on the boy's to Rs. 200. The remarriage of widows is +permitted. In the northern Districts the widow may wed the younger +brother of her deceased husband, but in the Maratha country she may +not be married to any of his relatives. Divorce may be effected at +the instance of the husband before the caste committee, and a divorced +woman is at liberty to marry again. The Nais worship all the ordinary +Hindu deities. On the Dasahra and Diwali festivals they wash and revere +their implements, the razor, scissors and nail-pruners. They pay regard +to omens. It is unpropitious to sneeze or hear the report of a gun +when about to commence any business; and when a man is starting on a +journey, if a cat, a squirrel, a hare or a snake should cross the road +in front of him he will give it up and return home. The bodies of the +dead are usually burnt. In Chhattisgarh the poor throw the corpses of +their dead into the Mahanadi, and the bodies of children dying under +one year of age were until recently buried in the courtyard of the +house. The period of mourning for adults is ten days and for children +three days. The chief mourner must take only one meal a day, which +he cooks himself until the ceremony of the tenth day is performed. + + + + +3. Occupation + +"The barber's trade," Mr. Crooke states, [294] "is undoubtedly of +great antiquity. In the Veda we read, 'Sharpen us like the razor in the +hands of the barber'; and again, 'Driven by the wind, Agni shaves the +hair of the earth like the barber shaving a beard.'" In early times +they must have enjoyed considerable dignity; Upali the barber was +the first propounder of the law of the Buddhist church. The village +barber's leather bag contains a small mirror (_arsi_), a pair of +iron pincers (_chimta_), a leather strap, a comb (_kanghi_), a piece +of cloth about a yard square and some oil in a phial. He shaves the +faces, heads and armpits of his customers, and cuts the nails of both +their hands and feet. He uses cold water in summer and hot in winter, +but no soap, though this has now been introduced in towns. For the +poorer cultivators he does a rapid scrape, and this process is called +'_asudhal_' or a 'tearful shave,' because the person undergoing it is +often constrained to weep. The barber acquires the knowledge of his art +by practice on the more obliging of his customers, hence the proverb, +'The barber's son learns his trade on the heads of fools.' The village +barber is usually paid by a contribution of grain from the cultivators, +calculated in some cases according to the number of ploughs of land +possessed by each, in others according to the number of adult males in +the family. In Saugor he receives 20 lbs. of grain annually for each +adult male or 22 1/2 lbs. per plough of land, besides presents of a +basket of grain at seed-time and a sheaf at harvest. Cultivators are +usually shaved about once a fortnight. In towns the barber's fee may +vary from a pice to two annas for a shave, which is, as has been seen, +a much more protracted operation with a Hindu than with a European. It +is said that Berar is now so rich that even ordinary cultivators can +afford to pay the barber two annas (2d.) for a single shave, or the +same price as in the suburbs of London. + + + + +4. Other services + +After he has shaved a client the barber pinches and rubs his arms, +presses his fingers together and cracks the joints of each finger, +this last action being perhaps meant to avert evil spirits. He also +does massage, a very favourite method of treatment in India, and also +inexpensive as compared with Europe. For one rupee a month in towns +the barber will come and rub a man's legs five or ten minutes every +day. Cultivators have their legs rubbed in the sowing season, when the +labour is intensely hard owing to the necessity of sowing all the land +in a short period. If a man is well-to-do he may have his whole head +and body rubbed with scented oil. Landowners have often a barber as a +family servant, the office descending from father to son. Such a man +will light his master's _chilam_ (pipe-bowl) or huqqa (water-pipe), +clean and light lamps, prepare his bed, tell his master stories to send +him to sleep, act as escort for the women of the family when they go +on a journey and arrange matches for the children. The barber's wife +attends on women in child-birth after the days of pollution are over, +and rubs oil on the bodies of her clients, pares their nails and paints +their feet with red dye at marriages and on other festival occasions. + + + + +5. Duties at weddings + +The barber has also numerous and important duties [295] in connection +with marriages and other festival occasions. He acts as the Brahman's +assistant, and to the lower castes, who cannot employ a Brahman, +he is himself the matrimonial priest. The important part which he +plays in marriage ceremonies has led to his becoming the matchmaker +among all respectable castes. He searches for a suitable bride or +bridegroom, and is often sent to inspect the other party to a match +and report his or her defects to his clients. He may arrange the +price or dowry, distribute the invitations and carry the presents +from one house to the other. He supplies the leaf-plates and cups +which are used at weddings, as the family's stock of metal vessels +is usually quite inadequate for the number of guests. The price of +these is about 4 annas (4d.) a hundred. He also provides the _torans_ +or strings of leaves which are hung over the door of the house and +round the marriage-shed. At the feast the barber is present to hand +to the guests water, betel-leaf and pipes as they may desire. He also +partakes of the food, seated at a short distance from the guests, +in the intervals of his service. He lights the lamps and carries +the torches during the ceremony. Hence he was known as Masalchi or +torch-bearer, a name now applied by Europeans to a menial servant who +lights and cleans the lamps and washes the plates after meals. The +barber and his wife act as prompters to the bride and bridegroom, +and guide them through the complicated ritual of the wedding ceremony, +taking the couple on their knees if they are children, and otherwise +sitting behind them. The barber has a prescriptive right to receive +the clothes in which the bridegroom goes to the bride's house, as +on the latter's arrival he is always presented with new clothes by +the bride's father. As the bridegroom's clothes may be an ancestral +heirloom, a compact is often made to buy them back from the barber, +and he may receive as much as Rs. 50 in lieu of them. When the first +son is born in a family the barber takes a long bamboo stick, wraps +it round with cloth and puts an earthen pot over it and carries this +round to the relatives, telling them the good news. He receives a +small present from each household. + + + + +6. The barber-surgeon + +The barber also cleans the ears of his clients and cuts their nails, +and is the village surgeon in a small way. He cups and bleeds his +patients, applies leeches, takes out teeth and lances boils. In this +capacity he is the counterpart of the barber-surgeon of mediaeval +Europe. The Hindu physicians are called Baid, and are, as a rule, +a class of Brahmans. They derive their knowledge from ancient +Sanskrit treatises on medicine, which are considered to have divine +authority. Consequently they think it unnecessary to acquire fresh +knowledge by experiment and observation, as they suppose the perfect +science of medicine to be contained in their sacred books. As these +books probably do not describe surgical operations, of which little or +nothing was known at the time when they were written, and as surgery +involves contact with blood and other impure substances, the Baids do +not practise it, and the villagers are left to get on as best they can +with the ministrations of the barber. It is interesting to note that a +similar state of things appears to have prevailed in Europe. The monks +were the early practitioners of medicine and were forbidden to practise +surgery, which was thus left to the barber-chirurgeon. The status of +the surgeon was thus for long much below that of the physician. [296] +The mediaeval barber of Europe kept a bottle of blood in his window, +to indicate that he undertook bleeding and the application of leeches, +and the coloured bottles in the chemist's window may have been derived +from this. It is also said that the barber's pole originally served +as a support for the patient to lean on while he was being bled, +and those barbers who did the work of bleeding patients painted their +poles in variegated red and white stripes to show it. + + + + +7. A barber at the court of Oudh + +Perhaps the most successful barber known to Indian history was not +a Hindu at all, but a Peninsular and Oriental Company's cabin-boy, +who became the barber of one of the last kings of Oudh, Nasir-ud-Din, +in the early part of the nineteenth century, and rose to the position +of a favourite courtier. He was entrusted with the supply of every +European article used at court, and by degrees became a regular guest +at the royal table, and sat down to take dinner with the king as a +matter of right; nor would his majesty taste a bottle of wine opened +by any other hands than the barber's. [297] This was, however, a wise +precaution as it turned out, since after he had finally been forced to +part with the barber the king was poisoned by his own relatives. The +barber was also made keeper of the royal menagerie, for which he +supplied the animals and their food, and made enormous profits. The +following is an account of the presentation of the barber's monthly +bill of expenses: [298] "It was after tiffin, or lunch, when we usually +retired from the palace until dinner-time at nine o'clock, that the +favourite entered with a roll of paper in his hand. In India, long +documents, legal and commercial, are usually written, not in books +or on successive sheets, but on a long roll, strip being joined to +strip for that purpose, and the whole rolled up like a map. + +"'Ha, Khan!' said the king, observing him; 'the monthly bill, is it?' + +"'It is, your majesty,' was the smiling reply. + +"'Come, out with it; let us see the extent. Unroll it, Khan.' + +"The king was in a playful humour; and the barber was always in +the same mood as the king. He held the end of the roll in his hand, +and threw the rest along the floor, allowing it to unroll itself as +it retreated. It reached to the other side of the long apartment--a +goodly array of items and figures, closely written too. The king +wanted it measured. A measure was brought and the bill was found +to be four yards and a half long. I glanced at the amount; it was +upwards of Rs. 90,000, or L9000!" + +The barber, however, encouraged the king in every form of dissipation +and excess, until the state of the Oudh court became such a scandal +that the king was forced by the British Government to dismiss +him. [299] He retired, it was said, with a fortune of L240,000. + + + + +8. Character and position of the barber + +The barber is also, Mr. Low writes, [300] the scandal-bearer and +gossip-monger of the village. His cunning is proverbial, and he is +known as _Chhattisa_ from the saying-- + + + Nai hai chhattisa + Khai an ka pisa, + + +or 'A barber has thirty-six talents by which he eats at the expense +of others.' His loquacity is shown in the proverb, 'As the crow among +birds so the barber among men.' The barber and the professional Brahman +are considered to be jealous of their perquisites and unwilling to +share with their caste-fellows, and this is exemplified in the proverb, +"The barber, the dog and the Brahman, these three snarl at meeting one +of their own kind." The joint association of the Brahman priest and +the barber with marriages and other ceremonies has led to the saying, +"As there are always reeds in a river so there is always a barber +with a Brahman." The barber's astuteness is alluded to in the saying, +'Nine barbers are equal to seventy-two tailors.' The fact that it +is the barber's duty to carry the lights in marriage processions has +led to the proverb, "At the barber's wedding all are gentlemen and it +is awkward to have to ask somebody to carry the torch." The point of +this is clear, though no English equivalent occurs to the mind. And +a similar idea is expressed by 'The barber washes the feet of others +but is ashamed to wash his own.' It would appear from these proverbs +that the Nai is considered to enjoy a social position somewhat above +his deserts. Owing to the nature of his duties, which make him a +familiar inmate of the household and bring him into contact with the +persons of his high-caste clients, the caste of the Nai is necessarily +considered to be a pure one and Brahmans will take water from his +hands. But, on the other hand, his calling is that of a village menial +and has also some elements of impurity, as in cupping which involves +contact with blood, and in cutting the nails and hair of the corpse +before cremation. He is thus looked down upon as a menial and also +considered as to some extent impure. No member of a cultivating caste +would salute a barber first or look upon him as an equal, though +Brahmans put them on the same level of ceremonial purity by taking +water from both. The barber's loquacity and assurance have been made +famous by the _Arabian Nights_, but they have perhaps been affected by +the more strenuous character of life, and his conversation does not +flow so freely as it did. Often he now confines himself to approving +and adding emphasis to any remarks of the patron and greeting any of +his little witticisms with bursts of obsequious laughter. In Madras, +Mr. Pandian states, the village barber, like the washerman, is known +as the son of the village. If a customer does not pay him his dues, +he lies low, and when he has begun to shave the defaulter, engages +him in a dispute and says something to excite his anger. The latter +will then become abusive to the barber, whom he regards as a menial, +and perhaps strike him, and this gives the barber an opportunity +to stop shaving him and rush off to lay a complaint at the village +court-house, leaving his enemy to proceed home with half his head +shaved and thus exposed to general ridicule. [301] + + + + +9. Beliefs about hair + +Numerous customs appear to indicate that the hair was regarded as the +special seat of bodily strength. The Rajput warriors formerly wore +their hair long and never cut it, but trained it in locks over their +shoulders. Similarly the Maratha soldiers wore their hair long. The +Hatkars, a class of Maratha spearmen, might never cut their hair while +engaged on military service. A Sikh writer states of Guru Govind, +the founder of the militant Sikh confederacy: "He appeared as the +tenth Avatar (incarnation of Vishnu). He established the Khalsa, his +own sect, and by exhibiting singular energy, leaving the hair on his +head, and seizing the scimitar, he smote every wicked person." [302] +As is well known, no Sikh may cut his hair, and one of the five +marks of the Sikh is the _kanga_ or comb, which he must always carry +in order to keep his hair in proper order. A proverb states that +'The origin of a Sikh is in his hair.' [303] The following story, +related by Sir J. Malcolm, shows the vital importance attached +by the Sikh to his hair and beard: "Three inferior agents of Sikh +chiefs were one day in my tent. I was laughing and joking with one +of them, a Khalsa Sikh, who said he had been ordered to attend me to +Calcutta. Among other subjects of our mirth I rallied him on trusting +himself so much in my power. 'Why, what is the worst,' he said, +'that you can do to me?' I passed my hand across my chin, imitating +the act of shaving. The man's face was in an instant distorted with +rage and his sword half-drawn. 'You are ignorant,' he said to me, +'of the offence you have given; I cannot strike you who are above me, +and the friend of my master and the state; but no power,' he added, +indicating the Khalsa Sikhs, 'shall save these fellows who dared to +smile at your action.' It was with the greatest difficulty and only +by the good offices of some Sikh Chiefs that I was able to pacify +his wounded honour." [304] These instances appear to show clearly +that the Sikhs considered their hair of vital importance; and as +fighting was their object in life, it seems most probable that they +thought their strength in war was bound up in it. Similarly when +the ancient Spartans were on a military expedition purple garments +were worn and their hair was carefully decked with wreaths, a thing +which was never done at home. [305] And when Leonidas and his three +hundred were holding the pass of Thermopylae, and Xerxes sent scouts +to ascertain what the Greeks were doing in their camp, the report was +that some of them were engaged in gymnastics and warlike exercises, +while others were merely sitting and combing their long hair. If +the hypothesis already suggested is correct, the Spartan youths so +engaged were perhaps not merely adorning themselves for death, but, +as they thought, obtaining their full strength for battle. "The custom +of keeping the hair unshorn during a dangerous expedition appears to +have been observed, at least occasionally, by the Romans. Achilles +kept unshorn his yellow hair, because his father had vowed to offer +it to the river Sperchius if ever his son came home from the wars +beyond the sea." [306] + +When the Bhils turned out to fight they let down their long hair +prior to beginning the conflict with their bows and arrows. [307] +The pirates of Surat, before boarding a ship, drank _bhang_ and +hemp-liquor, and when they wore their long hair loose they gave no +quarter. [308] The Mundas appear to have formerly worn their hair long +and some still do. Those who are converted to Christianity must cut +their hair, but a non-Christian Munda must always keep the _chundi_ +or pigtail. If the _chundi_ is very long it is sometimes tied up in +a knot. [309] Similarly the Oraons wore their hair long like women, +gathered in a knot behind, with a wooden or iron comb in it. Those +who are Christians can be recognised by the fact that they have cut +off their pigtails. A man of the low Pardhi caste of hunters must +never have his hair touched by a razor after he has once killed +a deer. As already seen, every orthodox Hindu wore till recently +a _choti_ or scalp-lock, which should theoretically be as long +as a cow's tail. Perhaps the idea was that for those who were not +warriors it was sufficient to retain this and have the rest of the +head shaved. The _choti_ was never shaved off in mourning for any +one but a father. The lower castes of Muhammadans, if they have lost +several children, will allow the scalp-lock to grow on the heads of +those subsequently born, dedicating it to one of their Muhammadan +saints. The Kanjars relate of their heroic ancestor Mana that after +he had plunged a bow so deeply into the ground that no one could +withdraw it, he was set by the Emperor of Delhi to wrestle against +the two most famous Imperial wrestlers. These could not overcome him +fairly, so they made a stratagem, and while one provoked him in front +the other secretly took hold of his _choti_ behind. When Mana started +forward his _choti_ was thus left in the wrestler's hands, and though +he conquered the other wrestler, showing him the sky as it is said, +the loss of his _choti_ deprived him for ever after of his virtue as a +Hindu and in no small degree of his renown as an ancestor. [310] Thus +it seems clear that a special virtue attaches to the _choti_. Before +every warlike expedition the people of Minahassa in Celebes used to +take the locks of hair of a slain foe and dabble them in boiling water +to extract the courage; this infusion of bravery was then drunk by +the warriors. [311] In a modern Greek folk-tale a man's strength lies +in three golden hairs on his head. When his mother plucks them out, +he grows weak and timid and is slain by his enemies. [312] The Red +Indian custom of taking the scalp, of a slain enemy and sometimes +wearing the scalps at the waist-belt may be due to the same relief. + +In Ceram the hair might not be cut because it was the seat of a man's +strength; and the Gaboon negroes for the same reason would not allow +any of their hair to pass into the possession of a stranger. [313] + + + + +10. Hair of kings and priests + +If the hair was considered to be the special source of strength and +hence frequently of life, that of the kings and priests, in whose +existence the primitive tribe believed its own communal life to be +bound up, would naturally be a matter of peculiar concern. That it +was so has been shown in the _Golden Bough_. Two hundred years ago +the hair and nails of the Mikado of Japan could only be cut when he +was asleep. [314] The hair of the Flamen Dialis at Rome could be cut +only by a freeman and with a bronze knife, and his hair and nails when +cut had to be buried under a lucky tree. [315] The Frankish kings were +never allowed to crop their hair; from their childhood upwards they +had to keep it unshorn. The hair of the Aztec priests hung down to +their hams so that the weight of it became very troublesome; for they +might never crop it so long as they lived, or at least till they had +been relieved from their office on the score of old age. [316] In the +Male Paharia tribe from the time that any one devoted himself to the +profession of priest and augur his hair was allowed to grow like that +of a Nazarite; his power of divination entirely disappeared if he cut +it. [317] Among the Bawarias of India the Bhuva or priest of Devi may +not cut or shave his hair under penalty of a fine of Rs. 10. A Parsi +priest or Mobed must never be bare-headed and never shave his head or +face. [318] Professor Robertson Smith states: "As a diadem is in its +origin nothing more than a fillet to confine hair that is worn long, +I apprehend that in old times the hair of Hebrew princes like that of a +Maori chief, was taboo, and that Absalom's long locks (2 Sam. xiv. 26) +were the mark of his political pretensions and not of his vanity. When +the hair of a Maori chief was cut, it was collected and buried in a +sacred place or hung on a tree; and it is noteworthy that Absalom's +hair was cut annually at the end of the year, in the sacred season +of pilgrimage, and that it was collected and weighed." [319] + + + + +11. The beard + +The importance attached by other races to the hair of the head seems +among the Muhammadans to have been concentrated specially in the +beard. The veneration displayed for the beard in this community is +well known. The Prophet ordained that the minimum length of the beard +should be the breadth of five fingers. When the beard is turning grey +they usually dye it with henna and sometimes with indigo; it may be +thought that a grey beard is a sign of weakness. The Prophet said, +'Change the whiteness of your hair, but not with anything black.' It is +not clear why black was prohibited. It is said that the first Caliph +Abu Bakar was accustomed to dye his beard red with henna, and hence +this practice has been adopted by Muhammadans. [320] The custom of +shaving the chin is now being adopted by young Muhammadans, but as they +get older they still let the beard grow. A very favourite Muhammadan +oath is, 'By the beard of the Prophet'; and in Persia if a man thinks +another is mocking him he says, 'Do you laugh at my beard?' Neither +Hindus nor Muhammadans have any objection to becoming bald, as the +head is always covered by the turban in society. But when a man wishes +to grow a beard it is a serious drawback if he is unable to do it; +and he will then sometimes pluck the young wheat-ears and rub the +juice over his cheeks and chin so that he may grow bearded like the +wheat. Among the Hindus, Rajputs and Marathas, as well as the Sikhs, +commonly wore beards, all of these being military castes. Both the +beard and hair were considered to impart an aspect of ferocity to +the countenance, and when the Rajputs and Muhammadans were going +into battle they combed the hair and trained the beard to project +sideways from the face. When a Muhammadan wears a beard he must have +hair in the centre of his chin, whereas a Hindu shaves this part. A +Muhammadan must have his moustache short so that it may not touch +and defile food entering the mouth. It is related that a certain Kazi +had a small head and a very long beard; and he had a dream that a man +with a small head and a long beard must be a fool. When he woke up he +thought this was applicable to himself. As he could not make his head +larger he decided to make his beard smaller, and looked for scissors +to cut part of it off. But he could not find any scissors, and being +in a hurry to shorten his beard he decided to burn away part of it, +and set it alight. But the fire consumed the whole of his beard before +he could put it out, and he then realised the truth of the dream. + + + + +12. Significance of removal of the hair and shaving the head + +If the hair was considered to be the source of a man's strength and +vigour, the removal of it would involve the loss of this and might be +considered especially to debar him from fighting or governing. The +instances given from the _Golden Bough_ have shown the fear felt by +many people of the consequences of the removal of their hair. The +custom of shaving the head might also betoken the renunciation of the +world and of the pursuit of arms. This may be the reason why monks +shaved the head, a practice which was followed by Buddhist as well as +Christian monks. A very clear case is also given by Sir James Frazer: +"When the wicked brothers Clotaire and Childebert coveted the kingdom +of their dead brother Clodomir, they inveigled into their power their +little nephews, the two sons of Clodomir; and having done so, they +sent a messenger bearing scissors and a naked sword to the children's +grandmother, Queen Clotilde, at Paris. The envoy showed the scissors +and the sword to Clotilde, and bade her choose whether the children +should be shorn and live, or remain unshorn and die. The proud queen +replied that if her grandchildren were not to come to the throne +she would rather see them dead than shorn. And murdered they were +by their ruthless uncle Clotaire with his own hand." [321] In this +case it appears that if their hair was shorn the children could not +come to the throne but would be destined to become monks. Similarly, +in speaking of the Georgians, Marco Polo remarks that they cut their +hair short like churchmen. [322] When a member of the religious order +of the Manbhaos is initiated his head is shaved clean by the village +barber, and the scalp-lock and moustache must be cut off by his _guru_ +or preceptor, this being perhaps the special mark of his renunciation +of the world. The scalp-locks are preserved and made into ropes +which some of them fasten round their loins. Members of the Hindu +orders generally shave their scalp-locks and the head on initiation, +probably for the same reason as the Manbhaos. But afterwards they +often let the whole of their hair grow long. These men imagine that +by the force of their austerities they will obtain divine power, +so their religious character appears to be of a different order from +monasticism. Perhaps, therefore, they wear their hair long in order to +increase their spiritual potency. They themselves now say that they +do it in imitation of the god Siva and the ancient ascetics who had +long matted locks. The common Hindu practice of shaving the heads +of widows may thus be interpreted as a symbol of their complete +renunciation of the world and of any idea of remarriage. It was +accompanied by numerous other rules designed to make a widow's life a +continual penance. This barbarous custom was formerly fairly general, +at least among the higher castes, but is rapidly being abandoned +except by one or two of the stricter sections of Brahmans. Shaving +the head might also be imposed as a punishment. Thus in the time of +the reign of the Emperor Chandraguptra Maurya in the fourth century +B.C. it is stated that ordinary wounding by mutilation was punished +by the corresponding mutilation of the offender, in addition to the +amputation of his hand. The crime of giving false evidence was visited +with mutilation of the extremities; and in certain unspecified cases, +serious offences were punished by the shaving of the offender's hair, +a penalty regarded as specially infamous. [323] The cutting off of some +or all of the hair is at the present time a common punishment for caste +offences. Among the Korkus a man and woman caught in adultery have +each a lock of hair cut off. If a Chamar man and woman are detected +in the same offence, the heads of both are shaved clean of hair. A +Dhimar girl who goes wrong before marriage has a lock of her hair +cut off as a penalty, the same being done in several other castes. + + + + +13. Shaving the head by mourners + +The exact significance which is to be attached to the removal by +mourners of their hair after a death is perhaps doubtful. Sir James +Frazer shows that the Australian aborigines are accustomed to let their +own blood flow on to the corpse of a dead kinsman and to place their +cut hair on the corpse. He suggests that in both cases the object +is to strengthen the feeble spirit within the corpse and sustain +its life, in order that it may be born again. As a development of +such a rite the hair might have become an offering to the dead, and +later still its removal might become a sacrifice and indication of +grief. In this manner the common custom of tearing the hair in token +of grief and mourning for the dead would be accounted for. Whether +the Hindu custom of shaving the heads of mourners was also originally +a sacrifice and offering appears to be uncertain. Professor Robertson +Smith considered [324] that in this case the hair is shaved off as a +means of removing impurity, and quotes instances from the Bible where +lepers and persons defiled by contact with the dead are purified +by shaving the hair. [325] As the father of a child is also shaved +after its birth, and the shaving must here apparently be a rite of +purification, it probably has the same significance in the case +of mourners; it is not clear whether any element of sacrifice is +also involved. The degree to which the Hindu mourner parts with his +hair varies to some extent with the nearness of the relationship, +and for females or distant relatives they do not always shave. The +mourners are shaved on the last day of the impurity, when presents +are given to the Maha-Brahman, and the latter, representing the dead +man, is also shaved with them. When a Hindu is at the point of death, +before he makes the gifts for the good of his soul the head is shaved +with the exception of his _choti_ or scalp-lock, the chin and upper +lip. Often the corpse is also shaved after death. + + + + +14. Hair offerings + +Another case of the hair offering is that made in fulfilment of a vow +or at a temple. In this case the hair appears to be a gift-offering +which is made to the god as representing the life and strength of the +donor; owing to the importance attached to the hair as the source of +life and strength, it was a very precious sacrifice. Sir James Frazer +also suggests that the hair so given would impart life and strength to +the god, of which he stood in need, just as he needed food to nourish +him. Among the Hindus it is a common practice to take a child to some +well-known temple to have its hair cut for the first time, and to offer +the clippings of hair to the deity. If they cannot go to the temple +to have the hair cut they have it cut at home, and either preserve the +whole hair or a lock of it, until an opportunity occurs to offer it at +the temple. In some castes a Brahman is invited at the first cutting of +a child's hair, and he repeats texts and blesses the child; the first +lock of hair is then cut by the child's maternal uncle, and its head +is shaved by the barber. A child's hair is cut in the first, third or +fifth year after birth, but not in the second or fourth year. Among +the Muhammadans when a child's hair is cut for the first time, or at +least on one occasion in its life, the hair should be weighed against +silver or gold and the amount distributed in charity. In these cases +also it would appear that the hair as a valuable part of the child +is offered to the god to obtain his protection for the life of the +child. If a woman has no child and desires one, or if she has had +children and lost them, she will vow her next child's hair to some +god or temple. A small patch known as _chench_ is then left unshorn +on the child's head until it can be taken to the temple. + + + + +15. Keeping hair unshorn during a vow + +It was also the custom to keep the hair unshorn during the performance +of a vow. "While his vow lasted a Nazarite might not have his hair cut: +'All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come +upon his head.' [326] The Egyptians on a journey kept their hair +uncut till they returned home. [327] Among the Chatti tribe of the +ancient Germans the young warriors never clipped their hair or their +beard till they had slain an enemy. Six thousand Saxons once swore +that they would not clip their hair nor shave their beards until +they had taken vengeance on their enemies." [328] Similarly, Hindu +religious mendicants keep their hair long while they are journeying +on a pilgrimage, and when they arrive at the temple which is their +goal they shave it all off and offer it to the god. In this case, as +the hair is vowed as an offering, it clearly cannot be cut during the +performance of the vow, but must be preserved intact. When the task +to be accomplished for the fulfilment of a vow is a journey or the +slaying of enemies, the retention of the hair is probably also meant +to support and increase the wearer's strength for the accomplishment +of his purpose. + + + + +16. Disposal of cut hair and nails + +If the hair contained a part of the wearer's life and strength its +disposal would be a matter of great importance, because, according +to primitive belief, these qualities would remain in it after it +had been severed. Hence, if an enemy obtained it, by destroying the +hair or some analogous action he might injure or destroy the life and +strength of the person to whom it belonged. The Hindus usually wrap +up a child's first hair in a ball of dough and throw it into a running +stream, with the cuttings of his nails. Well-to-do people also place a +rupee in the ball, so that it is now regarded as an offering. The same +course is sometimes followed with the hair and nails cut ceremoniously +at a wedding, and possibly on one or two other occasions, such as +the investiture with the sacred thread; but the belief is decaying, +and ordinarily no care is taken of the shorn hair. In Berar when the +Hindus cut a child's hair for the first time they sometimes bury it +under a water-pot where the ground is damp, perhaps with the idea +that the child's hair will grow thickly and plentifully like grass in +a damp place. It is a common belief that if a barren woman gets hold +of a child's first hair and wears it round her waist the fertility of +the child's mother will be transferred to her. The Sarwaria Brahmans +shave a child's hair in its third year. A small silver razor is made +specially for the occasion, costing a rupee and a quarter, and the +barber first touches the child's hair with this and then shaves it +ceremoniously with his own razor. [329] The Halbas think that the +severed clippings of hair are of no use for magic, but if a witch can +cut a lock of hair from a man's head she can use it to work magic on +him. In making an image of a person with intent to injure or destroy +him, it was customary to put a little of his hair into the image, by +which means his life and strength were conveyed to it. A few years +ago a London newspaper mentioned the case of an Essex man entering +a hairdresser's and requesting the barber to procure for him a piece +of a certain customer's hair. When asked the reason for this curious +demand, he stated that the customer had injured him and he wished +to 'work a spell' against him. [330] In the Parsi Zend-Avesta it is +stated that if the clippings of hair or nails are allowed to fall in +the ground or ditches, evil spirits spring up from them and devour +grain and clothing in the house. It was therefore ordained for the +Parsis through their prophet Zarathustra that the cuttings of hair +or nails should be buried in a deep hole ten paces from a dwelling, +twenty paces from fire, and fifty paces from the sacred bundles called +_baresman_. Texts should be said over them and the hole filled in. Many +Parsis still bury their cut hair and nails four inches under ground, +and an extracted tooth is disposed of in the same manner. [331] Some +Hindus think that the nail-parings should always be thrown into a +frequented place, where they will be destroyed by the traffic. If +they are thrown on to damp earth they will grow into a plant which +will ruin the person from whose body they came. It is said that about +twenty years ago a man in Nagpur was ruined by the growth of a piece +of finger-nail, which had accidentally dropped into a flower-pot in +his house. Apparently in this case the nail is supposed to contain a +portion of the life and strength of the person to whom it belonged, and +if the nail grows it gradually absorbs more and more of his life and +strength, and he consequently becomes weaker and weaker through being +deprived of it. The Hindu superstition against shaving the head appears +to find a parallel regarding the nails in the old English saying: + + + Cut no horn + On the Sabbath morn. + + +Among some Hindus it is said that the toe-nails should not be cut +at all until a child is married, when they are cut ceremoniously by +the barber. + + + + +17. Superstitions about shaving the hair + +Since the removal of the hair is held to involve a certain loss of +strength and power, it should only be effected at certain seasons +and not on auspicious days. A man who has male children should not +have his head shaved on Monday, as this may cause his children to +die. On the other hand, a man who has no children will fast on Sunday +in the hope of getting them, and therefore he will neither shave his +head nor visit his wife on that day. A Hindu must not be shaved on +Thursday, because this is the day of the planet Jupiter, which is also +known as Guru, and his act would be disrespectful to his own _guru_ +or preceptor. Tuesday is Devi's day, and a man will not get shaved +on that day; nor on Saturday, because it is Hanuman's day. [332] On +Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays he may be shaved, but not if the day +happens to be the new moon, full moon, or the Ashtami or Ekadashi, +that is the eighth or eleventh day of the fortnight. He should not +shave on the day that he is going on a journey. If all these rules +were strictly observed there would be very few days on which one +could get shaved, but many of them are necessarily more honoured in +the breach. Wednesdays and Fridays are the best days for shaving, +and by shaving on these days a man will see old age. Debtors are +shaved on Wednesdays, as they think that this will help them to pay +off their debts. Some Brahmans are not shaved during the month of +Shrawan (July), when the crops are growing, nor during the nine days +of the months of Kunwar (September) and Chait (March), when a fast +is observed and the _jawaras_ [333] are sown. After they have been +shaved high-caste Hindus consider themselves impure till they have +bathed. They touch no person or thing in the house, and sometimes +have the water thrown on them by a servant so as to avoid contact +with the vessels. They will also neither eat, drink nor smoke until +they have bathed. Sometimes they throw so much water over the head +in order to purify themselves as to catch a bad cold. In this case, +apparently, the impurity accrues from the loss of the hair, and the +man feels that virtue has gone out of him. Women never shave their +hair with a razor, as they think that to do so would make the body +so heavy after death that it could not be carried to the place of +cremation. They carefully pluck out the hair under the armpits and +the pubic hair with a pair of pincers. A girl's hair may be cut with +scissors, but not after she is ten years old or is married. Sometimes +a girl's hair is not cut at all, but her father will take a pearl and +entwine it into her hair, where it is left until she is married. It +is considered very auspicious to give away a girl in marriage with +hair which has never been cut, and a pearl in it. After marriage she +will take out the pearl and wear it in an ornament. + + + + +18. Reasons why the hair was considered the source of strength + +The above evidence appears to indicate that the belief of a man's +strength and vigour being contained in his hair is by no means confined +to the legend of Samson, but is spread all over the world. This +has been pointed out by Professor Robertson Smith, [334] Professor +Wilken and others. Sir J.G. Frazer also adduces several instances in +the _Golden Bough_ to show that the life or soul was believed to be +contained in the hair. This may well have been the case, but the hair +was also specialised, so to speak, as the seat of bodily vigour and +strength. The same idea appears to have applied in a minor measure +to the nails and teeth. The rules for disposing of the cut hair +usually apply to the parings of nails, and the first teeth are also +deposited in a rat's hole or on the roof of the house. As suggested +by Professor Robertson Smith it seems likely that the strength and +vigour of the body was believed to be located in the hair, and also to +a less extent in the nails and teeth, because they grew more visibly +and quickly than the body and continued to do so after it had attained +to maturity. The hair and nails continue to grow all through life, and +though the teeth do not grow when fully formed, the second teeth appear +when the body is considerably developed and the wisdom teeth after it +is fully developed. The hair grows much more palpably and vigorously +than the nails and teeth, and hence might be considered especially the +source of strength. Other considerations which might confirm the idea +are that men have more hair on their bodies than women, and strongly +built men often have a large quantity of hair. Some of the stronger +wild animals have long hair, as the lion, bear and wild boar; and +the horse, often considered the embodiment of strength, has a long +mane. And when anger is excited the hair sometimes appears to rise, +as it were, from the skin. The nails and teeth were formerly used +on occasion as weapons of offence, and hence might be considered to +contain part of the strength and vigour of the body. + +Finally, it may be suggested as a possibility that the Roundheads +cut their hair short as a protest against the superstition that +a soldier's hair must be long, which originated in the idea that +strength is located in the hair and may have still been current +in their time. We know that the Puritans strove vainly against the +veneration of the Maypole as the spirit of the new vegetation, [335] +and against the old nature-rites observed at Christmas, the veneration +of fire as the preserver of life against cold, and the veneration +of the evergreen plants, the fir tree, the holly, and the mistletoe, +which retained their foliage through the long night of the northern +winter, and were thus a pledge to man of the return of warmth and +the renewal of vegetation in the spring. And it therefore seems not +altogether improbable that the Puritans may have similarly contended +against the superstition as to the wearing of long hair. + + +Naoda + +_Naoda._ [336]--A small caste found in the Nimar District and in +Central India. The name means a rower and is derived from _nao_, +a boat. The caste are closely connected with the Mallahs or Kewats, +but have a slightly distinctive position, as they are employed to +row pilgrims over the Nerbudda at the great fair held at Siva's +temple on the island of Mandhata. They say that their ancestors were +Rajputs, and some of their family names, as Solanki, Rawat and Mori, +are derived from those of Rajput septs. But these have probably been +adopted in imitation of their Kshatriya overlords. The caste is an +occupational one. They have a tradition that in former times a Naoda +boatman recovered the corpse of a king's daughter, who had drowned +herself in the river wearing costly jewels, and the king as a reward +granted them the right of ferrying pilgrims at Mandhata, which they +still continue to enjoy, keeping their earnings for themselves. They +have a division of impure blood called the Gate or bastard Naodas, who +marry among themselves, and any girl who reaches the age of puberty +without being married is relegated to this. In the case of a caste +whose numbers are so small, irregular connections with outsiders must +probably be not infrequent. Another report states that adult unmarried +girls are not expelled but are married to a pipal tree. But girls are +sought after, and it is customary to pay a bride-price, the average +amount of which is Rs. 25. Before the bridegroom starts for his wedding +his mother takes and passes in front of him, successively from his +head to his feet, a pestle, some stalks of _rusa_ grass, a churning +rod and a winnowing-fan. This is done with the object of keeping off +evil spirits, and it is said that by her action she threatens to pound +the spirits with the pestle, to tie them up with the grass, to churn +and mash them with the churning-rod, and to scatter them to the winds +with the winnowing-fan. When a man wishes to divorce his wife he simply +turns her out of the house in the presence of four or five respectable +men of the caste. The marriage of a widow is celebrated on a Sunday +or Tuesday, the clothes of the couple being tied together by another +widow at night. The following day they spend together in a garden, +and in the evening are escorted home by their relatives with torches +and music. Next morning the woman goes to the well and draws water, +and her husband, accompanying her, helps her to lift the water-pots +on to her shoulder. + +The caste worship the ordinary Hindu deities and especially Bhairon, +the guardian of the gate of Mahadeo's temple. They have a nail driven +into the bow of their boat which is called 'Bhairon's nail,' and at the +Dasahra festival they offer to this a white pumpkin with cocoanuts, +vermilion, incense and liquor. The caste hold in special reverence +the cow, the dog and the tamarind tree. The dog is sacred as being the +animal on which Bhairava rides, and their most solemn oaths are sworn +by a dog or a cow. They will on no account cut or burn the tamarind +tree, and the women veil their faces before it. They cannot explain +this sentiment, which is probably due to some forgotten belief of +the nature of totemism. To kill a cow or a cat intentionally involves +permanent exclusion from the caste, while the slaughter of a squirrel, +dog, horse, buffalo or monkey is punished by temporary exclusion, +it being equally sinful to allow any of these animals to die with +a rope round its neck. The Naodas eat the flesh of pigs and fowls, +but they occupy a fairly good social position and Brahmans will take +water from their hands. + + + + + +Nat + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _The Nats not a proper caste_. + 2. _Muhammadan Nats_. + 3. _Social customs of the Nats_. _Their low status_. + 4. _Acrobatic performances_. + 5. _Sliding or walking on ropes as a charm for the crops_. + 6. _Snake-charmers_. + + + + +1. The Nats not a proper caste + +_Nat, [337] Badi, Dang-Charha, Karnati, Bazigar, Sapera._--The term +Nat (Sanskrit Nata--a dancer) appears to be applied indefinitely +to a number of groups of vagrant acrobats and showmen, especially +those who make it their business to do feats on the tight-rope or with +poles, and those who train and exhibit snakes. Badi and Bazigar mean a +rope-walker, Dang-Charha a rope-climber, and Sapera a snake-charmer. In +the Central Provinces the Garudis or snake-charmers, and the Kolhatis, +a class of gipsy acrobats akin to the Berias, are also known as Nat, +and these are treated in separate articles. It is almost certain that +a considerable section, if not the majority, of the Nats really belong +to the Kanjar or Beria gipsy castes, who themselves maybe sprung from +the Doms. [338] Sir D. Ibbetson says: "They wander about with their +families, settling for a few days or weeks at a time in the vicinity +of large villages or towns, and constructing temporary shelters of +grass. In addition to practising acrobatic feats and conjuring of +a low class, they make articles of grass, straw and reeds for sale; +and in the centre of the Punjab are said to act as Mirasis, though +this is perhaps doubtful. They often practise surgery and physic +in a small way and are not free from suspicion of sorcery." [339] +This account would just as well apply to the Kanjar gipsies, and +the Nat women sometimes do tattooing like Kanjar or Beria women. In +Jubbulpore also the caste is known as Nat Beria, indicating that +the Nats there are probably derived from the Beria caste. Similarly +Sir H. Risley gives Bazigar and Kabutari as groups of the Berias +of Bengal, and states that these are closely akin to the Nats and +Kanjars of Hindustan. [340] An old account of the Nats or Bazigars +[341] would equally well apply to the Kanjars; and in Mr. Crooke's +detailed article on the Nats several connecting links are noticed. The +Nat women are sometimes known as Kabutari or pigeon, either because +their acrobatic feats are like the flight of the tumbler pigeon, or +on account of the flirting manner with which they attract their male +customers. [342] In the Central Provinces the women of the small Gopal +caste of acrobats are called Kabutari, and this further supports the +hypothesis that Nat is rather an occupational term than the name of +a distinct caste, though it is quite likely that there may be Nats +who have no other caste. The Badi or rope-dancer group again is an +offshoot of the Gond tribe, at least in the tracts adjoining the +Central Provinces. They have Gond septs as Marai, Netam, Wika, [343] +and they have the _damru_ or drum used by the Gaurias or snake-charmers +and jugglers of Chhattisgarh, who are also derived from the Gonds. The +Chhattisgarhi Dang-Charhas are Gonds who say they formerly belonged to +Panna State and were supported by Raja Aman Singh of Panna, a great +patron of their art. They sing a song lamenting his death in the +flower of his youth. The Karnatis or Karnataks are a class of Nats +who are supposed to have come from the Carnatic. Mr. Crooke notes +that they will eat the leavings of all high castes, and are hence +known as Khushhaliya or 'Those in prosperous circumstances.' [344] + + + + +2. Muhammadan Nats + +One division of the Nats are Muhammadans and seem to be to some +extent a distinctive group. They have seven _gotras_--Chicharia, +Damaria, Dhalbalki, Purbia, Dhondabalki, Karimki and Kalasia. They +worship two Birs or spirits, Halaila Bir and Sheikh Saddu, to whom +they sacrifice fowls in the months of Bhadon (August) and Baisakh +(April). Hindus of any caste are freely admitted into their community, +and they can marry Hindu girls. + + + + +3. Social customs of the Nats. Their low status + +Generally the customs of the Nats show them to be the dregs of the +population. There is no offence which entails permanent expulsion from +caste. They will eat any kind of food including snakes, crocodiles +and rats, and also take food from the hands of any caste, even it +is said from sweepers. It is not reported that they prostitute their +women, but there is little doubt that this is the case; in the Punjab +[345] when a Nat woman marries, the first child is either given to +the grandmother as compensation for the loss of the mother's gains +as a prostitute, or is redeemed by a payment of Rs. 30. Among the +Chhattisgarhi Dang-Charhas a bride-price of Rs. 40 is paid, of which +the girl's father only keeps ten, and the remaining sum of Rs. 30 +is expended on a feast to the caste. Some of the Nats have taken to +cultivation and become much more respectable, eschewing the flesh +of unclean animals. Another group of the caste keep trained dogs +and hunt the wild pig with spears like the Kolhatis of Berar. The +villagers readily pay for their services in order to get the pig +destroyed, and they sell the flesh to the Gonds and lower castes of +Hindus. Others hunt jackals with dogs in the same manner. They eat +the flesh of the jackals and dispose of any surplus to the Gonds, who +also eat it. The Nats worship Devi and also Hanuman, the monkey god, +on account of the acrobatic powers of monkeys. But in Bombay they say +that their favourite and only living gods are their bread-winners and +averters of hunger, the drum, the rope and the balancing-pole. [346] + + + + +4. Acrobatic performances + +The tight-rope is stretched between two pairs of bamboos, each pair +being fixed obliquely in the ground and crossing each other at the top +so as to form a socket over which the rope passes. The ends of the rope +are taken over the crossed bamboos and firmly secured to the ground by +heavy pegs. The performer takes another balancing-pole in his hands +and walks along the rope between the poles which are about 12 feet +high. Another man beats a drum, and a third stands under the rope +singing the performer's praises and giving him encouragement. After +this the performer ties two sets of cow or buffalo horns to his +feet, which are secured to the back of the skulls so that the flat +front between the horns rests on the rope, and with these he walks +over the rope, holding the balancing-rod in his hands and descends +again. Finally he takes a brass plate and a cloth and again ascends +the rope. He places the plate on the rope and folds the cloth over +it to make a pad. He then stands on his head on the pad with his feet +in the air and holds the balancing-rod in his hands; two strings are +tied to the end of this rod and the other ends of the strings are +held by the man underneath. With the assistance of the balancing-rod +the performer then jerks the plate along the rope with his head, +his feet being in the air, until he arrives at the end and finally +descends again. This usually concludes the performance, which demands +a high degree of skill. Women occasionally, though rarely, do the +same feats. Another class of Nats walk on high stilts and the women +show their confidence by dancing and singing under them. A saying +about the Nats is: _Nat ka bachcha to kalabazi hi karega_; or 'The +rope-dancer's son is always turning somersaults.' [347] + + + + +5. Sliding or walking on ropes as a charm for the crops + +The feats of the Nats as tight-rope walkers used apparently to make +a considerable impression on the minds of the people, as it is not +uncommon to find a deified Nat, called Nat Baba or Father Nat, as +a village god. A Natni or Nat woman is also sometimes worshipped, +and where two sharp peaks of hills are situated close to each other, +it is related that in former times there was a Natni, very skilful +on the tight-rope, who performed before the king; and he promised +her that if she would stretch a rope from the peak of one hill to +that of the other and walk across it he would marry her and make +her wealthy. Accordingly the rope was stretched, but the queen +from jealousy went and cut it half through in the night, and when +the Natni started to walk the rope broke and she fell down and was +killed. She was therefore deified and worshipped. It is probable that +this legend recalls some rite in which the Nat was employed to walk +on a tight-rope for the benefit of the crops, and, if he failed, was +killed as a sacrifice; for the following passage taken from Traill's +account of Kumaon [348] seems clearly to refer to some such rite: + +"Drought, want of fertility in the soil, murrain in cattle, and +other calamities incident to husbandry are here invariably ascribed +to the wrath of particular gods, to appease which recourse is had to +various ceremonies. In the Kumaon District offerings and singing and +dancing are resorted to on such occasions. In Garhwal the measures +pursued with the same view are of a peculiar nature, deserving of +more particular notice. In villages dedicated to the protection of +Mahadeva propitiatory festivals are held in his honour. At these +Badis or rope-dancers are engaged to perform on the tight-rope, and +slide down an inclined rope stretched from the summit of a cliff to +the valley beneath and made fast to posts driven into the ground. The +Badi sits astride on a wooden saddle, to which he is tied by thongs; +the saddle is similarly secured to the _bast_ or sliding cable, +along which it runs, by means of a deep groove; sandbags are tied to +the Badi's feet sufficient to secure his balance, and he is then, +after various ceremonies and the sacrifice of a kid, started off; +the velocity of his descent is very great, and the saddle, however +well greased, emits a volume of smoke throughout the greater part of +his progress. The length and inclination of the _bast_ necessarily +vary with the nature of the cliff, but as the Badi is remunerated at +the rate of a rupee for every hundred cubits, hence termed a tola, +a correct measurement always takes place; the longest _bast_ which +has fallen within my observation has been twenty-one tolas, or 2100 +cubits in length. From the precautions taken as above mentioned the +only danger to be apprehended by the Badi is from breaking of the +rope, to provide against which the latter, commonly from one and +a half to two inches in diameter, is made wholly by his own hand; +the material used is the _bhabar_ grass. Formerly, if a Badi fell to +the ground in his course, he was immediately despatched with a sword +by the surrounding spectators, but this practice is now, of course, +prohibited. No fatal accident has occurred from the performance +of this ceremony since 1815, though it is probably celebrated at +not less than fifty villages in each year. After the completion of +the sliding, the _bast_ or rope is cut up and distributed among the +inhabitants of the village, who hang the pieces as charms on the eaves +of their houses. The hair of the Badi is also taken and preserved as +possessing similar virtues. He being thus made the organ to obtain +fertility for the lands of others, the Badi is supposed to entail +sterility on his own; and it is firmly believed that no grain sown +with his hand can ever vegetate. Each District has its hereditary +Badi, who is supported by annual contributions of grain from the +inhabitants." It is not improbable that the performance of the Nat +is a reminiscence of a period when human victims were sacrificed +for the crops, this being a common practice among primitive peoples, +as shown by Sir J.G. Frazer in _Attis, Adonis, Osiris_. Similarly the +spirits of Nats which are revered in the Central Provinces may really +be those of victims killed during the performance of some charm for the +good of the crops, akin to that still prevalent in the Himalayas. The +custom of making the Nat slide down a rope is of the same character +as that of swinging a man in the air by a hook secured in his flesh, +which was formerly common in these Provinces. But in both cases the +meaning of the rite is obscure. + + + + +6. Snake-charmers + +The groups who practise snake-charming are known as Sapera or Garudi +and in the Maratha Districts as Madari. Another name for them is +Nag-Nathi, or one who seizes a cobra. They keep cobras, pythons, +scorpions, and the iguana or large lizard, which they consider to be +poisonous. Some of them when engaged with their snakes wear two pieces +of tiger-skin on their back and chest, and a cap of tiger-skin in +which they fix the eyes of various birds. They have a hollow gourd +on which they produce a kind of music and this is supposed to charm +the snakes. When catching a cobra they pin its head to the ground +with a stick and then seize it in a cleft bamboo and prick out the +poison-fangs with a large needle. They think that the teeth of the +iguana are also poisonous and they knock them out with a stick, +and if fresh teeth afterwards grow they believe them not to contain +poison. The python is called Ajgar, which is said to mean eater of +goats. In captivity the pythons will not eat of themselves, and the +snake-charmers chop up pieces of meat and fowls and placing the food +in the reptile's mouth massage it down the body. They feed the pythons +only once in four or five days. They have antidotes for snake-bite, +the root of a creeper called _kalipar_ and the bark of the _karheya_ +tree. When a patient is brought to them they give him a little pepper, +and if he tastes the pungent flavour they think that he has not been +affected by snake-poison, but if it seems tasteless that he has +been bitten. Then they give him small pieces of the two antidotes +already mentioned with tobacco and 2 1/2 leaves of the _nim_ tree +[349] which is sacred to Devi. On the festival of Nag-Panchmi (Cobra's +Fifth) they worship their cobras and give them milk to drink and then +take them round the town or village and the people also worship and +feed the snakes and give a present of a few annas to the Sapera. In +towns much frequented by cobras, a special adoration is paid to +them. Thus in Hatta in the Damoh District a stone image of a snake, +known as Nag-Baba or Father Cobra is worshipped for a month before +the festival of Nag-Panchmi. During this period one man from every +house in the village must go to Nag-Baba's shrine outside and take +food there and come back. And on Nag-Panchmi the whole town goes out +in a body to pay him reverence, and it is thought that if any one is +absent the cobras will harass him for the whole year. But others say +that cobras will only bite men of low caste. The Saperas will not kill +a snake as a rule, but occasionally it is said that they kill one and +cut off the head and eat the body, this being possibly an instance +of eating the divine animal at a sacrificial meal. The following is +an old account of the performances of snake-charmers in Bengal: [350] + +"Hence, on many occasions throughout the year, the dread Manasa +Devi, the queen of snakes, is propitiated by presents, vows and +religious rites. In the month of Shrabana the worship of the snake +goddess is celebrated with great eclat. An image of the goddess, +seated on a water-lily, encircled with serpents, or a branch of the +snake-tree (a species of Euphorbia), or a pot of water, with images +of serpents made of clay, forms the object of worship. Men, women and +children, all offer presents to avert from themselves the wrath of +the terrific deity. The Mals or snake-catchers signalise themselves +on this occasion. Temporary scaffolds of bamboo work are set up in +the presence of the goddess. Vessels filled with all sorts of snakes +are brought in. The Mals, often reeling with intoxication, mount +the scaffolds, take out serpents from the vessels, and allow them to +bite their arms. Bite after bite succeeds; the arms run with blood; +and the Mals go on with their pranks, amid the deafening plaudits +of the spectators. Now and then they fall off from the scaffold and +pretend to feel the effects of poison, and cure themselves by their +incantations. But all is mere pretence. The serpents displayed on +the occasion and challenged to do their worst, have passed through a +preparatory state. Their fangs have been carefully extracted from their +jaws. But most of the vulgar spectators easily persuade themselves +to believe that the Mals are the chosen servants of Siva and the +favourites of Manasa. Although their supernatural pretensions are +ridiculous, yet it must be confessed that the Mals have made snakes +the subject of their peculiar study. They are thoroughly acquainted +with their qualities, their dispositions, and their habits. They +will run down a snake into its hole, and bring it out thence by +main force. Even the terrible cobra is cowed down by the controlling +influence of a Mal. When in the act of bringing out snakes from their +subterranean holes, the Mals are in the habit of muttering charms, in +which the names of Manasa and Mahadeva frequently occur; superstition +alone can clothe these unmeaning words with supernatural potency. But +it is not inconsistent with the soundest philosophy to suppose that +there may be some plants whose roots are disagreeable to serpents, +and from which they instinctively turn away. All snake-catchers of +Bengal are provided with a bundle of the roots of some plant which +they carefully carry along with them, when they set out on their +serpent-hunting expeditions. When a serpent, disturbed in its hole, +comes out furiously hissing with rage, with its body coiled, and its +head lifted up, the Mal has only to present before it the bundle of +roots above alluded to, at the sight of which it becomes spiritless +as an eel. This we have ourselves witnessed more than once." + +These Mals appear to have been members of the aboriginal Male or Male +Paharia tribe of Bengal. + + +Nunia + +_Nunia, Lunia._ [351]--A mixed occupational caste of salt-makers and +earth-workers, made up of recruits from the different non-Aryan tribes +of northern India. The word _non_ means salt, and is a corruption of +the Sanskrit _lavana_, 'the moist,' which first occurs as a name for +sea-salt in the Atharva Veda. [352] In the oldest prose writings salt +is known as Saindhava or 'that which is brought from the Indus,' this +perhaps being Punjab rock-salt. The Nunias are a fairly large caste in +Bengal and northern India, numbering 800,000 persons, but the Central +Provinces and Berar contain only 3000, who are immigrants from Upper +India. Here they are navvies and masons, a calling which they have +generally adopted since the Government monopoly has interfered with +their proper business of salt-refining. The mixed origin of the caste +is shown by the list of their subdivisions in the United Provinces, +which includes the names Mallah, Kewat, Kuchbandhia, Bind, Musahar, +Bhuinhar and Lodha, all of which are distinct castes, besides a number +of territorial subcastes. A list of nearly thirty subcastes is given +by Mr. Crooke, and this is an instance of the tendency of migratory +castes to split up into small groups for the purpose of arranging +marriages, owing to the difficulty of ascertaining the status and +respectability of each other's families, and the unwillingness to +contract alliances with those whose social position may turn out to +be not wholly satisfactory. "The internal structure of the caste," +Mr. Crooke remarks, "is far from clear; it would appear that they are +still in a state of transition, and the different endogamous subcastes +are not as yet fully recognised." In Bilaspur the Nunias have three +local subcastes, the Bandhaiya, the Ratanpuria and the Kharodhia. The +two last, deriving their names from the towns of Ratanpur and Kharod +in Bilaspur, are said to have been employed in former times in the +construction of the temples and other buildings which abound in +these localities, and have thus acquired a considerable degree of +professional skill in masonry work; while the Bandhaiya, who take their +name from Bandhogarh, confine themselves to the excavation of tanks +and wells. The exogamous divisions of the caste are also by no means +clearly defined; in Mirzapur they have a system of local subdivisions +called _dih_, each subdivision being named after the village which +is supposed to be its home. The word _dih_ itself means a site or +village. Those who have a common _dih_ do not intermarry. [353] This +fact is interesting as being an instance of the direct derivation of +the exogamous clan from residence in a parent village and not from +any heroic or supposititious ancestor. + +The caste have a legend which shows their mixed origin. Some centuries +ago, they say, a marriage procession consisting of Brahmans, Rajputs, +Banias and Gosains went to a place near Ajodhya. After the ceremony was +over the bride, on being taken to the bridegroom's lodging, scraped up +a little earth with her fingers and put it in her mouth. She found it +had a saltish taste, and spat it out on the ground, and this enraged +the tutelary goddess of the village, who considered herself insulted, +and swore that all the bride's descendants should excavate salt in +atonement; and thus the caste arose. + +In Bilaspur the caste permit a girl to be married to a boy younger +than herself. A price of five rupees has to be paid for the bride, +unless her family give a girl in exchange. The bridegroom is taken to +the wedding in a palanquin borne by Mahars. After its conclusion the +couple are carried back in the litter for some distance, after which +the bridegroom gets out and walks or rides. When he goes to fetch +his wife on her coming of age the bridegroom wears white clothes, +which is rather peculiar, as white is not a lucky colour among the +Hindus. The Nunias employ Brahmans at their ceremonies, and they have +a caste _panchayat_ or committee, whose headman is known as Kurha. The +Bilaspur section of the caste has two Kurhas. Here Brahmans take water +from them, but not in all places. They consider their traditional +occupation to have been the extraction of salt and saltpetre from +saline earth. At present they are generally employed in the excavation +of tanks and the embankment of fields, and they also sink wells, +build and erect houses, and undertake all kinds of agricultural labour. + + +Ojha + +_Ojha._--The community of soothsayers and minstrels of the Gonds. The +Ojhas may now be considered a distinct subtribe, as they are looked +down upon by the Gonds and marry among themselves. They derive their +name from the word _ojh_ meaning 'entrail,' their original duty +having been, like that of the Roman augurs, to examine the entrails +of the victim immediately after it had been slain as an offering to +the gods. In 1911 the Ojhas numbered about 5000 persons distributed +over all Districts of the Central Provinces. At present the bulk +of the community subsist by beggary. The word Ojha is of Sanskrit +and not of Gond origin and is applied by the Hindus to the seers or +magicians of several of the primitive tribes, while there is also a +class of Ojha Brahmans who practise magic and divination. The Gond +Ojhas, who are the subject of this article, originally served the +Gonds and begged from them alone, but in some parts of the western +Satpuras they are also the minstrels of the Korkus. Those who beg +from the Korkus play on a kind of drum called _dhank_ while the Gond +Ojhas use the _kingri_ or lyre. Some of them also catch birds and +are therefore known as Moghia. Mr. Hislop [354] remarks of them: +"The Ojhas follow the two occupations of bard and fowler. They lead +a wandering life and when passing through villages they sing from +house to house the praises of their heroes, dancing with castanets in +their hands, bells at their ankles and long feathers of jungle birds +in their turbans. They sell live quails and the skins of a species +of Buceros named Dhan-chiria; these are used for making caps and for +hanging up in houses in order to secure wealth (_dhan_), while the +thigh-bones of the same bird when fastened round the waists of children +are deemed an infallible preservative against the assaults of devils +and other such calamities. Their wives tattoo the arms of Hindu and +Gond women. Among them there is a subdivision known as the Mana Ojhas, +who rank higher than the others. Laying claim to unusual sanctity, +they refuse to eat with any one, Gonds, Rajputs or even Brahmans, and +devote themselves to the manufacture of rings and bells which are in +request among their own race, and even of _lingas_ (phallic emblems) +and _nandis_ (bull images), which they sell to all ranks of the Hindu +community. Their wives are distinguished by wearing the cloth of the +upper part of the body over the right shoulder, whereas those of the +common Ojhas and of all the other Gonds wear it over the left." + +Mr. Tawney wrote of the Ojhas as follows: [355] "The Ojha women do +not dance. It is only men who do so, and when thus engaged they put +on special attire and wear anklets with bells. The Ojhas like the +Gonds are divided into six or seven god _gots_ (classes or septs), +and those with the same number of gods cannot intermarry. They worship +at the same Deokhala (god's threshing-floor) as the Gonds, but being +regarded as an inferior caste they are not allowed so near the sacred +presence. Like the Gonds they incorporate the spirits of the dead with +the gods, but their manner of doing so is somewhat different, as they +make an image of brass to represent the soul of the deceased and keep +this with the household gods. As with the Gonds, if a household god +makes himself too objectionable he is quietly buried to keep him out +of mischief and a new god is introduced into the family. The latter +should properly bear the same name as his degraded predecessor, but +very often does not. The Ojhas are too poor to indulge in the luxury +of burning their deceased friends and therefore invariably bury them." + +The customs of the Ojhas resemble those of the Gonds. They take the +bride to the bridegroom's house to be married, and a widow among +them is expected, though not obliged, to wed her late husband's +younger brother. They eat the flesh of fowls, pigs, and even oxen, +but abstain from that of monkeys, crocodiles and jackals. They will +not touch an ass, a cat or a dog, and consider it sinful to kill +animals which bark or bray. + +They will take food from the hands of all except the most impure +castes, and will admit into the community any man who has taken an Ojha +woman to live with him, even though he be a sweeper, provided that he +will submit to the prescribed test of begging from the houses of five +Gonds and eating the leavings of food of the other Ojhas. They will +pardon the transgression of one of their women with an outsider of +any caste whatever, if she is able and willing to provide the usual +penalty feast. They have no _sutak_ or period of impurity after a +death, but merely take a mouthful of liquor and consider themselves +clean. In physical appearance the Ojhas resemble the Gonds but are +less robust. They rank below the Gonds and are considered as impure +by the Hindu castes. In 1865, an Ojha held a village in Hoshangabad +District which he had obtained as follows: [356] "He was singing +and dancing before Raja Raghuji, when the Raja said he would give a +rent-free village to any one who would pick up and chew a quid of +betel-leaf which he (the Raja) had had in his mouth and had spat +out. The Ojha did this and got the village." + +The Maithil or Tirhut Brahmans who are especially learned in Tantric +magic are also sometimes known as Ojha, and a family bearing this +title were formerly in the service of the Gond kings of Mandla. They +do not now admit that they acted as augurs or soothsayers, but state +that their business was to pray continuously for the king's success +when he was engaged in any battle, and to sit outside the rooms of sick +persons repeating the sacred Gayatri verse for their recovery. This is +often repeated ten times, counting by a special method on the joints +of the fingers and is then known as _Jap_. When it is repeated a +larger number of times, as 54 or 108, a rosary is used. + + + + + +Oraon + +[_Authorities_: The most complete account of the Oraons is a +monograph entitled, _The Religion and Customs of the Oraons_, by +the late Rev. Father P. Dehon, published in 1906 in the _Memoirs +of the Asiatic Society of Bengal_, vol. i. No. 9. The tribe is also +described at length by Colonel Dalton in _The Ethnography of Bengal_, +and an article on it is included in Mr. (Sir H.) Risley's _Tribes +and Castes of Bengal_. References to the Oraons are contained in +Mr. Bradley-Birt's _Chota Nagpur_, and Mr. Ball's _Jungle Life in +India_. The Kurukh language is treated by Dr. Grierson in the volume +of the Linguistic Survey on _Munda and Dravidian Languages_. The +following article is principally made up of extracts from the accounts +of Father Dehon and Colonel Dalton. Papers have also been received +from Mr. Hira Lal, Mr. Balaram Nand, Deputy Inspector of Schools, +Sambalpur, Mr. Jeorakhan Lal, Deputy Inspector of Schools, Bilaspur, +and Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice_. + 2. _Settlement in Chota Nagpur_. + 3. _Subdivisions_. + 4. _Pre-nuptial licence_. + 5. _Betrothal_. + 6. _Marriage ceremony_. + 7. _Special customs_. + 8. _Widow-remarriage and divorce_. + 9. _Customs at birth_. + 10. _Naming a child_. + 11. _Branding and tattooing_. + 12. _Dormitory discipline_. + 13. _Disposal of the dead_. + 14. _Worship of ancestors_. + 15. _Religion_. _The supreme deity_. + 16. _Minor godlings_. + 17. _Human sacrifice_. + 18. _Christianity_. + 19. _Festivals_. _The Karma or May-day_. + 20. _The Sal flower festival_. + 21. _The harvest festival_. + 22. _Fast for the crops_. + 23. _Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons_. + 24. _Dress of women_. + 25. _Dances_. + 26. _Social customs_. + 27. _Social rules_. + 28. _Character_. + 29. _Language_. + + + + +1. General notice + +_Oraon, Uraon, Kurukh, Dhangar, Kuda, Kisan._--The Oraons are an +important Dravidian tribe of the Chota Nagpur plateau, numbering +altogether about 750,000 persons, of whom 85,000 now belong to the +Central Provinces, being residents of the Jashpur and Sarguja States +and the neighbouring tracts. They are commonly known in the Central +Provinces as Dhangar or Dhangar-Oraon. In Chota Nagpur the word Dhangar +means a farmservant engaged according to a special customary contract, +and it has come to be applied to the Oraons, who are commonly employed +in this capacity. Kuda means a digger or navvy in Uriya, and enquiries +made by Mr. B.C. Mazumdar and Mr. Hira Lal have demonstrated that +the 18,000 persons returned under this designation from Raigarh +and Sambalpur in 1901 were really Oraons. The same remark applies +to 33,000 persons returned from Sambalpur as Kisan or cultivator, +these also being members of the tribe. The name by which the Oraons +know themselves is Kurukh or Kurunkh, and the designation of Oraon +or Orao has been applied to them by outsiders. The meaning of both +names is obscure. Dr. Halm [357] was of opinion that the word _kurukh_ +might be identified with the Kolarian _horo_, man, and explained the +term Oraon as the totem of one of the septs into which the Kurukhs +were divided. According to him Oraon was a name coined by the Hindus, +its base being _orgoran_, hawk or cunny bird, used as the name of a +totemistic sept. Sir G. Grierson, however, suggested a connection with +the Kaikari, _urupai_, man; Burgandi _urapo_, man; _urang_, men. The +Kaikaris are a Telugu caste, and as the Oraons are believed to have +come from the south of India, this derivation sounds plausible. In +a similar way Sir. G. Grierson states, Kurukh may be connected +with Tamil _kurugu_, an eagle, and be the name of a totemistic +clan. Compare also names, such as Korava, Kurru, a dialect of Tamil, +and Kudagu. In the Nerbudda valley the farmservant who pours the seed +through the tube of the sowing-plough is known as Oraya; this word +is probably derived from the verb _urna_ to pour, and means 'one who +pours.' Since the principal characteristic of the Oraons among the +Hindus is their universal employment as farmservants and labourers, +it may be suggested that the name is derived from this term. Of the +other names by which they are known to outsiders Dhangar means a +farmservant, Kuda a digger, and Kisan a cultivator. The name Oraon +and its variant Orao is very close to Oraya, which, as already seen, +means a farmservant. The nasal seems to be often added or omitted in +this part of the country, as Kurukh or Kurunkh. + + + + +2. Settlement in Chota Nagpur + +According to their own traditions, Mr. Gait writes, [358] "The +Kurukh tribe originally lived in the Carnatic, whence they went up the +Nerbudda river and settled in Bihar on the banks of the Son. Driven out +by the Muhammadans, the tribe split into two divisions, one of which +followed the course of the Ganges and finally settled in the Rajmahal +hills: while the other went up the Son and occupied the north-western +portion of the Chota Nagpur plateau, where many of the villages they +occupy are still known by Mundari names. The latter were the ancestors +of the Oraons or Kurukhs, while the former were the progenitors of the +Male or Saonria as they often call themselves." Towards Lohardaga the +Oraons found themselves among the Mundas or Kols, who probably retired +by degrees and left them in possession of the country. "The Oraons," +Father Dehon states, "are an exceedingly prolific tribe and soon become +the preponderant element, while the Mundas, being conservative and +averse to living among strangers, emigrate towards another jungle. The +Mundas hate zamindars, and whenever they can do so, prefer to live in +a retired corner in full possession of their small holding; and it +is not at all improbable that, as the zamindars took possession of +the newly-formed villages, they retired towards the east, while the +Oraons, being good beasts of burden and more accustomed to subjection, +remained." In view of the fine physique and martial character of +the Larka or Fighting Kols or Mundas, Dalton was sceptical of the +theory that they could ever have retired before the Oraons; but in +addition to the fact that many villages in which Oraons now live have +Mundari names, it may be noted that the headman of an Oraon village +is termed Munda and is considered to be descended from its founder, +while for the Pahan or priest of the village gods, the Oraons always +employ a Munda if available, and it is one of the Pahan's duties to +point out the boundary of the village in cases of dispute; this is a +function regularly assigned to the earliest residents, and seems to +be strong evidence that the Oraons found the Mundas settled in Chota +Nagpur when they arrived there. It is not necessary to suppose that +any conquest or forcible expropriation took place; and it is probable +that, as the country was opened up, the Mundas by preference retired +to the wilder forest tracts, just as in the Central Provinces the +Korkus and Baigas gave way to the Gonds, and the Gonds themselves +relinquished the open country to the Hindus. None of the writers quoted +notice the name Munda as applied to the headman of an Oraon village, +but it can hardly be doubted that it is connected with that of the +tribe; and it would be interesting also to know whether the Pahan or +village priest takes his name from the Pans or Gandas. Dalton says +that the Pans are domesticated as essential constituents of every +Ho or Kol village community, but does not allude to their presence +among the Oraons. The custom in the Central Provinces, by which in +Gond villages the village priest is always known as Baiga, because +in some localities members of the Baiga tribe are commonly employed +in the office, suggests the hypothesis of a similar usage here. In +villages first settled by Oraons, the population, Father Dehon states, +is divided into three _khunts_ or branches, named after the Munda, +Pahan and Mahto, the founders of the three branches being held to +have been sons of the first settler. Members of each branch belong +therefore to the same sept or _got_. Each _khunt_ has a share of the +village lands. + + + + +3. Subdivisions + +The Oraons have no proper subcastes in the Central Provinces, but the +Kudas and Kisans, having a distinctive name and occupation, sometimes +regard themselves as separate bodies and decline intermarriage with +other Oraons. In Bengal Sir H. Risley gives five divisions, Barga, +Dhanka, Kharia, Khendro and Munda; of these Kharia and Munda are the +names of other tribes, and Dhanka may be a variant for Dhangar. The +names show that as usual with the tribes of this part of the country +the law of endogamy is by no means strict. The tribe have also a +large number of exogamous septs of the totemistic type, named after +plants and animals. Members of any sept commonly abstain from killing +or eating their sept totem. A man must not marry a member of his own +sept nor a first cousin on the mother's side. + + + + +4. Pre-nuptial licence + +Marriage is adult and pre-nuptial unchastity appears to be tacitly +recognised. Oraon villages have the institution of the Dhumkuria +or Bachelors' dormitory, which Dalton describes as follows: [359] +"In all the older Oraon villages when there is any conservation of +ancient customs, there is a house called the Dhumkuria in which all +the bachelors of the village must sleep under penalty of a fine. The +huts of the Oraons have insufficient accommodation for a family, +so that separate quarters for the young men are a necessity. The +same remark applies to the young unmarried women, and it is a fact +that they do not sleep in the house with their parents. They are +generally frank enough when questioned about their habits, but on +this subject there is always a certain amount of reticence, and I have +seen girls quietly withdraw when it was mooted. I am told that in some +villages a separate building is provided for them like the Dhumkuria, +in which they consort under the guardianship of an elderly duenna, +but I believe the more common practice is to distribute them among the +houses of the widows, and this is what the girls themselves assert, if +they answer at all when the question is asked; but however billeted, +it is well known that they often find their way to the bachelors' +hall, and in some villages actually sleep there. I not long ago saw a +Dhumkuria in a Sarguja village in which the boys and girls all slept +every night." Colonel Dalton considered it uncertain that the practice +led to actual immorality, but the fact can hardly be doubted. Sexual +intercourse before marriage, Sir H. Risley says, is tacitly recognised, +and is so generally practised that in the opinion of the best observers +no Oraon girl is a virgin at the time of her marriage. "To call this +state of things immoral is to apply a modern conception to primitive +habits of life. Within the tribe, indeed, the idea of sexual morality +seems hardly to exist, and the unmarried Oraons are not far removed +from the condition of modified promiscuity which prevails among +many of the Australian tribes. Provided that the exogamous circle +defined by the totem is respected, an unmarried woman may bestow +her favours on whom she will. If, however, she becomes pregnant, +arrangements are made to get her married without delay, and she is +then expected to lead a virtuous life." [360] According to Dalton, +however, _liaisons_ between boys and girls of the same village seldom +end in marriage, as it is considered more respectable to bring home a +bride from a distance. This appears to arise from the primitive rule +of exogamy that marriage should not be allowed between those who have +been brought up together. The young men can choose for themselves, +and at dances, festivals and other social gatherings they freely woo +their sweethearts, giving them flowers for the hair and presents of +grilled field-mice, which the Oraons consider to be the most delicate +of food. Father Dehon, however, states that matches are arranged by +the parents, and the bride and bridegroom have nothing to say in the +matter. Boys are usually married at sixteen and girls at fourteen +or fifteen. The girls thus have only about two years of preliminary +flirtation or Dhumkuria life before they are settled. + + + + +5. Betrothal + +The first ceremony for a marriage is known as _pan bandhi_ or the +settling of the price; for which the boy's father, accompanied by +some men of his village to represent _the panch_ or elders, goes to +the girl's house. Father Dehon states that the bride-price is five +rupees and four maunds of grain. When this has been settled the +rejoicings begin. "All the people of the village are invited; two +boys come and anoint the visitors with oil. From every house of the +village that can afford it a _handia_ or pot of rice-beer is brought, +and they drink together and make merry. All this time the girl has been +kept inside, but now she suddenly sallies forth carrying a _handia_ +on her head. A murmur of admiration greets her when stepping through +the crowd she comes and stands in front of her future father-in-law, +who at once takes the _handia_ from her head, embraces her, and gives +her one rupee. From that time during the whole of the feast the girl +remains sitting at the feet of her father-in-law. The whole party +meanwhile continue drinking and talking; and voices rise so high +that they cannot hear one another. As a diversion the old women of +the village all come tumbling in, very drunk and wearing fantastic +hats made of leaves, gesticulating like devils and carrying a straw +manikin representing the bridegroom. They all look like old witches, +and in their drunken state are very mischievous." + + + + +6. Marriage ceremony + +The marriage takes place after about two years, visits being exchanged +twice a year in the meantime. When the day comes the bridegroom +proceeds with a large party of his friends, male and female, to the +bride's house. Most of the males have warlike weapons, real or sham, +and as they approach the village of the bride's family the young men +from thence emerge, also armed, as if to repel the invasion, and a +mimic fight ensues, which like a dissolving view blends pleasantly +into a dance. In this the bride and bridegroom join, each riding on +the hips of one of their friends. After this they have a feast till +late in the night. Next morning bread cooked by the bride's mother +is taken to the _dari_ or village spring, where all the women partake +of it. When they have finished they bring a vessel of water with some +leaves of the mango tree in it. Meanwhile the bride and bridegroom are +in the house, being anointed with oil and turmeric by their respective +sisters. When everybody has gathered under the marriage-bower the +boy and girl are brought out of the house and a heap is made of +a plough-yoke, a bundle of thatching-grass and a curry-stone. The +bride and bridegroom are made to stand on the curry-stone, the boy +touching the heels of the bride with his toes, and a long piece of +cloth is put round them to screen them from the public. Only their +heads and feet can be seen. A goblet full of vermilion is presented +to the boy, who dips his finger in it and makes three lines on +the forehead of the girl; and the girl does the same to the boy, +but as she has to reach him over her shoulder and cannot see him, +the boy gets it anywhere, on his face, which never fails to provoke +hearty bursts of laughter. "When this is complete," Dalton states, +"a gun is fired and then by some arrangement vessels full of water, +placed over the bower, are upset, and the young couple and those +near them receive a drenching shower-bath, the women shouting, +'The marriage is done, the marriage is done.' They now retire into +an apartment prepared for them, ostensibly to change their clothes, +but they do not emerge for some time, and when they do appear they +are saluted as man and wife." + + + + +7. Special Customs + +Meanwhile the guests sit round drinking _handias_ or earthen pots full +of rice-beer. The bride and bridegroom come out and retire a second +time and are called out for the following rite. A vessel of beer +is brought and the bride carries a cupful of it to the bridegroom's +brother, but instead of giving it into his hand she deposits it on +the ground in front of him. This is to seal a kind of tacit agreement +that from that time the bridegroom's brother will not touch his +sister-in-law, and was probably instituted to mark the abolition of +the former system of fraternal polyandry, customs of an analogous +nature being found among the Khonds and Korkus. "Then," Father Dehon +continues, "comes the last ceremony, which is called _khiritengna +handia_ or the _handia_ of the story, and is considered by the Oraons +to be the true form of marriage which has been handed down to them by +their forefathers. The boy and girl sit together before the people, +and one of the elder men present rises and addressing the boy says: +'If your wife goes to fetch _sag_ and falls from a tree and breaks her +leg, do not say that she is disfigured or crippled. You will have to +keep and feed her.' Then turning to the girl: 'When your husband goes +hunting, if his arm or leg is broken, do not say, "He is a cripple, +I won't live with him." Do not say that, for you have to remain with +him. If you prepare meat, give two shares to him and keep only one for +yourself. If you prepare vegetables, give him two parts and keep only +one part for yourself. If he gets sick and cannot go out, do not say +that he is dirty, but clean his mat and wash him.' A feast follows, +and at night the girl is brought to the boy by her mother, who says +to him, 'Now this my child is yours; I do not give her for a few days +but for ever; take care of her and love her well.' A companion of the +bridegroom's then seizes the girl in his arms and carries her inside +the house." + + + + +8. Widow-remarriage and divorce + +It is uncommon for a man to have two wives. Divorce is permitted, +and is usually effected by the boy or girl running away to the Duars +or Assam. Widow-remarriage is a regular practice. The first time a +widow marries again, Father Dehon states, the bridegroom must pay +Rs. 3-8 for her; if successive husbands die her price goes down by +a rupee on each fresh marriage, so that a fifth husband would pay +only eight annas. Cases of adultery are comparatively rare. When +offenders are caught a heavy fine is imposed if they are well-to-do, +and if they are not, a smaller fine and a beating. + + + + +9. Customs at birth + +"The Oraons," Father Dehon continues, "are a very prolific race, and +whenever they are allowed to live without being too much oppressed +they increase prodigiously. What strikes you when you come to an Oraon +village is the number of small dirty children playing everywhere, +while you can scarcely meet a woman that does not carry a baby on her +back. The women seem, to a great extent, to have been exempted from the +curse of our first mother: 'Thou shalt bring forth, etc.' They seem +to give birth to their children with the greatest ease. There is no +period of uncleanness, and the very day after giving birth to a child, +you will see the mother with her baby tied up in a cloth on her back +and a pitcher on her head going, as if nothing had happened, to the +village spring." This practice, it may be remarked in parenthesis, +may arise from the former observance of the Couvade, the peculiar +custom prevailing among several primitive races, by which, when a +child is born, the father lies in the house and pretends to be ill, +while the mother gets up immediately and goes about her work. The +custom has been reported as existing among the Oraons by one observer +from Bilaspur, [361] but so far without confirmation. + + + + +10. Naming a child + +"A child is named eight or ten days after birth, and on this day +some men of the village and the members of the family assemble at +the parents' house. Two leaf-cups are brought, one full of water +and the other of rice. After a preliminary formula grains of rice +are let fall into the cup, first in the name of the child and then +successively in those of his ancestors in the following order: +paternal grandfather, paternal great-grandfather, father, paternal +uncle, maternal grandfather, other relatives. When the grain dropped +in the name of any relative meets the first one dropped to represent +the child, he is given the name of that relative and is probably +considered to be a reincarnation of him." + + + + +11. Branding and tattooing + +"When a boy is six or seven years old it is time for him to become a +member of the Dhumkuria or common dormitory. The eldest boys catch hold +of his left arm and, with burning cloth, burn out five deep marks on +the lower part of his arm. This is done so that he may be recognised +as an Oraon at his death when he goes into the other world." The +ceremony was probably the initiation to manhood on arrival at puberty, +and resembled those prevalent among the Australian tribes. With this +exception men are not tattooed, but this decoration is profusely +resorted to by women. They have three parallel vertical lines on the +forehead which form a distinctive mark, and other patterns on the arms, +chest, knees and ankles. These usually consist of lines vertical and +horizontal as shown below: + +The marks on the knees are considered to be steps by which the wearer +will ascend to heaven after her death. If a baby cries much it is +also tattooed on the nose and chin. + + + + +12. Dormitory discipline + +The Dhumkuria fraternity, Colonel Dalton remarks, are, under the +severest penalties, bound down to secrecy in regard to all that takes +place in their dormitory; and even girls are punished if they dare +to tell tales. They are not allowed to join in the dances till the +offence is condoned. They have a regular system of fagging in this +curious institution. The small boys serve those of larger growth, +shampoo their limbs, comb their hair, and so on, and they are sometimes +subjected to severe discipline to make men of them. + + + + +13. Disposal of the dead + +The Oraons either bury or burn the dead. As the corpse is carried +to the grave, beginning from the first crossroads, they sprinkle a +line of rice as far as the grave or pyre. This is done so that the +soul of the deceased may find its way back to the house. Before the +burial or cremation cooked food and some small pieces of money are +placed in the mouth of the corpse. They are subsequently, however, +removed or recovered from the ashes and taken by the musicians +as their fee. Some clothes belonging to the deceased and a vessel +with some rice are either burnt with the corpse or placed in the +grave. As the grave is being filled in they place a stalk of _orai_ +[362] grass vertically on the head of the corpse and gradually draw +it upwards as the earth is piled on the grave. They say that this is +done in order to leave a passage for the air to pass to the nostrils +of the deceased. This is the grass from which reed pens are made, +and the stalk is hard and hollow. Afterwards they plant a root of +the same grass where the stalk is standing over the head of the +corpse. On the tenth day they sacrifice a pig and fowl and bury the +legs, tail, ears and nose of the pig in a hole with seven balls of iron +dross. They then proceed to the grave scattering a little parched rice +all the way along the path. Cooked rice is offered at the grave. If +the corpse has been burnt they pick up the bones and place them in a +pot, which is brought home and hung up behind the dead man's house. At +night-time a relative sits inside the house watching a burning lamp, +while some friends go outside the village and make a miniature hut +with sticks and grass and set fire to it. They then call out to the +dead man, 'Come, your house is being burnt,' and walk home striking +a mattock and sickle together. On coming to the house they kick down +the matting which covers the doorway; the man inside says, 'Who are +you?' and they answer, 'It is we.' They watch the lamp and when the +flame wavers they believe it to show that the spirit of the deceased +has followed them and has also entered the house. Next day the bones +are thrown into a river and the earthen pot broken against a stone. + + + + +14. Worship of ancestors + +The _pitras_ or ancestors are worshipped at every festival, and when +the new rice is reaped a hen is offered to them. They pray to their +dead parents to accept the offering and then place a few grains of +rice before the hen. If she eats them, it is a sign that the ancestors +have accepted the offering and a man kills the hen by crushing its head +with his closed fist. This is probably, as remarked by Father Dehon, in +recollection of the method employed before the introduction of knives, +and the same explanation may be given of the barbaric method of the +Baigas of crushing a pig to death by a beam of wood used as a see-saw +across its body, and of the Gond bride and bridegroom killing a fowl +by treading on it when they first enter their house after the wedding. + + + + +15. Religion. The supreme deity + +The following account of the tribal religion is abridged from Father +Dehon's full and interesting description: + +"The Oraons worship a supreme god who is known as Dharmes; him they +invoke in their greatest difficulties when recourse to the village +priests and magicians has proved useless. Then they turn to Dharmes +and say, 'Now we have tried everything, but we have still you who can +help us.' They sacrifice to him a white cock. They think that god is +too good to punish them, and that they are not answerable to him in any +way for their conduct; they believe that everybody will be treated in +the same way in the other world. There is no hell for them or place +of punishment, but everybody will go to _merkha_ or heaven. The Red +Indians speak of the happy hunting-grounds and the Oraons imagine +something like the happy ploughing-grounds, where everybody will have +plenty of land, plenty of bullocks to plough it with, and plenty of +rice-beer to drink after his labour. They look on god as a big zamindar +or landowner, who does nothing himself, but keeps a _chaprasi_ as an +agent or debt-collector; and they conceive the latter as having all +the defects so common to his profession. Baranda, the _chaprasi_, +exacts tribute from them mercilessly, not exactly out of zeal for +the service of his master, but out of greed for his _talbana_ or +perquisites. When making a sacrifice to Dharmes they pray: 'O god, +from to-day do not send any more your _chaprasi_ to punish us. You +see we have paid our respects to you, and we are going to give him +his _dasturi_ (tip).' + + + + +16. Minor godlings + +"But in the concerns of this world, to obtain good crops and freedom +from sickness, a host of minor deities have to be propitiated. These +consist of _bhuts_ or spirits of the household, the sept, the village, +and common deities, such as the earth and sun. Chola Pacho or the +lady of the grove lives in the _sarna_ or sacred grove, which has +been left standing when the forest was cleared. She is credited with +the power of giving rain and consequently good crops. Churel is the +shade of a woman who has died while pregnant or in childbirth. She +hovers over her burial-place and is an object of horror and fright to +every passer-by. It is her nature to look out for a companion, and she +is said always to choose that member of a family whom she liked best +during her lifetime. She will then come at night and embrace him and +tickle him under the arms, making him laugh till he dies. Bhula or the +wanderers are the shades of persons who have died an unnatural death, +either having been murdered, hanged, or killed by a tiger. They all +keep the scars of their respective wounds and one can imagine what a +weird-looking lot they are. They are always on the move, and are, as +it were, the mendicant portion of the invisible community. They are +not very powerful and are responsible only for small ailments, like +nightmares and slight indispositions. When an Ojha or spirit-raiser +discovers that a Bhula has appeared in the light of his lamp he shows +a disappointed face, and says: 'Pshaw, only Bhula!' No sacrifice +is offered to him, but the Ojha then and there takes a few grains +of rice, rubs them in charcoal and throws them at the flame of his +lamp, saying, 'Take this, Bhula, and go away.' Murkuri is the thumping +_bhut_. Europeans to show their kindness and familiarity thump people +on the back. If this is followed by fever or any kind of sickness +it will be ascribed to the passing of Murkuri from the body of the +European into the body of the native. + +"_Chordewa_ is a witch rather than a _bhut_. It is believed that +some women have the power to change their soul into a black cat, +who then goes about in the houses where there are sick people. Such a +cat has a peculiar way of mewing, quite different from its brethren, +and is easily recognised. It steals quietly into the house, licks +the lips of the sick man and eats the food which has been prepared +for him. The sick man soon gets worse and dies. They say it is very +difficult to catch the cat, as it has all the nimbleness of its nature +and the cleverness of a _bhut_. However, they sometimes succeed, and +then something wonderful happens. The woman out of whom the cat has +come remains insensible, as it were in a state of temporary death, +until the cat re-enters her body. Any wound inflicted on the cat will +be inflicted on her; if they cut its ears or break its legs or put +out its eyes the woman will suffer the same mutilation. The Oraons +say that formerly they used to burn any woman who was suspected of +being a _Chordewa_. + + + + +17. Human sacrifice + +"There is also Anna Kuari or Mahadhani, who is in our estimation +the most cruel and repulsive deity of all, as she requires human +sacrifice. Those savage people, who put good crops above everything, +look upon her in a different light. She can give good crops and make a +man rich, and this covers a multitude of sins. People may be sceptical +about it and say that it is impossible that in any part of India under +the British Government there should still be human sacrifices. Well, +in spite of all the vigilance of the authorities, there are still +human sacrifices in Chota Nagpur. As the vigilance of the authorities +increases, so also does the carefulness of the Urkas or Otongas +increase. They choose for their victims poor waifs or strangers, +whose disappearance no one will notice. April and May are the months +in which the Urkas are at work. Doisa, Panari, Kukra and Sarguja have +a very bad reputation. During these months no strangers will go about +the country alone and during that time nowhere will boys and girls +be allowed to go to the jungle and graze the cattle for fear of the +Urkas. When an Urka has found a victim he cuts his throat and carries +away the upper part of the ring finger and the nose. Anna Kuari finds +votaries not only among the Oraons, but especially among the big +zamindars and Rajas of the Native States. When a man has offered a +sacrifice to Anna Kuari she goes and lives in his house in the form +of a small child. From that time his fields yield double harvest, +and when he brings in his paddy he takes Anna Kuari and rolls her +over the heap to double its size. But she soon becomes restless and +is only pacified by new human sacrifices. At last after some years she +cannot bear remaining in the same house any more and kills every one." + + + + +18. Christianity + +In Jashpur State where the Oraons number 47,000 about half the total +number have become Christians. The non-Christians call themselves +Sansar, and the principal difference between them is that the +Christians have cut off the pigtail, while the Sansar retain it. In +some families the father may be a Sansar and the son a Kiristan, +and they live together without any distinction. The Christians belong +to the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Missions, but though they all know +their Church, they naturally have little or no idea of the distinctions +of doctrine. + + + + +19. Festivals. The Karma or May-day + +The principal festivals are the Sarhul, celebrated when the _sal_ +tree [363] flowers, the Karma or May-day when the rice is ready for +planting out, and the Kanihari or harvest celebration. + +"At the Karma festival a party of young people of both sexes," says +Colonel Dalton, "proceed to the forest and cut a young _karma_ tree +(_Nauclea parvifolia_) or the branch of one; they bear this home +in triumph and plant it in the centre of the Akhara or wrestling +ground. Next morning all may be seen at an early hour in holiday +array, the elders in groups under the fine old tamarind trees that +surround the Akhara, and the youth of both sexes, arm-linked in a +huge circle, dancing round the _karma_ tree, which, festooned with +garlands, decorated with strips of coloured cloth and sham bracelets +and necklets of plaited straw, and with the bright faces and merry +laughter of the young people encircling it, reminds one of the +gift-bearing tree so often introduced at our own great festival." The +tree, however, probably corresponds to the English Maypole, and the +festival celebrates the renewal of vegetation. + + + + +20. The _sal_ flower festival + +At the Sarhul festival the marriage of the sun-god and earth-mother +is celebrated, and this cannot be done till the _sal_ tree gives +the flowers for the ceremony. It takes place about the beginning of +April on any day when the tree is in flower. A white cock is taken +to represent the sun and a black hen the earth; their marriage is +celebrated by marking them with vermilion, and they are sacrificed. The +villagers then accompany the Pahan or Baiga, the village priest, to +the _sarna_ or sacred grove, a remnant of the old _sal_ forest in +which is located Sarna Burhi or 'The old women of the grove.' "To +this dryad," writes Colonel Dalton, "who is supposed to have great +influence over the rain (a superstition not improbably founded on the +importance of trees as cloud-compellers), the party offer five fowls, +which are afterwards eaten, and the remainder of the day is spent +in feasting. They return laden with the flowers of the _sal_ tree, +and next morning with the Baiga pay a visit to every house, carrying +the flowers. The women of the village all stand on the threshold of +their houses, each holding two leaf-cups; one empty to receive the +holy water; the other with rice-beer for the Baiga. His reverence +stops at each house, and places flowers over it and in the hair of +the women. He sprinkles the holy water on the seeds that have been +kept for the new year and showers blessings on every house, saying, +'May your rooms and granary be filled with paddy that the Baiga's name +may be great.' When this is accomplished the woman throws a vessel +of water over his venerable person, heartily dousing the man whom the +moment before they were treating with such profound respect. This is no +doubt a rain-charm, and is a familiar process. The Baiga is prevented +from catching cold by being given the cup of rice-beer and is generally +gloriously drunk before he completes his round. There is now a general +feast, and afterwards the youth of both sexes, gaily decked with the +_sal_ blossoms, the pale cream-white flowers of which make the most +becoming of ornaments against their dusky skins and coal-black hair, +proceed to the Akhara and dance all night." + + + + +21. The harvest festival + +The Kanihari, as described by Father Dehon, is held previous +to the threshing of the rice, and none is allowed to prepare his +threshing-floor until it has been celebrated. It can only take place +on a Tuesday. A fowl is sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the +new rice. In the evening a common feast is held at which the Baiga +presides, and when this is over they go to the place where Mahadeo +is worshipped and the Baiga pours milk over the stone that represents +him. The people then dance. Plenty of rice-beer is brought, and a scene +of debauchery takes place in which all restraint is put aside. They +sing the most obscene songs and give vent to all their passions. On +that day no one is responsible for any breach of morality. + + + + +22. Fast for the crops + +Like other primitive races, and the Hindus generally, the Oraons +observe the Lenten fast, as explained by Sir J.G. Frazer, after sowing +their crops. Having committed his seed with every propitiatory rite to +the bosom of Mother Earth, the savage waits with anxious expectation +to see whether she will once again perform on his behalf the yearly +miracle of the renewal of vegetation, and the growth of the corn-plants +from the seed which the Greeks typified by the descent of Proserpine +into Hades for a season of the year and her triumphant re-emergence to +the upper air. Meanwhile he fasts and atones for any sin or shortcoming +of his which may possibly have offended the goddess and cause her to +hold her hand. From the beginning of _Asarh_ (June) the Oraons cease +to shave, abstain from eating turmeric, and make no leaf-plates for +their food, but eat it straight from the cooking-vessel. This they now +say is to prevent the field-mice from consuming the seeds of the rice. + + + + +23. Physical appearance and costume of the Oraons + +"The colour of most Oraons," Sir H. Risley states, "is the darkest +brown approaching to black; the hair being jet-black, coarse and +rather inclined to be frizzy. Projecting jaws and teeth, thick +lips, low narrow foreheads, and broad flat noses are the features +characteristic of the tribe. The eyes are often bright and full, +and no obliquity is observable in the opening of the eyelids." + +"The Oraon youths," Dalton states, "though with features very far +from being in accordance with the statutes of beauty, are of a +singularly pleasing class, their faces beaming with animation and +good humour. They are a small race, averaging 4 feet 5 inches, but +there is perfect proportion in all parts of their form, and their +supple, pliant, lithe figures are often models of symmetry. There +is about the young Oraon a jaunty air and mirthful expression that +distinguishes him from the Munda or Ho, who has more of the dignified +gravity that is said to characterise the North American Indian. The +Oraon is particular about his personal appearance only so long as he +is unmarried, but he is in no hurry to withdraw from the Dhumkuria +community, and generally his first youth is passed before he resigns +his decorative propensities. + +"He wears his hair long like a woman, gathered in a knot behind, +supporting, when he is in gala costume, a red or white turban. In the +knot are wooden combs and other instruments useful and ornamental, +with numerous ornaments of brass. [364] At the very extremity of the +roll of hair gleams a small circular mirror set in brass, from which, +and also from his ears, bright brass chains with spiky pendants dangle, +and as he moves with the springy elastic step of youth and tosses his +head like a high-mettled steed in the buoyancy of his animal spirits, +he sets all his glittering ornaments in motion and displays as he +laughs a row of teeth, round, white and regular, that give light and +animation to his dusky features. He wears nothing in the form of a +coat; his decorated neck and chest are undraped, displaying how the +latter tapers to the waist, which the young dandies compress within +the smallest compass. In addition to the cloth, there is always round +the waist a girdle of cords made of tasar-silk or of cane. This is +now a superfluity, but it is no doubt the remnant of a more primitive +costume, perhaps the support of the antique fig-leaves. + +"Out of the age of ornamentation nothing can be more untidy or more +unprepossessing than the appearance of the Oraon. The ornaments are +nearly all discarded, hair utterly neglected, and for raiment any +rags are used. This applies both to males and females of middle age. + + + + +24. Dress of women + +"The dress of the women consists of one cloth, six yards long, +gracefully adjusted so as to form a shawl and a petticoat. The upper +end is thrown over the left shoulder and falls with its fringe and +ornamented border prettily over the back of the figure. Vast quantities +of red beads and a large, heavy brass ornament shaped like a _torque_ +are worn round the neck. On the left hand are rings of copper, +as many as can be induced on each finger up to the first joint, on +the right hand a smaller quantity; rings on the second toe only of +brass or bell-metal, and anklets and bracelets of the same material +are also worn." The women wear only metal and not glass bangles, and +this with the three vertical tattoo-marks on the forehead and the fact +that the head and right arm are uncovered enables them to be easily +recognised. "The hair is made tolerably smooth and amenable by much +lubrication, and false hair or some other substance is used to give +size to the mass into which it is gathered not immediately behind, +but more or less on one side, so that it lies on the neck just behind +and touching the right ear; and flowers are arranged in a receptacle +made for them between the roll of hair and the head." Rings are worn +in the lobes of the ear, but not other ornaments. "When in dancing +costume on grand occasions they add to their head-dress plumes of +heron feathers, and a gay bordered scarf is tightly bound round the +upper part of the body." + + + + +25. Dances + +"The tribe I am treating of are seen to best advantage at the great +national dance meetings called Jatras, which are held once a year at +convenient centres, generally large mango groves in the vicinity of old +villages. As a signal to the country round, the flags of each village +are brought out on the day fixed and set upon the road that leads +to the place of meeting. This incites the young men and maidens to +hurry through their morning's work and look up their _jatra_ dresses, +which are by no means ordinary attire. Those who have some miles to +go put up their finery in a bundle to keep it fresh and clean, and +proceed to some tank or stream in the vicinity of the tryst grove; +and about two o'clock in the afternoon may be seen all around groups +of girls laughingly making their toilets in the open air, and young +men in separate parties similarly employed. When they are ready the +drums are beaten, huge horns are blown, and thus summoned the group +from each village forms its procession. In front are young men with +swords and shields or other weapons, the village standard-bearers +with their flags, and boys waving yaks' tails or bearing poles with +fantastic arrangements of garlands and wreaths intended to represent +umbrellas of dignity. Sometimes a man riding on a wooden horse is +carried, horse and all, by his friends as the Raja, and others assume +the form of or paint themselves up to represent certain beasts of +prey. Behind this motley group the main body form compactly together +as a close column of dancers in alternate ranks of boys and girls, +and thus they enter the grove, where the meeting is held in a cheery +dashing style, wheeling and countermarching and forming lines, circles +and columns with grace and precision. The dance with these movements +is called _kharia_, and it is considered to be an Oraon rather than +a Munda dance, though Munda girls join in it. When they enter the +grove the different groups join and dance the _kharia_ together, +forming one vast procession and then a monstrous circle. The drums +and musical instruments are laid aside, and it is by the voices alone +that the time is given; but as many hundreds, nay, thousands, join, +the effect is imposing. In serried ranks, so closed up that they +appear jammed, they circle round in file, all keeping perfect step, +but at regular intervals the strain is terminated by a _hururu_, +which reminds one of Paddy's 'huroosh' as he 'welts the floor,' and +at the same moment they all face inwards and simultaneously jumping +up come down on the ground with a resounding stamp that makes the +finale of the movements, but only for a momentary pause. One voice +with a startling yell takes up the strain again, a fresh start is +made, and after gyrating thus till they tire of it the ring breaks +up, and separating into village groups they perform other dances +independently till near sunset, and then go dancing home." + + + + +26. Social customs + +But more often they go on all night. Mr. Ball mentions their dance +as follows: [365] "The Oraon dance was distinct from any I had seen +by the Santals or other races. The girls, carefully arranged in lines +by sizes, with the tallest at one end and the smallest at the other, +firmly grasp one another's hands, and the whole movements are so +perfectly in concert that they spring about with as much agility +as could a single individual." Father Dehon gives the following +interesting notice of their social customs: "The Oraons are very +sociable beings, and like to enjoy life together. They are paying +visits or _pahis_ to one another nearly the whole year round. In these +the _handia_ (beer-jar) always plays a great part. Any man who would +presume to receive visitors without offering them a _handia_ would be +hooted and insulted by his guests, who would find a sympathising echo +from all the people of the village. One may say that from the time of +the new rice at the end of September to the end of the marriage feast +or till March there is a continual coming and going of visitors. For a +marriage feast forty _handias_ are prepared by the groom's father, and +all the people of the village who can afford it supply one also. Each +_handia_ gives about three gallons of rice-beer, so that in one day and +a half, in a village of thirty houses, about 200 gallons of rice-beer +are despatched. The Oraons are famous for their dances. They delight +in spending the whole night from sunset till morning in this most +exciting amusement, and in the dancing season they go from village to +village. They get, as it were, intoxicated with the music, and there is +never any slackening of the pace. On the contrary, the evolutions seem +to increase till very early in the morning, and it sometimes happens +that one of the dancers shoots off rapidly from the gyrating group, and +speeds away like a spent top, and, whirlwind-like, disappears through +paddy-fields and ditches till he falls entirely exhausted. Of course +it is the devil who has taken possession of him. One can well imagine +in what state the dancers are at the first crow of the cock, and when +'_L'aurore avec ses doigts de rose entr'ouvre les portes de l'orient,_' +she finds the girls straggling home one by one, dishevelled, _trainant +l'aile_, too tired even to enjoy the company of the boys, who remain +behind in small groups, still sounding their tom-toms at intervals +as if sorry that the performance was so soon over. And, wonderful to +say and incredible to witness, they will go straight to the stalls, +yoke their bullocks, and work the whole morning with the same spirit +and cheerfulness as if they had spent the whole night in refreshing +sleep. At eleven o'clock they come home, eat their meal, and stretched +out in the verandah sleep like logs until two, when poked and kicked +about unmercifully by the people of the house, they reluctantly get +up with heavy eyes and weary limbs to resume their work." + + + + +27. Social rules + +The Oraons do not now admit outsiders into the tribe. There is no +offence for which a man is permanently put out of caste, but a woman +living with any man other than an Oraon is so expelled. Temporary +expulsion is awarded for the usual offences. The head of the caste +_panchayat_ is called Panua, and when an offender is reinstated, +the Panua first drinks water from his hand, and takes upon himself +the burden of the erring one's transgression. For this he usually +receives a fee of five rupees, and in some States the appointment is +in the hands of the Raja, who exacts a fine of a hundred rupees or +more from a new candidate. The Oraons eat almost all kinds of food, +including pork, fowls and crocodiles, but abstain from beef. Their +status is very low among the Hindus; they are usually made to live +in a separate corner of the village, and are sometimes not allowed to +draw water from the village well. As already stated, the dress of the +men consists only of a narrow wisp of cloth round the loins. Some of +them say, like the Gonds, that they are descended from the subjects +of Rawan, the demon king of Ceylon; this ancestry having no doubt +in the first instance been imputed to them by the Hindus. And they +explain that when Hanuman in the shape of a giant monkey came to +the assistance of Rama, their king Rawan tried to destroy Hanuman +by taking all the loin-cloths of his subjects and tying them soaked +in oil to the monkey's tail with a view to setting them on fire and +burning him to death. The device was unsuccessful and Hanuman escaped, +but since then the subjects of Rawan and their descendants have never +had a sufficient allowance of cloth to cover them properly. + + + + +28. Character + +"The Oraons," Colonel Dalton says, "if not the most virtuous, are +the most cheerful of the human race. Their lot is not a particularly +happy one. They submit to be told that they are especially created as +a labouring class, and they have had this so often dinned into their +ears that they believe and admit it. I believe they relish work if +the taskmaster be not over-exacting. Oraons sentenced to imprisonment +without labour, as sometimes happens, for offences against the excise +laws, insist on joining the working gangs, and wherever employed, +if kindly treated, they work as if they felt an interest in their +task. In cold weather or hot, rain or sun, they go cheerfully about it, +and after some nine or ten hours of toil (seasoned with a little play +and chaff among themselves) they return blithely home in flower-decked +groups holding each other by the hand or round the waist and singing." + + + + +29. Language + +The Kurukh language, Dr. Grierson states, has no written character, +but the gospels have been printed in it in the Devanagri type. The +translation is due to the Rev. F. Halm, who has also published a +Biblical history, a catechism and other small books in Kurukh. More +than five-sixths of the Oraons are still returned as speaking their +own language. + + +Paik + +_Paik._--A small caste of the Uriya country formed from military +service, the term _paik_ meaning 'a foot-soldier.' In 1901 the +Paiks numbered 19,000 persons in the Kalahandi and Patna States and +the Raipur District, but since the transfer of the Uriya States to +Bengal less than 3000 remain in the Central Provinces. In Kalahandi, +where the bulk of them reside, they are called Nalia Sipahis from +the fact that they were formerly armed with _nalis_ or matchlocks by +the State. After the Khond rising of 1882 in Kalahandi these were +confiscated and bows and arrows given in lieu of them. The Paiks +say that they were the followers of two warriors, Kalmir and Jaimir, +who conquered the Kalahandi and Jaipur States from the Khonds about +a thousand years ago. There is no doubt that they formed the rough +militia of the Uriya Rajas, a sort of rabble half military and half +police, like the Khandaits. But the Khandaits were probably the leaders +and officers, and, as a consequence, though originally only a mixed +occupational group, have acquired a higher status than the Paiks and +in Orissa rank next to the Rajputs. The Paiks were the rank and file, +mainly recruited from the forest tribes, and they are counted as +a comparatively low caste, though to strangers they profess to be +Rajputs. In Sambalpur it is said that Rajputs, Sudhs, Bhuiyas and +Gonds are called Paiks. In Kalahandi they wear the sacred thread, +being invested with it by a Brahman at the time of their marriage, +and they say that this privilege was conferred on them by the Raja. It +is reported, however, that social distinctions may be purchased in +some of the Uriya States for comparatively small sums. A Bhatra or +member of a forest tribe was observed wearing the sacred thread, +and, on being questioned, stated that his grandfather had purchased +the right from the Raja for Rs. 50. The privileges of wearing gold +ear ornaments, carrying an umbrella, and riding on horseback were +obtainable in a similar manner. It is also related that when one +Raja imported the first pair of boots seen in his State, the local +landholders were allowed to wear them in turn for a few minutes on +payment of five rupees each, as a token of their right thereafter to +procure and wear boots of their own. In Damoh and Jubbulpore another +set of Paiks is to be found who also claim to be Rajputs, and are +commonly so called, though true Rajputs will not eat or intermarry +with them. These are quite distinct from the Sambalpur Paiks, but have +probably been formed into a caste in exactly the same manner. The +sept or family names of the Uriya Paiks sufficiently indicate their +mixed descent. Some of them are as follows: Dube (a Brahman title), +Chalak Bansi (of the Chalukya royal family), Chhit Karan (belonging +to the Karans or Uriya Kayasths), Sahani (a sais or groom), Sudh (the +name of an Uriya caste), Benet Uriya (a subdivision of the Uriya or Od +mason caste), and so on. It is clear that members of different castes +who became Paiks founded separate families, which in time developed +into exogamous septs. Some of the septs will not eat food cooked with +water in company with the rest of the caste, though they do not object +to intermarrying with them. After her marriage a girl may not take +food cooked by her parents nor will they accept it from her. And at a +marriage party each guest is supplied with grain and cooks it himself, +but everybody will eat with the bride and bridegroom as a special +concession to their position. Besides the exogamous clans the Paiks +have totemistic _gots_ or groups named after plants and animals, as +Harin (a deer), Kadamb (a tree), and so on. But these have no bearing +on marriage, and the bulk of the caste have the Nagesh or cobra as +their sept name. It is said that anybody who does not know his sept +considers himself to be a Nagesh, and if he does not know his clan, +he calls himself a Mahanti. Each family among the Paiks has also a +Sainga or title, of a high-sounding nature, as Naik (lord), Pujari +(worshipper), Baidya (physician), Raut (noble), and so on. Marriages +are generally celebrated in early youth, but no penalty is incurred +for a breach of this rule. If the signs of adolescence appear in +a girl for the first time on a Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday, it is +considered a bad omen, and she is sometimes married to a tree to avert +the consequences. Widow-marriage and divorce are freely permitted. The +caste burn their dead and perform the _shraddh_ ceremony. The women +are tattooed, and men sometimes tattoo their arms with figures of +the sun and moon in the belief that this will protect them from +snake-bite. The Paiks eat flesh and fish, but abstain from fowls and +other unclean animals and from liquor. Brahmans will not take water +from them, but other castes generally do so. Some of them are still +employed as armed retainers and are remunerated by free grants of land. + + + + + +Panka + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin of the caste._ + 2. _Caste subdivisions._ + 3. _Endogamous divisions._ + 4. _Marriage._ + 5. _Religion._ + 6. _Other customs._ + 7. _Occupation._ + + + + +1. Origin of the caste + +_Panka._ [366]--A Dravidian caste of weavers and labourers found +in Mandla, Raipur and Bilaspur, and numbering 215,000 persons in +1911. The name is a variant on that of the Pan tribe of Orissa +and Chota Nagpur, who are also known as Panika, Chik, Ganda and by +various other designations. In the Central Provinces it has, however, +a peculiar application; for while the Pan tribe proper is called Ganda +in Chhattisgarh and the Uriya country, the Pankas form a separate +division of the Gandas, consisting of those who have become members +of the Kabirpanthi sect. In this way the name has been found very +convenient, for since Kabir, the founder of the sect, was discovered by +a weaver woman lying on the lotus leaves of a tank, like Moses in the +bulrushes, and as a newly initiated convert is purified with water, +so the Pankas hold that their name Is _pani ka_ or 'from water.' As +far as possible then they disown their connection with the Gandas, +one of the most despised castes, and say that they are a separate +caste consisting of the disciples of Kabir. This has given rise to +the following doggerel rhyme about them: + + + Pani se Panka bhae, bundan rache sharir, + Age age Panka bhae, pachhe Das Kabir. + + +Which may be rendered, 'The Panka indeed is born of water, and his body +is made of drops of water, but there were Pankas before Kabir.' Or +another rendering of the second line is, 'First he was a Panka, +and afterwards he became a disciple of Kabir,' Nevertheless the +Pankas have been successful in obtaining a somewhat higher position +than the Gandas, in that their touch is not considered to convey +impurity. This is therefore an instance of a body of persons from +a low caste embracing a new religion and thereby forming themselves +into a separate caste and obtaining an advance in social position. + + + + +2. Caste subdivisions + +Of the whole caste 84 per cent are Kabirpanthis and these form +one subcaste; but there are a few others. The Manikpuria say that +their ancestors came from Manikpur in Darbhanga State about three +centuries ago; the Saktaha are those who profess to belong to the +Sakta sect, which simply means that they eat flesh and drink liquor, +being unwilling to submit to the restrictions imposed on Kabirpanthis; +the Bajania are those who play on musical instruments, an occupation +which tends to lower them in Hindu eyes; and the Dom Pankas are +probably a section of the Dom or sweeper caste who have somehow +managed to become Pankas. The main distinction is however between +the Kabirha, who have abjured flesh and liquor, and the Saktaha, +who indulge in them; and the Saktaha group is naturally recruited +from backsliding Kabirpanthis. Properly the Kabirha and Saktaha do +not intermarry, but if a girl from either section goes to a man of +the other she will be admitted into the community and recognised as +his wife, though the regular ceremony is not performed. The Saktaha +worship all the ordinary village deities, but some of the Kabirha at +any rate entirely refrain from doing so, and have no religious rites +except when a priest of their sect comes round, when he gives them +a discourse and they sing religious songs. + + + + +3. Endogamous divisions + +The caste have a number of exogamous septs, many of which are named +after plants and animals: as Tandia an earthen pot, Chhura a razor, +Neora the mongoose, Parewa the wild pigeon, and others. Other septs +are Panaria the bringer of betel-leaf, Kuldip the lamp-lighter, +Pandwar the washer of feet, Ghughua one who eats the leavings of the +assembly, and Khetgarhia, one who watches the fields during religious +worship. The Sonwania or 'Gold-water' sept has among the Pankas, as +with several of the primitive tribes, the duty of readmitting persons +temporarily put out of caste; while the Naurang or nine-coloured +sept may be the offspring of some illegitimate unions. The Sati sept +apparently commemorate by their name an ancestress who distinguished +herself by self-immolation, naturally a very rare occurrence in so +low a caste as the Pankas. Each sept has its own Bhat or genealogist +who begs only from members of the sept and takes food from them. + + + + +4. Marriage + +Marriage is prohibited between members of the same sept and also +between first cousins, and a second sister may not be married during +the lifetime of the first. Girls are usually wedded under twelve +years of age. In Mandla the father of the boy and his relatives go to +discuss the match, and if this is arranged each of them kisses the +girl and gives her a piece of small silver. When a Saktaha is going +to look for a wife he makes a fire offering to Dulha Deo, the young +bridegroom god, whose shrine is in the cook-room, and prays to him +saying, 'I am going to such and such a village to ask for a wife; give +me good fortune.' The father of the girl at first refuses his consent +as a matter of etiquette, but finally agrees to let the marriage take +place within a year. The boy pays Rs. 9, which is spent on the feast, +and makes a present of clothes and jewels to the bride. In Chanda a +_chauka_ or consecrated space spread with cowdung with a pattern of +lines of flour is prepared and the fathers of the parties stand inside +this, while a member of the Pandwar sept cries out the names of the +_gotras_ of the bride and bridegroom and says that the everlasting +knot is to be tied between them with the consent of five caste-people +and the sun and moon as witnesses. Before the wedding the betrothed +couple worship Mahadeo and Parvati under the direction of a Brahman, +who also fixes the date of the wedding. This is the only purpose +for which a Brahman is employed by the caste. Between this date and +that of the marriage neither the boy nor girl should be allowed to +go to a tank or cross a river, as it is considered dangerous to their +lives. The superstition has apparently some connection with the belief +that the Pankas are sprung from water, but its exact meaning cannot +be determined. If a girl goes wrong before marriage with a man of the +caste, she is given to him as wife without any ceremony. Before the +marriage seven small pitchers full of water are placed in a bamboo +basket and shaken over the bride's head so that the water may fall on +her. The principal ceremony consists in walking round the sacred pole +called _magrohan_, the skirts of the pair being knotted together. In +some localities this is done twice, a first set of perambulations +being called the Kunwari (maiden) Bhanwar, and the second one of +seven, the Byahi (married) Bhanwar. After the wedding the bride and +her relations return with the bridegroom to his house, their party +being known as Chauthia. The couple are taken to a river and throw +their tinsel wedding ornaments into the water. The bride then returns +home if she is a minor, and when she subsequently goes to live with her +husband the _gauna_ ceremony is performed. Widow-marriage is permitted, +and divorce may be effected for bad conduct on the part of the wife, +the husband giving a sort of funeral feast, called _Marti jiti ka +bhat_, to the castefellows. Usually a man gives several warnings to +his wife to amend her bad conduct before he finally casts her off. + + + + +5. Religion + +The Pankas worship only Kabir. They prepare a _chauka_ and, sitting in +it, sing songs in his praise, and a cocoanut is afterwards broken and +distributed to those who are present. The assembly is presided over +by a Mahant or priest and the _chauka_ is prepared by his subordinate +called the Diwan. The offices of Mahant and Diwan are hereditary, and +they officiate for a collection of ten or fifteen villages. Otherwise +the caste perform no special worship, but observe the full moon days +of Magh (January), Phagun (February) and Kartik (October) as fasts +in honour of Kabir. Some of the Kabirhas observe the Hindu festivals, +and the Saktahas, as already stated, have the same religious practices +as other Hindus. They admit into the community members of most castes +except the impure ones. In Chhattisgarh a new convert is shaved and +the other Pankas wash their feet over him in order to purify him. He +then breaks a stick in token of having given up his former caste +and is invested with a necklace of _tulsi_ [367] beads. A woman +of any such caste who has gone wrong with a man of the Panka caste +may be admitted after she has lived with him for a certain period on +probation, during which her conduct must be satisfactory, her paramour +also being put out of caste for the same time. Both are then shaved and +invested with the necklaces of _tulsi_ beads. In Mandla a new convert +must clean and whitewash his house and then vacate it with his family +while the Panch or caste committee come and stay there for some time +in order to purify it. While they are there neither the owner nor any +member of his family may enter the house. The Panch then proceed to +the riverside and cook food, after driving the new convert across the +river by pelting him with cowdung. Here he changes his clothes and +puts on new ones, and coming back again across the stream is made to +stand in the _chauk_ and sip the urine of a calf. The _chauk_ is then +washed out and a fresh one made with lines of flour, and standing in +this the convert receives to drink the _dal_, that is, water in which +a little betel, raw sugar and black pepper have been mixed and a piece +of gold dipped. In the evening the Panch again take their food in +the convert's house, while he eats outside it at a distance. Then he +again sips the _dal_, and the Mahant or priest takes him on his lap +and a cloth is put over them both; the Mahant whispers the _mantra_ +or sacred verse into his ear, and he is finally considered to have +become a full Kabirha Panka and admitted to eat with the Panch. + + + + +6. Other customs + +The Pankas are strict vegetarians and do not drink liquor. A Kabirha +Panka is put out of caste for eating flesh meat. Both men and women +generally wear white clothes, and men have the garland of beads round +the neck. The dead are buried, being laid on the back with the head +pointing to the north. After a funeral the mourners bathe and then +break a cocoanut over the grave and distribute it among themselves. On +the tenth day they go again and break a cocoanut and each man buries +a little piece of it in the earth over the grave. A little cup made +of flour containing a lamp is placed on the grave for three days +afterwards, and some food and water are put in a leaf cup outside the +house for the same period. During these days the family do not cook +for themselves but are supplied with food by their friends. After +childbirth a mother is supposed not to eat food during the time that +the midwife attends on her, on account of the impurity caused by this +woman's presence in the room. + + + + +7. Occupation + +The caste are generally weavers, producing coarse country cloth, and a +number of them serve as village watchmen, while others are cultivators +and labourers. They will not grow _san_-hemp nor breed tasar silk +cocoons. They are somewhat poorly esteemed by their neighbours, who say +of them, 'Where a Panka can get a little boiled rice and a pumpkin, +he will stay for ever,' meaning that he is satisfied with this and +will not work to get more. Another saying is, 'The Panka felt brave +and thought he would go to war; but he set out to fight a frog and was +beaten'; and another, 'Every man tells one lie a day; but the Ahir +tells sixteen, the Chamar twenty, and the lies of the Panka cannot +be counted.' Such gibes, however, do not really mean much. Owing to +the abstinence of the Pankas from flesh and liquor they rank above +the Gandas and other impure castes. In Bilaspur they are generally +held to be quiet and industrious. [368] In Chhattisgarh the Pankas +are considered above the average in intelligence and sometimes act +as spokesmen for the village people and as advisers to zamindars and +village proprietors. Some of them become religious mendicants and +act as _gurus_ or preceptors to Kabirpanthis. [369] + + + + + +Panwar Rajput + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of + the Kshatriyas by Parasurama_. + 2. _The legend of Parasurama_. + 3. _The Panwar dynasty of Dhar and Ujjain_. + 4. _Diffusion of the Panwars over India_. + 5. _The Nagpur Panwars_. + 6. _Subdivisions_. + 7. _Marriage customs_. + 8. _Widow-marriage_. + 9. _Religion_. + 10. _Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death_. + 11. _Funeral rites_. + 12. _Caste discipline_. + 13. _Social customs_. + + + + +1. Historical notice. The Agnikula clans and the slaughter of the +Kshatriyas by Parasurama + +_Panwar_, [370] _Puar_, _Ponwar_, _Pramara Rajput_.--The Panwar or +Pramara is one of the most ancient and famous of the Rajput clans. It +was the first of the four Agnikulas, who were created from the fire-pit +on the summit of Mount Abu after the Kshatriyas had been exterminated +by Parasurama the Brahman. "The fire-fountain was lustrated with +the waters of the Ganges; [371] expiatory rites were performed, +and after a protracted debate among the gods it was resolved that +Indra should initiate the work of recreation. Having formed an image +of _duba_ grass he sprinkled it with the water of life and threw it +into the fire-fountain. Thence on pronouncing the _sajivan mantra_ +(incantation to give life) a figure slowly emerged from the flame, +bearing in the right hand a mace and exclaiming, '_Mar, Mar!_' (Slay, +slay). He was called Pramar; and Abu, Dhar, and Ujjain were assigned +to him as a territory." + +The four clans known as Agnikula, or born from the fire-pit, +were the Panwar, the Chauhan, the Parihar and the Chalukya or +Solanki. Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar adduces evidence in support of the +opinion that all these were of foreign origin, derived from the +Gujars or other Scythian or Hun tribes. [372] And it seems therefore +not unlikely that the legend of the fire-pit may commemorate the +reconstitution of the Kshatriya aristocracy by the admission of these +tribes to Hinduism after its partial extinction during their wars of +invasion; the latter event having perhaps been euphemised into the +slaughter of the Kshatriyas by Parasurama the Brahman. A great number +of Indian castes date their origin from the traditional massacre +of the Kshatriyas by Parasurama, saying that their ancestors were +Rajputs who escaped and took to various occupations; and it would +appear that an event which bulks so largely in popular tradition +must have some historical basis. It is noticeable also that Buddhism, +which for some five centuries since the time of Asoka Maurya had been +the official and principal religion of northern India, had recently +entered on its decline. "The restoration of the Brahmanical religion +to popular favour and the associated revival of the Sanskrit language +first became noticeable in the second century, were fostered by the +satraps of Gujarat and Surashtra during the third, and made a success +by the Gupta emperors in the fourth century. [373] The decline of +Buddhism and the diffusion of Sanskrit proceeded side by side with +the result that by the end of the Gupta period the force of Buddhism +on Indian soil had been nearly spent; and India with certain local +exceptions had again become the land of the Brahman. [374] The Gupta +dynasty as an important power ended about A.D. 490 and was overthrown +by the Huns, whose leader Toramana was established at Malwa in Central +India prior to A.D. 500." [375] The revival of Brahmanism and the Hun +supremacy were therefore nearly contemporaneous. Moreover one of the +Hun leaders, Mihiragula, was a strong supporter of Brahmanism and an +opponent of the Buddhists. Mr. V.A. Smith writes: "The savage invader, +who worshipped as his patron deity Siva, the god of destruction, +exhibited ferocious hostility against the peaceful Buddhist cult, +and remorselessly overthrew the _stupas_ and monasteries, which he +plundered of their treasures." [376] This warrior might therefore +well be venerated by the Brahmans as the great restorer of their +faith and would easily obtain divine honours. The Huns also subdued +Rajputana and Central India and were dominant here for a time until +their extreme cruelty and oppression led to a concerted rising of the +Indian princes by whom they were defeated. The discovery of the Hun +or Scythian origin of several of the existing Rajput clans fits in +well with the legend. The stories told by many Indian castes of their +first ancestors having been Rajputs who escaped from the massacre +of Parasurama would then have some historical value as indicating +that the existing occupational grouping of castes dates from the +period of the revival of the Brahman cult after a long interval of +Buddhist supremacy. It is however an objection to the identification +of Parasurama with the Huns that he is the sixth incarnation of +Vishnu, coming before Rama and being mentioned in the Mahabharata, +and thus if he was in any way historical his proper date should be +long before their time. As to this it may be said that he might have +been interpolated or put back in date, as the Brahmans had a strong +interest in demonstrating the continuity of the Kshatriya caste from +Vedic times and suppressing the Hun episode, which indeed they have +succeeded in doing so well that the foreign origin of several of the +most prominent Rajput clans has only been established quite recently +by modern historical and archaeological research. The name Parasurama +signifies 'Rama with the axe' and seems to indicate that this hero came +after the original Rama. And the list of the incarnations of Vishnu +is not always the same, as in one list the incarnations are nearly +all of the animal type and neither Parasurama, Rama nor Krishna appear. + + + + +2. The legend of Parasurama + +The legend of Parasurama is not altogether opposed to this view +in itself. [377] He was the son of a Brahman Muni or hermit, +named Jamadagni, by a lady, Renuka, of the Kshatriya caste. He is +therefore not held to have been a Brahman and neither was he a true +Kshatriya. This might portray the foreign origin of the Huns. Jamadagni +found his wife Renuka to be harbouring thoughts of conjugal infidelity, +and commanded his sons, one by one, to slay her. The four elder +ones successively refused, and being cursed by Jamadagni lost all +understanding and became as idiots; but the youngest, Parasurama, +at his father's bidding, struck off his mother's head with a blow of +his axe. Jamadagni thereupon was very pleased and promised to give +Parasurama whatever he might desire. On which Parasurama begged first +for the restoration of his mother to life, with forgetfulness of his +having slain her and purification from all defilement; secondly, the +return of his brothers to sanity and understanding; and for himself +that he should live long and be invincible in battle; and all these +boons his father bestowed. Here the hermit Jamadagni might represent +the Brahman priesthood, and his wife Renuka might be India, unfaithful +to the Brahmans and turning towards the Buddhist heresy. The four +elder sons would typify the princes of India refusing to respond to +the exhortations of the Brahmans for the suppression of Buddhism, and +hence themselves made blind to the true faith and their understandings +darkened with Buddhist falsehood. But Parasurama, the youngest, +killed his mother, that is, the Huns devastated India and slaughtered +the Buddhists; in reward for this he was made invincible as the Huns +were, and his mother, India, and his brothers, the indigenous princes, +regained life and understanding, that is, returned to the true Brahman +faith. Afterwards, the legend proceeds, the king Karrtavirya, the head +of the Haihaya tribe of Kshatriyas, stole the calf of the sacred cow +Kamdhenu from Jamadagni's hermitage and cut down the trees surrounding +it. When Parasurama returned, his father told him what had happened, +and he followed Karrtavirya and killed him in battle. But in revenge +for this the sons of the king, when Parasurama was away, returned to +the hermitage and slew the pious and unresisting sage Jamadagni, who +called fruitlessly for succour on his valiant son. When Parasurama +returned and found his father dead he vowed to extirpate the whole +Kshatriya race. 'Thrice times seven did he clear the earth of the +Kshatriya caste,' says the Mahabharata. If the first part of the story +refers to the Hun conquest of northern India and the overthrow of +the Gupta dynasty, the second may similarly portray their invasion +of Rajputana. The theft of the cow and desecration of Jamadagni's +hermitage by the Haihaya Rajputs would represent the apostasy of the +Rajput princes to Buddhist monotheism, the consequent abandonment of +the veneration of the cow and the spoliation of the Brahman shrines; +while the Hun invasions of Rajputana and the accompanying slaughter +of Rajputs would be Parasurama's terrible revenge. + + + + +3. The Panwar dynasty of Dhar and Ujjain + +The Kings of Malwa or Ujjain who reigned at Dhar and flourished from +the ninth to the twelfth centuries were of the Panwar clan. The +seventh and ninth kings of this dynasty rendered it famous. [378] +"Raja Munja, the seventh king (974-995), renowned for his learning +and eloquence, was not only a patron of poets, but was himself a poet +of no small reputation, the anthologies including various works from +his pen. He penetrated in a career of conquest as far as the Godavari, +but was finally defeated and executed there by the Chalukya king. His +nephew, the famous Bhoja, ascended the throne of Dhara about A.D. 1018 +and reigned gloriously for more than forty years. Like his uncle he +cultivated with equal assiduity the arts of peace and war. Though his +fights with neighbouring powers, including one of the Muhammadan armies +of Mahmud of Ghazni, are now forgotten, his fame as an enlightened +patron of learning and a skilled author remains undimmed, and his +name has become proverbial as that of the model king according to the +Hindu standard. Works on astronomy, architecture, the art of poetry +and other subjects are attributed to him. About A.D. 1060 Bhoja was +attacked and defeated by the confederate kings of Gujarat and Chedi, +and the Panwar kingdom was reduced to a petty local dynasty until +the thirteenth century. It was finally superseded by the chiefs of +the Tomara and Chauhan clans, who in their turn succumbed to the +Muhammadans in 1401." The city of Ujjain was at this time a centre of +Indian intellectual life. Some celebrated astronomers made it their +home, and it was adopted as the basis of the Hindu meridional system +like Greenwich in England. The capital of the state was changed from +Ujjain to Dhar or Dharanagra by the Raja Bhoja already mentioned; +[379] and the name of Dhar is better remembered in connection with +the Panwars than Ujjain. + +A saying about it quoted by Colonel Tod was: + + + Jahan Puar tahan Dhar hai; + Aur Dhar jahan Puar; + Dhar bina Puar nahin; + Aur nahin Puar bina Dhar: + + +or, "Where the Panwar is there is Dhar, and Dhar is where the Panwar +is; without the Panwars Dhar cannot stand, nor the Panwars without +Dhar." It is related that in consequence of one of his merchants having +been held to ransom by the ruler of Dhar, the Bhatti Raja of Jaisalmer +made a vow to subdue the town. But as he found the undertaking too +great for him, in order to fulfil his vow he had a model of the city +made in clay and was about to break it up. But there were Panwars in +his army, and they stood out to defend their mock capital, repeating as +their reason the above lines; and in resisting the Raja were cut to +pieces to the number of a hundred and twenty. [380] There is little +reason to doubt that the incident, if historical, was produced by +the belief in sympathetic magic; the Panwars really thought that +by destroying its image the Raja could effect injury to the capital +itself, [381] just as many primitive races believe that if they make +a doll as a model of an enemy and stick pins into or otherwise injure +it, the man himself is similarly affected. A kindred belief prevails +concerning certain mythical old kings of the Golden Age of India, +of whom it is said that to destroy their opponents all they had to +do was to collect a bundle of juari stalks and cut off the heads, +when the heads of their enemies flew off in unison. + +The Panwars were held to have ruled from nine castles over the +Marusthali or 'Region of death,' the name given to the great desert of +Rajputana, which extends from Sind to the Aravalli mountains and from +the great salt lake to the flat skirting the Garah. The principal of +these castles were Abu, Nundore, Umarkot, Arore, and Lodorva. [382] +And, 'The world is the Pramara's,' was another saying expressive of +the resplendent position of Dharanagra or Ujjain at this epoch. The +siege and capture of the town by the Muhammadans and consequent +expulsion of the Panwars are still a well-remembered tradition, and +certain castes of the Central Provinces, as the Bhoyars and Korkus, +say that their ancestors formed part of the garrison and fled to +the Satpura hills after the fall of Dharanagra. Mr. Crooke [383] +states that the expulsion of the Panwars from Ujjain under their +leader Mitra Sen is ascribed to the attack of the Muhammadans under +Shahab-ud-din Ghori about A.D. 1190. + + + + +4. Diffusion of the Panwars over India + +After this they spread to various places in northern India, and to +the Central Provinces and Bombay. The modern state of Dhar is or was +recently still held by a Panwar family, who had attained high rank +under the Marathas and received it as a grant from the Peshwa. Malcolm +considered them to be the descendants of Rajput emigrants to the +Deccan. He wrote of them: [384] "In the early period of Maratha +history the family of Puar appears to have been one of the most +distinguished. They were of the Rajput tribe, numbers of which had +been settled in Malwa at a remote era; from whence this branch had +migrated to the Deccan. Sivaji Puar, the first of the family that can +be traced in the latter country, was a landholder; and his grandsons, +Sambaji and Kaloji, were military commanders in the service of the +celebrated Sivaji. Anand Rao Puar was vested with authority to collect +the Maratha share of the revenue of Malwa and Gujarat in 1734, and he +soon afterwards settled at Dhar, which province, with the adjoining +districts and the tributes of some neighbouring Rajput chiefs, was +assigned for the support of himself and his adherents. It is a curious +coincidence that the success of the Marathas should, by making Dhar +the capital of Anand Rao and his descendants, restore the sovereignty +of a race who had seven centuries before been expelled from the +government of that city and territory. But the present family, though +of the same tribe (Puar), claim no descent from the ancient Hindu +princes of Malwa. They have, like all the Kshatriya tribes who became +incorporated with the Marathas, adopted even in their modes of thinking +the habits of that people. The heads of the family, with feelings more +suited to chiefs of that nation than Rajput princes, have purchased +the office of patel or headman in some villages in the Deccan; and +their descendants continue to attach value to their ancient, though +humble, rights of village officers in that quarter. Notwithstanding +that these usages and the connections they formed have amalgamated +this family with the Marathas, they still claim, both on account +of their high birth and of being officers of the Raja of Satara +(not of the Peshwa), rank and precedence over the houses of Sindhia +and Holkar; and these claims, even when their fortunes were at the +lowest ebb, were always admitted as far as related to points of form +and ceremony." The great Maratha house of Nimbhalkar is believed to +have originated from ancestors of the Panwar Rajput clan. While one +branch of the Panwars went to the Deccan after the fall of Dhar and +marrying with the people there became a leading military family of the +Marathas, the destiny of another group who migrated to northern India +was less distinguished. Here they split into two, and the inferior +section is described by Mr. Crooke as follows: [385] "The Khidmatia, +Barwar or Chobdar are said to be an inferior branch of the Panwars, +descended from a low-caste woman. No high-caste Hindu eats food or +drinks water touched by them." According to the Ain-i-Akbari [386] +a thousand men of the sept guarded the environs of the palace of +Akbar, and Abul Fazl says of them: "The caste to which they belong +was notorious for highway robbery, and former rulers were not able to +keep them in check. The effective orders of His Majesty have led them +to honesty; they are now famous for their trustworthiness. They were +formerly called _Mawis_. Their chief has received the title of Khidmat +Rao. Being near the person of His Majesty he lives in affluence. His +men are called Khidmatias." Thus another body of Panwars went north +and sold their swords to the Mughal Emperor, who formed them into a +bodyguard. Their case is exactly analogous to that of the Scotch and +Swiss Guards of the French kings. In both cases the monarch preferred +to entrust the care of his person to foreigners, on whose fidelity he +could the better rely, as their only means of support and advancement +lay in his personal favour, and they had no local sympathies which +could be used as a lever to undermine their loyalty. Buchanan states +that a Panwar dynasty ruled for a considerable period over the +territory of Shahabad in Bengal. And Jagdeo Panwar was the trusted +minister of Sidhraj, the great Solanki Raja of Gujarat. The story +of the adventures of Jagdeo and his wife when they set out together +to seek their fortune is an interesting episode in the Rasmala. In +the Punjab the Panwars are found settled up the whole course of the +Sutlej and along the lower Indus, and have also spread up the Bias +into Jalandhar and Gurdaspur. [387] + + + + +5. The Nagpur Panwars + +While the above extracts have been given to show how the Panwars +migrated from Dhar to different parts of India in search of fortune, +this article is mainly concerned with a branch of the clan who +came to Nagpur, and subsequently settled in the rice country of the +Wainganga Valley. At the end of the eleventh century Nagpur appears +to have been held by a Panwar ruler as an appanage of the kingdom of +Malwa. [388] It has already been seen how the kings of Malwa penetrated +to Berar and the Godavari, and Nagpur may well also have fallen to +them. Mr. Muhammad Yusuf quotes an inscription as existing at Bhandak +in Chanda of the year A.D. 1326, in which it is mentioned that the +Panwar of Dhar repaired a statue of Jag Narayan in that place. [389] +Nothing more is heard of them in Nagpur, and their rule probably came +to an end with the subversion of the kingdom of Malwa in the thirteenth +century. But there remain in Nagpur and in the districts of Bhandara, +Balaghat and Seoni to the north and east of it a large number of +Panwars, who have now developed into an agricultural caste. It may be +surmised that the ancestors of these people settled in the country +at the time when Nagpur was held by their clan, and a second influx +may have taken place after the fall of Dhar. According to their own +account, they first came to Nagardhan, an older town than Nagpur, +and once the headquarters of the locality. One of their legends is +that the men who first came had no wives, and were therefore allowed +to take widows of other castes into their houses. It seems reasonable +to suppose that something of this kind happened, though they probably +did not restrict themselves to widows. The existing family names of +the caste show that it is of mixed ancestry, but the original Rajput +strain is still perfectly apparent in their fair complexions, high +foreheads and in many cases grey eyes. The Panwars have still the +habit of keeping women of lower castes to a greater degree than the +ordinary, and this has been found to be a trait of other castes of +mixed origin, and they are sometimes known as Dhakar, a name having +the sense of illegitimacy. Though they have lived for centuries among +a Marathi-speaking people, the Panwars retain a dialect of their own, +the basis of which is Bagheli or eastern Hindi. When the Marathas +established themselves at Nagpur in the eighteenth century some of the +Panwars took military service under them and accompanied a general +of the Bhonsla ruling family on an expedition to Cuttack. In return +for this they were rewarded with grants of the waste and forest lands +in the valley of the Wainganga river, and here they developed great +skill in the construction of tanks and the irrigation of rice land, +and are the best agricultural caste in this part of the country. Their +customs have many points of interest, and, as is natural, they have +abandoned many of the caste observances of the Rajputs. It is to +this group of Panwars [390] settled in the Maratha rice country of +the Wainganga Valley that the remainder of this article is devoted. + + + + +6. Subdivisions + +They number about 150,000 persons, and include many village proprietors +and substantial cultivators. The quotations already given have shown +how this virile clan of Rajputs travelled to the north, south and +east from their own country in search of a livelihood. Everywhere +they made their mark so that they live in history, but they paid no +regard to the purity of their Rajput blood and took to themselves +wives from the women of the country as they could get them. The +Panwars of the Wainganga Valley have developed into a caste marrying +among themselves. They have no subcastes but thirty-six exogamous +sections. Some of these have the names of Rajput clans, while others +are derived from villages, titles or names of offices, or from +other castes. Among the titular names are Chaudhri (headman), Patlia +(patel or chief officer of a village) and Sonwania (one who purifies +offenders among the Gonds and other tribes). Among the names of other +castes are Bopcha or Korku, Bhoyar (a caste of cultivators), Pardhi +(hunter), Kohli (a local cultivating caste) and Sahria (from the Saonr +tribe). These names indicate how freely they have intermarried. It is +noticeable that the Bhoyars and Korkus of Betul both say that their +ancestors were Panwars of Dhar, and the occurrence of both names +among the Panwars of Balaghat may indicate that these castes also +have some Panwar blood. Three names, Rahmat (kind), Turukh or Turk, +and Farid (a well-known saint), are of Muhammadan origin, and indicate +intermarriage in that quarter. + + + + +7. Marriage customs + +Girls are usually, but not necessarily, wedded before +adolescence. Occasionally a Panwar boy who cannot afford a regular +marriage will enter his prospective father-in-law's house and serve him +for a year or more, when he will obtain a daughter in marriage. And +sometimes a girl will contract a liking for some man or boy of the +caste and will go to his house, leaving her home. In such cases the +parents accept the accomplished fact, and the couple are married. If +the boy's parents refuse their consent they are temporarily put +out of caste, and subsequently the neighbours will not pay them the +customary visits on the occasions of family joys and griefs. Even if +a girl has lived with a man of another caste, as long as she has not +borne a child, she may be re-admitted to the community on payment of +such penalty as the elders may determine. If her own parents will not +take her back, a man of the same _gotra_ or section is appointed as +her guardian and she can be married from his house. + +The ceremonies of a Panwar marriage are elaborate. Marriage-sheds are +erected at the houses both of the bride and bridegroom in accordance +with the usual practice, and just before the marriage, parties +are given at both houses; the village watchman brings the _toran_ +or string of mango-leaves, which is hung round the marriage-shed +in the manner of a triumphal arch, and in the evening the party +assembles, the men sitting at one side of the shed and the women at +the other. Presents of clothes are made to the child who is to be +married, and the following song is sung: + + + The mother of the bride grew angry and went away to the mango + grove. + Come soon, come quickly, Mother, it is the time for giving clothes. + The father of the bridegroom has sent the bride a fold of cloth + from his house, + The fold of it is like the curve of the winnowing-fan, and there + is a bodice decked with coral and pearls. + + +Before the actual wedding the father of the bridegroom goes to +the bride's house and gives her clothes and other presents, and the +following is a specimen given by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf of the songs sung +on this occasion: + + + Five years old to-day is Baja Bai the bride; + Send word to the mother of the bridegroom; + Her dress is too short, send for the Koshta, Husband; + The Koshta came and wove a border to the dress. + + +Afterwards the girl's father goes and makes similar presents to the +bridegroom. After many preliminary ceremonies the marriage procession +proper sets forth, consisting of men only. Before the boy starts +his mother places her breast in his mouth; the maid-servants stand +before him with vessels of water, and he puts a pice in each. During +the journey songs are sung, of which the following is a specimen: + + + The linseed and gram are in flower in Chait. [391] + O! the boy bridegroom is going to another country; + O Mother! how may he go to another country? + Make payment before he enters another country; + O Mother! how may he cross the border of another country? + Make payment before he crosses the border of another country; + O Mother! how may he touch another's bower? + Make payment before he touches another's bower; + O Mother! how shall he bathe with strange water? + Make payment before he bathes with strange water; + O Mother! how may he eat another's _banwat_? [392] + Make payment before he eats another's _banwat_; + O Mother! how shall he marry another woman? + He shall wed her holding the little finger of her left hand. + + +The bridegroom's party are always driven to the wedding in +bullock-carts, and when they approach the bride's village her +people also come to meet them in carts. All the party then turn and +race to the village, and the winner obtains much distinction. The +cartmen afterwards go to the bridegroom's father and he has to +make them a present of from one to forty rupees. On arriving at +the village the bridegroom is carried to Devi's shrine in a man's +arms, while four other men hold a canopy over him, and from there +to the marriage-shed. He touches a bamboo of this, and a man seated +on the top pours turmeric and water over his head. Five men of the +groom's party go to the bride's house carrying salt, and here their +feet are washed and the _tika_ or mark of anointing is made on their +foreheads. Afterwards they carry rice in the same manner and with this +is the wedding-rice, coloured yellow with turmeric and known as the +Lagun-gath. Before sunset the bridegroom goes to the bride's house for +the wedding. Two baskets are hung before Dulha Deo's shrine inside +the house, and the couple are seated in these with a cloth between +them. The ends of their clothes are knotted, each places the right +foot on the left foot of the other and holds the other's ear with the +hand. Meanwhile a Brahman has climbed on to the roof of the house, +and after saying the names of the bride and bridegroom shouts loudly, +'_Ram nawara, Sita nawari, Saodhan_,' or 'Ram, the Bridegroom, and +Sita, the Bride, pay heed,' The people inside the house repeat these +words and someone beats on a brass plate; the wedding-rice is poured +over the heads of the couple, and a quid of betel is placed first in +the mouth of one and then of the other. The bridegroom's party dance +in the marriage-shed and their feet are washed. Two plough-yokes are +brought in and a cloth spread over them, and the couple are seated on +them face to face. A string of twisted grass is drawn round their necks +and a thread is tied round their marriage-crowns. The bride's dowry is +given and her relatives make presents to her. This property is known +as _khamora_, and is retained by a wife for her own use, her husband +having no control over it. It is customary also in the caste for the +parents to supply clothes to a married daughter as long as they live, +and during this period a wife will not accept any clothes from her +husband. On the following day the maid-servants bring a present of +_gulal_ or red powder to the fathers of the bride and bridegroom, +who sprinkle it over each other. The bridegroom's father makes them +a present of from one to twenty rupees according to his means, and +also gives suitable fees to the barber, the washerman, the Barai or +betel-leaf seller and the Bhat or bard. The maid-servants then bring +vessels of water and throw it over each other in sport. After the +evening meal, the party go back, the bride and bridegroom riding in +the same cart. As they start the women sing: + + + Let us go to the basket-maker + And buy a costly pair of fans; + Fans worth a lot of money; + Let us praise the mother of the bride. + + + + +8. Widow-marriage + +After a few days at her husband's house the bride returns home, and +though she pays short visits to his family from time to time, she +does not go to live with her husband until she is adolescent, when the +usual _pathoni_ or going-away ceremony is performed to celebrate the +event. The people repeat a set of verses containing advice which the +bride's mother is supposed to give her on this occasion, in which the +desire imputed to the caste to make money out of their daughters is +satirised. They are no doubt libellous as being a gross exaggeration, +but may contain some substratum of truth. The gist of them is as +follows: "Girl, if you are my daughter, heed what I say. I will +make you many sweetmeats and speak words of wisdom. Always treat +your husband better than his parents. Increase your private money +(_khamora_) by selling rice and sugar; abuse your sisters-in-law to +your husband's mother and become her favourite. Get influence over +your husband and make him come with you to live with us. If you +cannot persuade him, abandon your modesty and make quarrels in the +household. Do not fear the village officers, but go to the houses of +the patel [393] and Pandia [394] and ask them to arrange your quarrel." + +It is not intended to imply that Panwar women behave in this manner, +but the passage is interesting as a sidelight on the joint family +system. It concludes by advising the girl, if she cannot detach her +husband from his family, to poison him and return as a widow. This +last counsel is a gibe at the custom which the caste have of taking +large sums of money for a widow on her second marriage. As such +a woman is usually adult, and able at once to perform the duties +of a wife and to work in the fields, she is highly valued, and her +price ranges from Rs. 25 to Rs. 1000. In former times, it is stated, +the disposal of widows did not rest with their parents but with the +Sendia or headman of the caste. The last of them was Karun Panwar +of Tumsar, who was empowered by the Bhonsla Raja of Nagpur to act in +this manner, and was accustomed to receive an average sum of Rs. 25 +for each widow or divorced woman whom he gave away in marriage. His +power extended even to the reinstatement of women expelled from the +caste, whom he could subsequently make over to any one who would +pay for them. At the end of his life he lost his authority among +the people by keeping a Dhimar woman as a mistress, and he had no +successor. A Panwar widow must not marry again until the expiry of +six months after her husband's death. The stool on which a widow +sits for her second marriage is afterwards stolen by her husband's +friends. After the wedding when she reaches the boundary of his +village the axle of her cart is removed, and a new one made of _tendu_ +wood is substituted for it. The discarded axle and the shoes worn by +the husband at the ceremony are thrown away, and the stolen stool is +buried in a field. These things, Mr. Hira Lal points out, are regarded +as defiled, because they have been accessories in an unlucky ceremony, +that of the marriage of a widow. On this point Dr. Jevons writes [395] +that the peculiar characteristic of taboo is this transmissibility of +its infection or contagion. In ancient Greece the offerings used for +the purification of the murderer became themselves polluted during +the process and had to be buried. A similar reasoning applies to the +articles employed in the marriage of a widow. The wood of the _tendu_ +or ebony tree [396] is chosen for the substituted axle, because it has +the valuable property of keeping off spirits and ghosts. When a child +is born a plank of this wood is laid along the door of the room to +keep the spirits from troubling the mother and the newborn infant. In +the same way, no doubt, this wood keeps the ghost of the first husband +from entering with the widow into her second husband's village. The +reason for the ebony-wood being a spirit-scarer seems to lie in its +property of giving out sparks when burnt. "The burning wood gives +out showers of sparks, and it is a common amusement to put pieces +in a camp fire in order to see the column of sparks ascend." [397] +The sparks would have a powerful effect on the primitive mind and +probably impart a sacred character to the tree, and as they would +scare away wild animals, the property of averting spirits might +come to attach to the wood. The Panwars seldom resort to divorce, +except in the case of open and flagrant immorality on the part of +a wife. "They are not strict," Mr. Low writes, [398] "in the matter +of sexual offences within the caste, though they bitterly resent and +if able heavily avenge any attempt on the virtue of their women by an +outsider. The men of the caste are on the other hand somewhat notorious +for the freedom with which they enter into relations with the women +of other castes." They not infrequently have Gond and Ahir girls from +the families of their farmservants as members of their households. + + + + +9. Religion + +The caste worship the ordinary Hindu divinities, and their household +god is Dulha Deo, the deified bridegroom. He is represented by a +nut and a date, which are wrapped in a cloth and hung on a peg in +the wall of the house above the platform erected to him. Every year, +or at the time of a marriage or the birth of a first child, a goat +is offered to Dulha Deo. The animal is brought to the platform and +given some rice to eat. A dedicatory mark of red ochre is made on +its forehead and water is poured over the body, and as soon as it +shivers it is killed. The shivering is considered to be an indication +from the deity that the sacrifice is acceptable. The flesh is cooked +and eaten by the family inside the house, and the skin and bones +are buried below the floor. Narayan Deo or Vishnu or the Sun is +represented by a bunch of peacock's feathers. He is generally kept +in the house of a Mahar, and when his worship is to be celebrated he +is brought thence in a gourd to the Panwar's house, and a black goat, +rice and cakes are offered to him by the head of the household. While +the offering is being made the Mahar sings and dances, and when the +flesh of the goat is eaten he is permitted to sit inside the Panwar's +house and begin the feast, the Panwars eating after him. On ordinary +occasions a Mahar is not allowed to come inside the house, and any +Panwar who took food with him would be put out of caste; and this +rite is no doubt a recognition of the position of the Mahars as the +earlier residents of the country before the Panwars came to it. The +Turukh or Turk sept of Panwars pay a similar worship to Baba Farid, +the Muhammadan saint of Girar. He is also represented by a bundle of +peacock's feathers, and when a goat is sacrificed to him a Muhammadan +kills it and is the first to partake of its flesh. + + + + +10. Worship of the spirits of those dying a violent death + +When a man has been killed by a tiger (_bagh_) he is deified and +worshipped as Bagh Deo. A hut is made in the yard of the house, and an +image of a tiger is placed inside and worshipped on the anniversary +of the man's death. The members of the household will not afterwards +kill a tiger, as they think the animal has become a member of the +family. A man who is bitten by a cobra (_nag_) and dies is similarly +worshipped as Nag Deo. The image of a snake made of silver or iron is +venerated, and the family will not kill a snake. If a man is killed +by some other animal, or by drowning or a fall from a tree, his +spirit is worshipped as Ban Deo or the forest god with similar rites, +being represented by a little lump of rice and red lead. In all these +cases it is supposed, as pointed out by Sir James Frazer, that the +ghost of the man who has come to such an untimely end is especially +malignant, and will bring trouble upon the survivors unless appeased +with sacrifices and offerings. A good instance of the same belief is +given by him in _Psyche's Task_ [399] as found among the Karens of +Burma: "They put red, yellow and white rice in a basket and leave it +in the forest, saying: Ghosts of such as died by falling from a tree, +ghosts of such as died of hunger or thirst, ghosts of such as died by +the tiger's tooth or the serpent's fang, ghosts of the murdered dead, +ghosts of such as died by smallpox or cholera, ghosts of dead lepers, +oh ill-treat us not, seize not upon our persons, do us no harm! Oh +stay here in this wood! We will bring hither red rice, yellow rice, +and white rice for your subsistence." + +That the same superstition is generally prevalent in the Central +Provinces appears to be shown by the fact that among castes who +practise cremation, the bodies of men who come to a violent end or die +of smallpox or leprosy are buried, though whether burial is considered +as more likely to prevent the ghost from walking than cremation, is +not clear. Possibly, however, it may be considered that the bodies +are too impure to be committed to the sacred fire. + + + + +11. Funeral rites + +Cremation of the dead is the rule, but the bodies of those who have not +died a natural death are buried, as also of persons who are believed +to have been possessed of the goddess Devi in their lifetime. The +bodies of small children are buried when the Khir Chatai ceremony +has not been performed. This takes place when a child is about two +years old: he is invited to the house of some member of the same +section on the Diwali day and given to eat some Khir or a mess of +new rice with milk and sugar, and thus apparently is held to become +a proper member of the caste, as boys do in other castes on having +their ears pierced. When a corpse is to be burnt a heap of cowdung +cakes is made, on which it is laid, while others are spread over it, +together with butter, sugar and linseed. The fire with which the +pyre is kindled is carried by the son or other chief mourner in +an earthen pot at the head of the corpse. After the cremation the +ashes of the body are thrown into water, but the bones are kept by +the chief mourner; his head and face are then shaved by the barber, +and the hair is thrown into the water with most of the bones; he may +retain a few to carry them to the Nerbudda at a convenient season, +burying them meanwhile under a mango or pipal tree. A present of a +rupee or a cow may be made to the barber. After the removal of a dead +body the house is swept, and the rubbish with the broom and dustpan +are thrown away outside the village. Before the body is taken away +the widow of the dead man places her hands on his breast and forehead, +and her bangles are broken by another widow. The _shraddh_ ceremony is +performed every year in the month of Kunwar (September) on the same +day of the fortnight as that on which the death took place. On the +day before the ceremony the head of the household goes to the houses +of those whom he wishes to invite, and sticks some grains of rice on +their foreheads. The guests must then fast up to the ceremony. On +the following day, when they arrive at noon, the host, wearing a +sacred thread of twisted grass, washes their feet with water in which +the sacred _kusa_ grass has been mixed, and marks their foreheads +with sandal-paste and rice. The leaf-plates of the guests are set +out inside the house, and a very small quantity of cooked rice is +placed in each. The host then gathers up all this rice and throws +it on to the roof of the house while his wife throws up some water, +calling aloud the name of the dead man whose _shraddh_ ceremony is +being performed, and after this the whole party take their dinner. + + + + +12. Caste discipline + +As has been shown, the Panwars have abandoned most of the distinctive +Rajput customs. They do not wear the sacred thread and they permit the +remarriage of widows. They eat the flesh of goats, fowls, wild pig, +game-birds and fish, but abstain from liquor except on such ceremonial +occasions as the worship of Narayan Deo, when every one must partake +of it. Mr. Low states that the injurious habit of smoking _madak_ +(a preparation of opium) is growing in the caste. They will take +water to drink from a Gond's hand and in some localities even cooked +food. This is the outcome of their close association in agriculture, +the Gonds having been commonly employed as farmservants by Panwar +cultivators. A Brahman usually officiates at their ceremonies, but his +presence is not essential and his duties may be performed by a member +of the caste. Every Panwar male or female has a _guru_ or spiritual +preceptor, who is either a Brahman, a Gosain or a Bairagi. From time +to time the _guru_ comes to visit his _chela_ or disciple, and on +such occasions the _chauk_ or sacred place is prepared with lines +of wheat-flour. Two wooden stools are set within it and the _guru_ +and his _chela_ take their seats on these. Their heads are covered +with a new piece of cloth and the _guru_ whispers some text into +the ear of the disciple. Sweetmeats and other delicacies are then +offered to the _guru_, and the disciple makes him a present of one to +five rupees. When a Panwar is put out of caste two feasts have to be +given on reinstatement, known as the Maili and Chokhi Roti (impure and +pure food). The former is held in the morning on the bank of a tank +or river and is attended by men only. A goat is killed and served +with rice to the caste-fellows, and in serious cases the offender's +head and face are shaved, and he prays, 'God forgive me the sin, +it will never be repeated.' The Chokhi Roti is held in the evening +at the offender's house, the elders and women as well as men of the +caste being present. The Sendia or leader of the caste eats first, +and he will not begin his meal unless he finds a _douceur_ of from +one to five rupees deposited beneath his leaf-plate. The whole cost +of the ceremony of readmission is from fifteen to fifty rupees. + + + + +13. Social customs + +The Panwar women wear their clothes tied in the Hindustani and not in +the Maratha fashion. They are tattooed on the legs, hands and face, +the face being usually decorated with single dots which are supposed +to enhance its beauty, much after the same fashion as patches in +England. Padmakar, the Saugor poet, Mr. Hira Lal remarks, compared the +dot on a woman's chin to a black bee buried in a half-ripe mango. The +women, Mr. Low says, are addicted to dances, plays and charades, the +first being especially graceful performances. They are skilful with +their fingers and make pretty grass mats and screens for the house, +and are also very good cooks and appreciate variety in food. The +Panwars do not eat off the ground, but place their dishes on little +iron stands, sitting themselves on low wooden stools. The housewife +is a very important person, and the husband will not give anything +to eat or drink out of the house without her concurrence. Mr. Low +writes on the character and abilities of the Panwars as follows: +"The Panwar is to Balaghat what the Kunbi is to Berar or the Gujar to +Hoshangabad, but at the same time he is less entirely attached to the +soil and its cultivation, and much more intelligent and cosmopolitan +than either. One of the most intelligent officials in the Agricultural +Department is a Panwar, and several members of the caste have made +large sums as forest and railway contractors in this District; +Panwar _shikaris_ are also not uncommon. They are generally averse +to sedentary occupations, and though quite ready to avail themselves +of the advantages of primary education, they do not, as a rule, care +to carry their studies to a point that would ensure their admission +to the higher ranks of Government service. Very few of them are +to be found as patwaris, constables or peons. They are a handsome +race, with intelligent faces, unusually fair, with high foreheads, +and often grey eyes. They are not, as a rule, above middle height, +but they are active and hard-working and by no means deficient in +courage and animal spirits, or a sense of humour. They are clannish +in the extreme, and to elucidate a criminal case in which no one but +Panwars are concerned, and in a Panwar village, is usually a harder +task than the average local police officer can tackle. At times +they are apt to affect, in conversation with Government officials, +a whining and unpleasant tone, especially when pleading their claim +to some concession or other; and they are by no means lacking in +astuteness and are good hands at a bargain. But they are a pleasant, +intelligent and plucky race, not easily cast down by misfortune and +always ready to attempt new enterprises in almost any direction save +those indicated by the Agricultural Department. + +"In the art of rice cultivation they are past masters. They are skilled +tank-builders, though perhaps hardly equal to the Kohlis of Chanda. But +they excel especially in the mending and levelling of their fields, +in neat transplantation, and in the choice and adaptation of the +different varieties of rice to land of varying qualities. They are +by no means specially efficient as labourers, though they and their +wives do their fair share of field work; but they are well able to +control the labour of others, especially of aborigines, through whom +most of their tank and other works are executed." + + + + + +Pardhan + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice_. + 2. _Tribal subdivisions_. + 3. _Marriage_. + 4. _Religion_. + 5. _Social customs_. + 6. _Methods of cheating among Patharis_. + 7. _Musicians and priests_. + + + + +1. General notice + +_Pardhan, Pathari, Panal._--An inferior branch of the Gond tribe whose +occupation is to act as the priests and minstrels of the Gonds. In +1911 the Pardhans numbered nearly 120,000 persons in the Central +Provinces and Berar. The only other locality where they are found is +Hyderabad, which returned 8000. The name Pardhan is of Sanskrit origin +and signifies a minister or agent. It is the regular designation of the +principal minister of a Rajput State, who often fulfils the functions +of a Mayor of the Palace. That it was applied to the tribe in this +sense is shown by the fact that they are also known as Diwan, which +has the same meaning. There is a tradition that the Gond kings employed +Pardhans as their ministers, and as the Pardhans acted as genealogists +they may have been more intelligent than the Gonds, though they are +in no degree less illiterate. To themselves and their Gond relations +the Pardhans are frequently not known by that name, which has been +given to them by the Hindus, but as Panal. Other names for the tribe +are Parganiha, Desai and Pathari. Parganiha is a title signifying the +head of a _pargana_, and is now applied by courtesy to some families +in Chhattisgarh. Desai has the same signification, being a variant +of Deshmukh or the Maratha revenue officer in charge of a circle of +villages. Pathari means a bard or genealogist, or according to another +derivation a hillman. On the Satpura plateau and in Chhattisgarh the +tribe is known as Pardhan Patharia. In Balaghat they are also called +Mokasi. The Gonds themselves look down on the Pardhans and say that +the word Patharia means inferior, and they relate that Bura Deo, their +god, had seven sons. These were talking together one day as they dined +and they said that every caste had an inferior branch to do it homage, +but they had none; and they therefore agreed that the youngest brother +and his descendants should be inferior to the others and make obeisance +to them, while the others promised to treat him almost as their equal +and give him a share in all the offerings to the dead. The Pardhans or +Patharias are the descendants of the youngest brother and they accost +the Gonds with the greeting 'Babu Johar,' or 'Good luck, sir.' The +Gonds return the greeting by saying 'Pathari Johar,' or 'How do you +do, Pathari.' Curiously enough Johar is also the salutation sent by +a Rajput chief to an inferior landholder, [400] and the custom must +apparently have been imitated by the Gonds. A variant of the story +is that one day the seven Gond brothers were worshipping their god, +but he did not make his appearance; so the youngest of them made a +musical instrument out of a string and a piece of wood and played on +it. The god was pleased with the music and came down to be worshipped, +and hence the Pardhans as the descendants of the youngest brother +continue to play on the _kingri_ or lyre, which is their distinctive +instrument. The above stories have been invented to account for the +social inferiority of the Pardhans to the Gonds, but their position +merely accords with the general rule that the bards and genealogists +of any caste are a degraded section. The fact is somewhat contrary +to preconceived ideas, but the explanation given of it is that such +persons make their living by begging from the remainder of the caste +and hence are naturally looked down upon by them; and further, that in +pursuit of their calling they wander about to attend at wedding feasts +all over the country, and consequently take food with many people of +doubtful social position. This seems a reasonable interpretation of +the rule of the inferiority of the bard, which at any rate obtains +generally among the Hindu castes. + + + + +2. Tribal Subdivisions + +The tribe have several endogamous divisions, of which the principal are +the Raj Pardhans, the Ganda Pardhans and the Thothia Pardhans. The +Raj Pardhans appear to be the descendants of alliances between +Raj Gonds and Pardhan women. They say that formerly the priests of +Bura Deo lived a celibate life, and both men and women attended to +worship the god; but on one occasion the priests ran away with some +women and after this the Gonds did not know who should be appointed +to serve the deity. While they were thus perplexed, a _kingri_ (or +rude wooden lyre) fell from heaven on to the lap of one of them, +and, in accordance with this plain indication of the divine will, +he became the priest, and was the ancestor of the Raj Pardhans; and +since this _contretemps_ the priests are permitted to marry, while +women are no longer allowed to attend the worship of Bura Deo. The +Thothia subtribe are said to be the descendants of illicit unions, +the word Thothia meaning 'maimed'; while the Gandas are the offspring +of intermarriages between the Pardhans and members of that degraded +caste. Other groups are the Mades or those of the Mad country in +Chanda and Bastar, the Khalotias or those of the Chhattisgarh plain, +and the Deogarhias of Deogarh in Chhindwara; and there are also some +occupational divisions, as the Kandres or bamboo-workers, the Gaitas +who act as priests in Chhattisgarh, and the Arakhs who engage in +service and sell old clothes. A curious grouping is found in Chanda, +where the tribe are divided into the Gond Patharis and Chor or +'Thief' Patharis. The latter have obtained their name from their +criminal propensities, but they are said to be proud of it and to +refuse to intermarry with any families not having the designation of +Chor Pathari. In Raipur the Patharis are said to be the offspring of +Gonds by women of other castes, and the descendants of such unions. The +exogamous divisions of the Pardhans are the same as those of the Gonds, +and like them they are split up into groups worshipping different +numbers of gods whose members may not marry with one another. + + + + +3. Marriage + +A Pardhan wedding is usually held in the bridegroom's village +in some public place, such as the market or cross-roads. The boy +wears a blanket and carries a dagger in his hand. The couple walk +five times round in a circle, after which the boy catches hold of +the girl's hand. He tries to open her fist which she keeps closed, +and when he succeeds in this he places an iron ring on her little +finger and puts his right toe over that of the girl's. The officiating +priest then ties the ends of their clothes together and five chickens +are killed. The customary bride-price is Rs. 12, but it varies in +different localities. A widower taking a girl bride has, as a rule, +to pay a double price. A widow is usually taken in marriage by her +deceased husband's younger brother. + + + + +4. Religion + +As the priests of the Gonds, the Pardhans are employed to conduct the +ceremonial worship of their great god Bura Deo, which takes place on +the third day of the bright fortnight of Baisakh (April). Many goats +or pigs are then offered to him with liquor, cocoanuts, betel-leaves, +flowers, lemons and rice. Bura Deo is always enshrined under a +tree outside the village, either of the mahua or _saj_ (_Terminalia +tomentosa_) varieties. In Chhattisgarh the Gonds say that the origin +of Bura Deo was from a child born of an illicit union between a Gond +and a Rawat woman. The father murdered the child by strangling it, +and its spirit then began to haunt and annoy the man and all his +relations, and gradually extended its attentions to all the Gonds +of the surrounding country. It finally consented to be appeased by +a promise of adoration from the whole tribe, and since then has been +installed as the principal deity of the Gonds. The story is interesting +as showing how completely devoid of any supernatural majesty or power +is the Gond conception of their principal deity. + + + + +5. Social Customs + +Like the Gonds, the Pardhans will eat almost any kind of food, +including beef, pork and the flesh of rats and mice, but they will +not eat the leavings of others. They will take food from the hands of +Gonds, but the Gonds do not return the compliment. Among the Hindus +generally the Pardhans are much despised, and their touch conveys +impurity while that of a Gond does not. Every Pardhan has tattooed +on his left arm near the inside of the elbow a dotted figure which +represents his totem or the animal, plant or other natural object +after which his sept is named. Many of them have a better type of +countenance than the Gonds, which is perhaps due to an infusion of +Hindu blood. They are also generally more intelligent and cunning. They +have criminal propensities, and the Patharias of Chhattisgarh are +especially noted for cattle-lifting and thieving. Writing forty years +ago Captain Thomson [401] described the Pardhans of Seoni as bearing +the very worst of characters, many of them being regular cattle-lifters +and gang robbers. In some parts of Seoni they had become the terror +of the village proprietors, whose houses and granaries they fired +if they were in any way reported on or molested. Since that time +the Pardhans have become quite peaceable, but they still have a bad +reputation for petty thieving. + + + + +6. Methods of cheating among Patharis + +In Chhattisgarh one subdivision is said to be known as Sonthaga +(_sona_, gold, and _thag_, a cheat), because they cheat people by +passing counterfeit gold. Their methods were described as follows +in 1872 by Captain McNeill, District Superintendent of Police: [402] +"They procure a quantity of the dry bark of the pipal, [403] mahua, +[404] tamarind or _gular_ [405] trees and set it on fire; when it +has become red-hot it is raked into a small hole and a piece of +well-polished brass is deposited among the glowing embers. It is +constantly moved and turned about and in ten or fifteen minutes has +taken a deep orange colour resembling gold. It is then placed in a +small heap of wood-ashes and after a few minutes taken out again and +carefully wrapped in cotton-wool. The peculiar orange colour results +from the sulphur and resin in the bark being rendered volatile. They +then proceed to dispose of the gold, sometimes going to a fair and +buying cattle. On concluding a bargain they suddenly find they have +no money, and after some hesitation reluctantly produce the gold, +and say they are willing to part with it at a disadvantage, thereby +usually inducing the belief that it has been stolen. The cupidity of +the owner of the cattle is aroused, and he accepts the gold at a rate +which would be very advantageous if it were genuine. At other times +they join a party of pilgrims, to which some of their confederates have +already obtained admission in disguise, and offer to sell their gold as +being in great want of money. A piece is first sold to the confederates +on very cheap terms and the other pilgrims eagerly participate." It +would appear that the Patharis have not much to learn from the owners +of buried treasure or the confidence or three-card trick performers of +London, and their methods are in striking contrast to the guileless +simplicity usually supposed to be a characteristic of the primitive +tribes. Mr. White states that "All the property acquired is taken back +to the village and there distributed by a _panchayat_ or committee, +whose head is known as Mokasi. The Mokasi is elected by the community +and may also be deposed by it, though he usually holds office for +life; to be a successful candidate for the position of Mokasi one +should have wealth and experience and it is not a disadvantage to +have been in jail. The Mokasi superintends the internal affairs of +the community and maintains good relations with the proprietor and +village watchman by means of gifts." + + + + +7. Musicians and priests + +The Pardhans and Patharis are also, as already stated, village +musicians, and their distinctive instrument the _kingri_ or _kingadi_ +is described by Mr. White as consisting of a stick passed through a +gourd. A string or wire is stretched over this and the instrument is +played with the fingers. Another kind possesses three strings of woven +horse-hair and is played with the help of a bow. The women of the Ganda +Pardhan subtribe act as midwives. Mr. Tawney wrote of the Pardhans +of Chhindwara: [406] "The Raj-Pardhans are the bards of the Gonds and +they can also officiate as priests, but the Bhumka generally acts in +the latter capacity and the Pardhans confine themselves to singing +the praises of the god. At every public worship in the Deo-khalla or +dwelling-place of the gods, there should, if possible, be a Pardhan, +and great men use them on less important occasions. They cannot even +worship their household gods or be married without the Pardhans. The +Raj-Pardhans are looked down on by the Gonds, and considered as +somewhat inferior, seeing that they take the offerings at religious +ceremonies and the clothes of the dear departed at funerals. This has +never been the business of a true Gond, who seems never happier than +when wandering in the jungle, and who above all things loves his axe, +and next to that a tree to chop at. There is nothing in the ceremonies +or religion of the Pardhans to distinguish them from the Gonds." + + + + + +Pardhi + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice of the caste_. + 2. _Subdivisions_. + 3. _Marriage and funeral customs_. + 4. _Religion_. + 5. _Dress, food and social customs_. + 6. _Ordeals_. + 7. _Methods of catching birds_. + 8. _Hunting with leopards_. + 9. _Decoy stags_. + 10. _Hawks_. + 11. _Crocodile fishing_. + 12. _Other occupations and criminal practices_. + + + + +1. General notice of the caste + +_Pardhi, [407] Bahelia, Mirshikar, Moghia, Shikari, Takankar._--A +low caste of wandering fowlers and hunters. They numbered about +15,000 persons in the Central Provinces and Berar in 1911, and +are found scattered over several Districts. These figures include +about 2000 Bahelias. The word Pardhi is derived from the Marathi +_paradh_, hunting. Shikari, the common term for a native hunter, +is an alternative name for the caste, but particularly applied to +those who use firearms, which most Pardhis refuse to do. Moghia is +the Hindustani word for fowler, and Takankar is the name of a small +occupational offshoot of the Pardhis in Berar, who travel from village +to village and roughen the household grinding-mills when they have +worn smooth. The word is derived from _takna_, to tap or chisel. The +caste appears to be a mixed group made up of Bawarias or other Rajput +outcastes, Gonds and social derelicts from all sources. The Pardhis +perhaps belong more especially to the Maratha country, as they are +numerous in Khandesh, and many of them talk a dialect of Gujarati. In +the northern Districts their speech is a mixture of Marwari and +Hindi, while they often know Marathi or Urdu as well. The name for +the similar class of people in northern India is Bahelia, and in the +Central Provinces the Bahelias and Pardhis merge into one another and +are not recognisable as distinct groups. The caste is recruited from +the most diverse elements, and women of any except the impure castes +can be admitted into the community; and on this account their customs +differ greatly in different localities. According to their own legends +the first ancestor of the Pardhis was a Gond, to whom Mahadeo taught +the art of snaring game so that he might avoid the sin of shooting it; +and hence the ordinary Pardhis never use a gun. + + + + +2. Subdivisions + +Like other wandering castes the Pardhis have a large number of +endogamous groups, varying lists being often given in different +areas. The principal subcastes appear to be the Shikari or Bhil +Pardhis, who use firearms; the Phanse Pardhis, who hunt with traps +and snares; the Langoti Pardhis, so called because they wear only +a narrow strip of cloth round the loins; and the Takankars. Both +the Takankars and Langotis have strong criminal tendencies. Several +other groups are recorded in different Districts, as the Chitewale, +who hunt with a tame leopard; the Gayake, who stalk their prey behind +a bullock; the Gosain Pardhis, who dress like religious mendicants in +ochre-coloured clothes and do not kill deer, but only hares, jackals +and foxes; the Shishi ke Telwale, who sell crocodile's oil; and the +Bandarwale who go about with performing monkeys. The Bahelias have a +subcaste known as Karijat, the members of which only kill birds of a +black colour. Their exogamous groups are nearly all those of Rajput +tribes, as Sesodia, Panwar, Solanki, Chauhan, Rathor, and soon; it is +probable that these have been adopted through imitation by vagrant +Bawarias and others sojourning in Rajputana. There are also a few +groups with titular or other names, and it is stated that members +of clans bearing Rajput names will take daughters from the others in +marriage, but will not give their daughters to them. + + + + +3. Marriage and funeral customs + +Girls appear to be somewhat scarce in the caste and a bride-price is +usually paid, which is given as Rs. 9 in Chanda, Rs. 35 in Bilaspur, +and Rs. 60 or more in Hoshangabad and Saugor. If a girl should be +seduced by a man of the caste she would be united to him by the +ceremony of a widow's marriage: but her family will require a bride +from her husband's family in exchange for the girl whose value he has +destroyed. Even if led astray by an outsider a girl may be readmitted +into the caste; and in the extreme case of her being debauched +by her brother, she may still be married to one of the community, +but no one will take food from her hands during her lifetime, though +her children will be recognised as proper Pardhis. A special fine of +Rs. 100 is imposed on a brother who commits this crime. The ceremony +of marriage varies according to the locality in which they reside; +usually the couple walk seven times round a _tanda_ or collection of +their small mat tents. In Berar a cloth is held up by four poles as +a canopy over them and they are preceded by a married woman carrying +five pitchers of water. Divorce and the marriage of widows are freely +permitted. The caste commonly bury their dead, placing the head to +the north. They do not shave their heads in token of mourning. + + + + +4. Religion + +In Berar their principal deity is the goddess Devi, who is known +by different names. Every family of Langoti Pardhis has, Mr. Gayer +states, [408] its image in silver of the goddess, and because of this +no Langoti Pardhi woman will wear silver below the waist or hang her +_sari_ on a peg, as it must never be put on the same level as the +goddess. They also sometimes refuse to wear red or coloured clothes, +one explanation for this being that the image of the goddess is placed +on a bed of red cloth. In Hoshangabad their principal deity is called +Guraiya Deo, and his image, consisting of a human figure embossed +in silver, is kept in a leather bag on the west side of their tents; +and for this reason women going out of the encampment for a necessary +purpose always proceed to the east. They also sleep with their feet to +the east. Goats are offered to Guraiya Deo and their horns are placed +in his leather bag. In Hoshangabad they sacrifice a fowl to the ropes +of their tents at the Dasahra and Diwali festivals, and on the former +occasion clean their hunting implements and make offerings to them +of turmeric and rice. They are reported to believe that the sun and +moon die and are reborn daily. The hunter's calling is one largely +dependent on luck or chance, and, as might be expected, the Pardhis +are firm believers in omens, and observe various rules by which they +think their fortune will be affected. A favourite omen is the simple +device of taking some rice or juari in the hand and counting the +grains. Contrary to the usual rule, even numbers are considered lucky +and odd ones unlucky. If the first result is unsatisfactory a second +or third trial may be made. If a winnowing basket or millstone be let +fall and drop to the right hand it is a lucky omen, and similarly +if a flower from Devi's garland should fall to the right side. The +bellowing of cows, the mewing of a cat, the howling of a jackal and +sneezing are other unlucky omens. If a snake passes from left to right +it is a bad omen and if from right to left a good one. A man must not +sleep with his head on the threshold of a house or in the doorway of +a tent under penalty of a fine of Rs. 2-8; the only explanation given +of this rule is that such a position is unlucky because a corpse is +carried out across the threshold. A similar penalty is imposed if +he falls down before his wife even by accident. A Pardhi, with the +exception of members of the Sesodia clan, must never sleep on a cot, +a fine of five rupees being imposed for a breach of this rule. A +man who has once caught a deer must not again have the hair of his +head touched by a razor, and thus the Pardhis may be recognised by +their long and unkempt locks. A breach of this rule is punished with +a fine of fifteen rupees, but it is not observed everywhere. A woman +must never step across the rope or peg of a tent, nor upon the place +where the blood of a deer has flowed on to the ground. During her +monthly period of impurity a woman must not cross a river nor sit in +a boat. A Pardhi will never kill or sell a dog and they will not hunt +wild dogs even if money is offered to them. This is probably because +they look upon the wild dog as a fellow-hunter, and consider that to +do him injury would bring ill-luck upon themselves. A Pardhi has also +theoretically a care for the preservation of game. When he has caught +a number of birds in his trap, he will let a pair of them loose so +that they may go on breeding. Women are not permitted to take any part +in the work of hunting, but are confined strictly to their household +duties. A woman who kicks her husband's stick is fined Rs. 2-8. The +butt end of the stick is employed for mixing vegetables and other +purposes, but the meaning of the rule is not clear unless one of its +uses is for the enforcement of conjugal discipline. A Pardhi may not +swear by a dog, a cat or a squirrel. Their most solemn oath is in the +name of their deity Guraiya Deo, and it is believed that any one who +falsely takes this oath will become a leper. The Phans Pardhis may +not travel in a railway train, and some of them are forbidden even +to use a cart or other conveyance. + + + + +5. Dress, food and social customs + +In dress and appearance the Pardhis are disreputable and dirty. Their +features are dark and their hair matted and unkempt. They never wear +shoes and say that they are protected by a special promise of the +goddess Devi to their first ancestor that no insect or reptile in +the forests should injure them. The truth is, no doubt, that shoes +would make it impossible for them to approach their game without +disturbing it, and from long practice the soles of their feet become +impervious to thorns and minor injuries. Similarly the Langoti Pardhis +are so called because they wear only a narrow strip of cloth round +the loins, the reason probably being that a long one would impede +them by flapping and catching in the brushwood. But the explanation +which they themselves give, [409] a somewhat curious one in view of +their appearance, is that an ordinary _dhoti_ or loin-cloth if worn +might become soiled and therefore unlucky. Their women do not have +their noses pierced and never wear spangles or other marks on the +forehead. The Pardhis still obtain fire by igniting a piece of cotton +with flint and iron. Mr. Sewell notes that their women eat at the same +time as the men, instead of after them as among most Hindus. They +explain this custom by saying that on one occasion a woman tried +to poison her husband and it was therefore adopted as a precaution +against similar attempts; but no doubt it has always prevailed, and +the more orthodox practice would be almost incompatible with their +gipsy life. Similar reasons of convenience account for their custom +of celebrating marriages all the year round and neglecting the Hindu +close season of the four months of the rains. They travel about with +little huts made of matting, which can be rolled up and carried off +in a few minutes. If rain comes on they seek shelter in the nearest +village. [410] In some localities the caste eat no food cooked +with butter or oil. They are usually considered as an impure caste, +whose touch is a defilement to Hindus. Brahmans do not officiate at +their ceremonies, though the Pardhis resort to the village Joshi or +astrologer to have a propitious date indicated for marriages. They have +to pay for such services in money, as Brahmans usually refuse to accept +even uncooked grain from them. After childbirth women are held to be +impure and forbidden to cook for their families for a period varying +from six weeks to six months. During their periodical impurity they are +secluded for four, six or eight days, the Pardhis observing very strict +rules in these matters, as is not infrequently the case with the lowest +castes. Their caste meetings, Mr. Sewell states, are known as Deokaria +or 'An act performed in honour of God'; at these meetings arrangements +for expeditions are discussed and caste disputes decided. The penalty +for social offences is a fine of a specified quantity of liquor, the +liquor provided by male and female delinquents being drunk by the +men and women respectively. The punishment for adultery in either +sex consists in cutting off a piece of the left ear with a razor, +and a man guilty of intercourse with a prostitute is punished as if +he had committed adultery. The Pardhi women are said to be virtuous. + + + + +6. Ordeals + +The Pardhis still preserve the primitive method of trial by ordeal. If +a woman is suspected of misconduct she is made to pick a pice coin out +of boiling oil; or a pipal leaf is placed on her hand and a red-hot +axe laid over it, and if her hand is burnt or she refuses to stand +the test she is pronounced guilty. Or, in the case of a man, the +accused is made to dive into water; and as he dives an arrow is shot +from a bow. A swift runner fetches and brings back the arrow, and if +the diver can remain under water until the runner has returned he is +held to be innocent. In Nimar, if an unmarried girl becomes pregnant, +two cakes of dough are prepared, a piece of silver being placed in one +and a lump of coal in the other. The girl takes one of the cakes, and +if it is found to contain the coal she is expelled from the community, +while if she chooses the piece of silver, she is pardoned and made over +to one of the caste. The idea of the ordeal is apparently to decide the +question whether her condition was caused by a Pardhi or an outsider. + + + + +7. Methods of catching birds + +The Phans Pardhis hunt all kinds of birds and the smaller animals with +the _phanda_ or snare. Mr. Ball describes their procedure as follows: +[411] "For peacock, saras crane and bustard they have a long series of +nooses, each provided with a wooden peg and all connected with a long +string. The tension necessary to keep the nooses open is afforded by +a slender slip of antelope's horn (very much resembling whalebone), +which forms the core of the loop. Provided with several sets of these +nooses, a trained bullock and a shield-like cloth screen dyed buff and +pierced with eye-holes, the bird-catcher sets out for the jungle, and +on seeing a flock of pea-fowl circles round them under cover of the +screen and the bullock, which he guides by a nose-string. The birds +feed on undisturbed, and the man rapidly pegs out his long strings +of nooses, and when all are properly disposed, moves round to the +opposite side of the birds and shows himself; when they of course run +off, and one or more getting their feet in the nooses fall forwards +and flap on the ground; the man immediately captures them, knowing +that if the strain is relaxed the nooses will open and permit of the +bird's escape. Very cruel practices are in vogue with these people with +reference to the captured birds, in order to keep them alive until a +purchaser is found. The peacocks have a feather passed through the +eyelids, by which means they are effectually blinded, while in the +case of smaller birds both the legs and wings are broken." Deer, +hares and even pig are also caught by a strong rope with running +nooses. For smaller birds the appliance is a little rack about four +inches high with uprights a few inches apart, between each of which +is hung a noose. Another appliance mentioned by Mr. Ball is a set +of long conical bag nets, which are kept open by hooks and provided +with a pair of folding doors. The Pardhi has also a whistle made +of deer-horn, with which he can imitate the call of the birds. Tree +birds are caught with bird-lime as described by Sir G. Grierson. [412] +The Bahelia has several long shafts of bamboos called _nal_ or _nar_, +which are tied together like a fishing rod, the endmost one being +covered with bird-lime. Concealing himself behind his bamboo screen the +Bahelia approaches the bird and when near enough strikes and secures +it with his rod; or he may spread some grain out at a short distance, +and as the birds are hopping about over it he introduces the pole, +giving it a zig-zag movement and imitating as far as possible the +progress of a snake. Having brought the point near one of the birds, +which is fascinated by its stealthy approach, he suddenly jerks +it into its breast and then drawing it to him, releases the poor +palpitating creature, putting it away in his bag, and recommences +the same operation. This method does not require the use of bird-lime. + + + + +8. Hunting with leopards + +The manner in which the Chita Pardhis use the hunting leopard (_Felis +jubata_) for catching deer has often been described. [413] The leopard +is caught full-grown by a noose in the manner related above. Its neck +is first clasped in a wooden vice until it is half-strangled, and its +feet are then bound with ropes and a cap slipped over its head. It is +partially starved for a time, and being always fed by the same man, +after a month or so it becomes tame and learns to know its master. It +is then led through villages held by ropes on each side to accustom +it to the presence of human beings. On a hunting party the leopard is +carried on a cart, hooded, and, being approached from down wind, the +deer allow the cart to get fairly close to them. The Indian antelope or +black-buck are the usual quarry, and as these frequent cultivated land, +they regard country carts without suspicion. The hood is then taken off +and the leopard springs forward at the game with extreme velocity, +perhaps exceeding that which any other quadruped possesses. The +accounts given by Jerdon say that for the moment its speed is greater +than that of a race-horse. It cannot maintain this for more than three +or four hundred yards, however, and if in that distance the animal has +not seized its prey, it relinquishes the pursuit and stalks about in +a towering passion. The Pardhis say that when it misses the game the +leopard is as sulky as a human being and sometimes refuses food for a +couple of days. If successful in the pursuit, it seizes the antelope +by the throat; the keeper then comes up, and cutting the animal's +throat collects some of the blood in the wooden ladle with which the +leopard is always fed; this is offered to him, and dropping his hold +he laps it up eagerly, when the hood is cleverly slipped on again. + +The conducting of the cheetah from its cage to the chase is by no means +an easy matter. The keeper leads him along, as he would a large dog, +with a chain; and for a time as they scamper over the country the +leopard goes willingly enough; but if anything arrests his attention, +some noise from the forest, some scented trail upon the ground, he +moves more slowly, throws his head aloft and peers savagely round. A +few more minutes perhaps and he would be unmanageable. The keeper, +however, is prepared for the emergency. He holds in his left hand a +cocoanut shell, sprinkled on the inside with salt; and by means of a +handle affixed to the shell he puts it at once over the nose of the +cheetah. The animal licks the salt, loses the scent, forgets the object +which arrested his attention, and is led quietly along again. [414] + + + + +9. Decoy stags + +For hunting stags, tame stags were formerly used as decoys according +to the method described as follows: "We had about a dozen trained +stags, all males, with us. These, well acquainted with the object +for which they were sent forward, advanced at a gentle trot over +the open ground towards the skirt of the wood. They were observed +at once by the watchers of the herd, and the boldest of the wild +animals advanced to meet them. Whether the intention was to welcome +them peacefully or to do battle for their pasturage I cannot tell; +but in a few minutes the two parties were engaged in a furious +contest. Head to head, antlers to antlers, the tame deer and the +wild fought with great fury. Each of the tame animals, every one +of them large and formidable, was closely engaged in contest with a +wild adversary, standing chiefly on the defensive, not in any feigned +battle or mimicry of war but in a hard-fought combat. We now made our +appearance in the open ground on horseback, advancing towards the +scene of conflict. The deer on the skirts of the wood, seeing us, +took to flight; but those actually engaged maintained their ground +and continued the contest. In the meantime a party of native huntsmen, +sent for the purpose, gradually drew near to the wild stags, getting +in between them and the forest. What their object was we were not at +the time aware; in truth it was not one that we could have approved +or encouraged. They made their way into the rear of the wild stags, +which were still combating too fiercely to mind them; they approached +the animals, and with a skilful cut of their long knives the poor +warriors fell hamstrung. We felt pity for the noble animals as we +saw them fall helplessly on the ground, unable longer to continue +the contest and pushed down of course by the decoy-stags. Once down, +they were unable to rise again." [415] + + + + +10. Hawks + +Hawks were also used in a very ingenious fashion to prevent duck from +flying away when put upon water: "The trained hawks were now brought +into requisition, and marvellous it was to see the instinct with which +they seconded the efforts of their trainers. The ordinary hawking of +the heron we had at a later period of this expedition; but the use now +made of the animal was altogether different, and displayed infinitely +more sagacity than one would suppose likely to be possessed by such +an animal. These were trained especially for the purpose for which +they were now employed. A flight of ducks--thousands of birds--were +enticed upon the water as before by scattering corn over it. The +hawks were then let fly, four or five of them. We made our appearance +openly upon the bank, guns in hand, and the living swarm of birds +rose at once into the air. The hawks circled above them, however, +in a rapid revolving flight and they dared not ascend high. Thus was +our prey retained fluttering in mid-air, until hundreds had paid the +penalty with their lives. Only picture in your mind's eye the circling +hawks above gyrating monotonously, the fluttering captives in mid-air, +darting now here, now there to escape, and still coward-like huddling +together; and the motley group of sportsmen on the bank and you have +the whole scene before you at once." [416] + + + + +11. Crocodile fishing + +For catching crocodile, a method by which as already stated one group +of the Pardhis earn their livelihood, a large double hook is used, +baited with a piece of putrid deer's flesh and attached to a hempen +rope 70 or 80 feet long. When the crocodile has swallowed the hook, +twenty or thirty persons drag the animal out of the water and it +is despatched with axes. Crocodiles are hunted only in the months +of Pus (December), Magh (January) and Chait (March), when they are +generally fat and yield plenty of oil. The flesh is cut into pieces +and stewed over a slow fire, when it exudes a watery oil. This is +strained and sold in bottles at a rupee a seer (2 lbs.). It is used +as an embrocation for rheumatism and for neck galls of cattle. The +Pardhis do not eat crocodile's flesh. + + + + +12. Other occupations and criminal practices + +A body of Pardhis are sometimes employed by all the cultivators of a +village jointly for the purpose of watching the spring crops during +the day and keeping black-buck out of them. They do this perhaps +for two or three months and receive a fixed quantity of grain. The +Takankars are regularly employed as village servants in Berar and +travel about roughening the stones of the household grinding-mills +when their surfaces have worn smooth. For this they receive an annual +contribution of grain from each household. The caste generally have +criminal tendencies and Mr. Sewell states, that "The Langoti Pardhis +and Takankars are the worst offenders. Ordinarily when committing +dacoity they are armed with sticks and stones only. In digging through +a wall they generally leave a thin strip at which the leader carefully +listens before finally bursting through. Then when the hole has been +made large enough, he strikes a match and holding it in front of him +so that his features are shielded has a good survey of the room before +entering.... As a rule, they do not divide the property on or near +the scene of the crime, but take it home. Generally it is carried by +one of the gang well behind the rest so as to enable it to be hidden +if the party is challenged." In Bombay they openly rob the standing +crops, and the landlords stand in such awe of them that they secure +their goodwill by submitting to a regular system of blackmail. [417] + + + + + +Parja + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice of the tribe_. + 2. _Exogamous septs_. + 3. _Kinship and marriage_. + 4. _Marriage dance_. + 5. _Nuptial ceremony_. + 6. _Widow-marriage and divorce_. + 7. _Religion and festivals_. + 8. _Disposal of the dead_. + 9. _Occupation and social customs_. + + + + +1. General notice of the tribe + +_Parja._--A small tribe, [418] originally an offshoot of the Gonds, +who reside in the centre and east of the Bastar State and the adjoining +Jaipur zamindari of Madras. They number about 13,000 persons in the +Central Provinces and 92,000 in Madras, where they are also known as +Poroja. The name Parja appears to be derived from the Sanskrit Parja, +a subject. The following notice of it is taken from the _Madras +Census Report_ [419] of 1871: "The term Parja is, as Mr. Carmichael +has pointed out, merely a corruption of a Sanskrit term signifying +a subject; and it is understood as such by the people themselves, +who use it in contradistinction to a free hillman. Formerly, says a +tradition that runs through the whole tribe, Rajas and Parjas were +brothers, but the Rajas took to riding horses or, as the Barenja +Parjas put it, sitting still, and we became carriers of burdens and +Parjas. It is quite certain in fact that the term Parja is not a tribal +denomination, but a class denomination; and it may be fitly rendered +by the familiar epithet of ryot. There is no doubt, however, that by +far the greater number of these Parjas are akin to the Khonds of the +Ganjam Maliahs. They are thrifty, hardworking cultivators, undisturbed +by the intestinal broils which their cousins in the north engage in, +and they bear in their breasts an inalienable reverence for their soil, +the value of which they are rapidly becoming acquainted with. Their +ancient rights to these lands are acknowledged by colonists from among +the Aryans, and when a dispute arises about the boundaries of a field +possessed by recent arrivals a Parja is usually called in to point out +the ancient landmarks. Gadbas are also represented as indigenous from +the long lapse of years that they have been in the country, but they +are by no means of the patriarchal type that characterises the Parjas." + +In Bastar the caste are also known as Dhurwa, which may be derived +from Dhur, the name applied to the body of Gonds as opposed to the +Raj-Gonds. In Bastar, Dhurwa now conveys the sense of a headman of a +village. The tribe have three divisions, Thakara or Tagara, Peng and +Mudara, of which only the first is found in Bastar. Thakara appears +to be a corruption of Thakur, a lord, and the two names point to the +conclusion that the Parjas were formerly dominant in this tract. They +themselves have a story, somewhat resembling the one quoted above +from Madras, to the effect that their ancestor was the elder brother +of the first Raja of Bastar when he lived in Madras, to the south +of Warangal. From there he had to flee on account of an invasion of +the Muhammadans, and was accompanied by the goddess Danteshwari, +the tutelary deity of the Rajas of Bastar. In accordance with the +command of the goddess the younger brother was considered as the +Raja and rode on a horse, while the elder went before him carrying +their baggage. At Bhadrachallam they met the Bhatras, and further +on the Halbas. The goddess followed them, guiding their steps, but +she strictly enjoined on the Raja not to look behind him so as to +see her. But when they came to the sands of the rivers Sankani and +Dankani, the tinkle of the anklets of the goddess could not be heard +for the sand. The Raja therefore looked behind him to see if she was +following, on which she said that she could go no more with him, +but he was to march as far as he could and then settle down. The +two brothers settled in Bastar, where the descendants of the younger +became the ruling clan, and those of the elder were their servants, the +Parjas. The story indicates, perhaps, that the Parjas were the original +Gond inhabitants and rulers of the country, and were supplanted by a +later immigration of the same tribe, who reduced them to subjection, +and became Raj-Gonds. Possibly the first transfer of power was effected +by the marriage of an immigrant into a Parja Raja's family, as so often +happened with these old dynasties. The Parjas still talk about the Rani +of Bastar as their _Bohu_ or 'younger brother's wife,' and the custom +is probably based on some such legend. The Madras account of them +as the arbiters of boundary disputes points to the same conclusion, +as this function is invariably assigned to the oldest residents in +any locality. The Parjas appear to be Gonds and not Khonds. Their +sept names are Gondi words, and their language is a form of Gondi, +called after them Parji. Parji has hitherto been considered a form +of Bhatri, but Sir G. Grierson [420] has now classified the latter +as a dialect of the Uriya language, while Parji remains 'A local +and very corrupt variation of Gondi, considerably mixed with Hindi +forms.' While then the Parjas, in Bastar at any rate, must be held +to be a branch of the Gonds, they may have a considerable admixture +of the Khonds, or other tribes in different localities, as the rules +of marriage are very loose in this part of the country. [421] + + + + +2. Exogamous septs + +The tribe have exogamous totemistic septs, as Bagh a tiger, Kachhim a +tortoise, Bokda a goat, Netam a dog, Gohi a big lizard, Pandki a dove +and so on. If a man kills accidentally the animal after which his sept +is named, the earthen cooking-pots of his household are thrown away, +the clothes are washed, and the house is purified with water in which +the bark of the mango or _jamun_ [422] tree has been steeped. This +is in sign of mourning, as it is thought that such an act will bring +misfortune. If a man of the snake sept kills a snake accidentally, +he places a piece of new yarn on his head, praying for forgiveness, +and deposits the body on an anthill, where snakes are supposed to +live. If a man of the goat sept eats goat's flesh, it is thought that +he will become blind at once. A Parja will not touch the body of his +totem-animal when dead, and if he sees any one killing or teasing it +when alive, he will go away out of sight. It is said that a man of the +Kachhim sept once found a tortoise while on a journey, and leaving it +undisturbed, passed on. When the tortoise died it was reborn in the +man's belly and troubled him greatly, and since then every Parja is +liable to be afflicted in the same way in the side of the abdomen, +the disease which is produced being in fact enlarged spleen. The +tortoise told the man that as he had left it lying by the road, and +had not devoted it to any useful purpose, he was afflicted in this +way. Consequently, when a man of the Kachhim sept finds a tortoise +nowadays, he gives it to somebody else who can cut it up. The story +is interesting as a legend of the origin of spleen, but has apparently +been invented as an excuse for killing the sacred animal. + + + + +3. Kinship and marriage + +Marriage is prohibited in theory between members of the same sept. But +as the number of septs is rather small, the rule is not adhered to, +and members of the same sept are permitted to marry so long as they +do not come from the same village; the original rule of exogamy being +perhaps thus exemplified. The proposal for a match is made by the +boy's father, who first offers a cup of liquor to the girl's father +in the bazar, and subsequently explains his errand. If the girl's +father, after consulting with his family, disapproves of the match, +he returns an equal quantity of liquor to the boy's father in token +of his decision. The girl is usually consulted, and asked if she +would like to marry her suitor, but not much regard is had to her +opinion. If she dislikes him, however, she usually runs away from him +after a short interlude of married life. If a girl becomes pregnant +with a caste-fellow before marriage, he is required to take her, +and give to the family the presents which he would make to them on +a regular marriage. The man can subsequently be properly married to +some other woman, but the girl cannot be married at all. If a girl +is seduced by a man outside the caste, she is made over to him. It +is essential for a man to be properly married at least once, and an +old bachelor will sometimes go through the form of being wedded to +his maternal uncle's daughter, even though she may be an infant. If +no proposal for marriage is made for a girl, she is sometimes handed +over informally to any man who likes to take her, and who is willing +to give as much for her as the parents would receive for a regular +marriage. A short time before the wedding, the boy's father sends a +considerable quantity of rice to the girl's father, and on the day +before he sends a calf, a pot of liquor, fifteen annas worth of copper +coin, and a new cloth. The bridegroom's expenses are about Rs. 50, +and the bride's about Rs. 10. + + + + +4. Marriage dance + +At weddings the tribe have a dance called Surcha, for which the men +wear a particular dress consisting of a long coat, a turban and two +or three scarves thrown loosely over the shoulders. Strings of little +bells are tied about the feet, and garlands of beads round the neck; +sometimes men and women dance separately, and sometimes both sexes +together in a long line or a circle. Music is provided by bamboo +flutes, drums and an iron instrument something like a flute. As they +dance, songs are sung in the form of question and answer between the +lines of men and women, usually of a somewhat indecent character. The +following short specimen may be given:-- + +_Man_. If you are willing to go with me we will both follow the +officer's elephant. If I go back without you my heart can have no rest. + +_Woman_. Who dare take me away from my husband while the Company +is reigning. My husband will beat me and who will pay him the +compensation? + +_Man_. You had better make up your mind to go with me. I will ask the +Treasurer for some money and pay it to your husband as compensation. + +_Woman_. Very well, I will make ready some food, and will run away +with you in the next bright fortnight. + + +These dialogues often, it is said, lead to quarrels between husband and +wife, as the husband cannot rebuke his wife in the assembly. Sometimes +the women fall in love with men in the dance, and afterwards run away +with them. + + + + +5. Nuptial ceremony + +The marriage takes place at the boy's house, where two marriage-sheds +are made. It is noticeable that the bride on going to the bridegroom's +house to be married is accompanied only by her female relatives, +no man of her family being allowed to be with her. This is probably +a reminiscence of the old custom of marriage by capture, as in +former times she was carried off by force, the opposition of her +male relatives having been quelled. In memory of this the men still +do not countenance the wedding procession by their presence. The +bridal couple are made to sit down together on a mat, and from three +to seven pots of cold water are poured over them. About a week after +the wedding the couple go to a market with their friends, and after +walking round it they all sit down and drink liquor. + + + + +6. Widow-marriage and divorce + +The remarriage of widows is permitted, and a widow is practically +compelled to marry her late husband's younger brother, if he has +one. If she persistently refuses to do so, in spite of the strongest +pressure, her parents turn her out of their house. In order to be +married the woman goes to the man's house with some friends; they +sit together on the ground, and the friends apply the _tika_ or sign +by touching their foreheads with dry rice. A man can divorce his +wife if she is of bad character, or if she is supposed to be under +an unfavourable star, or if her children die in infancy. A divorced +woman can marry again as if she were a widow. + + + + +7. Religion and festivals + +The Parjas worship the class of divinities of the hills and forests +usually revered among primitive tribes, as well as Danteshwari, +the tutelary goddess of Bastar. On the day that sowing begins they +offer a fowl to the field, first placing some grains of rice before +it. If the fowl eats the rice they prognosticate a good harvest, +and if not the reverse. A few members of the tribe belong to the +Ramanandi sect, and on this account a little extra attention is paid +to them. If such a one is invited to a feast he is given a wooden +seat, while others sit on the ground. It is said that a few years +ago a man became a Kabirpanthi, but he subsequently went blind and +his son died, and since this event the sect is absolutely without +adherents. Most villages have a Sirha or man who is possessed by +the deity, and his advice is taken in religious matters, such as +the detection of witches. Another official is called Medha Gantia or +'The Counter of posts.' He appoints the days for weddings, calculating +them by counting on his fingers, and also fixes auspicious days for +the construction of a house or for the commencement of sowing. It is +probable that in former times he kept count of the days by numbering +posts or trees. When rain is wanted the people fix a piece of wood +into the ground, calling it Bhimsen Deo or King of the Clouds. They +pour water over it and pray to it, asking for rain. Every year, after +the crops are harvested, they worship the rivers or streams in the +village. A snake, a jackal, a hare and a dog wagging its ears are +unlucky objects to see when starting on a journey, and also a dust +devil blowing along in front. They do not kill wild dogs, because +they say that tigers avoid the forests where these reside, and some +of them hold that a tiger on meeting a wild dog climbs a tree to get +out of his way. Wednesday and Thursday are lucky days for starting on +a journey, and the operations of sowing, reaping and threshing should +be commenced and completed on one of these days. When a man intends +to build a house he places a number of sets of three grains of rice, +one resting on the other two, on the ground in different places. Each +set is covered by a leaf-cup with some earth to hold it down. Next +morning the grains are inspected, and if the top one has fallen down +the site is considered to be lucky, as indicating that the earth is +wishful to bear the burden of a house in this place. A house should +face to the east or west, and not to the north or south. Similarly, +the roads leading out of the village should run east or west from +the starting-point. The principal festivals of the Parjas are the +Hareli [423] or feast of the new vegetation in July, the Nawakhani +[424] or feast of the new rice crop in August or September, and the +Am Nawakhani or that of the new mango crop in April or May. At the +feasts the new season's crop should be eaten, but if no fresh rice has +ripened, they touch some of the old grain with a blade of a growing +rice-plant, and consider that it has become the new crop. On these +occasions ancestors are worshipped by members of the family only +inside the house, and offerings of the new crops are made to them. + + + + +8. Disposal of the dead + +The dead are invariably buried, the corpse being laid in the ground +with head to the east and feet to the west. This is probably the most +primitive burial, it being supposed that the region of the dead is +towards the west, as the setting sun disappears in that direction. The +corpse is therefore laid in the grave with the feet to the west ready +to start on its journey. Members of the tribe who have imbibed Hindu +ideas now occasionally lay the corpse with the head to the north in +the direction of the Ganges. Rice-gruel, water and a tooth-stick +are placed on the grave nightly for some days after death. As an +interesting parallel instance, near home, of the belief that the +soul starts on a long journey after death, the following passage +may be quoted from Mr. Gomme's Folklore: "Among the superstitions +of Lancashire is one which tells us of a lingering belief in a long +journey after death, when food is necessary to support the soul. A +man having died of apoplexy at a public dinner near Manchester, +one of the company was heard to remark, 'Well, poor Joe, God rest +his soul! He has at least gone to his long rest wi' a belly full o' +good meat, and that's some consolation!' And perhaps a still more +remarkable instance is that of the woman buried in Curton Church, +near Rochester, who directed by her will that the coffin was to have +a lock and key, the key being placed in her dead hand, so that she +might be able to release herself at pleasure." [425] + +After the burial a dead fish is brought on a leaf-plate to the +mourners, who touch it, and are partly purified. The meaning of this +rite, if there be any, is not known. After the period of mourning, +which varies from three to nine days, is over, the mourners and their +relatives must attend the next weekly bazar, and there offer liquor +and sweets in the name of the dead man, who upon this becomes ranked +among the ancestors. + + + + +9. Occupation and social customs + +The Parjas are cultivators, and grow rice and other crops in the +ordinary manner. Many of them are village headmen, and to these the +term Dhurwa is more particularly applied. The tribe will eat fowls, +pig, monkeys, the large lizard, field-rats, and bison and wild +buffalo, but they do not eat carnivorous animals, crocodiles, snakes +or jackals. Some of them eat beef while others have abjured it, and +they will not accept the leavings of others. They are not considered +to be an impure caste. If any man or woman belonging to a higher +caste has a _liaison_ with a Parja, and is on that account expelled +from their own caste, he or she can be admitted as a Parja. In their +other customs and dress and ornaments the tribe resemble the Gonds +of Bastar. Women are tattooed on the chest and arms with patterns of +dots. The young men sometimes wear their hair long, and tie it in a +bunch behind, secured by a strip of cloth. + + + + + +Pasi + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _The nature and origin of the caste_. + 2. _Brahmanical legends_. + 3. _Its mixed composition_. + 4. _Marriage and other customs_. + 5. _Religion, superstitions and social customs_. + 6. _Occupation_. + 7. _Criminal tendencies_. + + + + +1. The nature and origin of the caste + +_Pasi, Passi._ [426]--A Dravidian occupational caste of northern +India, whose hereditary employment is the tapping of the palmyra, +date and other palm trees for their sap. The name is derived from the +Sanskrit _pashika_, 'One who uses a noose,' and the Hindi, _pas_ or +_pasa_, a noose. It is a curious fact that when the first immigrant +Parsis from Persia landed in Gujarat they took to the occupation +of tapping palm trees, and the poorer of them still follow it. The +resemblance in the name, however, can presumably be nothing more than +a coincidence. The total strength of the Pasis in India is about a +million and a half persons, nearly all of whom belong to the United +Provinces and Bihar. In the Central Provinces they number 3500, and +reside principally in the Jubbulpore and Hoshangabad Districts. The +caste is now largely occupational, and is connected with the Bhars, +Arakhs, Khatiks and other Dravidian groups of low status. But in the +past they seem to have been of some importance in Oudh. "All through +Oudh," Mr. Crooke states, "they have traditions that they were lords of +the country, and that their kings reigned in the Districts of Kheri, +Hardoi and Unao. Ramkot, where the town of Bangarmau in Unao now +stands, is said to have been one of their chief strongholds. The last +of the Pasi lords of Ramkot, Raja Santhar, threw off his allegiance +to Kanauj and refused to pay tribute. On this Raja Jaichand gave his +country to the Banaphar heroes Alha and Udal, and they attacked and +destroyed Ramkot, leaving it the shapeless mass of ruins which it now +is." Similar traditions prevail in other parts of Oudh. It is also +recorded that the Rajpasis, the highest division of the caste, claim +descent from Tilokchand, the eponymous hero of the Bais Rajputs. It +would appear then that the Pasis were a Dravidian tribe who held a part +of Oudh before it was conquered by the Rajputs. As the designation +of Pasi is an occupational term and is derived from the Sanskrit, +it would seem that the tribe must formerly have had some other name, +or they may be an occupational offshoot of the Bhars. In favour of this +suggestion it may be noted that the Bhars also have strong traditions +of their former dominance in Oudh. Thus Sir C. Elliott states in his +_Chronicles of Unao_ [427] that after the close of the heroic age, +when Ajodhya was held by the Surajvansi Rajputs under the great Rama, +we find after an interval of historic darkness that Ajodhya has been +destroyed, the Surajvansis utterly banished, and a large extent of +country is being ruled over by aborigines called Cheros in the far +east, Bhars in the centre and Rajpasis in the west. Again, in Kheri +the Pasis always claim kindred with the Bhars, [428] and in Mirzapur +[429] the local Pasis represent the Bhars as merely a subcaste of +their own tribe, though this is denied by the Bhars themselves. It +seems therefore a not improbable hypothesis that the Pasis and perhaps +also the kindred tribe of Arakhs are functional groups formed from the +Bhar tribe. For a discussion of the early history of this important +tribe the reader must be referred to Mr. Crooke's excellent article. + + + + +2. Brahmanical legends + +The following tradition is related by the Pasis themselves in Mirzapur +and the Central Provinces: One day a man was going to kill a number +of cows. Parasurama was at that time practising austerities in the +jungles. Hearing the cries of the sacred animals he rushed to their +assistance, but the cow-killer was aided by his friends. So Parasurama +made five men out of _kusha_ grass and brought them to life by letting +drops of his perspiration fall upon them. Hence arose the name Pasi, +from the Hindi _pasina_, sweat. The men thus created rescued the +cows. Then they returned to Parasurama and asked him to provide +them with a wife. Just at that moment a Kayasth girl was passing +by, and her Parasurama seized and made over to the Pasis. From them +sprang the Kaithwas subcaste. Another legend related by Mr. Crooke +tells that during the time Parasurama was incarnate there was an +austere devotee called Kuphal who was asked by Brahma to demand of +him a boon, whereupon he requested that he might be perfected in the +art of thieving. His request was granted, and there is a well-known +verse regarding the devotions of Kuphal, the pith of which is that +the mention of the name of Kuphal, who received a boon from Brahma, +removes all fear of thieves; and the mention of his three wives--Maya +(illusion), Nidra (sleep), and Mohani (enchantment)--deprives thieves +of success in their attempts against the property of those who repeat +these names. Kuphal is apparently the progenitor of the caste, and +the legend is intended to show how the position of the Pasis in the +Hindu cosmos or order of society according to the caste system has +been divinely ordained and sanctioned, even to the recognition of +theft as their hereditary pursuit. + + + + +3. Its mixed composition + +Whatever their origin may have been the composition of the caste is +now of a very mixed nature. Several names of other castes, as Gujar, +Gual or Ahir, Arakh, Khatik, Bahelia, Bhil and Bania, are returned +as divisions of the Pasis in the United Provinces. Like all migratory +castes they are split into a number of small groups, whose constitution +is probably not very definite. The principal subcastes in the Central +Provinces are the Rajpasis or highest class, who probably were at one +time landowners; the Kaithwas or Kaithmas, supposed to be descended +from a Kayasth, as already related; the Tirsulia, who take their name +from the _trisula_ or three-bladed knife used to pierce the stem of +the palm tree; the Bahelia or hunters, and Chiriyamar or fowlers; +the Ghudchadha or those who ride on ponies, these being probably +saises or horse-keepers; the Khatik or butchers and Gujar or graziers; +and the Mangta or beggars, these being the bards and genealogists of +the caste, who beg from their clients and take food from their hands; +they are looked down on by the other Pasis. + + + + +4. Marriage and other customs + +In the Central Provinces the tribe have now no exogamous groups; they +avoid marriage with blood relations as far back as their memory carries +them. At their weddings the couple walk round the _srawan_ or heavy +log of wood, which is dragged over the fields before sowing to break up +the larger clods of earth. In the absence of this an ordinary plough or +harrow will serve as a substitute, though why the Pasis should impart +a distinctively agricultural implement into their marriage ceremony +is not clear. Like the Gonds, the Pasis celebrate their weddings at +the bridegroom's house and not at the bride's. Before the wedding the +bridegroom's mother goes and sits over a well, taking with her seven +_urad_ cakes [430] and stalks of the plant. The bridegroom walks +seven times round the well, and at each turn the parapet is marked +with red and white clay and his mother throws one of the cakes and +stalks into the well. Finally, the mother threatens to throw herself +into the well, and the bridegroom begs her not to do so, promising +that he will serve and support her. Divorce and the remarriage of +widows are freely permitted. Conjugal morality is somewhat lax, and +Mr. Crooke quotes a report from Pertabgarh to the effect that if a +woman of a tribe become pregnant by a stranger and the child be born +in the house of her father or husband, it will be accepted as a Pasi +of pure blood and admitted to all tribal privileges. The bodies of +adults may be buried or burnt as convenient, but those of children +or of persons dying from smallpox, cholera or snake-bite are always +buried. Mourning is observed during ten days for a man and nine days +for a woman, while children who die unmarried are not mourned at all. + + + + +5. Religion, superstitions and social customs + +The Pasis worship all the ordinary Hindu deities. All classes of +Brahmans will officiate at their marriages and other ceremonies, +and do anything for them which does not involve touching them or +any article in their houses. In Bengal, Sir H. Risley writes, the +employment of Brahmans for the performance of ceremonies appears to +be a very recent reform for, as a rule, in sacrifices and funeral +ceremonies, the worshipper's sister's son performs the functions of a +priest. "Among the Pasis of Monghyr this ancient custom, which admits +of being plausibly interpreted as a survival of female kinship, still +prevails generally." The social status of the Pasis is low, but they +are not regarded as impure. At their marriage festivals, Mr. Gayer +notes, boys are dressed up as girls and made to dance in public, but +they do not use drums or other musical instruments. They breed pigs and +cure the bacon obtained from them. Marriage questions are decided by +the tribal council, which is presided over by a chairman (_Chaudhri_) +selected at each meeting from among the most influential adult males +present. The council deals especially with cases of immorality and +pollution caused by journeys across the black water (_kala pani_) +which the criminal pursuits of the tribe occasionally necessitate. + + + + +6. Occupation + +The traditional occupation of the Pasis, as already stated, is the +extraction of the sap of palm trees. But some of them are hunters +and fowlers like the Pardhis, and like them also they make and mend +grindstones, while others are agriculturists; and the caste has also +strong criminal propensities, and includes a number of professional +thieves. Some are employed in the Nagpur mills and others have taken +small building contracts. Pasis are generally illiterate and in poor +circumstances, and are much addicted to drink. In climbing [431] +palm trees to tap them for their juice the worker uses a heel-rope, +by which his feet are tied closely together. At the same time he has a +stout rope passing round the tree and his body. He leans back against +this rope and presses the soles of his feet, thus tied together, +against the tree. He then climbs up the tree by a series of hitches or +jerks of his back and feet alternately. The juice of the palmyra palm +(_tar_) and the date palm (_khajur_) is extracted by the Pasi. The +_tar_ trees, Sir H. Risley states, [432] are tapped from March to +May, and the date palm in the cold season. The juice of the former, +known as _tari_ or toddy, is used in the manufacture of bread, and an +intoxicating liquor is obtained from it by adding sugar and grains +of rice. Hindustani drunkards often mix _dhatura_ with the toddy to +increase its intoxicating properties. The quantity of juice extracted +from one tree varies from five to ten pounds. Date palm _tari_ is +less commonly drunk, being popularly believed to cause rheumatism, +but is extensively used in preparing sugar. + + + + +7. Criminal tendencies + +Eighty years ago, when General Sleeman wrote, the Pasis were noted +thieves. In his _Journey through Oudh_ [433] he states that in Oudh +there were then supposed to be one hundred thousand families of Pasis, +who were skilful thieves and robbers by profession, and were formerly +Thugs and poisoners as well. They generally formed the worst part of +the gangs maintained by refractory landowners, "who keep Pasis to +fight for them, as they pay themselves out of the plunder and cost +little to their employers. They are all armed with bows and are +very formidable at night. They and their refractory employes keep +the country in a perpetual state of disorder." Mr. Gayer notes [434] +that the criminally disposed members of the caste take contracts for +the watch and sale of mangoes in groves distant from habitations, +so that their movements will not be seen by prying eyes. They also +seek employment as roof-thatchers, in which capacity they are enabled +to ascertain which houses contain articles worth stealing. They show +considerable cunning in disposing of their stolen property. The men +will go openly in the daytime to the receiver and acquaint him with +the fact that they have property to dispose of; the receiver goes to +the bazar, and the women come to him with grass for sale. They sell +the grass to the receiver, and then accompany him home with it and +the stolen property, which is artfully concealed in it. + + +Patwa + +_Patwa, Patwi, Patra, Ilakelband._--The occupational caste of weavers +of fancy silk braid and thread. In 1911 the Patwas numbered nearly +6000 persons in the Central Provinces, being returned principally +from the Narsinghpur, Raipur, Saugor, Jubbulpore and Hoshangabad +Districts. About 800 were resident in Berar. The name is derived from +the Sanskrit _pata_, woven cloth, or Hindi _pat_, silk. The principal +subcastes of the Patwas are the Naraina; the Kanaujia, also known as +Chhipi, because they sew marriage robes; the Deobansi or 'descendants +of a god,' who sell lac and glass bangles; the Lakhera, who prepare +lac bangles; the Kachera, who make glass bangles; and others. Three +of the above groups are thus functional in character. They have also +Rajput and Kayastha subcastes, who may consist of refugees from those +castes received into the Patwa community. In the Central Provinces +the Patwas and Lakheras are in many localities considered to be the +same caste, as they both deal in lac and sell articles made of it; +and the account of the occupations of the Lakhera caste also applies +largely to the Patwas. The exogamous groups of the caste are named +after villages, or titles or nicknames borne by the reputed founder +of the group. They indicate that the Patwas of the Central Provinces +are generally descended from immigrants from northern India. The Patwa +usually purchases silk and colours it himself. He makes silk strings +for pyjamas and coats, armlets and other articles. Among these are +the silk threads called _rakhis_, used on the Rakshabandhan festival, +[435] when the Brahmans go round in the morning tying them on to +the wrists of all Hindus as a protection against evil spirits. For +this the Brahman receives a present of one or two pice. The _rakhi_ +is made of pieces of raw silk fibre twisted together, with a knot at +one end and a loop at the other. It goes round the wrist, and the knot +is passed through the loop. Sisters also tie it round their brothers' +wrists and are given a present. The Patwas make the _phundri_ threads +for tying up the hair of women, whether of silk or cotton, and various +threads used as amulets, such as the _janjira_, worn by men round the +neck, and the _ganda_ or wizard's thread, which is tied round the +arm after incantations have been said over it; and the necklets of +silk or cotton thread bound with thin silver wire which the Hindus +wear at Anant Chaudas, a sort of All Saints' Day, when all the gods +are worshipped. In this various knots are made by the Brahmans, and +in each a number of deities are tied up to exert their beneficent +influence for the wearer of the thread. These are the bands which +Hindus commonly wear on their necks. The Patwas thread necklaces of +gold and jewels on silk thread, and also make the strings of cowries, +slung on pack-thread, which are tied round the necks of bullocks when +they race on the Pola day, and on ponies, probably as a charm. After a +child is born in the family of one of their clients, the Patwas make +tassels of cotton and hemp thread coloured red, green and yellow, +and hang them to the centre-beam of the house and the top of the +child's cradle, and for this they get a present, which from a rich +man may be as much as ten rupees. The sacred thread proper is usually +made by Brahmans in the Central Provinces. Some of the Patwas wander +about hawking their wares from village to village. Besides the silk +threads they sell the _tiklis_ or large spangles which women wear +on their foreheads, lac bangles and balls of henna, and the large +necklaces of lac beads covered with tinsel of various colours which +are worn in Chhattisgarh. A Patwa must not rear the tasar silkworm +nor boil the cocoons on pain of expulsion from caste. + + + + + +Pindari + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin of the name_. + 2. _Rise of the Pindaris_. + 3. _Their strength and sphere of operations_. + 4. _Pindari expeditions and methods_. + 5. _Return from an expedition_. + 6. _Suppression of the Pindaris_. _Death of Chitu_. + 7. _Character of the Pindaris_. + 8. _The existing Pindaris_. + 9. _Attractions of a Pindari's life_. + + + + +1. Origin of the name + +_Pindari, Pindara, Pendhari._ [436]--The well-known professional +class of freebooters, whose descendants now form a small cultivating +caste. In the Central Provinces they numbered about 150 persons +in 1911, while there are about 10,000 in India. They are mainly +Muhammadans but include some Hindus. The Pindaris of the Central +Provinces are for the most part the descendants of Gonds, Korkus +and Bhils whose children were carried off in the course of raids, +circumcised, and brought up to follow the profession of a Pindari. When +the bands were dispersed many of them returned to their native +villages and settled down. Malcolm considered that the name Pindari +was derived from _pinda_, an intoxicating drink, and was given to +them on account of their dissolute habits. He adds that Karim Khan, +a famous Pindari leader, had never heard of any other reason for +the name, and Major Henley had the etymology confirmed by the most +intelligent of the Pindaris of whom he inquired. [437] In support of +this may be adduced the name of Bhangi, given to the sweeper caste on +account of their drinking _bhang_ or hemp. Wilson again held the most +probable derivation to be from the Marathi _pendha_, in the sense of +a bundle of rice-straw, and _hara_ one who takes, because the name +was originally applied to horsemen who hung on to an army and were +employed in collecting forage. The fact that the existing Pindaris +are herdsmen and tenders of buffaloes and thus might well have been +employed for the collection of forage may be considered somewhat to +favour the above view; but the authors of _Hobson-Jobson_, after citing +these derivations, continue: "We cannot think any of the etymologies +very satisfactory. We venture another as a plausible suggestion +merely. Both _pind-parna_ in Hindi and _pindas-basnen_ in Marathi +signify 'to follow,' the latter being defined as 'to stick closely; +to follow to the death; used of the adherence of a disagreeable +fellow.' Such phrases could apply to these hangers-on of an army in +the field looking out for prey." Mr. W. Irvine [438] has suggested +that the word comes from a place or region called Pandhar, which +is referred to by native historians and seems to have been situated +between Burhanpur and Handia on the Nerbudda; and states that there is +good evidence to prove that a large number of Pindaris were settled +in this part of the country. Mr. D. Chisholm reports from Nimar that +"Pandhar or Pandhar is the name given to a stream which rises in the +Gularghat hills of the Asir range and flows after a very circuitous +course into the Masak river by Mandeva. The name signifies five, +as it is joined by four other small streams. The Asir hills were the +haunts of the Pindaris, and the country about these, especially by +the banks of the Pandhar, is very wild; but it is not commonly known +that the Pindaris derived their name from this stream." And as the +Pindaris are first heard of as hangers-on of the Maratha armies in +the Deccan prior to A.D. 1700, it seems unlikely also that their +name can be taken from a place in the Nimar District, where it is +not recorded that they were settled before 1794. Nor does the Pandhar +itself seem sufficiently important to have given a name to the whole +body of freebooters. Malcolm's or Wilson's derivations are perhaps on +the whole the most probable. Prinsep writes: "Pindara seems to have +the same reference to Pandour that Kuzak has to Cossack. The latter +word is of Turkish origin but is commonly used to express a mounted +robber in Hindustan." Though the Pandours were the predatory light +cavalry of the Austrian army, and had considerable resemblance to +the Pindaris, it does not seem possible to suppose that there is any +connection between the two words. The Pendra zamindari in Bilaspur is +named after the Pindaris, the dense forests of the Rewah plateau which +includes Pendra having been one of their favourite asylums of refuge. + + + + +2. Rise of the Pindaris + +The Pindari bands appear to have come into existence during the wars +of the late Muhammadan dynasties in the Deccan, and in the latter part +of the seventeenth century they attached themselves to the Marathas in +their revolt against Aurangzeb. The first mention of the name occurs +at this time. During and after the Maratha wars many of the Pindari +leaders obtained grants in Central India from Sindhia and Holkar, +and were divided into two parties owing a nominal allegiance to these +princes and designated as the Sindhia Shahi and Holkar Shahi. In the +period of chaos which reigned at this time outside British territories +their raids in all directions attended by the most savage atrocities +became more and more intolerable. These outrages extended from +Bundelkhand to Cuddapah south of Madras and from Orissa to Gujarat. + +When attached to the Maratha armies, Malcolm states, the Pindaris +always camped separately and were not permitted to plunder in the +Maratha territories; they were given an allowance averaging four +annas each a day, and further supported themselves by employing +their small horses and bullocks in carrying grain, forage and wood, +for which articles the Pindari bazar was the great mart. When let +loose to pillage, which was always the case some days before the +army entered an enemy's country, all allowances stopped; no restraint +whatever was put upon these freebooters till the campaign was over, +when the Maratha commander, if he had the power, generally seized +the Pindari chiefs or surrounded their camps and forced them to yield +up the greater part of their booty. A knowledge of this practice led +the Pindaris to redouble their excesses, that they might be able to +satisfy without ruin the expected rapacity of their employers. + +In 1794, Grant-Duff writes, Sindhia assigned some lands to the +Pindaris near the banks of the Nerbudda, which they soon extended +by conquests from the Grassias or original independent landholders +in their neighbourhood. Their principal leaders at that time were +two brothers named Hiru and Burun, who are said to have been put +to death for their aggressions on the territory of Sindhia and +of Raghuji Bhonsla. The sons of Hiru and Burun became Pindari +chiefs; but Karim Khan, a Pindara who had acquired great booty +at the plunder of the Nizam's troops after the battle of Hurdla, +and was distinguished by superior cunning and enterprise, was the +principal leader of this refuse of the Maratha armies. Karim got the +district of Shujahalpur from Umar Khan which, with some additions, +was afterwards confirmed to him by Sindhia. During the war of 1803 +and the subsequent disturbed state of the country Karim contrived to +obtain possession of several districts in Malwa belonging to Sindhia's +jagirdars; and his land revenue at one time is said to have amounted +to fifteen lakhs of rupees a year. He also wrested some territory from +the Nawab of Bhopal on which he built a fort as a place of security +for his family and of deposit for his plunder. Karim was originally a +Sindhia Shahi, but like most of the Pindaris, except about 5000 of the +Holkar Shahis who remained faithful, he changed sides or plundered +his master whenever it suited his convenience, which was as often +as he found an opportunity. Sindhia, jealous of his encroachments, +on pretence of lending him some gems inveigled him to an interview, +made him prisoner, plundered his camp, recovered the usurped districts +and lodged Karim in the fort of Gwalior. + +A number of leaders started up after the confinement of Karim, +of whom Chitu, Dost Muhammad, Namdar Khan and Sheikh Dullah became +the most conspicuous. They associated themselves with Amir Khan in +1809 during his expedition to Berar; and in 1810, when Karim Khan +purchased his release from Gwalior, they assembled under that leader +a body of 25,000 horse and some battalions of newly raised infantry +with which they again proposed to invade Berar; but Chitu, always +jealous of Karim's ascendency, was detached by Raghuji Bhonsla from +the alliance, and afterwards co-operated with Sindhia in attacking +him; Karim was in consequence driven to seek an asylum with his old +patron Amir Khan, but by the influence of Sindhia Amir Khan kept him +in a state of confinement until 1816. + +When the Marathas ceased to spread themselves over India, the Pindaris +who had attended their armies were obliged to plunder the territories +of their former protectors for subsistence. To the unemployed soldiery +of India, particularly to the Muhammadans, the life of a Pindara had +many allurements; but the Maratha horsemen who possessed hereditary +rights or had any pretensions to respectability did not readily join +them. One of the above leaders, Sheikh Dullah or Abdullah, apparently +became a dacoit after the Pindaris had been dispersed, and he is +still remembered in Hoshangabad and Nimar in the following saying: + + + Niche zamin aur upar Allah, + Aur bich men phiren Sheikh Dullah, + + +or 'God is above and the earth beneath, and Sheikh Dullah ranges at +his will between.' + + + + +3. Their strength and sphere of operations + +In 1814, Prinsep states, [439] the actual military force at the +disposal of the Pindaris amounted to 40,000 horse, inclusive of the +Pathans, who though more orderly and better disciplined than the +Pindaris of the Nerbudda, possessed the same character and were +similarly circumstanced in every respect, supporting themselves +entirely by depredations whenever they could practise them. Their +number would be doubled were we to add the remainder of Holkar's +troops of the irregular kind, which were daily deserting the service +of a falling house in order to engage in the more profitable career +of predatory enterprise; and the loose cavalry establishments of +Sindhia and the Bhonsla, which were bound by no ties but those of +present entertainment, and were always in great arrears of pay. The +presence of this force in the centre of India and able to threaten +each of the three Presidencies imposed the most extensive annual +precautions for defence, in spite of which the territories of our +allies were continually overrun. On two occasions, once when they +entered Gujarat in 1808-9 and again in 1812 when the Bengal provinces +of Mirzapur and Shahabad were devastated, they penetrated into our +immediate territories. Grant-Duff records that in one raid on the coast +from Masulipatam northward they in ten days plundered 339 villages, +burning many, killing and wounding 682 persons, torturing 3600 and +carrying off or destroying property to the amount of two lakhs and +a half. Indeed their reputation was such that the mere rumour of an +incursion caused a regular panic at Madras in 1816, of which General +Hislop gives an amusing account: [440] "In the middle of this year the +troops composing the garrison of Fort St. George were moved out and +encamped on the island outside Black Town wall. This imprudent step +was taken, as was affirmed, to be in readiness to meet the Pindaris, +who were reported to be on their road to Madras, although it was well +known that not half a dozen of them were at that time within 200 miles +of the place. The native inhabitants of all classes throughout Madras +and its vicinity were in the utmost alarm, and looked for places of +retreat and security for their property. It brought on Madras all +the distresses in imagination of Hyder Ali's invasion. It was about +this period that an idle rumour reached Madras of the arrival of the +Pindaris at the Mount; all was uproar, flight and despair to the walls +of Madras. This alarm originated in a few Dhobis and grass-cutters +of the artillery having mounted their _tattus_ and, in mock imitation +of the Pindaris, galloped about and played with long bamboos in their +hands in the vicinity of the Mount. The effect was such, however, that +many of the civil servants and inhabitants of the Mount Road packed +up and moved to the Fort for protection. Troopers, messengers, etc., +were seen galloping to the Government House and thence to the different +public authorities. Such was the alarm in the Government House that +on the afternoon of that day an old officer, anxious to offer some +advice to the Governor, rode smartly to the Government gardens, and on +reaching the entrance observed the younger son of the Governor running +with all possible speed into the house; who having got to a place of +security ventured to look back and then discovered in the old officer +a face which he had before seen; when turning back again he exclaimed, +'Upon my word, sir, I was so frightened I took you for a Pindari.'" + + + + +4. Pindari expeditions and methods + +A Pindari expedition [441] usually started at the close of the rains, +as soon as the rivers became fordable after the Dasahra festival in +October. Their horses were then shod, having previously been carefully +trained to prepare them for long marches and hard work. A leader of +tried courage having been chosen as Luhbaria, all who were so inclined +set forth on a foray, or Luhbar as it was called in the Pindari +nomenclature, the strength of the party often amounting to several +thousands. In every thousand Pindaris about 400 were tolerably well +mounted and armed; of this number about every fifteenth man carried +a matchlock, but their favourite weapon was the ordinary bamboo +spear of the Marathas, from 12 to 18 feet long. Of the remaining 600 +two-thirds were usually common Lootais or plunderers, indifferently +mounted and armed with every variety of weapon; and the rest slaves, +attendants and camp-followers, mounted on _tattus_ or wild ponies and +keeping up with the Luhbar in the best manner they could. They were +encumbered neither by tents nor baggage; each horseman carried a few +cakes of bread for his own subsistence and some feeds of grain for +his horse. They advanced at the rapid rate of forty or fifty miles a +day, neither turning to the right nor to the left till they arrived at +their place of destination. They then divided, and made a sweep of all +the cattle and property they could find; committing at the same time +the most horrid atrocities and destroying what they could not carry +away. They trusted to the secrecy and suddenness of the irruption +for avoiding those who guarded the frontiers of the countries they +invaded; and before a force could be brought against them they were on +their return. Their chief strength lay in their being intangible. If +pursued they made marches of extraordinary length, sometimes upwards +of sixty miles, by roads almost impracticable for regular troops. If +overtaken they dispersed and reassembled at an appointed rendezvous; +if followed to the country from which they issued they broke into small +parties. The cruelties they perpetrated were beyond belief. As it was +impossible for them to remain more than a few hours on the same spot +the utmost despatch was necessary in rifling any towns or villages +into which they could force an entrance; every one whose appearance +indicated the probability of his possessing money was immediately +put to the most horrid torture till he either pointed out his hoard +or died under the infliction. Nothing was safe from the pursuit of +Pindari lust or avarice; it was their common practice to burn and +destroy what they could not carry away; and in the wantonness of +barbarity to ravish and murder women and children under the eyes of +their husbands and parents. The ordinary modes of torture inflicted +by these miscreants were to apply red-hot irons to the soles of the +feet; or to throw the victim on the ground and place a plank or beam +across his chest on which two men pressed with their whole weight; +and to throw oil on the clothes and set fire to them, or tie wisps +of rag soaked in oil to the ends of all the victim's fingers and set +fire to these. Another favourite method was to put hot ashes into a +horse-bag, which they tied over a man's mouth and nostrils and thumped +him on the back until he inhaled the ashes. The effect on the lungs +of the sufferer was such that few long survived the operation. + + + + +5. Return from an expedition + +The return of the Pindaris from an expedition presented at one view +their character and habits. When they recrossed the Nerbudda and +reached their homes their camp became like a fair. After the claims +of the chief of the territory (whose right was a fourth part of the +booty, but who generally compounded for one or two valuable articles) +had been satisfied, the usual share paid to their Luhbaria, or chosen +leader for the expedition, and all debts to merchants and others who +had made advances discharged, the plunder of each man was exposed for +sale; traders from every part came to make cheap bargains; and while +the women were busy in disposing of their husbands' property, the men, +who were on such occasions certain of visits from all their friends, +were engaged in hearing music, seeing dancers and drolls, and in +drinking. This life of debauchery and excess lasted till their money +was gone; they were then compelled to look for new scenes of rapine, +or, if the season was favourable, were supported by their chiefs, or +by loans at high interest from merchants who lived in their camps, many +of whom amassed large fortunes. This worst part of the late population +of Central India is, as a separate community, now extinct. [442] + + + + +6. Suppression of the Pindaris. Death of Chitu + +The result of the Pindari raids was that Central India was being +rapidly reduced to the condition of a desert, and the peasants, unable +to support themselves on the land, had no option but to join the robber +bands or starve. It was not until 1817 that Lord Hastings obtained +authority from home to take regular measures for their repression; +and at the same time he also forced or persuaded the principal chiefs +of Central India to act vigorously in concert with him. When these +were put into operation and the principal routes from Central India +occupied by British detachments, the Pindaris were completely broken +up and scattered in the course of a single campaign. They made no +stand against regular troops, and their bands, unable to escape from +the ring of forces drawn round them, were rapidly dispersed over +the country. The people eagerly plundered and seized them in revenge +for the wrongs long suffered at their hands, and the Bhil Grassias +or border landholders gladly carried out the instructions to hunt +them down. On one occasion a native havildar with only thirty-four +men attacked and put a large body of them to flight. The principal +chiefs, reduced to the condition of hunted outlaws in the jungles, +soon accepted the promise of their lives, and on surrendering +were either settled on a grant of land or kept in confinement. The +well-known leader Chitu joined Apa Sahib, who had then escaped from +Nagpur and was in hiding in the Pachmarhi hills. Being expelled from +there in February 1819 he proceeded to the fort of Asirgarh in Nimar, +but was refused admittance by Sindhia's commandant. He sought shelter +in the neighbouring jungle, and on horseback and alone attempted to +penetrate a thick cover known to be infested with tigers. He was missed +for some days afterwards and no one knew what had become of him. His +horse was at last discovered grazing near the margin of the forest, +saddled and bridled, and exactly in the state in which it was when +Chitu had last been seen upon it. Upon search a bag of Rs. 250 was +found in the saddle; and several seal rings with some letters of Apa +Sahib, promising future reward, served more completely to fix the +identity of the horse's late master. These circumstances, combined +with the known resort of tigers to the spot, induced a search for +the body, when at no great distance some clothes clotted with blood, +and farther on fragments of bones, and at last the Pindari's head +entire with features in a state to be recognised, were successively +discovered. The chief's mangled remains were given over to his son +for interment, and the miserable fate of one who so shortly before +had ridden at the head of twenty thousand horse gave an awful lesson +of the uncertainty of fortune and drew pity even from those who had +been victims of his barbarity when living. [443] + + + + +7. Character of the Pindaris + +The Pindaris, as might be expected, were recruited from all classes +and castes, and though many became Muhammadans the Hindus preserved +the usages of their respective castes. Most of the Hindu men belonged +to the Ladul or grass-cutter class, and their occupation was to bring +grass and firewood to the camps. "Those born in the Durrahs or camps," +Malcolm states, [444] "appear to have been ignorant in a degree almost +beyond belief and were in the same ratio superstitious. The women of +almost all the Muhammadan Pindaris dressed like Hindus and worshipped +Hindu deities. From accompanying their husbands in most of their +excursions they became hardy and masculine; they were usually mounted +on small horses or camels, and were more dreaded by the villagers +than the men, whom they exceeded in cruelty and rapacity." Colonel +Tod notes that the Pindaris, like other Indian robbers, were devout +in the observance of their religion: + +"A short distance to the west of the Regent's (Kotah) camp is the +Pindari-ka-chhaoni, where the sons of Karim Khan, the chief leader of +those hordes, resided; for in those days of strife the old Regent would +have allied himself with Satan, if he had led a horde of plunderers. I +was greatly amused to see in this camp the commencement of an Id-Gah +or place of prayer; for the villains, while they robbed and murdered +even defenceless women, prayed five times a day!" [445] + + + + +8. The existing Pindaris + +While the freebooting Pindaris had no regular caste organisation, +their descendants have now become more or less of a caste in +accordance with the usual tendency of a distinctive occupation, +producing a difference in status, to form a fresh caste. The existing +Pindaris in the Central Provinces are both Muhammadans and Hindus, the +Muhammadans, as already stated, having been originally the children +of Hindus who were kidnapped and converted. It is one of the very +few merits of the Pindaris that they did not sell their captives to +slavery. Their numerous prisoners of all ages and both sexes were +employed as servants, made over to the chiefs or held to ransom from +their relatives, but the Pindaris did not carry on like the Banjaras +a traffic in slaves. [446] The Muhammadan Pindaris were said some +time ago to have no religion, but with the diffusion of knowledge +they have now adopted the rites of Islam and observe its rules and +restrictions. In Bhandara the Hindu Pindaris are Garoris or Gowaris, +They say that the ancestors of the Pindaris and Gowaris were two +brothers, the business of the Pindari brother being to tend buffaloes +and that of the Gowari brother to herd cows. These Pindaris will +beg from the owners of buffaloes for the above reason. They revere +the dog and will not kill it, and also worship snakes and tigers, +believing that these animals never do them injury. They carry their +dead to the grave in a sitting posture, seated in a _jholi_ or wallet, +and bury them in the same position. They wear their beards and do +not shave. Some of these Pindaris are personal servants, others +cultivators and labourers, and others snake-charmers and jugglers. + + + + +9. Attractions of a Pindari's life + +The freebooting life of the Pindaris, unmitigated scoundrels though +they were, no doubt had great charms, and must often have been recalled +with regret by those who settled down to the quiet humdrum existence +of a cultivator. This feeling has been admirably depicted in Sir +Alfred Lyall's well-known poem, of which it will be permissible to +quote a short extract: + + + When I rode a Dekhani charger with the saddle-cloth gold-laced, + And a Persian sword and a twelve-foot spear and a pistol at + my waist. + It's many a year gone by now; and yet I often dream + Of a long dark march to the Jumna, of splashing across the stream, + Of the waning moon on the water and the spears in the dim starlight + As I rode in front of my mother [447] and wondered at all the + sight. + Then the streak of the pearly dawn--the flash of a sentinel's gun, + The gallop and glint of horsemen who wheeled in the level sun, + The shots in the clear still morning, the white smoke's eddying + wreath, + Is this the same land that I live in, the dull dank air that + I breathe? + And if I were forty years younger, with my life before me to + choose, + I wouldn't be lectured by Kafirs or bullied by fat Hindoos; + But I'd go to some far-off country where Musalmans still are men, + Or take to the jungle like Chetoo, and die in the tiger's den. + + + + + +Prabhu + + + + +1. Historical notice + +_Prabhu, Parbhu._--The Maratha caste of clerks, accountants and +patwaris corresponding to the Kayasths. They numbered about 1400 +persons in the southern Districts of the Central Provinces and Berar +in 1911. The Prabhus, like the Kayasths, claim to be descendants of +a child of Chandra Sena, a Kshatriya king and himself a son of Arjun, +one of the five Pandava brothers. Chandra Sena was slain by Parasurama, +the Brahman destroyer of the Kshatriyas, but the child was saved by a +Rishi, who promised that he should be brought up as a clerk. The boy +was named Somraj and was married to the daughter of Chitra Gupta, the +recorder of the dead. The caste thus claim Kshatriya origin. The name +Prabhu signifies 'lord,' but the Brahmans pretend that the real name +of the caste was Parbhu, meaning one of irregular birth. The Prabhus +say that Parbhu is a colloquial corruption used by the uneducated. The +_gotras_ of the Prabhus are eponymous, the names being the same as +those of Brahmans. In the Central Provinces many of them have the +surname of Chitnavis or Secretary. Child-marriage is in vogue and +widow-remarriage is forbidden. The wedding ceremony resembles that +of the Brahmans. + +In his _Description of a Prabhu marriage_ [448] Rai Bahadur B.A. Gupte +shows how the old customs are being broken through among the educated +classes under the influence of modern ideas. Marriages are no longer +arranged without regard to the wishes of the couple, which are thus +ascertained: "The next step [449] is to find out the inclination of the +hero of the tale. His friends and equals do that easily enough. They +begin talking of the family and the girl, and are soon able to fathom +his mind. They leave on his desk all the photographs of the girls +offered and watch his movements. If he is sensible he quietly drops +or returns all the likenesses except the one he prefers, and keeps +this in his drawer. He dare not display it, for it is immodest to do +so. The news of the approval by the boy soon reaches the parents of the +girl." Similarly in her case: "The girl has no direct voice, but her +likes and dislikes are carefully fathomed through her girl friends. If +she says, 'Why is papa in such a hurry to get rid of me,' or turns +her face and goes away as soon as the proposed family is mentioned, +a sensible father drops the case and turns his attention to some other +boy. This is the direct result of higher education under British rule, +but among the masses the girl has absolutely no voice, and the boy has +very little unless he revolts and disobediently declines to accept a +girl already selected." Similarly the educated Prabhus are beginning +to dispense with the astrologer's calculations showing the agreement +of the horoscopes of the couple, which are too often made a cloak for +the extortion of large presents. "It very often happens that everything +is amicably settled except the greed of the priest, and he manages to +find out some disagreement between the horoscopes of the marriageable +parties to vent his anger. This trick has been sufficiently exposed, +and the educated portion of this ultra-literary caste have in most +cases discarded horoscopes and planetary conjunctions altogether. Under +these restrictions the only thing the council of astrologers have to +do is to draw up two documents giving diagrams based on the names +of the parties--for names are presumably selected according to the +conjunctions of the stars at birth. But they are often not, and depend +on the liking of the father for a family god, a mythological hero, +a patron or a celebrated ancestor in the case of the boy. In that of +the girl the favourite deity or a character in the most recent fable +or drama the father has just read." + +According to custom the bridegroom should go to the bride's house to +be married, but if it is more convenient to have the wedding at the +bridegroom's town, the bride goes there to a temporary house taken +by her father, and then the bridegroom proceeds to a temple with +his party and is welcomed as if he had arrived on completion of a +journey. Mr. Gupte thus describes the reception of the bride when +she has come to be married: "But there comes an urgent telegram. The +bride and her mother are expected and information is given to the +bridegroom's father. In all haste preparations are made to give +her a grand and suitable reception. Oh, the flutter among the girls +assembled in the house of the bridegroom from all quarters. Every one +is dressed in her best and is trying to be the foremost in welcoming +the new bride, the Goddess Lakshmi. The numerous maidservants of +the house want to prostrate themselves before their future queen on +the Suna or borderland of the city, which is of course the railway +station. Musicians have been already despatched and the platform is +full of gaily dressed girls. The train arrives, the party assemble at +the waiting-room, a maidservant waves rice and water to 'take off' +the effects of evil eyes and they start amid admiring eyes of the +passengers and onlookers. As soon as the bride reaches her father's +temporary residence another girl waves rice and water and throws +it away. The girls of the bridegroom's house run home and come back +again with a Kalash (water-pot) full of water, with its mouth covered +with mango-leaves and topped over with a cocoanut and a large tray of +sugar. This is called _Sakhar pani_, sugar and water, the first to +wash the mouth with and the second to sweeten it. The girls have by +this time all gathered round the bride and are busy cheering her up +with encouraging remarks: 'Oh, she is a Rati, the goddess of beauty,' +says one, and another, 'How delicate,' 'What a fine nose' from a +third, and 'Look at her eyes' from a fourth. All complimentary and +comforting. 'We are glad it is our house you are coming to,' says +a sister-in-law in prospect. 'We are happy you are going to be our +_malikin_ (mistress),' adds a maidservant. As soon as the elder ladies +have completed their courteous inquiries _pan-supari_ and _attar_ are +distributed and the party returns home. But on arrival the girls gather +round the bridegroom to tease him. 'Oh, you Sudharak (reformer),' 'Oh, +you Sahib (European), _you_ have selected your bride.' 'You have seen +her _before_ marriage. You have broken the rule of the society. You +ought to be excommunicated.' 'But,' says another, 'he will now have +no time to speak to us. His Rati (goddess of beauty) and he! The Sahib +and the Memsahib! We shall all be forgotten now. Who cares for sisters +and cousins in these days of civilisation?' But all these little jokes +of the little girls are meant as congratulations to him for having +secured a good girl." At a wedding among the highest families such +as is described here, the bridegroom is presented with drinking cups +and plates, trays for holding sandalwood paste, betel-leaf and an +incense-burner, all in solid silver to the value of about Rs. 1000; +water-pots and cooking vessels and a small bath in German silver +costing Rs. 300 to Rs. 400; and a set of brass vessels. [450] + + + + +2. General Customs + +The Prabhus wear the sacred thread. In Bombay boys receive it a short +time before their marriage without the ceremonies which form part of +the regular Brahman investiture. On the fifth day after the birth +of a child, the sword and also pens, paper and ink are worshipped, +the sword being the symbol of their Kshatriya origin and the pens, +paper and ink of their present occupation of clerks. [451] The +funeral ceremonies, Mr. Enthoven writes, are performed during the +first thirteen days after death. Oblations of rice are offered every +day, in consequence of which the soul of the dead attains a spiritual +body, limb by limb, till on the thirteenth day it is enabled to start +on its journey. In twelve months the journey ends, and a _shraddh_ +ceremony is performed on an extensive scale on the anniversary of +the death. Most of the Prabhus are in Government service and others +are landowners. In the Bombay Presidency [452] they had at first +almost a monopoly of Government service as English writers, and the +term Prabhu was commonly employed to denote a clerk of any caste who +could write English. Both men and women of the caste are generally +of a fair complexion, resembling the Maratha Brahmans. The taste of +the women in dress is proverbial, and when a Sunar, Sutar or Kasar +woman has dressed herself in her best for some family festival, she +will ask her friends, '_Prabhuin disto_,' or 'Do I look like a Prabhu?' + + + + + +Raghuvansi + + + +1. Historical notice + +_Raghuvansi, Raghvi._--A class of Rajputs of impure descent, who have +now developed in the Central Provinces into a caste of cultivators, +marrying among themselves. Their first settlement here was in the +Nerbudda Valley, and Sir C. Elliott wrote of them: [453] "They are +a queer class, all professing to be Rajputs from Ajodhia, though on +cross-examination they are obliged to confess that they did not come +here straight from Ajodhia, but stopped in Bundelkhand and the Gwalior +territory by the way. They are obviously of impure blood as they marry +only among themselves; but when they get wealthy and influential they +assume the sacred thread, stop all familiarity with Gujars and Kirars +(with whom they are accustomed to smoke the huqqa and to take water) +and profess to be very high-caste Rajputs indeed." From Hoshangabad +they have spread to Betul, Chhindwara and Nagpur and now number 24,000 +persons in all in the Central Provinces. Chhindwara, on the Satpura +plateau, is supposed to have been founded by one Ratan Raghuvansi, +who built the first house on the site, burying a goat alive under +the foundations. The goat is still worshipped as the tutelary deity +of the town. The name Raghuvansi is derived from Raja Raghu, king of +Ajodhia and ancestor of the great Rama, the hero of the Ramayana. In +Nagpur the name has been shortened to Raghvi, and the branch of the +caste settled here is somewhat looked down upon by their fellows +in Hoshangabad. Sir R. Craddock [454] states that their religion +is unorthodox and they have _gurus_ or priests of their own caste, +discarding Brahmans. Their names end in Deo. Their origin, however, +is still plainly discernible in their height, strength of body and +fair complexion. The notice continues: "Whatever may happen to other +classes the Raghvi will never give way to the moneylender. Though he +is fond of comfort he combines a good deal of thrift with it, and the +clannish spirit of the caste would prevent any oppression of Raghvi +tenants by a landlord or moneylender of their own body." In Chhindwara, +Mr. Montgomerie states, [455] they rank among the best cultivators, +and formerly lived in clans, holding villages on _bhaiachari_ or +communal tenure. As malguzars or village proprietors, they are very +prone to absorb tenant land into their home-farms. + + + + +2. Social customs + +The Raghuvansis have now a set of exogamous groups of the usual +low-caste type, designated after titles, nicknames or natural +objects. They sometimes invest their sons with the sacred thread +at the time of marriage instead of performing the proper thread +ceremony. Some discard the cord after the wedding is over. At +a marriage the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur combine the +Hindustani custom of walking round the sacred pole with the Maratha one +of throwing coloured rice on the bridal couple. Sometimes they have +what is known as a _gankar_ wedding. At this, flour, sugar and _ghi_ +[456] are the only kinds of food permissible, large cakes of flour +and sugar being boiled in pitchers full of _ghi_, and everybody being +given as much of this as he can eat. The guests generally over-eat +themselves, and as weddings are celebrated in the hot weather, one or +two may occasionally die of repletion. The neighbours of Raghuvansis +say that the host considers such an occurrence as evidence of the +complete success of his party, but this is probably a libel. Such a +wedding feast may cost two or three thousand rupees. After the wedding +the women of the bride's party attack those of the bridegroom's +with bamboo sticks, while these retaliate by throwing red powder +on them. The remarriage of widows is freely permitted, but a widow +must be taken from the house of her own parents or relatives, and +not from that of her first husband or his parents. In fact, if any +members of the dead husband's family meet the second husband on the +night of the wedding they will attack him and a serious affray may +follow. On reaching her new house the woman enters it by a back door, +after bathing and changing all her clothes. The old clothes are given +away to a barber or washerman, and the presentation of new clothes +by the second husband is the only essential ceremony. No wife will +look on a widow's face on the night of her second marriage, for fear +lest by doing so she should come to the same position. The majority of +the caste abstain from liquor, and they eat flesh in some localities, +but not in others. The men commonly wear beards divided by a shaven +patch in the centre of the chin; and the women have two body-cloths, +one worn like a skirt according to the northern custom. Mr. Crooke +states [457] that "in northern India a tradition exists among them +that the cultivation of sugar is fatal to the farmer, and that the +tiling of a house brings down divine displeasure upon the owner; +hence to this day no sugar is grown and not a tiled house is to be +seen in their estates." These superstitions do not appear to be known +at all in the Central Provinces. + + + + + +Rajjhar + + + + +1. General notice + +_Rajjhar, Rajbhar, Lajjhar._--A caste of farmservants found in the +northern Districts. In 1911 they numbered about 8000 persons in the +Central Provinces, being returned principally from the Districts +of the Satpura plateau. The names Rajjhar and Rajbhar appear to be +applied indiscriminately to the same caste, who are an offshoot of +the great Bhar tribe of northern India. The original name appears +to have been Raj Bhar, which signifies a landowning Bhar, like +Raj-Gond, Raj-Korku and so on. In Mandla all the members of the +caste were shown as Rajbhar in 1891, and Rajjhar in 1901, and the +two names seem to be used interchangeably in other Districts in the +same manner. Some section or family names, such as Bamhania, Patela, +Barhele and others, are common to people calling themselves Rajjhar +and Rajbhar. But, though practically the same caste, the Rajjhars +seem, in some localities, to be more backward and primitive than the +Rajbhars. This is also the case in Berar, where they are commonly +known as Lajjhar and are said to be akin to the Gonds. A Gond will +there take food from a Lajjhar, but not a Lajjhar from a Gond. They +are more Hinduised than the Gonds and have prohibited the killing or +injuring of cows by some caste penalties. [458] + + + + +2. Origin and subdivisions + +The caste appears to be in part of mixed origin arising from the +unions of Hindu fathers with women of the Bhar tribe. Several of +their family names are derived from those of other castes, as Bamhania +(from Brahman), Sunarya (from Sunar), Baksaria (a Rajput sept), Ahiriya +(an Ahir or cowherd), and Bisatia from Bisati (a hawker). Other names +are after plants or animals, as Baslya from the _bans_ or bamboo, +Mohanya from the _mohin_ tree, Chhitkaria from the _sitaphal_ or +custard-apple tree, Hardaya from the banyan tree, Richhya from the +bear, and Dukhania from the buffalo. Members of this last sept will not +drink buffalo's milk or wear black cloth, because this is the colour +of their totem animal. Members of septs named after other castes have +also adopted some natural object as a sept totem; thus those of the +Sunarya sept worship gold as being the metal with which the Sunar is +associated. Those of the Bamhania sept revere the banyan and pipal +trees, as these are held sacred by Brahmans. The Bakraria or Bagsaria +sept believe their name to be derived from that of the _bagh_ or tiger, +and they worship this animal's footprints by tying a thread round them. + + + + +3. Marriage + +The marriage of members of the same sept, and also that of first +cousins, is forbidden. The caste do not employ Brahmans at their +marriage and other ceremonies, and they account for this somewhat +quaintly by saying that their ancestors were at one time accustomed +to rely on the calculations of Brahman priests; but many marriages +which the Brahman foretold as auspicious turned out very much the +reverse; and on this account they have discarded the Brahman, and now +determine the suitability or otherwise of a projected union by the +common primitive custom of throwing two grains of rice into a vessel +of water and seeing whether they will meet. The truth is probably that +they are too backward ever to have had recourse to the Brahman priest, +but now, though they still apparently have no desire for his services, +they recognise the fact to be somewhat discreditable to themselves, and +desire to explain it away by the story already given. In Hoshangabad +the bride still goes to the bridegroom's house to be married as among +the Gonds. A bride-price is paid, which consists of four rupees, +a _khandi_ [459] of juari or wheat, and two pieces of cloth. This +is received by the bride's father, who, however, has in turn to +pay seven rupees eight annas and a goat to the caste _panchayat_ +or committee for the arrangement and sanction of the match. This +last payment is known as _Skarab-ka-rupaya_ or liquor-money, and +with the goat furnishes the wherewithal for a sumptuous feast to the +caste. The marriage-shed must be made of freshly-cut timber, which +should not be allowed to fall to the ground, but must be supported +and carried off on men's shoulders as it is cut. When the bridegroom +arrives at the marriage-shed he is met by the bride's mother and +conducted by her to an inner room of the house, where he finds the +bride standing. He seizes her fist, which she holds clenched, and +opens her fingers by force. The couple then walk five times round the +_chauk_ or sacred space made with lines of flour on the floor, the +bridegroom holding the bride by her little finger. They are preceded +by some relative of the bride, who walks round the post carrying a +pot of water, with seven holes in it; the water spouts from these +holes on to the ground, and the couple must tread in it as they go +round the post. This forms the essential and binding portion of the +marriage. That night the couple sleep in the same room with a woman +lying between them. Next day they return to the bridegroom's house, +and on arriving at his door the boy's mother meets him and touches +his head, breast and knees with a churning-stick, a winnowing-fan and +a pestle, with the object of exorcising any evil spirits who may be +accompanying the bridal couple. As the pair enter the marriage-shed +erected before the bridegroom's house they are drenched with water by +a man sitting on the roof, and when they come to the door of the house +the bridegroom's younger brother, or some other boy, sits across it +with his legs stretched out to prevent the bride from entering. The +girl pushes his legs aside and goes into the house, where she stays +for three months with her husband, and then returns to her parents for +a year. After this she is sent to her husband with a basket of fried +cakes and a piece of cloth, and takes up her residence with him. When +a widow is to be married, the couple pour turmeric and water over each +other, and then walk seven times round in a circle in an empty space, +holding each other by the hand. A widow commonly marries her deceased +husband's younger brother, but is not compelled to do so. Divorce is +permitted for adultery on the part of the wife. + + + + +4. Social Customs + +The caste bury their dead with the head pointing to the west. This +practice is peculiar, and is also followed, Colonel Dalton states, by +the hill Bhuiyas of Bengal, who in so doing honour the quarter of the +setting sun. When a burial takes place, all the mourners who accompany +the corpse throw a little earth into the grave. On the same day some +food and liquor are taken to the grave and offered to the dead man's +spirit, and a feast is given to the caste-fellows. This concludes +the ceremonies of mourning, and the next day the relatives go about +their business. The caste are usually petty cultivators and labourers, +while they also collect grass and fuel for sale, and propagate the lac +insect. In Seoni they have a special relation with the Ahirs, from whom +they will take cooked food, while they say that the Ahirs will also eat +from their hands. In Narsinghpur a similar connection has been observed +between the Rajjhars and the Lodhi caste. This probably arises from +the fact that the former have worked for several generations as the +farm-servants of Lodhi or Ahir employers, and have been accustomed to +live in their houses and partake of their meals, so that caste rules +have been abandoned for the sake of convenience. A similar intimacy +has been observed between the Panwars and Gonds, and other castes +who stand in this relation to each other. The Rajjhars will also +eat _katcha_ food (cooked with water) from Kunbis and Kahars. But +in Hoshangabad some of them will not take food from any caste, even +from Brahmans. Their women wear glass bangles only on the right hand, +and a brass ornament known as _mathi_ on the left wrist. They wear +no ornaments in the nose or ears, and have no breast-cloth. They +are tattooed with dots on the face and patterns of animals on the +right arm, but not on the left arm or legs. A _liaison_ between +a youth and maiden of the caste is considered a trifling matter, +being punished only with a fine of two to four annas or pence. A +married woman detected in an intrigue is mulcted in a sum of four +or five rupees, and if her partner be a man of another caste a lock +of her hair is cut off. The caste are generally ignorant and dirty, +and are not much better than the Gonds and other forest tribes. + + + + + +Rajput + +[The following article is based mainly on Colonel Tod's classical +_Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan_, 2nd ed., Madras, Higginbotham, +1873, and Mr. Crooke's articles on the Rajput clans in his _Tribes and +Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_. Much information as to +the origin of the Rajput clans has been obtained from inscriptions and +worked up mainly by the late Mr. A.M.T. Jackson and Messrs. B.G. and +D.R. Bhandarkar; this has been set out with additions and suggestions +in Mr. V.A. Smith's _Early History of India_, 3rd ed., and has been +reproduced in the subordinate articles on the different clans. Though +many of the leading clans are very weakly represented in the Central +Provinces, some notice of them is really essential in an article +treating generally of the Rajput caste, on however limited a scale, and +has therefore been included. In four cases, Panwar, Jadum, Raghuvansi +and Daharia, the original Rajput clans have now developed into separate +cultivating castes, ranking well below the Rajputs; separate articles +have been written on these as for independent castes.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Introductory notice_. + 2. _The thirty-six royal races_. + 3. _The origin of the Rajputs_. + 4. _Subdivisions of the clans_. + 5. _Marriage customs_. + 6. _Funeral rites_. + 7. _Religion_. + 8. _Food_. + 9. _Opium_. + 10. _Improved training of Rajput chiefs_. + 11. _Dress_. + 12. _Social customs_. + 13. _Seclusion of women_. + 14. _Traditional character of the Rajputs_. + 15. _Occupation_. + + +List of Subordinate Articles + + + 1. Baghel. + 2. Bagri. + 3. Bais. + 4. Baksaria. + 5. Banaphar. + 6. Bhadauria. + 7. Bisen. + 8. Bundela. + 9. Chandel. + 10. Chauhan. + 11. Dhakar. + 12. Gaharwar, Gherwal. + 13. Gaur, Chamar-Gaur. + 14. Haihaya, Haihaivansi, Kalachuri. + 15. Huna, Hoon. + 16. Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha. + 17. Nagvansi. + 18. Nikumbh. + 19. Paik. + 20. Parihar. + 21. Rathor, Rathaur. + 22. Sesodia, Gahlot, Aharia. + 23. Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya. + 24. Somvansi, Chandravansi. + 25. Surajvansi. + 26. Tomara, Tuar, Tunwar. + 27. Yadu, Yadava, Yadu-Bhatti, Jadon. + + + + +1. Introductory notice + +_Rajput, Kshatriya, Chhatri, Thakur._--The Rajputs are the +representatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior class, the second +of the four main castes or orders of classical Hinduism, and were +supposed to have been made originally from the arms of Brahma. The old +name of Kshatriya is still commonly used in the Hindi form Chhatri, +but the designation Rajput, or son of a king, has now superseded +it as the standard name of the caste. Thakur, or lord, is the common +Rajput title, and that by which they are generally addressed. The total +number of persons returned as Rajputs in the Province in 1911 was about +440,000. India has about nine million Rajputs in all, and they are most +numerous in the Punjab, the United Provinces, and Bihar and Orissa, +Rajputana returning under 700,000 and Central India about 800,000. + +The bulk of the Rajputs in the Central Provinces are of very impure +blood. Several groups, such as the Panwars of the Wainganga Valley, +the Raghuvansis of Chhindwara and Nagpur, the Jadams of Hoshangabad and +the Daharias of Chhattisgarh, have developed into separate castes and +marry among themselves, though a true Rajput must not marry in his own +clan. Some of them have abandoned the sacred thread and now rank with +the good cultivating castes below Banias. Reference may be made to the +separate articles on these castes. Similarly the Surajvansi, Gaur or +Gorai, Chauhan, and Bagri clans marry among themselves in the Central +Provinces, and it is probable that detailed research would establish +the same of many clans or parts of clans bearing the name of Rajput in +all parts of India. If the definition of a proper Rajput were taken, +as it should be correctly, as one whose family intermarried with clans +of good standing, the caste would be reduced to comparatively small +dimensions. The name Dhakar, also shown as a Rajput clan, is applied +to a person of illegitimate birth, like Vidur. Over 100,000 persons, +or nearly a quarter of the total, did not return the name of any clan +in 1911, and these are all of mixed or illegitimate descent. They are +numerous in Nimar, and are there known as _chhoti-tur_ or low-class +Rajputs. The Bagri Rajputs of Seoni and the Surajvansis of Betal marry +among themselves, while the Bundelas of Saugor intermarry with two +other local groups, the Panwar and Dhundhele, all the three being of +impure blood. In Jubbulpore a small clan of persons known as Paik or +foot-soldier return themselves as Rajputs, but are no doubt a mixed +low-caste group. Again, some landholding sections of the primitive +tribes have assumed the names of Rajput clans. Thus the zamindars of +Bilaspur, who originally belonged to the Kawar tribe, call themselves +Tuar or Tomara Rajputs, and the landholding section of the Mundas +in Chota Nagpur say that they are of the Nagvansi clan. Other names +are returned which are not those of Rajput clans or their offshoots +at all. If these subdivisions, which cannot be considered as proper +Rajputs, and all those who have returned no clan be deducted, there +remain not more than 100,000 who might be admitted to be pure Rajputs +in Rajputana. But a close local scrutiny even of these would no doubt +result in the detection of many persons who have assumed and returned +the names of good clans without being entitled to them. And many +more would come away as being the descendants of remarried widows. A +Rajput of really pure family and descent is in fact a person of some +consideration in most parts of the Central Provinces. + + + + +2. The thirty-six royal races + +Traditionally the Rajputs are divided into thirty-six great clans +or races, of which Colonel Tod gives a list compiled from different +authorities as follows (alternative names by which the clan or +important branches of it are known are shown in brackets): + + + 1. Ikshwaka or Surajvansi. + 2. Indu, Somvansi or Chandravansi. + 3. Gahlot or Sesodia (Raghuvansi). + 4. Yadu (Bhatti, Jareja, Jadon, Banaphar). + 5. Tuar or Tomara. + 6. Rathor. + 7. Kachhwaha (Cutchwaha). + 8. Pramara or Panwar (Mori). + 9. Chauhan (Hara, Khichi, Nikumbh, Bhadauria). + 10. Chalukya or Solankhi (Baghel). + 11. Parihar. + 12. Chawara or Chaura. + 13. Tak or Takshac (Nagvansi, Mori). + 14. Jit or Gete. + 15. Huna. + 16. Kathi. + 17. Balla. + 18. Jhalla. + 19. Jaitwa or Kamari. + 20. Gohil. + 21. Sarweya. + 22. Silar. + 23. Dhabi. + 24. Gaur. + 25. Doda or Dor. + 26. Gherwal or Gaharwar (Bundela). + 27. Badgujar. + 28. Sengar. + 29. Sikarwal. + 30. Bais. + 31. Dahia. + 32. Johia. + 33. Mohil. + 34. Nikumbh. + 35. Rajpali. + 36. Dahima. + + +And two extra, Hul and Daharia. + +Several of the above races are extinct or nearly so, and on the other +hand some very important modern clans, as the Gautam, Dikhit and Bisen, +and such historically important ones as the Chandel and Haihaya, +are not included in the thirty-six royal races at all. Practically +all the clans should belong either to the solar and lunar branch, +that is, should be descended from the sun or moon, but the division, +if it ever existed, is not fully given by Colonel Tod. Two special +clans, the Surajvansi and Chandra or Somvansi, are named after the sun +and moon respectively; and a few others, as the Sesodia, Kachhwaha, +Gohil, Bais and Badgujar, are recorded as being of the solar race, +descended from Vishnu through his incarnation as Rama. The Rathors also +claimed solar lineage, but this was not wholly conceded by the Bhats, +and the Dikhits are assigned to the solar branch by their legends. The +great clan of the Yadavas, of whom the present Jadon or Jadum and +Bhatti Rajputs are representatives, was of the lunar race, tracing +their descent from Krishna, though, as a matter of fact, Krishna was +also an incarnation of Vishnu or the sun; and the Tuar or Tomara, +as well as the Jit or Gete, the Rajput section of the modern Jats, +who were considered to be branches of the Yadavas, would also be of +the moon division, The Gautam and Bisen clans, who are not included in +the thirty-six royal races, now claim lunar descent. Four clans, the +Panwar, Chauhan, Chalukya or Solankhi, and Parihar, had a different +origin, being held to have been born through the agency of the gods +from a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu. They are hence known +as Agnikula or the fire races. Several clans, such as the Tak or +Takshac, the Huna and the Chaura, were considered by Colonel Tod to +be the representatives of the Huns or Scythians, that is, the nomad +invading tribes from Central Asia, whose principal incursions took +place during the first five centuries of the Christian era. + +At least six of the thirty-six royal races, the Sarweya, Silar, Doda +or Dor, Dahia, Johia and Mohil, were extinct in Colonel Tod's time, +and others were represented only by small settlements in Rajputana and +Surat. On the other hand, there are now a large number of new clans, +whose connection with the thirty-six is doubtful, though in many +cases they are probably branches of the old clans who have obtained +a new name on settling in a different locality. + + + + +3. The origin of the Rajputs + +It was for long the custom to regard the Rajputs as the direct +descendants and representatives of the old Kshatriya or warrior +class of the Indian Aryans, as described in the Vedas and the great +epics. Even Colonel Tod by no means held this view in its entirety, +and modern epigraphic research has caused its partial or complete +abandonment Mr. V.A. Smith indeed says: [460] "The main points to +remember are that the Kshatriya or Rajput caste is essentially an +occupational caste, composed of all clans following the Hindu ritual +who actually undertook the act of government; that consequently people +of most diverse races were and are lumped together as Rajputs, and +that most of the great clans now in existence are descended either +from foreign immigrants of the fifth or sixth century A.D. or from +indigenous races such as the Gonds and Bhars." Colonel Tod held three +clans, the Tak or Takshac, the Huna and the Chaura, to be descended +from Scythian or nomad Central Asian immigrants, and the same origin +has been given for the Haihaya. The Huna clan actually retains the +name of the White Huns, from whose conquests in the fifth century it +probably dates its existence. The principal clan of the lunar race, +the Yadavas, are said to have first settled in Delhi and at Dwarka in +Gujarat. But on the death of Krishna, who was their prince, they were +expelled from these places, and retired across the Indus, settling in +Afghanistan. Again, for some reason which the account does not clearly +explain, they came at a later period to India and settled first in +the Punjab and afterwards in Rajputana. The Jit or Jat and the Tomara +clans were branches of the Yadavas, and it is supposed that the Jits +or Jats were also descended from the nomad invading tribes, possibly +from the Yueh-chi tribe who conquered and occupied the Punjab during +the first and second centuries. [461] The legend of the Yadavas, who +lived in Gujarat with their chief Krishna, but after his defeat and +death retired to Central Asia, and at a later date returned to India, +would appear to correspond fairly well with the Saka invasion of the +second century B.C. which penetrated to Kathiawar and founded a dynasty +there. In A.D. 124 the second Saka king was defeated by the Andhra +king Vilivayakura II. and his kingdom destroyed. [462] But at about +the same period, the close of the first century, a fresh horde of the +Sakas came to Gujarat from Central Asia and founded another kingdom, +which lasted until it was subverted by Chandragupta Vikramaditya +about A.D. 390. [463] The historical facts about the Sakas, as given +on the authority of Mr. V.A. Smith, thus correspond fairly closely +with the Yadava legend. And the later Yueh-chi immigrants might +well be connected by the Bhats with the Saka hordes who had come +at an earlier date from the same direction, and so the Jats [464] +might be held to be an offshoot of the Yadavas. This connection of +the Yadava and Jat legends with the facts of the immigration of the +Sakas and Yueh-chi appears a plausible one, but may be contradicted +by historical arguments of which the writer is ignorant. If it were +correct we should be justified in identifying the lunar clans of +Rajputs with the early Scythian immigrants of the first and second +centuries. Another point is that Buddha is said to be the progenitor +of the whole Indu or lunar race. [465] It is obvious that Buddha +had no real connection with these Central Asian tribes, as he died +some centuries before their appearance in India. But the Yueh-chi or +Kushan kings of the Punjab in the first and second centuries A.D. were +fervent Buddhists and established that religion in the Punjab. Hence +we can easily understand how, if the Yadus or Jats and other lunar +clans were descended from the Saka and Yueh-chi immigrants, the +legend of their descent from Buddha, who was himself a Kshatriya, +might be devised for them by their bards when they were subsequently +converted from Buddhism to Hinduism. The Sakas of western India, on the +other hand, who it is suggested may be represented by the Yadavas, +were not Buddhists in the beginning, whether or not they became +so afterwards. But as has been seen, though Buddha was their first +progenitor, Krishna was also their king while they were in Gujarat, +so that at this time they must have been supposed to be Hindus. The +legend of descent from Buddha arising with the Yueh-chi or Kushans +might have been extended to them. Again, the four Agnikula or fire-born +clans, the Parihar, Chalukya or Solankhi, Panwar and Chauhan, are +considered to be the descendants of the White Hun and Gujar invaders +of the fifth and sixth centuries. These clans were said to have been +created by the gods from a firepit on the summit of Mount Abu for +the re-birth of the Kshatriya caste after it had been exterminated +by the slaughter of Parasurama the Brahman. And it has been suggested +that this legend refers to the cruel massacres of the Huns, by which +the bulk of the old aristocracy, then mainly Buddhist, was wiped out; +while the Huns and Gujars, one at least of whose leaders was a fervent +adherent of Brahmanism and slaughtered the Buddhists of the Punjab, +became the new fire-born clans on being absorbed into Hinduism. [466] +The name of the Huns is still retained in the Huna clan, now almost +extinct. There remain the clans descended from the sun through Rama, +and it would be tempting to suppose that these are the representatives +of the old Aryan Kshatriyas. But Mr. Bhandarkar has shown [467] that +the Sesodias, the premier clan of the solar race and of all Rajputs, +are probably sprung from Nagar Brahmans of Gujarat, and hence from the +Gujar tribes; and it must therefore be supposed that the story of solar +origin and divine ancestry was devised because they were once Brahmans, +and hence, in the view of the bards, of more honourable origin than +the other clans. Similarly the Badgujar clan, also of solar descent, +is shown by its name of _bara_ or great Gujar to have been simply an +aristocratic section of the Gujars; while the pedigree of the Rathors, +another solar clan, and one of those who have shed most lustre on the +Rajput name, was held to be somewhat doubtful by the Bhats, and their +solar origin was not fully admitted. Mr. Smith gives two great clans +as very probably of aboriginal or Dravidian origin, the Gaharwar +or Gherwal, from whom the Bundelas are derived, and the Chandel, +who ruled Bundelkhand from the ninth to the twelfth centuries, and +built the fine temples at Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajaraho as well as +making many great tanks. This corresponds with Colonel Tod's account, +which gives no place to the Chandels among the thirty-six royal +races, and states that the Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known to his +brethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood to +mix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to their +fellowship. [468] Similarly the Kathi clan may be derived from the +indigenous Kathi tribe who gave their name to Kathiawar. And the +Surajvansi, Somvansi and Nagvansi clans, or descendants of the sun, +moon and snake, which are scarcely known in Rajputana, may represent +landholding sections of lower castes or non-Aryan tribes who have been +admitted to Rajput rank. But even though it be found that the majority +of the Rajput clans cannot boast a pedigree dating farther back than +the first five centuries of our era, this is at any rate an antiquity +to which few if any of the greatest European houses can lay claim. + + + + +4. Subdivisions of the clans + +Many of the great clans are now split up into a number of branches. The +most important of these were according to locality, the different +_sachae_ or branches being groups settled in separate areas. Thus +the Chalukya or Solankhi had sixteen branches, of which the Baghels +of Rewah or Baghelkhand were the most important. The Panwars had +thirty-five branches, of which the Mori and the Dhunda, now perhaps +the Dhundele of Saugor, are the best known. The Gahlot had twenty-four +branches, of which one, the Sesodia, became so important that it has +given its name to the whole clan. The Chamar-Gaur section of the Gaur +clan now claim a higher rank than the other Gaurs, though the name +would apparently indicate the appearance of a Chamar in their family +tree; while the Tilokchandi Bais form an aristocratic section of the +Bais clan, named after a well-known king, Tilokchand, who reigned in +upper India about the twelfth century and is presumably claimed by +them as an ancestor. Besides this the Rajputs have _gotras_, named +after eponymous saints exactly like the Brahman _gotras_, and probably +adopted in imitation of the Brahmans. Since, theoretically, marriage +is prohibited in the whole clan, the _gotra_ divisions would appear +to be useless, but Sir H. Risley states that persons of the same clan +but with different _gotras_ have begun to intermarry. Similarly it +would appear that the different branches of the great clans mentioned +above must intermarry in some cases; while in the Central Provinces, +as already stated, several clans have become regular castes and form +endogamous and not exogamous groups. In northern India, however, +Mr. Crooke's accounts of the different clans indicate that marriage +within the clan is as a rule not permitted. The clans themselves +and their branches have different degrees of rank for purposes of +marriage, according to the purity of their descent, while in each clan +or subclan there is an inferior section formed of the descendants of +remarried widows, or even the offspring of women of another caste, +who have probably in the course of generations not infrequently got +back into their father's clan. Thus many groups of varying status +arise, and one of the principal rules of a Rajput's life was that he +must marry his daughter, sometimes into a clan of equal, or sometimes +into one of higher rank than his own. Hence arose great difficulty +in arranging the marriages of girls and sometimes the payment of a +price to the bridegroom; while in order to retain the favour of the +Bhats and avoid their sarcasm, lavish expenditure had to be incurred +by the bride's father on presents to these rapacious mendicants. [469] +Thus a daughter became in a Rajput's eyes a long step on the road to +ruin, and female infanticide was extensively practised. This crime has +never been at all common in the Central Provinces, where the rule of +marrying a daughter into an equal or higher clan has not been enforced +with the same strictness as in northern India. But occasional instances +formerly occurred in which the child's neck was placed under one leg +of its mother's cot, or it was poisoned with opium or by placing the +juice of the _akra_ or swallow-wort plant on the mother's nipple. + + + + +5. Marriage customs + +Properly the proposal for a Rajput marriage should emanate from the +bride's side, and the customary method of making it was to send a +cocoanut to the bridegroom. 'The cocoanut came,' was the phrase used +to intimate that a proposal of marriage had been made. [470] It is +possible that the bride's initiative was a relic of the Swayamwara or +maiden's choice, when a king's daughter placed a garland on the neck +of the youth she preferred among the competitors in a tournament, +and among some Rajputs the Jayamala or garland of victory is still +hung round the bridegroom's neck in memory of this custom; but it may +also have been due to the fact that the bride had to pay the dowry. One +tenth of this was paid as earnest when the match had been arranged, and +the boy's party could not then recede from it. At the entrance of the +marriage-shed was hung the _toran_, a triangle of three wooden bars, +having the apex crowned with the effigy of a peacock. The bridegroom +on horseback, lance in hand, proceeded to break the _toran_, which was +defended by the damsels of the bride. They assailed him with missiles +of various kinds, and especially with red powder made from the flowers +of the _palas_ [471] tree, at the same time singing songs full of +immoral allusions. At length the _toran_ was broken amid the shouts +of the retainers, and the fair defenders retired. If the bridegroom +could not attend in person his sword was sent to represent him, +and was carried round the marriage-post, with the bride, this being +considered a proper and valid marriage. At the rite of _hatleva_ or +joining the hands of the couple it was customary that any request made +by the bridegroom to the bride's father should meet with compliance, +and this usage has led to many fatal results in history. Another +now obsolete custom was that the bride's father should present an +elephant to his son-in-law as part of the dowry, but when a man could +not afford a real elephant a small golden image of the animal might be +substituted. In noble families the bride was often accompanied to her +husband's house by a number of maidens belonging to the servant and +menial castes. These were called Devadhari or lamp-bearers, and became +inmates of the harem, their offspring being _golas_ or slaves. In +time of famine many of the poor had also perforce to sell themselves +as slaves in order to obtain subsistence, and a chiefs household would +thus contain a large number of them. They were still adorned in Mewar, +Colonel Tod states, like the Saxon slaves of old, with a silver ring +round the left ankle instead of the neck. They were well treated, +and were often among the best of the military retainers; they took +rank among themselves according to the quality of the mothers, and +often held confidential places about the ruler's person. A former +chief of Deogarh would appear at court with three hundred _golas_ or +slaves on horseback in his train, men whose lives were his own. [472] +These special customs have now generally been abandoned by the Rajputs +of the Central Provinces, and their weddings conform to the usual +Hindu type as described in the article on Kurmi. The remarriage of +widows is now recognised in the southern Districts, though not in the +north; but even here widows frequently do marry and their offspring +are received into the caste, though with a lower status than those +who do not permit this custom. Among the Baghels a full Rajput will +allow a relative born of a remarried widow to cook his food for him, +but not to add the salt nor to eat it with him. Those who permit +the second marriage of widows also allow a divorced woman to remain +in the caste and to marry again. But among proper Rajputs, as with +Brahmans, a wife who goes wrong is simply put away and expelled from +the society. Polygamy is permitted and was formerly common among +the chiefs. Each wife was maintained in a separate suite of rooms, +and the chief dined and spent the evening alternately with each of +them in her own quarters. The lady with her attendants would prepare +dinner for him and wait upon him while he ate it, waving the punkah or +fan behind him and entertaining him with her remarks, which, according +to report, frequently constituted a pretty severe curtain lecture. + + + + +6. Funeral rites + +The dead are burnt, except infants, whose bodies are buried. Mourning +is observed for thirteen days for a man, nine days for a woman, +and three days for a child. The _shraddh_ ceremony or offering of +sacrificial cakes to the spirit is performed either during the usual +period in the month of Kunwar (September), or on the anniversary day +of the death. It was formerly held that if a Kshatriya died on the +battlefield it was unnecessary to perform his funeral rites because +his spirit went straight to heaven, and thus the end to which the +ceremonies were directed was already attained without them. It was +also said that the wife of a man dying such a death should not regard +herself as a widow nor undergo the privations imposed on widowhood. But +this did not apply so far as self-immolation was concerned, since the +wives of warriors dying in battle very frequently became _sati_. In the +case of chiefs also it was sometimes the custom, probably for political +reasons, that the heir should not observe mourning; because if he did +so he would be incapable of appearing in an assembly for thirteen days, +or of taking the public action which might be requisite to safeguard +his succession. The body of the late chief would be carried out by the +back door of the house, and as soon as it left his successor would +take his seat on the _gaddi_ or cushion and begin to discharge the +public business of government. + + + + +7. Religion + +The principal deity of the Rajputs is the goddess Devi or Durga in her +more terrible form as the goddess of war. Their swords were sacred to +her, and at the Dasahra festival they worshipped their swords and other +weapons of war and their horses. The dreadful goddess also protected +the virtue of the Rajput women and caused to be enacted the terrible +holocausts, not infrequent in Rajput history, when some stronghold +was besieged and could hold out no longer. A great furnace was then +kindled in the citadel and into this the women, young and old, threw +themselves, or else died by their husbands' swords, while the men, +drunk with _bhang_ and wearing saffron-coloured robes, sallied out to +sell their lives to the enemy as dearly as possible. It is related +that on one occasion Akbar desired to attempt the virtue of a queen +of the Sesodia clan, and for that purpose caused her to lose herself +in one of the mazes of his palace. The emperor appeared before her +suddenly as she was alone, but the lady, drawing a dagger, threatened +to plunge it into her breast if he did not respect her, and at the same +time the goddess of her house appeared riding on a tiger. The baffled +emperor gave way and retired, and her life and virtue were saved. + +The Rajputs also worship the sun, whom many of them look upon as +their first ancestor. They revere the animals and trees sacred to the +Hindus, and some clans show special veneration to a particular tree, +never cutting or breaking the branches or leaves. In this manner the +Bundelas revere the _kadamb_ tree, the Panwars the _nim_ [473] tree, +the Rathors the pipal [474] tree, and so on. This seems to be a relic +of totemistic usage. In former times each clan had also a tribal god, +who was its protector and leader and watched over the destinies of +the clan. Sometimes it accompanied the clan into battle. "Every royal +house has its palladium, which is frequently borne to battle at the +saddle-bow of the prince. Rao Bhima Hara of Kotah lost his life and +protecting deity together. The celebrated Khichi (Chauhan) leader +Jai Singh never took the field without the god before him. 'Victory +to Bujrung' was his signal for the charge so dreaded by the Maratha, +and often has the deity been sprinkled with his blood and that of +the foe." [475] It is said that a Rajput should always kill a snake +if he sees one, because the snake, though a prince among Rajputs, +is an enemy, and he should not let it live. If he does not kill it, +the snake will curse him and bring ill-luck upon him. The same rule +applies, though with less binding force, to a tiger. + + + + +8. Food + +The Rajputs eat the flesh of clean animals, but not pigs or fowls. They +are, however, fond of the sport of pig-sticking, and many clans, as +the Bundelas and others, will eat the flesh of the wild pig. This +custom was perhaps formerly universal. Some of them eat of male +animals only and not of females, either because they fear that the +latter would render them effeminate or that they consider the sin +to be less. Some only eat animals killed by the method of _jatka_ +or severing the head with one stroke of the sword or knife. They +will not eat animals killed in the Muhammadan fashion by cutting +the throat. They abstain from the flesh of the _nilgai_ or blue bull +as being an animal of the cow tribe. Among the Brahmans and Rajputs +food cooked with water must not be placed in bamboo baskets, nor must +anything made of bamboo be brought into the _rasoya_ or cooking-place, +or the _chauka_, the space cleaned and marked out for meals. A special +brush of date-palm fibre is kept solely for sweeping these parts of +the house. At a Rajput banquet it was the custom for the prince to +send a little food from his own plate or from the dish before him to +any guest whom he especially wished to honour, and to receive this was +considered a very high distinction. In Mewar the test of legitimacy in +a prince of the royal house was the permission to eat from the chief's +plate. The grant of this privilege conferred a recognised position, +while its denial excluded the member in question from the right to +the succession. [476] This custom indicates the importance attached +to the taking of food together as a covenant or sacrament. + + + + +9. Opium + +The Rajputs abstain from alcoholic liquor, though some of the lower +class, as the Bundelas, drink it. In classical times there is no doubt +that they drank freely, but have had to conform to the prohibition +of liquor imposed by the Brahmans on high-caste Hindus. In lieu of +liquor they became much addicted to the noxious drugs, opium and ganja +or Indian hemp, drinking the latter in the form of the intoxicating +liquid known as _bhangs_, which is prepared from its leaves. _Bhang_ +was as a rule drunk by the Rajputs before battle, and especially as a +preparation for those last sallies from a besieged fortress in which +the defenders threw away their lives. There is little reason to doubt +that they considered the frenzy and carelessness of death produced by +the liquor as a form of divine possession. Opium has contributed much +to the degeneration of the Rajputs, and their relapse to an idle, +sensuous life when their energies were no longer maintained by the +need of continuous fighting for the protection of their country. The +following account by Forbes of a Rajput's daily life well illustrates +the slothful effeminacy caused by the drug: [477] "In times of peace +and ease the Rajput leads an indolent and monotonous life. It is +usually some time after sunrise before he bestirs himself and begins +to call for his hookah; after smoking he enjoys the luxury of tea +or coffee, and commences his toilet and ablutions, which dispose +of a considerable part of the morning. It is soon breakfast-time, +and after breakfast the hookah is again in requisition, with but +few intervals of conversation until noon. The time has now arrived +for a siesta, which lasts till about three in the afternoon. At +this hour the chief gets up again, washes his hands and face, and +prepares for the great business of the day, the distribution of the +red cup, _kusumba_ or opium. He calls together his friends into the +public hall, or perhaps retires with them to a garden-house. Opium +is produced, which is pounded in a brass vessel and mixed with water; +it is then strained into a dish with a spout, from which it is poured +into the chief's hand. One after the other the guests now come up, +each protesting that _kusumba_ is wholly repugnant to his taste and +very injurious to his health, but after a little pressing first one +and then another touches the chief's hand in two or three places, +muttering the names of Deos (gods), friends or others, and drains the +draught. Each after drinking washes the chief's hand in a dish of +water which a servant offers, and after wiping it dry with his own +scarf makes way for his neighbour. After this refreshment the chief +and his guests sit down in the public hall, and amuse themselves +with chess, draughts or games of chance, or perhaps dancing-girls +are called in to exhibit their monotonous measures, or musicians and +singers, or the never-failing favourites, the Bhats and Charans. At +sunset the torch-bearers appear and supply the chamber with light, +upon which all those who are seated therein rise and make obeisance +towards the chief's cushion. They resume their seats, and playing, +singing, dancing, story-telling go on as before. At about eight the +chief rises to retire to his dinner and his hookah, and the party is +broken up." There is little reason to doubt that the Rajputs ascribed +a divine character to opium and the mental exaltation produced by +it, as suggested in the article on Kalar in reference to the Hindus +generally. Opium was commonly offered at the shrines of deified Rajput +heroes. Colonel Tod states: "_Umul lar khana_, to eat opium together, +is the most inviolable, pledge, and an agreement ratified by this +ceremony is stronger than any adjuration." [478] The account given by +Forbes of the manner in which the drug was distributed by the chief +from his own hand to all his clansmen indicates that the drinking +of it was the renewal of a kind of pledge or covenant between them, +analogous to the custom of pledging one another with wine, and a +substitute for the covenant made by taking food together, which +originated from the sacrificial meal. It has already been seen that +the Rajputs attached the most solemn meaning and virtue to the act +of partaking of the chief's food, and it is legitimate to infer that +they regarded the drinking of a sacred drug like opium from his hand +in the same light. The following account [479] of the drinking of +healths in a Highland clan had, it may be suggested, originally the +same significance as the distribution of opium by the Rajput chief: +"Lord Lovat was wont in the hall before dinner to have a kind of +herald proclaiming his pedigree, which reached almost up to Noah, +and showed each man present to be a cadet of his family, whilst after +dinner he drank to every one of his cousins by name, each of them in +return pledging him--the better sort in French claret, the lower class +in husky (whisky)." Here also the drinking of wine together perhaps +implied the renewal of a pledge of fealty and protection between the +chief and his clansmen, all of whom were held to be of his kin. The +belief in the kinship of the whole clan existed among the Rajputs +exactly as in the Scotch clans. In speaking of the Rathors Colonel +Tod states that they brought into the field fifty thousand men, _Ek +bap ka beta_, the sons of one father, to combat with the emperor of +Delhi; and remarks: "What a sensation does it not excite when we know +that a sentiment of kindred pervades every individual of this immense +affiliated body, who can point out in the great tree the branch of +his origin, of which not one is too remote from the main stem to +forget his pristine connection with it." [480] + +The taking of opium and wine together, as already described, thus +appear to be ceremonies of the same character, both symbolising the +renewal of a covenant between kinsmen. + + + + +10. Improved training of Rajput chiefs + +The temptations to a life of idleness and debauchery to which Rajput +gentlemen were exposed by the cessation of war have happily been +largely met and overcome by the careful education and training which +their sons now receive in the different chiefs' colleges and schools, +and by the fostering of their taste for polo and other games. There is +every reason to hope that a Rajput prince's life will now be much like +that of an English country gentleman, spent largely in public business +and the service of his country, with sport and games as relaxation. Nor +are the Rajputs slow to avail themselves of the opportunities for the +harder calling of arms afforded by the wars of the British Empire, +in which they are usually the first to proffer their single-hearted +and unselfish assistance. + + + + +11. Dress + +The most distinctive feature of a Rajput's dress was formerly his +turban; the more voluminous and heavy this was, the greater distinction +attached to the bearer. The cloth was wound in many folds above the +head, or cocked over one ear as a special mark of pride. An English +gentleman once remarked to the minister of the Rao of Cutch on the +size and weight of his turban, when the latter replied, 'Oh, this is +nothing, it only weighs fifteen pounds.' [481] A considerable reverence +attached to the turban, probably because it was the covering of the +head, the seat of life, and the exchanging of turbans was the mark of +the closest friendship. On one occasion Shah Jahan, before he came +to the throne of Delhi, changed turbans with the Rana of Mewar as a +mark of amity. Shah Jahan's turban was still preserved at Udaipur, +and seen there by Colonel Tod in 1820. They also wore the beard and +moustaches very long and full, the moustache either drooping far +below the chin, or being twisted out stiffly on each side to impart +an aspect of fierceness. Many Rajputs considered it a disgrace to +have grey beards or moustaches, and these were accustomed to dye them +with a preparation of indigo. Thus dyed, however, after a few days +the beard and moustache assumed a purple tint, and finally faded to a +pale plum colour, far from being either deceptive or ornamental. The +process of dyeing was said to be tedious, and the artist compelled +his patient to sit many hours under the indigo treatment with his +head wrapped up in plantain leaves. [482] During the Muhammadan wars, +however, the Rajputs gave up their custom of wearing beards in order +to be distinguished from Moslems, and now, as a rule, do not retain +them, while most of them have also discarded the long moustaches +and large turbans. In battle, especially when they expected to die, +the Rajputs wore saffron-coloured robes as at a wedding. At the same +time their wives frequently performed _sati_, and the idea was perhaps +that they looked on their deaths as the occasion of a fresh bridal +in the warrior's Valhalla. Women wear skirts and shoulder-cloths, +and in Rajputana they have bangles of ivory or bone instead of the +ordinary glass, sometimes covering the arm from the shoulders to the +wrist. Their other ornaments should be of gold if possible, but the +rule is not strictly observed, and silver and baser metals are worn. + + + + +12. Social customs + +The Rajputs wear the sacred thread, but many of them have abandoned +the proper _upanayana_ or thread ceremony, and simply invest boys with +it at their marriage. In former times, when a boy became fit to bear +arms, the ceremony of _kharg bandai_, or binding on of the sword, was +performed, and considered to mark his attainment of manhood. The king +himself had his sword thus bound on by the first of his vassals. The +Rajputs take food cooked with water (_katchi_) only from Brahmans, and +that cooked without water (_pakki_) from Banias, and sometimes from +Lodhis and Dhimars. Brahmans will take _pakki_ food from Rajputs, +and Nais and Dhimars _katchi_ food. When a man is ill, however, +he may take food from members of such castes as Kurmi and Lodhi +as a matter of convenience without incurring caste penalties. The +large turbans and long moustaches and beards no longer characterise +their appearance, and the only point which distinguishes a Rajput +is that his name ends with Singh (lion). But this suffix has also +been adopted by others, especially the Sikhs, and by such castes as +the Lodhis and Raj-Gonds who aspire to rank as Rajputs. A Rajput is +usually addressed as Thakur or lord, a title which properly applies +only to a Rajput landholder, but has now come into general use. The +head of a state has the designation of Raja or Rana, and those of the +leading states of Maharaja or Maharana, that is, great king. Maharana, +which appears to be a Gujarati form, is used by the Sesodia family of +Udaipur. The sons of a Raja are called Kunwar or prince. The title Rao +appears to be a Marathi form of Raj or Raja; it is retained by one or +two chiefs, but has now been generally adopted as an honorific suffix +by Maratha Brahmans. Rawat appears to have been originally equivalent +to Rajput, being simply a diminutive of Rajputra, the Sanskrit form +of the latter. It is the name of a clan of Rajputs in the Punjab, and +is used as an honorific designation by Ahirs, Saonrs, Kols and others. + + + + +13. Seclusion of women + +Women are strictly secluded by the Rajputs, especially in Upper India, +but this practice does not appear to have been customary in ancient +times, and it would be interesting to know whether it has been copied +from the Muhammadans. It is said that a good Rajput in the Central +Provinces must not drive the plough, his wife must not use the _rehnta_ +or spinning-wheel, and his household may not have the _kathri_ or +_gudri_, the mattress made of old pieces of cloth or rag sewn one on +top of the other, which is common in the poorer Hindu households. + + + + +14. Traditional character of the Rajputs + +The Rajputs as depicted by Colonel Tod resembled the knights of the +age of chivalry. Courage, strength and endurance were the virtues most +highly prized. One of the Rajput trials of strength, it is recorded, +was to gallop at full speed under the horizontal branch of a tree and +cling to it while the horse passed on. This feat appears to have been +a common amusement, and it is related in the annals of Mewar that the +chief of Bunera broke his spine in the attempt; and there were few who +came off without bruises and falls, in which consisted the sport. Of +their martial spirit Colonel Tod writes: "The Rajput mother claims her +full share in the glory of her son, who imbibes at the maternal fount +his first rudiments of chivalry; and the importance of this parental +instruction cannot be better illustrated than in the ever-recurring +simile, 'Make thy mother's milk resplendent.' One need not reason +on the intensity of sentiment thus implanted in the infant Rajput, +of whom we may say without metaphor the shield is his cradle and +daggers his playthings, and with whom the first commandment is 'Avenge +thy father's feud.' [483] A Rajput yet loves to talk of the days of +chivalry, when three things alone occupied him, his horse, his lance +and his mistress; for she is but third in his estimation after all, +and to the first two he owed her." [484] And of their desire for fame: +"This sacrifice (of the Johar) accomplished, their sole thought was to +secure a niche in that immortal temple of fame, which the Rajput bard, +as well as the great minstrel of the West peoples 'with youths who +died to be by poets sung.' For this the Rajput's anxiety has in all +ages been so great as often to defeat even the purpose of revenge, his +object being to die gloriously rather than to inflict death; assured +that his name would never perish, but, preserved in immortal rhyme by +the bard, would serve as the incentive to similar deeds." [485] He sums +up their character in the following terms: "High courage, patriotism, +loyalty, honour, hospitality and simplicity are qualities which must +at once be conceded to them; and if we cannot vindicate them from +charges to which human nature in every clime is obnoxious; if we are +compelled to admit the deterioration of moral dignity from continual +inroads of, and their consequent collision with rapacious conquerors; +we must yet admire the quantum of virtue which even oppression and +bad example have failed to banish. The meaner vices of deceit and +falsehood, which the delineators of national character attach to the +Asiatic without distinction, I deny to be universal with the Rajputs, +though some tribes may have been obliged from position to use these +shields of the weak against continuous oppression." [486] The women +prized martial courage no less than the men: they would hear with +equanimity of the death of their sons or husbands in the battlefield, +while they heaped scorn and contumely on those who returned after +defeat. They were constantly ready to sacrifice themselves to the +flames rather than fall into the hands of a conqueror; and the Johar, +the final act of a besieged garrison, when the women threw themselves +into the furnace, while the men sallied forth to die in battle against +the enemy, is recorded again and again in Rajput annals. Three times +was this tragedy enacted at the fall of Chitor, formerly the capital +fortress of the Sesodia clan; and the following vivid account is +given by Colonel Tod of a similar deed at Jaisalmer, when the town +fell to the Muhammadans: [487] "The chiefs were assembled; all were +unanimous to make Jaisalmer resplendent by their deeds and preserve +the honour of the Yadu race. Muhaj thus addressed them: 'You are of +a warlike race and strong are your arms in the cause of your prince; +what heroes excel you who thus tread in the Chhatri's path? For the +maintenance of my honour the sword is in your hands; let Jaisalmer be +illumined by its blows upon the foe.' Having thus inspired the chiefs +and men, Muhaj and Ratan repaired to the palace of their queens. They +told them to take the _sohag_ [488] and prepare to meet in heaven, +while they gave up their lives in defence of their honour and their +faith. Smiling the Rani replied, 'This night we shall prepare, and +by the morning's light we shall be inhabitants of heaven'; and thus +it was with all the chiefs and their wives. The night was passed +together for the last time in preparation for the awful morn. It +came; ablutions and prayers were finished and at the royal gate were +convened children, wives and mothers. They bade a last farewell to +all their kin; the Johar commenced, and twenty-four thousand females, +from infancy to old age, surrendered their lives, some by the sword, +others in the volcano of fire. Blood flowed in torrents, while the +smoke of the pyre ascended to the heavens: not one feared to die, +and every valuable was consumed with them, so that not the worth +of a straw was preserved for the foe. The work done, the brothers +looked upon the spectacle with horror. Life was now a burden and +they prepared to quit it They purified themselves with water, paid +adoration to the divinity, made gifts to the poor, placed a branch +of the _tulsi_ [489] in their casques, the _saligram_ [490] round +their neck; and having cased themselves in armour and put on the +saffron robe, they bound the marriage crown around their heads and +embraced each other for the last time. Thus they awaited the hour +of battle. Three thousand eight hundred warriors, their faces red +with wrath, prepared to die with their chiefs." In this account the +preparation for the Johar as if for a wedding is clearly brought out, +and it seems likely that husbands and wives looked on it as a bridal +preparatory to the resumption of their life together in heaven. + +Colonel Tod gives the following account of a Rajput's arms: [491] +"No prince or chief is without his _silla-khana_ or armoury, where he +passes hours in viewing and arranging his arms. Every favourite weapon, +whether sword, dagger, spear, matchlock or bow, has a distinctive +epithet. The keeper of the armoury is one of the most confidential +officers about the person of the prince. These arms are beautiful and +costly. The _sirohi_ or slightly curved blade is formed like that of +Damascus, and is the greatest favourite of all the variety of weapons +throughout Rajputana. The long cut-and-thrust sword is not uncommon, +and also the _khanda_ or double-edged sword. The matchlocks, both of +Lahore and the country, are often highly finished and inlaid with +mother-of-pearl and gold; those of Boondi are the best. The shield +of the rhinoceros-hide offers the best resistance, and is often +ornamented with animals beautifully painted and enamelled in gold and +silver. The bow is of buffalo-horn, and the arrows of reed, which +are barbed in a variety of fashions, as the crescent, the trident, +the snake's tongue, and other fanciful forms." It is probable that +the forms were in reality by no means fanciful, but were copied from +sacred or divine objects; and similarly the animals painted on the +shields may have been originally the totem animals of the clan. + + + + +15. Occupation + +The traditional occupation of a Rajput was that of a warrior and +landholder. Their high-flown titles, Bhupal (Protector of the earth), +Bhupati (Lord of the earth), Bhusur (God of the earth), Bahuja (Born +from the arms), indicate, Sir H. Risley says, [492] the exalted +claims of the tribe. The notion that the trade of arms was their +proper vocation clung to them for a very long time, and has retarded +their education, so that they have perhaps lost status relatively to +other castes under British supremacy. The rule that a Rajput must +not touch the plough was until recently very strictly observed in +the more conservative centres, and the poorer Rajputs were reduced +by it to pathetic straits for a livelihood, as is excellently shown +by Mr. Barnes in the _Kangra Settlement Report_: [493] "A Mian or +well-known Rajput, to preserve his name and honour unsullied, must +scrupulously observe four fundamental maxims: first, he must never +drive the plough; second, he must never give his daughter in marriage +to an inferior nor marry himself much below his rank; thirdly, he must +never accept money in exchange for the betrothal of his daughter; +and lastly, his female household must observe strict seclusion. The +prejudice against the plough is perhaps the most inveterate of all; +that step can never be recalled; the offender at once loses the +privileged salutation; he is reduced to the second grade of Rajputs; +no man will marry his daughter, and he must go a step lower in the +social scale to get a wife for himself. In every occupation of life +he is made to feel his degraded position. In meetings of the tribe and +at marriages the Rajputs undefiled by the plough will refuse to sit at +meals with the Hal Bah or plough-driver as he is contemptuously styled; +and many to avoid the indignity of exclusion never appear at public +assemblies.... It is melancholy to see with what devoted tenacity +the Rajput clings to these deep-rooted prejudices. Their emaciated +looks and coarse clothes attest the vicissitudes they have undergone +to maintain their fancied purity. In the quantity of waste land which +abounds in the hills, a ready livelihood is offered to those who will +cultivate the soil for their daily bread; but this alternative involves +a forfeiture of their dearest rights, and they would rather follow any +precarious pursuit than submit to the disgrace. Some lounge away their +time on the tops of the mountains, spreading nets for the capture +of hawks; many a day they watch in vain, subsisting on berries and +on game accidentally entangled in their nets; at last, when fortune +grants them success, they despatch the prize to their friends below, +who tame and instruct the bird for the purpose of sale. Others will +stay at home and pass their time in sporting, either with a hawk or, +if they can afford it, with a gun; one Rajput beats the bushes and the +other carries the hawk ready to be sprung after any quarry that rises +to the view. At the close of the day if they have been successful they +exchange the game for a little meal and thus prolong existence over +another span. The marksman armed with a gun will sit up for wild pig +returning from the fields, and in the same manner barter their flesh +for other necessaries of life. However, the prospect of starvation has +already driven many to take the plough, and the number of seceders +daily increases. Our administration, though just and liberal, has +a levelling tendency; service is no longer to be procured, and to +many the stern alternative has arrived of taking to agriculture +and securing comparative comfort, or enduring the pangs of hunger +and death. So long as any resource remains the fatal step will be +postponed, but it is easy to foresee that the struggle cannot be long +protracted; necessity is a hard task-master, and sooner or later the +pressure of want will overcome the scruples of the most bigoted." The +objection to ploughing appears happily to have been quite overcome in +the Central Provinces, as at the last census nine-tenths of the whole +caste were shown as employed in pasture and agriculture, one-tenth of +the Rajputs being landholders, three-fifths actual cultivators, and +one-fifth labourers and woodcutters. The bulk of the remaining tenth +are probably in the police or other branches of Government service. + + + + + +Rajput, Baghel + +_Rajput, Baghel._--The Baghel Rajputs, who have given their name to +Baghelkhand or Rewah, the eastern part of Central India, are a branch +of the Chalukya or Solankhi clan, one of the four Agnikulas or those +born from the firepit on Mount Abu. The chiefs of Rewah are Baghel +Rajputs, and the late Maharaja Raghuraj Singh has written a traditional +history of the sept in a book called the _Bhakt Mala_. [494] He derives +their origin from a child, having the form of a tiger (_bagh_) who +was born to the Solankhi Raja of Gujarat at the intercession of the +famous saint Kabir. One of the headquarters of the Kabirpanthi sect +are at Kawardha, which is close to Rewah, and the ruling family are +members of the sect; hence probably the association of the Prophet +with their origin. The _Bombay Gazetteer_ [495] states that the +founder of the clan was one Anoka, a nephew of the Solankhi king +of Gujarat, Kumarpal (A.D. 1143-1174). He obtained a grant of the +village Vaghela, the tiger's lair, about ten miles from Anhilvada, +the capital of the Solankhi dynasty, and the Baghel clan takes its +name from this village. Subsequently the Baghels extended their power +over the whole of Gujarat, but in A.D. 1304 the last king, Karnadeva, +was driven out by the Muhammadans, and one of his most beautiful +wives was captured and sent to the emperor's harem. Karnadeva and +his daughter fled and hid themselves near Nasik, but the daughter +was subsequently also taken, while it is not stated what became of +Karnadeva. Mr. Hira Lal suggests that he fled towards Rewah, and +that he is the Karnadeva of the list of Rewah Rajas, who married a +daughter of the Gond-Rajput dynasty of Garha-Mandla. [496] At any +rate the Baghel branch of the Solankhis apparently migrated to Rewah +from Gujarat and founded that State about the fourteenth century, as +in the fifteenth they became prominent. According to Captain Forsyth, +the Baghels claim descent from a tiger, and protect it when they can; +and, probably, as suggested by Mr. Crooke, [497] the name is really +totemistic, or is derived from some ancestor of the clan who obtained +the name of the tiger as a title or nickname, like the American Red +Indians. The Baghels are found in the Hoshangabad District, and in +Mandla and Chhattisgarh which are close to Rewah. Amarkantak, at the +source of the Nerbudda, is the sepulchre of the Maharajas of Rewah, and +was ceded to them with the Sohagpur tahsil of Mandla after the Mutiny, +in consideration of their loyalty and services during that period. + + + + +Rajput, Bagri + +_Rajput, Bagri._--This clan is found in small numbers in the +Hoshangabad and Seoni Districts. The name Bagri, Malcolm says, +[498] is derived from that large tract of plain called Bagar or +'hedge of thorns,' the Bagar being surrounded by ridges of wooded +hills on all sides as if by a hedge. The Bagar is the plain country +of the Bikaner State, and any Jat or Rajput coming from this tract +is called Bagri. [499] The Rajputs of Bikaner are Rathors, but they +are not numerous, and the great bulk of the people are Jats. Hence it +is probable that the Bagris of the Central Provinces were originally +Jats. In Seoni they say that they are Baghel Rajputs, but this claim is +unsupported by any tradition or evidence. In Central India the Bagris +are professed robbers and thieves, but these seem to be a separate +group, a section of the Badhak or Bawaria dacoits, and derived from +the aboriginal population of Central India. The Bagris of Seoni are +respectable cultivators and own a number of villages. They rank higher +than the local Panwars and wear the sacred thread, but will remove +dead cattle with their own hands. They marry among themselves. + + + + +Rajput, Bais + +_Rajput, Bais._ [500]--The Bais are one of the thirty-six royal +races. Colonel Tod considered them a branch of the Surajvansi, but +according to their own account their eponymous ancestor was Salivahana, +the mythic son of a snake, who conquered the great Raja Vikramaditya +of Ujjain and fixed his own era in A.D. 55. This is the Saka era, and +Salivahana was the leader of the Saka nomads who invaded Gujarat on +two occasions, before and shortly after the beginning of the Christian +era. It is suggested in the article on Rajput that the Yadava lunar +clan are the representatives of these Sakas, and if this were correct +the Bais would be a branch of the lunar race. The fact that they are +snake-worshippers is in favour of their connection with the Yadavas and +other clans, who are supposed to represent the Scythian invaders of the +first and subsequent centuries, and had the legend of being descended +from a snake. The Bais, Mr. Crooke says, believe that no snake has +destroyed, or ever can destroy, one of the clan. They seem to take no +precautions against the bite except hanging a vessel of water at the +head of the sufferer, with a small tube at the bottom, from which the +water is poured on his head as long as he can bear it. The cobra is, +in fact, the tribal god. The name is derived by Mr. Crooke from the +Sanskrit Vaishya, one who occupies the soil. The principal hero of the +Bais was Tilokchand, who is supposed to have come from the Central +Provinces. He lived about A.D. 1400, and was the premier Raja of +Oudh. He extended his dominions over all the tract known as Baiswara, +which comprises the bulk of the Rai Bareli and Unao Districts, and +is the home of the Bais Rajputs. The descendants of Tilokchand form a +separate subdivision known as Tilokchandi Bais, who rank higher than +the ordinary Bais, and will not eat with them. The Bais Rajputs are +found all over the United Provinces. In the Central Provinces they +have settled in small numbers in the northern and eastern Districts. + + + + +Rajput, Baksaria + +_Rajput, Baksaria._--A small clan found principally in the Bilaspur +District, who derive their name from Baxar in Bengal. They were +accustomed to send a litter, that is to say, a girl of their clan, +to the harem of each Mughal Emperor, and this has degraded them. They +allow widow-marriage, and do not wear the sacred thread. It is probable +that they marry among themselves, as other Rajputs do not intermarry +with them, and they are no doubt an impure group with little pretension +to be Rajputs. The name Baksaria is found in the United Provinces as +a territorial subcaste of several castes. + + + + +Rajput, Banaphar + +_Rajput, Banaphar._--Mr. Crooke states that this sept is a branch of +the Yadavas, and hence it is of the lunar race. The sept is famous +on account of the exploits of the heroes Alha and Udal who belonged +to it, and who fought for the Chandel kings of Mahoba and Khajuraha +in their wars against Prithwi Raj Chauhan, the king of Delhi. The +exploits of Alha and Udal form the theme of poems still well known +and popular in Bundelkhand, to which the sept belongs. The Banaphars +have only a moderately respectable rank among Rajputs. [501] + + + + +Rajput, Bhadauria + +_Rajput, Bhadauria._--An important clan who take their name from the +village of Bhadawar near Ater, south of the Jumna. They are probably +a branch of the Chauhans, being given as such by Colonel Tod and +Sir H.M. Elliot. [502] Mr. Crooke remarks [503] that the Chauhans +are disposed to deny this relationship, now that from motives of +convenience the two tribes have begun to intermarry. If they are, +as supposed, an offshoot of the Chauhans, this is an instance of +the subdivision of a large clan leading to intermarriage between two +sections, which has probably occurred in other instances also. This +clan is returned from the Hoshangabad District. + + + + +Rajput, Bisen + +_Rajput, Bisen._--This clan belongs to the United Provinces and +Oudh. They do not appear in history before the time of Akbar, and +claim descent from a well-known Brahman saint and a woman of the +Surajvansi Rajputs whom he married. The Bisens occupy a respectable +position among Rajputs, and intermarry with other good clans. + + + + +Rajput, Bundela + +_Rajput, Bundela._--A well-known clan of Rajputs of somewhat +inferior position, who have given their name to Bundelkhand, or +the tract comprised principally in the Districts of Saugor, Damoh, +Jhansi, Hamirpur and Banda, and the Panna, Orchha, Datia and other +States. The Bundelas are held to be derived from the Gaharwar or +Gherwal Rajputs, and there is some reason for supposing that these +latter were originally an aristocratic section of the Bhar tribe with +some infusion of Rajput blood. But the Gaharwars now rank almost with +the highest clans. According to tradition one of the Gaharwar Rajas +offered a sacrifice of his own head to the Vindhya-basini Devi or +the goddess of the Vindhya hills, and out of the drops (_bund_) of +blood which fell on the altar a boy was born. He returned to Panna +and founded the clan which bears the name Bundela, from _bund_, +a drop. [504] It is probable that, as suggested by Captain Luard, +the name is really a corruption of Vindhya or Vindhyela, a dweller in +the Vindhya hills, where, according to their own tradition, the clan +had its birth. The Bundelas became prominent in the thirteenth or +fourteenth century, after the fall of the Chandels. "Orchha became +the chief of the numerous Bundela principalities; but its founder +drew upon himself everlasting infamy, by putting to death the wise +Abul Fazl, the historian and friend of the magnanimous Akbar, and the +encomiast and advocate of the Hindu race. From the period of Akbar +the Bundelas bore a distinguished part in all the grand conflicts, +to the very close of the monarchy." [505] + +The Bundelas held the country up to the Nerbudda in the Central +Provinces, and, raiding continually into the Gond territories south +of the Nerbudda on the pretence of protecting the sacred cow which +the Gonds used for ploughing, they destroyed the castle on Chauragarh +in Narsinghpur on a crest of the Satpuras, and reduced the Nerbudda +valley to subjection. The most successful chieftain of the tribe was +Chhatarsal, the Raja of Panna, in the eighteenth century, who was +virtually ruler of all Bundelkhand; his dominions extending from Banda +in the north to Jubbulpore in the south, and from Rewah in the east +to the Betwa River in the west. But he had to call in the help of the +Peshwa to repel an invasion of the Mughal armies, and left a third +of his territory by will to the Marathas. Chhatarsal left twenty-two +legitimate and thirty illegitimate sons, and their descendants now +hold several small Bundela States, while the territories left to the +Peshwa subsequently became British. The chiefs of Panna, Orchha, Datia, +Chhatarpur and numerous other small states in the Bundelkhand agency +are Bundela Rajputs. [506] The Bundelas of Saugor do not intermarry +with the good Rajput clans, but with an inferior group of Panwars and +another clan called Dhundhele, perhaps an offshoot of the Panwars, who +are also residents of Saugor. Their character, as disclosed in a number +of proverbial sayings and stories current regarding them, somewhat +resembles that of the Scotch highlanders as depicted by Stevenson. They +are proud and penurious to the last degree, and quick to resent the +smallest slight. They make good _shikaris_ or sportsmen, but are +so impatient of discipline that they have never found a vocation by +enlisting in the Indian Army. Their characteristics are thus described +in a doggerel verse: "The Bundelas salute each other from miles apart, +their _pagris_ are cocked on the side of the head till they touch the +shoulders. A Bundela would dive into a well for the sake of a cowrie, +but would fight with the Sardars of Government." No Bania could go +past a Bundela's house riding on a pony or holding up an umbrella; +and all low-caste persons who passed his house must salute it with +the words, _Diwan ji ko Ram Ram_. Women must take their shoes off to +pass by. It is related that a few years ago a Bundela was brought up +before the Assistant Commissioner, charged with assaulting a tahsil +process-server, and threatening him with his sword. The Bundela, who +was very poor and wearing rags, was asked by the magistrate whether +he had threatened the man with his sword. He replied "Certainly not; +the sword is for gentlemen like you and me of equal position. To him, +if I had wished to beat him I would have taken my shoe." Another story +is that there was once a very overbearing Tahsildar, who had a shoe 2 +1/2 feet long with which he used to collect the land revenue. One day +a Bundela malguzar appeared before him on some business. The Tahsildar +kept his seat. The Bundela walked quietly up to the table and said, +"Will the Sirkar step aside with me for a moment, as I have something +private to say." The Tahsildar got up and walked aside with him, on +which the Bundela said, 'That is sufficient, I only wished to tell you +that you should rise to receive me.' When the Bundelas are collected +at a feast they sit with their hands folded across their stomachs and +their eyes turned up, and remain impassive while food is being put on +their plates, and never say, 'Enough,' because they think that they +would show themselves to be feeble men if they refused to eat as much +as was put before them. Much of the food is thus ultimately wasted, +and given to the sweepers, and this leads to great extravagance at +marriages and other ceremonial occasions. The Bundelas were much +feared and were not popular landlords, but they are now losing their +old characteristics and settling down into respectable cultivators. + + + + +Rajput, Chandel + +_Rajput, Chandel._--An important clan of Rajputs, of which a +small number reside in the northern Districts of Saugor, Damoh and +Jubbulpore, and also in Chhattisgarh. The name is derived by Mr. Crooke +from the Sanskrit _chandra_, the moon. The Chandel are not included in +the thirty-six royal races, and are supposed to have been a section +of one of the indigenous tribes which rose to power. Mr. V.A. Smith +states that the Chandels, like several other dynasties, first came into +history early in the ninth century, when Nannuka Chandel about A.D. 831 +overthrew a Parihar chieftain and became lord of the southern parts of +Jejakabhukti or Bundelkhand. Their chief towns were Mahoba and Kalanjar +in Bundelkhand, and they gradually advanced northwards till the Jumna +became the frontier between their dominions and those of Kanauj. They +fought with the Gujar-Parihar kings of Kanauj and the Kalachuris of +Chedi, who had their capital at Tewar in Jubbulpore, and joined in +resisting the incursions of the Muhammadans. In A.D. 1182 Parmal, the +Chandel king, was defeated by Prithwi Raja, the Chauhan king of Delhi, +after the latter had abducted the Chandel's daughter. This was the +war in which Alha and Udal, the famous Banaphar heroes, fought for the +Chandels, and it is commemorated in the Chand-Raisa, a poem still well +known to the people of Bundelkhand. In A.D. 1203 Kalanjar was taken +by the Muhammadan Kutb-ud-Din Ibak, and the importance of the Chandel +rulers came to an end, though they lingered on as purely local chiefs +until the sixteenth century. The Chandel princes were great builders, +and beautified their chief towns, Mahoba, Kalanjar and Khajuraho with +many magnificent temples and lovely lakes, formed by throwing massive +dams across the openings between the hills. [507] Among these were +great irrigation works in the Hamirpur District, the forts of Kalanjar +and Ajaighar, and the noble temples at Khajuraho and Mahoba. [508] +Even now the ruins of old forts and temples in the Saugor and Damoh +Districts are attributed by the people to the Chandels, though many +were in fact probably constructed by the Kalachuris of Chedi. + +Mr. Smith derives the Chandels either from the Gonds or Bhars, but +inclines to the view that they were Gonds. The following considerations +tend, I venture to think, to favour the hypothesis of their origin +from the Bhars. According to the best traditions, the Gonds came from +the south, and practically did not penetrate to Bundelkhand. Though +Saugor and Damoh contain a fair number of Gonds they have never +been of importance there, and this is almost their farthest limit +to the north-west. The Gond States in the Central Provinces did not +come into existence for several centuries after the commencement +of the Chandel dynasty, and while there are authentic records of +all these states, the Gonds have no tradition of their dominance +in Bundelkhand. The Gonds have nowhere else built such temples as +are attributed to the Chandels at Khajuraho, whilst the Bhars were +famous builders. "In Mirzapur traces of the Bhars abound on all sides +in the shape of old tanks and village forts. The bricks found in +the Bhar-dihs or forts are of enormous dimensions, and frequently +measure 19 by 11 inches, and are 2 1/4 inches thick. In quality +and size they are similar to bricks often seen in ancient Buddhist +buildings. The old capital of the Bhars, five miles from Mirzapur, +is said to have had 150 temples." [509] Elliot remarks [510] that +"common tradition assigns to the Bhars the possession of the whole +tract from Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and many old stone +forts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, +Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seem +to indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation." Though there +are few or no Bhars now in Bundelkhand, there are a large number of +Pasis in Allahabad which partly belongs to it, and small numbers in +Bundelkhand; and the Pasi caste is mainly derived from the Bhars; +[511] while a Gaharwar dynasty, which is held to be derived from +the Bhars, was dominant in Bundelkhand and Central India before the +rise of the Chandels. According to one legend, the ancestor of the +Chandels was born with the moon as a father from the daughter of the +high priest of the Gaharwar Raja Indrajit of Benares or of Indrajit +himself. [512] As will be seen, the Gaharwars were an aristocratic +section of the Bhars. Another legend states that the first Chandel +was the offspring of the moon by the daughter of a Brahman Pandit +of Kalanjar. [513] In his _Notes on the Bhars of Bundelkhand_ [514] +Mr. Smith argues that the Bhars adopted the Jain religion, and also +states that several of the temples at Khajuraho and Mahoba, erected +in the eleventh century, are Jain. These were presumably erected +by the Chandels, but I have never seen it suggested that the Gonds +were Jains or were capable of building Jain temples in the eleventh +century. Mr. Smith also states that Maniya Deo, to whom a temple exists +at Mahoba, was the tutelary deity of the Chandels; and that the only +other shrine of Maniya Deo discovered by him in the Hamirpur District +was in a village reputed formerly to have been held by the Bhars. [515] +Two instances of intercourse between the Chandels and Gonds are given, +but the second of them, that the Rani Durgavati of Mandla was a Chandel +princess, belongs to the sixteenth century, and has no bearing on the +origin of the Chandels. The first instance, that of the Chandel Raja +Kirat Singh hunting at Maniagarh with the Gond Raja of Garha-Mandla, +cannot either be said to furnish any real evidence in favour of a Gond +origin for the Chandels; it maybe doubted whether there was any Gond +Raja of Garha-Mandla till after the fall of the Kalachuri dynasty of +Tewar, which is quite close to Garha-Mandla, in the twelfth century; +and a reference so late as this would not affect the question. [516] +Finally, the Chandels are numerous in Mirzapur, which was formerly +the chief seat of the Bhars, while the Gonds have never been either +numerous or important in Mirzapur. These considerations seem to point +to the possibility of the derivation of the Chandels from the Bhars +rather than from the Gonds; and the point is perhaps of some interest +in view of the suggestion in the article on Kol that the Gonds did +not arrive in the Central Provinces for some centuries after the +rise of the Chandel dynasty of Khajuraho and Mahoba. The Chandels +may have simply been a local branch of the Gaharwars, who obtained +a territorial designation from Chanderi, or in some other manner, +as has continually happened in the case of other clans. The Gaharwars +were probably derived from the Bhars. The Chandels now rank as a good +Rajput clan, and intermarry with the other leading clans. + + + + +Rajput, Chauhan + +_Rajput, Chauhan_.--The Chauhan was the last of the Agnikula or +fire-born clans, According to the legend: "Again Vasishtha seated on +the lotus prepared incantations; again he called the gods to aid; and +as he poured forth the libation a figure arose, lofty in stature, of +elevated front, hair like jet, eyes rolling, breast expanded, fierce, +terrific, clad in armour with quiver filled, a bow in one hand and +a brand in the other, quadriform (Chaturanga), whence his name was +given as Chauhan." This account makes the Chauhan the most important +of the fire-born clans, and Colonel Tod says that he was the most +valiant of the Agnikulas, and it may be asserted not of them only but +of the whole Rajput race; and though the swords of the Rahtors would +be ready to contest the point, impartial decision must assign to the +Chauhan the van in the long career of arms. [517] General Cunningham +shows that even so late as the time of Prithwi Raj in the twelfth +century the Chauhans had no claim to be sprung from fire, but were +content to be considered descendants of a Brahman sage Bhrigu. [518] +Like the other Agnikula clans the Chauhans are now considered to have +sprung from the Gurjara or White Hun invaders of the fifth and sixth +centuries, but I do not know whether this is held to be definitely +proved in their case. Sambhar and Ajmer in Rajputana appear to have +been the first home of the clan, and inscriptions record a long +line of thirty-nine kings as reigning there from Anhul, the first +created Chauhan. The last but one of them, Vigraha Raja or Bisal Deo, +in the middle of the twelfth century extended the ancestral dominions +considerably, and conquered Delhi from a chief of the Tomara clan. At +this time the Chauhans, according to their own bards, held the line +of the Nerbudda from Garha-Mandla to Maheshwar and also Asirgarh, +while their dominions extended north to Hissar and south to the +Aravalli hills. [519] The nephew of Bisal Deo was Prithwi Raj, the +most famous Chauhan hero, who ruled at Sambhar, Ajmer and Delhi. His +first exploit was the abduction of the daughter of Jaichand, the +Gaharwar Raja of Kanauj, in about A.D. 1175. The king of Kanauj had +claimed the title of universal sovereign and determined to celebrate +the Ashwa-Medha or horse-sacrifice, at which all the offices should +be performed by vassal kings. Prithwi Raj alone declined to attend +as a subordinate, and Jaichand therefore made a wooden image of +him and set it up at the gate in the part of doorkeeper. But when +his daughter after the tournament took the garland of flowers to +bestow it on the chief whom she chose for her husband, she passed +by all the assembled nobles and threw the garland on the neck of +the wooden image. At this moment Prithwi Raj dashed in with a few +companions, and catching her up, escaped with her from her father's +court. [520] Afterwards, in 1182, Prithwi Raj defeated the Chandel +Raja Parmal and captured Mahoba. In 1191 Prithwi Raj was the head of +a confederacy of Hindu princes in combating the invasion of Muhammad +Ghori. He repelled the Muhammadans at Tarain about two miles north +of Delhi, but in the following year was completely defeated and +killed at Thaneswar, and soon afterwards Delhi and Ajmer fell to +the Muhammadans. The Chauhan kingdom was broken up, but scattered +parts of it remained, and about A.D. 1307 Asirgarh in Nimar, which +continued to be held by the Chauhans, was taken by Ala-ud-Din Khilji +and the whole garrison put to the sword except one boy. This boy, +Raisi Chauhan, escaped to Rajputana, and according to the bardic +chronicle his descendants formed the Hara branch of the Chauhans and +conquered from the Minas the tract known as Haravati, from which they +perhaps took their name. [521] This is now comprised in the Kotah and +Bundi states, ruled by Hara chiefs. Another well-known offshoot from +the Chauhans are the Khichi clan, who belong to the Sind-Sagar Doab; +and the Nikumbh and Bhadauria clans are also derived from them. The +Chauhans are numerous in the Punjab and United Provinces and rank as +one of the highest Rajput clans. In the Central Provinces they are +found principally in the Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad Districts, and +also in Mandla. The Chauhan Rajputs of Mandla marry among themselves, +with other Chauhans of Mandla, Seoni and Balaghat They have exogamous +sections with names apparently derived from villages like an ordinary +caste. The remarriage of widows is forbidden, but those widows who +desire to do so go and live with a man and are put out of caste. This, +however, is said not to happen frequently. A widow's hair is not +shaved, but her glass bangles are broken, she is dressed in white, +made to sleep on the ground, and can wear no ornaments. Owing to the +renown of the clan their name has been adopted by numerous classes of +inferior Rajputs and low Hindu castes who have no right to it. Thus +in the Punjab a large subcaste of Chamars call themselves Chauhan, +and in the Bilaspur District a low caste of village watchmen go +by this name. These latter may be descendants of the illegitimate +offspring of Chauhan Rajputs by low-caste women. + + + +Rajput, Dhakar + +_Rajput, Dhakar_.--In the Central Provinces this term has the meaning +of one of illegitimate descent, and it is often used by the Kirars, +who are probably of mixed descent from Rajputs. In northern India, +however, the Dhakars are a clan of Rajputs, who claim Surajvansi +origin; but this is not generally admitted. Mr. Crooke states that +some are said to be emigrants from the banks of the Nerbudda; but +the main body say they came from Ajmer in the sixteenth century. They +were notorious in the eighteenth century for their lawlessness, and +gave the imperial Mughal officers much trouble in the neighbourhood +of Agra, rendering the communications between that city and Etawah +insecure. In the Mutiny they broke out again, and are generally a +turbulent, ill-conducted sept, always ready for petty acts of violence +and cattle-stealing. They are, however, recognised as Rajputs of good +position and intermarry with the best clans. [522] + +In the Central Provinces the Dhakars are found principally in +Hoshangabad, and it is doubtful if they are proper Rajputs. + + + +Rajput, Gaharwar + +_Rajput, Gaharwar, Gherwal_.--This is an old clan. Mr. V.A. Smith +states that they had been dominant in Central India about Nowgong and +Chhatarpur before the Parihars in the eighth century. The Parihar +kings were subsequently overthrown by the Chandels of Mahoba. In +their practice of building embankments and constructing lakes the +Chandels were imitators of the Gaharwars, who are credited with the +formation of some of the most charming lakes in Bundelkhand. [523] +And in A.D. 1090 a Raja of the Gaharwar clan called Chandradeva seized +Kanauj (on the Ganges north-west of Lucknow), and established his +authority certainly over Benares and Ajodhia, and perhaps over the +Delhi territory. Govindachandra, grandson of Chandradeva, enjoyed a +long reign, which included the years A.D. 1114 and 1154. His numerous +land grants and widely distributed coins prove that he succeeded to a +large extent in restoring the glories of Kanauj, and in making himself +a power of considerable importance. The grandson of Govindachandra +was Jayachandra, renowned in the popular Hindu poems and tales of +northern India as Raja Jaichand, whose daughter was carried off by +the gallant Rai Pithora or Prithwi Raj of Ajmer. Kanauj was finally +captured and destroyed by Shihab-ud-Din in 1193, when Jaichand retired +towards Benares but was overtaken and slain. [524] His grandson, +Mr. Crooke says, [525] afterwards fled to Kantit in the Mirzapur +District and, overcoming the Bhar Raja of that place, founded the +family of the Gaharwar Rajas of Kantit Bijaypur, which was recently +still in existence. All the other Gaharwars trace their lineage to +Benares or Bijaypur. The predecessors of the Gaharwars in Kantit and +in a large tract of country lying contiguous to it were the Bhars, an +indigenous race of great enterprise, who, though not highly civilised, +were far removed from barbarism. According to Sherring they have +left numerous evidences of their energy and skill in earthworks, +forts, dams and the like. [526] Similarly Elliot says of the Bhars: +"Common tradition assigns to them the possession of the whole tract +from Gorakhpur to Bundelkhand and Saugor, and the large pargana of +Bhadoi or Bhardai in Benares is called after their name. Many old stone +forts, embankments and subterranean caverns in Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, +Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Allahabad, which are ascribed to them, would seem +to indicate no inconsiderable advance in civilisation." [527] Colonel +Tod says of the Gaharwars: "The Gherwal Rajput is scarcely known to +his brethren in Rajasthan, who will not admit his contaminated blood +to mix with theirs, though as a brave warrior he is entitled to their +fellowship." [528] It is thus curious that the Gaharwars, who are one +of the oldest clans to appear in authentic history, if they ruled +Central India in the eighth century before the Parihars, should be +considered to be of very impure origin. And as they are subsequently +found in Mirzapur, a backward forest tract which is also the home +of the Bhars, and both the Gaharwars and Bhars have a reputation as +builders of tanks and forts, it seems likely that the Gaharwars were +really, as suggested by Mr. V.A. Smith, the aristocratic branch of the +Bhars, probably with a considerable mixture of Rajput blood. Elliot +states that the Bhars formerly occupied the whole of Azamgarh, the +pargana of Bara in Allahabad and Khariagarh in the Kanauj tract. This +widespread dominance corresponds with what has been already stated +as regards the Gaharwars, who, according to Mr. V.A. Smith, ruled +in Central India, Kanauj, Oudh, Benares and Mirzapur. And the name +Gaharwar, according to Dr. Hoernle, is connected with the Sanskrit root +_gah_, and has the sense of 'dwellers in caves or deep jungle.' [529] +The origin of the Gaharwars is of interest in the Central Provinces, +because it is from them that the Bundela clan of Saugor and Bundelkhand +is probably descended. [530] + +The Gaharwars, Mr. Crooke states, now hold a high rank among Rajput +septs; they give daughters to the Baghel, Chandel and Bisen, and take +brides of the Bais, Gautam, Chauhan, Parihar and other clans. The +Gaharwars are found in small numbers in the Central Provinces, +chiefly in the Chhattisgarh Districts and Feudatory States. + + + +Rajput, Gaur + +_Rajput, Gaur, Chamar Gaur_.--Colonel Tod remarks of this tribe: +"The Gaur tribe was once respected in Rajasthan, though it never there +attained to any considerable eminence. The ancient kings of Bengal were +of this race, and gave their name to the capital, Lakhnauti." This town +in Bengal, and the kingdom of which it was the capital, were known as +Ganda, and it has been conjectured that the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs +were named after it. Sir H.M. Elliot and Mr. Crooke, however, point out +that the home of the Gaur Brahmans and Rajputs and a cultivating caste, +the Gaur Tagas, is in the centre and west of the United Provinces, +far removed from Bengal; the Gaur Brahmans now reside principally +in the Meerut Division, and between them and Bengal is the home of +the Kanaujia Brahmans. General Cunningham suggests that the country +comprised in the present Gonda District round the old town of Sravasti, +was formerly known as Gauda, and was hence the origin of the caste +name. [531] The derivation from Gaur in Bengal is perhaps, however, +more probable, as the name was best known in connection with this +tract. The Gaur Rajputs do not make much figure in history. "Repeated +mention of them is found in the wars of Prithwi Raj as leaders of +considerable renown, one of whom founded a small state in the centre +of India. This survived through seven centuries of Mogul domination, +till it at length fell a prey indirectly to the successes of the +British over the Marathas, when Sindhia in 1809 annihilated the power +of the Gaur and took possession of his capital, Supur." [532] + +In the United Provinces the Gaur Rajputs are divided into three groups, +the Bahman, or Brahman, the Bhat, and the Chamar Gaur. Of these the +Chamar Gaur, curiously enough appear to rank the highest, which is +accounted for by the following story: When trouble fell upon the Gaur +family, one of their ladies, far advanced in pregnancy, took refuge +in a Chamar's house, and was so grateful to him for his disinterested +protection that she promised to call her child by his name. The Bhats +and Brahmans, to whom the others fled, do not appear to have shown a +like chivalry, and hence, strange as it may appear, the subdivisions +called after their name rank below the Chamar Gaur. [533] The names of +the subsepts indicate that this clan of Rajputs is probably of mixed +origin. If the Brahman subsept is descended from Brahmans, it would +be only one of several probable cases of Rajput clans originating +from this caste. As regards the Bhat subcaste, the Charans or Bhats +of Rajputana are admittedly Rajputs, and there is therefore nothing +curious in finding a Bhat subsection in a Rajput clan. What the +real origin of the Chamar Gaurs was is difficult to surmise. The +Chamar Gaur is now a separate clan, and its members intermarry with +the other Gaur Rajputs, affording an instance of the subdivision of +clans. In the Central Provinces the greater number of the persons +returned as Gaur Rajputs really belong to a group known as Gorai, who +are considered to be the descendants of widows or kept women in the +Gaur clan, and marry among themselves. They should really therefore +be considered a separate caste, and not members of the Rajput caste +proper. In the United Provinces the Gaurs rank with the good Rajput +clans. In the Central Provinces the Gaur and Chamar-Gaur clans are +returned from most Districts of the Jubbulpore and Nerbudda divisions, +and also in considerable numbers from Bhandara. + + + + +Rajput, Haihaya + +_Rajput, Haihaya, Haihaivansi, Kalaehuri_.--This well-known historical +clan of the Central Provinces is not included among the thirty-six +royal races, and Colonel Tod gives no information about them. The +name Haihaya is stated to be a corruption of Ahihaya, which means +snake-horse, the legend being that the first ancestor of the clan was +the issue of a snake and a mare. Haihaivansi signifies descendants +of the horse. Colonel Tod states that the first capital of the Indu +or lunar race was at Mahesvati on the Nerbudda, still existing +as Maheshwar, and was founded by Sahasra Arjuna of the Haihaya +tribe. [534] This Arjuna of the thousand arms was one of the Pandava +brothers, and it may be noted that the Ratanpur Haihaivansis still +have a story of their first ancestor stealing a horse from Arjuna, +and a consequent visit of Arjuna and Krishna to Ratanpur for its +recovery. Since the Haihayas also claim descent from a snake and are +of the lunar race, it seems not unlikely that they may have belonged +to one of the Scythian or Tartar tribes, the Sakas or Yueh-chi, +who invaded India shortly after the commencement of the Christian +era, as it has been conjectured that the other lunar Rajput clans +worshipping or claiming descent from a snake originated from these +tribes. The Haihaivansis or Kalachuris became dominant in the Nerbudda +valley about the sixth century, their earliest inscription being dated +A.D. 580. Their capital was moved to Tripura or Tewar near Jubbulpore +about A.D. 900, and from here they appear to have governed an extensive +territory for about 300 years, and were frequently engaged in war with +the adjoining kingdoms, the Chandels of Mahoba, the Panwars of Malwa, +and the Chalukyas of the south. One king, Gangeyadeva, appears even +to have aspired to become the paramount power in northern India, and +his sovereignty was recognised in distant Tirhut. Gangeyadeva was fond +of residing at the foot of the holy fig-tree of Prayaga (Allahabad), +and eventually found salvation there with his hundred wives. From +about A.D. 1100 the power of the Kalachuri or Haihaya princes began to +decline, and their last inscription is dated A.D. 1196. It is probable +that they were subverted by the Gond kings of Garha-Mandla, the first +of whom, Jadurai, appears to have been in the service of the Kalachuri +king, and subsequently with the aid of a dismissed minister to have +supplanted his former-master. [535] The kingdom of the Kalachuri or +Haihaya kings was known as Chedi, and, according to Mr. V.A. Smith, +corresponded more or less roughly to the present area of the Central +Provinces. [536] + +In about the tenth century a member of the reigning family of Tripura +was appointed viceroy of some territories in Chhattisgarh, and two or +three generations afterwards his family became practically independent +of the parent house, and established their own capital at Ratanpur +in Bilaspur District (A.D. 1050). This state was known as Dakshin or +southern Kosala. During the twelfth century its importance rapidly +increased, partly no doubt on the ruins of the Jubbulpore kingdom, +until the influence of the Ratanpur princes, Ratnadeva II. and +Prithwideva II., may be said to have extended from Amarkantak to +beyond the Godavari, and from the confines of Berar in the west to +the boundaries of Orissa in the east. [537] The Ratanpur kingdom of +Chedi or Dakshin Kosala was the only one of the Rajput states in the +Central Provinces which escaped subversion by the Gonds, and it enjoyed +a comparatively tranquil existence till A.D. 1740, when Ratanpur fell +to the Marathas almost without striking a blow. "The only surviving +representative of the Haihayas of Ratanpur," Mr. Wills states, [538] +"is a quite simple-minded Rajput who lives at Bargaon in Raipur +District. He represents the junior or Raipur branch of the family, +and holds five villages which were given him revenue-free by the +Marathas for his maintenance. The malguzar of Senduras claims descent +from the Ratanpur family, but his pretensions are doubtful. He enjoys +no privileges such as those of the Bargaon Thakur, to whom presents +are still made when he visits the chiefs who were once subordinate to +his ancient house." In the Ballia District of the United Provinces +[539] are some Hayobans Rajputs who claim descent from the Ratanpur +kings. Chandra Got, a cadet of this house, is said to have migrated +northwards in A.D. 850 [540] and settled in the Saran District +on the Ganges, where he waged successful war with the aboriginal +Cheros. Subsequently one of his descendants violated a Brahman woman +called Maheni of the house of his Purohit or family priest, who burnt +herself to death, and is still locally worshipped. After this tragedy +the Hayobans Rajputs left Saran and settled in Ballia. Colonel Tod +states that, "A small branch of these ancient Haihayas yet exist +in the country of the Nerbudda, near the very top of the valley, +at Sohagpur in Baghelkhand, aware of their ancient lineage, and, +though few in number, are still celebrated for their valour." [541] +This Sohagpur must apparently be the Sohagpur tahsil of Rewah, ceded +from Mandla after the Mutiny. + + + + +Rajput, Huna + +_Rajput, Huna, Hoon_.--This clan retains the name and memory of the +Hun barbarian hordes, who invaded India at or near the epoch of their +incursions into Europe. It is practically extinct; but in his _Western +India_ Colonel Tod records the discovery of a few families of Hunas +in Baroda State: "At a small village opposite Ometa I discovered +a few huts of Huns, still existing under the ancient name of Hoon, +by which they are known to Hindu history. There are said to be three +or four families of them at the village of Trisavi, three _kos_ from +Baroda, and although neither feature nor complexion indicate much +relation to the Tartar-visaged Hun, we may ascribe the change to +climate and admixture of blood, as there is little doubt that they +are descended from these invaders, who established a sovereignty on +the Indus in the second and sixth centuries of the Christian era, +and became so incorporated with the Rajput population as to obtain a +place among the thirty-six royal races of India, together with the +Gete, the Kathi, and other tribes of the Sacae from Central Asia, +whose descendants still occupy the land of the sun-worshipping Saura +or Chaura, no doubt one of the same race." + + + + +Rajput, Kachhwaha + +_Rajput, Kachhwaha, Cutchwaha_--A celebrated clan of Rajputs included +among the thirty-six royal races, to which the Maharajas of the +important states of Amber or Jaipur and Alwar belong. They are of the +solar race and claim descent from Kash, the second son of the great +king Rama of Ajodhia, the incarnation of Vishnu. Their original seat, +according to tradition, was Rohtas on the Son river, and another of +their famous progenitors was Raja Nal, who migrated from Rohtas and +founded Narwar. [542] The town of Damoh in the Central Provinces +is supposed to be named after Damyanti, Raja Nal's wife. According +to General Cunningham the name Kachhwaha is an abbreviation of +Kachhaha-ghata or tortoise-killer. The earliest appearance of the +Kachhwaha Rajputs in authentic history is in the tenth century, when +a chief of the clan captured Gwalior from the Parihar-Gujar kings of +Kanauj and established himself there. His dynasty had an independent +existence till A.D. 1128, when it became tributary to the Chandel +kings of Mahoba. [543] The last prince of Gwalior was Tejkaran, +called Dulha Rai or the bridegroom prince, and he received from his +father-in-law the district of Daora in the present Jaipur State, +where he settled. In 1150 one of his successors wrested Amber from +the Minas and made it his capital. The Amber State from the first +acknowledged the supremacy of the Mughal emperors, and the chief +of the period gave his daughter in marriage to Akbar. This chief's +son, Bhagwan Das, is said to have saved Akbar's life at the battle +of Sarnal. Bhagwan Das gave a daughter to Jahangir, and his adopted +son, Man Singh, the next chief, was one of the most conspicuous of +the Mughal Generals, and at different periods was governor of Kabul, +Bengal, Bihar and the Deccan. The next chief of note, Jai Singh I., +appears in all the wars of Aurangzeb in the Deccan. He was commander +of 6000 horse, and captured Sivaji, the celebrated founder of the +Maratha power. The present city of Jaipur was founded by a subsequent +chief, Jai Singh II., in 1728. During the Mutiny the Maharaja of Jaipur +placed all his military power at the disposal of the Political Agent, +and in every way assisted the British Government. At the Durbar of +1877 his salute was raised to 21 guns. Jaipur, one of the largest +states in Rajputana, has an area of nearly 16,000 square miles, and +a population of 2 1/2 million persons. The Alwar State was founded +about 1776 by Pratap Singh, a descendant of a prince of the Jaipur +house, who had separated from it three centuries before. It has an +area of 3000 square miles and a population of nearly a million. [544] +In Colonel Tod's time the Kachhwaha chiefs in memory of their descent +from Rama, the incarnation of the sun, celebrated with great solemnity +the annual feast of the sun. On this occasion a stately car called the +chariot of the sun was brought from Rama's temple, and the Maharaja +ascending into it perambulated his capital. The images of Rama and +Siva were carried with the army both in Alwar and Jaipur. The banner +of Amber was always called the _Panchranga_ or five-coloured flag, +and is frequently mentioned in the traditions of the Rajput bards. But +it does not seem to be stated what the five colours were. Some of +the finest soldiers in the old Sepoy army were Kachhwaha Rajputs. The +Kachhwahas are fairly numerous in the United Provinces and rank with +the highest Rajput clans. [545] In the Central Provinces they are +found principally in the Saugor, Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts. + + + + +Rajput, Nagvansi + +_Rajput, Nagvansi_.--This clan are considered to be the descendants of +the Tak or Takshac, which is one of the thirty-six royal races, and was +considered by Colonel Tod to be of Scythian origin. The Takshac were +also snake-worshippers. "Naga and Takshac are synonymous appellations +in Sanskrit for the snake, and the Takshac is the celebrated Nagvansa +of the early heroic history of India. The Mahabharat describes in its +usual allegorical style the war between the Pandus of Indraprestha and +the Takshacs of the north. Parikhita, a prince on the Pandu side, was +assassinated by the Takshac, and his son and successor, Janamejaya, +avenged his death and made a bonfire of 20,000 snakes." [546] This +allegory is supposed to have represented the warfare of the Aryan +races against the Sakas or Scythians. The Tak or Takshac would be +one of the clans held to be derived from the earlier invading tribes +from Central Asia, and of the lunar race. The Tak are scarcely known +in authentic history, but the poet Chand mentions the Tak from Aser +or Asirgarh as one of the princes who assembled at the summons of +Prithwi Raj of Delhi to fight against the Muhammadans. In another +place he is called Chatto the Tak. Nothing more is known of the +Tak clan unless the cultivating Taga caste of northern India is +derived from them. But the Nagvansi clan of Rajputs, who profess to +be descended from them, is fairly numerous. Most of the Nagvansis, +however, are probably in reality descended from landholders of the +indigenous tribes who have adopted the name of this clan, when they +wished to claim rank as Rajputs. The change is rendered more easy by +the fact that many of these tribes have legends of their own, showing +the descent of their ruling families from snakes, the snake and tiger, +owing to their deadly character, being the two animals most commonly +worshipped. Thus the landholding section of the Kols or Mundas of +Chota Nagpur have a long legend [547] of their descent from a princess +who married a snake in human form, and hence call themselves Nagvansi +Rajputs; and Dr. Buchanan states that the Nagvansi clan of Gorakhpur +is similarly derived from the Chero tribe. [548] In the Central +Provinces the Nagvansi Rajputs number about 400 persons, nearly all +of whom are found in the Chhattisgarh Districts and Feudatory States, +and are probably descendants of Kol or Munda landholding families. + + + + +Rajput, Nikumbh + +_Rajput, Nikumbh_.--The Nikumbh is given as one of the thirty-six +royal races, but it is also the name of a branch of the Chauhans, and +it seems that, as suggested by Sherring, [549] it may be an offshoot +from the great Chauhan clan. The Nikumbh are said to have been given +the title of Sirnet by an emperor of Delhi, because they would not +bow their heads on entering his presence, and when he fixed a sword +at the door some of them allowed their necks to be cut through by the +sword rather than bend the head. The term Sirnet is supposed to mean +headless. A Chauhan column with an inscription of Raja Bisal Deo was +erected at Nigumbode, a place of pilgrimage on the Jumna, a few miles +below Delhi, and it seems a possible conjecture that the Nikumbhs may +have obtained their name from this place. [550] Mr. Crooke, however, +takes the Nikumbh to be a separate clan. The foundation of most of +the old forts and cities in Alwar and northern Jaipur is ascribed to +them, and two of their inscriptions of the twelfth and thirteenth +centuries have been discovered in Khandesh. In northern India some +of them are now known as Raghuvansi. [551] They are chiefly found in +the Hoshangabad and Nimar Districts, and may be connected with the +Raghuvansi or Raghwi caste of these Provinces. + + + + + +Rajput, Paik + +_Rajput, Paik_.--This term means a foot-soldier, and is returned +from the northern Districts. It belongs to a class of men formerly +maintained as a militia by zamindars and landholders for the purpose +of collecting their revenue and maintaining order. They were probably +employed in much the same manner in the Central Provinces as in Bengal, +where Buchanan thus describes them: [552] "In order to protect the +money of landowners and convey it from place to place, and also, as +it is alleged, to enforce orders, two kinds of guards are kept. One +body called Burkandaz, commanded by Duffadars and Jemadars, seems +to be a more recent establishment The other called Paik, commanded +by Mirdhas and Sirdars, are the remains of the militia of the Bengal +kingdom. Both seem to have constituted the foot-soldiers whose number +makes such a formidable appearance in the Ain-i-Akbari. These unwieldy +establishments seem to have been formed when the Government collected +rent immediately from the farmer and cultivator, and when the same +persons managed not only the collections but the police and a great +part of the judicial department. This vast number of armed men, more +especially the latter, formed the infantry of the Mughal Government, +and were continued under the zamindars, who were anxious to have as +many armed men as possible to support them in their depredations. And +these establishments formed no charge, as they lived on lands which the +zamindar did not bring to account." The Paiks are thus a small caste +formed from military service like the Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa, +and are no doubt recruited from all sections of the population. They +have no claim to be considered as Rajputs. + + + + +Rajput, Parihar + +_Rajput, Parihar_.--This clan was one of the four Agnikulas or +fire-born. Their founder was the first to issue from the fire-fountain, +but he had not a warrior's mien. The Brahmans placed him as guardian +of the gate, and hence his name, _Prithi-ha-dwara_ of which Parihar +is supposed to be a corruption [553]. Like the Chauhans and Solankis +the Parihar clan is held to have originated from the Gurjara or +Gujar invaders who came with the white Huns in the fifth and sixth +centuries, and they were one of the first of the Gujar Rajput clans to +emerge into prominence. They were dominant in Bundelkhand before the +Chandels, their last chieftain having been overthrown by a Chandel +prince in A.D. 831 [554]. A Parihar-Gujar chieftain, whose capital +was at Bhinmal in Rajputana, conquered the king of Kanauj, the ruler +of what remained of the dominions of the great Harsha Vardhana, and +established himself there about A.D. 816 [555]. Kanauj was then held by +Gujar-Parihar kings till about 1090, when it was seized by Chandradeva +of the Gaharwar Rajput clan. The Parihar rulers were thus subverted +by the Gaharwars and Chandels, both of whom are thought to be derived +from the Bhars or other aboriginal tribes, and these events appear +to have been in the nature of a rising of the aristocratic section +of the indigenous residents against the Gujar rulers, by whom they +had been conquered and perhaps taught the trade of arms. After this +period the Parihars are of little importance. They appear to have +retired to Rajputana, as Colonel Tod states that Mundore, five miles +north of Jodhpur, was their headquarters until it was taken by the +Rahtors. The walls of the ruined fortress of Mundore are built of +enormous square masses of stone without cement, and attest both its +antiquity and its former strength [556]. The Parihars are scattered +over Rajputana, and a colony of them on the Chambal was characterised +as the most notorious body of thieves in the annals of Thug history +[557]. Similarly in Etawah they are said to be a peculiarly lawless +and desperate community [558]. The Parihar Rajputs rank with the +leading clans and intermarry with them. In the Central Provinces they +are found principally in Saugor, Damoh and Jubbulpore. + + + + +Rajput, Rathor + +_Rajput, Rathor, Rathaur._--The Rathor of Jodhpur or Marwar is one +of the most famous clans of Rajputs, and that which is most widely +dominant at the present time, including as it does the Rajas of +Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ratlam, Kishengarh and Idar, as well as several +smaller states. The origin of the Rathor clan is uncertain. Colonel +Tod states that they claim to be of the solar race, but by the bards +of the race are denied this honour; and though descended from Kash, the +second son of Rama, are held to be the offspring of one of his progeny, +Kashyap, by the daughter of a Dait (Titan). The view was formerly +held that the dynasty which wrested Kanauj from the descendants of +Harsha Vardhana, and held it from A.D. 810 to 1090, until subverted +by the Gaharwars, were Rathors, but proof has now been obtained that +they were really Parihar-Gujars. Mr. Smith suggests that after the +destruction of Kanauj by the Muhammadans under Shihab-ud-Din Ghori +in A.D. 1193 the Gaharwar clan, whose kings had conquered it in 1090 +and reigned there for a century, migrated to the deserts of Marwar +in Rajputana, where they settled and became known as Rathors. [559] +It has also been generally held that the Rashtrakuta dynasty of +Nasik and Malkhed in the Deccan which reigned from A.D. 753 to 973, +and built the Kailasa temples at Ellora were Rathors, but Mr. Smith +states that there is no evidence of any social connection between the +Rashtrakutas and Rathors. [560] At any rate Siahji, the grandson or +nephew of Jai Chand, the last king of Kanauj, who had been drowned +in the Ganges while attempting to escape, accomplished with about +200 followers--the wreck of his vassalage--the pilgrimage to Dwarka +in Gujarat. He then sought in the sands and deserts of Rajputana +a second line of defence against the advancing wave of Muhammadan +invasion, and planted the standard of the Rathors among the sandhills +of the Luni in 1212. This, however, was not the first settlement of +the Rathors in Rajputana, for an inscription, dated A.D. 997, among +the ruins of the ancient city of Hathundi or Hastikundi, near Bali +in Jodhpur State, tells of five Rathor Rajas who ruled there early +in the tenth century, and this fact shows that the name Rathor is +really much older than the date of the fall of Kanauj. [561] + +In 1381 Siahji's tenth successor, Rao Chonda, took Mundore from +a Parihar chief, and made his possession secure by marrying the +latter's daughter. A subsequent chief, Rao Jodha, laid the foundation +of Jodhpur in 1459, and transferred thither the seat of government. The +site of Jodhpur was selected on a peak known as Joda-gir, or the hill +of strife, four miles distant from Mundore on a crest of the range +overlooking the expanse of the desert plains of Marwar. The position +for the new city was chosen at the bidding of a forest ascetic, and was +excellently adapted for defence, but had no good water-supply. [562] +Joda had fourteen sons, of whom the sixth, Bika, was the founder of the +Bikaner state. Raja Sur Singh (1595-1620) was one of Akbar's greatest +generals, and the emperor Jahangir buckled the sword on to his son +Gaj Singh with his own hands. Gaj Singh, the next Raja (1620-1635), +was appointed viceroy of the Deccan, as was his successor, Jaswant +Singh, under Aurangzeb. The Mughal Emperors, Colonel Tod remarks, +were indebted for half their conquests to the Lakh Tulwar Rahtoran, +the hundred thousand swords which the Rathors boasted that they +could muster. [563] On another occasion, when Jahangir successfully +appealed to the Rajputs for support against his rebel son Khusru, +he was so pleased with the zeal of the Rathor prince, Raja Gaj Singh, +that he not only took the latter's hand, but kissed it, [564] perhaps +an unprecedented honour. But the constant absence from his home on +service in distant parts of the empire was so distasteful to Raja Sur +Singh that, when dying in the Deccan, he ordered a pillar to be erected +on his grave containing his curse upon any of his race who should +cross the Nerbudda. The pomp of imperial greatness or the sunshine of +court favour was as nothing with the Rathor chiefs, Colonel Tod says, +when weighed against the exercise of their influence within their own +cherished patrimony. The simple fare of the desert was dearer to the +Rathor than all the luxuries of the imperial banquet, which he turned +from in disgust to the recollection of the green pulse of Mundore, +or his favourite _rabi_ or maize porridge, the prime dish of the +Rathor. [565] The Rathor princes have been not less ready in placing +themselves and the forces of their States at the disposal of the +British Government, and the latest and perhaps most brilliant example +of their loyalty occurred during 1914, when the veteran Sir Partap +Singh of Idar insisted on proceeding to the front against Germany, +though over seventy years of age, and was accompanied by his nephew, +a boy of sixteen. + +The Ratlam State was founded by Ratan Singh, a grandson of Raja +Udai Singh of Jodhpur, who was born about 1618, and obtained it +as a grant for good service against the Usbegs at Kandahar and the +Persians in Khorasan about 1651-52. Kishangarh was founded by Kishan +Singh, a son of the same Raja Udai Singh, who obtained a grant of +territory from Akbar about 1611. Idar State in Gujarat has, according +to its traditions, been held by Rathor princes from a very early +period. Jodhpur State is the largest in Rajputana, with an area of +35,000 square miles, and a population of two million. The Maharaja +is entitled to a salute of twenty-one guns. A great part of the +State is a sandy desert, and its older name of Marwar is, according +to Colonel Tod, a corruption of Marusthan, or the region of death. In +the Central Provinces the Rathor Rajputs number about 6000 persons, and +are found mainly in the Saugor, Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and Hoshangabad +Districts. The census statistics include about 5000 persons enumerated +in Mandla and Bilaspur, nearly all of whom are really Rathor Telis. + + + + +Rajput, Sesodia + +_Rajput, Sesodia, Gahlot, Aharia_.--The Gahlot or Sesodia is generally +admitted to be the premier Rajput clan. Their chief is described by +the bards as "The Suryavansi Rana, of royal race, Lord of Chitor, +the ornament of the thirty-six royal races." The Sesodias claim +descent from the sun, through Loh, the eldest son of the divine Rama +of Ajodhia. In token of their ancestry the royal banner of Mewar +consisted of a golden sun on a crimson field. Loh is supposed to have +founded Lahore. His descendants migrated to Saurashtra or Kathiawar, +where they settled at Vidurbha or Balabhi, the capital of the Valabhi +dynasty. The last king of Valabhi was Siladitya, who was killed by +an invasion of barbarians, and his posthumous son, Gohaditya, ruled +in Idar and the hilly country in the south-west of Mewar. From him +the clan took its name of Gohelot or Gahlot. Mr. D.R. Bhandarkar, +however, from a detailed examination of the inscriptions relating +to the Sesodias, arrives at the conclusion that the founders of +the line were Nagar Brahmans from Vadnagar in Gujarat, the first +of the line being one Guhadatta, from which the clan takes its +name of Gahlot [566] The family were also connected with the ruling +princes of Valabhi. Mr. Bhandarkar thinks that the Valabhi princes, +and also the Nagar Brahmans, belonged to the Maitraka tribe, who, +like the Gujars, were allied to the Huns, and entered India in the +fifth or sixth century. Mr. Bhandarkar's account really agrees quite +closely with the traditions of the Sesodia bards themselves, except +that he considers Guhadatta to have been a Nagar Brahman of Valabhi, +and descended from the Maitrakas, a race allied to the Huns, while the +bards say that he was a descendant of the Aryan Kshatriyas of Ajodhia, +who migrated to Surat and established the Valabhi kingdom. The earliest +prince of the Gahlot dynasty for whom a date has been obtained is +Sila, A.D. 646, and he was fifth in descent from Guhadatta, who may +therefore be placed in the first part of the sixth century. Bapa, +the founder of the Gahlot clan in Mewar, was, according to tradition, +sixth in descent from Gohaditya, and he had his capital at Nagda, +a few miles to the north of Udaipur city. [567] A tradition quoted by +Mr. Bhandarkar states that Bapa was the son of Grahadata. He succeeded +in propitiating the god Siva. One day the king of Chitor died and +left no heir to his throne. It was decided that whoever would be +garlanded by a certain elephant would be placed on the throne. Bapa +was present on the occasion, and the elephant put the garland round +his neck not only once, but thrice. Bapa was thus seated on the +throne. One day he was suffering from some eye-disease. A physician +mixed a certain medicine in alcoholic liquor and applied it to his +eyes, which were speedily cured. Bapa afterwards inquired what the +medicine was, and learnt the truth. He trembled like a reed and said, +"I am a Brahman, and you have given me medicine mixed in liquor. I +have lost my caste," So saying he drank molten lead (_sisa_), and +forthwith died, and hence arose the family name Sesodia. [568] This +story, current in Rajputana, supports Mr. Bhandarkar's view of the +Brahman origin of the clan. According to tradition Bapa went to Chitor, +then held by the Mori or Pramara Rajputs, to seek his fortune, and +was appointed to lead the Chitor forces against the Muhammadans on +their first invasion of India. [569] After defeating and expelling +them he ousted the Mori ruler and established himself at Chitor, +which has since been the capital of the Sesodias. The name Sesodia +is really derived from Sesoda, the residence of a subsequent chief +Rahup, who captured Mundore and was the first to bear the title of +Rana of Mewar. Similarly Aharia is another local name from Ahar, a +place in Mewar, which was given to the clan. They were also known as +Raghuvansi, or of the race of king Raghu, the ancestor of the divine +Rama. The Raghuvansis of the Central Provinces, an impure caste +of Rajput origin, are treated in a separate article, but it is not +known whether they were derived from the Sesodias. From the fourteenth +century the chronicles of the Sesodias contain many instances of Rajput +courage and devotion. Chitor was sacked three times before the capital +was removed to Udaipur, first by Ala-ul-Din Khilji in 1303, next by +Bahadur Shah, the Muhammadan king of Gujarat in 1534, and lastly by +Akbar in 1567. These events were known as Saka or massacres of the +clan. On each occasion the women of the garrison performed the Johar +or general immolation by fire, while the men sallied forth, clad in +their saffron-coloured robes and inspired by _bhang_, to die sword +in hand against the foe. At the first sack the goddess of the clan +appeared in a dream to the Rana and demanded the lives of twelve of +its chiefs as a condition of its preservation. His eleven sons were +in their turn crowned as chief, each ruling for three days, while on +the fourth he sallied out and fell in battle. [570] Lastly, the Rana +devoted himself in order that his favourite son Ajeysi might be spared +and might perpetuate the clan. At the second sack 32,000 were slain, +and at the third 30,000. Finally Aurangzeb destroyed the temples and +idols at Chitor, and only its ruins remain. Udaipur city was founded +in 1559. The Sesodias resisted the Muhammadans for long, and several +times defeated them. Udai Singh, the founder of Udaipur, abandoned +his capital and fled to the hills, whence he caused his own territory +to be laid waste, with the object of impeding the imperial forces. Of +this period it is recorded that the Ranas were from father to son in +outlawry against the emperor, and that sovereign had carried away the +doors of the gate of Chitor, and had set them up in Delhi. Fifty-two +rajas and chiefs had perished in the struggle, and the Rana in +his trouble lay at nights on a counterpane spread on the ground, +and neither slept in his bed nor shaved his hair; and if he perchance +broke his fast, had nothing better with which to satisfy it than beans +baked in an earthen pot. For this reason it is that certain practices +are to this day observed at Udaipur. A counterpane is spread below the +Rana's bed, and his head remains unshaven and baked beans are daily +laid upon his plate. [571] A custom of perhaps somewhat similar origin +is that in this clan man and wife take food together, and the wife does +not wait till her husband has finished. It is said that the Sesodia +Rajputs are the only caste in India among whom this rule prevails, +and it may have been due to the fact that they had to eat together +in haste when occasion offered during this period of guerilla warfare. + +In 1614 Rana Amar Singh, recognising that further opposition was +hopeless, made his submission to the emperor, on the condition that he +should never have to present himself in person but might send his two +sons in his place. This stipulation being accepted, the heir-apparent +Karan Singh proceeded to Ajmer where he was magnanimously treated by +Jahangir and shortly afterwards the imperial troops were withdrawn +from Chitor. It is the pride of the Udaipur house that it never gave +a daughter in marriage to any of the Musalman emperors, and for many +years ceased to intermarry with other Rajput families who had formed +such alliances. But Amar Singh II. (1698-1710) made a league with +the Maharajas of Jodhpur and Jaipur for mutual protection against +the Muhammadans; and it was one of the conditions of the compact +that the latter chiefs should regain the privilege of marriage with +the Udaipur family which had been suspended since they had given +daughters in marriage to the emperors. But the Rana unfortunately +added a proviso that the son of an Udaipur princess should succeed +to the Jodhpur or Jaipur States in preference to any elder son by +another mother. The quarrels to which this stipulation gave rise led +to the conquest of the country by the Marathas, at whose hands Mewar +suffered more cruel devastation than it had ever been subjected to by +the Muhammadans. Ruinous war also ensued between Jodhpur and Jaipur +for the hand of the famous Udaipur princess Kishen Kumari at the time +when Rajputana was being devastated by the Marathas and Pindaris; +and the quarrel was only settled by the voluntary death of the object +of contention, who, after the kinsman sent to slay her had recoiled +before her young beauty and innocence, willingly drank the draught +of opium four times administered before the fatal result could be +produced. [572] + +The Maharana of Udaipur is entitled to a salute of nineteen +guns. The Udaipur State has an area of nearly 13,000 square miles +and a population of about a million persons. Besides Udaipur three +minor states, Partabgarh, Dungarpur and Banswara, are held by members +of the Sesodia clan. In the Central Provinces the Sesodias numbered +nearly 2000 persons in 1911, being mainly found in the districts of +the Nerbudda Division. + + + + +Rajput, Solankhi + +_Rajput, Solankhi, Solanki, Chalukya._--This clan was one of the +Agnikula or fire-born, and are hence considered to have probably been +Gurjaras or Gujars. Their original name is said to have been Chaluka, +because they were formed in the palm (_chalu_) of the hand. They +were not much known in Rajputana, but were very prominent in the +Deccan. Here they were generally called Chalukya, though in northern +India the name Solankhi is more common. As early as A.D. 350 Pulakesin +I. made himself master of the town of Vatapi, the modern Badami In the +Bijapur District, and founded a dynasty, which developed into the most +powerful kingdom south of the Nerbudda, and lasted for two centuries, +when it was overthrown by the Rashtrakutas [573]. Pulakesin II. of +this Chalukya dynasty successfully resisted an inroad of the great +emperor Harsha Vardhana of Kanauj, who aspired to the conquest of the +whole of India. The Rashtrakuta kings governed for two centuries, +and in A.D. 973 Taila or Tailapa II., a scion of the old Chalukya +stock, restored the family of his ancestors to its former glory, +and founded the dynasty known as that of the Chalukyas of Kalyan, +which lasted like that which it superseded for nearly two centuries +and a quarter, up to about A.D. 1190. In the tenth century apparently +another branch of the clan migrated from Rajputana into Gujarat and +established a new dynasty there, owing to which Gujarat, which had +formerly been known as Lata, obtained its present name [574]. The +principal king of this line was Sidh Raj Solankhi, who is well known +to tradition. From these Chalukya or Solankhi rulers the Baghel clan +arose, which afterwards migrated to Rewah. The Solankhis are found +in the United Provinces, and a small number are returned from the +Central Provinces, belonging mainly to Hoshangabad and Nimar. + + + + +Rajput, Somvansi + +_Rajput, Somvansi, Chandravansi._--These two are returned as separate +septs, though both names mean 'Descendants of the moon.' Colonel Tod +considers Surajvansi and Somvansi, or the descendants of the sun and +moon as the first two of the thirty-six royal clans, from which all +the others were evolved. But he gives no account of them, nor does it +appear that they were regularly recognised clans in Rajputana. It is +probable that both Somvansi and Chandravansi, as well as Surajvansi and +perhaps Nagvansi (Descendants of the snake) have served as convenient +designations for Rajputs of illegitimate birth, or for landholding +sections of the cultivating castes and indigenous tribes when they +aspired to become Rajputs. Thus the Surajvansis, and Somvansis of +different parts of the country might be quite different sets of +people. There seems some reason for supposing that the Somvansis of +the United Provinces as described by Mr. Crooke are derived from the +Bhar tribe; [575] in the Central Provinces a number of Somvansis +and Chandravansis are returned from the Feudatory States, and are +probably landholders who originally belonged to one of the forest +tribes residing in them. I have heard the name Somvansi applied +to a boy who belonged to the Baghel clan of Rajputs, but he was of +inferior status on account of his mother being a remarried widow, +or something of the kind. + + + + +Rajput, Surajvansi + +_Rajput, Surajvansi._--The Surajvansi (Descendants of the Sun) is +recorded as the first of the thirty-six royal clans, but Colonel Tod +gives no account of it, and it does not seem to be known to history +as a separate clan. Mr. Crooke mentions an early tradition that the +Surajvansis migrated from Ajodhia to Gujarat in A.D. 224, but this +is scarcely likely to be authentic in view, of the late dates now +assigned for the origin of the important Rajput clans. Surajvansi +should properly be a generic term denoting any Rajput belonging to a +clan of the solar race, and it seems likely that it may at different +times have been adopted by Rajputs who were no longer recognised in +their own clan, or by families of the cultivating castes or indigenous +tribes who aspired to become Rajputs. Thus Mr. Crooke notes that a +large section of the Soiris (Savaras or Saonrs) have entirely abandoned +their own tribal name and call themselves Surajvansi Rajputs; [576] +and the same thing has probably happened in other cases. In the Central +Provinces the Surajvansis belong mainly to Hoshangabad, and here they +form a separate caste, marrying among themselves and not with other +Rajput clans. Hence they would not be recognised as proper Rajputs, +and are probably a promoted group of some cultivating caste. + + + + +Rajput, Tomara + +_Rajput, Tomara, Tuar, Turtwar_.--This clan is an ancient one, supposed +by Colonel Tod to be derived from the Yadavas or lunar race. The +name is said to come from _tomar_ a club. [577] The Tomara clan was +considered to be a very ancient one, and the great king Vikramaditya, +whose reign was the Hindu Golden Age, was held to have been sprung +from it. These traditions are, however, now discredited, as well as +that of Delhi having been built by a Tomara king, Anang Pal I., in +A.D. 733. Mr. V.A. Smith states that Delhi was founded in 993-994, +and Anangapala, a Tomara king, built the Red Fort about 1050. In +1052 he removed the celebrated iron pillar, on which the eulogy of +Chandragupta Vikramaditya is incised, from its original position, +probably at Mathura, and set it up in Delhi as an adjunct to a group +of temples from which the Muhammadans afterwards constructed the +great mosque. [578] This act apparently led to the tradition that +Vikramaditya had been a Tomara, and also to a much longer historical +antiquity being ascribed to the clan than it really possessed. The +Tomara rule at Delhi only lasted about 150 years, and in the middle +of the twelfth century the town was taken by Bisal Deo, the Chauhan +chieftain of Ajmer, whose successor, Prithwi Raj, reigned at Delhi, but +was defeated and killed by the Muhammadans in A.D. 1192. Subsequently, +perhaps in the reign of Ala-ud-Din Khilji, a Tomara dynasty established +itself at Gwalior, and one of their kings, Dungara Singh (1425-1454), +had executed the celebrated rock-sculptures of Gwalior. [579] In 1518 +Gwalior was taken by the Muhammadans, and the last Tomara king reduced +to the status of an ordinary jagirdar. The Tomara clan is numerous in +the Punjab country near Delhi, where it still possesses high rank, +but in the United Provinces it is not so much esteemed. [580] No +ruling chief now belongs to this clan. In the Central Provinces the +Tomaras or Tunwars belong principally to the Hoshangabad District The +zamindars of Bilaspur, who were originally of the Tawar subcaste of +the Kawar tribe, now also claim to be Tomara Rajputs on the strength +of the similarity of the name. + + + + +Rajput; Yadu + +_Rajput; Yadu, Yadava, Yadu-Bhatti, Jadon._ [581]--The Yadus are a +well-known historical clan. Colonel Tod says that the Yadu was the +most illustrious of all the tribes of Ind, and became the patronymic +of the descendants of Buddha, progenitor of the lunar (Indu) +race. It is not clear, even according to legendary tradition, what, +if any, connection the Yadus had with Buddha, but Krishna is held +to have been a prince of this tribe and founded Dwarka in Gujarat +with them, in which locality he is afterwards supposed to have been +killed. Colonel Tod states that the Yadu after the death of Krishna, +and their expulsion from Dwarka and Delhi, the last stronghold of +their power, retired by Multan across the Indus, founded Ghazni in +Afghanistan, and peopled these countries even to Samarcand. Again +driven back on the Indus they obtained possession of the Punjab and +founded Salbhanpur. Thence expelled they retired across the Sutlej +and Gara into the Indian deserts, where they founded Tannote, Derawal +and Jaisalmer, the last in A.D. 1157. It has been suggested in the +main article on Rajput that the Yadus might have been the Sakas, who +invaded India in the second century A.D. This is only a speculation. At +a later date a Yadava kingdom existed in the Deccan, with its capital +at Deogiri or Daulatabad and its territory lying between that place and +Nasik. [582] Mr. Smith states that these Yadava kings were descendants +of feudatory nobles of the Chalukya kingdom, which embraced parts of +western India and also Gujarat. The Yadu clan can scarcely, however, +be a more recent one than the Chalukya, as in that case it would not +probably have been credited with having had Krishna as its member. The +Yadava dynasty only lasted from A.D. 1150 to 1318, when the last prince +of the line, Harapala, stirred up a revolt against the Muhammadans to +whom the king, his father-in-law, had submitted, and being defeated, +was flayed alive and decapitated. It is noticeable that the Yadu-Bhatti +Rajputs of Jaisalmer claim descent from Salivahana, who founded the +Saka era in A.D. 78, and it is believed that this era belonged to the +Saka dynasty of Gujarat, where, according to the tradition given above, +the Yadus also settled. This point is not important, but so far as +it goes would favour the identification of the Sakas with the Yadavas. + +The Bhatti branch of the Yadus claim descent from Bhati, the grandson +of Salivahana. They have no legend of having come from Gujarat, but +they had the title of Rawal, which is used in Gujarat, and also by the +Sesodia clan who came from there. The Bhattis are said to have arrived +in Jaisalmer about the middle of the eighth century, Jaisalmer city +being founded much later in A.D. 1183. Jaisalmer State, the third +in Rajputana, has an area of 16,000 square miles, most of which is +desert, and a population of about 100,000 persons. The chief has the +title of Maharawal and receives a salute of fifteen guns. The Jareja +Rajputs of Sind and Cutch are another branch of the Yadus who have +largely intermarried with Muhammadans. They now claim descent from +Jamshid, the Persian hero, and on this account, Colonel Tod states, +the title of their rulers is Jam. They were formerly much addicted +to female infanticide. The name Yadu has in other parts of India +been corrupted into Jadon, and the class of Jadon Rajputs is fairly +numerous in the United Provinces, and in some places is said to have +become a caste, its members marrying among themselves. This is also +the case in the Central Provinces, where they are known as Jadum, +and have been treated under that name in a separate article. The +small State of Karauli in Rajputana is held by a Jadon chief. + + + + +Rajwar + +_Rajwar._ [583]--A low cultivating caste of Bihar and Chota Nagpur, +who are probably an offshoot of the Bhuiyas. In 1911 a total of 25,000 +Rajwars were returned in the Central Provinces, of whom 22,000 belong +to the Sarguja State recently transferred from Bengal. Another 2000 +persons are shown in Bilaspur, but these are Mowars, an offshoot +of the Rajwars, who have taken to the profession of gardening and +have changed their name. They probably rank a little higher than +the bulk of the Rajwars. "Traditionally," Colonel Dalton states, +"the Rajwars appear to connect themselves with the Bhuiyas; but this +is only in Bihar. The Rajwars in Sarguja and the adjoining States +are peaceably disposed cultivators, who declare themselves to be +fallen Kshatriyas; they do not, however, conform to Hindu customs, +and they are skilled in a dance called Chailo, which I believe to be +of Dravidian origin. The Rajwars of Bengal admit that they are the +descendants of mixed unions between Kurmis and Kols. They are looked +upon as very impure by the Hindus, who will not take water from their +hands." The Rajwars of Bihar told Buchanan that their ancestor was +a certain Rishi, who had two sons. From the elder were descended +the Rajwars, who became soldiers and obtained their noble title; +and from the younger the Musahars, who were so called from their +practice of eating rats, which the Rajwars rejected. The Musahars, +as shown by Sir H. Risley, are probably Bhuiyas degraded to servitude +in Hindu villages, and this story confirms the Bhuiya origin of the +Rajwars. In the Central Provinces the Bhuiyas have a subcaste called +Rajwar, which further supports this hypothesis, and in the absence of +evidence to the contrary it is reasonable to suppose that the Rajwars +are an offshoot of the Bhuiyas, as they themselves say, in Bihar. The +substitution of Kols for Bhuiyas in Bengal need not cause much concern +in view of the great admixture of blood and confused nomenclature +of all the Chota Nagpur tribes. In Bengal, where the Bhuiyas have +settled in Hindu villages, and according to the usual lot of the +forest tribes who entered the Hindu system have been degraded into +the servile and impure caste of Musahars, the Rajwars have shared +their fate, and are also looked upon as impure. But in Chota Nagpur +the Bhuiyas have their own villages and live apart from the Hindus, +and here the Rajwars, like the landholding branches of other forest +tribes, claim to be an inferior class of Rajputs. + +In Sarguja the caste have largely adopted Hindu customs. They abstain +from liquor, employ low-class Brahmans as priests, and worship the +Hindu deities. When a man wishes to arrange a match for his son he +takes a basket of wheat-cakes and proceeding to the house of the girl's +father sets them down outside. If the match is acceptable the girl's +mother comes and takes the cakes into the house and the betrothal +is then considered to be ratified. At the wedding the bridegroom +smears vermilion seven times on the parting of the bride's hair, +and the bride's younger sister then wipes a little of it off with +the end of the cloth. For this service she is paid a rupee by the +bridegroom. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. After +the birth of a child the mother is given neither food nor water for +two whole days; on the third day she gets only boiled water to drink +and on the fourth day receives some food. The period of impurity +after a birth extends to twelve days. When the navel-string drops +it is carefully put away until the next Dasahra, together with the +child's hair, which is cut on the sixth day. On the Dasahra festival +all the women of the village take them to a tank, where a lotus plant +is worshipped and anointed with oil and vermilion, and the hair and +navel-string are then buried at its roots. The dead are burned, and the +more pious keep the bones with a view to carrying them to the Ganges +or some other sacred river. Pending this, the bones are deposited in +the cow-house, and a lamp is kept burning in it every night so long +as they are there. The Rajwars believe that every man has a soul or +Pran, and they think that the soul leaves the body, not only at death, +but whenever he is asleep or becomes unconscious owing to injury or +illness. Dreams are the adventures of the soul while wandering over +the world apart from the body. They think it very unlucky for a man +to see his own reflection in water and carefully avoid doing so. + + + + +Ramosi + + + +1. General notice + +_Ramosi, Ramoshi._--A criminal tribe of the Bombay Presidency, of which +about 150 persons were returned from the Central Provinces and Berar +in 1911. They belong to the western tract of the Satpuras adjoining +Khandesh. The name is supposed to be a corruption of Ramvansi, meaning +'The descendants of Rama.' They say [584] that when Rama, the hero of +the Ramayana, was driven from his kingdom by his step-mother Kaikeyi, +he went to the forest land south of the Nerbudda. His brother Bharat, +who had been raised to the throne, could not bear to part with Rama, +so he followed him to the forest, began to do penance, and made friends +with a rough but kindly forest tribe. After Rama's restoration Bharat +took two foresters with him to Ajodhia (Oudh) and brought them to the +notice of Rama, who appointed them village watchmen and allowed them +to take his name. If this is the correct derivation it may be compared +with the name of Rawanvansi or Children of Rawan, the opponent of Rama, +which is applied to the Gonds of the Central Provinces. The Ramosis +appear to be a Hinduised caste derived from the Bhils or Kolis or a +mixture of the two tribes. They were formerly a well-known class of +robbers and dacoits. The principal scenes of their depredations were +the western Ghats, and an interesting description of their methods +is given by Captain Mackintosh in his account of the tribe. [585] +Some extracts from this are here reproduced. + + + + +2. Methods of robbery + +They armed themselves chiefly with swords, taking one, two or three +matchlocks, or more should they judge it necessary. Several also +carried their shields and a few had merely sticks, which were in +general shod with small bars of iron from eight to twelve inches in +length, strongly secured by means of rings and somewhat resembling +the ancient mace. One of the party carried a small copper or earthen +pot or a cocoanut-shell with a supply of _ghi_ or clarified butter +in it, to moisten their torches with before they commenced their +operations. The Ramosis endeavoured as much as possible to avoid being +seen by anybody either when they were proceeding to the object of +their attack or returning afterwards to their houses. They therefore +travelled during the night-time; and before daylight in the morning +they concealed themselves in a jungle or ravine near some water, +and slept all day, proceeding in this way for a long distance till +they reached the vicinity of the village to be attacked. When they +were pursued and much pressed, at times they would throw themselves +into a bush or under a prickly pear plant, coiling themselves up +so carefully that the chances were their pursuers would pass them +unnoticed. If they intended to attack a treasure party they would +wait at some convenient spot on the road and sally out when it +came abreast of them, first girding up their loins and twisting +a cloth tightly round their faces, to prevent the features from +being recognised. Before entering the village where their dacoity or +_durrowa_ was to be perpetrated, torches were made from the turban of +one of the party, which was torn into three, five or seven pieces, +but never into more, the pieces being then soaked with butter. The +same man always supplied the turban and received in exchange the best +one taken in the robbery. Those who were unarmed collected bags of +stones, and these were thrown at any people who tried to interfere +with them during the dacoity. They carried firearms, but avoided +using them if possible, as their discharge might summon defenders +from a distance. They seldom killed or mutilated their victims, +except in a fight, but occasionally travellers were killed after +being robbed as a measure of precaution. They retreated with their +spoils as rapidly as possible to the nearest forest or hill, and from +there, after distributing the booty into bags to make it portable, +they marched off in a different direction from that in which they +had come. Before reaching their homes one of the party was deputed +with an offering of one, two or five rupees to be presented as an +offering to their god Khandoba or the goddess Bhawani in fulfilment of +a vow. All the spoil was then deposited before their Naik or headman, +who divided it into equal shares for members of the gang, keeping a +double share for himself. + + + + +3. Ramosis employed as village watchmen + +In order to protect themselves from the depredations of these gangs +the villagers adopted a system of hiring a Ramosi as a surety to +be responsible for their property, and this man gradually became a +Rakhwaldar or village watchman. He received a grant of land rent-free +and other perquisites, and also a fee from all travellers and gangs of +traders who halted in the village in return for his protection during +the night. If a theft or house-breaking occurred in a village, the +Ramosi was held responsible to the owner for the value of the property, +unless a large gang had been engaged. If he failed to discover the +thief he engaged to make the lost property good to the owner within +fifteen days or a month unless its value was considerable. If a gang +had been engaged, the Ramosi, accompanied by the patel and other +village officials and cultivators, proceeded to track them by their +footprints. Obtaining a stick he cut it to the exact length of the +footprint, or several such if a number of prints could be discovered, +and followed the tracks, measuring the footprints, to the boundary +of the village. The inhabitants of the adjoining village were then +called and were responsible for carrying on the trail through their +village. The measures of footprints were handed over to them, and after +satisfying themselves that the marks came from outside and extended +into their land they took up the trail accompanied by the Ramosi. In +this way the gang was tracked from village to village, and if it was +run to earth the residents of the villages to which it belonged had to +make good the loss. If the tracks were lost owing to the robbers having +waded along a stream or got on to rocky ground or into a public road, +then the residents of the village in whose borders the line failed +were considered responsible for the stolen property. Usually, however, +a compromise was made, and they paid half, while the other half was +raised from the village in which the theft occurred. If the Ramosi +failed to track the thieves out of the village he had to make good +the value of the theft, but he was usually assisted by the village +officer. Often, too, the owner had to be contented with half or a +quarter of the amount lost as compensation. In the early part of the +century the Ramosis of Poona became very troublesome and constantly +committed robberies in the houses of Europeans. As a consequence a +custom grew up of employing a Ramosi as chaukidar or watchman for +guarding the bungalow at night on a salary of seven rupees a month, +and soon became general. It was the business of the Ramosi watchman to +prevent other Ramosis from robbing the house. Apparently this was the +common motive for the custom, prevalent up to recent years, of paying +a man solely for the purpose of watching the house at night, and it +originated, as in Poona, as a form of insurance and an application +of the proverb of setting a thief to catch a thief. The selection of +village watchmen from among the low, criminal castes appears to have +been made on the same principle. + + + + +4. Social customs + +The principal deity of the Ramosis is Khandoba, the Maratha god of +war. [586] He is the deified sword, the name being _khanda-aba_ +or sword-father. An oath taken on the Bhandar or little bag of +turmeric dedicated to Khandoba is held by them most sacred and no +Ramosi will break this oath. Every Ramosi has a family god known as +Devak, and persons having the same Devak cannot intermarry. The Devak +is usually a tree or a bunch of the leaves of several trees. No one +may eat the fruit of or otherwise use the tree which is his Devak. At +their weddings the branches of several trees are consecrated as Devaks +or guardians of the wedding. A Gurao cuts the leafy branches of the +mango, _umar_, [587] _jamun_ [588] and of the _rui_ [589] and _shami_ +[590] shrubs and a few stalks of grass and sets them in Hanuman's +temple. From here the bridegroom's parents, after worshipping Hanuman +with a betel-leaf and five areca-nuts, take them home and fasten +them to the front post of the marriage-shed. When the bridegroom is +taken before the family gods of the bride, he steals one of them in +token of his profession, but afterwards restores it in return for a +payment of money. In social position the Ramosis rank a little above +the Mahars and Mangs, not being impure. They speak Marathi but have +also a separate thieves' jargon of their own, of which a vocabulary +is given in the account of Captain Mackintosh. When a Ramosi child +is seven or eight years old he must steal something. If he is caught +and goes to prison the people are delighted, fall at his feet when he +comes out and try to obtain him as a husband for their daughters. [591] +It is doubtful whether these practices obtain in the Central Provinces, +and as the Ramosis are not usually reckoned here among the notorious +criminal tribes they may probably have taken to more honest pursuits. + + + + +Rangrez + +_Rangrez._--The Muhammadan caste of dyers. The caste is found +generally in the northern Districts, and in 1901 its members were +included with the Chhipas, from whom, however, they should be +distinguished as having a different religion and also because they +practise a separate branch of the dyeing industry. The strength of +the caste in the Central Provinces does not exceed a few hundred +persons. The Rangrez is nominally a Muhammadan of the Sunni sect, +but the community forms an endogamous group after the Hindu fashion, +marrying only among themselves. Good-class Muhammadans will neither +intermarry with nor even take food from members of the Rangrez +community. In Sohagpur town of Hoshangabad this is divided into two +branches, the Kheralawalas or immigrants from Kherala in Malwa and the +local Rangrezes. These two groups will take food together but will +not intermarry. Kheralawala women commonly wear a skirt like Hindu +women and not Muhammadan pyjamas. In Jubbulpore the Rangrez community +employ Brahmans to conduct their marriage and other ceremonies. Long +association with Hindus has as usual caused the Rangrez to conform to +their religious practices and the caste might almost be described +as a Hindu community with Muhammadan customs. The bulk of them +no doubt were originally converted Hindus, but as their ancestors +probably immigrated from northern India their present leaning to +that religion would perhaps be not so much an obstinate retention +of pre-Islamic ritual as a subsequent lapse following on another +change of environment. In northern India Mr. Crooke records them +as being governed mainly by Muhammadan rules. There [592] they hold +themselves to be the descendants of one Khwaja Bali, a very pious man, +about whom the following verse is current: + + + Khwaja Bali Rangrez + Range Khuda ki sez: + + +'Khwaja Bali dyes the bed of God.' The name is derived from _rang_, +colour, and _rez, rekhtan_, to pour. In Bihar, Sir G. Grierson +states [593] the word Rangrez is often confounded with 'Angrezi' +or 'English'; and the English are sometimes nicknamed facetiously +Rangrez or 'dyers,' The saying, 'Were I a dyer I would dye my own +beard first,' in reference to the Muhammadan custom of dyeing the +beard, has the meaning of 'Charity begins at home,' [594] + +The art of the Rangrez differs considerably from that of the +Chhipa or Rangari, the Hindu dyer, and he produces a much greater +variety of colours. His principal agents were formerly the safflower +(_Carthamus tinctorius_), turmeric and myrobalans. The fact that the +brilliant red dye of safflower was as a rule only used by Muhammadan +dyers, gives some ground for the supposition that it may have been +introduced by them to India. This would account for the existence +of a separate caste of Muhammadan dyers, and in support of it may +be adduced the fact that the variety of colours is much greater in +the dress of the residents of northern India and Rajputana than in +those of the Maratha Districts. The former patronise many different +shades, more especially for head-cloths, while the latter as a rule +do not travel beyond red, black or blue. The Rangrez obtains his red +shades from safflower, yellow from _haldi_ or turmeric, green from +a mixture of indigo and turmeric, purple from indigo and safflower, +_khaki_ or dust-colour from myrobalans and iron filings, orange from +turmeric and safflower, and _badami_ or almond-colour from turmeric +and two wild plants _kachora_ and _nagarmothi_, the former of which +gives a scent. Cloths dyed in the _badami_ shades are affected, when +they can afford it, by Gosains and other religious mendicants, who +thus dwell literally in the odour of sanctity. Muhammadans generally +patronise the shades of green or purple, the latter being often used +as a lining for white coats. Fakirs or Muhammadan beggars wear light +green. Marwari Banias and others from Rajputana like the light yellow, +pink or orange shades. A green or black head-cloth is with them a +sign of mourning. Cloths dyed in yellow or scarlet are bought by +Brahmans and other castes of Hindus for their marriages. Blue is not +a lucky colour among the Hindus and is considered as on a level with +black. It may be worn on ordinary occasions, but not at festivals +or at auspicious periods. Muhammadans rather affect black and do not +consider it an unlucky colour. I have seen a Rangrez dye a piece of +cloth in about twenty colours in the course of two or three hours, +but several of these dyes are fugitive and will not stand washing. The +trade of the Rangrez is being undermined by the competition of cheap +chemical dyes imported from Germany and sold in the form of powders; +the process of dyeing with these is absolutely simple and can be +carried out by any one. They are far cheaper than safflower, and this +agent has consequently been almost driven from the market. People buy +a little dyeing powder from the bazar and dye their own cloths. But +men will only wear cloths dyed in this manner, and known as _katcha +kapra_, on their heads and not on their bodies; women sometimes wear +them also on their bodies. The decay in the indigenous art of dyeing +must be a matter for regret. + + + + +Rautia + + + + +1. Origin of the tribe + +_Rautia._ [595]--A cultivating caste of the Chota Nagpur plateau. In +1911 about 12,000 Rautias were enumerated in the Province, nearly all +of whom belong to the Jashpur State with a few in Sarguja. These states +lie outside the scope of the Ethnographic Survey and hence no regular +inquiry has been made on the Rautias. The following brief notice is +mainly taken from the account of the caste in Sir H. Risley's _Tribes +and Castes of Bengal_. He describes the caste as, "refined in features +and complexion by a large infusion of Aryan blood. Their chief men +hold estates on quit-rent from the Maharaja of Chota Nagpur, and the +bulk of the remainder are tenants with occupancy right and often paying +only a low quit-rent or half the normal assessment." These favourable +tenures may probably be explained by the fact that they were held +in former times on condition of military service, and were analogous +to the feudal fiefs of Europe. The Rautias themselves say that this +was their original occupation in Chota Nagpur. The name Rautia is +a form of Rawat, and this latter word signifies a prince and is a +title borne by relatives of a Raja. It may be noticed that Rawat is +the ordinary name by which the Ahir caste is known in Chhattisgarh, +the neighbouring country to Chota Nagpur in the Central Provinces; +and further that the Rautias will take food from a Chhattisgarhi +Rawat. This fact, coupled with the identity of the name, appears +to demonstrate a relationship of the two castes. The Rautias will +not take food from any other Hindu caste, but they will eat with +the Kawar and Gond tribes, at least in Raigarh. The Kawars have a +subtribe called Rautia as also have the Kols. In Sir H. Risley's list +of the sept-names of the Rautias [596] we find two names, Aind the +eel, and Rukhi a squirrel, which are also the names of Munda septs, +and one, Karsayal or deer, which is the name of a Kawar sept. They +have also a name Sanwani, which is probably Sonwani or 'gold-water,' +and is common to many of the primitive tribes. The most plausible +hypothesis of the origin of the Rautias on the above facts seems +to be that they were a tribal militia in Chota Nagpur, the leaders +being Ahirs or Rawats with possibly a sprinkling of the local Rajputs, +while the main body were recruited from the Kawar and Kol tribes. The +Khandaits or swordsmen of Orissa furnish an exact parallel to the +Rautias, being a tribal militia, who have now become a caste, and are +constituted mainly from the Bhuiya tribe with a proportion of Chasas +or cultivators and Rajputs. They also have obtained possession of +the land, and in Orissa the Sresta or good Khandaits rank next to +the Rajputs. The history and position of the Rautias appears to be +similar to that of the Khandaits. The Halbas of Bastar are probably +another nearly analogous instance. They were Gonds, who apparently +formed the tribal militia of the Rajas of Bastar and got grants of +land and consequently a certain rise in status though not to the same +level as the Khandaits and Rautias. It does not seem that the Rautias +have any special connection with the Gonds, and their acceptance of +food from Gonds may perhaps, as suggested by Mr. Hira Lal, be due to +the fact that they served a Gond Raja. + + + + +2. Subdivisions + +The Rautias had formerly three subdivisions, the Barki, Majhli and +Chhotki Bhir or Gorhi, or the high, middle and low class Rautias. But +it is related that the Barki group found that they could not obtain +girls in marriage for their sons, so they extended the privileges +of the _connubium_ to the Majhli group after taking a caste +feast. Possibly the Barki Rautias formerly practised hypergamy with +the Majhli, taking daughters in marriage but not giving daughters, and +in course of time this has led to the obliteration of the distinction +between them. The different status of the three groups was based on +their purity of descent. The Majhli and Chhotki were the descendants +of Rautia fathers and mothers of other castes; the offspring going to +the Majhli group if the mother was a Gond or Kawar or of respectable +caste, while the children of impure Ganda and Ghasia women by Rautia +fathers were admitted into the Chhotki group. These divisions confirm +the hypothesis previously given of the genesis of the Rautia caste; +and it is further worth noting that the Khandaits have also Bar and +Chhot Gohir divisions or those of pure and mixed blood, and the Halbas +of Bastar are similarly divided into the Purait or pure Halbas, +and the Surait or descendants of Halba fathers by women of other +castes. In a military society, where the men were frequently on the +move or stationed in outlying forts and posts, temporary unions and +illegitimate children would naturally be of common occurrence. And +the mixed nature of the three castes affords some support to the +hypothesis of their common origin from military service. + +The tribe have totemistic septs, and retain some veneration for their +totems. Those of the Bagh or tiger sept throw away their earthen pots +on hearing of the death of a tiger. Those of the Sand or bull sept +will not castrate bullocks themselves, and must have this operation +performed on their plough-bullocks by others. Those of the Kansi sept +formerly, according to their own account, would not root up the _kans_ +grass [597] growing in their fields, but now they no longer object to +do so. Other septs are Tithi a bird, Bira a hawk, Barwan a wild dog, +and so on. + + + + +3. Marriage + +Marriage is forbidden within the sept, but is permitted between the +children of a brother and a sister or of two sisters. Matches are +arranged at the caste feasts and the usual bride-price is four rupees +with six or seven pieces of cloth and some grain. When the procession +arrives at the bride's village her party go out to meet it, and the +Gandas or musicians on each side try to break each other's drums, +but are stopped by their employers. At the wedding two wooden images +of the bridegroom and bride are made and placed in the centre of the +marriage-shed. A goat is led round these and killed, and the bride +and bridegroom walk round them seven times. They rub vermilion on the +wooden images and then on each other's foreheads. It is probable that +the wooden images are made and set up in the centre of the shed to +attract the evil eye and divert it from the real bride and bridegroom, +and the goat may be a substituted sacrifice on their behalf. Divorce +and the remarriage of widows are permitted. + + + + +4. Funeral rites + +In the forest tracts the tribe bury the dead, placing the corpse with +the feet to the south. Before being placed in the grave the corpse +is rubbed with oil and turmeric and carried seven times round the +grave according to the ritual of a wedding. This is called the _Chhed +vivah_ or marriage to the grave. The Kabirpanthi Rautias are placed +standing in the grave with the face turned to the north. Well-to-do +members of the caste burn their dead and employ Brahmans to perform +the _shraddh_ ceremony. + + + + +5. Inheritance + +The tribe have some special rules of inheritance. In Bengal [598] +the eldest son of the legitimate wife inherits the whole of the +father's property, subject to the obligation of making grants for the +maintenance of his younger brothers. These grants decrease according +to the standing of the brothers, the elder ones getting more and the +younger less. Sons of a wife married by the ceremony used for widows +receive smaller grants. But the widow of an elder brother counts as +the regular wife of a younger brother and her sons have full rights of +succession. In the Central Provinces the eldest son does not succeed +to the whole property but obtains a share half as large again as the +other sons. And if the father divides the property in his lifetime and +participates in it he himself takes only the share of a younger son. + + + + +Sanaurhia + + + +1. A band of criminals + +_Sanaurhia, Chandravedi._ [599]--A small but well-known community +of criminals in Bundelkhand. They claim to be derived from the +Sanadhya Brahmans, and it seems possible that this may in fact have +been their origin; but at present they are a confraternity recruited +by the initiation of promising boys from all castes except sweepers +and Chamars; [600] and a census taken of them in northern India in +1872 showed that they included members of the following castes: +Brahman, Rajput, Teli, Kurmi, Ahir, Kanjar, Nai, Dhobi, Dhimar, +Sunar and Lodhi. It is said, however, that they do not form a caste +or intermarry, members of each caste continuing their relations with +their own community. Their regular method of stealing is through the +agency of a boy, and no doubt they pick up a likely urchin whenever +they get the chance, as only selected boys would be clever enough +for the work. Their trade is said to possess much fascination, and +Mr. Crooke quotes a saying, 'Once a Sanaurhia always a Sanaurhia'; +so that unless the increased efficiency of the police has caused the +dangers of their calling to outweigh its pleasures they should have +no difficulty in obtaining recruits. + + + + +2. Traditions of origin + +Mr. Seagrim [601] states that their home is in the Datia State of +Bundelkhand, and some of them live in the adjoining Alamgarh tract of +Indore State. Formerly they also resided in the Orchha and Chanderi +States of Bundelkhand, having six or eight villages in each state +[602] in their sole occupation, with colonies in other villages. In +1857 it was estimated that the Tehri State contained 4000 Sanaurhias, +Banpur 300 and Datia 300. They occupied twelve villages in Tehri, +and an officer of the state presided over the community and acted as +umpire in the division of the spoils. The office of Mukhia or leader +was hereditary in the caste, and in default of male issue descended to +females. If among the booty there happened to be any object of peculiar +elegance or value, it was ceremoniously presented to the chief of the +state. They say that their ancestors were two Sanadhya Brahmans of the +village of Ramra in Datia State. They were both highly accomplished +men, and one had the gift of prophecy, while the other could understand +the language of birds. One day they met at a river a rich merchant and +his wife, who were on a pilgrimage to Jagannath. As they were drinking +water a crow sitting on a tree commenced cawing, and the Sanadhya +heard him say that whoever got hold of the merchant's walking-stick +would be rich. The two Brahmans then accompanied the merchant until +they obtained an opportunity of making off with his stick; and they +found it to be full of gold mohurs, the traveller having adopted this +device as a precaution against being robbed. The Brahmans were so +pleased at their success that they took up stealing as a profession, +and opened a school where they taught small boys of all castes the +art of stealing property in the daytime. Prior to admission the boys +were made to swear by the moon that they would never commit theft at +night, and on this account they are known as Chandravedi or 'Those +who observe the moon.' In Bombay and Central India this name is more +commonly used than Sanaurhia. Another name for them is Uthaigira or +'A picker-up of that which has fallen,' corresponding to the nickname +of Uchla or 'Lifter' applied to the Bhamtas. Mr. Seagrim described them +as going about in small gangs of ten to twenty persons without women, +under a leader who has the title of Mukhia or Nalband. The other +men are called Upardar, and each of these has with him one or two +boys of between eight and twelve years old, who are known as _Chauwa_ +(chicks) and do the actual stealing. The Nalband or leader trains these +boys to their work, and also teaches them a code vocabulary (_Parsi_) +and a set of signals (_teni_) by which the Upardar can convey to them +his instructions while business is proceeding. The whole gang set out +at the end of the rains and, arriving at some distant place, break up +into small parties; the Nalband remains at a temporary headquarters, +where he receives and disposes of the spoil, and arranges for the +defence of any member of the gang who is arrested, and for the support +of his wife and children if he is condemned to imprisonment. + + + + +3. Methods of stealing + +The methods of the Sanaurhias as described by Mr. Seagrim show +considerable ingenuity. When they desire to steal something from a +stall in a crowded market two of the gang pretend to have a violent +quarrel, on which all the people in the vicinity collect to watch, +including probably the owner of the stall. In this case the _Chauwa_ +or boy, who has posted himself in a position of vantage, will quickly +abstract the article agreed upon and make off. Or if there are +several purchasers at a shop, the man will wait until one of them +lays down his bundle while he makes payment, and then pushing up +against him signal to the _Chauwa_, who snatches up the bundle and +bolts. If he is caught, the Sanaurhia will come up as an innocent +member of the crowd and plead for mercy on the score of his youth; +and the boy will often be let off with a few slaps. Sometimes three +or four Sanaurhias will proceed to some place of resort for pilgrims +to bathe, and two or three of them entering the water will divert +the attention of the bather by pointing out some strange object +or starting a discussion. In the meantime the _Chauwas_ or chicks, +under the direction of another on the bank, will steal any valuable +article left by the bather. The attention of any one left on shore to +watch the property is diverted by a similar device. If they see a man +with expensive clothes the _Chauwa_ will accidentally brush against +him and smear him with dirt or something that causes pollution; +the victim will proceed to bathe, and one of the usual stratagems +is adopted. Or the Sanaurhia will engage the man in conversation and +the _Chauwa_ will come running along and collide with them; on being +abused by the Sanaurhia for his clumsiness he asks to be pardoned, +explaining that he is only a poor sweeper and meant no harm; and on +hearing this the victim, being polluted, must go off and bathe. [603] +Colonel Sleeman relates the following case of such a theft: [604] +"While at Saugor I got a note one morning from an officer in command +of a treasure escort just arrived from Narsinghpur stating that +the old Subahdar of his company had that morning been robbed of his +gold necklace valued at Rs. 150, and requesting that I would assist +him in recovering it. The old Subahdar brought the note, and stated +that he had undressed at the brook near the cantonments, and placed +the necklace with his clothes, about twenty yards from the place +where he bathed; that on returning to his clothes he could not find +the necklace, and the only person he saw near the place was a young +lad who was sauntering in the mango grove close by. This lad he had +taken and brought with him, and I found after a few questions that he +belonged to the Sanaurhia Brahmans of Bundelkhand. As the old Subahdar +had not seen the boy take the necklace or even approach the clothes, +I told him that we could do nothing, and he must take the boy back to +camp and question him in his own way. The boy, as I expected, became +alarmed, and told me that if I would not send him back with the angry +old Subahdar he would do anything I pleased. I bade him tell me how +he had managed to secure the necklace; and he told me that while the +Subahdar turned his back upon his clothes in prayer, he had taken it +up and made it over to one of the men of his party; and that it must +have been taken to their bivouac, which was in a grove about three +miles from the cantonments. I sent off a few policemen, who secured +the whole party, but could not find anything upon them. Seeing some +signs of a hole having been freshly made under one of the trees they +dug up the fresh earth and discovered the necklace, which the old man +was delighted to recover so easily." Another device which they have +is to beat the _Chauwa_ severely in the sight of a rich stranger. The +boy runs crying and clings to the stranger asking him for help, and +in the meantime picks his pocket. When the Sanaurhias are convicted +in Native States and put into jail they refuse to eat, pleading that +they are poor Brahmans, and pretend to starve themselves to death, +and thus often get out of jail. In reply to a letter inquiring about +these people from the Superintendent of Chanderi about 1851, the Raja +of Banpur wrote: + +"I have to state that from former times these people following +their profession have resided in my territory and in the states of +other native princes; and they have always followed this calling, +but no former kings or princes or authority have ever forbidden the +practice. In consequence of these people stealing by day only, and that +they do not take life or distress any person by personal ill-usage, +and that they do not break into houses by digging walls or breaking +door-locks, but simply by their smartness manage to abstract property; +owing to such trifling thefts I looked upon their proceedings as a +petty matter and have not interfered with them." [605] This recalls +another famous excuse. + + + + +Sansia + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Historical notice of the caste_. + 2. _Social customs_. + 3. _Taboos of relationship_. + 4. _Organisation for dacoity_. + 5. _Description of a dacoity_. + 6. _Omens_. + 7. _Ordeals_. + 8. _Sansias at the present time_. + + + + +1. Historical notice of the caste + +_Sansia_. [606]--A small caste of wandering criminals of northern +India, who live by begging and dealing in cattle. They also steal and +commit dacoities, house-breaking and thefts on railway trains. The +name Sansia is borne as well by the Uriya or Od masons of the Uriya +country, but these are believed to be quite a distinct group from the +criminal Sansias of Central India and are noticed in another short +article. Separate statistics of the two groups were not obtained at +the census. The Sansias are closely connected with the Berias, and +say that their ancestors were two brothers Sains Mul and Sansi, and +that the Berias are descended from the former and the Sansias from the +latter. They were the bards of the Jat caste, and it was their custom +to chronicle the names of the Jats and their ancestors, and when they +begged from Jat families to recite their praises. The Sansias, Colonel +Sleeman states, had particular families (of the Jats) allotted to them, +from whom they had not only the privilege of begging, but received +certain dues; some had fifty, some a hundred houses appointed to them, +and they received yearly from the head of each house one rupee and a +quarter and one day's food. When the Jats celebrated their marriages +they were accustomed to invite the Sansias, who as their minstrels +recited the praises of the ancestors of the Jats, tracing them up to +the time of Punya Jat; and for this they received presents, according +to the means of the parties, of cows, ponies or buffaloes. Should +any Jat demur to paying the customary dues the Sansias would dress +up a cloth figure of his father and parade with it before the house, +when the sum demanded was generally given; for if the figure were +fastened on a bamboo and placed over the house the family would lose +caste and no one would smoke or drink water with them. [607] + +The Sansias say that their ancestors have always resided in Marwar +and Ajmer. About twenty-four miles distant from Ajmer are two towns, +Pisangan and Sagun; on their eastern side is a large tank, and the +bones of all persons of the Sansia tribe who died in any part of the +country were formerly buried there, being covered by a wooden platform +with four pillars. [608] On one occasion a quarrel had arisen over +a Sansia woman, and a large number of the caste were killed in this +place. So they left Marwar, and some of them came to the Deccan, +where they took to house-breaking and dacoity; and so successful +were they that the other Sansias followed them and gave up all their +former customs, even those of reciting the praises of and begging +from the Jats. + + + + +2. Social customs + +The Sansias are divided into two groups, Kalkar and Malha; and +these two are further subdivided into eight and twelve sections +respectively. No one belonging to the Kalkar group may marry another +person of that group, but he may marry anybody belonging to any +section of the Malha group. Thus the two groups being exogamous the +sections do not serve any purpose, but it is possible that the rules +are really more complicated. In the Punjab their marriage ceremony is +peculiar, the bride being covered by a basket, on which the bridegroom +sits while the nuptial rites are being performed. [609] According to +Colonel Sleeman, after the arrangement of a match the caste committee +assemble to determine the price to be paid to the father of the girl, +which may amount to as much as Rs. 2000. When this is settled some +liquor is spilt on the ground in the name of Bhagwan or Vishnu, and +an elder pronounces that the two have become man and wife; a feast is +given to the caste, and the ceremony is concluded. After child-birth +a woman cannot wash herself for five days, but on the sixth she may +go to a stream and wash. Even on ordinary occasions a woman must +never wash herself inside the house, but must always go to a stream, +which rule does not apply to men. When the hair of a child begins to +grow it is all shaved except the scalp-lock, which is dedicated to +Bhagwan; and at ten or twelve years of age this lock is also shaved +off and a dinner is given to members of the caste. The last ceremony +is of the nature of a puberty-rite, and if children die prior to its +performance their bodies are buried, whereas after it they have a right +to cremation. After a body has been burnt the bones are buried on the +spot in an earthen vessel, over the mouth of which a large stone is +placed. Some pig's flesh is cooked and sweet cakes prepared, portions +of which are placed upon the stone; and the deceased is then called +upon, by reason of the usual ceremonies having been performed at his +death, to watch over his surviving relatives. If any Sansia happened to +commit a murder when engaged in a dacoity he was afterwards obliged to +make an offering for forgiveness, and to spend a rupee and a quarter +in liquor for the caste-fellows. If a dacoit had himself been killed +and his body abandoned, his clothes, with some new clothes, were put +upon a sleeping-cot, and his companions of the same caste carried it to +a convenient spot, where it was either burnt or buried in the ground. + + + + +3. Taboos of relationship + +Colonel Sleeman records some curious taboos among relations. [610] A +man cannot go into the hut of his mother-in-law or of his son's wife; +for if their petticoat should touch him he would be turned out of his +caste and would not be admitted into it until he had paid a large +sum. "If we quarrel with a woman," said a Sansia, "and she strikes +us with her petticoat we lose our caste; we should be allowed to eat +and drink with our tribe, but not to perform worship with them nor to +assist in burial rites. If a woman piles up a heap of stones and puts +her petticoat upon it and throws filth upon it and says to any other, +'This disgrace fell upon your ancestors for seven generations back,' +both are immediately expelled from our caste, and cannot return to +it until they have paid a large sum of money." + + + + +4. Organisation for dacoity + +As in the case of the Badhaks the arrangements for a dacoity were +carefully organised. Each band had a Jemadar or leader, while the +others were called Sipahis or soldiers. A tenth of all the booty taken +was given to the Jemadar in return for the provision of the spears, +torches and other articles, and of the remainder the Jemadar received +two shares and the Sipahis one each. But no novice was permitted +to share in the booty or carry a spear until he had participated in +two or three successful dacoities; and inasmuch as outsiders, with +the exception of the impure Dhers and Mangs, were freely admitted +to the Sansia community in return for a small money payment, some +such apprenticeship as this was no doubt necessary. If a Sipahi was +killed in a dacoity his wife was entitled to a sum of Rs. 350 and +half an ordinary share in future dacoities as long as she remained +with the gang. The Sansias never pitched their camp in the vicinity +of the place in which they contemplated an enterprise, but despatched +their scouts to it, themselves remaining some twenty miles distant. + + + + +5. Description of a dacoity + +The scouts, [611] having prospected the town and determined the +house to be exploited, usually that of the leading banker, would +then proceed to it in the early morning before business began and +ask to purchase some ornaments or change some money; by this request +they often induced the banker to bring out his cash chest from the +place of security where he was accustomed to deposit it at night, +and learnt where it should be looked for. Having picked up as much +information as possible, the scouts would purchase some spear-heads, +bury them in a neighbouring ravine, and rejoin the main body. The party +would arrive at the rendezvous in the evening, and having fitted their +spears to bamboo shafts, would enter the town carrying them concealed +in a bundle of _karbi_ or the long thick stalks of the large millet, +juari. [612] One man was appointed to carry the torch, [613] and the +oil to be poured on this had always to be purchased in the town or +village where the dacoity was to take place, the use of any other oil +being considered most unlucky. The vessel containing the oil was not +allowed to touch the earth until its contents had been poured upon +the torch, when it was dashed upon the ground. From this time until +the completion of the dacoity no one might spit or drink water or +relieve himself under penalty of putting a stop to the enterprise. The +Jemadar invoked Khandoba, an incarnation of Mahadeo, and said that if +by his assistance the box of money was broken at the first or second +stroke of the axe, a chain of gold weighing one and a quarter tolas +would be made over to him. The party then approached the shop, the +roads surrounding it being picketed to guard against a rescue, and the +Jemadar, accompanied by four or five men and the torch-bearer, rushed +into the shop crying Din, Din. The doors usually gave way under a few +heavy blows with the axe, which they wielded with great expertness, and +the scout pointed out the location of the money and valuables. Once +in possession of the property the torch was extinguished and the +whole party made off as rapidly as possible. During their retreat +they tried to avoid spearing people who pursued them, first calling +out to them to go away. If any member of the party was killed or so +desperately wounded that he could not be removed, the others cut off +his head and carried it off so as to prevent recognition; a man who +was slightly wounded would be carried off by his companions, but if +the pursuit became hot and he had to be left, they cut off his head +also and took it with them, escaping by this drastic method the risk +of his turning approver with the consequent danger of conviction for +the rest of the gang. About a mile from the place of the dacoity they +stopped and mustered their party, and the Jemadar called out to the +god Bhagwan to direct any pursuers in the wrong direction and enable +them to reach their families. If any dacoit had ever been killed at +this particular town they also called upon his spirit to assist them, +promising to offer him a goat or some liquor; and so, throwing down +a rupee or two at any temple or stream which they might pass on their +way, they came to their families. When about a mile away from the camp +they called out 'Cuckoo' to ascertain if any misfortune had occurred +during their absence; if they thought all was well they went nearer +and imitated the call of the partridge; and finally when close to the +encampment made a hissing noise like a snake. On arrival at the camp +they at once mounted their ponies and started off, marching fifty or +sixty miles a day, for two or three days. + + + + +6. Omens + +The Sansias never committed a dacoity on moonlight nights, but had five +appointed days during the dark half of the month, the seventh, ninth, +eleventh, thirteenth and the night of the day on which the new moon +was first seen. If they did not meet with a favourable omen on any +of these nights, no dacoity was committed that month. The following +is a list of omens given by one of the caste: [614] "If we see a cat +when we are near the place where we intend to commit a dacoity, or we +hear the relations of a dead person lamenting, or hear a person sneeze +while cooking his meal, or see a dog run away with a portion of any +person's food, or a kite screams while sitting on a tree, or a woman +breaks the earthen vessel in which she may have been drawing water, +we consider the omens unfavourable. If a person drops his turban or +we meet a corpse, or the Jemadar has forgotten to put some bread into +his waistbelt, or any dacoit forgets his axe or spear or sees a snake +whether dead or alive; these omens are also considered unfavourable +and we do not commit the dacoity. Should we see a wolf and any one +of us have on a red turban, we take this and tear it into seven +pieces and hang each piece upon a separate tree. We then purchase a +rupee's worth of liquor and kill a goat, which is cut up into four +pieces. Four men pretend that they are wolves and rushing on the four +quarters of the meat seize them, imitating the howl of these animals, +while the rest of the dacoits pelt them with the entrails; the meat +is afterwards cooked and eaten in the name of Bhagwan." + +It would appear that the explanation of this curious ceremony must +be that the Sansias thought the appearance of the wolf to be an +omen that one of them would furnish a meal for him. The turban +is venerated on account of its close association with the head, a +sacred part of the body among Hindus, and in this case it probably +served as a substituted offering for the head, while its red colour +represented blood; and the mimic rite of the goat being devoured +by men pretending to be wolves fulfilled the omen which portended +that the wolves would be provided with a meal, and hence averted +the necessity of one of the band being really devoured. In somewhat +analogous fashion the Gonds and Baigas placate or drive away a tiger +who has killed a man in order to prevent him from obtaining further +victims. Some similar idea apparently underlay the omen of the dog +running away with food. Perhaps the portent of hearing the kite scream +on a tree also meant that he looked on them with a prescient eye as +a future meal. On the other hand, meeting a corpse and seeing a snake +are commonly considered to be lucky omens, and their inclusion in this +list is curious. [615] The passage continues: "Among our favourable +omens are meeting a woman selling milk; or a person carrying a basket +of grain or a bag of money; or if we see a calf sucking its mother, +or meet a person with a vessel of water, or a marriage procession; +or if any person finds a rupee that he has lost; or we meet a bearer +carrying fish or a pig or a blue-jay; if any of these occur near our +camp on the day we contemplate a dacoity, we proceed forthwith to +commit it and consider that these signs assure us a good booty. If +a Fakir begs from us while we are on our way to the place of dacoity +we cannot give him anything." Another Sansia said: "We think it very +favourable if, when on the way to commit a dacoity we hear or see +the jackal; it is as good as gold and silver to us; also if we hear +the bray of the ass in a village we consider it to be lucky." + + + + +7. Ordeals + +The following is a description given by a Sansia of their ordeals: +[616] If a Jemadar suspects a Sipahi of secreting plunder a _panchayat_ +is assembled, [617] the members of which receive five rupees from +both parties. Seven pipal [618] leaves are laid upon his hand and +bound round with thread, and upon these a heated iron _tawa_ or plate +is set; he is then ordered to walk seven paces and put the plate +down upon seven thorns; should he be able to do so he is pronounced +innocent, but if he is burnt by the plate and throws it down he is +considered guilty. Another ordeal is by fixing arrows, two of which +are shot off at once from one bow, one in the name of Bhagwan (god), +and the other in the name of the _panchayat_; the place being on the +bank of the river. The arrow that flies the farthest is stuck upright +into the ground; upon which a man carrying a long bamboo walks up to +his breast in the water and the suspected person is desired to join +him. One of the _panchayat_ then claps his hands seven times and runs +off to pick up the arrow; at this instant the suspected person is +obliged to put his head under water, and if he can hold his breath +until the other returns to the bank with the arrow and has again +clapped his hands seven times he is pronounced innocent. If he cannot +do so he is declared guilty and punished. A third form of ordeal was +as follows: The Jemadar and the gang assemble under a pipal tree, +and after knocking off the neck of an earthen pitcher they kill +a goat and collect its blood in the pitcher, and put some glass +bangles in it. Four lines are drawn on the pitcher with vermilion +(representing blood), and it is placed under a tree and 1 1/4 seers +[619] of _gur_ (sugar) are tied up in a piece of cloth 1 1/4 cubits +in length and hung on to a branch of the tree. The Jemadar then says, +'I will forgive any person who has not secreted more than fifteen +or twenty rupees, but whoever has stolen more than that sum shall +be punished.' The Jemadar dips his finger in the pitcher of blood, +and afterwards touches the sugar and calls out loudly, 'If I have +embezzled any money may Bhagwan punish me'; and each dacoit in turn +pronounces the same sentence. No one who is guilty will do this but +at once makes his confession. The oath pronounced on 1 1/4 seers of +sugar tied up in 1 1/4 cubits of cloth was considered the most solemn +and binding which a Sansia could take. + + + + +8. Sansias at the present time + +At present, Mr. Kennedy states, [620] the Sansias travel about in gangs +of varying strength with their families, bullocks, sheep, goats and +dogs. The last mentioned of these animals are usually small mongrels +with a terrier strain, mostly stolen or bred from types dishonestly +obtained during their peregrinations. Dacoity is still the crime which +they most affect, and they also break into houses and steal cattle. Men +usually have a necklace of red coral and gold beads round the neck, +from which is suspended a square piece of silver or gold bearing +an effigy of a man on horseback. This represents either the deity +Ramdeo Pir or one of the wearer's ancestors, and is venerated as a +charm. They are very quarrelsome, and their drinking-bouts in camp +usually end in a free fight, in which they also beat their women, +and the affray not infrequently results in the death of one of the +combatants. When this happens the slayer makes restitution to the +relatives by defraying the expenses of a fresh drinking-bout. [621] +During the daytime men are seldom to be found in the encampment, +as they are in the habit of hiding in the ditches and jungle, where +the women take them their food; at night they return to their tents, +but are off again at dawn. + + + + +Sansia, Uria + + + +1. The caste and its subdivisions + +_Sansia, Uria_. [622]--A caste of masons and navvies of the Uriya +country. The Sansias are really a branch of the great migratory Ud or +Odde caste of earth-workers, whose name has been corrupted into various +forms. [623] Thus in Chanda they are known as Wadewar or Waddar. The +term Uria is here a corruption of Odde, and it is the one by which +the caste prefer to be known, but they are generally called Sansia +by outsiders. The caste sometimes class the Sansias as a subcaste of +Urias, the others being Benatia Urias and Khandait Urias. Since the +Uriya tract has been transferred to Bengal, and subsequently to Bihar +and Orissa, there remain only about 1000 Sansias in the Chhattisgarh +Districts and States. Although it is possible that the name of the +caste may have been derived from some past connection, the Sansias +of the Uriya country have at present no affinities with the outcaste +and criminal tribe of Sansis or Sansias of northern India. They enjoy +a fairly high position in Sarnbalpur, and Brahmans will take water +from them. + +They are divided into two subcastes, the Benetia and Khandait. The +Benetia are the higher and look down on the Khandaits, because, it +is said, these latter have accepted service as foot-soldiers, and +this is considered a menial occupation. Perhaps in the households +of the Uriya Rajas the tribal militia had also to perform personal +services, and this may have been considered derogatory., In Orissa, +on the other hand, the Khandaits have become landholders and occupy a +high position next to Rajputs. The Benetia Sansias practise hypergamy +with the Khandait Sansias, taking their daughters in marriage, but +not giving daughters to them. When a Benetia is marrying a Khandait +girl his party will not take food with the bride's relatives, but only +partake of some sugar and curds and depart with the bride. The Sansias +have totemistic exogamous septs, usually derived from the names of +sacred objects, as Kachhap, tortoise, Sankh, the conch-shell, Tulsi, +basil, and so on. + + + + +2. Marriage customs + +Girls are married between seven and ten, and after she is twelve +years old a girl cannot go through the proper ceremony, but can +only be wedded by a simple rite used for widows, in which vermilion +is rubbed on her forehead and some grains of rice stuck on it. The +marriage procession, as described by Mr. Rama Prasad Bohidar, is +a gorgeous affair: "The drummers, all drunk, head the procession, +beating their drums to the tune set by the piper. Next in order are +placed dancing-boys between two rows of lights carried on poles adorned +with festoons of paper flowers. Rockets and fireworks have their +proper share in the procession, and last of all comes the bridegroom +in his wedding apparel, mounted on a horse. His person is studded +with various kinds of gold necklaces borrowed for the occasion, +and the fingers of his right hand are covered with rings. Bangles +and chains of silver shine on his wrists and arms. His forehead is +beautifully painted with ground sandalwood divided in the centre +by a streak of vermilion. His head carries a crown of palm-leaves +overlaid with bright paper of various colours. A network of _malti_ +flowers hangs loosely from the head over the back and covers a portion +of the loins of the steed. The eyes are painted with collyrium and +the feet with red dye. The lips and teeth are also reddened by the +betel-leaf, which the bridegroom chews in profusion. A silk cloth +does the work of a belt, in which is fixed a dagger on the right +side." Here the red colour which predominates in the bridegroom's +decorations is lucky for the reasons given in the article on Lakhera; +the blacking of the eyes is also considered to keep off evil spirits; +betel-leaf is itself a powerful agent of magic and averter of spirits, +and to the same end the bridegroom carries iron in the shape of the +dagger. The ceremony is of the customary Uriya type. On the seventh +day of the wedding the husband and wife go to the river and bathe, +throwing away the sacred threads worn at the time of marriage, and +also those which have been tied round their wrists. On returning +home the wife piles up seven brass vessels and seven stools one above +the other and the husband kicks them over, this being repeated seven +times. The husband then washes his teeth with water brought from the +river, breaks the vessel containing the water in the bride's house, +and runs away, while the women of her family throw pailfuls of coloured +water over him. On the ninth day the bride comes and smears a mixture +of curds and sugar on the forehead of each member of the bridegroom's +family, probably as a sign of her admission to their clan, and returns +home. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. + + + + +3. Religion and worship of ancestors + +The caste worship Viswakarma, the celestial architect, and on four +principal festivals they revere their trade-implements and the book +on architecture, by which they work. At Dasahra a pumpkin is offered +to these articles in lieu of a goat. They observe the _shraddh_ +ceremony, and first make two offerings to the spirits of ancestors +who have died a violent death or have committed suicide, and to +those of relatives who died unmarried, for fear lest these unclean +and malignant spirits should seize and defile the offerings to the +beneficent ancestors. Thereafter _pindas_ or sacrificial cakes are +offered to three male and three female ancestors both on the father's +and mother's side, twelve cakes being offered in all. The Sansias eat +the flesh of clean animals, but the consumption of liquor is strictly +forbidden, on pain, it is said, of permanent exclusion from caste. + + + + +4. Occupation + +In Sambalpur the caste are usually stone-workers, making cups, mortars, +images of idols and other articles. They also build tanks and wander +from place to place for this purpose in large companies. It is related +that on one occasion they came to dig a tank in Drug, and the Raja +of that place, while watching their work, took a fancy to one of the +Odnis, as their women were called, and wanted her to marry him. But +as she was already married, and was a virtuous woman, she refused. The +Raja persisted in his demand, on which the whole body of Sansias from +Chhattisgarh, numbering, it is said, nine lakhs of persons, left their +work and proceeded to Wararbandh, near Raj-Nandgaon. Here they dug +the great tank of Wararbandh [624] in one night to obtain a supply of +water for themselves. But the Raja followed them, and as they could +not resist him by force, the woman whom he was pursuing burnt herself +alive, and thus earned undying fame in the caste. This legend is +perpetuated in the Odni Git, a popular folk-song in Chhattisgarh. But +it is a traditional story of the Sansias in connection with large +tanks, and in another version the scene is laid in Gujarat. [625] + + + + +Savar + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Distribution and historical notices_. + 2. _Tribal legends_. + 3. _Tribal subdivisions_. + 4. _Marriage_. + 5. _Death ceremonies_. + 6. _Religion_. + 7. _Occupation_. + + + + +1. Distribution and historical notices + +_Savar, [626] Sawara, Savara, Saonr, Sahra_ (and several other +variations. In Bundelkhand the Savars, there called Saonrs, are +frequently known by the honorific title of Rawat).--A primitive tribe +numbering about 70,000 persons in the Central Provinces in 1911, +and principally found in the Chhattisgarh Districts and those of +Saugor and Damoh. The eastern branch of the tribe belongs chiefly +to the Uriya country. The Savars are found in large numbers in the +Madras Districts of Ganjam and Vizagapatam and in Orissa. They also +live in the Bundelkhand Districts of the United Provinces. The total +number of Savars enumerated in India in 1911 was 600,000, of which the +Bundelkhand Districts contained about 100,000 and the Uriya country +the remainder. The two branches of the tribe are thus separated by a +wide expanse of territory. As regards this peculiarity of distribution +General Cunningham says: "Indeed there seems good reason to believe +that the Savaras were formerly the dominant branch of the great +Kolarian family, and that their power lasted down to a comparatively +late period, when they were pushed aside by other Kolarian tribes +in the north and east, and by the Gonds in the south. In the Saugor +District I was informed that the Savaras had formerly fought with the +Gonds and that the latter had conquered them by treacherously making +them drunk." [627] Similarly Cunningham notices that the zamindar of +Suarmar in Raipur, which name is derived from Savar, is a Gond. A +difference of opinion has existed as to whether the Savars were +Kolarian or Dravidian so far as their language was concerned, Colonel +Dalton adopting the latter view and other authorities the former and +correct one. In the Central Provinces the Savars have lost their own +language and speak the Aryan Hindi or Uriya vernacular current around +them. But in Madras they still retain their original speech, which +is classified by Sir G. Grierson as Mundari or Kolarian. He says: +"The most southerly forms of Munda speech are those spoken by the +Savars and Gadabas of the north-east of Madras. The former have been +identified with the Suari of Pliny and the Sabarae of Ptolemy. A +wild tribe of the same name is mentioned in Sanskrit literature, +even so far back as in late Vedic times, as inhabiting the Deccan, +so that the name at least can boast great antiquity." [628] As to +the origin of the name Savar, General Cunningham says that it must be +sought for outside the language of the Aryans. "In Sanskrit _savara_ +simply means 'a corpse.' From Herodotus, however, we learn that +the Scythian word for an axe was _sagaris_, and as 'g' and 'v' are +interchangeable letters _savar_ is the same word as _sagar_. It seems +therefore not unreasonable to infer that the tribe who were so called +took their name from their habit of carrying axes. Now it is one of the +striking peculiarities of the Savars that they are rarely seen without +an axe in their hands. The peculiarity has been frequently noticed +by all who have seen them." [629] The above opinion of Cunningham, +which is of course highly speculative, is disputed by Mr. Crooke, +who says that "The word Savara, if it be, as some believe, derived +from _sava_ a corpse, comes from the root _sav_ 'to cause to decay,' +and need not necessarily therefore be of non-Aryan origin, while on +the other hand no distinct inference can be drawn from the use of the +axe by the Savars, when it is equally used by various other Dravidian +jungle tribes such as the Korwas, Bhuiyas and the like." [630] +In the classical stories of their origin the first ancestor of the +Savars is sometimes described as a Bhil. The word Savar is mentioned +in several Sanskrit works written between 800 B.C. and A.D. 1200, and +it seems probable that they are a Munda tribe who occupied the tracts +of country which they live in prior to the arrival of the Gonds. The +classical name Savar has been corrupted into various forms. Thus +in the Bundeli dialect '_ava_' changes into '_au_' and a nasal is +sometimes interpolated. _Savar_ has here become Saunr or Saonr. The +addition of 'a' at the end of the word sometimes expresses contempt, +and Savar becomes Savara as Chamar is corrupted into _Chamra_. In the +Uriya country 'v' is changed into 'b' and an aspirate is interpolated, +and thus Savara became Sabra or Sahara, as Gaur has become Gahra. The +word Sahara, Mr. Crooke remarks, [631] has excited speculation as +to its derivation from Arabic, in which Sahara means a wilderness; +and the name of the Savars has accordingly been deduced from the same +source as the great Sahara desert. This is of course incorrect. + + + + +2. Tribal legends + +Various stories of the origin of the Savars are given in Sanskrit +literature. In the Aitareya Brahmana they are spoken of as the +descendants of Vishwamitra, while in the Mahabharat they are said +to have been created by Kamdhenu, Vasishtha's wonder-working cow, in +order to repel the aggression of Vishwamitra. Local tradition traces +their origin to the celebrated Seori of the Ramayana, who is supposed +to have lived somewhere near the present Seorinarayan in the Bilaspur +District and to have given her name to this place. Ramchandra in his +wanderings met her there, ate the plums which she had gathered for +him after tasting each one herself, and out of regard for her devotion +permitted her name to precede his own of Narayan in that given to the +locality. Another story makes one Jara Savar their original ancestor, +who was said to have shot Krishna in the form of a deer. Another states +that they were created for carrying stones for the construction of +the great temple at Puri and for dragging the car of Jagannath, which +they still do at the present time. Yet another connecting them with the +temple of Jagannath states that their ancestor was an old Bhil hermit +called Sawar, who lived in Karod, two miles from Seorinarayan. The +god Jagannath had at this time appeared in Seorinarayan and the old +Sawar used to worship him. The king of Orissa had built the great +temple at Puri and wished to install Jagannath in it, and he sent +a Brahman to fetch him from Seorinarayan, but nobody knew where he +was except the old hermit Sawar. The Brahman besought him in vain +to be allowed to see the god and even went so far as to marry his +daughter, and finally the old man consented to take him blindfold to +the place. The Brahman, however, tied some mustard seeds in a corner +of his cloth and made a hole in it so that they dropped out one by one +on the way. After some time they grew up and served to guide him to +the spot. This story of the mustard seeds of course finds a place in +the folklore of many nations. The Brahman then went to Seorinarayan +alone and begged the god to go to Puri. Jagannath consented, and +assuming the form of a log of wood floated down the Mahanadi to Puri, +where he was taken out and placed in the temple. A carpenter agreed +to carve the god's image out of the log of wood on condition that +the temple should be shut up for six months while the work was going +on. But some curious people opened the door before the time and the +work could not proceed, and thus the image of the god is only half +carved out of the wood up to the present day. As a consolation to the +old man the god ordained that the place should bear the hermit's name +before his own as Seorinarayan. Lastly the Saonrs of Bundelkhand have +the following tradition. In the beginning of creation Mahadeo wished +to teach the people how to cultivate the ground, and so he made a +plough and took out his bull Nandi to yoke to it But there was dense +forest on the earth, so he created a being whom he called Savar and +gave him an axe to clear the forest. In the meantime Mahadeo went +away to get another bullock. The Savar after clearing the forest felt +very hungry, and finding nothing else to eat killed Nandi and ate +his flesh on a teak leaf. And for this reason the young teak leaves +when rubbed give out sap which is the colour of blood to the present +day. After some time Mahadeo returned, and finding the forest well +cleared was pleased with the Savar, and as a reward endowed him with +the knowledge of all edible and medicinal roots and fruits of the +forest. But on looking round for Nandi he found him lying dead with +some of his flesh cut off. The Savar pleaded ignorance, but Mahadeo +sprinkled a little nectar on Nandi, who came to life again and told +what had happened. Then Mahadeo was enraged with the Savar and said, +'You shall remain a barbarian and dwell for ever in poverty in the +jungles without enough to eat.' And accordingly this has always been +the condition of the Savar's descendants. + +Other old authors speak of the Parna or leaf-clad Savars; and a Savar +messenger is described as carrying a bow in his hand "with his hair +tied up in a knot behind with a creeper, black himself, and wearing +a loin-cloth of _bhilawan_ leaves"; [632] an excellent example of +'a leaf-fringed legend.' + + + + +3. Tribal subdivisions + +The Bundelkhand Savars have been so long separated from the others that +they have sometimes forgotten their identity and consider themselves as +a subtribe of Gonds, though the better informed repudiate this. They +may be regarded as a separate endogamous group. The eastern branch +have two main divisions called Laria and Uriya, or those belonging to +Chhattisgarh and Sambalpur respectively. A third division known as the +Kalapithia or 'Black Backs' are found in Orissa, and are employed +to drag the car of Jagannath. These on account of their sacred +occupation consider themselves superior to the others, abstain from +fowls and liquor, and sometimes wear the sacred thread. The Larias are +the lowest subdivision. Marriage is regulated by exogamous septs or +_bargas_. The northern Savars say that they have 52 of these, 52 being +a number frequently adopted to express the highest possible magnitude, +as if no more could be imagined. The Uriya Savars say they have 80 +_bargas_. Besides the prohibition of marriage within the same _barga_, +the union of first cousins is sometimes forbidden. Among the Uriya +Savars each _barga_ has the two further divisions of Joria and Khuntia, +the Jorias being those who bury or burn their dead near a _jor_ or +brook, and the Khuntias those who bury or burn them near a _khunt_ or +old tree. Jorias and Khuntias of the same _barga_ cannot intermarry, +but in the case of some other subdivisions of the _barga_, as between +those who eat rice at one festival in the year and those eating it +at two, marriage is allowed between members of the two subdivisions, +thus splitting the exogamous group into two. The names of the _bargas_ +are usually totemistic, and the following are some examples: Badaiya, +the carpenter bird; Bagh, the tiger; Bagula, the heron; Bahra, a +cook; Bhatia, a _brinjal_ or egg-plant; Bisi, the scorpion; Basantia, +the trunk of the cotton tree; Hathia, an elephant; Jancher, a tree +(this _barga_ is divided into Bada and Kachcha, the Bada worshipping +the tree and the Kachcha a branch of it, and marriage between the +two subdivisions is allowed); Jharia (this _barga_ keeps a lock of +a child's hair unshaved for four or five years after its birth); +Juadi, a gambler; Karsa, a deer; Khairaiya, the _khair_ or catechu +tree; Lodhi, born from the caste of that name (in Saugor); Markam, +the name of a Gond sept; Rajhans, a swan; Suriya Bansia, from the sun +(members of this _barga_ feed the caste-fellows on the occasion of a +solar eclipse and throw away their earthen pots); Silgainya from _sil_, +a slate; and Tiparia from _tipari_, a basket (these two septs are +divided into Kachcha and Pakka groups which can marry with each other); +Sona, gold (a member of this sept does not wear gold ornaments until +he has given a feast and a caste-fellow has placed one on his person). + + + + +4. Marriage + +Marriage is usually adult, but in places where the Savars live near +Hindus they have adopted early marriage. A reason for preferring +the latter custom is found in the marriage ceremony, when the bride +and bridegroom must be carried on the shoulders of their relatives +from the bride's house to the bridegroom's. If they are grown up, +this part of the ceremony entails no inconsiderable labour on the +relatives. In the Uriya country, while the Khuntia subdivision of each +_barga_ see nothing wrong in marrying a girl after adolescence, the +Jorias consider it a great sin, to avoid which they sometimes marry +a girl to an arrow before she attains puberty. An arrow is tied to +her hand, and she goes seven times round a mahua branch stuck on an +improvised altar, and drinks _ghi_ and oil, thus creating the fiction +of a marriage. The arrow is then thrown into a river to imply that her +husband is dead, and she is afterwards disposed of by the ceremony of +widow-marriage. If this mock ceremony has not been performed before +the girl becomes adult, she is taken to the forest by a relative and +there tied to a tree, to which she is considered to be married. She +is not taken back to her father's house but to that of some relative, +such as her brother-in-law or grandfather, who is permitted to talk +to her in an obscene and jesting manner, and is subsequently disposed +of as a widow. Or in Sambalpur she may be nominally married to an old +man and then again married as a widow. The Savars follow generally +the local Hindu form of the marriage ceremony. On the return of the +bridal pair seven lines are drawn in front of the entrance to the +bridegroom's house. Some relative takes rice and throws it at the +persons returning with the marriage procession, and then pushes the +pair hastily across the lines and into the house. They are thus freed +from the evil spirits who might have accompanied them home and who +are kept back by the rice and the seven lines. A price of Rs. 5 is +sometimes paid for the bride. In Saugor if the bride's family cannot +afford a wedding feast they distribute small pieces of bread to the +guests, who place them in their head-cloths to show their acceptance +of this substitute. To those guests to whom it is necessary to make +presents five cowries are given. Widow-marriage is allowed, and in +some places the widow is bound to marry her late husband's younger +brother unless he declines to take her. If she marries somebody else +the new husband pays a sum by way of compensation either to her father +or to the late husband's family. Divorce is permitted on the husband's +initiative for adultery or serious disagreement. If the wife wishes +for a divorce she simply runs away from her husband. The Laria Savars +must give a _marti-jiti ka bhat_ or death-feast on the occasion of +a divorce. The Uriyas simply pay a rupee to the headman of the caste. + + + + +5. Death ceremonies + +The Savars both burn and bury their dead, placing the corpse on the +pyre with its head to the north, in the belief that heaven lies in +that direction. On the eleventh day after the death in Sambalpur +those members of the caste who can afford it present a goat to the +mourners. The Savars believe that the souls of those who die become +ghosts, and in Bundelkhand they used formerly to bury the dead near +their fields in the belief that the spirits would watch over and +protect the crops. If a man has died a violent death they raise +a small platform of earth under a teak or _saj_ tree, in which +the ghost of the dead man is believed to take up its residence, +and nobody thereafter may cut down that tree. The Uriya Savars +take no special measures unless the ghost appears to somebody in a +dream and asks to be worshipped as Baghiapat (tiger-eaten) or Masan +(serpent-bitten). In such cases a _gunia_ or sorcerer is consulted, +and such measures as he prescribes are taken to appease the dead man's +soul. If a person dies without a child a hole is made in a stone, +and his soul is induced to enter it by the _gunia_. A few grains of +rice are placed in the hole, and it is then closed with melted lead +to imprison the ghost, and the stone is thrown into a stream so that +it may never be able to get out and trouble the family. Savars offer +water to the dead. A second wife usually wears a metal impression of +the first wife by way of propitiation to her. + + + + +6. Religion + +The Savars worship Bhawani under various names and also Dulha Deo, +the young bridegroom who was killed by a tiger. He is located +in the kitchen of every house in some localities, and this has +given rise to the proverb, '_Jai chulha, tai Dulha_,' or 'There +is a Dulha Deo to every hearth.' The Savars are considered to be +great sorcerers. '_Sawara ke pange, Rawat ke bandhe_,' or 'The man +bewitched by a Savar and the bullock tied up by a Rawat (grazier) +cannot escape'; and again, 'Verily the Saonr is a cup of poison.' Their +charms, called Sabari _mantras_, are especially intended to appease +the spirits of persons who have died a violent death. If one of their +family was seriously ill they were accustomed formerly to set fire +to the forest, so that by burning the small animals and insects which +could not escape they might propitiate the angry gods. + + + + +7. Occupation + +The dress of the Savars is of the scantiest. The women wear _khilwan_ +or pith ornaments in the ear, and abstain from wearing nose-rings, +a traditional method of deference to the higher castes. The proverb +has it, 'The ornaments of the Sawara are _gumchi_ seeds.' These +are the red and black seeds of _Abrus precatorius_ which are used in +weighing gold and silver and are called _rati_. Women are tattooed and +sometimes men also to avoid being pierced with a red-hot iron by the +god of death. Tattooing is further said to allay the sexual passion +of women, which is eight times more intense than that of men. Their +occupations are the collection of jungle produce and cultivation. They +are very clever in taking honeycombs: 'It is the Savar who can drive +the black bees from their hive.' The eastern branch of the caste is +more civilised than the Saonras of Bundelkhand, who still sow juari +with a pointed stick, saying that it was the implement given to them +by Mahadeo for this purpose. In Saugor and Damoh they employ Brahmans +for marriage ceremonies if they can afford it, but on other occasions +their own caste priests. In some places they will take food from most +castes but in others from nobody who is not a Savar. Sometimes they +admit outsiders and in others the children only of irregular unions; +thus a Gond woman kept by a Savar would not be recognised as a member +of the caste herself but her children would be Savars. A woman going +wrong with an outsider of low caste is permanently excommunicated. + + + + +Sonjhara + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin and constitution of the caste_. + 2. _Totemism_. + 3. _Marriage_. + 4. _Customs at birth_ + 5. _Funeral rites_. + 6. _Religion._ + 7. _Social customs_. + 8. _Occupation_. + + + + +1. Origin and constitution of the caste + +_Sonjhara, Jhara, Jhora, Jhira._--A small occupational caste who +wash for gold in river-beds, belonging to the Sambalpur, Mandla, +Balaghat and Chanda Districts and the Chota Nagpur Feudatory States. In +1911 they numbered about 1500 persons. The name probably comes from +_sona_, gold, and _jharna_, to sweep or wash, though, when the term +Jhara only is used, some derive it from _jhori_ a streamlet. Colonel +Dalton surmised that the Sonjharas were an offshoot of the Gonds, +and this appears to be demonstrated by the fact that the names of +their exogamous septs are identical with Gond names as Marabi, Tekam, +Netam, Dhurwa and Madao. The Sonjharas of Bilaspur say that their +ancestors were Gonds who dwelt at Lanji in Balaghat. The caste relate +the tradition that they were condemned by Mahadeo to perpetual poverty +because their first ancestor stole a little gold from Parvatis crown +when it fell into the river Jamuna (in Chota Nagpur) and he was sent +to fetch it out. The metal which is found in the river sands they +hold to be the remains of a shower of gold which fell for two and +a half days while the Banaphar heroes Alha and Udal were fighting +their great battle with Prithvi Raj, king of Delhi. The caste is +partly occupational, and recruited from different sources. This is +shown by the fact that in Chanda members of different septs will not +eat together, though they are obliged to intermarry. In Sambalpur the +Behra, Patar, Naik and Padhan septs eat together and intermarry. Two +other septs, the Kanar and Peltrai who eat fowls and drink liquor, +occupy a lower position, and members of the first four will not take +food from them nor give daughters to them in marriage, though they +will take daughters from these lower groups for their sons. Here +they have three subcastes, the Laria or residents of Chhattisgarh, +the Uriya belonging to the Uriya country, and the Bhuinhar, who may +be an offshoot from the Bhuiya tribe. + + + + +2. Totemism + +They have one recorded instance of totemism, which is of some +interest. Members of the sept named after a tree called _kausa_ revere +the tree and explain it by saying that their ancestor, when flying +from some danger, sought protection from this tree, which thereupon +opened and enfolded him in its trunk. No member of the sept will +touch the tree without first bathing, and on auspicious occasions, +such as births and weddings, they will dig up a little earth from the +roots of the tree and taking this home worship it in the house. If +any member of the sept finds that he has cut off a branch or other +part of this tree unwittingly he will take and consign it to a stream, +observing ceremonies of mourning. Women of the Nag or cobra sept will +not mention the name of this snake aloud, just as they refrain from +speaking the names of male relatives. + + + + +3. Marriage + +Marriage within the sept is forbidden, and they permit the +intermarriage of the children of a brother and sister, but not of +those of two sisters, though their husbands may be of different +septs. Marriage is usually adult except in Sambalpur, where a girl +must be provided with a husband before reaching maturity in accordance +with the general rule among the Uriya castes. In Chhindwara it is +said that the Sonjharas revere the crocodile and that the presence +of this animal is essential at their weddings. They do not, however, +kill and eat it at a sacrificial feast as the Singrore Dhimars are +reported to do, but catch and keep it alive, and when the ceremony is +concluded take it back again and deposit it in a river. After a girl +has been married neither her father nor any of her own near relatives +will ever take food again in the house of her husband's family, saying +that they would rather starve. Each married couple also becomes a +separate commensal group and will not eat with the parents of either of +them. This is a common custom among low castes of mixed origin where +every man is doubtful of his neighbour's parentage. Divorce and the +remarriage of widows are permitted, and a woman may be divorced merely +on the ground of incompetence in household management or because she +does not please her husband's parents. + + + + +4. Customs at birth + +At child-birth they make a little separate hut for the mother near the +river where they are encamped, and she remains in it for two days and a +half. During this time her husband does no work; he stays a few paces +distant from his wife's hut and prepares her food but does not go to +the hut or touch her, and he kindles a fire between them. During the +first two days the woman gets three handfuls of rice boiled thin in +water, and on the third day she receives nothing until the evening, +when the Sendia or head of the sept takes a little cowdung, gold and +silver in his hand, and pouring water over this gives her of it to +drink as many times as the number of gods worshipped by her family +up to seven. Then she is pure. On this day the father sacrifices a +chicken and gives a meal with liquor to the caste and names the child, +calling it after one of his ancestors who is dead. Then an old woman +beats on a brass plate and calls out the name which has been given in +a loud voice to the whole camp so that they may all know the child's +name. In Bilaspur the Sonjharas observe the custom of the Couvade, +and for six days after the birth of a child the husband lies prone +in his house, while the wife gets up and goes to work, coming home to +give suck to the child when necessary. The man takes no food for three +days and on the fourth is given ginger and raw sugar, thus undergoing +the ordinary treatment of a woman after childbirth. This is supposed +by them to be a sort of compensation for the labours sustained by +the woman in bearing the child. The custom obtains among some other +primitive races, but is now rapidly being abandoned by the Sonjharas. + + + + +5. Funeral rites + +The bodies of the old are cremated as a special honour, and those +of other persons are buried. No one other than a member of the dead +man's family may touch his corpse under a penalty of five rupees. A +relative will remove the body and bury it with the feet pointing to +the river or burn it by the water's edge. They mourn a child for one +day and an adult for four days, and at the end the mourner is shaved +and provides liquor for the community. If there be no relative, since +no other man can touch the corpse, they fire the hut over it and burn +it as it is lying or bury hut and body under a high mound of sand. + + + + +6. Religion + +Their principal deities are Dulha Deo, the boy bridegroom, Nira +his servant, and Kauria a form of Devi. Nira lives under an _umar_ +[633] tree and he and Dulha Deo his master are worshipped every third +year in the month of Magh (January). Kauria is also worshipped once +in three years on a Sunday in the month of Magh with an offering of +a cocoanut, and in her honour they never sit on a cot nor sleep on +a stool because they think that the goddess has her seat on these +articles. The real reason, however, is probably that the Sonjharas +consider the use of such furniture an indication of a settled life and +permanent residence, and therefore abjure it as being wanderers. Some +analogous customs have been recorded of the Banjaras. They also revere +the spirit of one of their female ancestors who became a Sati. They +sacrifice a goat to the _genius loci_ or spirit haunting the spot +where they decide to start work; and they will leave it for fear of +angering this spirit, which is said to appear in the form of a tiger, +should they make a particularly good find. [634] They never keep +dogs, and it is said that they are defiled by the touch of a dog +and will throw away their food if one comes near them during their +meal. The same rule applies to a cat, and they will throw away an +earthen vessel touched by either of these animals. On the Diwali day +they wash their implements, and setting them up near the huts worship +them with offerings of a cocoanut and vermilion. + + + + +7. Social customs + +Their rule is always to camp outside a village at a distance of not +less than a mile. In the rains they make huts with a roof of bamboos +sloping from a central ridge and walls of matting. The huts are built +in one line and do not touch each other, at least a cubit's distance +being left between each. Each hut has one door facing the east. As a +rule they avoid the water of village wells and tanks, though it is not +absolutely forbidden. Each man digs a shallow well in the sand behind +his hut and drinks the water from it, and no man may drink the water +of his neighbour's well; if he should do so or if any water from his +well gets into his neighbour's, the latter is abandoned and a fresh one +made. If the ground is too swampy for wells they collect the water in +their wooden washing-tray and fill their vessels from it. In the cold +weather they make little leaf-huts on the sand or simply camp out in +the open, but they must never sleep under a tree. When living in the +open each family makes two fires and sleeps together between them. Some +of them have their stomachs burned and blackened from sleeping too near +the fire. The Sonjharas will not take cooked food from the hands of +any other caste, but their social status is very low, about equivalent +to that of the parent Gond tribe. They have no fear of wild animals, +not even the children. Perhaps they think that as fellow-denizens of +the jungle these animals are kin to them and will not injure them. + + + + +8. Occupation + +The traditional occupation of the caste is to wash gold from the +sandy beds of streams, while they formerly also washed for diamonds at +Hirakud on the Mahanadi near Sambalpur and at Wairagarh in Chanda. The +industry is decaying, and in 1901 only a quarter of the total number +of Sonjharas were still employed In it. Some have become cultivators +and fishermen, while others earn their livelihood by sweeping up +the refuse dirt of the workshops of goldsmiths and brass-workers; +they wash out the particles of metal from this and sell it back to +the Sunars. The Mahanadi and Jonk rivers in Sambalpur, the Banjar In +Mandla, the Son and other rivers in Balaghat, and the Wainganga and +the eastern streams of Chanda contain minute particles of gold. The +washers earn a miserable and uncertain livelihood, and indeed appear +not to desire anything beyond a bare subsistence. In Bhandara [635] it +is said that they avoid any spot where they have previously been lucky, +while in Chanda they have a superstition that a person making a good +find of gold will be childless, and hence many dread the search. [636] +When they set out to look for gold they wash three small trayfuls at +three places about five cubits apart. If they find no appreciable +quantity of gold they go on for one or two hundred yards and wash +three more trayfuls, and proceed thus until they find a profitable +place where they will halt for two or three days. A spot [637] +in the dry river-bed is usually selected at the outside of a bend, +where the finer sediment is likely to be found; after removing the +stones and pebbles from above, the sand below is washed several times +in circular wooden cradles, shaped like the top of an umbrella, of +diminishing sizes, until all the clay is removed and fine particles of +sand mixed with gold are visible. A large wooden spoon is used to stir +up the sediment, which is washed and rubbed by hand to separate the +gold more completely from the sand, and a blackish residue is left, +containing particles of gold and mercury coloured black with oxide +of iron. Mercury is used to pick up the gold with which it forms +an amalgam. This is evaporated in a clay cupel called a _ghariya_ +by which the mercury is got rid of and the gold left behind. + + + + +Sudh + +_Sudh, [638] Sudha, Sudho, Suda_.--A cultivating caste in the +Uriya country. Since the transfer of Sambalpur to Bengal only a +few Sudhs remain in the Central Provinces. They are divided into +four subcastes--the Bada or high Sudhs, the Dehri or worshippers, +the Kabat-konia or those holding the corners of the gate, and the +Butka. These last are the most primitive and think that Rairakhol is +their first home. They relate that they were born of the Pandava hero +Bhimsen and the female demon Hedembiki, and were originally occupied in +supplying leaves for the funeral ceremonies of the Pandava brothers, +from which business they obtained their name of Butka or 'one who +brings leaves.' They are practically a forest tribe and carry on +shifting cultivation like the Khonds. According to their own story +the ancestors of the Butka Sudhs once ruled In Rairakhol and reclaimed +the land from the forest, that is so far as it has been reclaimed. The +following story connects them with the ruling family of Rairakhol. In +former times there was constant war between Bamra and Rairakhol, and +on one occasion the whole of the Rairakhol royal family was destroyed +with the exception of one boy who was hidden by a Butka Sudh woman. She +placed him in a cradle supported on four uprights, and when the Bamra +Raja's soldiers came to seek for him the Sudhs swore, "If we have kept +him either in heaven or earth may our god destroy us." The Bamra people +were satisfied with this reply and the child was saved, and on coming +to manhood he won back his kingdom. He received the name of Janamani +or 'Jewel among men,' which the family still bear. In consequence +of this incident, the Butka Sudhs are considered by the Rairakhol +house as relations on their mother's side; they have several villages +allotted to them and perform sacrifices for the ruling family. In some +of these villages nobody may sleep on a cot or sit on a high chair, +so as to be between heaven and earth in the position in which the +child was saved. The Bada Sudhs are the most numerous subdivision and +have generally adopted Hindu customs, so that the higher castes will +take water from their hands. They neither drink liquor nor eat fowls, +but the other subcastes do both. The Sudhs have totemistic _gotras_ +as Bhalluka (bear), Bagh (tiger), Ulluka (owl), and others. They also +have _bargas_ or family names as Thakur (lord), Danaik, Amayat and +Bishi. The Thakur clan say that they used to hold the Baud kings in +their lap for their coronation, and the Danaik used to tie the king's +turban. The Bishi were so named because of their skill in arms, and +the Amayat collected materials for the worship of the Panch Khanda or +five swords. The _bargas_ are much more numerous than the totemistic +septs, and marriage either within the _barga_ or within the sept is +forbidden. Girls must be married before adolescence; and in the absence +of a suitable husband, the girl is married to an old man who divorces +her immediately afterwards, and she may then take a second husband +at any time by the form for widow-remarriage. A betrothal is sealed +by tying an areca-nut in a knot made from the clothes of a relative +of each party and pounding it seven times with a pestle. After the +marriage a silver ring is placed in a pot of water, over the mouth of +which a leaf-plate is bound. The bridegroom pierces the leaf-plate with +a knife, and the bride then thrusts her hand through the hole, picks +out the ring and puts it on. The couple then go inside the house and +sit down to a meal. The bridegroom, after eating part of his food, +throws the leavings on to the bride's plate. She stops eating in +displeasure, whereupon the bridegroom promises her some ornaments, +and she relents and eats his leavings. It is customary for a Hindu wife +to eat the leavings of food of her husband as a mark of her veneration +for him. Divorce and the remarriage of widows are permitted. The Sudhs +worship the Panch Khanda or five swords, and in the Central Provinces +they say that these are a representation of the five Pandava brothers, +in whose service their first ancestors were engaged. Their tutelary +goddess is Khambeshwari, represented by a wooden peg (_khamba_). She +dwells in the wilds of the Baud State and is supposed to fulfil +all the desires of the Sudhs. Liquor, goats, buffaloes, vermilion +and swallow-wort flowers are offered to her, the last two being in +representation of blood. The Dehri Sudhs worship a goddess called +Kandrapat who dwells always on the summits of hills. It is believed +that whenever worship is concluded the roar of her tiger is heard, +and the worshippers then leave the place and allow the tiger to come +and take the offerings. The goddess would therefore appear to be the +deified tiger. The Bada Sudhs rank with the cultivating castes of +Sambalpur, but the other three subcastes have a lower position. + + + + +Sunar + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _General notice of the caste_. + 2. _Internal structure_. + 3. _Marriage and other customs_. + 4. _Religion_. + 5. _Social position_. + 6. _Manufacture of ornaments_. + 7. _The sanctity of gold_. + 8. _Ornaments. The marriage ornaments_. + 9. _Beads and other ornaments_. + 10. _Ear-piercing._ + 11. _Origin of ear-piercing._ + 12. _Ornaments worn as amulets_. + 13. _Audhia Sunars_. + 14. _The Sunar as money-changer._ + 15. _Malpractices of lower-class Sunars_. + + + + +1. General notice of the caste + +Sunar, [639] Sonar, Soni, Hon-Potdar, Saraf.--The occupational caste +of goldsmiths and silversmiths. The name is derived from the Sanskrit +_Suvarna kar_, a worker in gold. In 1911 the Sunars numbered 96,000 +persons in the Central Provinces and 30,000 in Berar. They live all +over the Province and are most numerous in the large towns. The caste +appears to be a functional one of comparatively recent formation, +and there is nothing on record as to its origin, except a collection +of Brahmanical legends of the usual type. The most interesting of +these as related by Sir H. Risley is as follows: [640] + +"In the beginning of time, when the goddess Devi was busy with the +construction of mankind, a giant called Sonwa-Daitya, whose body +consisted entirely of gold, devoured her creations as fast as she +made them. To baffle this monster the goddess created a goldsmith, +furnished him with the tools of his art, and instructed him how to +proceed. When the giant proposed to eat him, the goldsmith suggested +to him that if his body were polished his appearance would be vastly +improved, and asked to be allowed to undertake the job. With the +characteristic stupidity of his tribe the giant fell into the trap, +and having had one finger polished was so pleased with the result that +he agreed to be polished all over. For this purpose, like Aetes in the +Greek legend of Medea, he had to be melted down, and the goldsmith, +who was to get the body as his perquisite, giving the head only to +Devi, took care not to put him together again. The goldsmith, however, +overreached himself. Not content with his legitimate earnings, he +must needs steal a part of the head, and being detected in this by +Devi, he and his descendants were condemned to be for ever poor." The +Sunars also have a story that they are the descendants of one of two +Rajput brothers, who were saved as boys by a Saraswat Brahman from +the wrath of Parasurama when he was destroying the Kshatriyas. The +descendants of the other brother were the Khatris. This is the same +story as is told by the Khatris of their own origin, but they do not +acknowledge the connection with Sunars, nor can the Sunars allege that +Saraswat Brahmans eat with them as they do with Khatris. In Gujarat +they have a similar legend connecting them with Banias. In Bombay +they also claim to be Brahmans, and in the Central Provinces a caste +of goldsmiths akin to the Sunars call themselves Vishwa Brahmans. On +the other hand, before and during the time of the Peshwas, Sunars +were not allowed to wear the sacred thread, and they were forbidden to +hold their marriages in public, as it was considered unlucky to see a +Sunar bridegroom. Sunar bridegrooms were not allowed to see the state +umbrella or to ride in a palanquin, and had to be married at night and +in secluded places, being subject to restrictions and annoyances from +which even Mahars were free. [641] Their _raison d'etre_ may possibly +be found in the fact that the Brahmans, all-powerful in the Poona +state, were jealous of the pretensions of the Sunars, and devised +these rules as a means of suppressing them. It may be suggested that +the Sunars, being workers at an important urban industry, profitable +in itself and sanctified by its association with the sacred metal +gold, aspired to rank above the other artisans, and put forward the +pretensions already mentioned, because they felt that their position +was not commensurate with their deserts. But the Sunar is included +in Grant-Duff's list of the twenty-four village menials of a Maratha +village, and consequently he would in past times have ranked below +the cultivators, from whom he must have accepted the annual presents +of grain. + + + + +2. Internal structure + +The caste have a number of subdivisions, nearly all of which are of +the territorial class and indicate the various localities from which +it has been recruited in these Provinces. The most important subcastes +are the Audhia from Ajodhia or Oudh; the Purania or old settlers; +the Bundelkhandi from Bundelkhand; the Malwi from Malwa; the Lad from +Lat, the old name for the southern portion of Gujarat; and the Mair, +who appear to have been the first immigrants from Upper India and are +named after Mair, the original ancestor, who melted down the golden +demon. Other small groups are the Patkars, so called because they allow +_pat_ or widow-marriage, though, as a matter of fact, it is permitted +by the great majority of the caste; the Pandhare or 'White Sunars'; +and the Ahir Sunars, whose ancestors must presumably have belonged to +the caste whose name they bear. The caste have also numerous _bainks_ +or exogamous septs, which differ entirely from the long lists given +for Bengal and the United Provinces, and show, as Mr. Crooke remarks, +the extreme fertility with which sections of this kind spring up. In +the Central Provinces the names are of a titular or territorial +nature. Examples of the former kind, that is, a title or nickname +supposed to have been borne by the sept's founder, are: Dantele, one +who has projecting teeth; Kale, black; Munde, bald; Kolhimare, a killer +of jackals; and Ladaiya, a jackal or a quarrelsome person. Among the +territorial names are Narwaria from Narwar; Bhilsainyan from Bhilsa; +Kanaujia from Kanauj; Dilliwal from Delhi; Kalpiwal from Kalpi. Besides +the _bainks_ or septs by which marriage is regulated, they have adopted +the Brahmanical eponymous _gotra_-names as Kashyap, Garg, Sandilya, +and so on. These are employed on ceremonial occasions as when a gift +is made for the purpose of obtaining religious merit, and the _gotra-_ +name of the owner is recorded, but they do not influence marriage. The +use of them is a harmless vanity analogous to the assumption of +distinguished surnames by people who were not born to them. + + + + +3. Marriage and other customs + +Marriage is forbidden within the sept. In some localities persons +descended from a common ancestor may not intermarry for five +generations, but in others a brother's daughter may be wedded to a +sister's son. A man is forbidden to marry two sisters while both are +alive, and after his wife's death he may espouse her younger sister, +but not her elder one. Girls are usually wedded at a tender age, +but some Sunars have hitherto had a rule that neither a girl nor a +boy should be married until they had had smallpox, the idea being +that there can be no satisfactory basis for a contract of marriage +while either party is still exposed to such a danger to life and +personal appearance; just as it might be considered more prudent not +to buy a young dog until it had had distemper. But with the spread of +vaccination the Sunars are giving up this custom. The marriage ceremony +follows the Hindustani or Maratha ritual according to locality. [642] +In Betul the mother of the bride ties the mother of the bridegroom to +a pole with the ropes used for tethering buffaloes and beats her with +a piece of twisted cloth, until the bridegroom's mother gives her a +present of money or cloth and is released. The ceremony may be designed +to express the annoyance of the bride's mother at being deprived +of her daughter. Polygamy is permitted, but people will not give +their daughter to a married man if they can find a bachelor husband +for her. Well-to-do Sunars who desire increased social distinction +prohibit the marriage of widows, but the caste generally allow it. + + + + +4. Religion + +The caste venerate the ordinary Hindu deities, and many of them have +sects and return themselves as Vaishnavas, Saivas or Saktas. In some +places they are said to make a daily offering to their melting-furnace +so that it may bring them in a profit. When a child has been born +they make a sacrifice of a goat to Dulha Deo, the marriage-god, on the +following Dasahra festival, and the body of this must be eaten by the +family only, no outsider being allowed to participate. In Hoshangabad +it is stated that on the night before the Dasahra festival all the +Sunars assemble beside a river and hold a feast. Each of them is +then believed to take an oath that he will not during the coming +year disclose the amount of the alloy which a fellow-craftsman may +mix with the precious metals. Any Sunar who violates this agreement +is put out of caste. On the 15th day of Jeth (May) the village Sunar +stops work for five days and worships his implements after washing +them. He draws pictures of the goddess Devi on a piece of paper and +goes round the village to affix them to the doors of his clients, +receiving in return a small present. + +The caste usually burn their dead and take the ashes to the Nerbudda +or Ganges; those living to the south of the Nerbudda always stop +at this river, because they think that if they crossed it to go to +the Ganges, the Nerbudda would be offended at their not considering +it good enough. If a man meets with a violent death and his body is +lost, they construct a small image of him and burn this with all the +proper ceremonies. Mourning is observed for ten or thirteen days, and +the _shraddh_ ceremony is performed on the anniversary of a death, +while the usual oblations are offered to the ancestors during the +fortnight of Pitr Paksh in Kunwar (September). + + + + +5. Social position + +The more ambitious members of the caste abjure all flesh and liquor, +and wear the sacred thread. These will not take cooked food even from +a Brahman. Others do not observe these restrictions. Brahmans will +usually take water from Sunars, especially from those who wear the +sacred thread. Owing to their association with the sacred metal gold, +and the fact that they generally live in towns or large villages, and +many of their members are well-to-do, the Sunars occupy a fairly high +position, ranking equal with, or above the cultivating castes. But, +as already stated, the goldsmith was a village menial in the Maratha +villages, and Sir D. Ibbetson thinks that the Jat really considers +the Sunar to be distinctly inferior to himself. + + + + +6. Manufacture of ornaments + +The Sunar makes all kinds of ornaments of gold and silver, being +usually supplied with the metal by his customers. He is paid according +to the weight of metal used, the rate varying from four annas to +two rupees with an average of a rupee per tola weight of metal for +gold, and from one to two annas per tola weight of silver. [643] +The lowness of these rates is astonishing when compared with those +charged by European jewellers, being less than 10 per cent on the +value of the metal for quite delicate ornaments. The reason is +partly that ornaments are widely regarded as a means for the safe +keeping of money, and to spend a large sum on the goldsmith's labour +would defeat this end, as it would be lost on the reconversion of +the ornaments into cash. Articles of elaborate workmanship are also +easily injured when worn by women who have to labour in the fields or +at home. These considerations have probably retarded the development +of the goldsmith's art, except in a few isolated localities where it +may have had the patronage of native courts, and they account for the +often clumsy form and workmanship of his ornaments. The value set +on the products of skilled artisans in early times is nevertheless +shown by the statement in M'Crindle's _Ancient India_ that any one +who caused an artisan to lose the use of an eye or a hand was put to +death. [644] In England the jeweller's profit on his wares is from 33 +to 50 per cent or more, in which, of course, allowance is made for the +large amount of capital locked up in them and the time they may remain +on his hands. But the difference in rates is nevertheless striking, +and allowance must be made for it in considering the bad reputation +which the Sunar has for mixing alloy with the metal. Gold ornaments +are simply hammered or punched into shape or rudely engraved, and are +practically never cast or moulded. They are often made hollow from +thin plate or leaf, the interior being filled up with lac. Silver ones +are commonly cast in Saugor and Jubbulpore, but rarely elsewhere. The +Sunar's trade appears now to be fairly prosperous, but during the +famines it was greatly depressed and many members of the caste took +to other occupations. Many Sunars make small articles of brass, such +as chains, bells and little boxes. Others have become cultivators +and drive the plough themselves, a practice which has the effect of +spoiling their hands, and also prevents them from giving their sons +a proper training. To be a good Sunar the hands must be trained from +early youth to acquire the necessary delicacy of touch. The Sunar's +son sits all day with his father watching him work and handling the +ornaments. Formerly the Sunar never touched a plough. Like the Pekin +ivory painter-- + + + From early dawn he works; + And all day long, and when night comes the lamp + Lights up his studious forehead and thin hands. + + + + +7. The sanctity of gold + +As already stated, the Sunar obtains some social distinction from +working in gold, which is a very sacred metal with the Hindus. Gold +ornaments must not on this account be worn below the waist, as to do +so would be considered an indignity to the holy material. Maratha and +Khedawal Brahman women will not have ornaments for the head and arms +of any baser metal than gold. If they cannot afford gold bracelets +they wear only glass ones. Other castes should, if they can afford it, +wear only gold on the head. And at any rate the nose-ring and small +earrings in the upper ear should be of gold if worn at all. When a +man is at the point of death, a little gold, Ganges water, and a leaf +of the _tulsi_ or basil plant are placed in his mouth, so that these +sacred articles may accompany him to the other world. So valuable +as a means of securing a pure death is the presence of gold in the +mouth that some castes have small pieces inserted into a couple of +their upper teeth, in order that wherever and whenever they may die, +the gold may be present to purify them. [645] A similar idea was +prevalent in Europe. _Aurum potabile_ [646] or drinkable gold was +a favourite nostrum of the Middle Ages, because gold being perfect +should produce perfect health; and patients when _in extremis_ were +commonly given water in which gold had been washed. And the belief +is referred to by Shakespeare: + + + Therefore, thou best of gold art worst of gold: + Other, less fine in carat, is more precious, + Preserving life in medicine potable. [647] + + +The metals which are used for currency, gold, silver and copper, are +all held sacred by the Hindus, and this is easily explained on the +grounds of their intrinsic value and their potency when employed as +coin. It may be noted that when the nickel anna coinage was introduced, +it was held in some localities that the coins could not be presented +at temples as this metal was not sacred. + + + + +8. Ornaments. The marriage ornaments + +It can scarcely also be doubted in view of this feeling that the +wearing of both gold and silver in ornaments is considered to have +a protective magical effect, like that attributed to charms and +amulets. And the suggestion has been made that this was the object +with which all ornaments were originally worn. Professor Robertson +Smith remarks: [648] "Jewels, too, such as women wore in the sanctuary, +had a sacred character; the Syriac word for an earring is _c' dasha_, +'the holy thing,' and generally speaking, jewels serve as amulets. As +such they are mainly worn to protect the chief organs of action (the +hands and feet), but especially the orifices of the body, as earrings; +nose-rings hanging over the mouth; jewels on the forehead hanging down +and protecting the eyes." The precious metals, as has been seen, are +usually sacred among primitive people, and when made into ornaments +they have the same sanctity and protective virtue as jewels. The +subject has been treated [649] with great fullness of detail by +Sir J. Campbell, and the different ornaments worn by Hindu women of +the Central Provinces point to the same conclusion. The _bindia_ or +head ornament of a Maratha Brahman woman consists of two chains of +silver or gold and in the centre an image of a cobra erect. This is +Shesh-Nag, the sacred snake, who spreads his hood over all the _lingas_ +of Mahadeo and is placed on the woman's head to guard her in the same +way. The Kurmis and other castes do not have Shesh-Nag, but instead +the centre of the _bindia_ consists of an ornament known as _bija_, +which represents the custard-apple, the sacred fruit of Sita. The +_nathni_ or nose-ring, which was formerly confined to high-caste +women, represents the sun and moon. The large hoop circle is the +sun, and underneath in the part below the nose is a small segment, +which is the crescent moon and is hidden when the ornament is in +wear. On the front side of this are red stones, representing the +sun, and on the underside white ones for the moon. The _nathni_ +has some mysterious connection with a woman's virtue, and to take +off her nose-ring--_nathni utdarna_--signifies to dishonour a woman +(Platts). In northern India women wear the nose-ring very large and +sometimes cover it with a piece of cloth to guard it from view or keep +it in _parda_. It is possible that the practice of Hindu husbands of +cutting off the nose of a wife detected in adultery has some similar +association, and is partly intended to prevent her from again wearing a +nose-ring. The toe ornament of a high-caste woman is called _bichhia_ +and it represents a scorpion (_bichhu_). A ring on the big toe stands +for the scorpion's head, a silver chain across the foot ending in +another ring on the little toe is his body, and three rings with +high projecting knobs on the middle toes are the joints of his tail +folded back. It is of course supposed that the ornament protects the +feet from scorpion bites. These three ornaments, the _bindia_, the +_nathni_ and the _bichhia_, must form part of the Sohag or wedding +dowry of every high-caste Hindu girl in the northern Districts, +and she cannot be married without them. But if the family is poor +a _laong_ or gold stud to be worn in the nose may be substituted +for the nose-ring. This stud, as its name indicates, is in the form +of a clove, which is sacred food and is eaten on fast-days. Burning +cloves are often used to brand children for cold; a fresh one being +employed for each mark. A widow may not wear any of these ornaments; +she is always impure, being perpetually haunted by the ghost of her +dead husband, and they could thus be of no advantage to her; while, +on the other hand, her wearing them would probably be considered a +kind of sacrilege or pollution of the holy ornaments. + + + + +9. Beads and other ornaments + +In the Maratha Districts an essential feature of a wedding is the +hanging of the _mangal-sutram_ or necklace of black beads round +the bride's neck. All beads which shine and reflect the light are +considered to be efficacious in averting the evil eye, and a peculiar +virtue, Sir J. Campbell states, attaches to black beads. A woman +wears the _mangalsutram_ or marriage string of beads all her life, +and considers that her husband's life is to some extent bound up in +it. If she breaks the thread she will not say 'my thread is broken,' +but 'my thread has increased'; and she will not let her husband see +her until she has got a new thread, as she thinks that to do so would +cause his death. The many necklaces of beads worn by the primitive +tribes and the strings of blue beads tied round the necks of oxen +and ponies have the same end in view. A similar belief was probably +partly responsible for the value set on precious stones as ornaments, +and especially on diamonds, which sparkle most of all. The pearl is +very sacred among the Hindus, and Madrasis put a pearl into the mouth +at the time of death instead of gold. Partly at least for this purpose +pearls are worn set in a ring of gold in the ear, so that they may +be available at need. Coral is also highly esteemed as an amulet, +largely because it is supposed to change colour. The coral given to +babies to suck may have been intended to render the soft and swollen +gums at teething hard like the hard red stone. Another favourite +shape for beads of gold is that of grains of rice, rice being a sacred +grain. The gold ornament called _kantha_ worn on the neck has carvings +of the flowers of the _singara_ or water-nut This is a holy plant, +the eating of which on fast-days gives purity. Hence women think that +water thrown over the carved flowers of the ornament when bathing will +have greater virtue to purify their bodies. Another favourite ornament +is the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees. The sanctity of coined metal +would probably be increased by the royal image and superscription and +also by its virtue as currency. Mr. Nunn states that gold mohur coins +are still made solely for the purpose of ornament, being commonly +engraved with the formula of belief of Islam and worn by Muhammadans +as a charm. Suspended to the _hamel_ or necklace of rupees in front +is a silver pendant in the shape of a betel-leaf, this leaf being +very efficacious in magic; and on this is carved either the image of +Hanuman, the god of strength, or a peacock's feather as a symbol of +Kartikeya, the god of war. The silver bar necklet known as _hasli_ +is intended to resemble the collar-bone. Children carried in their +mother's cloth are liable to be jarred and shaken against her body, +so that the collar-bone is bruised and becomes painful. It is thought +that the wearing of a silver collar-bone will prevent this, just as +silver eyes are offered in smallpox to protect the sufferer's eyes and +a silver wire to save his throat from being choked. Little children +sometimes have round the waist a band of silver beads which is called +_bora_; these beads are meant to resemble the smallpox pustules and the +_bora_ protects the wearer from smallpox. There are usually 84 beads, +this number being lucky among the Hindus. At her wedding a Hindu bride +must wear a wristlet of nine little cones of silver like the _kalas_ +or pinnacle of a temple. This is called _nau-graha_ or _nau-giri_ and +represents the nine planets which are worshipped at weddings--that is, +the sun, moon and the five planets, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and +Saturn, which were known to the ancients and gave their names to the +days of the week in many of the Aryan languages; while the remaining +two are said to have been Rahu and Ketu, the nodes of the moon and +the demons which cause eclipses. The _bonhta_ or _bankra_, the rigid +circular bangle on the upper arm, is supposed to make a woman's arm +stronger by the pressure exercised on the veins and muscles. Circular +ornaments worn on the legs similarly strengthen them and prevent a +woman from getting stiffness or pins and needles in her legs after +long squatting on the ground. The _chutka_, a large silver ring worn +by men on the big toe, is believed to attract to itself the ends of +all the veins and ligaments from the navel downwards, and hold them +all braced in their proper position, thus preventing rupture. + +On their feet children and young girls wear the _paijan_ or hollow +anklet with tinkling balls inside. But when a married woman has had +two or three children she leaves off the _paijan_ and wears a solid +anklet like the _tora_ or _kasa_. It is now said that the reason why +girls wear sounding anklets is that their whereabouts may be known and +they may be prevented from getting into mischief in dark corners. But +the real reason was probably that they served as spirit scarers, +which they would do in effect by frightening away snakes, scorpions +and noxious insects; for it is clear that the bites of such reptiles +and insects, which often escape unseen, must be largely responsible +for the vast imaginative fabric of the belief in evil spirits, just +as Professor Robertson Smith demonstrates that the _jins_ or _genii_ +of Arabia were really wild animals. [650] In India, owing to the +early age of marriage and the superstitious maltreatment of women at +child-birth, the mortality among girls at this period is very high; +and the Hindus, ignorant of the true causes, probably consider them +especially susceptible to the attacks of evil spirits. + + + + +10. Ear-piercing + +Before treating of ear-ornaments it will be convenient to mention +briefly the custom of ear-piercing. This is universal among Hindus and +Muhammadans, both male and female, and the operation is often performed +by the Sunar. The lower Hindu castes and the Gonds consider piercing +the ears to be the mark of admission to the caste community. It +is done when the child is four or five years old, and till then +he or she is not considered to be a member of the caste and may +consequently take food from anybody. The Raj-Gonds will not have the +ears of their children pierced by any one but a Sunar; and for this +they give him _sidha_ or a seer [651] of wheat, a seer of rice and +an anna. Hindus employ a Sunar when one is available, but if not, +an old man of the family may act. After the piercing a peacock's +feather or some stalks of grass or straw are put in to keep the hole +open and enlarge it. A Hindu girl has her ear pierced in five places, +three being in the upper ear, one in the lobe and one in the small +flap over the orifice. Muhammadans make a large number of holes all +down the ear and in each of these they place a gold or silver ring, +so that the ears are dragged down by the weight. Similarly their women +will have ten or fifteen bangles on the legs. The Hindus also have +this custom in Bhopal, but if they do it in the Central Provinces +they are chaffed with having become Muhammadans. In the upper ear +Hindu women have an ornament in the shape of the _genda_ or marigold, +a sacred flower which is offered to all the deities. The holes in the +upper and middle ear are only large enough to contain a small ring, +but that in the lobe is greatly distended among the lower castes. The +_tarkhi_ or Gond ear-ornament consists of a glass plate fixed on to +a stem of _ambari_ fibre nearly an inch thick, which passes through +the lobe. As a consequence the lower rim is a thin pendulous strip +of flesh, very liable to get torn. But to have the hole torn open is +one of the worst social mishaps which can happen to a woman. She is +immediately put out of caste for a long period, and only readmitted +after severe penalties, equivalent to those inflicted for getting +vermin in a wound. When a woman gets her ear torn she sits weeping in +her house and refuses to be comforted. At the ceremony of readmission +a Sunar is sometimes called in who stitches up the ear with silver +thread. [652] Low-caste Hindu and Gond women often wear a large +circular embossed silver ornament over the ear which is known as +_dhara_ or shield and is in the shape of an Indian shield. This is +secured by chains to the hair and apparently affords some support to +the lower part of the ear, which it also covers. Its object seems to +be to shield and protect the lobe, which is so vulnerable in a woman, +and hence the name. A similar ornament worn in Bengal is known as +_dhenri_ and consists of a shield-shaped disk of gold, worn on the +lobe of the ear, sometimes with and sometimes without a pendant. [653] + + + + +11. Origin of ear-piercing + +The character of the special significance which apparently attaches +to the custom of ear-piercing is obscure. Dr. Jevons considers +that it is merely a relic of the practice of shedding the blood +of different parts of the body as an offering to the deity, and +analogous to the various methods of self-mutilation, flagellation +and gashing of the flesh, whose common origin is ascribed to the +same custom. "To commend themselves and their prayers the Quiches +pierced their ears and gashed their arms and offered the sacrifice +of their blood to their gods. The practice of drawing blood from +the ears is said by Bastian to be common in the Orient; and Lippert +conjectures that the marks left in the ears were valued as visible and +permanent indications that the person possessing them was under the +protection of the god with whom the worshipper had united himself by +his blood offering. In that case earrings were originally designed, +not for ornament, but to keep open and therefore permanently visible +the marks of former worship. The marks or scars left on legs or arms +from which blood had been drawn were probably the origin of tattooing, +as has occurred to various anthropologists." [654] This explanation, +while it may account for the general custom of ear-piercing, does +not explain the special guilt imputed by the Hindus to getting the +lobe of the ear torn. Apparently the penalty is not imposed for the +tearing of the upper part of the ear, and it is not known whether men +are held liable as well as women; but as large holes are not made in +the upper ear at all, nor by men in the lobe, such cases would very +seldom occur. The suggestion may be made as a speculation that the +continuous distension of the lobe of the ear by women and the large +hole produced is supposed to have some sympathetic effect in opening +the womb and making child-birth more easy. The tearing of the ear might +then be considered to render, the women incapable of bearing a child, +and the penalties attached to it would be sufficiently explained. + + + + +12. Ornaments worn as amulets + +The above account of the ornaments of a Hindu woman is sufficient to +show that her profuse display of them is not to be attributed, as +is often supposed, to the mere desire for adornment. Each ornament +originally played its part in protecting some limb or feature from +various dangers of the seen or unseen world. And though the reasons +which led to their adoption have now been to a large extent forgotten +and the ornaments are valued for themselves, the shape and character +remain to show their real significance. Women as being weaker and +less accustomed to mix in society are naturally more superstitious and +fearful of the machinations of spirits. And the same argument applies +in greater degree to children. The Hindus have probably recognised +that children are very delicate and succumb easily to disease, and +they could scarcely fail to have done so when statistics show that +about a quarter of all the babies born in India die in the first year +of age. But they do not attribute the mortality to its real causes +of congenital weakness arising from the immaturity of the parents, +insanitary treatment at and after birth, unsuitable food, and the +general frailty of the undeveloped organism. They ascribe the loss +of their offspring solely to the machinations of jealous deities and +evil spirits, and the envy and admiration of other people, especially +childless women and witches, who cast the evil eye upon them. And +in order to guard against these dangers their bodies are decorated +with amulets and ornaments as a means of protection. But the result +is quite other than that intended, and the ornaments which are meant +to protect the children from the imaginary terrors of the evil eye, +in reality merely serve as a whet to illicit cupidity, and expose them +a rich, defenceless prey to the violence of the murderer and the thief. + + + + +13. Audhia Sunars + +The Audhia Sunars usually work in bell-metal, an alloy of copper or tin +and pewter. When used for ornaments the proportion of tin or pewter +is increased so as to make them of a light colour, resembling silver +as far as may be. Women of the higher castes may wear bell-metal +ornaments only on their ankles and feet, and Maratha and Khedawal +Brahmans may not wear them at all. In consequence of having adopted +this derogatory occupation, as it is considered, the Audhia Sunars +are looked down on by the rest of the caste. They travel about to +the different village markets carrying their wares on ponies; among +these, perhaps, the favourite ornament is the _kara_ or curved bar +anklets, which the Audhia works on to the purchaser's feet for her, +forcing them over the heels with a piece of iron like a shoe-horn. The +process takes time and is often painful, the skin being rasped by the +iron. The woman is supported by a friend as her foot is held up behind, +and is sometimes reduced to cries and tears. High-caste women do not +much affect the _kara_ as they object to having their foot grasped +by the Sunar. They wear instead a chain anklet which they can work on +themselves. The Sunars set precious stones in ornaments, and this is +also done by a class of persons called Jadia, who do not appear to +be a caste. Another body of persons accessory to the trade are the +Niarias, who take the ashes and sweepings from the goldsmith's shop, +paying a sum of ten or twenty rupees annually for them. [655] They +wash away the refuse and separate the grains of gold and silver, +which they sell back to the Sunars. Niaria also appears to be an +occupational term, and not a caste. + + + + +14. The Sunar as money-changer + +Formerly Sunars were employed for counting and testing money in the +public treasuries, and in this capacity they were designated as Potdar +and Saraf or Shroff. Before the introduction of the standard English +coinage the money-changer's business was important and profitable, +as the rupee varied over different parts of the country exactly +as grain measures do now. Thus the Pondicherry rupee was worth 26 +annas, while the Gujarat rupee would not fetch 12 1/2 annas in the +bazar. In Bengal, [656] at the beginning of the nineteenth century, +people who wished to make purchases had first to exchange their +rupees for cowries. The Potdar carried his cowries to market in +the morning on a bullock, and gave 5760 cowries for a new _kaldar_ +or English rupee, while he took 5920 cowries in exchange for a rupee +when his customers wanted silver back in the evening to take away with +them. The profit on the _kaldar_ rupee was thus one thirty-sixth on +the two transactions, while all old rupees, and every kind of rupee +but the _kaldar_, paid various rates of exchange or _batta_, according +to the will of the money-changers, who made a higher profit on all +other kinds of money than the _kaldar_. They therefore resisted the +general introduction of these rupees as long as possible, and when +this failed they hit on a device of marking the rupees with a stamp, +under pretext of ascertaining whether they were true or false; after +which the rupee was not exchangeable without paying an additional +_batta_, and became as valuable to the money-changers as if it were +foreign coin. As justification for their action they pretended to +the people that the marks would enable those who had received the +rupees to have them changed should any other dealer refuse them, and +the necessities of the poor compelled them to agree to any _batta_ +or exchange rather than suffer delay. This was apparently the origin +of the 'Shroff-marked rupees,' familiar to readers of the _Treasury +Manual_; and the line in a Bhat song, 'The English have made current +the _kaldar_ (milled) rupee,' is thus seen to be no empty praise. + + + + +15. Malpractices of lower-class Sumars + +As the bulk of the capital of the poorer classes is hoarded in the +shape of gold and silver ornaments, these are regularly pledged when +ready money is needed, and the Sunar often acts as a pawnbroker. In +this capacity he too often degenerates into a receiver of stolen +property, and Mr. Nunn suggested that his proceedings should be +supervised by license. Generally, the Sunar is suspected of making +an illicit profit by mixing alloy with the metal entrusted to him by +his customers, and some bitter sayings are current about him. One of +his customs is to filch a little gold from his mother and sister on +the last day of Shrawan (July) and make it into a luck-penny. [657] +This has given rise to the saying, 'The Sunar will not respect even +his mother's gold'; but the implication appears to be unjust. Another +saying is: _'Sona Sunar ka, abharan sansar ka,'_ or, 'The ornament +is the customer's, but the gold remains with the Sunar.' [658] Gold +is usually melted in the employer's presence, who, to guard against +fraud, keeps a small piece of the metal called _chasni_ or _maslo_, +that is a sample, and when the ornament is ready sends it with the +sample to an assayer or _Chokshi_ who, by rubbing them on a touchstone, +tells whether the gold in the sample and the ornament is of the same +quality. Further, the employer either himself sits near the Sunar while +the ornament is being made or sends one of his family to watch. In +spite of these precautions the Sunar seldom fails to filch some of the +gold while the spy's attention is distracted by the prattling of the +parrot, by the coquetting of a handsomely dressed young woman of the +family or by some organised mishap in the inner rooms among the women +of the house. [659] One of his favourite practices is to substitute +copper for gold in the interior, and this he has the best chance of +doing with the marriage ornaments, as many people consider it unlucky +to weigh or test the quality of these. [660] The account must, however, +be taken to apply only to the small artisans, and well-to-do reputable +Sunars would be above such practices. + +The goldsmith's industry has hitherto not been affected to any serious +extent by the competition of imported goods, and except during periods +of agricultural depression the Sunar continues to prosper. + +A Persian couplet said by a lover to his mistress is, 'Gold has no +scent and in the scent of flowers there is no gold; but thou both +art gold and hast scent.' + +_Sundi, Sundhi, Sunri or Sondhi._ [661]--The liquor-distilling +caste of the Uriya country. The transfer of Sambalpur and the Uriya +States to Bihar and Orissa has reduced their strength in the Central +Provinces to about 5000, found in the Raipur District and the Bastar +and Chota Nagpur Feudatory States. The caste is an important one +in Bengal, numbering more than six lakhs of persons and being found +in western Bengal and Bihar as well as in Orissa. The word Sundi is +derived from the Sanskrit Shaundik, a spirit-seller. The caste has +various genealogies of differing degrees of respectability, tracing +their origin to cross unions between other castes born of Brahmans, +Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas. The following story is told of them in +Madras. [662] In ancient times a certain Brahman was famous for his +magical attainments. The king of the country sent for him one day +and asked him to cause the water in a tank to burn. The Brahman saw +no way of doing this, and returned homewards uneasy in his mind. On +the way he met a distiller who asked him to explain what troubled +him. When the Brahman told his story the distiller promised to cause +the water to burn on condition that the Brahman gave him his daughter +in marriage. This the Brahman agreed to do, and the distiller, after +surreptitiously pouring large quantities of liquor into the tank, +set fire to it in the presence of the king. In accordance with the +agreement he married the daughter of the Brahman and the pair became +the ancestors of the Sundi caste. In confirmation of the story it is +alleged that up to the present day the women of the caste maintain the +recollection of their Brahman ancestors by refusing to eat fowls or +the remains of their husbands' meals. Nor will they take food from the +hands of any other caste. Sir H. Risley relates the following stories +current about the caste in Bengal, where its status is very low: +"According to Hindu ideas, distillers and sellers of strong drink +rank among the most degraded castes, and a curious story in the +Vaivarta Purana keeps alive the memory of their degradation. It is +said that when Sani, the Hindu Saturn, failed to adapt an elephant's +head to the mutilated trunk of Ganesh who had been accidentally +slain by Siva, Viswakarma, the celestial artificer, was sent for, +and by careful dissection and manipulation he fitted the incongruous +parts together, and made a man called Kedara Sena from the slices +cut off in fashioning his work. This Kedara Sena was ordered to +fetch a drink of water for Bhagavati, weary and athirst. Finding +on the river's bank a shell full of water he presented it to her, +without noticing that a few grains of rice left in it by a parrot had +fermented and formed an intoxicating liquid. Bhagavati, as soon as +she had drunk, became aware of the fact, and in her anger condemned +the offender to the vile and servile occupation of making spirituous +liquors for mankind." Like other castes in Sambalpur the Sundis have +two subcastes, the Jharua and the Utkal or Uriya, of whom the Jharuas +probably immigrated from Orissa at an earlier period and adopted some +of the customs of the indigenous tribes; for this reason they are +looked down on by the more orthodox Utkalis. The caste say that they +belong to the Nagas or snake gotra, because they consider themselves +to be descended from Basuki, the serpent with a thousand heads who +formed a canopy for Vishnu. They also have _bargas_ or family titles, +but these at present exercise no influence on marriage. The Sundis +have in fact outgrown the system of exogamy and regulate their +marriages by a table of prohibited degrees in the ordinary manner, +the unions of _sapindas_ or persons who observe mourning together at +a death being prohibited. The prohibition does not extend to cognatic +relationship, but a man must not marry into the family of his paternal +aunt. The fact that the old _bargas_ or exogamous groups are still in +existence is interesting, and an intermediate step in the process of +their abandonment may be recognised in the fact that some of them are +subdivided. Thus the Sahu (lord) group has split into the Gaj Sahu +(lord of the elephant), Dhavila Sahu (white lord), and Amila Sahu +sub-groups, and it need not be doubted that this was a convenient +method adopted for splitting up the Sahu group when it became so large +as to include persons so distantly connected with each other that the +prohibition of marriage between them was obviously ridiculous. As +the number of Sundis in the Central Provinces is now insignificant +no detailed description of their customs need be given, but one or +two interesting points may be noted. Their method of observing the +_pitripaksh_ or worship of ancestors is as follows: A human figure +is made of _kusha_ grass and placed under a miniature straw hut. A +lamp is kept burning before it for ten days, and every day a twig for +cleaning the teeth is placed before it, and it is supplied with fried +rice in the morning and rice, pulse and vegetables in the evening. On +the tenth day the priest comes, and after bathing the figure seven +times, places boiled rice before it for the last meal, and then sets +fire to the hut and burns it, while repeating sacred verses. On the +eleventh day after a death, when presents for the use of the deceased +are made to a priest as his representative, the priest lies down in +the new bed which is given to him, and the members of the family rub +his feet and attend on him as if he were the dead man. He is also +given a present sufficient to purchase food for him for a year. The +Sundis worship Suradevi or the goddess of wine, whom they consider +as their mother, and they refuse to drink liquor, saying that this +would be to enjoy their own mother. They worship the still and all +articles used in distillation at the rice-harvest and when the new +mango crop appears. Large numbers of them have taken to cultivation. + + + + +Tamera + + + + +1. The Tamera and Kasar + +_Tamera, Tambatkar_. [663]--The professional caste of coppersmiths, +the name being derived from _tamba_, copper. The Tameras, however, +like the Kasars or brass-workers, use copper, brass and bell-metal +indifferently, and in the northern Districts the castes are not +really distinguished, Tamera and Kasar being almost interchangeable +terms. In the Maratha country, however, and other localities they +are considered as distinct castes. Copper is a sacred metal, and the +copper-smith's calling would be considered somewhat more respectable +than that of the worker in brass or bell-metal, just as the Sunar +or goldsmith ranks above both; and probably, therefore, the Tameras +may consider themselves a little better than the Kasars. As brass +is an alloy made from copper and zinc, it seems likely that vessels +were made from copper before they were made from brass. But copper +being a comparatively rare and expensive metal, utensils made from +it could scarcely have ever been generally used, and it is therefore +not necessary to suppose that either the Tamera or Kasar caste came +into being before the adoption of brass as a convenient material for +the household pots and pans. + + + + +2. Social traditions and customs + +In 1911 the Tameras numbered about 5000 persons in the Central +Provinces and Berar. They tell the same story of their origin which has +already been related in the article on the Kasar caste, and trace their +descent from the Haihaya Rajput dynasty of Ratanpur. They say that +when the king Dharampal, the first ancestor of the caste, was married, +a bevy of 119 girls were sent with his bride in accordance with the +practice still occasionally obtaining among royal Hindu families, +and these, as usual, became the concubines of the husband or, as the +Tameras say, his wives: and from the bride and her companions the 120 +exogamous sections of the caste are sprung. As a fact, however, many +of the sections are named after villages or natural objects. A man is +not permitted to marry any one belonging to his own section or that +of his mother, the union of first cousins being thus prohibited. The +caste also do not favour _Anta santa_ or the practice of exchanging +girls between families, the reason alleged being that after the bride's +father has acknowledged the superiority of the bridegroom's father by +washing his feet, it is absurd to require the latter to do the same, +that is, to wash the feet of his inferior. So they may not take a +girl from a family to which they have given one of their own. The real +reason for the rule lies possibly in an extension of the principle of +exogamy, whether based on a real fear of carrying too far the practice +of intermarriage between families or an unfounded superstition that +intermarriage between families already connected may have the same +evil results on the offspring as the union of blood-relations. When +the wedding procession is about to start, after the bridegroom has +been bathed and before he puts on the _kankan_ or iron wristlet which +is to protect him from evil spirits, he is seated on a stool while +all the male members of the household come up with their _choti_ or +scalp-lock untied and rub it against that of the bridegroom. Again, +after the wedding ceremonies are over and the bridegroom has, according +to rule, untied one of the fastenings of the marriage-shed, he also +turns over a tile of the roof of the house. The meaning of the latter +ceremony is not clear; the significance attaching to the _choti_ +has been discussed in the article on Nai. + + + + +3. Disposal of the dead + +The caste burn their dead except children, who can be buried, and +observe mourning for ten days in the case of an adult and for three +days for a child. A cake of flour containing two pice (farthings) +is buried or burnt with the corpse. When a death takes place among +the community all the members of it stop making vessels for that day, +though they will transact retail sales. When mourning is over, a feast +is given to the caste-fellows and to seven members of the menial and +serving castes. These are known as the 'Sattiho Jat' or Seven Castes, +and it may be conjectured that in former times they were the menials of +the village and were given a meal in much the same spirit as prompts +an English landlord to give his tenants a dinner on occasions of +ceremony. Instances of a similar custom are noted among the Kunbis +and other castes. Before food is served to the guests a leaf-plate +containing a portion for the deceased is placed outside the house with +a pot of water, and a burning lamp to guide his spirit to the food. + + + + +4. Religion + +The caste worship the goddess Singhbahani. or Devi riding on a +tiger. They make an image of her in the most expensive metal they can +afford, and worship it daily. They will on no account swear by this +goddess. They worship their trade implements on the day of the new +moon in Chait (March) and Bhadon (August). A trident, as a symbol of +Devi, is then drawn with powdered rice and vermilion on the furnace +for casting metal. A lamp is waved over the furnace and a cocoanut is +broken and distributed to the caste-fellows, no outsider being allowed +to be present. They quench their furnace on the new moon day of every +month, the Ramnaomi and Durgapuja or nine days' fasts in the months +of Chait and Kunwar, and for the two days following the Diwali and +Holi festivals. On these days they will not prepare any new vessels, +but will sell those which they have ready. The Tameras have Kanaujia +Brahmans for their priests, and the Brahmans will take food from +them which has been cooked without water and salt. On this account +other Kanaujia Brahmans require a heavy payment before they will +marry with the priests of the Tameras. The caste abstain from liquor, +and some of them have abjured all flesh food while others partake of +it. They usually wear the sacred thread. Brahmans will take water +from their hands, and the menial castes will eat food which they +have touched. They work in brass, copper and bell-metal in exactly +the same manner as the Kasars, and have an equivalent social position. + + + + +Taonla + +_Taonla_.--A small non-Aryan caste of the Uriya States. They reside +principally in Bamra and Sonpur, and numbered about 2000 persons in +1901, but since the transfer of these States to Bengal are not found +in the Central Provinces. The name is said to be derived from Talmul, +a village in the Angul District of Orissa, and they came to Bamra +and Sonpur during the Orissa famine of 1866. The Taonlas appear to +be a low occupational caste of mixed origin, but derived principally +from the Khond tribe. Formerly their profession was military service, +and it is probable that like the Khandaits and Paiks they formed the +levies of some of the Uriya Rajas, and gradually became a caste. They +have three subdivisions, of which the first consists of the Taonlas +whose ancestors were soldiers. These consider themselves superior to +the others, and their family names as Naik (leader), Padhan (chief), +Khandait (swordsman), and Behra (master of the kitchen) indicate +their ancestral profession. The other subcastes are called Dangua and +Khond; the Danguas, who are hill-dwellers, are more primitive than the +military Taonlas, and the Khonds are apparently members of that tribe +of comparatively pure descent who marry among themselves and not with +other Taonlas. In Orissa Dr. Hunter says that the Taonlas are allied +to the Savaras, and that they will admit a member of any caste, from +whose hands they can take water, into the community. This is also the +case in Bamra. The candidate has simply to worship Kalapat, the god +of the Taonlas, and after drinking some water in which basil leaves +have been dipped, to touch the food prepared for a caste feast, and +his initiation is complete. As usual among the mixed castes, female +morality is very lax, and a Taonla woman may have a _liaison_ with a +man of her own or any other caste from whom a Taonla can take water +without incurring any penalty whatsoever. A man committing a similar +offence must give a feast to the caste. In Sonpur the Taonlas admit a +close connection with Chasas, and say that some of their families are +descended from the union of Chasa men and Taonla women. They will eat +the leavings of Chasas. The custom may be accounted for by the fact +that the Taonlas are now generally farmservants and field-labourers, +and the Chasas, as cultivators, would be their employers. A similar +close connection is observable among other castes standing in the +same position towards each other as the Panwars and Gonds and the +Rajbhars and Lodhis. + +The Taonlas have no exogamous divisions as they all belong to the +same _gotra_, that of the Nag or cobra. Their marriages are therefore +regulated by relationship in the ordinary manner. If two families +find that they have no common ancestor up to the third generation they +consider it lawful to intermarry. The marriage ritual is of the usual +Uriya form. After the marriage the bride and the bridegroom have a +ceremony of throwing a mahua branch into a river together. Divorce and +widow remarriage are permitted. When a woman is divorced she returns +her bangles to her husband, and receives from him a _chhor-chitthi_ or +letter severing connection. Then she goes before the caste _panchayat_ +and pronounces her husband's name aloud. This shows that she is no +longer his wife, since so long as she continued to be so, she would +never mention his name. + +The tutelary deity of the caste is Kalapat, who resides at Talmul in +Angul District. They offer him a goat at the festival of Nawakhai +when the new rice is first eaten. On this day they also worship a +cattle-goad as the symbol of their vocation. They revere the cobra, +and will not wear wooden sandals because they think that the marks on +a cobra's head are in the form of a sandal. They believe in re-birth, +and when a child is born they proceed to ascertain what ancestor has +become reincarnate by dropping rice grains coloured with turmeric +into a pot of water. As each one is dropped they repeat the name of +an ancestor, and when the first grain floats conclude that the one +named has been born again. The dead are both buried and burnt. At +the head of a grave they plant a bough of the _jamun_ tree (_Eugenia +jambolana_) so that the departed spirit may dwell under this cool +and shady tree in the other world or in his next birth. They have +also a ceremony for bringing back the soul. An earthen pot is placed +upside down on four legs outside the village, and on the eleventh day +after a death they proceed to the place, ringing a bell suspended to +an iron rod. A cloth is spread before the spot on which the spirit +of the deceased is supposed to be sitting, and they wait till an +insect alights on it. This is taken to be the soul of the dead +person, and it is carefully wrapped up in the cloth and carried to +the house. There the cloth is unfolded and the insect allowed to go, +while they proceed to inspect some rice-flour which has been spread +on the ground under another pot in the house. If any mark is found +on the surface of the flour they think that the dead man's spirit +has returned to the house. The carrying back of the insect is thus +an act calculated to assist their belief, by the simple performance +of which they are able to suppose more easily that the invisible +spirit has returned to the house. As already stated, the Taonlas are +now generally farmservants and labourers, and their social position +is low, though they rank above the impure castes and the forest tribes. + + + + +Teli + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Strength and distribution of the caste._ + 2. _Origin and traditions._ + 3. _Endogamous subcastes._ + 4. _Exogamous divisions._ + 5. _Marriage customs._ + 6. _Widow-remarriage._ + 7. _Religion. Caste deities._ + 8. _Driving out evil._ + 9. _Customs at birth and death._ + 10. _Social status._ + 11. _Social customs and caste penalties._ + 12. _The Rathor Telis._ + 13. _Gujarati Telis of Nimar._ + 14. _The Teli an unlucky caste._ + 15. _Occupation. Oil-pressing._ + 16. _Trade and agriculture._ + 17. _Teli beneficence._ + + + + +1. Strength and distribution of the caste + +_Teli._ [664]--The occupational caste of oil-pressers and sellers. The +Telis numbered nearly 900,000 persons in 1911, being the fifth caste +in the Province in point of population. They are numerous in the +Chhattisgarh and Nagpur Divisions, nearly 400,000 belonging to the +former and 200,000 to the latter tract; while in Berar and the north +of the Province they are sparsely represented. The reason for such +a distribution of the caste is somewhat obscure. Vegetable oil is +more largely used for food in the south and east than in the north, +but while this custom might explain the preponderance of Telis in +Nagpur and Chhattisgarh it gives no reason to account for their small +numbers in Berar. In Chhattisgarh again nearly all the Telis are +cultivators, and it may be supposed that, like the Chamars, they have +found opportunity here to get possession of the land owing to its not +being already taken up by the cultivating castes proper; but in the +Nagpur Division, with the exception of part of Wardha, the Telis have +had no such opening and are not large landholders. Their distribution +thus remains a somewhat curious problem. But all over the Province the +Telis have generally abandoned their hereditary trade of pressing oil, +and have taken to trade and agriculture, the number of those returned +as oil-pressers being only about seven per cent of the total strength +of the caste. The name comes from the Sanskrit _tailika_ or _taila_, +oil, and this word, is derived from the _tilli_ or sesamum plant. + + + + +2. Origin and traditions + +The caste have few traditions of origin. Their usual story is that +during Siva's absence the goddess Parvati felt nervous because she +had no doorkeeper to her palace, and therefore she made the god +Ganesh from the sweat of her body and set him to guard the southern +gate. But when Siva returned Ganesh did not know him and refused to +let him enter; on which Siva was so enraged that he cut off the head +of Ganesh with a stroke of his sword. He then entered the palace, +and Parvati, observing the blood on his sword, asked him what had +happened, and reproached him bitterly for having slain her son. Siva +was distressed, but said that he could not replace the head as it +was already reduced to ashes. But he said that if any animal could +be found looking towards the south he could put its head on Ganesh +and bring him to life. As it happened a trader was then resting +outside the palace and had with him an elephant, which was seated +with its head to the south. So Siva quickly struck off the head of +the elephant and placed it on the body of Ganesh and brought him to +life again, and thus Ganesh got his elephant's head. But the trader +made loud lamentation about the loss of his elephant, so to pacify +him Siva made a pestle and mortar, utensils till then unknown, and +showed him how to pound oil-seeds in them and express the oil, and +enjoined him to earn a livelihood in future by this calling, and his +descendants after him; and so the merchant became the first Teli. And +the pestle was considered to be Siva and the mortar Parvati. This +last statement affords some support to Mr. Marten's suggestion [665] +that a certain veneration attaching to the pestle and mortar and their +use in marriage ceremonies may be due to the idea of their typifying +the male and female organs. The fact that Ganesh was set to guard the +southern gate, and that the animal whose head could be placed on his +body must be looking to the south, probably hinges in some way on the +south being the abode of Yama, the god of death, but the connection has +been forgotten by the teller of the story; it may also be noted that if +the palace was in the Himalayas, the site of Kailas or Siva's heaven, +the whole of India would be to the south. Another story related by +Mr. Crooke [666] from Mirzapur is that a certain man had three sons +and owned fifty-two mahua [667] trees. When he became aged and infirm +he told his sons to divide the trees, but after some discussion they +decided to divide not the trees themselves but their produce. One of +them fell to picking up the leaves, and he was the ancestor of the +Bharbhunjas or grain-parchers, who still use leaves in their ovens; +the second collected the flowers and corollas, and having distilled +liquor from them became a Kalar; while the third took the kernels +or fruit and crushed the oil out of them, and was the founder of the +Teli caste. The country spirit generally drunk is distilled from the +flowers of the mahua tree, and a cheap vegetable oil in common use +is obtained from its seeds. The Telis and Kalars are also castes of +about the same status and have other points of resemblance; and the +legend connecting them is therefore of some interest Some groups +of Telis who have become landed proprietors or prospered in trade +have stories giving them a more exalted origin. Thus the landholding +Rathor Telis of Mandla say that they were Rathor Rajputs who fled from +the Muhammadans and threw away their swords and sacred threads; and +the Telis of Nimar, several of whom are wealthy merchants, give out +that their ancestors were Modh Banias from Gujarat who had to take to +oil-pressing for a livelihood under Muhammadan rule. But these legends +may perhaps be considered a natural result of their rise in the world. + + + + +3. Endogamous subcastes + +The caste has a large number of subdivisions. The principal groups +in Chhattisgarh are the Halia, Jharia and Ekbahia Telis. The Halias, +who perhaps take their name from _hal_, a plough, are considered to +be the best cultivators, and are said to have immigrated from Mandla +some generations ago. Probably the bulk of the Hindu population of +Chhattisgarh came from this direction. The name Jharia means jungly +or savage, and is commonly applied to the oldest residents, but the +Jharia Telis are the highest local subcaste. They require the presence +of a Brahman at their weddings, and abstain generally from liquor, +fowls and pork, to which the Halias are not averse. They also bathe +the corpse before it is burnt or buried, an observance omitted by +the Halias. The Jharias yoke only one bullock to the oil-press, +and the Halias two, a distinction which is elsewhere sufficient +of itself to produce separate subcastes. The Ekbahia (one-armed) +Telis are so called because their women wear glass bangles only +on the right hand and metal ones on the left. This is a custom of +several castes whose women do manual labour, and the reason appears +to be one of convenience, as glass bangles on the working arm would +be continually getting broken. Among the Ekbahia Telis it is said +that a woman considers it a point of honour to have these metal +bangles as numerous and heavy as her arm can bear; and at a wedding a +present of three bracelets from the bridegroom to the bride is held +to be indispensable. The Madpotwa are a small subcaste living near +the hills, who in former times distilled liquor; they keep pigs and +poultry, and rank below the others. Other groups are the Kosarias, +who are called after Kosala, the old name of Chhattisgarh, and the +Chhote or Little Telis, who are of illegitimate descent. Children +born out of wedlock are relegated to this group. + +In the Nagpur country the principal subdivisions are the Ekbaile and +Dobaile, so called because they yoke one and two bullocks respectively +to the oil-press; the distinction is still maintained, the Dobaile +being also known as Tarane. This seems a trivial reason for barring +intermarriage, but it must be remembered that the yoking of the +bullock to the oil-press, coupled as it is with the necessity of +blindfolding the animal, is considered a great sin on the Teli's part +and a degrading incident of his profession; the Teli's worst fear is +that after death his soul will pass into one of his own bullocks. The +Yerande Telis are so called because they formerly pressed only the +_erandi_ or castor-oil seed, but the rule is no longer maintained. The +Yerande women leave off wearing the _choli_ or breast-cloth after they +have had one child, and have nothing under the _sari_ or body-cloth, +but they wear this folded double. The Ruthia group are said to be so +called from the noise _rut, rut_ made by the oil-mill in turning. They +say they are descended from the Nag or cobra. They salute the snake +when they see it and refrain from killing it, and they will not make +any drawing or sign having the semblance of a snake or use any article +which may be supposed to be like it. The Sao Telis are the highest +group in Wardha, and have eschewed the pressing of oil. The word Sao or +Sahu is the title of a moneylender, but they are usually cultivators +or village proprietors. A Brahman will enter a Sao Teli's house, but +not the houses of any other subcaste. Their women wear silver bangles +on the right hand and glass ones on the left. The Batri subcaste are +said to be so called from their growing the _batar_, a kind of pea, +and the Hardia from raising the _haldi_ or turmeric. The Teli-Kalars +appear to be a mixed group of Kalars who have taken to the oilman's +profession, and the Teli-Banias are Telis who have become shopkeepers, +and may be expected in the course of time to develop either into a +plebeian group of Banias or an aristocratic one of Telis. In Nimar +the Gujarati Telis, who have now grown wealthy and prosperous, claim, +as already seen, to be Modh Banias, and the same pretension is put +forward by their fellow-castemen in Gujarat itself. "The large class of +oilmen known in Gujarat as Modh-Ghanelis were originally Modh Banias, +who by taking to making and selling oil lost their position as Banias"; +[668] it seems doubtful, however, whether the reverse process has not +really taken place. The Umre Telis also have the name of a subcaste +of Banias. The landholding Rathor Telis of Mandla, who now claim to +be Rathor Rajputs, will be more fully noticed later. There are also +several local subcastes, as the Mattha or Maratha Telis, who say +they came from Patan in Gujarat, the Sirwas from the ancient city of +Sravasti in Gonda District, and the Kanaujia from Oudh. + + + + +4. Exogamous divisions + +Each subcaste is divided into a number of exogamous groups for the +regulation of marriages. The names of the groups appear to be taken +either from villages or titles or nicknames. Most of them cannot be +recognised, but the following are a few: Baghmare, a tiger-killer; +Deshmukh, a village officer; Vaidya, a physician; Bawankule, +the fifty-two septs; Badwaik, the great ones; Satpute, seven sons; +Bhajikhaya, an eater of vegetables; Satapaise, seven pice; Ghoremadia, +a horse-killer; Chaudhri, a caste headman; Ardona, a kind of gram; +Malghati, a valley; Chandan-malagar, one who presented sandalwood; +and Sanichara, born on Saturday. Three septs, Dhurwa, Besram, a hawk, +and Sonwani, gold-water, belong to the Gonds or other tribes. The clans +of the Rathor Telis of Mandla are said to be named after villages in +Jubbulpore and Maihar State. + + + + +5. Marriage customs + +The marriage of persons of the same sept and of first cousins is +usually forbidden. A man may marry his wife's younger sister while +she herself is alive, but never her elder sister. An unmarried girl +becoming pregnant by a man of the caste is married to him by the +ceremony used for a widow, and she may be readmitted even after a +_liaison_ with an outsider among most Telis. In Chanda the parents of +a girl who is not married before puberty are fined. The proposal comes +from the boy's side and a bride-price is usually paid, though not of +large amount. The Halia Telis of Chhattisgarh, like other agricultural +castes, sometimes betroth their children when they are five or six +months old, but as a rule no penalty attaches to the breaking of the +betrothal. The betrothal is celebrated by the distribution of one or +two rupees' worth of liquor to the neighbours of the caste. As among +other low castes, on the day before the wedding procession starts, +the bridegroom goes round to all the houses in the village and his +sister dances round him with her head bent, and all the people give +him presents. This is known as the Binaiki or Farewell, and the bride +does the same in her village. Among the Jharia Telis the women go +and worship the marriage-post at the carpenter's house while it is +being made. In this subcaste the bridegroom goes to the wedding in +a cart and not on horseback or in a litter as among some castes. The +rule may perhaps be a recognition of their humble station. The Halia +subcaste can dispense with the presence of a Brahman at the wedding, +but not the Jharias. In Wardha the bridegroom's head is covered with +a blanket, over which is placed the marriage-crown. On the arrival of +the bridegroom's party they are regaled with _sherbet_ or sugar and +water by the bride's relatives, and sometimes red pepper is mixed with +this by way of a joke. At a wedding of the Gujarati Tells in Nimar +the caste-priest carries the tutelary goddess Kali in procession, +and in front of her a pot filled with burning cotton-seeds and oil. A +cloth is held over the pot, and it is believed that the power of the +goddess prevents the cloth from taking fire. If this should happen +some great calamity would be portended. Rathor Teli girls, whether +married or unmarried, go with their heads bare, and a woman draws +her cloth over her head for the first time when she begins to live +in her husband's house. + + + + +6. Widow-remarriage + +Divorce and widow-marriage are permitted. In Chhattisgarh a widow +is always kept in the family if possible, and if her late husband's +brother be only a boy she is sometimes induced to put on the bangles +and wait for him. If a _barandi_ widow, that is one who has been +married but has not lived with her husband, desires to marry again +out of his family, the second husband must repay to them the amount +spent on her first marriage. In Chanda, on the other hand, some Telis +do not permit a widow to marry her late husband's younger brother +at all, and others only when he is a bachelor or a widower. Here +the minimum period for which a widow must remain single after her +husband's death is one month. The engagement with a widow is arranged +by the suitor's female relatives, and they pay her a rupee as earnest +money. On the day fixed she goes with one or two other widows to +the bridegroom's house, and from there to the bazar, where she buys +two pairs of bell-metal rings, to be worn on the second toe of each +foot, and some glass bangles. She remains sitting in the bazar till +well after dark, when some widow goes to fetch her on behalf of her +suitor. They bring her to his house, where the couple sit together, and +red powder is applied to their foreheads. They then bathe and present +their clothes to the washerman, putting on new clothes. The idea in +all this is clearly to sever the widow as completely as possible from +her old home and prevent her from being accompanied to the new one +by the first husband's spirit. In some localities when a Teli widow +remarries it is considered most unlucky for any one to see the face +of the bride or bridegroom for twenty-four hours, or as some say for +three days after the wedding. The ceremony is therefore held at night, +and for this period the couple either remain shut up in the house or +retire to the jungle. + + + + +7. Religion: Caste deities + +The caste especially revere Mahadeo or Siva, who gave them the +oil-mill. In the Nagpur country they do not work the mill on Monday, +because it is Mahadeo's day, he having the moon on his forehead. They +revere the oil-mill, and when the trunk is brought to be set up in +the house, if there is difficulty in moving it they make offerings +to it of a goat or wheat-cakes or cocoanuts, after which it moves +easily. When a Teli first sets the trunk-socket of the oil-press in the +ground he buries beneath it five pieces of turmeric, some cowries and +an areca-nut In the northern Districts the Telis worship Masan Baba, +who is supposed to be the ghost of a Teli boy. He is a boy about three +feet in height, black-coloured, with a long black scalp-lock. Some +Telis have Masan Baba in their possession, and when they are turning +the oil-press they set him on top of it, and he makes the bullocks keep +on working, so that the master can go away and leave the press. But +in order to prevent him from getting into mischief a cake of flour +mixed with human hair must be placed in front of the press; he will +eat this, but will first pick out all the hairs one by one, and this +will occupy him the whole night; but if no cake is put for him he +will eat all the food in the house. A Teli who has not got Masan must +go to one who has and hire him for Rs. 1-4 a night. They then both +go to the owner's oil-press, and the hirer says, 'I have hired you +to-night,' and the owner says, 'Yes, I have let you for to-night'; +and then the hirer goes away, and Masan Baba follows him and will turn +the oil-mill all night. A Teli who has not got Masan Baba puts a stone +on the oil-mill, and then the bullock thinks that his master Masan is +sitting on it, and will go on turning the press; but this is not so +good as having Masan Baba. Some say that he will repay his hirer the +sum of Rs. 1-4 by stealing something during the year and giving it to +him. Masan may perhaps be considered as a divine personification of +the oil-press, and as being the Teli's explanation of the fact that +the bullock goes on turning the press without being driven, which he +does not attribute simply to the animal's docility. In Chhattisgarh +Dulha Deo is the household god of the caste, and he is said not to +have any visible image or symbol, but is considered to reside in a +cupboard in the house. When any member of the family falls ill it +is thought that Dulha Deo is angry, and a goat is offered to appease +him. Like the other low castes the Telis of the Nagpur country make +the sacrifice of a pig to Narayan Deo or the Sun at intervals. + + + + +8. Driving out evil + +Here on the third day after the Pola festival in the rains the women +of the caste bring the branches of a thorny creeper, with very small +leaves, and call it Marbod, and sweep out the whole house with it, +saying: + + + 'Ira, pira, khatka, khatkira, + Khansi, kokhala, rai, rog, + Murkuto gheunja ga Marbod,' + + +or, 'Oh Marbod! sweep away all diseases, pains, coughs, bugs, flies +and mosquitoes.' And then they take the pot of sweepings and throw it +outside the village. Marbod is the deity represented by the branch of +the creeper. This rite takes place in the middle of the rainy season, +when all kinds of insects infest the house, and colds and fever are +prevalent Mr. H.R. Crosthwaite sends the following explanation given +by a Teli cultivator of an eclipse of the sun: "The Sun is indebted to +a sweeper. The sweeper has gone to collect the debt and the Sun has +refused to pay. The sweeper is in need of the money and is sitting +_dharna_ at the Sun's door; you can see his shadow across the Sun's +threshold. Presently the debt will be paid and the sweeper will go +away." The Telis of Nimar observe various Muhammadan practices. They +fast during the month of Ramazan, taking their food in the morning +before sunrise; and at Id they eat the vermicelli and dates which the +Muhammadans eat in memory of the time when their forefathers lived on +this food in the Arabian desert. Such customs are a relic of the long +period of Muhammadan dominance in Nimar, when the Hindus conformed +partly to the religion of their masters. Many Telis are also members +of the Swami-Narayan reforming sect, which may have attracted them +by its disregard of the distinctions of caste and of the low status +which attaches to them under Hinduism. + + + + +9. Customs at birth and death + +In Patna State a pregnant woman must not cross a river nor eat any +fruit or vegetables of red colour, nor wear any black cloth. These +taboos preserve her health and that of her unborn child. After +the birth of a child a woman is impure for seven or nine days in +Chhattisgarh, and is then permitted to cook. The dead are either +buried or burnt, cremation being an honour reserved for the old. The +body is placed in both cases with the head to the north and face +downwards or upwards for a male or female respectively. + + + + +10. Social status + +The social status of the Telis is low, in the group of castes +from which Brahmans will not take water, and below such menials as +the blacksmith and carpenter. Manu classes them with butchers and +liquor-vendors: "From a king not born in the military class let a +Brahman accept no gift nor from such as keep a slaughter-house, +or an oil-press, or put out a vintner's flag or subsist by the +gains of prostitutes." This is much about the position which the +Telis have occupied till recently. Brahmans will not usually enter +their houses, though they have begun to do so in the case of the +landholding subcastes. It is noticeable that the Teli has a much better +position in Bengal than elsewhere. Sir H. Risley says: "Their original +profession was probably oil-pressing, and the caste may be regarded +as a functional group recruited from the respectable middle class of +Hindu society. Oil is used by all Hindus for domestic and ceremonial +purposes, and its manufacture could only be carried on by men whose +social purity was beyond dispute." This is, however, quite exceptional, +and Mr. Crooke, Mr. Nesfield and Sir D. Ibbetson are agreed as to his +inferior, if not partly impure, status. This is only one of several +instances, such as those of the barber, the potter and the weaver, +of menial castes which in Bengal have now obtained a position above +the agricultural castes. It may be suggested in explanation that the +old fabric of Hindu society, that is the village community, has long +decayed in Bengal owing to Muhammadan dominance, the concentration +of estates in the hands of large proprietors and the weakening or +lapse of the customary rights of tenants. Coupled with this has been +the growth of an important urban population, in which the castes +mentioned have raised themselves from their menial position in the +villages and attained wealth and influence, just as the Gujarati Telis +are now doing in Burhanpur, while the agricultural castes of Bengal +have been comparatively depressed. Hence the urban industrial castes +have obtained a great rise in status. Sir H. Risley's emphasis of the +importance of oil in Hindu domestic ceremonial is no doubt quite true, +though it is perhaps little used in sacrifices, butter being generally +preferred as a product of the sacred cow. But the inference does not +seem necessarily to follow that the producer of any article shares +exactly in the estimation attaching to the thing itself. Turmeric, +for instance, is a sacred plant and indispensable at every wedding; +but those who grow turmeric always incur a certain stigma and loss in +social position. The reason for the impurity of the Teli's calling +seems somewhat doubtful. That generally given is his sinful conduct +in harnessing the sacred ox and blindfolding the animal's eyes to +make it work continuously on the tread-mill. The labour is said to be +very severe, and the bullocks often die after two or three years. As +already seen, the Teli fears that after death his soul may pass into +one of his own bullocks in retribution for his treatment of them during +life. Another reason which may be suggested is that the crushing of +oil-seeds must involve a large destruction of insect life, many of +the seeds being at times infested with insects. The Teli's occupation +would naturally rank with the other village industries, that is below +agriculture; and prior to the introduction of cash coinage he must have +received contributions of grain from the tenants for supplying them +with oil like the other village menials. He still takes his oil to the +fields at harvest-time and gets his sheaf of grain from each holding. + + + + +11. Social customs and caste penalties + +The Telis will take cooked food from Kurmis and Kunbis, and in some +localities from a Lohar or Barhai. Dhimars are the highest caste which +will take food from them. In Mandla if a man does not attend the +meeting of the _panchayat_ when summoned for some special purpose, +he is fined. In Chanda a Teli beaten with a shoe by any other caste +has to have his head shaved and pay a rupee or two to the priest. In +Mandla the Telis have made it a rule that not less than four _puris_ +or wheat-cakes fried in butter [669] must be given to each guest at +a caste-feast, besides rice and pulse. But if an offender is poor +only four or five men go to his feast, while if he is rich the whole +caste go. + + + + +12. The Rathor Telis + +The Rathor Telis of Mandla hold a number of villages. They now call +themselves Rathor, and entirely disown the name of Teli. They say +that they came from the Maihar State near Panna, and that the title of +Mahto, from _mahat_, great, which is borne by the leading men of the +caste, was conferred on them by the Raja of Maihar. Another story is +that, as already related, they are debased Rathor Rajputs. Recently +they have given up eating fowls and drinking liquor. They are good +cultivators, borrowing among themselves at low interest and avoiding +debt, and their villages are generally prosperous. + + + + +13. Gujarati Telis of Nimar + +Again, as has been seen, the Gujarati Telis of Burhanpur have taken to +trade, and some of them have become wealthy merchants and capitalists +from their dealings in cotton. The position of Telis in Burhanpur was +apparently one of peculiar degradation under Muhammadan rule. According +to local tradition they had to remove the corpses of dead elephants, +which no other caste would consent to do, and also to dig the graves +of Muhammadans. It is also said that even now a Hindu becomes impure +by passing under the eaves of a Teli's house, and that no dancing-girl +may dance before a Teli, and if she does so will incur a penalty of +Rs. 50 to her caste. The Telis, on the other hand, vigorously repudiate +these allegations, which no doubt are due partly to jealousy of their +present prosperity and consequent attempts to better their status. The +Telis allege that they were Modh Banias in Gujarat and when they came +to Burhanpur adopted the occupation of oil-pressing, which is also +countenanced by the Shastras for a Vaishya. They say that formerly +they did not permit widow-marriage, but when living under Muhammadan +rule they were constrained to get their widows married in the caste, +or the Muhammadans would have taken them. The Muhammadan practices +already noticed as prevalent among them are being severely repressed, +and they are believed to have made a caste rule that any Teli who goes +to the house of a Muhammadan will have his hair and beard shaved and be +fined Rs. 50. They are also supposed to have made offers to Brahmans of +sums of Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000 to come and take their food in the verandas +of the Telis' houses, but hitherto these have not been accepted. + + + + +14. The Teli an unlucky caste + +The Teli is considered a caste of bad omen. The proverb says, +'God protect me from a Teli, a Chamar and a Dhobi'; and the Teli is +considered the most unlucky of the three. He is also talkative: 'Where +there is a Teli there is sure to be contention.' The Teli is thought +to be very close-fisted, but occasionally his cunning overreaches +itself: 'The Teli counts every drop of oil as it issues from the +press, but sometimes he upsets the whole pot.' The reason given for +his being unlucky is his practice of harnessing and blindfolding +bullocks already mentioned, and also that he presses _urad_ [670] +a black-coloured pulse, the oil from which is offered to the unlucky +planet Saturn on Saturdays. '_Teli ka bail_,' or 'A Teli's bullock,' +is a proverbial expression for a man who has to slave very hard for +small pay. [671] The Teli is believed to have magical powers. A good +magician in search of an attendant spirit will, it is said, prefer +to raise the corpse of a Teli who died on a Tuesday. He proceeds +to the burning-_ghat_ with chickens, eggs, some vermilion and red +cloth. He seats himself near to where the corpse was burnt, and after +repeating some spells offers up the chickens and eggs and breaks the +cocoanut. Then it is believed that the corpse will gradually rise and +take shape and be at the magician's service so long as the latter may +desire. The following prescription is given for a love-charm: take +the skull of a Teli's wife and cook some rice in it under a _babul_ +[672] tree on a Sunday. This if given to a girl to eat will make her +fall in love with him who gives it to her. + + + + +15. Occupation. Oil-pressing + +The Teli's oil-press is a very primitive affair. It consists of +a hollowed tree-trunk in which a post is placed with rounded lower +end. The top of this projects perhaps three feet above the hollow trunk +and is secured by two pieces of wood to a horizontal bar, one end of +which presses against the trunk, while the bullock is harnessed to the +outer end. The yoke-bar hangs about a foot from the ground, the inner +end resting in a groove of the trunk, while the outer is supported by +the poles connecting it with the churning-post. From the top of this +latter a rope is also tied to the bullock's horn to keep the animal +in position. The press is usually set up inside a shed, and it is +said that if the bullock were not blindfolded it would quickly become +too giddy to work. The bullock drags the yoke-bar round the trunk +and this gives a circular movement to the top of the churning-post, +causing the lower end of the latter to move as on a pivot inside the +trunk. The friction thus produced crushes the oil-seed, and the oil +trickles out through a hole in the lower part of the trunk. The oil +of _ramtilli_ or _jagni_ is commonly burnt for lighting in villages, +and also that of the mahua-seed. Linseed-oil is generally exported, but +if used at home it is mainly as an illuminant. It is mixed with food +by the Maratha castes but not in northern India. All the vegetable +oils are rapidly being supplanted by kerosene, even in villages; +but the inferior quality generally purchased, burnt as it is in small +open saucers, gives out a great deal of smoke and is said to be very +injurious to the eyesight, and students especially sustain permanent +injury to the sight by working with these lamps. This want is, however, +being met, and cheap lamp-burners can be bought in Bombay for about +twelve annas. Owing to their having until recently supplied the only +means of illumination the Telis sometimes call themselves _Dipabans_, +or 'Sons of the lamp.' Tilli or sesamum is called sweet oil; it is +much eaten by Brahmans and others in the Maratha country, and is +always used for rubbing on the hair and body. On the festivals of +Diwali and Til Sankrant all Hindus rub sesamum oil on their bodies; +otherwise they put it on their hair once or twice a week, and on their +bodies if they get a chill, or as a protective against cold twice or +thrice a month in the winter. The Uriya castes rub oil on the body +if they can afford it every day after bathing and say that it keeps +off malaria. Castor-oil is used as a medicine, and by some people +even as ordinary food. It is also a good lubricant, being applied +to cart-wheels and machinery. Other oils mentioned by Mr. Crooke are +poppy-seed, mustard, cocoanut and safflower, and those prepared from +almond and the berries of the _nim_ [673] tree. The Teli's occupation +is a dirty one, his house being filled with the refuse of oil and +oil-seed, and Mr. Gordon notes that leprosy is very prevalent in the +caste. [674] + + + + +16. Trade and agriculture + +The Telis are a very enterprising caste, and the great bulk of them +have abandoned their traditional occupation and taken to others which +are more profitable and respectable. In their trade, like that of +the Kalar, cash payment by barter must have been substituted for +customary annual contributions at an early period, and hence they +learnt to keep accounts when their customers were ignorant of this +accomplishment. The knowledge has stood them in good stead. Many of +them have become moneylenders in a small way, and by this means have +acquired villages. In the Raipur and Bilaspur Districts they own more +than 200 villages and 700 in the Central Provinces as a whole. They are +also shopkeepers and petty traders, travelling about with pack-bullocks +like the Banjaras. Mr. A. K. Smith notes that formerly the Teli hired +Banjaras to carry his goods through the jungle, as he would have +been killed by them if he had ventured to do so himself. But now he +travels with his own bullocks. Even in Mughal times Mr. Smith states +Telis occasionally rose to important positions; Kawaji Teli was sutler +to the Imperial army, and obtained from the Emperor Jahangir a grant +of Ashti in Wardha and an order that no one should plant betel-vine +gardens in Ashti without his permission. This rule is still observed +and any one wishing to have a betel-vine garden makes a present to +the patel. Krishna Kanta Nandi or Kanta Babu, the Banyan of Warren +Hastings, was a Teli by caste and did much to raise their position +among the Hindus. [675] + + + + +17. Teli beneficence + +Colonel Tod gives instances in Udaipur of works of beneficence +executed by Telis. "The _Teli-ki-Sarai_ or oilman's caravanserai is +not conspicuous for magnitude; but it is remarkable not merely for +its utility but even for its elegance of design. The _Teli-ka-Pul_ or +Oilman's Bridge at Nurabad is a magnificent memorial of the trade and +deserves preservation. These Telis perambulate the country with skins +of oil on a bullock and from hard-earned pence erect the structures +which bear their name." [676] Similarly the temple of Vishnu at Rajim +is said to be named after one Rajan Telin, who discovered the image +lying abandoned by the roadside. She placed her skin of oil on it to +rest herself and on that day her oil never decreased, and when she +had finished selling in the market she had all her oil as well as +the money. Her husband suspected her of evil practices, but, when +next day her mother-in-law laid a skinful of oil on the image and +the same thing happened, it was seen that the god had made himself +manifest to her, and a temple was built and named after her and the +image enshrined in it. Similarly the image of Mahadeo at Pithampur in +Bilaspur was seen buried by a Teli in a dream, and he dug it up and +made a shrine to it and was cured of dysentery. So an annual fair is +held and many people go there to be healed of their diseases. + + + + + +Thug + +[This article is based almost entirely on Colonel (Sir William) +Sleeman's _Ramaseeana or Vocabulary of the Thugs_ (1835). A small +work, Hutton's _Thugs and Dacoits_, has been quoted for convenience, +but it is compiled entirely from Colonel Sleeman's Reports. Another +book by Colonel Sleeman, _Reports on the Depredations of the Thug +Gangs_, is mainly a series of accounts of the journeys of different +gangs and contains only a very brief general notice.] + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Historical notice_. + 2. _Thuggee depicted in the caves of Ellora_. + 3. _Origin of the Thugs_. + 4. _Methods of assassination_. + 5. _Account of certain murders_. + 6. _Special incidents (continued)_. + 7. _Disguises of the Thugs_. + 8. _Secrecy of their operations_. + 9. _Support of landholders and villagers_. + 10. _Murder of sepoys_. + 11. _Callous nature of the Thugs_. + 12. _Belief in divine support_. + 13. _Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect_. + 14. _Worship of Kali_. + 15. _The sacred pickaxe_. + 16. _The sacred gur (sugar)_. + 17. _Worship of ancestors_. + 18. _Fasting_. + 19. _Initiation of a novice_. + 20. _Prohibition of murder of women_. + 21. _Other classes of persons not killed_. + 22. _Belief in omens_. + 23. _Omens and taboos_. + 24. _Nature of the belief in omens_. + 25. _Suppression of Thuggee_. + + + + +1. Historical notice + +_Thug, Phansigar._--The famous community of murderers who were +accustomed to infest the high-roads and strangle travellers for +their property. The Thugs are, of course, now extinct, having been +finally suppressed by measures taken under the direction of Colonel +Sleeman between 1825 and 1850. The only existing traces of them are +a small number of persons known as Goranda or Goyanda in Jubbulpore, +the descendants of Thugs employed in the school of industry which +was established at that town. These work honestly for their living +and are believed to have no marked criminal tendencies. In the course +of his inquiries, however, Colonel Sleeman collected a considerable +mass of information about the Thugs, some of which is of ethnological +interest, and as the works in which this is contained are out of +print and not easily accessible, it seems desirable to record a +portion of it here. The word Thug signifies generically a cheat or +robber, while Phansigar, which was the name used in southern India, +is derived from _phansi_, a noose, and means a strangler. The form +of robbery and murder practised by these people was probably of +considerable antiquity, and is referred to as follows by a French +traveller, Thevenot, in the sixteenth century: + +"Though the road I have been speaking of from Delhi to Agra be +tolerable yet it hath many inconveniences. One may meet with tigers, +panthers and lions upon it, and one can also best have a care of +robbers, and above all things not to suffer anybody to come near +one upon the road. The cunningest robbers in the world are in that +country. They use a certain slip with a running noose which they can +cast with so much sleight about a man's neck, when they are within +reach of him, that they never fail, so that they can strangle him +in a trice. They have another cunning trick also to catch travellers +with. They send out a handsome woman upon the road, who with her hair +dishevelled seems to be all in tears, sighing and complaining of some +misfortune which she pretends has befallen her. Now, as she takes the +same way that the traveller goes he falls easily into conversation +with her, and finding her beautiful, offers her his assistance, +which she accepts; but he hath no sooner taken her up behind him on +horseback, but she throws the snare about his neck and strangles him, +or at least stuns him until the robbers who lie hid come running to +her assistance and complete what she hath begun. But besides that, +there are men in those quarters so skilful in casting the snare, +that they succeed as well at a distance as near at hand; and if an +ox or any other beast belonging to a caravan run away, as sometimes +it happens, they fail not to catch it by the neck." [677] + +This passage seems to demonstrate an antiquity of three centuries for +the Thugs down to 1850. But during the period over which Sir William +Sleeman's inquiries extended women never accompanied them on their +expeditions, and were frequently even, as a measure of precaution, +left in ignorance of the profession of their husbands. + + + + +2. Thuggees depicted in the caves of Ellora + +The Thugs themselves believed that the operations of their trade were +depicted in the carvings of the Ellora caves, and a noted leader, +Feringia, and other Thugs spoke of these carvings as follows: "Every +one of the operations is to be seen there: in one place you see men +strangling; in another burying the bodies; in another carrying them +off to the graves. Whenever we passed near we used to go and see +these caves. Every man will there find his trade described and they +were all made in one night. + +"Everybody there can see the secret operations of his trade; but he +does not tell others of them; and no other person can understand what +they mean. They are the works of God. No human hands were employed +on them. That everybody admits." + +Another Thug: "I have seen there the Sotha (inveigler) sitting upon +the same carpet as the traveller, and in close conversation with +him, just as we are when we worm out their secrets. In another place +the strangler has got his _rumal_ (handkerchief) over his neck and +is strangling him; while another, the Chamochi, is holding him by +the legs." I do not think there is any reason to suppose that these +carvings really have anything to do with the Thugs. + + + + +3. Origin of the Thugs + +The Thugs did not apparently ever constitute a distinct caste +like the Badhaks, but were recruited from different classes of the +population. In northern and southern India three-fourths or more, and +in Central India about a half, were Muhammadans, whether genuine or +the descendants of converted Hindus. The Muhammadan Thugs consisted +of seven clans, Bhais, Barsote, Kachuni, Hattar, Garru, Tandel and +Rathur: "And these, by the common consent of all Thugs throughout +India, whether Hindus or Muhammadans, are admitted to be the most +ancient and the great original trunk upon which all the others have +at different times and in different places been grafted." [678] +These names, however, are of Hindu and not of Muhammadan origin; and +it seems probable that many of the Thugs were originally Banjaras or +cattle-dealers and Kanjars or gipsies. One of the Muhammadan Thugs +told Colonel Sleeman that, "The Arcot gangs will never intermarry with +our families, saying that we once drove bullocks and were itinerant +tradesmen, and consequently of lower caste." [679] Another man said +[680] that at their marriages an old matron would sometimes repeat +as she threw down the _tulsi_ or basil, "Here's to the spirits of +those who once led bears and monkeys; to those who drove bullocks +and marked with the _godini_ (tattooing-needle); and those who +made baskets for the head." These are the regular occupations of +the Kanjars and Berias, the gipsy castes who are probably derived +from the Doms. And it seems not unlikely that these people may have +been the true progenitors of the Thugs. There is at present a large +section of Muhammadan Kanjars who are recognised as members of the +caste by the Hindu section. Colonel Sleeman was of opinion that the +Kanjars also practised murder by strangling, but not as a regular +profession; for this would have been too dangerous, as they were +accustomed to wander about with their wives and all their belongings, +and the disappearance of many travellers in the locality of their camps +would naturally excite suspicion. Whereas the true Thugs resided in +villages and towns and many of them had other ostensible occupations, +their periodical excursions for robbery and murder being veiled under +the pretence of some necessary journey. But the Kanjars may have +changed their mode of life on taking to this profession, and their +adroitness in other forms of crime, such as killing and carrying +off cattle, would make them likely persons to have discovered the +advantages of a system of murder of travellers by strangulation. The +existing descendants of the Thugs at Jubbulpore appear to be mainly +Kanjars and Berias. For such a life it is clear that the profession +of the Muhammadan religion would be of much assistance in maintaining +the disguise; for it set a man free from many caste obligations and +ties and also from a host of irksome restrictions as to eating and +drinking with others. We may therefore conjecture, though without +certain knowledge, that many of the Thugs may originally have become +Muhammadans for convenience; and this is supported by the well-known +fact that the principal deity of all of them was the Hindu goddess +Kali. Many bodies of Thugs were also recruited from other Hindu +castes, of whom the Lodhas or Lodhis were perhaps the most numerous; +others of the fraternity were Rajputs, Brahmans, Tantis or weavers, +Goalas or cowherds, Multanis or Muhammadan Banjaras, as well as the +Sansias and Kanjars or criminal vagrants and gipsies. These seem +to have observed their caste rules and to have intermarried among +themselves; sometimes they obtained wives from other families who had +no connection with Thuggee and kept their wives in ignorance of their +nefarious trade; occasionally a girl would be spared from a murdered +party and married to a son of one of the Thugs; while boys were more +frequently saved and brought up to the business. The Thugs said [681] +that the fidelity of their wives was proverbial and they were not less +loving and dutiful than those of other men, while several instances are +recorded of the strong affection borne by fathers to their children. + + + + +4. Methods of assassination + +As is well known the method of the Thugs was to attach themselves to +travellers, either single men or small parties, and at a convenient +opportunity to strangle them, bury the bodies and make off with the +property found on them. The gangs of Thugs usually contained from ten +to fifty men and were sometimes much larger; on one occasion as many +as three hundred and sixty Thugs accomplished the murder of a party +of forty persons in Bilaspur. [682] They pretended to be traders, +soldiers or cultivators and usually went without weapons in order +to disarm suspicion; and this practice also furnished them with an +excuse for seeking for permission to accompany parties travelling +with arms. There was nothing to excite alarm or suspicion in the +appearance of these murderers; but on the contrary they are described +as being mild and benevolent of aspect, and peculiarly courteous, +gentle and obliging. In their palmy days the leader of the gang +often travelled on horseback with a tent and passed for a person of +consequence or a wealthy merchant. They were accustomed to get into +conversation with travellers by doing them some service or asking +permission to unite their parties as a measure of precaution. They +would then journey on together, and strive to win the confidence of +their victims by a demeanour of warm friendship and feigned interest +in their affairs. Sometimes days would elapse before a favourable +opportunity occurred for the murder; an instance is mentioned of +a gang having accompanied a family of eleven persons for twenty +days during which they had traversed upwards of 200 miles and then +murdered the whole of them; and another gang accomplished 160 miles in +twelve days in company with a party of sixty men, women and children, +before they found a propitious occasion. [683] Their favourite time +for the murder was in the evening when the whole party would be +seated in the open, the Thugs mingled with their victims, talking, +smoking and singing. If their numbers were sufficient three Thugs +would be allotted to every victim, so that on the signal being given +two of them could lay hold of his hands and feet, while the Bhurtot +or strangler passed the _rumal_ over his head and tightened it round +his neck, forcing the victim backwards and not relaxing his hold till +life was extinct. The _rumal_ or 'handkerchief,' always employed for +throttling victims, was really a loin-cloth or turban, in which a +loop was made with a slip-knot. The Thugs called it their _sikka_ or +'ensign,' but it was not held sacred like the pickaxe. When the leader +of the gang cleared his throat violently it was a sign to prepare +for action, and he afterwards gave the _jhirni_ or signal for the +murder, by saying either '_Tamakhu kha lo_,' 'Begin chewing tobacco'; +'_Bhanja ko pan do_,' 'Give betel to my nephew'; or '_Ayi ho to ghiri +chalo_,' 'If you are come, pray descend.' Their adroitness was such +that their victims seldom or never escaped nor even had a chance of +making a fight for their lives. But if several persons were to be +killed some men were detached to surround the camp and cut down any +one who tried to escape. The Thugs do not therefore appear to have had +any religious objection to the shedding of blood, but they preferred +murder by strangling as being safer. After the murder the bodies were +at once buried, being first cut about to prevent them from swelling +on decomposition, as this might raise the surface of the earth over +the grave and so attract attention. If the ground was too hard they +were thrown into a ravine or down one of the shallow irrigation wells +which abound in north India; and it was stated that the discovery +of a body in one of these wells was so common an occurrence that +the cultivators took no notice of it. If there were people in the +vicinity so that it was dangerous to dig the graves in the open air, +the Thugs did not scruple to inter the bodies of victims inside their +own tents and to eat their food sitting on the soil above. For the +attack of a horseman three men were always detailed, if practicable, +so that one could seize the bridle and the other two pull him out +of the saddle and strangle him; but if, as happened occasionally, +a single Thug managed to kill a man on horseback, he obtained a great +reputation, which even descended to his children. On the other hand, +if a strangler was unlucky or clumsy, so that the cloth fell on +the victim's head or face, or he got blood on his clothes or other +suspicious signs, and these accidents recurred, he was known as Bisul, +and was excluded from the office of strangler on account of presumed +unfitness for the duty. When it was necessary for some reason to murder +a party on the march, some _belhas_ or scouts were sent on ahead to +choose a _beil_ or suitable place for the business, and see that no +one was coming in the opposite direction; and when the leader said, +'Wash the cup,' it was a signal for the scouts to go forward for this +purpose. If a traveller had a dog with him the dog was also killed, +lest he might stay beside his master's grave and call attention to +it. Another device in case of difficulty was for one of the Thugs to +feign sickness. The Garru or man who did this fell down on a sudden +and pretended to be taken violently ill. Some of his friends raised +and supported him, while others brought water and felt his pulse; +and at last one of them pretended that a charm would restore him. All +were then requested to sit down, the pot of water being in the centre; +all were desired to take off their belts, if they had any, and uncover +their necks, and lastly to look up and see if they could count a +certain number of stars. While they were thus occupied intently gazing +at the sky to carry out the charm for the recovery of the sick man, +the cloths were passed round their necks and they were strangled. + + + + +5. Account of certain murders + +The secrecy and adroitness with which the Thugs conducted their murders +are well illustrated by the narrative of the assassination of a native +official or pleader at Lakhnadon in Seoni as given by one of the gang: +[684] "We fell in with the Munshi and his family at Chhapara between +Nagpur and Jubbulpore; and they came on with us to Lakhnadon, where +we found that some companies of a native regiment under European +officers were expected the next morning. It was determined to put +them all to death that evening as the Munshi seemed likely to join +the soldiers. The encampment was near the village and the Munshi's +tent was pitched close to us. In the afternoon some of the officers' +tents came on in advance and were pitched on the other side, leaving us +between them and the village. The _khalasis_ were all busily occupied +in pitching them. Nur Khan and his son Sadi Khan and a few others went +as soon as it became dark to the Munshi's tent, and began to play and +sing upon a _sitar_ as they had been accustomed to do. During this +time some of them took up the Munshi's sword on pretence of wishing +to look at it. His wife and children were inside listening to the +music. The _jhirni_ or signal was given, but at this moment the Munshi +saw his danger, called out murder, and attempted to rush through, +but was seized and strangled. His wife hearing him ran out with the +infant in her arms, but was seized by Ghabbu Khan, who strangled +her and took the infant. The other daughter was strangled in the +tent. The _saises_ (grooms) were at the time cleaning their horses, +and one of them seeing his danger ran under the belly of his horse +and called murder; but he was soon seized and strangled as well as +all the rest. In order to prevent the party pitching the officers' +tents from hearing the disturbance, as soon as the signal was given +those of the gang who were idle began to play and sing as loud as they +could; and two vicious horses were let loose, and many ran after them +calling out as loud as they could; so that the calls of the Munshi and +his party were drowned." They thought at first of keeping the infant, +but decided that it was too risky, and threw it alive into the grave +in which the other bodies had been placed. It is surprising to realise +that in the above case about half a dozen people, awake and conscious, +were killed forcibly in broad daylight within a few paces of a number +of men occupied in pitching tents, without their noticing anything of +the matter; and this may certainly be characterised as an instance of +murder as a fine art to show the absolute callousness of the Thugs +towards their victims and the complete absence of any feelings of +compassion, the story of the following murder by the same gang may be +recorded. [685] The Thugs were travelling from Nagpur toward Jubbulpore +with a party consisting of Newal Singh, a Jemadar (petty officer) +in the Nizam's army, his brother, his two daughters, one thirteen and +the other eleven years old, his son about seven years old, two young +men who were to marry the daughters, and four servants. At Dhurna the +house in which the Thugs lodged took fire, and the greater number +of them were seized by the police, but were released at the urgent +request of Newal Singh and his two daughters, who had taken a great +fancy to Khimoli, the principal leader of the gang, and some of the +others. Newal Singh was related to a native officer of the British +detachment at Seoni and obtained his assistance for the release of +the Thugs. At this time the gang had with them two bags of silk, the +property of three carriers whom they had murdered in the great temple +of Kamptee, and if they had been searched by the police these must have +been discovered. On reaching Jubbulpore the Thugs found a lodging in +the town with Newal Singh and his family. But the merchants who were +expecting the silk from Nagpur and found that it had not arrived, +induced the Kotwal to search the lodging of the Thugs. Hearing of the +approach of the police, the leader Khimoli again availed himself of +the attachment of Newal Singh and his daughters, and the girls were +made to sit each upon one of the two bags of silk while the police +searched the place. Nothing was found and the party again set out; +and five days afterwards Newal Singh and his whole family were murdered +at Biseni by the Thugs whom they had twice preserved from arrest. + + + + +6. Special incidents (continued) + +These murderers looked on all travellers as their legitimate prey, +as sportsmen regard game. On one occasion the noted Thug, Feringia, +[686] with his gang were cooking their dinners under some trees on +the road when five travellers came by, but could not be persuaded +to stop and partake of the meal, saying they wished to sleep at a +place called Hirora that night, and had yet eight miles to go. The +Thugs afterwards followed, but found no traces of the travellers at +Hirora. Feringia therefore concluded that they must have fallen into +the hands of another gang, and suddenly recollected having passed an +encampment of Banjaras (pack-carriers) not far from the town. On the +following morning he accordingly went back with a few of his comrades, +and at once recognised a horse and pony which he had observed in +the possession of the travellers. So he asked the Banjaras, "What +have you done with the five travellers, my good friends? You have +taken from us our _banij_ (merchandise)." They apologised for what +they had done, pleading ignorance of the lien of the other Thugs, +and offered to share the booty; but Feringia declined, as none of +his party had been present at the _loading._ They were accustomed to +distinguish their most important exploits by the number of persons +who were killed. Thus one murder in the Jubbulpore District was known +as the 'Sathrup,' or 'Sixty soul affair,' and another in Bilaspur +as the 'Chalisrup,' or 'Murder of forty.' At this time (1807) the +road between northern and southern India through the Nerbudda valley +had been rendered so unsafe by the incursions of the Pindaris that +travellers preferred to go through Chhattisgarh and Sambalpur to the +Ganges. This route, passing for long distances through dense forest, +offered great advantages to the Thugs, and was soon infested by +them. In 1806, owing to the success [687] of previous expeditions, +it was determined that all the Thugs of northern India should work on +this road; accordingly after the Dasahra festival six hundred of them, +under forty Jemadars or leaders of note, set out from their homes, +and having worshipped in the temple of Devi at Bindhyachal, met at +Ratanpur in Bilaspur. The gangs split up, and after several murders +sixty of them came to Lanji in Balaghat, and here in two days' time +fell in with a party of thirty-one men, seven women and two girls on +their way to the Ganges. The Jemadars soon became intimate with the +principal men of the party, pretended to be going to the same part of +India and won their confidence; and next day they all set out and in +four days reached Ratanpur, where they met 160 Thugs returning from +the murder of a wealthy widow and her escort. Shortly afterwards +another 200 men who had heard of the travellers near Nagpur also +came up, but all the different bodies pretended to be strangers to +each other. They detached sixty men to return to Nagpur, leaving 360 +to deal with the forty travellers. From Ratanpur they all journeyed +to Chura (Chhuri?), and here scouts were sent on to select a proper +place for the murder. This was chosen in a long stretch of forest, +and two men were despatched to the village of Sutranja, farther on +the road, to see that no one was coming in the opposite direction, +while another picket remained behind to prevent interruption from +the rear. By the time they reached the appointed place, the Bhurtots +(stranglers) and Shamsias (holders) had all on some pretext or other +got close to the side of the persons whom they were appointed to kill; +and on reaching the spot the signal was given in several places at +the same time; and thirty-eight out of forty were immediately seized +and strangled. One of the girls was a very handsome young woman, and +Pancham, a Jemadar, wished to preserve her as a wife for his son. But +when she saw her father and mother strangled she screamed and beat +her head against the ground and tried to kill herself. Pancham tried +in vain to quiet her, and promised to take great care of her and +marry her to his own son, who would be a great chief; but all to no +effect. She continued to scream, and at last Pancham put the _rumal_ +(handkerchief) round her neck and strangled her. One little girl +of three years old was preserved by another Jemadar and married to +his son, and when she grew up often heard the story of the affair +narrated. The bodies were buried in a ravine and the booty amounted +to Rs. 17,000. The Thugs then decided to return home, and arrived +without mishap, except that the Jemadar, Pancham, died on the way. + + + + +7. Disguises of the Thugs + +They were not particular, however, to ascertain that their victims +carried valuable property before disposing of them. Eight annas +(8d.), one of them said, [688] was sufficient remuneration for +murdering a man. On another occasion two river Thugs killed two +old men and obtained only a rupee's worth of coppers, two brass +vessels and their body-cloths. But as a rule the gains were much +larger. It sometimes happened that the Thugs themselves were robbed +at night by ordinary thieves, though they usually set a watch. On one +occasion a band of more than a hundred Thugs fell in with a party of +twenty-seven dacoits who had with them stolen property of Rs. 13,000 +in cash, with gold ornaments, gems and shawls. The Thugs asked to be +allowed to travel under their protection, and the dacoits carelessly +assenting were shortly afterwards all murdered. [689] As already +stated, the Thugs were accustomed to live in towns or villages and +many of them ostensibly followed respectable callings. The following +instance of this is given by Sir W. Sleeman: [690] "The first party +of Thug approvers whom I sent into the Deccan to aid Captain Reynolds +recognised in the person of one of the most respectable linen-drapers +of the cantonment of Hingoli, Hari Singh, the adopted son of Jawahir +Sukul, Subahdar of Thugs, who had been executed twenty years before. On +hearing that the Hari Singh of the list sent to him of noted Thugs +at large in the Deccan was the Hari Singh of the Sadar Bazar, Captain +Reynolds was quite astounded; so correct had he been in his deportment +and all his dealings that he had won the esteem of all the gentlemen +of the station, who used to assist him in procuring passports for +his goods on their way from Bombay; and yet he had, as he has since +himself shown, been carrying on his trade of murder up to the very +day of his arrest with gangs of Hindustan and the Deccan on all the +roads around and close to the cantonments of Hingoli; and leading +out his band of assassins while he pretended to be on his way to +Bombay for a supply of fresh linen and broad-cloth." Another case is +quoted by Mr. Oman from Taylor's _Thirty-eight Years in India_. [691] +"Dr. Cheek had a child's bearer who had charge of his children. The +man was a special favourite, remarkable for his kind and tender ways +with his little charges, gentle in manner and unexceptionable in all +his conduct. Every year he obtained leave from his master and mistress, +as he said, for the filial purpose of visiting his aged mother for one +month; and returning after the expiry of that time, with the utmost +punctuality, resumed with the accustomed affection and tenderness +the charge of his little darlings. This mild and exemplary being was +the missing Thug; kind, gentle, conscientious and regular at his post +for eleven months in the year he devoted the twelfth to strangulation." + + + + +8. Secrecy of their operations + +Again, as regards the secrecy with which murders were perpetrated and +all traces of them hidden, Sir W. Sleeman writes: [692] "While I was +in civil charge of the District of Narsinghpur, in the valley of the +Nerbudda, in the years 1822-1824, no ordinary robbery or theft could +be committed without my becoming aware of it, nor was there a robber +or thief of the ordinary kind in the District with whose character I +had not become acquainted in the discharge of my duties as magistrate; +and if any man had then told me that a gang of assassins by profession +resided in the village of Kandeli, [693] not four hundred yards from +my court, and that the extensive groves of the village of Mundesur, +only one stage from me on the road to Saugor and Bhopal, were one +of the greatest _beles_ or places of murder in all India, and that +large gangs from Hindustan and the Deccan used to _rendezvous_ in +these groves, remain in them for many days every year, and carry +on their dreadful trade along all the lines of road that pass by +and branch off from them, with the knowledge and connivance of the +two landholders by whose ancestors these groves had been planted, I +should have thought him a fool or a madman; and yet nothing could have +been more true. The bodies of a hundred travellers lie buried in and +around the groves of Mundesur; and a gang of assassins lived in and +about the village of Kandeli while I was magistrate of the District, +and extended their depredations to the cities of Poona and Hyderabad." + + + + +9. Support of landholders and villagers + +The system of Thuggee reached its zenith during the anarchic period +of the decline of the Mughal Empire, when only the strongest and most +influential could obtain any assistance from the State in recovering +property or exacting reparation for the deaths of murdered friends +and relatives. Nevertheless, the Thugs could hardly have escaped +considerable loss even from private vengeance had they been compelled +to rely on themselves for protection. But this was not the case, for, +like the Badhaks and other robbers, they enjoyed the countenance and +support of landholders and ruling chiefs in return for presenting +them with the choicest of their booty and taking holdings of land at +very high rents. Sir W. Sleeman wrote [694] that, "The zamindars and +landholders of every description have everywhere been found ready to +receive these people under their protection from the desire to share +in the fruits of their expeditions, and without the slightest feeling +of religious or moral responsibility for the murders which they know +must be perpetrated to secure these fruits. All that they require +from them is a promise that they will not commit murders within their +estates and thereby involve them in trouble." Sometimes the police +could also be conciliated by bribes, and on one occasion when a body +of Thugs who had killed twenty-five persons were being pursued by +the Thakur of Powai [695] they retired upon the village of Tigura, +and even the villagers came out to their support and defended them +against his attack. Another officer wrote: [696] "To conclude, there +seems no doubt but that this horrid crime has been fostered by all +classes in the community--the landholders, the native officers of +our courts, the police and village authorities--all, I think, have +been more or less guilty; my meaning is not, of course, that every +member of these classes, but that individuals varying in number in +each class were concerned. The subordinate police officials have in +many cases been _practising Thugs_, and the _chaukidars_ or village +watchmen frequently so." + + + + +10. Murder of sepoys + +A favourite class of victims were sepoys proceeding to their homes +on furlough and carrying their small savings; such men would not be +quickly missed, as their relatives would think they had not started, +and the regimental authorities would ascribe their failure to return +to desertion. So many of these disappeared that a special Army Order +was issued warning them not to travel alone, and arranging for the +transmission of their money through the Government treasuries. [697] +In this order it is stated that the Thugs were accustomed first to +stupefy their victim by surreptitiously administering the common +narcotic _dhatura_, still a familiar method of highway robbery. + + + + +11. Callous nature of the Thugs + +Like the Badhaks and other Indian robbers and the Italian banditti the +Thugs were of a very religious or superstitious turn of mind. There +was not one among them, Colonel Sleeman wrote, [698] who doubted the +divine origin of Thuggee: "Not one who doubts that he and all who have +followed the trade of murder, with the prescribed rites and observance, +were acting under the immediate orders and auspices of the goddess, +Devi, Durga, Kali or Bhawani, as she is indifferently called, and +consequently there is not one who feels the slightest remorse for +the murders which he may have perpetrated or abetted in the course of +his vocation. A Thug considers the persons murdered precisely in the +light of victims offered up to the goddess; and he remembers them +as a priest of Jupiter remembered the oxen and a priest of Saturn +the children sacrificed upon their altars. He meditates his murders +without any misgivings, he perpetrates them without any emotions +of pity, and he recalls them without any feeling of remorse. They +trouble not his dreams, nor does their recollection ever cause him +inquietude in darkness, in solitude or in the hour of death." + +And again: "The most extraordinary trait in the characters of these +people is not this that they can look back upon all the murders +they have perpetrated without any feelings of remorse, but that they +can look forward indifferently to their children, whom they love as +tenderly as any man in the world, following the same trade of murder +or being united in marriage to men who follow the trade. When I have +asked them how they could cherish these children through infancy and +childhood under the determination to make them murderers or marry +them to murderers, the only observation they have ever made was that +formerly there was no danger of their ever being hung or transported, +but that now they would rather that their children should learn some +less dangerous trade." + + + + +12. Belief in divine support + +They considered that all their victims were killed by the agency +of God and that they were merely irresponsible agents, appointed +to live by killing travellers as tigers by feeding on deer. If a +man committed a real murder they held that his family must become +extinct, and adduced the fact that this fate had not befallen them +as proof that their acts of killing were justifiable. Nay, they even +held that those who oppressed them were punished by the goddess: +[699] "Was not Nanha, the Raja of Jalon," said one of them, "made +leprous by Devi for putting to death Budhu and his brother Khumoli, +two of the most noted Thugs of their day? He had them trampled under +the feet of elephants, but the leprosy broke out on his body the very +next day. When Mudhaji Sindhia caused seventy Thugs to be executed at +Mathura was he not warned in a dream by Devi that he should release +them? And did he not the very day after their execution begin to +spit blood? And did he not die within three months?" Their subsequent +misfortunes and the success of the British officers against them they +attributed to their disobedience of the ordinances of Devi in slaying +women and other classes of prohibited persons and their disregard of +her omens. They also held that the spirits of all their victims went +straight to Paradise, and this was the reason why the Thugs were not +troubled by them as other murderers were. + + + + + +13. Theory of Thuggee as a religious sect + +The fact that the Thugs considered themselves to be directed by +the deity, reinforced by their numerous superstitious beliefs and +observances, has led to the suggestion by one writer that they were +originally a religious sect, whose principal tenet was the prohibition +of the shedding of blood. There is, however, no evidence in support +of this view in the accounts of Colonel Sleeman, incomparably the +best authority. Their method of strangulation was, as has been seen, +simply the safest and most convenient means of murder: it enabled +them to dispense with arms, by the sight of which the apprehensions +of their victims would have been aroused, and left no traces on the +site of the crime to be observed by other travellers. On occasion +also they did not scruple to employ weapons; as in the murder of seven +treasure-bearers near Hindoria in Damoh, who would not probably have +allowed the Thugs to approach them, and in consequence were openly +attacked and killed with swords. [700] Other instances are given in +Colonel Sleeman's narrative, and they were also accustomed to cut +and slash about the bodies of their victims after death. The belief +that they were guided by the divine will may probably have arisen as +a means of excusing their own misdeeds to themselves and allaying +their fear of such retribution as being haunted by the ghosts of +their victims. Similar instances of religious beliefs and practices +are given in the accounts of other criminals, such as the Badhaks and +Sansias. And the more strict and serious observances of the Thugs may +be accounted for by the more atrocious character of their crimes and +the more urgent necessity of finding some palliative. + +The veneration paid to the pickaxe, which will shortly be described, +merely arises from the common animistic belief that tools and +implements generally achieve the results obtained from them by their +inherent virtue and of their own volition, and not from the human hand +which guides them and the human brain which fashioned them to serve +their ends. Members of practically all castes worship the implements +of their profession and thus afford evidence of the same belief, +the most familiar instance of which is perhaps, 'The pestilence +that walketh in the darkness and the arrow that flieth by noonday'; +where the writer intended no metaphor but actually thought that the +pestilence walked and the arrow flew of their own volition. + + + + +14. Worship of Kali + +Kali or Bhawani was the principal deity of the Thugs, as of most of +the criminal and lower castes; and those who were Muhammadans got +over the difficulty of her being a Hindu goddess by pretending that +Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet, was an incarnation of her. In +former times they held that the goddess was accustomed to relieve +them of the trouble of destroying the dead bodies by devouring them +herself; but in order that they might not see her doing this she had +strictly enjoined on them never to look back on leaving the site of +a murder. On one occasion a novice of the fraternity disobeyed this +rule and, unguardedly looking behind him, saw the goddess in the +act of feasting upon a body with the half of it hanging out of her +mouth. Upon this she declared that she would no longer devour those +whom the Thugs slaughtered; but she agreed to present them with one +of her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife and the hem of her lower +garment for a noose, and ordered them for the future to cut about and +bury the bodies of those whom they destroyed. As there seems reason +to suppose that the goddess Kali represents the deified tiger, on +which she rides, she was eminently appropriate as the patroness of +the Thugs and in the capacity of the devourer of corpses. + + + + +15. The sacred pickaxe + +When the sacred pickaxe used for burying corpses had to be made, the +leader of the gang, having ascertained a lucky day from the priest, +went to a blacksmith and after closing the door so that no other +person might enter, got him to make the axe in his presence without +touching any other work until it was completed. A day was then chosen +for the consecration of the pickaxe, either Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday +or Friday; and the ceremony was performed inside a house or tent, +so that the shadow of no living thing might fall on and contaminate +the sacred implement. A pit was dug in the ground and over it the +pickaxe was washed successively with water, sugar and water, sour +milk, and alcoholic liquor, all of which were poured over it into +the pit. Finally it was marked seven times with vermilion. A burnt +offering was then made with all the usual ingredients for sacrifice +and the pickaxe was passed seven times through the flames. A cocoanut +was placed on the ground, and the priest, holding the pickaxe by the +point in his right hand, said, 'Shall I strike?' The others replied +yes, and striking the cocoanut with the butt end he broke it in +pieces, upon which all exclaimed, 'All hail, Devi, and prosper the +Thugs.' All then partook of the kernel of the cocoanut, and collecting +the fragments put them into the pit so that they might not afterwards +be contaminated by the touch of any man's foot. Here the cocoanut +may probably be considered as a substituted sacrifice for a human +being. Thereafter the pickaxe was called Kassi or Mahi instead of +_kudali_ the ordinary name, and was given to the shrewdest, cleanest +and most sober and careful man of the party, who carried it in his +waist-belt. While in camp he buried it in a secure place with its +point in the direction they intended to go; and they believed that +if another direction was better the point would be found changed +towards it. They said that formerly the pickaxe was thrown into a +well and would come up of itself when summoned with due ceremonies; +but since they disregarded the ordinances of Kali it had lost that +virtue. Many Thugs told Colonel Sleeman [701] that they had seen the +pickaxe rise out of the well in the morning of its own accord and +come to the hands of the man who carried it; and even the several +pickaxes of different gangs had been known to come up of themselves +from the same well and go to their respective bearers. The pickaxe +was also worshipped on every seventh day during an expedition, +and it was believed that the sound made by it in digging a grave +was never heard by any one but a Thug. The oath by the pickaxe was +in their esteem far more sacred than that by the Ganges water or the +Koran, and they believed that a man who perjured himself by this oath +would die or suffer some great calamity within six days. In prison, +when administering an oath to each other in cases of dispute, they +sometimes made an image of the pickaxe out of a piece of cloth and +consecrated it for the purpose. If the pickaxe at any time fell from +the hands of the carrier it was a dreadful omen and portended either +that he would be killed that year or that the gang would suffer some +grievous misfortune. He was deprived of his office and the gang either +returned home or chose a fresh route and consecrated the pickaxe anew. + + + + +16. The sacred _gur_ (sugar) + +After each murder they had a sacrificial feast of _gur_ or unrefined +sugar. This was purchased to the value of Rs. 1-4, and the leader of +the gang and the other Bhurtotes (stranglers) sat on a blanket with +the rest of the gang round them. A little sugar was dropped into a +hole and the leader prayed to Devi to send them some rich victims. The +remainder of the sugar was divided among all present. One of them gave +the _jhirni_ or signal for strangling and they consumed the sugar in +solemn silence, no fragment of it being lost They believed that it was +this consecrated _gur_ which gave the desire for the trade of a Thug +and made them callous to the sufferings of their victims, and they +thought that if any outsider tasted it he would at once become a Thug +and continue so all his life. When Colonel Sleeman asked [702] a young +man who had strangled a beautiful young woman in opposition to their +rules, whether he felt no pity for her, the leader Feringia exclaimed: +"We all feel pity sometimes, but the _gur_ of the Tuponi (sacrifice) +changes our nature. It would change the nature of a horse. Let any man +once taste of that _gur_ and he will be a Thug, though he knows all the +trades and have all the wealth in the world. I never wanted food; my +mother's family was opulent, her relations high in office. I have been +high in office myself, and became so great a favourite wherever I went +that I was sure of promotion; yet I was always miserable while absent +from my gang and obliged to return to Thuggee. My father made me taste +of that fatal _gur_ when I was yet a mere boy; and if I were to live +a thousand years I should never be able to follow any other trade." + +The eating of this _gur_ was clearly the sacrificial meal of the +Thugs. On the analogy of other races they should have partaken of the +body of an animal god at their sacrificial meal, and if the goddess +Kali is the deified tiger, they should have eaten tiger's flesh. This +custom, if it ever existed, had been abandoned, and the _gur_ would +in that case be a substitute; and as has been seen the eating of the +_gur_ was held to confer on them the same cruelty, callousness and +desire to kill which might be expected to follow from eating tiger's +flesh and thus assimilating the qualities of the animal. Since they +went unarmed as a rule, in order to avoid exciting the suspicions +of their victims, it would be quite impossible for them to obtain +tiger's flesh, except by the rarest accident; and the _gur_ might be +considered a suitable substitute, since its yellow colour would be +held to make it resemble the tiger. + + + + +17. Worship of ancestors + +The Thugs also worshipped the spirits of their ancestors. One +of these was Dadu Dhira, an ancient Thug of the Barsote class, +who was invoked at certain religious ceremonies, when liquor was +drunk. Vows were made to offer libations of ardent spirits to him, +and if the prayer was answered the worshipper drank the liquor, or if +his caste precluded him from doing this, threw it on the ground with +an expression of thanks. Another deity was the spirit of Jhora Naik, +who was a Muhammadan. He and his servant killed a man who had jewels +and other articles laden on a mule to the value of more than a lakh +and a half. They brought home the booty, assembled all the members +of their fraternity within reach, and honestly divided the whole as +if all had been present The Thugs also said that Nizam-ud-din Aulia, +a well-known Muhammadan saint, famed for his generosity, whose shrine +is near Delhi, had been a Thug, at any rate in his younger days. He +distributed so much money in charity that he was supposed to be endowed +with a Dustul Ghib or supernatural purse; and they supposed that he +obtained it by the practice of Thuggee. Orthodox Muhammadans would, +however, no doubt indignantly repudiate this. + + + + +18. Fasting + +Whenever they set out on a fresh expedition the first week was known +as Satha (seven). During this period the families of those who were +engaged in it would admit no visitors from the relatives of other +Thugs, lest the travellers destined for their own gang should go +over to these others; neither could they eat any food belonging +to the families of other Thugs. During the Satha period the Thugs +engaged in the expedition ate no animal food except fish and nothing +cooked with _ghi_ (melted butter). They did not shave or bathe or +have their clothes washed or indulge in sexual intercourse, or give +away anything in charity or throw any part of their food to dogs or +jackals. At one time they ate no salt or turmeric, but this rule was +afterwards abandoned. But if the Sourka or first murder took place +within the seven days they considered themselves relieved by it from +all these restraints. + + + + +19. Initiation of a novice + +A Thug seldom attained to the office of Bhurtote or strangler +until he had been on several expeditions and acquired the requisite +courage or insensibility by slow degrees. At first they were almost +always shocked or frightened; but after a time they said they lost +all sympathy with the victims. They were first employed as scouts, +then as buriers of the dead, next as Shamsias or holders of hands, +and finally as stranglers. When a man felt that he had sufficient +courage and insensibility he begged the oldest and most renowned Thug +of the gang to make him his _chela_ or disciple. If his proposal was +accepted he awaited the arrival of a suitable victim of not too great +bodily strength. While the traveller was asleep with the gang at their +quarters the _guru_ or preceptor took his disciple into a neighbouring +field, followed by three or four old members of the gang. Here they +all faced in the direction in which the gang intended to move, and the +_guru_ said, "_Oh Kali, Kunkali, Bhudkali, [703] Oh Kali, Maha Kali, +Kalkatawali!_ If it seemeth to thee fit that the traveller now at +our lodging should die by the hands of this thy slave, vouchsafe, we +pray thee, the omen on the right." If they got this within a certain +interval the candidate was considered to be accepted, and if not some +other Thug put the traveller to death and he had to wait for another +chance. In the former case they returned to their quarters and the +_guru_ took a handkerchief and tied the slip-knot in one end of it +with a rupee inside it. The disciple received it respectfully in his +right hand and stood over the victim with the Shamsia or holder by +his side. The traveller was roused on some pretence or other and the +disciple passed the handkerchief over his neck and strangled him. He +then bowed down to his _guru_ and all his relations and friends in +gratitude for the honour he had obtained. He gave the rupee from the +knot with other money, if he had it, to the _guru_, and with this sugar +or sweetmeats were bought and the _gur_ sacrifice was celebrated, +the new strangler taking one of the seats of honour on the blanket +for the first time. The relation between a strangler and his _guru_ +was considered most sacred, and a Thug would often rather betray +his father than the preceptor by whom he had been initiated. There +were certain classes of persons whom they were forbidden to kill, +and they considered that the rapid success of the English officers +in finally breaking up the gangs was to be attributed to the divine +wrath at breaches of these rules. The original rule [704] was that +the Sourka or first victim must not be a Brahman, nor a Saiyad, +nor any very poor man, nor any man with gold on his person, nor any +man who had a quadruped with him, nor a washerwoman, nor a sweeper, +nor a Teli (oilman), nor a Bhat (bard), nor a Kayasth (writer), +nor a leper, dancing-woman, pilgrim or devotee. The reason for +some of these exemptions is obvious: Brahmans, Muhammadan Saiyads, +bards, religious mendicants and devotees were excluded owing to their +sanctity; and sweepers, washermen and lepers owing to their impurity, +which would have the same evil and unlucky effect on their murderers +as the holiness of the first classes. A man wearing gold ornaments +would be protected by the sacred character of the metal; and the +killing of a poor man as the first victim would naturally presage a +lack of valuable booty during the remainder of the expedition. Telis +and Kayasths are often considered as unlucky castes, and even in +the capacity of victims might be held to bring an evil fortune on +their murderers. + + + + +20. Prohibition of murder of women + +Another list is given of persons whom it was forbidden to kill at any +time, and of these the principal category was women. It was a rule +of all Thugs that women should not be murdered, but one which they +constantly broke, for few large parties consisted solely of men, and +to allow victims to escape from a party would have been a suicidal +policy. In all the important exploits related to Colonel Sleeman +the women who accompanied victims were regularly strangled, with the +occasional exception of young girls who might be saved and married to +the sons of Thug leaders. The breach of the rule as to the murder of +women was, however, that which they believed to be specially offensive +to their patroness Bhawani; and no Thug, Colonel Sleeman states, +was ever known to offer insult either in act or speech to the women +whom they were about to murder. No gang would ever dare to murder a +woman with whom one of its members should be suspected of having had +criminal intercourse. The murder of women was especially reprobated +by Hindus, and the Muhammadan Thugs were apparently responsible for +the disregard of this rule which ultimately became prevalent, as shown +by the dispute over the killing of a wealthy old lady, [705] narrated +by one of the Thugs as follows: "I remember the murder of Kali Bibi +well; I was at the time on an expedition to Baroda and not present, +but Punua must have been there. A dispute arose between the Musalmans +and Hindus before and after the murder. The Musalmans insisted upon +killing her as she had Rs. 4000 of property with her, but the Hindus +would not agree. She was killed, and the Hindus refused to take any +part of the booty; they came to blows, but at last the Hindus gave +in and consented to share in all but the clothes and ornaments which +the woman wore. Feringia's father, Parasram Brahman, was there, and +when they came home Parasram's brother, Rai Singh, refused to eat, +drink or smoke with his brother till he had purged himself from this +great sin; and he, with two other Thugs, a Rajput and a Brahman, +gave a feast which cost them a thousand rupees each. Four or five +thousand Brahmans were assembled at that feast. Had it rested here +we should have thrived; but in the affair of the sixty victims women +were again murdered; in the affair of the forty several women were +murdered; and from that time we may trace our decline." + + + + +21. Other classes of persons not killed + +Another rule was that a man having a cow with him should not be +murdered, no doubt on account of the sanctity attaching to the +animal. But in one case of a murder of fourteen persons including +women and a man with a cow at Kotri in the Damoh District, the Thugs, +having made acquaintance with the party, pretended that they had +made a vow to offer a cow at a temple in Shahpur lying on their road +and persuaded the cow's owner to sell her to them for this sacred +purpose, and having duly made the offering and deprived him of the +protection afforded by the cow, they had no compunction in strangling +him with all the travellers. Travellers who had lost a limb were also +exempted from death, but this rule too was broken, as in the case of +the native officer with his two daughters who was murdered by the +Thugs he had befriended; for it is recorded that this man had lost +a leg. Pilgrims carrying Ganges water could not be killed if they +actually had the Ganges water with them; and others who should not be +murdered were washermen, sweepers, oil-vendors, dancers and musicians, +carpenters and blacksmiths, if found travelling together, and religious +mendicants. The reason for the exemption of carpenters and blacksmiths +only when travelling together may probably have been that the sacred +pickaxe was their joint handiwork, having a wooden handle and an iron +head; and this seems a more likely explanation than any other in view +of the deep veneration shown for the pickaxe. Maimed persons would +probably not be acceptable victims to the goddess, according to the +rule that the sacrifice must be without spot or blemish. The other +classes have already been discussed under the exemption of first +victims. Among the Deccan Thugs if a man strangled any victim of a +class whom it was forbidden to kill, he was expelled from the community +and never readmitted to it. This was considered a most dreadful crime. + + + + +22. Belief in omens + +The Thugs believed that the wishes of the deity were constantly +indicated to them by the appearance or cries of a large number of wild +animals and birds from which they drew their omens; and indeed the +number of these was so extensive that they could never be at a loss +for an indication of the divine will, and difficulties could only +arise when the omens were conflicting. As a general rule the omen +varied according as it was heard on the left hand, known as Pilhao, +or the right, known as Thibao. On first opening an expedition an omen +must be heard on the left and be followed by one on the right, or no +start was made; it signified that the deity took them first by the left +hand and then by the right to lead them on. When they were preparing to +march or starting on a road, an omen heard on the left encouraged them +to go on, but if it came from the right they halted. When arriving +at their camping-place on the other hand the omen on the right was +auspicious and they stayed, but if it came from the left the projected +site was abandoned and the march continued. In the case of the calls +of a very few animals these rules were reversed, left and right being +transposed in each instance. The howl of the jackal was always bad if +heard during the day, and the gang immediately quitted the locality, +leaving untouched any victims whom they might have inveigled, however +wealthy. The jackal's cry at night followed the rule of right and +left. The jackal was probably revered by the Thugs as the devourer +of corpses. The sound made by the lizard was at all times and places +a very good omen; but if a lizard fell upon a Thug it was bad, and +any garment touched by it must be given away in charity. The call of +the _saras_ crane was a very important omen, and when heard first on +the left and then on the right or vice versa according to the rules +given above, they expected a great booty in jewels or money. The +call of the partridge followed the same rules but was not of so much +importance. That of the large crow was favourable if the bird was +sitting on a tree, especially when a tank or river could be seen; +but if the crow was perched on the back of a buffalo or pig or on +the skeleton of any animal, it was a bad omen. Tanks or rivers were +likely places for booty in the shape of resting travellers, whose +death the appearance of the crow might portend; whereas in the other +positions it might prognosticate a Thug's own death. The chirping of +the small owlet was considered to be a bad omen, whether made while +the bird was sitting or flying; It was known as _chiraiya_ and is a +low and melancholy sound seldom repeated. They considered it a very +bad omen to hear the hare squeaking; this, unless it was averted +by sacrifices, signified, they said, that they would perish in the +jungles, and the hare or some other animal of the forest would drink +water from their skulls. "We know that the hare was used in Brittany +as an animal of augury for foretelling the future; and all animals of +augury were once venerated." [706] The hare has still some remnant of +sanctity among the Hindus. Women will not eat its flesh, and men eat +the flesh of wild hares only, not of tame ones. It seems likely that +the hare may have been considered capable of foretelling the future +on account of its long ears. The omen of the donkey was considered +the most important of all, whether it threatened evil or promised +good. It was a maxim of augury that the ass was equal to a hundred +birds, and it was also more important than all other quadrupeds. If +they heard its bray on the left on the opening of an expedition and +it was soon after repeated on the right, they believed that nothing +on earth could prevent their success during that expedition though +it should last for years. The ass is the sacred animal of Sitala, +the goddess of smallpox, who is a form of Kali. The ears and also +the bray of the ass would give it importance. + +The noise of two cats heard fighting was propitious only during the +first watch of the night; if heard later in the night it was known +as '_Kali ki mauj_' or 'Kali's temper,' and threatened evil, and if +during the daytime as '_Dhamoni [707] ki mauj_,' and was a prelude +of great misfortune; while if the cats fell from a height while +fighting it was worst of all. The above shows that the cat was also +the animal of Kali and is a point in favour of her derivation from +the tiger; and on this hypothesis the importance of the omen of the +cat is explained. If they obtained a good omen when in company with +travellers they believed that it was a direct order from heaven to +kill them, and that if they disobeyed the sign and let the travellers +go they would never obtain any more victims. [708] + + + + +23. Omens and taboos + +If a mare dropped a foal in their camp while they were travelling, +they were all contaminated or came under the Itak; and the only remedy +for this was to return home and start the journey afresh. Various other +events [709] also produced the Itak, especially among the Deccan Thugs; +these were the birth of a child in a Thug family; the first courses +of a Thug's daughter; a marriage in a Thug's family; a death of any +member of his family except an infant at the breast; circumcision of +a boy; a buffalo or cow giving calf or dying; and a cat or dog giving +a litter or dying. If a party fell under the Itak or contamination +at a time when it was extremely inconvenient or impossible to return +home, they sometimes marched back for a few miles and slept the night, +making a fresh start in the morning, and this was considered equivalent +to beginning a new journey after getting rid of the contamination. If +any member of the party sneezed on setting out on an expedition or on +the day's march, it was a bad omen and required expiatory sacrifices; +and if they had travellers with them when this omen occurred, these +must be allowed to escape and could not be put to death. Omens were +also taken from the turban, without which no Thug, except perhaps in +Bengal, would travel. [710] If a turban caught fire a great evil was +portended, and the gang must, if near home, return and wait for seven +days. But if they had travelled for some distance an offering of _gur_ +(sugar) was made, and the owner of the turban alone returned home. If a +man's turban fell off it was also considered a very bad omen, requiring +expiatory sacrifices. The turban is important as being the covering +of the head, which many primitive people consider to contain the life +or soul (_Golden Bough_). A shower of rain falling at any time except +during the monsoon period from June to September was also a bad omen +which must be averted by sacrifices. Prior to the commencement [711] +of an expedition a Brahman was employed to select a propitious day +and hour for the start and for the direction in which the gang should +proceed. After this the auspices were taken with great solemnity and, +if favourable omens were obtained, the party set out and made a few +steps in the direction indicated; after this they might turn to the +right or left as impediments or incentives presented themselves. If +they heard any one weeping for a death as they left the village, +it threatened great evil; and so, too, if they met the corpse of any +one belonging to their own village, but not that of a stranger. And +it was also a bad omen to meet an oil-vendor, a carpenter, a potter, +a dancing-master, a blind or lame man, a Fakir (beggar) with a brown +waistband or a Jogi (mendicant) with long matted hair. Most of these +were included in the class of persons who might not be killed. + + + + +24. Nature of the belief in omens + +The custom of the Thugs, and in a less degree of ignorant and primitive +races generally, of being guided in their every action by the chance +indications afforded from the voices and movements of birds and animals +appears to the civilised mind extremely foolish. But its explanation +is not difficult when the character of early religious beliefs is +realised. It was held by savages generally that animals, birds and all +other living things, as well as trees and other inanimate objects, +had souls and exercised conscious volition like themselves. And +those animals, such as the tiger and cow, and other objects, such +as the sun and moon and high mountains or trees, which appeared most +imposing and terrible, or exercised the most influence on their lives, +were their principal deities, the spirits of which at a later period +developed into anthropomorphic gods. Even the lesser animals and +birds were revered and considered to be capable of affecting the +lives of men. Hence their appearance, their flight and their cries +were naturally taken to be direct indications afforded by the god to +his worshippers; and it was in the interpretation of these, the signs +given by the divine beings by whom man was surrounded, and whom at one +time he considered superior to himself, that the science of augury +consisted. "The priestesses of the oracle of Zeus at Dodona called +themselves doves, as those of Diana at Ephesus called themselves bees; +this proves that the oracles of the temples were formerly founded on +observations of the flight of doves and bees, and no doubt also that +the original cult consisted in the worship of these animals." [712] +Thus, as is seen here, when the deity was no longer an animal but had +developed into a god in human shape, the animal remained associated +with him and partook of his sanctity; and what could be more natural +than that he should convey the indications of his will through the +appearance, movements and cries of the sacred animal to his human +_proteges_. The pseudo-science of omens is thus seen to be a natural +corollary of the veneration of animals and inanimate objects. + + + + +25. Suppression of Thuggee + +When the suppression of the Thugs was seriously taken in hand by the +Thuggee and Dacoity Department under the direction of Sir William +Sleeman, this abominable confraternity, which had for centuries +infested the main roads of India and made away with tens of thousands +of helpless travellers, never to be heard of again by their families +and friends, was destroyed with comparatively little difficulty. The +Thugs when arrested readily furnished the fullest information of +their murders and the names of their confederates in return for +the promise of their lives, and Colonel Sleeman started a separate +file or _dossier_ for every Thug whose name became known to him, in +which all information obtained about him from different informers +was collected. In this manner, as soon as a man was arrested and +identified, a mass of evidence was usually at once forthcoming to +secure his conviction. Between 1826 and 1835 about 2000 Thugs were +arrested and hanged, transported or kept under restraint; subsequently +to this a larger number of British officers were deputed to the work +of hunting down the Thugs, and by 1848 it was considered that this +form of crime had been practically stamped out. For the support of the +approver Thugs and the families of these and others a labour colony +was instituted at Jubbulpore, which subsequently developed into the +school of industry and was the parent of the existing Reformatory +School. Here these criminals were taught tent and carpet-making and +other trades, and in time grew to be ashamed of the murderous calling +in which they had once taken a pride. + + + + + +Turi + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin of the caste_. + 2. _Subdivisions_. + 3. _Marriage_. + 4. _Funeral rites_. + 5. _Occupation_. + 6. _Social status_. + + + + +1. Origin of the caste + +_Turi._--A non-Aryan caste of cultivators, workers in bamboo, and +basket-makers, belonging to the Chota Nagpur plateau. They number about +4000 persons in Raigarh, Sarangarh and the States recently transferred +from Bengal. The physical type of the Turis, Sir H. Risley states, +their language, and their religion place it beyond doubt that they are +a Hinduised offshoot of the Munda tribe. They still speak a dialect +derived from Mundari, and their principal deity is Singbonga or the +sun, the great god of the Mundas: "In Lohardaga, where the caste is +most numerous, it is divided into four subcastes--Turi or Kisan-Turi, +Or, Dom, and Domra--distinguished by the particular modes of basket +and bamboo-work which they practise. Thus the Turi or Kisan-Turi, +who are also cultivators and hold _bhuinhari_ land, make the _sup_, +a winnowing sieve made of _sirki_, the upper joint of _Saccharum +procerum_; the _tokri_ or _tokiya_, a large open basket of split +bamboo twigs woven up with the fibre of the leaves of the _tal_ +palm; the _sair_ and _nadua_, used for catching fish. The Ors are +said to take their name from the _oriya_ basket used by the sower, +and made of split bamboo, sometimes helped out with _tal_ fibre. They +also make umbrellas, and the _chhota dali_ or _dala_, a flat basket +with vertical sides used for handling grain in small quantities. Doms +make the _harka_ and scale-pans (_taraju_). Domras make the _peti_ +and fans. Turis frequently reckon in as a fifth subcaste the Birhors, +who cut bamboos and make the _sikas_ used for carrying loads slung on +a shoulder-yoke (_bhangi_), and a kind of basket called _phanda_. Doms +and Domras speak Hindi; Turis, Ors and Birhors use among themselves +a dialect of Mundari." [713] + + + + +2. Subdivisions + +In Raigarh and Sarangarh of the Central Provinces the above subcastes +are not found, and there are no distinct endogamous groups; but +the more Hinduised members of the caste have begun to marry among +themselves and call themselves Turia, while they look down on the +others to whom they restrict the designation Turi. The names of +subcastes given by Sir H. Risley appear to indicate that the Turis +are an offshoot from the Mundas, with an admixture of Doms and other +low Uriya castes. Among themselves the caste is also known as Husil, +a term which signifies a worker in bamboo. The caste say that their +original ancestor was created by Singbonga, the sun, and had five sons, +one of whom found a wooden image of their deity in the Baranda forest, +near the Barpahari hill in Chota Nagpur. This image was adopted as +their family deity, and is revered to the present day as Barpahari +Deo. The deity is thus called after the hill, of which it is clear that +he is the personified representative. From the five sons are descended +the five main septs of the Turis. The eldest was called Mailuar, and +his descendants are the leaders or headmen of the caste. The group +sprung from the second son are known as Chardhagia, and it is their +business to purify and readmit offenders to caste intercourse. The +descendants of the third son conduct the ceremonial shaving of such +offenders, and are known as Surennar, while those of the fourth son +bring water for the ceremony and are called Tirkuar. The fifth group +is known as Hasdagia, and it is said that they are the offspring of +the youngest brother, who committed some offence, and the four other +brothers took the parts which are still played by their descendants in +his ceremony of purification. Traces of similar divisions appear to be +found in Bengal, as Sir H. Risley states that before a marriage can +be celebrated the consent of the heads of the Madalwar and Surinwar +sections, who are known respectively as Raja and Thakur, is obtained, +while the head of the Charchagiya section officiates as priest. The +above names are clearly only variants of those found in the Central +Provinces. But besides the above groups the Turis have a large number +of exogamous septs of a totemistic nature, some of which are identical +with those of the Mundas. + + + + +3. Marriage + +Marriage is adult, and the bride and bridegroom are usually about +the same age; but girls are scarce in the caste, and betrothals are +usually effected at an early age, so that the fathers of boys may +obtain brides for their sons. A contract of betrothal, once made, +cannot be broken without incurring social disgrace, and compensation +in money is also exacted. A small bride-price of three or four rupees +and a piece of cloth is payable to the girl's father. As in the case +of some other Uriya castes the proposal for a marriage is couched in +poetic phraseology, the Turi bridegroom's ambassador announcing his +business with the phrase: 'I hear that a sweet-scented flower has +blossomed in your house and I have come to gather it'; to which the +bride's father, if the match be acceptable, replies: 'You may take +away my flower if you will not throw it away when its sweet scent +has gone.' The girl then appears, and the boy's father gives her +a piece of cloth and throws a little liquor over her feet. He then +takes her on his lap and gives her an anna to buy a ring for herself, +and sometimes kisses her and says, 'You will preserve my lineage.' He +washes the feet of her relatives, and the contract of betrothal +is thus completed, and its violation by either party is a serious +matter. The wedding is performed according to the ritual commonly +practised by the Uriya castes. The binding portion of it consists +in the perambulation of the sacred pole five or seven times. After +each circle the bridegroom takes hold of the bride's toe and makes +her kick away a small heap of rice on which a nut and a pice coin +are placed. After this a cloth is held over the couple and each rubs +vermilion on the other's forehead. At this moment the bride's brother +appears, and gives the bridegroom a blow on the back. This is probably +in token of his wrath at being deprived of his sister. A meal of rice +and fowls is set before the bridegroom, but he feigns displeasure, +and refuses to eat them. The bride's parents then present him with a +pickaxe and a crooked knife, saying that these are the implements of +their trade, and will suffice him for a livelihood. The bridegroom, +however, continues obdurate until they promise him a cow or a bullock, +when he consents to eat. The bride's family usually spend some twenty +or more rupees on her wedding, and the bridegroom's family about fifty +rupees. A widow is expected to marry her Dewar or deceased husband's +younger brother, and if she takes somebody else he must repay to the +Dewar the expenditure incurred by the latter's family on her first +marriage. Divorce is permitted for misconduct on the part of the wife +or for incompatibility of temper. + + + + +4. Funeral rites + +The caste bury the dead, placing the head to the north. They make +libations to the spirits of their ancestors on the last day of Phagun +(February), and not during the fortnight of Pitripaksh in Kunwar +(September) like other Hindu castes. They believe that the spirits of +ancestors are reborn in children, and when a baby is born they put a +grain of rice into a pot of water and then five other grains in the +names of ancestors recently deceased. When one of these meets the +grain representing the child they hold that the ancestor in question +has been born again. The principal deity of the caste is Singbonga, the +sun, and according to one of their stories the sun is female. They say +that the sun and moon were two sisters, both of whom had children, but +when the sun gave out great heat the moon was afraid that her children +would be burnt up, so she hid them in a _handi_ or earthen pot. When +the sun missed her sister's children she asked her where they were, +and the moon replied that she had eaten them up; on which the sun +also ate up her own children. But when night came the moon took her +children out of the earthen pot and they spread out in the sky and +became the stars. And when the sun saw this she was greatly angered +and vowed that she would never look on the moon's face again. And it +is on this account that the moon is not seen in the daytime, and as +the sun ate up all her children there are no stars during the day. + + + + +5. Occupation + +The caste make and sell all kinds of articles manufactured from the +wood of the bamboo, and the following list of their wares will give an +idea of the variety of purposes for which this product is utilised: +_Tukna_, an ordinary basket; _dauri_, a basket for washing rice +in a stream; _lodhar_, a large basket for carrying grain on carts; +_chuki_, a small basket for measuring grain; _garni_ and _sikosi_, +a small basket for holding betel-leaf and a box for carrying it in +the pocket; _dhitori_, a fish-basket; _dholi_, a large bamboo shed +for storing grain; _ghurki_ and _paili_, grain measures; _chhanni_, +a sieve; _taji_) a balance; _pankha_ and _bijna_, fans; _pelna_, a +triangular frame for a fishing-net; _choniya_, a cage for catching +fish; _chatai_) matting; _chhata_, an umbrella; _chhitori_, a leaf +hat for protecting the body from rain; _pinjra_, a cage; _khunkhuna_, +a rattle; and _guna_, a muzzle for bullocks. + +Most of them are very poor, and they say that when Singbonga made +their ancestors he told them to fetch something in which to carry +away the grain which he would give them for their support; but the +Turis brought a bamboo sieve, and when Singbonga poured the grain +into the sieve nearly the whole of it ran out. So he reproved them +for their foolishness, and said, '_Khasar, khasar, tin pasar_,' +which meant that, however hard they should work, they would never +earn more than three handfuls of grain a day. + + + + +6. Social status + +The social status of the Turis is very low, and their touch is regarded +as impure. They must live outside the village and may not draw water +from the common well; the village barber will not shave them nor +the washerman wash their clothes. They will eat all kinds of food, +including the flesh of rats and other vermin, but not beef. The +rules regarding social impurity are more strictly observed in the +Uriya country than elsewhere, owing to the predominant influence of +the Brahmans, and this is probably the reason why the Turis are so +severely ostracised. Their code of social morality is not strict, and +a girl who is seduced by a man of the caste is simply made over to him +as his wife, the ordinary bride-price being exacted from him. He must +also feed the caste-fellows, and any money which is received by the +girl's father is expended in the same manner. Members of Hindu castes +and Gonds may be admitted into the community, but not the Munda tribes, +such as the Mundas themselves and the Kharias and Korwas; and this, +though the Turis, as has been seen, are themselves an offshoot of the +Munda tribe. The fact indicates that in Chota Nagpur the tribes of the +Munda family occupy a lower social position than the Gonds and others +belonging to the Dravidian family. When an offender of either sex is +to be readmitted into caste after having been temporarily expelled for +some offence he or she is given water to drink and has a lock of hair +cut off. Their women are tattooed on the arms, breast and feet, and +say that this is the only ornament which they can carry to the grave. + + + + +Velama + + + + +1. Origin and social status + +_Velama, Elama, Yelama._--A Telugu cultivating caste found in +large numbers in Vizagapatam and Ganjam, while in 1911 about 700 +persons were returned from Chanda and other districts in the Central +Provinces. The caste frequently also call themselves by the honorific +titles of Naidu or Dora (lord). The Velamas are said formerly to +have been one with the Kamma caste, but to have separated on the +question of retaining the custom of _parda_ or _gosha_ which they had +borrowed from the Muhammadans. The Kammas abandoned _parda_, and, +signing a bond written on palm-leaf to this effect, obtained their +name from _kamma_, a leaf. The Velamas retained the custom, but a +further division has taken place on the subject, and one subcaste, +called the Adi or original Velamas, do not seclude their women. The +caste has at present a fairly high position, and several important +Madras chiefs are Velamas, as well as the zamindar of Sironcha in the +Central Provinces. They appear, however, to have improved their status, +and thus to have incurred the jealousy of their countrymen, as is +evidenced by some derogatory sayings current about the caste. Thus +the Balijas call them Guni Sakalvandlu or hunchbacked washermen, +because some of them print chintz and carry their goods in a bundle +on their backs. [714] According to another derivation _guna_ is +the large pot in which they dye their cloth. Another story is that +the name of the caste is Velimala, meaning those who are above or +better than the Dhers, and was a title conferred on them by the Raja +of Bastar in recognition of the bravery displayed by the Velamas in +his army. These stories are probably the outcome of the feeling of +jealousy which attaches to castes which have raised themselves in +the social scale. The customs of the Velamas do not indicate a very +high standard of ceremonial observance, as they eat fowls and pork +and drink liquor. They are said to take food from Bestas and Dhimars, +while Kunbis will take it from them. The men of the caste are tall and +strong, of a comparatively fair complexion and of a bold and arrogant +demeanour. It is said that a Velama will never do anything himself +which a servant can do for him, and a story is told of one of them who +was smoking when a spark fell on his moustache. He called his servant +to remove it, but by the time the man came, his master's moustache had +been burnt away. These stories and the customs of the Velamas appear +to indicate that they are a caste of comparatively low position, who +have gone up in the world, and are therefore tenacious in asserting +a social position which is not universally admitted. Their subcastes +show that a considerable difference in standing exists in the different +branches of the caste. Of these the Racha or royal Velamas, to whom +the chiefs and zamindars belong, are the highest. While others are the +Guna Velamas or those who use a dyer's pot, the Eku or 'Cotton-skein' +who are weavers and carders, and the Tellaku or white leaf Velamas, +the significance of this last name not being known. It is probable +that the Velamas were originally a branch of the great Kapu or Reddi +caste of cultivators, corresponding in the Telugu country to the Kurmis +and Kunbis, as many of their section names are the same as those of +the Kapus. The Velamas apparently took up the trades of weaving and +dyeing, and some of them engaged in military service and acquired +property. These are now landowners and cultivators and breed cattle, +while others dye and weave cloth. They will not engage themselves +as hired labourers, and they do not allow their women to work in +the fields. + + + + +2. Marriage and social customs + +The caste are said to have 77 exogamous groups descended from the 77 +followers or spearsmen who attended Raja Rudra Pratap of Bastar when +he was ousted from Warangal. These section names are eponymous, +territorial and totemistic, instances of the last kind being +Cherukunula from _cheruku_, sugarcane, and Pasapunula from _pasapu_, +turmeric, and _nula_, thread. Marriage within the section or _gotra_ +is prohibited, but first cousins may intermarry. Marriage is usually +adult, and the binding portion of the ceremony consists in the tying +of the _mangal-sutram_ or happy thread by the bridegroom round the +bride's neck. At the end of the marriage the _kankans_ or bracelets +of the bridegroom and bride are taken off in signification that all +obstacles to complete freedom of intercourse and mutual confidence +between the married pair have been removed. In past years, when the +Guna Velamas had a marriage, they were bound to pay the marriage +expenses of a couple of the Palli or fisherman caste, in memory of +the fact that on one occasion when the Guna Velamas were in danger of +being exterminated by their enemies, the Pallis rescued them in their +boats and carried them to a place of safety. But now it is considered +sufficient to hang up a fishing-net in the house when a marriage +ceremony of the Guna Velamas is being celebrated. [715] The caste do +not permit the marriage of widows, and divorce is confined to cases +in which a wife is guilty of adultery. The Velamas usually employ +Vaishnava Brahmans as their priests. They burn the bodies of those +who die after marriage, and bury those dying before it. Children are +named on the twenty-first day after birth, the child being placed in +a swing, and the name selected by the parents being called out three +times by the oldest woman present. On this day the mother is taken +to a well and made to draw a bucket of water by way of declaration +that she is fit to do household work. + + + + +Vidur + + +List of Paragraphs + + + 1. _Origin and traditions_. + 2. _The Purads, Golaks and Borals_. + 3. _Illegitimacy among Hindustani castes_. + 4. _Legend of origin_. + 5. _Marriage_. + 6. _Social rules and occupation_. + + + + +1. Origin and traditions + +_Vidur, [716] Bidur_.--A Maratha caste numbering 21,000 persons in +the Central Provinces in 1911, and found in the Nagpur Division and +Berar. They are also returned from Hyderabad and Bombay. Vidur means +a wise or intelligent man, and was the name of the younger brother +of Pandu, the father of the Pandava brothers. The Vidurs are a caste +of mixed descent, principally formed from the offspring of Brahman +fathers with women of other castes. But the descendants of Panchals, +Kunbis, Malis and others from women of lower caste are also known +as Vidurs and are considered as different subcastes. Each of these +groups follow the customs and usually adopt the occupation of the +castes to which their fathers belonged. They are known as Kharchi or +Khaltatya, meaning 'Below the plate' or 'Below the salt,' as they are +not admitted to dine with the proper Vidurs. But the rule varies in +different places, and sometimes after the death of their mother such +persons become full members of the caste, and with each succeeding +generation the status of their descendants improves. In Poona the +name Vidur is restricted to the descendants of Brahman fathers, and +they are also known as Brahmanja or 'Born from Brahmans.' Elsewhere +the Brahman Vidurs are designated especially as Krishnapakshi, which +means 'One born during the dark fortnight,' The term Krishnapakshi +is or was also used in Bengal, and Buchanan defined it as follows: +"Men of the Rajput, Khatri and Kayasth tribes, but no others, openly +keep women slaves of any pure tribe, and the children are of the +same caste with their father, but are called Krishnapakshis and can +only marry with each other." [717] In Bastar a considerable class +of persons of similar illegitimate descent also exist, being the +offspring of the unions of immigrant Hindus with women of the Gond, +Halba and other tribes. The name applied to them, however, is Dhakar, +and as their status and customs are quite different from those of +the Maratha Vidurs they are treated in a short separate article. + + + + +2. The Purads, Golaks and Borals + +Another small group related to the Vidurs are the Purads of Nagpur; +they say that their ancestor was a Brahman who was carried away +in a flooded river and lost his sacred thread. He could not put on +a new thread afterwards because the sacred thread must be changed +without swallowing the spittle in the interval. Hence he was put out +of caste and his descendants are the Purads, the name being derived +from _pur_, a flood. These people are mainly shopkeepers. In Berar +two other groups are found, the Golaks and Borals. The Golaks are +the illegitimate offspring of a Brahman widow; if after her husband's +decease she did not shave her head, her illegitimate children are known +as Rand [718] Golaks; if her head was shaved, they are called Mund +(shaven) Golaks; and if their father be unknown, they are named Kund +Golaks. The Golaks are found in Malkapur and Balapur and number about +400 persons. A large proportion of them are beggars. A Boral is said +to be the child of a father of any caste and a mother of one of those +in which widows shave their heads. As a matter of fact widows, except +among Brahmans, rarely shave their heads in the Central Provinces, +and it would therefore appear, if Mr. Kitts' definition is correct, +that the Borals are the offspring of women by fathers of lower caste +than themselves; a most revolting union to Hindu ideas. As, however, +the Borals are mostly grocers and shopkeepers, it is possible that +they may be the same class as the Purads. In 1881 they numbered only +163 persons and were found in Darhwa, Mehkar and Chikhli taluks. + + + + +3. Illegitimacy among Hindustani castes + +There is no caste corresponding to the Vidurs in the Hindi Districts +and the offspring of unions which transgress the caste marriage +rules are variously treated. Many castes both in the north and south +say that they have 12 1/2 subdivisions and that the half subcaste +comprises the descendants of illicit unions. Of course the twelve +subdivisions are as a rule mythical, the number of subcastes being +always liable to fluctuate as fresh endogamous groups are formed +by migration or slight changes in the caste calling. Other castes +have a Lohri Sen or degraded group which corresponds to the half +caste. In other cases the illegitimate branch has a special name; +thus the Niche Pat Bundelas of Saugor and Chhoti Tar Rajputs of Nimar +are the offspring of fathers of the Bundela and other Rajput tribes +with women of lower castes; both these terms have the same meaning as +Lohri Sen, that is a low-caste or bastard group. Similarly the Dauwa +(wet-nurse) Ahirs are the offspring of Bundela fathers and the Ahir +women who act as nurses in their households. In Saugor is found a class +of persons called Kunwar [719] who are descended from the offspring +of the Maratha Brahman rulers of Saugor and their kept women. They +now form a separate caste and Hindustani Brahmans will take water +from them. They refuse to accept _katcha_ food (cooked with water) +from Maratha Brahmans, which all other castes will do. Another class +of bastard children of Brahmans are called Dogle, and such people +commonly act as servants of Maratha Brahmans; as these Brahmans do +not take water to drink from the hands of any caste except their own, +they have much difficulty in procuring household servants and readily +accept a Dogle in this capacity without too close a scrutiny of his +antecedents. There is also a class of Dogle Kayasths of similar, +origin, who are admitted as members of the caste on an inferior +status and marry among themselves. After several generations such +groups tend to become legitimised; thus the origin of the distinction +between the Khare and Dusre Srivastab Kayasths and the Dasa and Bisa +Agarwala Banias was probably of this character, but now both groups +are reckoned as full members of the caste, one only ranking somewhat +below the other so that they do not take food together. The Parwar +Banias have four divisions of different social status known as the +Bare, Manjhile, Sanjhile and Lohri Seg or Sen, or first, second, +third and fourth class. A man and woman detected in a serious social +offence descend into the class next below their own, unless they can +pay the severe penalties prescribed for it. If either marries or forms +a connection with a man or woman of a lower class they descend into +that class. Similarly, one who marries a widow goes into the Lohri Seg +or lowest class. Other castes have a similar system of divisions. Among +the great body of Hindus cases of men living with women of different +caste are now very common, and the children of such unions sometimes +inherit their father's property. Though in such cases the man is +out of caste this does not mean that he is quite cut off from social +intercourse. He will be invited to the caste dinners, but must sit in +a different row from the orthodox members so as not to touch them. As +an instance of these mixed marriages the case of a private servant, a +Mali or gardener, may be quoted. He always called himself a Brahman, +and though thinking it somewhat curious that a Brahman should be +a gardener, I took no notice of it until he asked leave to attend +the funeral of his niece, whose father was a Government menial, +an Agarwala Bania. It was then discovered that he was the son of a +Brahman landowner by a mistress of the Kachhi caste of sugarcane and +vegetable growers, so that the profession of a private or ornamental +gardener, for which a special degree of intelligence is requisite, +was very suitable to him. His sister by the same parents was married +to this Agarwala Bania, who said his own family was legitimate and he +had been deceived about the girl. The marriage of one of this latter +couple's daughters was being arranged with the son of a Brahman, father +and Bania mother in Jubbulpore; while the gardener himself had never +been married, but was living with a girl of the Gadaria (shepherd) +caste who had been married in her caste but had never lived with her +husband. Inquiries made in a small town as to the status of seventy +families showed that ten were out of caste on account of irregular +matrimonial or sexual relations; and it may therefore be concluded +that a substantial proportion of Hindus have no real caste at present. + + + + +4. Legend of origin + +The Vidurs say that they are the descendants of a son who was born +to a slave girl by the sage Vyas, the celebrated compiler of the +Mahabharata, to whom the girl was sent to provide an heir to the +kingdom of Hastinapur. This son was named Vidur and was remarkable +for his great wisdom, being one of the leading characters in the +Mahabharata and giving advice both to the Pandavas and the Kauravas. + + + + +5. Marriage + +As already stated, the Vidurs who are sprung from fathers of different +castes form subcastes marrying among themselves. Among the Brahman +Vidurs also, a social difference exists between the older members +of the caste who are descended from Vidurs for several generations, +and the new ones who are admitted into it as being the offspring of +Brahman fathers from recent illicit unions, the former considering +themselves to be superior and avoiding intermarriage with the latter +as far as possible. The Brahman Vidurs, to whom this article chiefly +relates, have exogamous sections of different kinds, the names being +eponymous, territorial, titular and totemistic. Among the names of +their sections are Indurkar from Indore; Chaurikar, a whisk-maker; +Acharya and Pande, a priest; Menjokhe, a measurer of wax; Mine, +a fish; Dudhmande, one who makes wheaten cakes with milk; Goihe, a +lizard; Wadabhat, a ball of pulse and cooked rice; Diwale, bankrupt; +and Joshi, an astrologer. The Brahman Vidurs have the same sect groups +as the Maratha Brahmans, according to the Veda which they especially +revere. Marriage is forbidden within the section and in that of the +paternal and maternal uncles and aunts. In Chanda, when a boy of one +section marries a girl of another, all subsequent alliances between +members of the two sections must follow the same course, and a girl +of the first section must not marry a boy of the second. This rule +is probably in imitation of that by which their caste is formed, +that is from the union of a man of higher with a woman of lower +caste. As already stated, the reverse form of connection is considered +most disgraceful by the Hindus, and children born of it could not +be Vidurs. On the same analogy they probably object to taking both +husbands and wives from the same section. Marriage is usually infant, +and a second wife is taken only if the first be barren or if she is +sickly or quarrelsome. As a rule, no price is paid either for the +bride or bridegroom. Vidurs have the same marriage ceremony as Maratha +Brahmans, except that Puranic instead of Vedic _mantras_ or texts +are repeated at the service. As among the lower castes the father of +a boy seeks for a bride for his son, while with Brahmans it is the +girl's father who makes the proposal. When the bridegroom arrives he +is conducted to the inner room of the bride's house; Mr. Tucker states +that this is known as the _Gaurighar_ because it contains the shrine of +Gauri or Parvati, wife of Mahadeo; and here he is received by the bride +who has been occupied in worshipping the goddess. A curtain is held +between them and coloured rice is thrown over them and distributed, +and they then proceed to the marriage-shed, where an earthen mound or +platform, known as Bohala, has been erected. They first sit on this +on two stools and then fire is kindled on the platform and they walk +five times round it. The Bohala is thus a fire altar. The expenses of +marriage amount for the bridegroom's family to Rs. 300 on an average, +and for the bride's to a little more. Widows are allowed to remarry, +but the second union must not take place with any member of the family +of the late husband, whose property remains with his children or, +failing them, with his family. In the marriage of a widow the common +_pat_ ceremony of the Maratha Districts is used. A price is commonly +paid to the parents of a widow by her second husband. Divorce is +allowed on the instance of the husband by a written agreement, and +divorced women may marry again by the _pat_ ceremony. In Chanda it +is stated that when a widower marries again a silver or golden image +is made of the first wife and being placed with the household gods +is daily worshipped by the second wife. + + + + +6. Social rules and occupation + +The Vidurs employ Maratha Brahmans for religious and ceremonial +purposes, while their _gurus_ are either Brahmans or Bairagis. They +have two names, one for ceremonial and the other for ordinary use. When +a child is to be named it is placed in a cradle and parties of women +sit on opposite sides of it. One of the women takes the child in her +arms and passes it across the cradle to another saying, 'Take the +child named Ramchandra' or whatever it may be. The other woman passes +the child back using the same phrase, and it is then placed in the +cradle and rocked, and boiled wheat and gram are distributed to the +party. The Vidurs burn the dead, and during the period of mourning +the well-to-do employ a Brahman to read the Garud Puran to them, +which tells how a sinner is punished in the next world and a virtuous +man is rewarded. This, it is said, occupies their minds and prevents +them from feeling their bereavement. They will take food only from +Maratha Brahmans and water from Rajputs and Kunbis. Brahmans will, +as a rule, not take anything from a Vidur's hand, but some of them +have begun to accept water and sweetmeats, especially in the case +of educated Vidurs. The Vidurs will not eat flesh of any kind nor +drink liquor. The Brahman Vidurs did not eat in kitchens in the +famine. Their dress resembles that of Maratha Brahmans. The men do not +usually wear the sacred thread, but some have adopted it. In Bombay, +however, boys are regularly invested with the sacred thread before +the age of ten. [720] In Nagpur it is stated that the Vidurs like +to be regarded as Brahmans. [721] They are now quite respectable +and hold land. Many of them are in Government service, some being +officers of the subordinate grades and others clerks, and they are +also agents to landowners, patwaris and shopkeepers. The Vidurs are +the best educated caste with the exception of Brahmans, Kayasths and +Banias, and this fact has enabled them to obtain a considerable rise +in social status. Their aptitude for learning may be attributed to +their Brahman parentage, while in some cases Vidurs have probably +been given an education by their Brahman relatives. Their correct +position should be a low one, distinctly beneath that of the good +cultivating castes. A saying has it, 'As the _amarbel_ creeper has no +roots, so the Vidur has no ancestry.' But owing to their education +and official position the higher classes of Vidurs have obtained a +social status not much below that of Kayasths. This rise in position +is assisted by their adherence in matters of dress, food and social +practice to the customs of Maratha Brahmans, so that many of them +are scarcely distinguishable from a Brahman. A story is told of a +Vidur Tahsildar or Naib-Tahsildar who was transferred to a District +at some distance from his home, and on his arrival there pretended to +be a Maratha Brahman. He was duly accepted by the other Brahmans, who +took food with him in his house and invited him to their own. After +an interval of some months the imposture was discovered, and it is +stated that this official was at a short subsequent period dismissed +from Government service on a charge of bribery. The Vidurs are also +considered to be clever at personation, and one or two stories are +told of frauds being carried out through a Vidur returning to some +family in the character of a long-lost relative. + + + + +Waghya + +_Waghya,_ [722] _Vaghe, Murli._--An order of mendicant devotees of +the god Khandoba, an incarnation of Siva; they belong to the Maratha +Districts and Bombay where Khandoba is worshipped. The term Waghya +is derived from _vagh_, a tiger, and has been given to the order +on account of the small bag of tiger-skin, containing _bhandar_, or +powdered turmeric, which they carry round their necks. This has been +consecrated to Khandoba and they apply a pinch of it to the foreheads +of those who give them alms. Murli, signifying 'a flute' is the name +given to female devotees. Waghya is a somewhat indefinite term and +in the Central Provinces does not strictly denote a caste. The order +originated in the practice followed by childless mothers of vowing to +Khandoba that if they should bear a child, their first-born should be +devoted to his service. Such a child became a Waghya or Murli according +as it was a boy or a girl. But they were not necessarily severed from +their own caste and might remain members of it and marry in it. Thus +there are Waghya Telis in Wardha, who marry with other Telis. The child +might also be kept in the temple for a period and then withdrawn, and +nowadays this is always done. The children of rich parents sometimes +simply remain at home and worship Khandoba there. But they must beg +on every Sunday from at least five persons all their lives. Another +practice, formerly existing, was for the father and mother to vow that +if a child was born they would be swung. They were then suspended +from a wooden post on a rope by an iron hook inserted in the back +and swung round four or five times. The sacred turmeric was applied +to the wound and it quickly healed up. Others would take a Waghya +child to Mahadeo's cave in Pachmarhi and let it fall from the top of +a high tree. If it lived it was considered to be a Raja of Mahadeo, +and if it died happiness might confidently be anticipated for it in +the next birth. Besides the children who are dedicated to Khandoba, +a man may become a Waghya either for life or for a certain period in +fulfilment of a vow, and in the latter case will be an ordinary member +of his own caste again on its termination. The Waghyas and Murlis who +are permanent members of the order sometimes also live together and +have children who are brought up in it. The constitution of the order +is therefore in several respects indefinite, and it has not become a +self-contained caste, though there are Waghyas who have no other caste. + +The following description of the dedication of children to Khandoba is +taken from the _Bombay Gazetteer_ [723]. When parents have to dedicate +a boy to Khandoba they go to his temple at Jejuri in Poona on any day +in the month of Chaitra (March-April). They stay at a Gurao's house and +tell him the object of their visit. The boy's father brings offerings +and they go in procession to Khandoba's temple. There the Gurao +marks the boy's brow with turmeric, throws turmeric over his head, +fastens round his neck a deer-or tiger-skin wallet hung from a black +woollen string and throws turmeric over the god, asking him to take +the boy. The Murlis or girls dedicated to the god are married to him +between one and twelve years of age. The girl is taken to the temple +by her parents accompanied by the Gurao priest and other Murlis. At +the temple she is bathed and her body rubbed with turmeric, with which +the feet of the idol are also anointed. She is dressed in a new robe +and bodice, and green glass bangles are put on her wrists. A turban +and sash are presented to the god, and the _guru_ taking a necklace +of nine cowries (shells) fastens it round the girl's neck. She then +stands before the god, a cloth being held between them as at a proper +wedding, and the priest repeats the marriage verses. Powdered turmeric +is thrown on the heads of the girl and of the idol, and from that day +she is considered to be the wife of Khandoba and cannot marry any other +man. When a Murli comes of age she sits by herself for four days. Then +she looks about for a patron, and when she succeeds in getting one she +calls a meeting of her brethren, the Waghyas, and in their presence +the patron says, 'I will fill the Murli's lap.' The Waghyas ask him +what he will pay and after some haggling a sum is agreed on, which +thirty years ago varied between twenty-five and a hundred rupees. If +it is more than Rs. 50 a half of the money goes to the community, +who spend it on a feast. With the balance the girl buys clothes for +herself. She lives with her patron for as long as he wishes to keep +her, and is then either attached to the temple or travels about as a +female mendicant. Sometimes a married woman will leave her home and +become a Murli, with the object as a rule of leading a vicious life. + +A man who takes a vow to become a Waghya must be initiated by a _guru_, +who is some elder member of the order. The initiation takes place +early on a Sunday morning, and after the disciple is shaved, bathed +and newly clad, the _guru_ places a string of cowries round his neck +and gives him the tiger-skin bag in which the turmeric is kept. He +always retains much reverence for his _guru_, and invokes him with the +exclamation, 'Jai Guru,' before starting out to beg in the morning. The +following articles are carried by the Waghyas when begging. The _dapdi_ +a circular single drum of wood, covered with goat-skin, and suspended +to the shoulder. The _chouka_ consists of a single wire suspended from +a bar and passing inside a hollow wooden conical frame. The wire is +struck with a stick to produce the sound. The _ghati_ is an ordinary +temple bell; and the _kutumba_ is a metal saucer which serves for a +begging-bowl. This is considered sacred, and sandalwood is applied +to it before starting out in the morning. The Waghyas usually beg +in parties of four, each man carrying one of these articles. Two +of them walk in front and two behind, and they sing songs in praise +of Khandoba and play on the instruments. Every Waghya has also the +bag made of tiger-skin, or, if this cannot be had, of deer-skin, +and the cowrie necklace, and a _seli_ or string of goat-hair round +the neck. Alms, after being received in the _kutumba_ or saucer, +are carried in a bag, and before setting out in the morning they put +a little grain in this bag, as they think that it would be unlucky +to start with it empty. At the end of the day they set out their +takings on the ground and make a little offering of fire to them, +throwing a pinch of turmeric in the air in the name of Khandoba. The +four men then divide the takings and go home. Marathas, Murlis and +Telis are the castes who revere Khandoba, and they invite the Waghyas +to sing on the Dasahra and also at their marriages. In Bombay the +Waghyas force iron bars through their calves and pierce the palms of +their hands with needles. To the needle a strip of wood is attached, +and on this five lighted torches are set out, and the Waghya waves +them about on his hand before the god. [724] Once in three years each +Waghya makes a pilgrimage to Khandoba's chief temple at Jejuri near +Poona, and there are also local temples to this deity at Hinganghat +and Nagpur. The Waghyas eat flesh and drink liquor, and their social +and religious customs resemble those of the Marathas and Kunbis. + + + + + +Yerukala + +_Yerukala._--A vagrant gipsy tribe of Madras of whom a small number +are returned from the Chanda District. They live by thieving, +begging, fortune-telling and making baskets, and are usually +treated as identical with the Koravas or Kuravas, who have the same +occupations. Both speak a corrupt Tamil, and the Yerukalas are said to +call one another Kurru or Kura. It has been supposed that Korava was +the Tamil name which in the Telugu country became Yerukalavandlu or +fortune-teller. Mr. (Sir H.) Stewart thought there could be no doubt +of the identity of the two castes, [725] though Mr. Francis points out +differences between them. [726] The Yerukalas are expert thieves. They +frequent villages on the pretence of begging, and rob by day in regular +groups under a female leader, who is known as Jemadarin. Each gang +is provided with a bunch of keys and picklocks. They locate a locked +house in an unfrequented lane, and one of them stands in front as +if begging; the remainder are posted as watchers in the vicinity, +and the Jemadarin picks the lock and enters the house. When the +leader comes out with the booty she locks the door and they all +walk away. If any one comes up while the leader is in the house +the woman at the door engages him in conversation by some device, +such as producing a silver coin and asking if it is good. She then +begins to dispute, and laying hold of him calls out to her comrades +that the man has abused her or been taking liberties with her. The +others run up and jostle him away from the door, and while they are +all occupied with the quarrel the thief escapes. Or an old woman +goes from house to house pretending to be a fortune-teller. When +she finds a woman at home alone, she flatters and astonishes her by +relating the chief events in her life, how many children she has, +how many more are coming, and so on. When the woman of the house is +satisfied that the fortune-teller has supernatural powers, she allows +the witch to cover her face with her robe, and shuts her eyes while +the fortune-teller breathes on them, and blows into her ears and sits +muttering charms. Meanwhile one or two of the latter's friends who +have been lurking close by walk into the house and carry away whatever +they can lay their hands on. When they have left the house the woman's +face is uncovered and the fortune-teller takes her fee and departs, +leaving her dupe to find out that her house has been robbed. [727] +The conjugal morals of these people are equally low. They sell or +pledge their wives and unmarried daughters, and will take them back on +the redemption of the pledge with any children born in the interval, +as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened. When a man is +sentenced to imprisonment his wife selects another partner for the +period of her husband's absence, going back to him on his release +with all her children, who are considered as his. Mr. Thurston gives +the following story of a gang of Koravas or Yerukalas in Tinnevelly: +"One morning, in Tinnevelly, while the butler in a missionary's +house was attending to his duties, an individual turned up with a +fine fowl for sale. The butler, finding that he could purchase it +for about half the real price, bought it, and showed it to his wife +with no small pride in his ability in making a bargain. But he was +distinctly crestfallen when his wife pointed out that it was his +own bird, which had been lost on the previous night. The seller was +a Korava." [728] In Madras they have also now developed into expert +railway thieves. They have few restrictions as to food, eating cats +and mice, though not dogs. [729] The Yerukalas practised the custom of +the Couvade as described by the Rev. John Cain, of Dumagudem: [730] +"Directly the woman feels the birth-pangs she informs her husband, +who immediately takes some of her clothes, puts them on, places on his +forehead the mark which the women usually place on theirs, retires +into a dark room where there is only a very dim lamp, and lies down +on the bed, covering himself up with a long cloth. When the child is +born it is washed and placed on the cot beside the father. Asafoetida, +jaggery and other articles are then given, not to the mother but to +the father. During the days of ceremonial impurity the man is treated +as other Hindus treat their women on such occasions. He is not allowed +to leave his bed, but has everything needful brought to him. + +"The Yerukalas marry when quite young. At the birth of a daughter +the father of an unmarried little boy often brings a rupee and ties +it in the cloth of the father of a newly-born girl. When the girl is +grown up he can then claim her for his son." + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Kumhar. + +[2] Gods and demons. + +[3] _Hath_, hand and _garhna_ to make or mould. + +[4] _Gora_, white or red, applied to Europeans. + +[5] _History of the Marathas_, edition 1878, vol. i. p. 26. + +[6] The above description is taken from the Central Provinces +_Monograph on Pottery and Glassware_ by Mr. Jowers, p. 4. + +[7] _Golden Bough,_ ii. pp. 299, 301. + +[8] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 524. + +[9] _Orpheus_, p. 152. + +[10] The sacrifice is now falling into abeyance, as landowners refuse +to supply the buffalo. + +[11] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 368. + +[12] _Vide_ article on Lakhera. + +[13] _Rasmala_, i. p. 100. + +[14] _Ibidem_, p. 241. + +[15] _Khandesh Gazetteer_, p. 62. + +[16] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. i. part ii. p. 34. + +[17] From _jihar_, a tree or shrub. + +[18] _Acacia catechu_. + +[19] _Dhan_ properly means wealth, _cf._ the two meanings of the word +stock in English. + +[20] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), para. 180. + +[21] _Ibidem_. + +[22] _Bawan_ = fifty-two. + +[23] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat_ p. 490, App. B, Gujar. + +[24] _Eugenia jambolana_. + +[25] _Ficus glomerata_. + +[26] See the article entitled 'An Anthropoid.' + +[27] _Bombay Gazetteer; Nasik_ p. 26. + +[28] This is the rule in the Nagpur District. + +[29] From a note by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S. + +[30] Circle Inspector Ganesh Prasad. + +[31] _Semicarpus anacardium_. + +[32] 'Oh, Lord Mahabir, give me a child, only one child.' + +[33] _Beast and Man in India_, p. 44. But, according to the same +writer, the Hindus do say, 'Drunk as an owl' and also 'Stupid as +an owl.' + +[34] _Crotalaria juncea_. + +[35] The 3rd Baisakh (May) Sudi, the commencement of the agricultural +year. The name means, 'The day of immortality.' + +[36] Furnished by Inspector Ganesh Prasad. + +[37] _Dam_: breath or life. + +[38] These paragraphs are largely based on a description of a Wardha +village by Mr. A.K. Smith, C.S. + +[39] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, para. 45. + +[40] The references to English farming in this paragraph are taken +from an article in the _Saturday Review_ of 22nd August 1908. + +[41] _Report on the Territories of the Raja of Nagpur_. + +[42] _Rasmala_, ii. 242. + +[43] A freebooting tribe who gave their name to Kathiawar. + +[44] This article is partly based on papers by Nanhe Khan, +Sub-Inspector of Police, Khurai, Saugor, and Kesho Rao, Headmaster, +Middle School, Seoni-Chhapara. + +[45] Literally 'The Month of Separatica.' It is the eighth month +of the Muhammadan year and is said to be so called because in this +month the Arabs broke up their encampments and scattered in search of +water. On the night of Shab-i-Barat God registers all the actions of +men which they are to perform during the year; and all the children +of men who are to be born and die in the year are recorded. Though +properly a fast, it is generally observed with rejoicings and a +display of fireworks. Hughes' _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 570. + +[46] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P.,_ art. Kunjra. + +[47] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, _ibidem_. + +[48] This article is compiled from notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal and +by Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic clerk. + +[49] _North Arcot Manual_, vol. i. p. 220. + +[50] Vol. i. p. 224. + +[51] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_. + +[52] In this article some account of the houses, clothes and food +of the Hindus generally of the northern Districts has been inserted, +being mainly reproduced from the District Gazetteers. + +[53] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Kurmi. + +[54] _Indian Folk Tales_, p. 8. + +[55] _Crotalaria juncea_. See article on Lorha for a discussion of +the Hindus' prejudice against this crop. + +[56] There are several Chaurasis, a grant of an estate of this special +size being common under native rule. + +[57] _Boswellia serrata_. + +[58] _Eugenia Jambolana_. + +[59] 2 lbs. + +[60] Elliot, _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_, p. 115. + +[61] The custom is pointed out by Mr. A. K. Smith, C.S. + +[62] _Central Provinces Census Report_ (1911), p. 153. + +[63] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 153. + +[64] Or his big toe. + +[65] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 158. + +[66] In _Indian Folk Tales_. + +[67] _Ficus R_. + +[68] He is also known as Katia or Kattaha Brahman and as Mahapatra. + +[69] _Indian Folk Tales_, p. 54. + +[70] _Sorghum vulgare_, a large millet. + +[71] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 365. + +[72] A measure of 400 lbs. + +[73] _Butea frondosa_. + +[74] A measure containing 9 lb. 2 oz. of rice. + +[75] _Ficus glomerata_. + +[76] From Ganga, or the Ganges, and _ala_ a pot. + +[77] _Cajanus indicus_. + +[78] _Phaseolus mungo_. + +[79] _Phaseolus radiatus_. + +[80] _Bombax malabaricum_. + +[81] _Acacia arabica_. + +[82] _Cassia tora_. + +[83] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), p. 340. + +[84] _Schleichera trijuga_. + +[85] _Hindus of Gujarat_, App., art. Vaghri, footnote. + +[86] _Religion of the Semites_. + +[87] Mackintosh, _Report on the Manbhaos._. + +[88] See articles on Khairwar and Kewat. + +[89] Colonel Ward's _Mandia Settlement Report_ p. 29. + +[90] _Brief View of the Caste System_, p. 14. + +[91] _Symplocos racemosa_. + +[92] Raja Lachman Singh's _Bulandshahr Memo,_ p. 182, quoted in +Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Lodha. + +[93] _Narsinghpur Settlement Report_ (1866), p. 28. + +[94] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, p. 24. + +[95] A small millet. + +[96] Every twelfth year when the planet Jupiter is in conjunction +with the constellation Sinh (Leo). + +[97] _Butea Frondosa_. + +[98] This is known as _lodha_. + +[99] The Rajjhars are a low caste of farmservants and labourers, +probably an offshoot of the Bhar tribe. + +[100] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P. and Oudh_, art. Lohar. + +[101] Dowson, _Classical Dictionary, s.v._ + +[102] In Uriya the term, _Ghantrabela_ means a person who has illicit +intercourse with another. The Ghantra Lohars are thus probably of +bastard origin, like the groups known as half-castes and others which +are frequently found. + +[103] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 624. (Ibbetson.) + +[104] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal,_ art. Lohar + +[105] About 15 acres. + +[106] _Berar Census Report_, 1881 (Kitts). + +[107] _Punjab Ethnography_, para. 624. + +[108] _Bombay Gazetteer_, xvi. 82. + +[109] This article is partly based on papers by Mr. P.B. Telang, +Munsiff Seoni-Malwa, and Mr. Waman Rao Mandloi, naib-tahsildar, Harda. + +[110] This derivation is also negatived by the fact that the name +Maharatta was known in the third century B.C., or long before the +Rastrakutas became prominent. + +[111] _Bombay Gazetteer; Gujarat Hindus_, p. 338. + +[112] Ibbetson, _Punjab Census Report_ (1881). + +[113] _Bombay Gazetteer, l.c._ text and footnote by R. v. J. S. Taylor. + +[114] Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 143. + +[115] See article on Panwar Rajput. + +[116] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 144. + +[117] Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ p. 144. + +[118] Described in the articles on Kurmi and Kunbi. + +[119] _Loc. cit_. + +[120] _Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus, loc. cit._ + +[121] In Berar for ten days--Kitts' _Berar Census Report, l.c._ + +[122] 3rd Baisakh (April) Sudi, commencement of agricultural year. + +[123] _Berar Census Report, l.c._ + +[124] _Berar Census Report, l.c._ + +[125] _Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus_. + +[126] It was formerly suggested that the fact of the Mahars being +the chief worshippers at the shrines of Sheikh Farid indicated that +the places themselves had been previously held sacred, and had been +annexed by the Muhammadan priests; and the legend of the giant, who +might represent the demonolatry of the aboriginal faith, being slain by +the saint might be a parable, so to say, expressing this process. But +in view of the way in which the Mehtars worship Musalman saints, it +seems quite likely that the Mahars might do so for the same reason, +that is, because Islam partly frees them from the utter degradation +imposed by Hinduism. Both views may have some truth. As regards the +legends themselves, it is highly improbable that Sheikh Farid, a +well-known saint of northern India, can ever have been within several +hundred miles of either of the places with which they connect him. + +[127] From Mr. C. Brown's notes. + +[128] _C.P. Police Gazette_. + +[129] Kitts, _l.c._ + +[130] _Ibidem_. + +[131] Stated by Mr. C. Brown. + +[132] Vol. ii. p. 237. + +[133] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xii. p. 175. + +[134] Rev. A. Taylor in _Bombay Gazetteer, Gujarat Hindus_, p. 341 f. + +[135] The following passage is taken from Forbes, _Rasmala_, i. p. 112. + +[136] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xi p. 73. + +[137] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xi. p. 73. + +[138] Grant Duff; _History of the Marathas_, vol. i. p. 24. + +[139] _Nagpur Settlement Report_ (1899), p. 29. + +[140] This article consists of extracts from Sir H. Risley's account +of the caste in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. + +[141] See lists of exogamous septs of Mahli, Sandal, Munda and Puri +in Appendix to _Tribes and Castes cf Bengal_. + +[142] _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 326. + +[143] This article is based on papers by Mr. Hira Lal and Suraj Baksh +Singh, Assistant Superintendent, Udaipur State, with references +to Mr. Crooke's exhaustive article on the Majhwars in his _Tribes +and Castes_. + +[144] Crooke, art Majhwar, para. 1. + +[145] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Manjhi. + +[146] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Manjhi, para. 4. + +[147] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of Bengal,_ art. Manjhi, para. 63. + +[148] _Ibidem,_ para. 54. + +[149] _Ficus glomerata_. + +[150] Based entirely on Colonel Dalton's account in the _Ethnology +of Bengal_, and Sir H. Risley's in the _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. + +[151] See _The Khandesh Bhil Corps_, by Mr. A. H. A. Simcox, p. 62. + +[152] _Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies_, ed. 1897, pp. 25, 26. + +[153] Page 130. + +[154] _Hinduism_, in 'Religions Ancient and Modern' Series, p. 26. + +[155] This article is based principally on Mr. Low's description of +the Marars in the _Balaghat District Gazetteer_ and on a paper by +Major Sutherland, I.M.S. + +[156] _C.P. Census Report_ (1891), para. 180. + +[157] Schroeder, _Prehistoric Antiquities_, 121, quoted in Crooke's +_Tribes and Castes_, art. Mali. + +[158] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 483. + +[159] _Ibidem_, para. 484. + +[160] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_, para. 59. + +[161] Mr. Napier's _Bhandara Settlement Report_, quoted in article +on Kohli. + +[162] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Mali. + +[163] _Brief View of the Caste System_, p. 15. + +[164] _La Cite antique_, 21st ed., p. 181. + +[165] _The Antiquity of Oriental Carpets_, Sir G. Birdwood (Society +of Arts, 6th November 1908). + +[166] The derivations of chaplet and rosary are taken from Ogilvy's +_Dictionary_. + +[167] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_ (C.E. Low), para. 59. + +[168] _Ibidem, loc. cit._ + +[169] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_, para. 59. + +[170] _Hindu Castes_, vol. i. p. 327. + +[171] _Balaghat District Gazetteer, loc. cit._ + +[172] This article is based on papers by Mr. Shyamacharan, B.A., +B.L., Pleader, Narsinghpur, and Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic clerk. + +[173] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes of the N. W. P. and Oudh_, +art. Mallah. + +[174] This article is based on papers by Mr. Hira Lal and G. Padaya +Naidu of the Gazetteer Office. + +[175] _Papers on the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces_, p. 6. + +[176] Rev. A. Wood in _Chanda District Gazetteer_, para. 96. + +[177] This article is compiled from notes on the caste drawn up +by Colonel Mackenzie and contributed to the _Pioneer_ newspaper by +Mrs. Horsburgh; Captain Mackintosh's _Account of the Manbhaos_ (India +Office Tracts); and a paper by Pyare Lal Misra, Ethnographic clerk. + +[178] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 62. + +[179] Dattatreya was a celebrated Sivite devotee who has been deified +as an incarnation of Siva. + +[180] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 62. + +[181] This article is based partly on a paper by Mr. Achyut Sitaram +Sathe, Extra Assistant Commissioner. + +[182] P. 389. + +[183] See also separate article Mang-Garori. + +[184] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 147. + +[185] _Lectures on the Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_, +p. 79. + +[186] _Cynodon dactylon_. + +[187] Dr, Murray Mitchell's _Great Religions of India_, p. 63. + +[188] From a note by Mr. Hira Lal. + +[189] Times Press, Bombay, 1882. + +[190] Kennedy, _Criminal Classes of the Bombay Presidency_, p. 122. + +[191] _Lectures on some Criminal Tribes of India_. + +[192] This passage is quoted by Mr. Gayer from the Supplement to the +Central Provinces Police Gazette of 24th January 1905. + +[193] Hutton's _Thugs, Dacoits and Gang-robbers of India_ (1857), +pp. 164-168, quoting an account by Captain Barr. + +[194] This article is based on papers by Rai Sahib Nanakchand, B.A., +Headmaster, Saugor High School, and Munshi Pyare Lal Misra of the +Gazetteer office. + +[195] _Brief View_, p. 30. + +[196] The _tazias_ are ornamental representations of the tomb of +Hussain, which the Muhammadans make at the Muharram festival. + +[197] This article is based on a note furnished by Mr. M. Aziz, +Officiating Naib-Tahsildar, Sironcha. + +[198] From a glossary published by Mr. Gupta, Assistant Director of +Ethnology for India. + +[199] Generally the paternal aunt's son. + +[200] _Bassia latifolia_. + +[201] Sir H. Risley's _India Census Report_ (1901), Ethnographic +Appendices, p. 93. + +[202] P. 48, footnote. + +[203] _Nasik Gazetteer_, _ibidem_. Elphinstone's _History_, p. 246. + +[204] The proper spelling is Bhosle, but Bhonsla is adopted in +deference to established usage. + +[205] _Bombay Census Report_ (1901), pp. 184-185. + +[206] _Rajasthan_, i. 269. + +[207] _Ibidem_, ii. 420. + +[208] _Sholapur Gazetteer_, p. 87. + +[209] _Satara Gazetteer_, p. 64. + +[210] _Ibidem_, p. 75. + +[211] _Bombay Census Report_ (1907), _ibidem_. + +[212] _Letter on the Marathas_ (India Office Tracts). + +[213] _Satara Gazetteer_, p. 75. + +[214] Grant-Duff, 4th edition (1878), vol. i. pp. 70-72. + +[215] Forsyth, _Nimar Settlement Report_. + +[216] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xviii. part i. pp. 413-414. + +[217] Elliott, _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_. + +[218] The following description is taken from the Ethnographic +Appendices to Sir H.H. Risley's _India Census Report_ of 1901. + +[219] Irvine's _Army of the Mughals_, p. 82. + +[220] _Ibidem_, p. 232. Gopal is a name of Krishna. + +[221] Lit. armour-bearers. Colonel Tone writes: "I apprehend from the +meaning of this term that it was formerly the custom of this nation, +as was the case in Europe, to appear in armour. I have frequently +seen a kind of coat-of-mail worn by the Maratha horsemen, known as a +_beuta_, which resembles our ancient hauberk; it is made of chain work, +interlinked throughout, fits close to the body and adapts itself to +all its motions." + +[222] In order to obtain redress by Dharna the creditor or injured +person would sit starving himself outside his debtor's door, and if +he died the latter would be held to have committed a mortal sin and +would be haunted by his ghost; see also article on Bhat. The account +here given must be exaggerated. + +[223] Elphinstone's _History_, 7th ed. p. 748. + +[224] _Ibidem_, p. 753. + +[225] Some information has been obtained from a paper by Mr. Harbans +Rai, Clerk of Court, Damoh. + +[226] Rajendra Lal Mitra, quoted in art. on Beria. + +[227] Greeven, op. cit. pp. 29, 33. + +[228] Op. cit p. 334. + +[229] Greeven, p. 66, quoting from _Echoes of Old Calcutta_. + +[230] Crooke, _op. cit._ + +[231] Crooke, _op. cit._ para. 52. + +[232] Ibbetson, _op. cit._ para. 227. + +[233] Greeven, _op. cit._ p. 21. + +[234] The fruit of the _achar_ (_Buchanamia latifolia_). + +[235] _Acacia arabica_. + +[236] _Acacia catechu_. + +[237] Some writers consider that Balmik, the sweeper-saint, and +Valmiki, the author of the Ramayana, are not identical. + +[238] Page 38. + +[239] Page 8. + +[240] Page 54. + +[241] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 599. + +[242] Sir H. Risley, _l.c._, art. Dom. + +[243] _Institutes_, x. 12-29-30. + +[244] _Ibidem_, iv. 239, quoted by Mr. Crooke, art. Dom. + +[245] Probably not within the house but in the veranda or courtyard. + +[246] _Ibidem_. + +[247] Crooke, _Tribes and Castes_, art. Dom, para. 34. + +[248] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _l.c._ + +[249] _Ibidem_. + +[250] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), and _Bombay Gazetteer_, _l.c._ + +[251] _Hindu Tribes and Castes_, quoted by Sir H. Risley, art. Dom. + +[252] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _l.c._ + +[253] Ibbetson, _l.c._ para. 596. + +[254] _Ibidem_, para. 601. + +[255] _L.c._ pp. 25, 26. + +[256] _Rajputana Gazetteer_, vol. i. p. 165. + +[257] A Muhammadan form of marriage. + +[258] Elliott's _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_, p. 63. + +[259] Cunningham's _Archaeological Survey Reports_, xx. p. 24. + +[260] _Ibidem_. + +[261] General Cunningham's enumeration of the _pals_ is as follows: +Five Jadon clans--Chhirkilta, Dalat, Dermot, Nai, Pundelot; five +Tuar clans--Balot, Darwar, Kalesa, Lundavat, Rattawat; one Kachhwaha +clan--Dingal; one Bargjuar clan--Singal. Besides these there is one +miscellaneous or half-blood clan, Palakra, making up the common total +of 12 1/2 clans. + +[262] Ibbetson's _Punjab Census Report_, para. 582. Sir D. Ibbetson +considered it doubtful, however, whether the expression referred to +the Mina caste. + +[263] Major Powlett, _Gazetteer of Alwar_. + +[264] _Asiatic Studies_, vol. i. p. 162. + +[265] Quoted in Dowson's _Elliott's History of India_, iii. p. 103. + +[266] Dowson's _Elliott_, iv. pp. 60, 75, 283, quoted in Crooke's +_Tribes and Castes_. + +[267] _Census Report_ (1881), para. 582. + +[268] _Tribes and Castes of the N.W.P._ art. Meo. + +[269] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 589. + +[270] _Archaeological Reports_. vol. xx. p. 26. + +[271] _Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces_, +vol. iii. p. 496. + +[272] Baden Powell's _Land Systems of British India_, vol. iii. p. 116. + +[273] _Punjab Ethnography_, p. 289. + +[274] _Brief View_, p. 43. + +[275] Crooke, _loc. cit._ + +[276] This article is partly based on papers by Mr. Gopal Parmanand, +Deputy Inspector of Schools, Saugor, and Mr. Shamsuddin, Sub-Inspector, +City Police, Saugor. + +[277] _Brief View_. + +[278] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey Draft Monograph on Jingar_. + +[279] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Mochi. + +[280] _Eastern India_, vol. iii. p. 105. + +[281] Rajendra Lal Mitra, _Indo-Aryans_, vol. i. pp. 222, 223. + +[282] _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 326. + +[283] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Bind. + +[284] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bind. + +[285] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, _loc. cit._ + +[286] The clever writer referred to in the preceding line. + +[287] Breast-cloth. + +[288] This article is mainly compiled from papers by Mr. Hira Lal +and Babu Gulab Singh, Superintendent of Land Records, Betul. + +[289] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 158. + +[290] _Butea frondosa_. + +[291] _Phyllanthus emiblica_. + +[292] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. Chatterji, retired +E.A.C., Jubbulpore; Professor Sadashiva Jairam, M.A., Hislop College, +Nagpur; and Mr. C. Shrinivas Naidu, First Assistant Master, Sironcha, +Chanda; and from the Central Provinces District Gazetteers. + +[293] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes,_ art. Nai. + +[294] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Nai, para. 5. + +[295] The following account is largely taken from Mr. Nesfield's +_Brief View of the Caste System_, pp. 42, 43. + +[296] _Eighteenth Century Middle-Class Life_, by C.S. Torres, in the +_Nineteenth Century and After_, Sept. 1910. + +[297] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 17. + +[298] _Ibidem_, p. 107. + +[299] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 330. + +[300] In the _Balaghat District Gazetteer_. + +[301] D.B. Pandian, _Indian Village Life_, under Barber. + +[302] Quoted in Malcolm's _Sketch of the Sikhs, Asiatic Researches_, +vol. xi., 1810, p. 289. + +[303] Quoted in Sir D. Ibbetson's account of the Sikhs in _Punjab +Census Report_ (1881). + +[304] _Sketch of the Sikhs_, _ibidem_, pp. 284, 285. + +[305] Professor Bluemners, _Home Life of the Ancient Greeks_, +translation, p. 455. + +[306] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. iii. p. 370. + +[307] Hendley, _Account of the Bhils_, _J.A.S.B._ vol. xxxiv., 1875, +p. 360. + +[308] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 528. + +[309] S.C. Roy, _The Mundas and their Country_, p. 369. + +[310] W. Kirkpatrick in _J.A.S.B._, July 1911, p. 438. + +[311] _Golden Bough_, 3rd ed. vol. viii. p. 153. + +[312] _G.B._, 3rd ed., _Balder the Beautiful_, vol. ii. p. 103. + +[313] Dr. Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 45. + +[314] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 234. + +[315] _Ibidem_, vol. i. p. 242. + +[316] _Ibidem_, vol. i. pp. 368, 369. + +[317] Dalton, _Ethnology of Bengal_, p. 270. + +[318] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Parsis of Gujarat_, p. 226. + +[319] _Religion of the Semites_, note i. pp. 483, 484. + +[320] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Muhammadans of Gujarat_, p. 52. + +[321] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 368. + +[322] Yule's ed. i. 50, quoted in _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Hindus of +Gujarat_, p. 470. + +[323] Mr. V.A. Smith, _Early History of India_, 2nd ed. p. 128. + +[324] _Religion of the Semites_, p. 33. + +[325] Lev. xiv. 9 and Deut. xxi. 12. + +[326] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 371. + +[327] _Ibidem_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 370. + +[328] _Ibidem_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 371. + +[329] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Sarwaria. + +[330] _Occult Review_, October 1909. + +[331] _Orpheus_, p. 99, and _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Parsis of Gujarat_; +p. 220. + +[332] Hanuman is worshipped on this day in order to counteract the +evil influence of the planet Saturn, whose day it really is. + +[333] Pots in which wheat-stalks are sown and tended for nine days, +corresponding to the Gardens of Adonis. + +[334] _Religion of the Semites_ p. 324. + +[335] _Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. vol. i. p. 203. + +[336] In 1911 the Naodas numbered 700 persons in the Central +Provinces. About 1000 were returned in Central India in 1891, but in +1901 they were amalgamated with the Mallahs or Kewats. This article +is based on a paper by Mr. P.R. Kaipitia, Forest Ranger. + +[337] This article is partly compiled from notes furnished by +Mr. Aduram Chaudhri and Mr. Jagannath Prasad, Naib-Tahsildars. + +[338] See art. Kanjar. + +[339] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 588. + +[340] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Beria. + +[341] _Asiatic Researches_, vol. vii., 1803, by Captain Richardson. + +[342] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Nat. + +[343] Crooke, _l.c._, art. Nat. + +[344] _Ibidem._ + +[345] Ibbetson, _Punjab Census Report_ (1886), para. 588. + +[346] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xx. p. 186, quoted in Mr. Crooke's +article. + +[347] Temple and Fallon's _Hindustani Proverbs_, p. 171. + +[348] _As. Res._ vol. xvi., 1828, p. 213. + +[349] _Melia indica_. + +[350] _Bengali Festivals and Holidays_, by the Rev. Bihari Lal De, +_Calcutta Review_, vol. v. pp. 59, 60. + +[351] Based on papers by Munshi Kanhya Lal of the Gazetteer Office, +and Mr. Mir Patcha, Tahsildar, Bilaspur. + +[352] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Lunia. + +[353] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Lunia. + +[354] _Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the C.P._, p. 6. + +[355] Note by Mr. Tawney as Deputy Commissioner of Chhindwara, quoted +in _Central Provinces Census Report_ of 1881 (Mr. Drysdale). + +[356] Sir C.A. Elliott's _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_, p. 70. + +[357] _Linguistic Survey_, vol. iv. p. 406. + +[358] _Bengal Census Report_ (1901). + +[359] _Ethnography_, p. 248. + +[360] _Tribes and Castes_, vol. ii. p. 141. + +[361] Panna Lal, Revenue Inspector. + +[362] _Sorghum halepense_. + +[363] _Shorea robusta_. + +[364] In Bilaspur the men have an iron comb in the hair with a circular +end and two prongs like a fork. Women do not wear this. + +[365] _Jungle Life in India_, p. 134. + +[366] This article is compiled from papers by Pyare Lal Misra, +Ethnographic clerk, and Hazari Lal, Manager, Court of Wards, Chanda. + +[367] The basil plant. + +[368] _Bilaspur Settlement Report_ (1868), p. 49. + +[369] From a note by Mr. Gauri Shankar, Manager, Court of Wards, Drug. + +[370] With the exception of the historical notice, this article +is principally based on a paper by Mr. Muhammad Yusuf, reader to +Mr. C.E. Low, Deputy Commissioner of Balaghat. + +[371] Tod's _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 407. + +[372] Foreign elements in the Hindu population, _Ind. Ant._ (January +1911), vol. xl. + +[373] _Early History of India_ (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd ed., +p. 303. + +[374] _Ibidem_, 2nd ed., p. 288. + +[375] _Ibidem_, p. 316. + +[376] _Early History of India_ (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd ed., +p. 319. + +[377] _Garret's Classical Dictionary of Hinduism_, _s.v._ Jamadagni +and Rama. + +[378] The following extract is taken from Mr. V.A. Smith's _Early +History of India_, 3rd ed. pp. 395, 396. The passage has been somewhat +abridged in reproduction. + +[379] Malcolm, i. p. 26. + +[380] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 215. + +[381] A similar instance in Europe is related by Colonel Tod, +concerning the origin of the Madrid Restaurant in the Bois de Boulogne +at Paris. After Francis I had been captured by the Spaniards he was +allowed to return to his capital, on pledging his parole that he would +go back to Madrid. But the delights of liberty and Paris were too +much for honour; and while he wavered a hint was thrown out similar +to that of destroying the clay city. A mock Madrid arose in the Bois +de Boulogne, to which Francis retired. (_Rajasthan_, ii. p. 428.) + +[382] _Rajasthan_, ii. pp. 264, 265. + +[383] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Panwar. + +[384] _Memoir of Central India_, i. 96. + +[385] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Panwar. + +[386] Blockmann, i. 252, quoted by Crooke. + +[387] Ibbetson, P.C.R., para. 448. + +[388] His name, Lakshma Deva, is given in a stone inscription dated +A.D. 1104-1105. + +[389] The inscription is said to be in one of the temples in Winj +Basini, near Bhandak, in the Devanagri character in Marathi, and +to run as follows: "Consecration of Jagnarayan (the serpent of the +world). Dajianashnaku, the son of Chogneka, he it was who consecrated +the god. The Panwar, the ruler of Dhar, was the third repairer of +the statue. The image was carved by Gopinath Pandit, inhabitant of +Lonar Mehkar. Let this shrine be the pride of all the citizens, and +let this religious act be notified to the chief and other officers." + +[390] A few Panwar Rajputs are found in the Saugor District, but they +are quite distinct from those of the Maratha country, and marry with +the Bundelas. They are mentioned in the article on that clan. + +[391] March. + +[392] Rice boiled with milk and sugar. + +[393] Village headman. + +[394] Patwari or village accountant. + +[395] _Introduction to the History of Religion_, p. 59. + +[396] _Diospyros tomentosa_. + +[397] Gamble, _Manual of Indian Timbers_, p. 461. + +[398] _Balaghat District Gazetteer_. + +[399] P. 62, quoting from Bringand, _Les Karens de la Birmanie, +Les Missions Catholiques_, xx. (1888), p. 208. + +[400] _Tod's Rajasthan_, i. p. 165. But Johar is a common term of +salutation among the Hindus. + +[401] _Seoni Settlement Report_ (1867), p. 43. + +[402] From a collection of notes on Patharis by various police +officers. The passage is somewhat abridged in reproduction. + +[403] _Ficus R._ + +[404] _Bassia latifolia_. + +[405] _Ficus glomerata_. + +[406] Note already quoted. + +[407] This article is partly compiled from papers by Mr. Aduram +Chaudhri and Pandit Pyare Lal Misra of the Gazetteer Office, +and extracts from Mr. Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), and +Mr. Sewell's note on the caste quoted in Mr. Gayer's _Lectures on +the Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_. + +[408] _Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the C.P._, p. 19. + +[409] _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 135. + +[410] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, art. Pardhi. + +[411] _Jungle Life in India_, pp. 586-587. + +[412] _Peasant Life in Bihar_, p. 80. + +[413] See Jerdon's _Mammals of India_, p, 97. The account there given +is quoted in the _Chhindwara District Gazetteer_, pp. 16-17. + +[414] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 75. + +[415] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, pp. 69, 71. + +[416] _Private Life of an Eastern King_, pp. 39-40. + +[417] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, _ibidem_. + +[418] This article is based on papers by Mr. Panda Baijnath and other +officers of the Bastar State. + +[419] By Dr. Cornish. + +[420] _Linguistic Survey_; vol. ix, p. 554; vol. ii. part ii. pp. 434 +ff. + +[421] In the article on Gond it is suggested that the Gonds and +Khonds were originally one tribe, and the fact that the Parjas have +affinities with both of them appears to support this view. + +[422] _Eugenia jambolana_. + +[423] Hareli, _lit._ 'the season of greenness.' + +[424] Nawakhani, _lit._ 'the new eating.' + +[425] _Folklore as a Historical Science_ (G.L. Gomme), pp. 191, 192. + +[426] Based principally on Mr. Crooke's article on the caste in his +_Tribes and Castes of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh_. + +[427] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bhar. + +[428] Art. Pasi, para. 3. + +[429] Art. Bhar, para. 4. + +[430] A pulse of a black colour (_Phaseolus radiatus_). + +[431] These sentences are taken from Dr. Grierson's _Peasant Life in +Behar_, p. 79. + +[432] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Pasi. + +[433] The following passage is taken from Mr. Crooke's article +on Pasi, and includes quotations from the _Sitapur_ and _Hardoi +Settlement Reports_. + +[434] _Lectures on Criminal Tribes of the Central Provinces_. + +[435] The word Rakshabandhan is said to mean literally, 'the bond +of protection.' Another suggested derivation, 'binding the devil,' +is perhaps incorrect. + +[436] The historical account of the Pindaris is compiled from Malcolm's +_Memoir of Central India_, Grant-Duff's _History of the Marathas_, +and Prinsep's _Transactions in India_ (1825). Some notes on the modern +Pindaris have been furnished by Mr. Hira Lal, and Mr. Waman Rustom +Mandloi, Naib-Tahsildar, Harda. + +[437] _Memoir of Central India_, i, p. 433. + +[438] _Indian Antiquary_, 1900. + +[439] _Transactions in India_, 1813-23, by H.T. Prinsep. + +[440] _Maratha and Pindari Campaigns_. + +[441] The above is compiled from the accounts given by Prinsep and +Malcolm. + +[442] That is when Malcolm wrote his _Memoir_. + +[443] This account is copied from Prinsep's _Transactions_. + +[444] _Memoir_, ii. p. 177. + +[445] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 674. + +[446] Malcolm, ii. p. 177. + +[447] The Pindari's childhood is recalled here, _vide_ poem. + +[448] Pamphlet published in connection with the Ethnographic Survey. + +[449] _A Prabhu Marriage_, p. 3 _et seq._ + +[450] _A Prabhu Marriage_, pp. 26-27. + +[451] _Bombay Ethnographic Survey_, art. Prabhu. + +[452] _Bombay Gazetteer_, ix. p. 68, footnotes. + +[453] _Hoshangabad Settlement Report_ (1807), p. 60. + +[454] _Nagpur Settlement Report_. + +[455] _Settlement Report_. + +[456] Preserved butter. + +[457] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Raghuvansi. + +[458] Kitts' _Berar Census Report_ (1881), p. 157. + +[459] About 400 lbs. + +[460] _Early History of India_ (Oxford, Clarendon Press), 3rd edition, +p. 414. + +[461] _Early History of India_, pp. 252, 254. + +[462] _Ibidem_, p. 210. + +[463] _Ibidem_, p. 227. + +[464] Colonel Tod states that, the proper name of the caste was Jit +or Jat, and was changed to Jat by a section of them who also adopted +Muhammadanism. Colonel Tod also identifies the Jats or Jits with the +Yueh-chi as suggested in the text (_Rajasthan_, i. p. 97). + +[465] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 42. Mr. Crooke points out that the Buddha +here referred to is probably the planet Mercury. But it is possible +that he may have been identified with the religious reformer as the +names seem to have a common origin. + +[466] See also separate articles on Panwar, Rajput and Gujar. + +[467] _J.A.S.B._, 1909, p. 167, _Guhilots_. See also annexed article +on Rajput Sesodia. + +[468] _Ibidem_, i. p. 105. + +[469] See also article Bhat. + +[470] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 231, 232. + +[471] _Butea frondosa_. This powder is also used at the Holi festival +and has some sexual significance. + +[472] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 159. + +[473] _Melia indica_. + +[474] _Ficus R._ + +[475] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 123. + +[476] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 267, 268. + +[477] _Rasmala_, ii. p. 261. + +[478] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 553. + +[479] _Reminiscences of Lady Dorothy Nevill_, Nelson's edition, p. 367. + +[480] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 3. + +[481] Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_, p. 35. + +[482] Mrs. Postans, _Cutch_, p. 138. + +[483] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 543, 544. + +[484] _Ibidem_, i. p. 125. + +[485] _Ibidem_, ii. p. 52. + +[486] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 552. + +[487] Vol. ii. p. 227. + +[488] A ceremony of smearing vermilion on the bride before a wedding, +which is believed to bring good fortune. + +[489] The basil plant, sacred to Vishnu. + +[490] A round black stone, considered to be a form of Vishnu. + +[491] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 555. + +[492] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_. art. Rajput. + +[493] Quoted in Sir D. Ibbetson's _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), +para. 456. + +[494] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Baghel. + +[495] Vol. i. part i. p. 198. + +[496] See also a history of the Baghels, called _Pratap Vinod_, +written by Khan Bahadur Rahmat Ali Khan, and translated by Thakur +Pratap Singh, Revenue Commissioner of Rewah. + +[497] Article Baghel, quoting Forsyth's _Highlands of Central India_. + +[498] _Memoir of Central India_, vol. ii. p. 479. + +[499] _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 445. + +[500] This article consists entirely of extracts from Mr. Crooke's +article on the Bais Rajputs. + +[501] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Banaphar. + +[502] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 88, and _Supplementary Glossary_, _s.v._ + +[503] _Tribes and Castes_, _s.v._ + +[504] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Bundela. + +[505] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 106. + +[506] _Imperial Gazetteer_, articles Bundelkhand and Panna. + +[507] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, pp. 390-394. + +[508] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Chandel. + +[509] Sherring's _Castes and Tribes_, i. pp. 359, 360. + +[510] _Supplemental Glossary_, art. Bhar. + +[511] See art. Pasi. + +[512] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Chandel. + +[513] _Ibidem_. + +[514] _J.A.S.B._ vol. xlvi. (1877), p. 232. + +[515] _Ibidem_, p. 233. + +[516] _J.A.S.B._ vol. xlvi. (1877), p. 233. + +[517] _Rajasthan_, i. pp. 86, 87. + +[518] _Archaeological Reports_, ii. 255, quoted in Mr. Crooke's +art. Chauhan. + +[519] _Imperial Gazetteer, India_, vol. ii, p. 312. + +[520] _Early History of India_ and _Imperial Gazetteer, loc. cit._ + +[521] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 419. + +[522] The above particulars are taken from Mr. Crooke's article +Dhakara in his _Tribes and Castes_. + +[523] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 391. + +[524] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 385. + +[525] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Gaharwar. + +[526] _Tribes and Castes_, i. p. 75. + +[527] _Supplementary Glossary_, p. 33. + +[528] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 105. + +[529] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article on Gaharwar. + +[530] See art. Rajput, Bundela. + +[531] Quoted in Mr. Crooke's article Gaur Brahman. + +[532] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 105. + +[533] _Supplemental Glossary, s.v._ + +[534] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 36. + +[535] The above notice of the Kalachuri or Haihaya dynasty of Tripura +is taken from the detailed account in the _Jubbulpore District +Gazetteer_, pp. 42-47, compiled by Mr. A.E. Nelson, C.S., and Rai +Bahadur Hira Lal. + +[536] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 390. This, however, +does not only refer to the Jubbulpore branch, whose territories +did not probably include the south and east of the present Central +Provinces, but includes also the country over which the Ratanpur +kings subsequently extended their separate jurisdiction. + +[537] _Bilaspur District Gazetteer_, chap. ii., in which a full and +interesting account of the Ratanpur kingdom is given by Mr. C.U. Wills, +C.S. + +[538] _Ibidem_, p. 49. + +[539] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Hayobans. + +[540] The date is too early, as is usual in these traditions. Though +the Haihaivansis only founded Ratanpur about A.D. 1050, their own +legends put it ten centuries earlier. + +[541] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 36. + +[542] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 319. + +[543] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 381. + +[544] The above information is taken from the new _Imperial Gazetteer_, +articles Jaipur and Alwar States. + +[545] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Kachhwaha. + +[546] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 94; Elliot's _Supplemental Glossary_, +art. Gaur Taga. + +[547] See article on Kol. + +[548] _Eastern India_, ii. 461, quoted in Mr. Crooke's art. Nagvansi. + +[549] _Tribes and Castes_, vol. i. art. Nikumbh. + +[550] _Rajasthan_, ii. p. 417. + +[551] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Nikumbh. + +[552] _Eastern India_, ii. p. 919. + +[553] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 86. + +[554] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 390. + +[555] Ibidem, pp. 378, 379. + +[556] _Rajasthan_, i. p. 91. + +[557] Ibidem. + +[558] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Parihar. + +[559] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 389. + +[560] _Ibidem_, p. 413. + +[561] _Imperial Gazetteer_, art. Bali. + +[562] _Rajasthan_, ii. pp. 16, 17. + +[563] _Ibidem_, i. p. 81. + +[564] _Ibidem_, ii. p. 37. + +[565] _Ibidem_, ii. p. 35. + +[566] _J.A.S.B._ (1909), vol. v. p. 167. + +[567] _Imperial Gazetteer, loc. cit_. + +[568] Bhandarkar, _loc. cit._ p. 180. + +[569] The following extracts from the history of the clan are mainly +taken from the article on Udaipur State in the _Imperial Gazetteer_. + +[570] _Rajasthan_, pp. 222, 223. + +[571] Forbes, _Rasmala_ i. p. 400. + +[572] _Rajasthan_ i. pp, 398, 399. The death of the young princess +was mainly the work of Amir Khan Pindari who brought pressure on the +Rana to consent to it in order to save his state. + +[573] If the Chalukyas were in the Deccan in the fourth century they +could not have originated from the Hun and Gujar invaders of the +fifth and sixth centuries, but must have belonged to an earlier horde. + +[574] _Some Problems of Ancient Indian History_, by Dr. Rudolf Hoernle, +_J.R.A.S._ (1905) pp. 1-14. + +[575] _Tribes and Castes, s.v._ + +[576] _Ibidem_, art. Soiri. + +[577] Mr Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Tomara. + +[578] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 386. + +[579] Elliot, _Supplemental Glossary, s.v._ + +[580] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes, and Castes,_ art. Tomara. + +[581] See also article Jadum for a separate account of the local +caste in the Central Provinces. + +[582] _Early History of India_, 3rd edition, p. 434. + +[583] Based on the accounts of Sir H. Risley and Colonel Dalton and +a paper by Pandit G.L. Pathak, Superintendent, Korea State. + +[584] _B. G. Poona_, Part I., p. 409. + +[585] _An Account of the Origin and Present Condition of the Tribe +of Ramosis_ (Bombay, 1833; India Office Tracts. Also published in +the _Madras Journal of Literature and Science_.) + +[586] This paragraph is mainly compiled from the _Nasik_ and _Poona_ +volumes of the _Bombay Gazetteer_. + +[587] _Ficus glomerata_. + +[588] _Eugenia jambolana_. + +[589] _Calotropis gigantea_. + +[590] _Bauhinia racemosa_. + +[591] _Poona Gazetteer_, part i. p. 425. + +[592] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Rangrez. + +[593] _Peasant Life in Bihar_, p. 101, footnote. + +[594] Temple and Fallon's _Hindustani Proverbs_. + +[595] Based on Sir H. Risley's account of the tribe in the _Tribes +and Castes of Bengal_, and on notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Raigarh. + +[596] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, vol. ii. App. I. + +[597] _Saccharum spontaneum_. + +[598] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Rautia. + +[599] This article is based principally on an account of the Sanaurhias +written by Mr. C.M. Seagrim, Inspector-General of Police, Indore, +and included in Mr. Kennedy's _Criminal Classes of Bombay_ (1908). + +[600] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Sanaurhia. + +[601] _Criminal Classes of Bombay Presidency_, pp. 296, 297. + +[602] Sleeman's _Reports on the Badhaks_, p. 327. + +[603] Mr. Gayer's _Lectures on some Criminal Tribes_. + +[604] _Report on the Badhak or Bagri Dacoits_ (1849), p. 328. + +[605] J. Hutton, _A Popular Account of the Thugs and Dacoits and +Gang-robbers of India_ (London, 1857). + +[606] This article is based almost entirely on a description of the +Sansias contained in Colonel Sleeman's _Report on the Badhak or Bagri +Dacoits_ (1849). Most of the material belongs to a report drawn up +at Nagpur by Mr. C. Ramsay, Assistant Resident, in 1845. + +[607] Sleeman's _Report on the Badhaks_, p. 253. + +[608] _Ibidem_, p. 254. + +[609] Sir D. Ibbetson, _Punjab Census Report_ (1881), para. 577. + +[610] P. 259. + +[611] The description of a dacoity is combined from two accounts +given at pp. 257, 273 of Colonel Sleeman's _Report_. + +[612] _Sorghum vulgare_. + +[613] Made of the bark of the date-palm tied with strips of cloth +round some inflammable wood. + +[614] Sleeman, p. 263. + +[615] But it is unlucky for a snake to cross one's path in front. + +[616] Sleeman, pp. 261, 262. + +[617] Committee of five persons. + +[618] _Ficus religiosa_. + +[619] The seer = 2 lbs. + +[620] _Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency_; Sansias and Berias. + +[621] Mr. Gayer, _Central Provinces Police Lectures_; p. 68. + +[622] This article is mainly based on a paper by Mr. Rama Prasad +Bohidar, Assistant Master, Sambalpur High School. + +[623] See article Beldar for a notice of the different groups of +earth-workers. + +[624] Said to be derived from their name Waddar. + +[625] Story of Jasma Odni in Sati Charita Sangrah. + +[626] This article is principally based on papers by Munshi +Gopinath, Naib-Tahsildar, Sonpur, Mr. Kaluram Pachore, Assistant +Settlement Officer, Sambalpur, and Mr. Hira Lal, Assistant Gazetteer +Superintendent. + +[627] _Archaeological Reports_, vol. xvii. pp. 120, 122. + +[628] _India Census Report_ (1901), p. 283. + +[629] _Archaeological Reports_, vol. xvii. p. 113. + +[630] Crooke's _Tribes and Castes of N.W.P._, art Savara. + +[631] _Tribes and Castes of N.W.P._, art. Savara. + +[632] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Savar. + +[633] _F. glomerata_. + +[634] _Balaghat Gazetteer_, C.E. Low, p. 207. + +[635] _Bhandara Settlement Report_ (A.J. Lawrence), p. 49. + +[636] Major Lucie Smith's _Chanda Settlement Report_ (1869), p. 105. + +[637] The following account of the process of gold-washing is taken +from Mr. Low's _Balaghat Gazetteer_, p. 201. + +[638] This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. Bhagirath Patnaik, +Diwan of Rairakhol, and from notes taken by Mr. Hira Lal at Rairakhol. + +[639] This article is partly based on an article by Mr. Raghunath +Prasad, E.A.C., formerly Deputy Superintendent of Census, with extracts +from the late Mr. Nunn's Monograph on the Gold and Silver Industries, +and on information furnished by Krishna Rao, Revenue Inspector, Mandla. + +[640] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Sunar. + +[641] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xvii. p. 134. + +[642] See articles on Kunbi and Kurmi. + +[643] Monograph on the Gold and Silverware of the Central Provinces +(Mr. H. Nunn, I.C.S.), 1904. The tola is a rupee's weight, or +two-fifths of an ounce. + +[644] _Journal of Indian Art_, July 1909, p. 172. + +[645] From a monograph on rural customs in Saugor, by Major +W.D. Sutherland, I.M.S. + +[646] Lang, _Myth, Ritual and Religion_, i. p. 98. + +[647] _2 King Henry IV._ Act IV. Sc. 4. + +[648] _Religion of the Semites_, note B., p. 453. + +[649] _Bombay Gazetteer_, _Poona_, App. D., Ornaments. + +[650] _Religion of the Semites_, Lecture III. + +[651] 2 lbs. + +[652] From a paper on Caste Panchayats, by the Rev. Failbus, +C.M.S. Mission, Mandla. + +[653] Rajendra Lal Mitra, _Indo-Aryans_ vol. i. p. 231. + +[654] _Introduction to the History of Religion_, 3rd ed. p. 172. + +[655] Monograph, _loc. cit._ + +[656] This account is taken from Buchanan's _Eastern India_, +vol. ii. p. 100. + +[657] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xii. p. 71. + +[658] Temple and Fallon's _Hindustani Proverbs._ + +[659] _Bombay Gazetteer, Hindus of Gujarat,_ pp. 199, 200. + +[660] Pandian's _Indian Village Folk_, p. 41. + +[661] This article is compiled from a paper by Mr. D. Mitra, pleader, +Sambalpur. + +[662] _Madras Census Report_, 1891, p. 301. + +[663] This article is based on information: contributed by +Nand Kishore, Nazir of the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Damoh; +Mr. Tarachand Dube, Municipal Member, Bilaspur; and Mr. Aduram Chaudhri +of the Gazetteer Office. + +[664] This article is based on papers by Mr. Prem Narayan, Extra +Assistant Commissioner, Chanda; Mr. Mir Pacha, Tahsildar, Seoni; +Mr. Chintaman Rao, Tahsildar, Chanda; and Mr. K.G. Vaidya, Chanda. + +[665] _C.P. Census Report_ (1911), p. 147, referring to Professor +Karl Pearson's _Chances of Death_. + +[666] _Tribes and Castes_, art. Teli. + +[667] _Bassia latifolia._ + +[668] _Hindus of Gujarat_, p. 72. + +[669] Weighing. 2 oz. each. + +[670] _Phaseolus radiatas._ + +[671] Mr. Crooke's _Tribes and Castes_, art. Teli. + +[672] _Acacia arabica_. + +[673] _Melia indica_. + +[674] _Indian Folk Tales_, p. 10. + +[675] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Teli. + +[676] _Rajasthan_, vol. ii. pp. 678, 679. + +[677] Thevenot's _Travels_, Part III. p. 41, quoted in Dr. Sherwood's +account, _Ramaseeana_, p. 359. + +[678] Sleeman, p. 11. + +[679] P. 144. + +[680] P. 162. + +[681] P. 147. + +[682] P. 205. + +[683] Hutton's _Thugs and Dacoits_. + +[684] Sleeman, p. 170. + +[685] Sleeman, p. 168. + +[686] He was called Feringia because he was born while his mother +was fleeing from an attack on her village by troops under European +officers (Feringis). + +[687] Sleeman, p. 205. + +[688] Hutton, p. 70. + +[689] _Ibidem_, p. 71. + +[690] Pp. 34, 35. + +[691] See _Cults, Customs and Superstitions of India_, p. 249. + +[692] Pp. 32, 33. + +[693] Kandeli adjoins the headquarters station of Narsinghpur, the +two towns being divided only by a stream. + +[694] P. 23. + +[695] Near Bilehri in Jubbulpore. + +[696] Captain Lowis in Sleeman's _Report on the Thug Gangs_ (1840). + +[697] Pp. 15, 16. + +[698] P. 7. + +[699] P. 150. + +[700] Sleeman's _Report on the Thug Gangs_, Introduction, p. vi. + +[701] P. 142. + +[702] P. 216. + +[703] 'Oh Kali, Eater of Men, Oh great Kali of Calcutta.' The name +Calcutta signifies Kali-ghat or Kali-kota, that is Kali's ferry or +house. The story is that Job Charnock was exploring on the banks of +the Hoogly, when he found a widow about to be burnt as a sacrifice +to Kali. He rescued her, married her, and founded a settlement on +the site, which grew into the town of Calcutta. + +[704] P. 133. + +[705] P. 173. + +[706] _Orpheus_, p. 170. + +[707] Dhamoni is an old ruined fort and town in the north of Saugor +District, still a favourite haunt of tigers; and the Thugs may often +have lain there in concealment and heard the tigers quarrelling in +the jungle. + +[708] Sleeman, p. 196. + +[709] P. 91. + +[710] P. 67. + +[711] P. 100. + +[712] _Orpheus_ (M. Salomon Reinach), p. 316. + +[713] _Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, art. Turi. + +[714] _North Arcot Manual_, i. p. 216. + +[715] _Indian Antiquary_ (1879), p. 216. + +[716] This article is compiled from papers by Mr. W.A. Tucker, +Extra Assistant Commissioner, Bhandara, and Mr. B.M. Deshmukh, +Pleader, Chanda. + +[717] Buchanan, _Eastern India_, i. p. 186. + +[718] Rand = widow or prostitute. + +[719] The term Kunwar is a title applied to the eldest son of a chief. + +[720] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xviii. p. 185. + +[721] _Nagpur Settlement Report_, p. 27. + +[722] This article is partly based on a paper by Pandit Pyare Lal +Misra, ethnographic clerk. + +[723] Vol. xx. pp. 189-190. + +[724] _Bombay Gazetteer_; vol. xxii. p. 212. + +[725] _Madras Census Report_ (1891). + +[726] _Madras Census Report_ (1901). + +[727] _Bombay Gazetteer_, vol. xxi. pp. 170, 171. + +[728] _Tribes and Castes of Southern India_, art. Korava. + +[729] _North Arcot Manual_, p. 247. + +[730] _Ind. Ant._ vol. iii., 1874, p. 157. + + + + + + THE END + + Printed by R. & R. Clark, Limited, Edinburgh. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tribes and Castes of the Central +Provinces of India - Volume IV of IV, by R.V. 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